y, which is set to run out on friday. if congress can't come to an agreement over the president's executive action on immigration, 30,000 dhs workers will be furloughed, and thousands more will not get paid. one of the governors expected at the white house is republican governor scott walker. he set off a fire storm of criticism over the weekend when he told "the washington post" reporters he doesn't know if president obama is a christian. he said quote, i don't know i've actually never talked about it or i haven't read about that. i've never asked him that. joining me now, "the washington post" political reporter and managing editor of think progress who calls walker's comments surprising. before we get to that i want to get to what people see as a more substantive issue that could impact 50 states this is the holdup on funding the department of homeland security. karen, you already have some republicans criticizing those within their own party who want to hold up funding here.

>> yeah. i think the political danger for republicans, a substantial one, as recently as last november voters gave them the reigns of the entire legislative branch. to be shutting down a crucial government agency is not the kind of signal that they want to send about the republican brand of governance especially as we are in this period where we are laying a premise for 2016 and those elections. >> and already you have senator corker, for example, warning members of his own party karen, that they could be blamed for any fallout. terry mccauliffe of virginia saying how many jobs would be impacted in his state alone, some workers would be furloughed impacted at a critical time as the country and world strategizes what to do about isis karen. >> this is department of homeland security. it is the department charged

with keeping us safe from what is an increasingly dangerous world. so again, i don't think that this is exactly the message that the republicans want to be sending about the brand of republican governance so soon after an election that was a triumph for them. >> and obviously they want to hold it up in attempt to derail his immigration plan and we are going to hear from the president shortly. as we do monday morning quarterback here you've got some republican senators including lindsey graham as well who say this is a no-no. what are we expecting to hear from the president that could be effective with some governors who expressed his policies and leadership are all wrong, but on this they may need to side with him. >> it is remarkable governors that need to govern their own states understand the importance of homeland security, certainly the president will carry that message when he speaks to them. if republicans promised in november after they won that

this will be their attempt to show americans how they're going to govern certainly this isn't the way to move on that agenda. >> and let's switch to the other hot topic. one of the governors, scott walker, will be in attendance. over the weekend as mentioned, igor his comments were surprising. i think many see it clear that he wants to fund raise here. what surprised you about the remarks? >> it is surprising because scott walker seems to believe his ticket to the white house is to emulate people like michele bachmann or sarah palin that ran in 2012 on this platform of appealing to the most conservative base in iowa and south carolina. what they learned is you can't raise money off those comments and can't win the white house off those comments. if scott walker is trying to define himself on the national stage here these kinds of remarks alienate well heeled

donors, present him to the country as someone that's not a serious candidate. >> karen, you have some conservative -- to the point that they appeal to a certain segment of the republican party, others are asking the questions to show that governor scott walker is not prepared is he not ready to answer the simple questions, then does that mean the harder questions that he will face later on will leave him more off track? >> certainly it does show that this is you know a politician despite the fact he has been through three elections in the last four years is someone that's relatively new to the national stage. if he decides to run for president, you know his life is going to be one town hall and one living room after another in iowa and new hampshire, so certainly when john mccain famously was asked whether president obama was a muslim he

learned that these are the kinds of things that a serious candidate does not even entertain, or these kinds of misinformed comments by people. >> igor as karen pointed out, this is a question you would think a candidate or someone thinking of running for office would be able to answer but you have some critics that say a serious journalist would not ask what religion you believe the president subscribes to. >> reporters are asking because they want to know how much is scott walker going to pander to the right wing base the most conservative elements of the republican party, and that's an important question. that's going to inform his candidacy moving forward to see again if he is a guy who is looking to govern set a real agenda for republicans in 2016 or is he somebody that's going to play more to the base and launch a candidacy that isn't a

challenge to jeb bush who, for instance is steering clear of these kinds of comments. >> i want to pivot back to the issue at hand regarding funding of the department of homeland security. there's a new poll out, cnn poll 53% of americans blame the republicans if the department shuts down here. treacherous territory, far more treacherous than scott walker's lack of answering as relates to the president and whether he is a christian. >> and history suggests that every time the government has shut down the republicans have been blamed. not only that a texas judge has given them an easy out by putting a stay on this whole order, leaving several months to be worked out in the courts. the republicans do have an escape hatch here. >> all right, thank you both for your time. we greatly appreciate it. by the way to our audience we will monitor the governor's event and bring you the president's remarks as soon as he begins.

