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 wants to tie his

hands even further with the authorization he sent up here. >> late yesterday afternoon, president obama defended his request as the most responsible way to ensure the defeat of a group whose actions have resulted in the brutal death of tens of thousands of muslims as well as american hostages like kayla mueller. >> this is a difficult mission, and it will remain difficult for some time. it's going to take time to dislodge these terrorist, especially from urban areas. but our coalition is on the offensive. isil is on the defensive, and isil is going to lose. >> nbc's luke russert joins me live from capitol hill. let's break down the areas of critique of the president's request and start with the republicans. what are you hearing in terms of what their objections might be to the request? >> well the republicans object similar to what you just mentioned, joy, which is they feel the president is tying his own hands because of a timetable. essentially this would be a

three-year mission. also by saying there will not be any endureing uses of ground troops. republicans want all options on the table. somewhat ironically, republicans have gone against president obama calling him the imperial president. but in the case of waging war against isis they want to give him any power that he would choose to use militarily, essentially saying he's the commander in chief, do what you want. you don't necessarily need to be bound by what congress says. we want to give you all options. understandably, joy that makes democrats very uncomfortable because they see a throwback to what happened during the run up to the war in iraq as well as the fact that the 2001 aumf originally to go against afghanistan and al qaeda is still being used. democrats want not only a timetable, a prohibition against the use of ground troops, they also want to see what is the geography that's going to be considered in this time of aumf. would, for example, american personnel be allowed to go into a place like jordan? all that being said i don't see

how these aumf really passes. at the end of the day, congressman kennedy from massachusetts said this. quote, most significantly, the administration by keeping in place the 2001 aumf continues to allow an open-ended engagement of our men and women in uniform with little accountability. that's what democrats are saying. hard to see a way forward for this current plan. >> pretty extraordinary. thank you very much, luke russert russert. coming up at the bombttom of hour we'll talk with senator chris murphy and get his take on the isis war authorization. meanwhile, the parents of an american last seen in syria are preparing to launch an online petition to pressure president obama to help find their missing son. 31-year-old freelance journalist austin tice disappeared in

august of 2012. unlike kayla mueller, however, little is known about who may be holding tice. the last visual evidence of his whereabouts came with the release of a video in september of 2012 which appeared to show tice blindfolded. while the men are dressed in islamic garb, there's some suspicion the syrian government is the one holding austin tice. joining me now are austin tice's parents, debra and marc. we want to thank you for taking the time to be here. i guess the first question i would ask is who, if anyone in the obama administration is in touch with you, and what have they been able to tell you so far about who they think might be holding your son? >> well we've been in touch with the state department since very early on. in the earliest days of when we realized austin was missing. and the government will tell us

very little. we know that we would like for them to tell us more. so we've been in contact, and certainly we were in contact with the fbi for the first couple of years. we were in contact with them very regularly. so it hasn't been a lack of contact. it's really been a lack of communication. >> and what are you calling for specifically in your petition to the president? >> well what we've come to understand, joy, in the course of this 2 1/2 years is that governments, and that's who we're dealing with the u.s. government and the syrian government respond to encouragement, is what i would call it. we're hoping to get as many people as possible to encourage the president, the white house to do all they can to bring austin home safely. >> and let me ask you, i mean i know in previous cases, we the american public have not learned

very much about these hostages until they're in very dire straits. has there been any discouragement by federal officials for you to talk about your son and potentially i suppose raise the value -- his value to a potential hostage taker? >> well austin's case was public within the first two weeks of when he went missing. so we've never been discouraged from talking about him publicly. >> and there is also this question that some of the other families of those who we knew who took them who were taken captive by isis when ransoms were demand the u.s. government asserted they do not pay ransom. i want to play you a little bit of what president obama said in an interview with buzzfeed about that particular issue and get your response to it. >> once we start doing that not only are we financing their slaughter of innocent people and

