it's 1:00 p.m. on the east coast, 10:00 a.m. on the west. same sex couples in alabama are caught in a standoff over their right to marry. but they may be about to have their day in court. one hour from now we anticipate the same judge who struck down a gay marriage ban last month in that state will hear arguments whether alabama's probate judges have to issue marriages to same-sex couples. the state's chief justice has told judges not to do so even after a federal judge said it's unconstitutional to deny licenses and use supreme court refused to stay that decision to buy justice more time. some counties still refusing to grant licenses and couples caught in limbo, they filed a complaint about to be heard today. justice correspondent and supreme court wiseman pete williams is here with me. what do we expect from this hearing? >> it would be very surprising

if this judge does not grant the request to order this probate judge in mobile county to grant the marriage licenses. it's the same judge who just recently a couple of weeks ago said the federal constitution bars the state of alabama from denying marriage licenses to these couples. she did say that she couldn't find judges in contempt of court because they weren't under her order. that's the whole point of today. the defendant is now the one -- one of the defendants in the case is this county court judge. he comes under her jurisdiction. i would be very surprised if she doesn't order him to grant licenses. the whole point here the judges in alabama don't have any choice here because it's the federal constitution that compels them to issue licenses and it's supreme court over the state constitution. >> there's another big story we're following today in the justice world, fbi director james comy doing something unusual, how he has spoken about race and policing. >> i recently listened to a

thoughtful big city chief express his frustration with that lack of reliable data. he said he didn't know whether the ferguson police shot one person a week one a year or one a century. then in the absence of good data, quote, all we good are idealogical thunder bolts. >> that announcement, how significant is it? >> i think it's very interesting that this fbi director is basically going in a somewhat different direction than his predecessors on speaking out on public issues. he used an earlier speech to criticize apple for fact you can't crack into someone's phone if they may have used it in a crime. he's willing to speak out, use in essence the bully pulpit and he's saying these are hard questions. there is a perception that police are prejudiced against minority communities and said that's not true but there are built-in natural biases that we all have that we have to get passed and both the police and

minority community need to deal with this issue. >> pete williams, always a pleasure. we'll follow along as we ramp up to that hearing next hour. we have new developments in the trial of the surviving suspect in the boston marathon bombings. the federal appeals court now ordered a hearing on a potential change of venue in the dzhokhar tsarnaev case. they have asked for it to be moved three times, arguing boston is too emotionological connect connected. jury selection will continue as the motion is considered. north carolina is grieving right now, funeral services begin later this hour for three murdered college students all of them muslim. you can see family members and grieving community members mourning there live and speaking. deah barakat and salha all shot to death sending shock waves through the community.

these services will begin with a call to prayer in just minutes. last night thousands also gathered for a vigil at unc chapel hill down the street from the apartment where the students were found dead. apparently executed shot in the back of the head. we're following this in north carolina. i understand this community is reeling still. what kind of reaction have you heard heard? >> reporter: people here are trying to cope but it's been difficult. the congreggants i spoke to here where the funeral is set to begin in half an hour are so sad and most of all shocked that something like this can happen in their community. we have the mosque where just moments ago all three bodies were carried out in hearses. then over here is the school where all three victims went to as children school that was of course no longer in session at least for today. then over here if we cross the

street from the mosque we come to this giant field where hundreds have gathered. we're expecting up to 1,000, maybe even more to say good-bye to all three young muslim-americans. from here after the funeral the bodies will be taken to wen dal new jersey -- north carolina for burial. >> we so appreciate that update. a tense difficult time in that community there. we'll follow the reaction there and of course up ahead, we'll have much a much deeper look. we have an interview with the father of two of those young people killed and news to break on what comes next in the family's reaction. we're getting new reaction on the international front. john kerry just reacting to the ceasefire agreement reached in minsk for a war-torn ukraine. we will judge the commitment of russia and separatists by their actions not their words. still some skepticism, this deal

brokered over 16 hours of tense talks between leaders of ukraine, russia germany and france. it's set to take effect saturday at midnight local time. that includes the withdrawal of all heavy artillery within two days of that deadline. make no mistake, this is still a delicate agreement and could still fall apart. as we know so often the final hours leading up to a ceasefire are the most deadly. our chief global correspondent bill neely joins me from london. one feature of this dispute has been that both sides have claimed they can't control forces on the ground. how confident are leaders that the factions will fall in line with this agreement? >> well it's interesting, russia has always denied any direct involvement in the fighting in ukraine. this deal has been made and guess who is meeting tomorrow to work out the details of the deal, the chiefs of staff of the ukrainian army and the russian army now that tells its own