turning now to a new terror threat. right now, there's heightened security at the mall of america, the largest mall in this country, one of the busiest. security comes in the wake of threats made on a video released by the al qaeda link the terror group, al shabaab. they call foray tax against western malls and names the mall of america. this is the same group that claimed responsibility for the attack in kenya where more than 60 people were killed. department of homeland security says it is taking the threats very seriously, but also say they're not aware of a specific credible plot against the mall of america or any other u.s. commercial center. still, dhs secretary jeh johnson urges americans to be on guard. >> i am not telling people to not go to the mall. i think there needs to be an awareness, there needs to be vigilence, and you know be careful obviously. >> nbc's john yang at the mall

of america for us. talk about the security what changes they made even though it is hard to determine what should be done in wake of a threat like this. >> reporter: that's right, tamron, it is business as usual here. the stores opened for business a little bit ago. now, the police local police and mall security have their own security force of about 100 people say there will be some things shoppers will see, there will be increased patrols, but there will also be things they won't see and that they quite frankly don't want to talk about for fear of giving potential attacker knowledge about how to get around what they're doing. and as you say, this is a big place. this is a security experts tell you, the very definition of a soft target. multiple entrances, 12,000 people a day working here. 40 million a year visiting.

you have about 5 million square feet of floor space by very definition of a shopping mall. freedom of movement people moving around. now because of that this is also something that security folks have been thinking about and that local police have been thinking about, and that they have steps and things in place, steps that they are taking to try to increase security but as you say, the federal homeland security says they know of no specific credible threat against the mall of america. right now, it is business as usual, tamron. >> business as usual. i am curious, it is early, have you seen or been able to talk to people? do you get the sense that shoppers around there are even aware of this? it has not been the big headline. >> reporter: i think yesterday we were able to talk to some shoppers and they were -- some said they were more concerned

about the cold than terror threats. some said it is cost or part of modern life now when you have a big place where a lot of people gather there are potential threats. security officials also say that al shabaab, the group that released this video, has yet to show they have the ability to do something outside of eastern africa. but one reason why there's special concern in minneapolis is that this is home to a large somali american population and that some experts say within the past few years there have been perhaps as many as dozens of somalis who have left here and gone al shabaab, some have even gone to isis. so that's another reason there's particular concern about the mall of america, tamron. >> john yang thank you so much. developing now, new defense secretary ashton carter is at a

u.s. base in kuwait where he convened an extraordinary conference of american military diplomatic, intelligence experts on strategy for countering isis. carter faced reporters, was asked about the possibility of american boots on the ground against isis. >> like any tool we use into complete defeat of isil i think we need to be convinced that any use of our forces is necessary, is going to be sufficient that we've thought through not just the first step but the second step and the third step so those are the things in respect to that question and every question that i am giving as secretary of defense about use of force. i want to make sure we thought everything through. >> the conference comes a day after isis released a new propaganda video showing children in the video they refer to as cubs as isis calls them

as they're seen exercising chanting, praying alongside the terrorists. also today, an intense search is on for three british teenage girls that left london for turkey last tuesday and are believed to be headed to syria to join isis. over the weekend, their loved ones pleaded with them to come home. >> a message i would have for amira is to get back home where we miss you, we cannot stop crying. please think twice, don't go to syria, of course. >> nbc news chief correspondent richard engel joins us from istanbul turkey. we will get to the latest with the young girls, but i want to ask you, richard, in the past hour, the u.s. and its allies according to the joint taskforce assembled staged 25 air strikes on isis in iraq and syria in the past 24 hours, focusing on cities kobani and the bottom

line is this group wants the public to know how many air strikes continue to batter isis or as they attempt to batter isis. >> reporter: well i think striking isis is probably a better term than battering isis. they have proven to be quite resilient. the u.s. is intensifying air strikes, in some places making a big difference. kurdish forces peshmerga forces took land away from isis. isis has been losing a lot of men, particularly around kobani. kobani was a losing battle for isis, yet isis continued to throw men at kobani. much to the delight of the u.s. military, they were happy to see isis sending trucks and fighters to kobani only to have them struck and killed by drones and u.s. aircraft or coalition aircraft from above. so the air campaign is