strengthening their organization, but we're making americans even greater targets for future kidnappings. >> and marc and debra, we know some of the other families of people who are held captive by isis were attempting to raise money in hoping to at least have the option of bargaining for their loved one's release. do you believe the u.s. should add potentially paying as an option if they can locate your son and if that would be a way to get him back? >> well joy, we haven't been faced with that issue. we haven't been contacted in any way by austin's captors. so we haven't had to address that. you know this is a big debate, and i guess i've never seen any empirical evidence one way or the other as to whether paying ransoms, you know, has a negative effect or a positive effect. so other than that we just want our son home. >> absolutely. and debra, if you could just tell us when was the last contact, the last time you heard

from your son? >> i heard from austin -- we had a great communication on his birthday. then i disappeared into the wilderness with a group of amazing women for the next week. so marc was actually the one in our family that had the latest contact with him on august 13th. >> on august 13th. >> and it was just -- right. just a mundane, you know, how you doing e-mail exchange on august 13th. since then you know, no one, neither we or anyone else as far as we know has heard from him. >> all right. well, we thank you both debra and marc tice for being here. our hearts and prayers are certainly with you and your family. thank you. >> thank you, joy. >> thank you for having us. >> all right. and now let's get a reid alert out of the white house where president obama has begun speaking. he's going to sign the clay hunt suicide prevention for american veterans act. let's listen in a bit. >> all his family and friends

and fellow veterans who loved him too, thanks for your extraordinary service. today we honor a young man who isn't here but should be here. clay hunt was a proud texan. as a boy, i understand he collected turtles, which was ironic for a kid who by all accounts never sat still. he loved the outdoors. he knew every inch of his grandparents' ranch where he fished and hunted all year long. a decorated marine he served with distinction in iraq and afghanistan. he suffered physical injuries that healed and he suffered invisible wounds that stayed with him. and by all accounts he was selfless and he was brave. when he died in 2011, it was a heartbreaking loss for his family, his fellow marines, and

our nation because clay had already done a great deal of good in the world. and the truth is he was just getting started. so we're here today to pick up where clay left off. the best way to honor this young man who should be here is to make sure that more veterans like him are here for all the years to come and able to make extraordinary contributions, building on what they've already done for our safety and our security. clay was a passionate advocate for veterans. and now more than ever that's something we're all called to be. after 13 years, our combat mission in afghanistan is over and a new generation of veterans is coming home. and like clay they are talented and they're ready to roll up their sleeves and begin the next chapter of their lives, starting companies, going back to school

re-entering the work force, raising families becoming leaders in every field. and whether they found a new path or just starting out on their new civilian life one thing is certain. every single veteran in america has something extraordinary to give to this country, every single one. at the same time, too many of our troops and veterans are still struggling. they're recovering from injuries. they're mourning fallen comrades. they're trying to reconnect with family and friends who can never fully understand what they went through in war theater. for many of them the war goes on in the flashbacks that come rushing forward, in the nightmares that don't go away. that tension between then and now, that struggle to make the transition from war to home is one that clay hunt knew all too

well. in iraq and afghanistan, he lost good friends. after one buddy died clay slept in his empty bunk for a while to stay close just a little longer. a few weeks later, another friend was fatally shot right in front of him. there was nothing clay could do to save him, but he was still racked with grief and guilt. when he got home he found it hard to sleep and hard to go to football games or anywhere that was loud or crowded. now, part of what made him remarkable was he was able to name the problem. he understood it. like many of our troops and veterans, clay had post-traumatic stress. and as a country, we've been doing more to help our troops and veterans deal with injuries like post-traumatic stress. we've been doing more awareness, more outreach and more

counselors have been put in place to improve access to care. we've been doing more research into prevention and treatment. and we've been saying loud and clear to anyone out there who's hurting, it's not a sign of weakness to ask for help. it's a sign of strength. and clay hunt was strong that way. he asked for help. in fact he did everything that we urge people with post-traumatic stress to do. he reached out to his family. they embraced him with love. he opened up to other veterans and they were there for him too. he sought treatment not once but repeatedly, and he channelled his stress into service. as part of team rubicon, he went to haiti after the earthquake to help families rebuild. he refurbished bikes for injured veterans so they could join wounded warrior rides. he even appeared in a public service announcement encouraging veterans having a tough time to reach out for help because he knew that even though you can't see it post-traumatic stress is