story, perhaps. overnight as the talks were going on ukraine's military said that more than 100 tanks armored personnel carriers and missile systems crossed from russia into ukraine. that's unconfirmed but shows combustible nature and the idea that both sets of troops will gain as much ground as they possibly can before the ceasefire comes into effect at the weekend. as for whether it will work or not, the ukrainian army i think is pretty much in control of its troops. it will order their withdrawal and interesting vladimir putin said today the 8,000 ukrainian soldiers around a strategic railway hub should lay down their weapons and surrender. that's not something the ukrainian army is likely to do. as for the rebels, they have broadly welcomed this peace deal, which is in stark contrast to last september, a deal they utterly rejected and they said

straight after it that they spat on the agreement. and pretty much acted like that in the weeks and months after it. so there is -- what the germans call a glimmer of hope for this peace deal. there is a deal which a lot of people thought was unlikely but there are doubts about it as well, the devil is in the detail. >> and still a long haul before that saturday commencing of the agreement. we'll see how these days play out. bill neely, always appreciate it. >> back here at home a day after the president asked congress for new war powers in the fight against isis it appears the house -- spoiler alert, a house divided. john boehner and nancy pelosi both holding different news conferences late this morning. >> i do have concerns about the president's submission. i want to give our military commanders the flexibility and authority they need to defend our enemies. and the white house readily admits that the authorization

that they are seeking is more restrictive than what they already have in place. >> i don't ever remember a president sending legislation to congress to limit his power as commander in chief. i think the administration has to be commended for that. >> on capitol hill following this, our kelly o'donnell. kelly, is the president going to run into trouble getting congress to sign off on this ultimately? >> reporter: from democrats we're already hearing questions whether this can ultimately be approved by congress. between now and vul vote there would be changes of course. and the committees that have direct responsibilities in this area would be working through it. there will be debates. it will be a very hot topic for a period of time. the question is can they come together? so you've got republicans who want to see the president have specific authority but not limited authority. and you have democrats who have real concerns about issues like what sort of ground troop component could be there and the president careful to say not the

kind we've seen in iraq or afghanistan, but still concerns about how involved the u.s. would become. so it is a case where you have republicans who believe the administration needs to have a more defined strategy perhaps more aggressive towards isis but not limited to isis. ronan, we're talking about something that would span at least three years, go into the next presidency republicans are saying they don't want to see this limited to a group like isis when just a couple of years ago al qaeda was almost the only term we were using when it comes to terrorist and extremist. so they want to have that flexibility that you heard speaker boehner say. he gives credit to the white house for drafting this and getting it here. after many months of both parties saying it was required and democrats are more hesitant it would appear some also have wanted to see the president seek this power now to the next stage. the debating will happen real disagreements how to go forward and there will be a real test for lawmakers.

do they want to be on the record committing the u.s. to further military operations in that uncertain part of the world? >> we'll await word of that debate leading up to any actual vote that comes out of this. kelly o'donnell, so appreciate it. many in the news business are mourning after the death of long time "60 minutes" correspondent bob simon. a town car he was in rear-ended another vehicle and hit a barrier. he died later in the hospital. simon joined cbs in 1967 eventually becoming a roaming war correspondent. covered the vietnam war leaving one of the last helicopters out of saigon and taken hostage covering the first gulf war in saudi arabia. he was 73 years old. and the funeral of those three young people murdered in north carolina is just getting under way there. we have a new development we're going to bring you exclusively on what's next in the investigation. and what this unimaginable day

is like for the father who just lost two daughters in that brutal murder some are calling a hate crime against muslims. my conversation with mohammed abu salha on his way to a funeral that no parent should have to experience next. americans drink 48 billion bottles of water every year. that's enough plastic bottles to stretch around the earth 230 times. each brita filter can replace 300 of those. clean. clear. brita water. nothing is better.