continuing. the question that i think you're seeing the defense secretary talking about now is does this air campaign significantly escalate. does the u.s. try to make a big play and take back a major city specifically the city of mosul, because you can attack from the air for a very long time. look what the u.s. has been doing in pakistan for many years now, yet al qaeda in pakistan is still there, and is still able to hold on. i think that is why the secretary is saying we have to think about this come up with a broad strategy we have to figure out what happens after the first step and second step and third step. i think those comments are reassuring to people across the military who are concerned that we are going into a fight with isis without a broader plan. >> some criticism coming out as well, i wanted to ask you about iraq's defense ministers criticized the u.s. yesterday for what he described as telegraphing a plan to retake

mosul, and the strategy that could begin as early as april. what's been the response to that criticism, richard? >> reporter: well i think the iraqis are in a poor position to criticize anyone frankly. the iraqi military collapsed in cowardness in the wake of isis many say that the iranian backed shi'a militia are stronger than the government itself have been engaged in their own offensives. for the iraqi military to criticize the u.s. military which is keeping the iraqi military afloat sending in weapons, advisers it is not the smartest move on behalf of the iraqis. there are some wondering why the u.s. is telegraphing moves. could be some tactical motivations for that perhaps they want to draw isis fighters

into mosul to repeat what i was talking about in kobani want to get the fighters out in the open to attack them from the air but right now the iraqis are in poor position to be criticizing the military effectiveness of any part of the war on isis. >> and also richard, the latest on three young girls believed to be headed to syria to join isis they left london for turkey which is where you are. why do their families believe they're now one of the latest who may very well be going to join isis? >> reporter: partly because of their social media communications. they were in contact over facebook and other online means with some pretty dubious characters, and they're very worried that the three girls, two 15-year-olds and 16-year-old, decided they would leave their homes in the u.k. come to turkey which was and

remains the transit route for isis to go into syria, and then go into syria, and you're seeing the pleas from their families telling them begging them don't do it. come home. our hearts are breaking. we can't sleep. we are crying. so far we haven't heard anything from the girls. no indication that the pleas are being met, and frankly don't know where they are. british police have come to istanbul, are working with turkish officials to try and find the three girls, but the suspicion among turkish police is that they probably already crossed into syria, but nobody has been able to confirm that. >> thank you very much richard. appreciate it. a delay in the "american sniper" murder trial just as closing arguments were set to start today. we will have a live report. and schools in north texas are closed as freezing rain is causing accidents and road closures across the region. and of course this. >> stay weird, stay different. >> equal rights for women in the

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welcome back. developing now, the president and vice president speak to the national governors association at the white house state dining room, obviously funding for department of homeland security a major issue being battled out between republicans and democrats in congress. but let's listen in. >> in addition to that as time has gone on the vast majority of economists on both sides of the aisle have acknowledged this work. university of chicago did a poll

and found 88% of american economists said that the recovery act was worth doing, and 93% agreed it lowered the nation's unemployment rate. but that's because of you. and by the way the mayors. they were equally as responsive. michael grun walled even wrote a book about what he called the new new deal to discuss how it worked. but in the past in the past year or so i also had a chance to be in a number of your states. i had a chance to travel with governor cuomo and governor haley with ways to discuss a 21st century infrastructure. you all know. last time and we met, i sat with some of you and said if you could pick one single infrastructure project in your state that would have a profound impact in your view on the economy of your state and growth of your state, attracting business to your state, you all couldn't just come up with one. most of you came up with two,

three, four. i don't know how much time we spent, terry, you allowed me to spend with you in virginia talking about what happens possible. >> we are listening to the vice president talk about the economy and recovery. i want to bring in quickly my colleague, senior political editor mark murray. we knew and know a lot of this will be focused on the economy and how different states have recovered and some ways in a tremendous way. but we also know the big headline here is how 50 states would be impacted by the potential battle over department of homeland security and funding there. >> tamron that's right. the clock is ticking, the deadline when that funding expires is friday february 27th. you've seen a whole host of states including virginia that said our state will be impacted. one reason virginia will be impacted, the sheer number of department of homeland security personnel who make virginia

home. it is worth noting tamron most of the department of homeland security allow workers that are essential, 85% of them still go to work perform all of their duties. just doing it without a paycheck. the administration is trying to say in this time of security threats to the mall of america and other places this is not the time to have a fight over dhs funding. it is also worth noting that some republicans, including senate republicans, are saying now is not the best time to have the fight as well. we disagree with the president when it comes to immigration. let's fully fund department of homeland security. those are the battle lines. the question is does congress start to ask do the governors after hearing the pitch from the administration start to call their members of congress to make sure that legislation is fully funded if not for the long term at least for the short term. >> and those that were not listening, focus on the republican party, there's in fighting in the party. some governors saying this