an injury just like any other, and the stigma has to end. clay received care through the va, but he struggled to get the right medication and the right disability rating. and by the time the severity of his condition was recognized it was too late. clay had taken his life just weeks before and he was 28 years old. amid unimaginable grief, clay's family, jake and his fellow veterans, made it their mission to spare anymore families the pain they endured. so they shared clay's story far and wide. they reached out to members of congress, and they lobbied and testified and made personal appeals. and thanks to their tireless efforts, and we are particularly grateful to clay's family being able to transform grief into action, today i will sign the

clay hunt save act into law. s.a.v.e. stands for suicide prevention for american veterans. it helps fill critical gaps in serving veterans with post-traumatic stress and other illnesses. it increases pure support and outreach to service members transitioning to civilian life. it recruits talented psychiatry students to work at the va after graduation. it makes it easier for veterans to find the care they need when they need it. and it includes strict accountability measures so we can track and continually improve these efforts as we learn more. now, this law is not a complete solution. we've still got a lot more work to do. our secretary of veterans affairs, bob mcdonald, is here and is doing a terrific job pushing reforms to get our veterans the care that they

deserve. but one of the messages i want to make sure to deliver today, and i know the first lady and joe biden and others have been delivering this continually through their joining forces effort, this is not just a job for government. every community, every american can reach out and do more with and for our veterans. this has to be a national mission. as a nation we should not be satisfied, will not be satisfied until every man and woman in uniform, every veteran, gets the help they need to stay strong and healthy. and this law will not bring clay back as much as we wish it would, but the reforms it puts in place would have helped and they'll help others who are going through the same challenging process that he went through. so this is a good day. we pay tribute to everyone who helped make it possible. we want to thank clay's family

especially his mom and stepfather susan and richard. his father and stepmother stacy and ian hunt. you guys never stopped fighting for clay. and for all the families who have lost sons and daughters as well. and as a commander in chief and father i can't think of a more beautiful and special way to honor your son. so we thank you very much. [ applause ] we want to thank jake and all those who served with clay who protected him and loved him like a brother, and all the veterans service organizations that fought for this law and who advocated so passionately for those who have served. we thank all the military

families who have lost a loved one, families here today who channelled their grief into helping others. they believe as we all do that we have to end this tragedy of suicide among our troops and veterans. i want to thank the members of congress, republican and democrat, who worked to get this done. i want to give a special acknowledgment to somebody who knows a little bit about service, senator john mccain. [ applause ] dick blumenthal we're grateful for your efforts. representative jeff miller. my home girl from the chicago area tammy duckworth. couldn't be prouder of her. [ applause ]

and tim walsh, thank you so much for the great work. [ applause ] and just to be clear about the bipartisan here, this is one of those areas where we can't have an argument. now, clay's parents are texas republicans. i mean, that's just not run of the mill republican. and they worked with, you know this entire spectrum conservatives, liberals and that's just a reminder of what we can accomplish when we take a break from the partisan bickering that so often dominates this town and focus on what really matters to the american people. i wish i'd gotten a chance to know clay but in a way, i feel that i do because there are a

lot of incredible men and women all across this country who, like clay just love their country and want to serve. michelle and i have had a chance to meet so many of them. such an incredible privilege. i think of the soldiers i sat down with at ft. bliss a few years ago. they told me they were proud to serve but struggled with challenges like post-traumatic stress. told me about the challenges they had in getting support and treatment and managing their medications, staying strong for their families and their fellow soldier, and most of all the challenge of asking for help which is hard to do for folks who are used to helping others. i think of staff sergeant ty carter, whom i awarded the medal of honor. he survived an unimaginable bat until afghanistan and carried a

badly wounded comrade to safety. as tough as they come. but he too, acknowledged before the ceremony and talked about it publicly his struggles with post-traumatic stress. at first he resisted even seeking help but eventually he reached out for the care that he needed. today he's transitioning to civilian life. he's started his own business. and he travels across the country as an advocate helping veterans and other americans turn their struggles into a source of strength. i think of the college student who recently wrote me a letter on christmas day. this is as tough a letter as i've received since i've been president. she talked about her father who's a retired marine and told me about how her dad used to love to hunt and fish and spend time with her and her little brother, but gripped with post-traumatic stress he became less and less like himself and withdrew from the family.