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prayer services are underway right now in raleigh, north carolina. a community mourning ahead of a funeral this very hour for three murdered young people. 23-year-old deah barakat his 211-year-old wife yusor sal ha and razan salha. a brand-new development we can

exclusively report to you now, tomorrow working with muslim advocate and national network for ab arab communities plan to send a letter for the department of justice to call for the murders to be investigated as a hate crime. the father of the slain sisters, psychiatric dr. mow hamhammad added this yes, sir, it's a hate crime, i met with the cair. this is a day of unimaginable grief as he heads to the funeral of his two daughters earlier today i spoke with him and asked him how his family is doing. >> we're heart broken we're sad but we're also honored by all fellow americans who are supporting us our families and our friends and our children who

are adored and loved by everybody in our area. >> from everything we've heard, your daughters were such wonderful young women, tell me about yusor and razan? >> in addition to yusor razan, deah was my son-in-law and near and dear to me as they were. they were raised in this country. they grew up in usa all of their lives. the oldest one came here six months old and youngest born in virginia beach, virginia. yusor was born in jordan and came with us when she was six months old, 21 years old. deah, my son-in-law was born and raised in raleigh. they were all achievers. they were all honor students. the best kids you can ask for. you can't ask for more than this. >> a beautiful family and i join

so many americans in saying all of our thoughts are with all of you who survive them today. tell me if any of this is too fresh, too painful to talk about, say if you don't want to touch on anything so many around the country are wondering after police said this was a parking dispute from their preliminary investigation. we understand there have been prior confrontations between your family members and this neighbor who is alleged to have killed them. what have you heard about those encounters, sir? >> i've heard everything. i have the story, sir, our daughter yusor got married on december 27th and i'm wearing the same suit i wore to her wedding. they moved in with her husband after their one week honeymoon and this is where the problem started, deah has been living in that apartment for a year and a half. he's a seconds year dentistry student and did not complain all that time.

even though the murderer can say it was a parking dispute, whatever he was picking on he came to that apartment with his gun two or three times before the murder on different occasions. my daughter yusor complained and told us that she felt that man hated them for the way they looked and the muslim garb they wore. she felt the heat has risen after she moved into the apartment and her friends came to visit and most of them wore muslim attire. she was worryied about that. >> do you think police adequately investigated this so far? >> i don't know the answer to that. i'm very disappointed that chapel hill police calls it a dispute over parking slot. three children were executed with one shot each in the back of their head. and in very short time they probably witnessed each other being executed and the police

calls it a dispute over a parking lot somebody who walks around with a gun, hateful and threatening and planning and he was bent on killing them. i will call on the chapel hill police unc and president obama and churches and mosques and synagogues and american nation if this is not a hate crime, what is a hate crime? if it is not a hate crime you think i would worry about more this country that i made my home and where i raise my children and gave it everything i had. >> ultimately sir, this is about these three beautiful young people the country has lost. is there anything you hope america learns from this tragedy? >> we came to this country 21 years ago for how beautiful this country was and is. we loved it by watching american media and american education and

american culture and industry. we were disappointed in a few things we saw here but we still felt this is our home. we still feel this is our home. we gave this country everything we had. to me to keep it a peaceful and loving country, i want everybody to pay attention if we don't consider this a hate crime, this can happen over and over again. and i want to say one more thing with the media bombarding every american every day with news about what they call islamic terrorism, none of which is islamic at all. there are really preparing people for such tragedies and triggering them and provoking them. >> and that is an important message today and i also know today is a day of great grief that you're heading to the funeral. i so appreciate you're taking the time to talk dr. mohammad abu sal-ha.

our thoughts with your family. >> thank you, sir. >> there's no indication that the chapel hill police or fbi will treat this as a hate crime. police preliminarily are calling it a dispute over parking. the doctor abu salha wants more answers contacting us moments ago to add, i need your support and all from free americans, please call on the fbi and white house. it's been a busy 24 hours in space news spacex finally successfully launching the falcon 9 rocket and a weather satellite. what does it mean for you? a lot of entertaining tweets for starters, our space age daily spec is next. i will take beauty into my own hands... where it belongs. olay regenerist. it regenerates surface cells. new skin is revealed in only 5 days. without drastic measures. stunningly youthful. award-winning skin. never settle for anything less.

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dramatic lighting and an mater we tried and failed to hire. it looks like it could be any traditional tv interview, two cameras pointed at the subject, et cetera, et cetera some are left wondering, is that all you got buzz feed? now buzz feed has not disappointed enter things everybody does but doesn't talk about starring president barack obama. ♪ >> posted open buzz feed's facebook page it's accelerating page and has a serious purpose, urging people to go to

healthcare.gov. social media trends are so big they need a lot of space, so cool we couldn't planet better. i've got nothing. here's space news and people are reactsing online. spacex launching the first deep space mission, the falcon 9 shuttle. it happened 6:00 p.m. last night and carrying a satellite nickname and check out this instagram from one of our producer's friends who happened to be on the airplane while the launch is under way. they are trending on and off since they made the announcement a month ago. also on youtube videos posted by spacex kennedy center and nasa racked over 100,000 views combined in less than a day. it turns out there's interest in preventing the solar apocalypse. if you feel the galaxy is shining down you're probably not watching cable news because