battle is not worth it. for those that want to follow the line here who see this as a sticking point, who are they appealing to at this point? >> tamron, most of the conservative base many house republicans want to see this. this is something that they want to be able to end up having a message to the administration that it was wrong to have president obama's executive action when it comes to immigration and there's a concern among republicans that they cave in now that they end up caving for future fights down the line. now is the time to hold fast. of course again as i just mentioned, the backdrop of increased security threats, war resolution they want to debate against isis playing politics with national security is always a tricky situation. we saw this in 2002 when the department of homeland security was created before the mid term elections. that didn't turn out well for democrats when they tried to fight creation of department of

homeland security. tamron treacherous for politics and the deadline is going. >> vice president is introducing president obama. >> making politics work in this country. because we are so well positioned as a country to be the dominant economic force in the 21st century. we have the cheapest energy in the world, we are the epicenter of energy remain so the remainder of this sen tir ee. have the most venture capitalists. our workers three times as productive as in china. we have the greatest research universities in the world. and we have you. so we are counting on a good year counting on being able to work with you on so many things that are common interest. ladies and gentlemen, the person most anxious to work with you is a man i am about to introduce now, my friend the president of the united states barack obama.

[ applause ] >> thank you, everybody, thank you. thank you so much. thank you. everybody have a seat. thank you guys. thank you. welcome to the white house once again. the only thing more glamorous than a black tie dinner with hall and oates is q and a with obama and biden. we saved the best for last. i know you guys are excited. i want to thank everybody for being here. i'm going to be very brief. as joe said last year was a breakthrough year for the united states. last year the economy created more than 3 million new jobs. that's the best job growth in any single year since the 1990s. same was true for manufacturing

growth. manufacturing jobs grew even faster than the overall economy. deficit cut by two-thirds, energy production at all-time high. all told, businesses have created 12 million jobs in five years, and best news of all, wages started to go up. so america is as well positioned as we've been in a very long time, and the question is what kind of choices do we make together to make sure that momentum is sustained. i have talked about it before i want to emphasize it again during our conversations, the belief that middle class economics is what works. the idea that not only do we want the country as a whole to prosper, but we want to make sure that every person in this country has opportunity. if they work hard they can get ahead. that prosperity is broadly

shared and not only is everybody sharing in that prosperity, but everybody is contributing to that prosperity. and in order to do that we have to make sure everybody has a fair shot that everybody does their fair share, and everybody is playing by the same set of rules. we have to make sure that anybody out there who is scrimping, saving trying to figure out how to send their kids to college, worrying about retirement, that they've got some sense of security and some sense that they can make it. as joe indicated, i think every one of the governors here in every one of the states of this great union of ours cares about these same things and is doing a lot of creative work to enhance the opportunities for advancement for their citizens. you've got states like oklahoma that are leading the way in making sure we are educating our children at the earliest age

with high quality early childhood and pre-k education. since 2013 17 states have joined companies like the gap and walmart to raise minimum wage, make sure that some of the hardest working people in america are able to support their families if working full time. states are leading the way removing unnecessary licensing requirements, so workers can start to fill some of the jobs they already have the skills for. you have states like california that are leading the way in providing paid leave so that mom or dad can take a day off to care for a sick child or aging parent without having to give up a paycheck. and states are leading the way making sure more people have the security of health insurance. today thanks to the affordable care act more than ten million americans now have peace of mind that comes with being covered. i want to thank all of the governors, democrats and republicans, supporters and some opponents of the aca who

expanded medicaid to millions of people over the past two years. i think there's recognition that it makes sense and it is bigger than politics. as governor kasich said for ohio, it saves lives, no question about it. and if your state isn't one of the 28 that expanded medicaid i urge you to consider it because our team is prepared to work with you to make it happen. because some of you may not always agree with my approach or policies i think that we can all agree it is a good thing when a family doesn't lose a home because a member of the family gets sick and surely we can agree it is a good thing when businesses have roads and bridges and ports, and the kind of internet connections that allow all of us to thrive. surely we can all agree when workers and management come together around helping families to getting ahead, that's a good

thing, and that it is a good thing when workers and businesses can compete on a level playing field with new agreements for fair and free trade in some of the world's fastest growing markets. so that's my agenda for the next two years. congress may pass parts of that agenda, not others. but i am going to keep pushing for these ideas because i believe it is the right thing to do i think it is right for america, and i will keep urging congress to move past some of the habits of manufactured crises, self inflicted wounds that have often bogged us down the last five years. we have one example of that right now, unless congress acts one week from now, more than 100,000 dhs employees, border patrol tsa inspectors show up to work without getting paid. they all work in your states. these are folks who if they don't have a paycheck are not going to be able to spend that money in your states.