yet, despite these struggles, she wrote, i knew that my dad was still in there somewhere. he's still my father, and i'm still his little girl. and she was writing, she said to ask for help. help her father find his way back. not for my family, mr. president, she said. i'm asking you to help the others, other families like hers. she said don't forget about them. and that's really what today is about. don't forget. so today we say again to every person in uniform, every veteran who has ever served we thank you for your service. we honor your sacrifice. but sometimes talk is cheap. and sometimes, you know, particularly at a time when we've got an all-volunteer force and so often we can celebrate

him at a ball game but too many are insulated from the impacts. we got to also act. can't just talk. so we're ready to help you begin the next chapter of your lives. and if you are hurting, know this. you are not forgotten, you are not alone, you are never alone. we are here for you. america is here for you, all of us, and we will not stop doing everything in our power to get you the care and support you need to stay strong and keep serving this country we love. we need you. we need you. you make our country better. so i thank all of you. god bless our troops, our veterans, our military families. god bless the united states of america. and with that i want michelle and clay's family and our other guests to join us on stage so i can sign the clay hunt s.a.v.e. act into law.

[ applause ] >> you guys have got to be patient. i have a lot of pens.

>> president obama doing the multiple signatures on the clay hunt s.a.v.e. account, this stands for the clay hunt suicide prevention for american veterans act. you can see the president and you know of course now the drill that he signs with multiple pens because those pens become keep keepsakes for the many guests who are there. named for clay hunt, who served in both iraq and afghanistan, and tragically took his own life in 2011 after suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. one of the most interesting aspects of the bill among other things creates a one-stop website for veterans to use to access mental health care. one of the interesting ideas in it is to create a student loan repayment pilot program to allow the va to recruit more mental health professionals and address a shortage of mental health experts within the veterans administration. it also calls for an evaluation

of all va mental health care and suicide prevention practices to make a best practices of what's working and what's not working. one of the issues for clay hunt of course, was inefficient care and attempting to access these services. so the bill seeks to both encourage veterans to seek mental health care and also seeks to make that care more streamlined and more accessible. so you are watching that ceremony wrapping up there. the first lady michelle obama as well as clay hunt's family on hand for the signing of that bill. all right. and now, let's move on to a developing story that we're also following. family, friends, and thousands of people in chapel hill north carolina are saying good-bye to three american-muslim students at unc who were murdered in their apartment on tuesday. a prayer service was held just moments ago for the three. 46-year-old craig stephen hicks

was charged yesterday with three counts of first-degree murder in those shootings. authorities told reporters yesterday they believe the shootings were not part of a wider campaign targeting muslims in the community and hicks' soon to be ex-wife told reporters she agreed. >> i can say with my absolute belief that this incident had nothing to do with religion or victims' faith. >> and yet, the father of two of the victims told my colleague ronan farrow today that he's convinced the execution-style killings were indeed motivated by hate. >> my daughter complained, and she told us that she felt that man hated them. i will call on the chapel hill police, unc, and president obama, churches mosques, synagogue, and the american nation. if this is not a hate crime, what is a hate crime? >> executive director of the

arab-american association of new york and the spokeswoman for the chapel hill victims' families joins us. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> the doubts that i am seeing on social media and that you're hearing reflected in pieces written about this case are also echoed by congress's first muslim-american member who said i'm confident based on my review of the facts that the parking answer certainly is not the whole story. does the family believe that the parking -- the explanation of this as a parking dispute is sort of too convenient or why is it they don't believe it? >> it's absolutely offensive to say that three young people under the age of 23 were murdered execution style over a parking spot. this is an absolute hate-motivated crime. we know this from mr. hicks' facebook posts. he's an extremist atheist.