this stuff is pretty dark or maybe you saw this. an image captured by the hubble space tell scope in 2012. as trom mers say this happy fellows lives in galaxyies 4.5 billion lightyears away. it is a result of graph tagsal lensing. this is bringing science to the smiley. so emojis aren't man made everything i learned from space i learned sigourney weaver in alien. and same for dmiimitry medvedev. he says russia plans to warn president obama for the world to know the truth about aliens and that if the u.s. doesn't want to participate in the unveiling, the kremlin will act alone. apparently he was in fact joking you know russian humor. just ahead, everybody, so many critics so little time. president obama sending a war

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better. yoplait wins again! take the taste-off for yourself. the resolution we've submitted today does not call for the deployment of u.s. ground combat forces to iraq or syria. it is not the authorization of another ground war like afghanistan or iraq. this resolution will give our armed force and coalition the continuity we need tore the next three years. >> president obama doing something that hasn't been done in more than a decade asking congress to vote on war. a war the united states of course has already been fighting against isis for more than six

months. better late than never. under the president's three-page proposal the request prohibits enduring offensive ground combat operations a lot of discussion as to what that terms means and allows the military to extend its mission, quote, associated persons or forces against isis against those forces or closely related successor entity. and for months congress has called for a new authorization of this very type. they have it in front of them now but still triggering a lot of controversy. democratic congressman jim hines hooims joins us. to conduct this war without congressional authorization, why is this aumf important? >> i've been troubled like my colleagues have been and fund amountly this is a constitutional issue that the

president should be able to make war without the approval of congress. this as clear as day in the united states constitution and we as a country have gotten away from what the constitution would have us do. i'm gratified to see that we have a request for an authorization but even -- this is going to be a heck of a cage match in the congress. you have all kinds of different views. start with the fact it's interesting that the president did assert he had the authority to do this under the old aumf and under the constitutional powers of commander in chief. one of the key questions, what exactly are we doing here if the president still believes he has got the authority under previous authorizations? that's a tough question. >> this proposal has a pretty broad grant of power in it as we just mentioned. it includes any action against associated forces and doesn't have a clear degraphic limitation. are you concerned about that? >> look in -- without in any way suggesting that this president would treat this authorization that way, this way, this authorization as it is drafted basically would give the

executive the president, this president and next president for a year the authority to do just about anything just about anywhere for a three-year period. you pointed out that the modifier enduring offensive combat operations what does enduring mean? does it mean two months? two years, 20 years? these are things we need to at a minimum sharpen up before congress gives authority to the president to fight another war. >> the administration is willing to make what she called reasonable adjustments to get bipartisan support. if you look what's being asked for on the republican side of the aisle, that includes boots on the ground. how difficult a partisan fight is this shaping up to be? >> well it's going to be tough. it's not going to be purely partisan. it is try most republicans are -- want the door open for boots on the ground. i can only speak for myself and my constituents i will not be party to any approval that

leaves the door open for yet another ground war in the middle east. when you look at what we have achieved in afghanistan and in iraq and of course in a more limited war in libya, tribute to our arms services that this ke remove a regime quickly the next day is usually kas strofic and we have bankrupted our treasury in pursuit of ground wars. on the flip side of course this is really important, when it comes down to hunting down terrorists and i sit on the intelligence committee, when it comes to hunting down and taking out terrorists, we're pretty good. i think a lot of us feel we ought to keep doing that and give the authority to keep doing that. by god, let's not get into another ground war in asia. >> the white house has said there's one more american being held hostage in the region. how tough does that make this debate? >> well you know any time there's a hostage involved it is always from a human standpoint a brutal calculation. and of course not just what we

do but the principle that we don't negotiate with terrorists. i've got to tell you if it was your son or daughter that would be the hostage, it would be harder to say that than it is for me to say that. at the end of the day we're talking about here probably the most serious and most profoundly consequential decision that washington and the united states congress can make. we have to bear that in mind as we think on how to decide what the president has asked us to do. thanks for your time on this. >> thanks ronan. >> we're following another development in the fight against isis. the state department naming a german citizen dennismeaning this foreign fighter is now a target for american and coalition forces. dennis was born in berlin and has an interesting story, became a rapper known as deso dog and eventually joined isis in 2012 and was assumed to be a ranking