it will have direct impact on your economy and it will have direct impact on america's national security because their hard work helps to keep us safe. as governors, you know that we can't afford to play politics with our national security. so instead, let's try to focus on some of the things we have in common, and deliver real results. i want to thank governor ins lee and fellow west coast governors that helped reach an agreement that reopened 29 ports, kept business flowing. i have to add a plug for tom perez who went out there and i think really made extraordinary contribution to that effort, that's going to make a big difference for the country's economy as a whole. that's the kind of thing we can accomplish when we put aside divisions and common sense steps to improve the economy for

everybody. it is an example i hope congress follows in the months ahead. keep in mind even when congress does not act or does not act fast enough i think we can still work together to make a difference. whether you're a democrat or republican what i found, the more specific they are on focusing problems less concerned we are about politics the more we can accomplish. >> president obama addressing the national governor's association at the white house. as you heard the president talking about points where he believes both sides can come together. also highlighting the latest division on capitol hill over funding of department of homeland security, the president reminding governors of states represented that their states would be impacted as a result of people being furloughed and having to show up for work whether tsa or other department related to homeland security and not be receiving their pay.

the deadline is friday to reach that agreement. we will have more on that. up next delay in the "american sniper" murder trial just as closing arguments are set to begin today. we will keep you updated on the latest from texas. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle see how much you could save. there's only one egg that just tastes better. fresher. more flavorful. delicious. only one egg with better nutrition... like more vitamins d, e, and omega 3s. and 25% less saturated fat. only one egg good enough for my family. because why have ordinary

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welcome back. closing arguments in the trial of the man accused of murdering "american sniper" chris kyle was cancelled today. one more rebuttal witness will take the stand, and then the jury will decide if eddie ray routh was insane as the defense claims when he shot and killed the former navy s.e.a.l. and chad littlefield in texas. the burden is on the defense to prove routh didn't know right from wrong at the time of the shooting. if he is convicted, faces life without parole since they're not seeking the death penalty. there's been emotional testimony

on both sides, including tearful testimony from the widow of chris kyle who attended the academy awards where the movie that portrayed her husband's life was up for best picture. >> i wanted to be here to represent chris obviously, and it is not the ideal time to do that, but i still want to embrace everything that he should be here to do with me. >> she did return to texas overnight for the trial, again, that was delayed today. also emotional testimony from eddie ray routh's mother and girlfriend. routh himself did not and will not testify. joining me lisa green, author of the book "on your case." thank you for joining me. we talked about how remarkable this is. this happened the shootings happened two years ago. there you have the movie getting a lot of attention, some $400 million i believe it made by now. and chris kyle's wife on the red carpet representing her husband rushing back to the trial. >> dramatic beyond any drama

that a screen writer could create, right? the academy awards jurors presumably home watching the academy awards no reason for them not to. here's the widow, and bradley cooper both spoke eloquently about chris kyle's service. add to that the weather that makes it impossible for them to come in. you have a set of circumstances for high drama. the defense wanted to delay trial, have change of venue, now we see why they wanted that delay. look at the influences that the jurors who pledged to be you know -- not to let it influence them nonetheless, who couldn't think of the incredible sacrifice chris kyle made how tragic that he is gone. >> eight days of testimony, jury consists of ten women, two men here. if you had to say at this point if the defense has set out, they set out to show that he was not sane he did not know right from

wrong, had they been able to accomplish that? >> it has been a twist and turn trial we talked through every day. we have seen a lot of evidence, not just expert evidence but family evidence on routh's part showing he was undone by the war, violent, threatened suicide, held his girlfriend up with a knife, and then his behavior before and after the day of the killing, not someone who was sane. on the other hand, it is the defense burden to persuade jurors that he didn't know right from wrong at the time. i think the prosecution has done an effective job with competing expert witnesses who not only said routh knew what he was doing, but suggested some of his behavior was a coverup. >> when you see situations like this where both sides have their expert witnesses, does one usually cancel out the other with juries? >> that's the prevailing wisdom. i look at it this way, it was the defense's responsibility to be more persuasive. if it is a cancel out, defense