the daughter said this is a very hateful neighbor. i believe he hates us for who we are and how we dress. he used to touch his gun in his holster when he saw them. you need to have hate in your heart to execute three young people in the way that mr. hicks did. >> and indeed, you know we're now seeing some of the facebook posts by craig hicks. he said people say nothing can solve the middle east problem, not mediation, not arms not financial aid. i said there's something atheism. had the family had these young people come into contact with mr. hicks, and were they afraid of him, to your knowledge? >> absolutely. he was their neighbor. he lived in the same apartment complex. as i said mr. hicks would carry a gun in a visible holster. he would touch his gun when he saw the young people. again, the daughter the wife would tell her father i'm really afraid of him. i think he hates us and he hates

us for who we're. this was a cry for help. when they complained to the apartment complex manager, he said if he bothers you in any way, please call the police next time. unfortunately, that next time they were shot dead. >> and linda, i want to talk a little bit about the coverage. there has been some criticism that there has been kind of a rush to judgment that this was a parking dispute and sort of pushing away the possibility that this was, in fact a hate crime or that hate played a part in it. do you feel that narrative is more the fault of authorities who are trying to sort of contain what could become i guess, an interethnic dispute, or do you think it's simply a media narrative that the family objects to? >> to be honest joy, even if it wasn't a hate crime, you had three young -- a dental student, medical student. these are unc students young people. it doesn't matter who they were. they were shot dead execution style. the media was not aware of this at all. the only link we had was to a local chapel hill news station.

it sent a message across the country that it doesn't matter when muslims are the victims. it only matters when muslims are the perpetrators. the media gives a lot of platform to talk about these international issues and isis and have these abstract discussions, but right now we're talking about the loss of life and the loss of life is important regardless of who they are. again, young people on social media talking about i'm fearing for my life i'm afraid to walk in my college campus it has sent a chilling affect across the arab communities across this country. >> we have seen, on the other side of that real outpourings. i've seen a lot of posts about the commemorations that have been held on behalf of this family. has the family received that? are they getting the full knowledge of just how much support that they do have out there? because i've just seen a tremendous outpouring particularly as you said on social media. >> absolutely. the family is so appreciative of all the love they've received from people of all walks with of life. every corner of this country,

ordinary citizens are outraged at what happened. it's very important for the family to understand that this is not the united states that we know and that we believe more in our country in the potential of our country. vigils in north carolina rabbis pastors reaching out to the family and to us. it's really beautiful. it gives us that glimpse of hope in a devastating time. >> yes, indeed. please pass along our deepest condolences to the family. thank you so much for being here p. thank you. >> all right. we're also following developments out of boston where after several unsuccessful attempts lawyers for accused bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev got a chance to argue for a change of venue in his upcoming trial. the defense claimed their client would not get a fair trial in the state of massachusetts, citing the responses of 85% of potential jurors who said they believe tsarnaev was guilty or have some connection to the boston marathon bombing and related incidents. the appeals court hearing is scheduled for february 19th. meanwhile, part of president

obama's mission to secure a new military authorization against terrorism abroad will be to convince members of his own party that his request is indeed narrow in scope. house democratic leader nancy pelosi did her part today to stay on message, telling reporters that this war authorization would look nothing like the expansive ones that authorized the wars in afghanistan and iraq. that point will be key as democrats like our next guest push back against the republican majority and its demands for a much broader war-making authority. >> some of my republican friends say this kind of prohibition on ground troops would be unwise because it's going to telegraph to our enemies a critical tactical limitation. my response? good. why go you think isil puts up these execution videos? because they know the best long-term play for their desired caliphate is predicated on the united states making a mistake and rejoining a ground war in the middle east.