member. now he's a key recruiter we're hearing but before becoming radicalized he did something else trained in mixed martial arts of all things. our partners took a look at his story. >> he's one of germany's most notorious jihadis, he has appeared in horrific execution videos and is accused of being an isis recruiter. the u.s. has taken notice. it's now officially declared him an international terrorist. before becoming a key figure in isis, he was known as deso dogg a german gangster rapper from berlin. in 2010 he left rap behind to become a mixed martial arts

fighter. he challenged this man, a fellow muslim and lost badly. >> translator: he wanted to fight me so i did and i won. he was normal at the time. what he became is awful. >> we traveled to hamburg to meet ismale a second generation german of turkish descent. >> i'm muslim i'm a fighter. i'm a warrior. and i've learned that the truth can be turned against you. maybe if someone talked to him properly he wouldn't have turned out like this. >> translator: if a young boy with no school diploma and no money joins sis isis he gets a

gun and thinks he's a hero. does he know what he's fighting for? i talked to someone who wanted to go to syria, i said the koran doesn't say to fight for your religion. it's important to be a role model, my message to learn from the koran, not from youtube. >> reporter: i show my students that this behavior is wrong. you have to guide the youth to talk to them educate them. islam is prohibited to kill the innocent. it says so in the koran. >> one more note we've gotten in

now, friends at flashpoint partners sent us this smiling picture of deso dogg with one of the main religious authorities in isis. this appears to show that mr. dogg is not just a foreign fighter bit being put on a pedestal, an important one by islamic militants. back home we're also following breaking news out of houston. a metro bus just involved in a collision which apparently caused a van to catch fire. no word yet on any injuries but we're following -- you're looking at live pictures there. passengers are being treated at the scene. at least one person was taken by ambulance to a hospital. we're going to keep an eye on that story and bring you updates. up next, an important story for all of us in the news. keeping those who cover wars and war zones like in iraq and syria safe. we're going to talk to charles sen off who is releasing new guidelines for freelancers, sometimes the most at risk in danger zones today. stay with us.

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some tentative good news for two al jazeera jourmists held for 411 days. they have been released on bail we're just learning. this after a week and a half after their colleague peter grest was released from that prison and deported from the country. he's now home in australia. a spokesman is calling the latest release a small step in the right direction. al jazeera wants egypt's court to dismiss the case and release journalists unconditional. the next hearing is set for february 23rd. last year was the most dangerous year ever for journalists according to some counts 61 were killed in the line of duty. just in the past year. it was a turning point in global awareness as well with high

profile often gruesome killings. james foley, for instance, and steven sotloff both at the hands of isis. in response of those killings a brand-new call to action. at columbia university, first time this is discussed on tv more than 20 news organizations and advocacy groups will come together to announce a new set standards for freelance reporters on dangerous assignments. a call for global safety principles and practices. one of the people behind it, charlie senoff and the outlet where james foley was working when he was killed. you worked with him, right? >> we worked with jim for many years. he was an extraordinary talent brave, courageous and out there on front lines and very drawn to that kind of work. jim was also a freelancer and a lot of freelancers who go in the field these days are not trained. now jim was trained.

jim had hostile environment training and first aid training but was a freelancer. we think we need to do more going forward to protect those in the field. we live in a time of rising peril for journalists in the field. what this document does that we're releasing today is trying to confront that reality of rising peril for journalists and say we have to be sure we have standards and practices for the journalists in the field and news organizations that assign them to be sure that we're doing everything we can for people to work safely. >> you wrote about this today in the boston globe and one of the things you said those of us this in line of work have gone from trying to state out of the cross fire to being caught in the cross hairs, there's an expectation that they get training as they go into the hostile situations but that's not always the case right? >> we want to see that the freelance journalists who many news organizations are increasingly relying on that they really understand how important it is to do risk

assessment and understand how important it is to meet with your editors and talk with them and be sure you have a game plan to be sure they have the hostile environment training to be sure they have insurance. most of all to be sure they have first aid training. we have a long way to go to get the journalists who are in the field to sign on to that and we have a ways to go with getting news organizations who assign freelancers to commit what we call a culture of safety it's a moral responsibility when you have someone in the field that you take care of them and look out for them. and i think what's historic and unique about this document so many news organizations came together relatively quickly, it took us a few months a core group of us working with a lot of different news organizations but the sign-on is big. we have 25 major news organizations, including the associated press, reuters, bloomberg, pbs frontline and others. this is a chance for all of us