is done the prosecution will get the conviction. i think by the numbers, the prosecution had twice as many witnesses, two to the defense's one. i think the breadth of what they talked about, not just saying not insane for legal reasons, but lying, drug usage, even if sympathetic to routh, challenging to acquit on these grounds. >> testimony expected to resume tomorrow. we could see closing arguments soon after that. thank you so much. greatly appreciate it lisa. as the daughter of whitney houston, bobbi kristina brown, remains in the hospital a month after she was found unconscious in her bathtub. her boyfriend and boyfriend argue whether gordon should be allowed to visit her bedside. in a statement, brown said he only potentially let gordon in if he meets certain conditions. we are only concerned with individuals that can help bobbi

kristina and bring resolution to the investigation. obviously mr. gordon is desperate to visit bobbi kristina as he wants the world to believe at least not desperate enough to inform bobby brown in writing what happened to bobbi kristina. gordon's attorneys responded, per his own words, mr. brown only offered opportunity to potentially meet with bobbi kristina if nick were to meet certain conditions conditions that we his attorneys, have advised him not to meet. joining me journalist and contributor to vanity fair thank you for joining us again. first, what do we know about bobbi kristina's condition? as you know it has been back and forth for the last several days now. >> well she's pretty much the same. she had a tracheotomy last week which is sort of the normal procedure someone on a ventilator as long as she has, but there's no change in condition. i think the family on some level accepted that particularly whitney's family. but she's still on a ventilator not able to breathe on her own. >> regarding a battle between her father and boyfriend, many

people until her tragic turn thought that was her husband, and learned they were not actually married. now bobby brown's attorney says we will let nick gordon visit if he meets these conditions which include telling them what happened in the home leading up to her being found in that bathtub. >> yes, because you have so many reports, actually from the police, she had bruises on her, that she had other injuries when found. the drug use beforehand which i think bobby wants to understand what was happening there. bobby also wants him to talk to the police which he has not done. i don't think those are necessarily unrealistic things to ask for as the father struggling with whether or not to cut life support on his daughter. >> is nick gordon under investigation? in the statement from bobby brown's attorneys, mr. gordon has every right to remain silent and not share. we are only concerned about

things that can bring resolution to the investigation. this is from bobby's attorney. >> everyone that was there, the guy that was there, her companion, he is under suspicion, they always had doubts about the guy, whitney and bobby's family. to have bobbi kristina in this situation is traumatic to them. they want to understand what part he played in it. the police want to understand that as well. >> so he has not been in to talk with police or answer any questions? >> not so far. that really seems a little suspicious. i think for bobby, he is like come on give us something so we can understand why my daughter is in the shape she's in. >> allison, thank you so much. greatly appreciate you joining us today. we will have much more on her condition as the family decides to release her, when they decide to release her. thank you so much. coming up meryl streep's reaction to patricia arquette's speech about pay he can quit for women has gone viral. we will have more of big

speeches that focus on social issues. live report from l.a. coming up. like the "newsnation" on facebook. at facebook.com/tamronhall. getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more... ...add one a day 50+. complete with key nutrients we may need. plus it supports physical energy with b vitamins. one a day 50+ curling up in bed with a favorite book is nice. but i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40

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we are back with breaking news. the justice department is asking a texas judge to grant an emergency stay that would block the effect of a ruling last week that put on hold the president's new immigration policy. pete williams joins us live from washington, d.c. with the latest details. pete, what else can you tell us? >> reporter: kind of an interesting filing here. first of all, they notified the judge as is the normal procedure that they intend to appeal his ruling of last week that found this order to be incorrectly putting this policy in place, the government didn't seek notice of comment. what the justice department says is number one, we want you to stay your own order from last week to give us time to appeal. number two, if you won't do that, just block its enforcement

as far as texas is concerned. remember, 26 states sued the government. the judge said only texas had the right to actually pursue this, and texas' claim is that the injury would be that people would suddenly become eligible for driver's licenses which would cost texas a lot of money. if this policy was ever struck down texas would have to try to go undo all of those driver's licenses and for that reason the judge put it on hold. the government says if you won't grant us all of the relief we ask for, then just put it on hold as far as texas is concerned and let us take applications from people in the rest of the country. now, there's no time line here. it's an emergency application. the judge will probably ask for a response from texas before acting. but the government is moving pretty quickly here on this. >> we'll follow this throughout the day. it was take long night on the west coast and even longer night for those of us on the east