>> and senator chris murphy joins me now. he's a democrat from connecticut and serves on the foreign relations committee. thank you for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> let's spell out a little more. we just played a little bit of you speaking on the senate floor about your objections to a broad and expansive war-making authority for this president. is your chief concern that the u.s. will get sucked back into a ground war in syria and iraq or is your main concern that the next president will just continue this war for years to come? >> well i take president obama at his word. he has no intention of repeating the mistakes of the iraq war and putting a major american combat troop presence back in the middle east. but the authorization he submitted lasts for three years. it goes into the next presidency. people like john mccain and lindsay graham made it clear they would like to see american boots back on the ground and that is just not where the people of connecticut are. so i want to make sure we have an authorization that's tailored

to obama's strategy which i think is the right one, use military power to degrade isil but rely on local partners people who have much more of a stake in the game to do the work on the ground. that's the lesson from the iraq war. i'm hopeful that this authorization will get voted on, get approved, but have some real common sense limitations. >> i'm wondering, senator, if there's been any talk on the hill among democrats or really even among maybe some republicans who were less hawkish about repealing the other authorization that's still in force, the 2001 aumf that did make incredibly broad the president's power to the point where some republicans are saying he doesn't need this new one. >> there are two authorizations still on the books. there's the 2001 authorization which provided justification for a whole range of anti-terrorism programs including the afghanistan war. then there's the 2002 iraq war aumf. the president says we should repeal the 2002 awfulumf.

i agree. it's a little trickier because it's the authorization for our ongoing activities in afghanistan. so we can't simply repeal it today. we'd have to amend it. that's why i support sunsetting that 2001 aumf at the same time that the one we're debating now sunsets so in three years we can have a discussion about whether or not we need to renew the fight against isil and how we put confines around the broader fight against the remnants of al qaeda. >> senator, are you comfortable with the extent to which congress just in general has abdicated its war-making authority and seeded it really to a series of presidents that congress gives these broad authorizations and essentially leaves it to the executive branch to decide how to make war or whether to. >> yeah, it's not a mistake that the constitutional foundling fathers put congress' article i and the executive as article ii. we've totally abdicated our responsibility as a co-equal branch on foreign affairs. we should have been debating

this authorization for a war against isil four months ago when it began. but this is frankly a story of over a decade. the reason that iraq was such a disaster the reason that afghanistan was mismanaged is because congress just basically handed over the keys of foreign policy to this administration. that's part of the case that i made on the floor today. for those people that say, well congress should just openly authorize war and the president can decide what to do tactically underneath it that's not how the constitution imagines us playing a role as an overseer of foreign policy and a setter of strategy. that's what i hope we can do in the next couple weeks. >> well senator, we're not in church but i'm going to say amen. thank you very much for being here. >> thanks joy. >> senator chris murphy of connecticut. meanwhile, fbi director did something remarkable today when he delivered what he called some hard truths about race relations in the u.s. >> with the death of michael brown in ferguson, the death of eric garner in staten island and the ongoing protests

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ask your doctor about viagra. we're in seattle to see which 100 calorie black cherry greek yogurt tastes best. definitely that one. that one's delicious. it's yoplait! what? i love yoplait! the other one is chobani. really. i like this one better. yoplait wins again! take the taste-off for yourself. nearly a year after the michael brown case sparked a renewed debate over policing there's still no direct protocol requiring police departments to report fatal officer involved shootings. that's something the fbi director wants to change as he told students at georgetown university today in a speech addressing policing and race relations. while that will be a critical improvement, it was not the most memorable part of his roughly 30-minute address. instead, it was his painfully honest delivery of the hard truths about policing and race relations that he believes we as

a country need to hear. and as far as i know he may be first person in his position to say them out loud. >> those of us in law enforcement must redouble our efforts to resist bias and prejudice. we must better understand the people we serve and protect by trying to know deep in our gut what it feels like to be a law-abiding young black man walking down the street and encountering law enforcement. we must understand how that young man may see us. we must resist the lazy shortcuts of cynicism and approach him with respect and decency. >> the president and ceo of the national urban league. mark, did this strike you as remarkable as it did me? >> it's not j. edgar hoover. i think james comey took a very bold step as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, the head of the fbi, who runs a