to bind together and show that we really understand that we're going to have to have a stronger culture of safety for journalists in the field as this peril continues to rise. >> what is your message for americans who have been following in horror who admire the work of these journalists that we have tragically lost but don't know how to help with the issue. >> this is an attack on journalism that's underway a threat to free press around the world. the nature of terrorism is getting more apocalyptic even at those that are the messengers. we do need to fight for this and stand up for it. at the ground truth project where we train and monitor young journalists and teach them to do it safely we're among a group of different organizations really trying to focus in on this issue. it's a time to focus on the peril but also a time to make sure that we're holding to standards for safety. >> charles sennot thanks for all of the work you're doing on

this. it's so important and the dangers are so troubling. those guidelines will be announced this evening 5:30 p.m. >> that's correct. >> at columbia university. >> weupdate you on the developing news out of north carolina. those funeral services are now under way this hour in raleigh for three young muslim college students, all found dead shot in their apartment in chapel hill tuesday. an incredibly sad day there as that community mourns those young lives lost. we'll keep following as that family reacts in the coming days. and up next honoring a war veteran who took his own life as far too many do by seeking to prevent others from doing the same. clay hunt's legacy as the president sets to sign his bill in his name after this break. to unlock the possibilities of tomorrow......"lift tab." behold the beauty of balance. crisp flakes of fiber-rich bran. answered by the perfect quantity of sun sweetened raisins. and with the sublime addition of ice-cold milk, the day begins.

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in just moments, president obama is going to sign a new bill to tackle one of the most deadly threats facing veterans.

we have a live picture of the east room at the white house. there's an audience there that's anticipating that signing. a lot of veterans are going to be in that room gathering to see this legislation named after one of their own. it's legislation meant to tackle one of the deadliest threats, as we mentioned, and let's look at that in numbers. every day in america 22 veterans die by suicide. nearly one person every hour. almost unthinkable. it's named after clay hunt. the clay hunt suicide prevention for american veterans act. clay was a marine veteran who served in iraq and afghanistan and who took his own life in march 2011. i spoke with clay hunt's best friend and partner from sniper school, jake wood, who weighed in on the new bill. >> this is a critical component, and it's going to force us to re-evaluate all of the programs that currently exist, providing mental health care and suicide prevention support to our nation's veterans. >> jake is actually going to be introducing the president this next hour before that bill is signed.

nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker is following that at the white house. kristen, what are the key goals of the bill? >> well ronan, good afternoon. the key goals of the bill are to enhance and improve veteran suicide prevention efforts. here's a look at some of the main provisions. we have a graphic of them. it includes increasing access to mental health care at the va with new interactive services like a new website, to improve the quality of care by holding the va accountable in part with outside evaluation and also to develop peer support systems for returning veterans so they're not falling through the cracks as they deal with some of these very difficult issues when they return from war. now, this follows up on a number of steps that was taken by president obama last year a series of executive orders aimed at improving mental health access for veterans. the president also proposing $7 billion to go towards veterans and veteran services in his new budget. the first lady will be joining

president obama. of course this has been a key focus for her, creating jobs for veterans helping them to transition once they leave war or combat. and of course, this comes in the wake of the crisis at the va last year ronan, when a series of misconduct was exposed and of course the secretary of veterans affairs forced to step down. ronan? >> this is a big moment for the va. a lot of hopes for the future and a lot of fears about this silent killer of veterans. kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >> a programming reminder, we've been hard at work on our inside the va series. this is a joint effort between our team and the nbc news investigative unit. we have some very significant stories we're going to be bringing you in the coming days and weeks. stay tuned for those. that wraps up today's "rf daily." thank you for joining me. now it's time for joy reid and "the reid report." stick around. be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?"

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good afternoon, everyone. welcome to "the reid report." i'm joy reid. right now, we're following the action on the senate floor where we're awaiting a final vote on the nomination of ash carter to be the next secretary of defense. today's vote comes on the first day of debate in congress over an authorization to use military force against isis. while a u.s.-led coalition has been conducting air strikes against the terrorist group since last year the authority to do so is based on a broad 2001 authorization granted to then-president bush to wage war in afghanistan and beyond in what bush dubbed the war on terror. as air strikes continue in syria and iraq today, republicans and democrats debated the proper scope of the request that president obama sent to the hill on wednesday. the chief complaint from republicans, it doesn't go far enough. >> the president has tied his own hands and