coast who stayed up to watch the academy awards. "birdman" took best picture and top director and top acting honors "to the theory of everything" and julie yanmoore and patricia arquette led the theme of the evening, stirring acceptance speeches with what "the new york times" described as a feminist call to arms. >> to every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. it's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the united states of america. [ applause ] >> another moving movement was the performance of "glory" which brought the audience to its feet and moved a number of stars to

tears. they followed up with powerful speeches as they accepted the oscar for best song. >> transcends race, gender, religion religion, sexual orientation and social status. >> we live in the most incarcerated country in the world. there are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850. people are marching with our song. we want to tell you, we are with you, we see you and love you and march on. >> and joining me now, variety film editor thank you so much for joining us. >> hi tamron. >> let's talk about the social tone of the speeches and i think people expected a social tone in the event of common and john legend winning because that's been the tone of the speeches but we got surprise with patricia arquette. >> it was a happy surprise. that clip we saw was one of the highlights of the night. usually when actors read from

comments, it's pretty boring, but with patricia arquette because she was so passionate and comments were so unexpected people were very taken aback by it and it was great for a woman in hollywood to make the statements because hollywood isn't always the kindest to women -- >> not just hollywood, across the board. paid less than men in a number of fields. looking at the reaction from meryl streep she had that sisterhood moment highlighting some discussions we've had about women in hollywood and beyond. >> and jennifer lopez, sitting next to meryl streep both very happy by that speech. >> what else did you see as a highlight moment that went beyond the glitz and glamour to something deeper? >> i thought the opening number from neil patrick harris was

great but after that the show felt -- it didn't really quite work. he was as first time host a little nervous, a lot of lines weren't working and viewership was down 10%. so from last year when ellen degeneres hosted and she was fun and did selfies with the audience and ordered pizza. we want a good time and see celebrities cutting loose and having fun. we love of the political speeches, those were great but other than that, this year's oscars fell flat. >> the speeches we've called political really do tie into the films that were nominated. i mean julieann remarks on alzheimer's, it would seem only natural and john legend to talk about social injustice, the theme of the film. >> a lot of people hadn't seen movies that were nominated and the movie everyone did see, "american sniper" only won one

for best sound editing. the oscars are about loving all movies of all different kinds and they don't have to only honor independent movies but movies that people have seen. "american sniper" probably should have won a few more oscars. >> i feel we have the conversation every year the mainstream movie goers go to see the big block busters are never nominated. >> it's true. it is true the year "avatar" lost to hurt locker very few had seen. it felt especially true this year the best picture nominees box office was very low. a lot of people hadn't seen "birdman" or "boyhood" ann also surprised birdman won best picture and director we thought there would be a split. hollywood liked "birdman" so much because it was about acting and actors. >> to your point, some of the

numbers coming out, deadline is reporting the preliminary ratings show a 12% drop in the oscars. so it's around 10 to 12% but not necessarily a good thing for sure. thank you and have a good time in beautiful los angeles while we're freezing here. >> thank you very much tamron. >> that does it for this edition of "news nation." "andrea mitchell reports" is up next. (vo) after 50 years of designing cars for crash survival, subaru has developed our most revolutionary feature yet. a car that can see trouble... ...and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not honda. not ford or any other brand.

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i'm type e. my golden years will not just be gold plated. i had 3 different 401(k)s. e*trade offers rollover options and a retirement planning calculator. now i know "when" i'm going to retire. not "if." right now, kayla family speaks. they tell savannah guthrie about the pain and frustration trying to save their daughter. >> do you feel like our government did enough to help you? help her? >> i think they wanted to but, again, the policy and i don't think anyone had any idea this group would be as powerful as they were.

>> savannah will be here live and new threat an al qaeda offshoot that killed 67 people in a shopping mall in kenya is now targeting the mall of america. >> i'm not telling people to not go to the mall. i think there needs to be an awareness and needs to be vigilance and be careful, obviously. >> and the oscar goes to -- it was politics that dominated the night. >> we say that "selma" is now because the struggle for justice is right now. we know that the voting rights act that they fall for 50 years as being compromised right now. ♪