large policing organization himself to really acknowledge what so many of us certainly know and understand that this unconscious bias this tendency for there to be an element of race in policing is real. and it's not imaginary. so his acknowledgment of it is going to raise the next most important question. and that's going to be what in fact, do we do about it? what next steps need to be taken? >> yeah, i mean to your point, the part that's being shared a lot is when he quoted avenue q. let's play a little bit of that. >> much research points to the widespread existence of unconscious bias. many people in our white majority culture have unconscious racial biases and react differently to a white face than a black face. in fact, we all, white and black, carry various biases around with us. i am reminded of the song from

the broadway hit "avenue q," everyone's a little bit racist a part of which goes like this. look around and you will find no one's really color blind. maybe it's a fact we all should face. everyone makes judgments based on race. you should be grateful i did not try to sing that. >> so getting a laugh there. he went on to talk about how that actually plays out in the real world when officers encounter young black men versus young white men. and he talked about the fbi's own history and law enforcement's own history of breeding distrust in these communities. to your question of what can be done about it unconscious bias is in your own mind. what can a police agency or even an fbi director do about that? >> well many corporations, and i wouldn't suggest that it's been totally successful have confronted unconscious bias and the problem by focusing on

unconscious bias in their training and in their professional development. indeed, in our ten-point policing plan that we've put out there that we're going to be presenting to the president's task force, we talk about the need to do training very differently. this speaks to the need for there to be a component of this training focused on unconscious bias. but the fbi director acknowledging it so publicly so clearly, i think is a refreshing step. but our challenge is going to be make it an operable step. >> a couple things he talked about concretely was he wanted to see more recruitment of people of color into the fbi itself. we know there's an interesting and fraught history the african-americans have with the fbi. i don't know if it struck you, but it reminded me of no one more than eric holder. you'll recall eric holder really received a tremendous backlash though he said a lot of the same

things. how do you think it will be received coming from a white fbi director as opposed to a black attorney general? >> the deniers, those who deny the truth, deny reality, deny the fact will yell loud. but i think reasonable minds and reasonable people will recognize that we have an issue we've got to confront in this nation. if we confront it we're going to be better off as a nation. so i think there's going to be a debate. but the fbi director saying this, i think, adds to the many voices who have said it before who may be voices that people expect to understand. look, he said we all do black, white, we all have unconscious bias that we've got to confront. but that unconscious bias by law enforcement directed to young african-american men particularly is what sparked many of the problems we saw in 2014.

>> yeah. mark, thank you for being here. >> thank you. all right. and now let's get a quick reid alert out of eastern europe. there are signs of hope for peace in ukraine. ukraine and russia appear to have struck a deal to end their months' long conflict. the agreement, which is set to take effect on sunday establishes a demilitarized buffer zone, calls for the release of prisoner, and sets up a political solution for the renals under the control of pro-russian rebels. many wonder if this deal will stick given that the one deal last september didn't hold up. this morning, a spokesman claimed more russian tanks crossed the border overnight. why this matters to the u.s. president obama has considered arming ukraine if there's no deal, which could mean new tensions between russia and us. we'll be right back.

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we are following major developments out of alabama this hour, where at any time now a u.s. district court judge could

make a significant decision clearing the way for same-sex marriage in the southern state. the judge will attempt to clear up supposed confusion over whether local officials must comply with a federal ruling to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. some alabama probate judges have refused to issue those marriage licenses to same-sex couples, while some others have stopped issues any marriage licenses at all. this comes as supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg tells bloomberg she thinks americans are ready for gay marriage. >> the change in people's attitudes on that issue has been enormous. in recent years, people have said this is the way i am. and others looked around and we discovered it's our next door neighbor. we're very fond of them. or it's our child's best friend. or even our child. i think that as more and more people came out and said this

is who i am and the rest of us have to recognize that they are one of us. >> let's bring in roberta kaplan an attorney who successfully argued against the defensive marriage act on behalf of her client edith windsor and who's been on the front lines of this fight in courtrooms across the country. and joining me by phone is state representative patricia todd alabama's only openly gay state lawmaker. thanks to both of you being here. i'm going to start at the table with you, robbie. as of now, we have 23 of the 67 counties in alabama complying with this federal ruling which is now a month old and struck down alabama's ban on same-sex marriage. for those who are not complying, is this a matter of being confused about the federal law or just simply defying it? >> well first of all, that's going to be resolved really today. there's a hearing going on now as we speak in the federal courtroom in which the federal judge is going to decide this issue i think once and for all.

for some of these probate judges, the local probate judges in alabama, look in one sense, i understand where they are because they have a federal court telling them this is unconstitutional, and you have to let gay people get married. then they have their own state supreme court justice saying the opposite. now, we all know and they all know there's this thing called the supremacy clause and that federal law controls and that's what the court is going to order today. so on the one hand i think they know that. on the other hand, they were kind of put in a difficult position. >> so patricia todd state representative todd what happens then when the inevitable ruling comes down from the federal level saying no actually, the supremacy clause is real, and you have to comply with this? in terms of the real world, how does this wind up playing out? how, under alabama law, could one actually enforce this? >> well i don't think so. we've been here before. alabama doesn't exactly have a history for obeying federal court orders.

and of course we've got our supreme court justice saying he doesn't have to do that. i'm like why do we have the federal courts if you can do whatever you want to anyway? slowly, the probate judges are coming around and starting to issue marriage licenses because they're not issuing any. so they're getting a lot of pushback from heterosexual couples who want to get their marriage license and can't because these probate judges are, you know, protesting the decision. we all know the supreme court's going to rule in our favor, but alabama, just like it has done in the past will continue to dig in and figure out any way they cannot to have to comply. >> yeah i mean a lot of people are sort of doing shades of george wallace standing in the schoolhouse door. it isn't exactly precisely the same, but the defiance is the same. robbie, i'm wondering if as a matter of law, could a probate judge simply decide to stop issuing marriage licenses? that's what some of them are doing. they're saying nobody gets married.

>> again, that's not going to last very long. you just heard it. there are people who want to get married. there are probably women who are pregnant that want to be married when their kids come. they're going to start marrying again. in the case that i brought in the neighboring staid of mississippi, the second only african-american federal judge in the state of mississippi in his opinion quoted faulkner who said the past is never dead it's not even past. he was talking about this very issue. that's what's happening. but we learned our lessons, thank god, in the civil rights movement. i think this is going to move much more quickly than it did. >> unfortunately, we're out of time, but you said something about this federal judge, the history of this federal judge. >> her grandfather was one of the four judges, they were called the fifth circuit four, who enforced civil rights throughout the south after brown v. board. so she knows what she's doing here. >> fascinating. all right. robbie kaplan and state representative pennsylvania trish that todd thank you both

for being here. now a reid alert from the floor of the u.s. senate where lawmakers have just voted 93-5 to confirm ashton carter as the next secretary of defense. carter will replace chuck hagel who announced his resignation in november. that wraps things up for "the reid report." see you back here tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern. be sure to visit us online at thereidreport.msnbc.com. "the cycle" is up next. hey, cyclists. >> hey, joy. we're going to dig more into the president's plan to defeat isis. i have thoughts about jon stewart's departure. and ari is going to do an impersonation of his favorite "snl" skit. >> melber get ready. you have about three minutes to rehearse. "the cycle" is up next.

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i'm krystal ball. the debate is on concerning president obama's war powers request for isis. some within his own party say that the draft is too vague and too broad. while republican hawks fear that it places too many limits on the presidency. the first hearing since the draft was delivered kicked off today in the house foreign affairs committee. >> now he needs to make the case to the american people and this committee as we work to examine this proposal in depth. >> it's critical and it's clear that we consider this matter as the most serious of decisions that all of us make as a congress. >> as we debate to give the president the power to go to war against isis it would be nice if we knew exactly what the strategy was to win that war. >> i've never heard of a president sending that kind of a request to congress. please, tie my hands, and give