tv News Nation MSNBC February 26, 2015 8:00am-9:01am PST
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the revelation follows yesterday's arrests of through young men who were living in new york on charges of plotting to help isis. undercover agents say one offered to shoot president obama and police officers and also plant a bomb at coney island. the man was arrested at new york's kennedy airport while attempting to board a night to turkey with plans to go on to syria and join isis. prosecutors say his roommate had a ticket to travel to turkey next month. a third new york city man arrested in florida is accused of helping fund those efforts. >> this is real. this is the concern about the lone wolf-inspired to act without ever going to the middle east or the concern once they get to the mideast to acquire fighting skills and capabilities and then attempting to return to the country. nbc's chief foreign correspondent itched engel joins me and investigative reporter
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jonathan dienst. jihadi john has been identified. what else do we know about his background? >> reporter: mohammed emwazi, kuwaiti-born, had been on the radar of british intelligence officials for several years. he is a graduate of computer science from a middle class background in london. he moved back to kuwait at one stage in his life and he had been detained or at least questioned by british officials because of his alleged connection to the somali terror group al shabab a group that he was apparently very taken by a group that he tried -- was involved in a cell that wanted to channel money to al shabab. went, as you said to syria in 2012 was personally involved in torturing some of the hostages including american hostages waterboarding has been mentioned in particular of one thing that
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he was involved in and then of course, the executions themselves. he's been in several videos taunting the united states threatening the west holding that signature commando knife and then personally beheading american and other hostages so that -- his name comes-- that his name comes out is a new development and raises questions like we've seen in all of these cases. how did someone who was known to intelligence officials in this case, british intelligence officials, not just slip through the cracks but stay on their radar for many years and then end up in syria and -- and rise to become one of the group's most prominent spokesmen and executioners? >> those are obviously very serious questions. we know that he first appeared in a video back in august. british government had reportedly, as you well know, richard, identified him some time ago but did not disclose his name for what they called operational reasons. with that said those major questions regarding this individual and how he was
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allowed to slip through the cracks if that's the description, and there's officials in turkey and syria who have answered why that country continues to have this issue of individuals from new york and all over the world going through into syria. >> well, turkey hasn't answered to that question, and turkey is getting this question a lot. why are all of the militants from around the world ending up here in turkey and going into syria? look the easiest answer is it has an enormous border with syria. it has a 500-mile border that's been a path for smugglers to move between turkey and syria for generations, for hundreds of years, in fact. also other routes into syria or into iraq that would be available to -- to international jihadis, the route through lebanon, through jordan or through iraq through the baghdad international airport are not
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nearly as friendly as turkey is. you don't need a visa to come to turkey from a vast majority of countries. the airport is large. turkey is open for business and open for tourism, so if you just show up here without a criminal record and you come from a country like france or the middle east you probably won'tnoticed. if you try to arrive in baghdad, it's a complicated visa procedure, not very many are coming without specific reason you'll stand out much more. >> i'll get to you hang hon. let's bring in jonathan dienst regarding this latest development out of new york. what more do we know about these individuals and their plan to take that perhaps similar path right into syria? >> in federal court yesterday evening the prosecutor said two of the men admitted that when they were arrested that they made admissions that they did plan to go and travel to turkey and then on into syria to try to join isis and the fbi says they
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have recordings of these men saying that if we cannot join isis and join the fight over there, we will act here inside the u.s. and as you were mentioning before there were several possible targets that they were considering and talking about. that would be bomb coney island the amusement park the beach area out in brooklyn, perhaps even try to shoot the president among others. there's no evidence that they had any weapons, no evidence that they had gone out and purchased any bomb-making materials, but what the fbi says they did do was go out and get money, get help to buy plane tickets to go travel overseas. they were on the internet. they were becoming radicalized by watching some of these slick videos that isis produces, and that seems to really be connecting with some dis affectaffected young people. >> these kids worked at a gyro king. >> do you know how long they have been in the area? >> here for quite some time. here with papers born overseas
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in uzbekistan and kazakhstan, but they were in country legally, and -- and apparently became radicalized and were trying to, you know work in businesses, cell phone shops is where two of them met and then working at a gyro king. did not have much money, became rat callize and apparently plotted to try to go overseas according to the government. >> thank you for the details and thanks, richard, for joining us from istanbul. appreciate it. want to get you caught up on another developing story on capitol hill. the u.s. senate is about to begin debate over funding for the department of homeland security. the department is said to run out of money at midnight tomorrow. now, the senate voted overwhelmingly yesterday to move forward on a clean funding bill that is not tied to stopping the president's executive action on immigration. a series of procedural votes are now needed before final passage, and that vote could come as early as today. then, it will be up to speaker john boehner and house republicans to decide if they will take up the bill or force a partial dhs shutdown.
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in the last half hour democratic leaders held a press conference saying they will only accept a clean bill. >> we've had all kinds of rumors that the house is going to take our fully funded bill and send it back with a number of riders on it. it is a waste of time. we will not allow a conference to take place. it won't happen. >> it's harmful to our national security our homeland security for us to be inching along. it's about time for them to grow up and pass this bill. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us from capitol hill so kelly, obviously, you saw the breaking news that we've been following, these arrests in the new york area. when you start talking about homeland security and fund being there, this was a tight situation for the republican party. >> reporter: which has a reputation on being strong on protecting the homeland and national security so this is sort of an awkward place for them to be.
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we're in the weird space part modern day drama and part schoolhouse rock of how we get a bill back and forth between the two chambers and all that have matters because the -- the procedure is sometimes a big part of what is unfolding here and so you had the democratic leaders out front before speaker boehner is to address us in about 20 minutes or so to give his latest interpretation of what the house can do. the democrats out front trying to sort of carve out territory, urging the house lawmakers not to do anything that could mess up the works. that becomes more important as time shrinks before the deadline. will it have an effect on house conservatives? no, probably not, but part what have will need to happen is house democrats may ultimately be the key for john boehner. if he chooses to move something forward with some of his conservative members most upset and unwilling to go along he may have to rely on democrats to get this done so to hear from democrats this morning is an important sign. we don't know quite how this will unfold, but today is a
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critical day. we've also had these outside news stories and the reality coming into this debate. that doesn't always happen when things about funding are on the line. tamron? >> thank you very much. let me bring in democratic congressman adam schiff of california as a member of the house appropriations committee, heavily involved in the showdown over funding the homeland security department and also a member of the house intelligence committee. congressman, thanks so much for joining us again >> you bet. >> as you heard our reporter kelly o'donnell saying no one knows how this will shake out. you said before that america cannot relax its vigilance. we must work hard to enhance our ability to find and stop americans who seek to aid these killers. the conversationch terror here in this country and abroad at a time when dhs funding is a political football is certainly one of great concern i think for average americans. >> well, absolutely. i think average americans can't understand at all how congress is operating or failing to operate, and the reality is the speaker is going to have to make a decision.
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are they going to govern? they have a majority and are they going to responsibly govern? if they are and at the end of the day they will put forward a clean bill because that has to be done. should never have been tied up in this effort to de-fund the president's actions on immigration reform so i think at the end of the day we are going to take up the senate bill. it's just a question of how many other votes that the speaker will have to offer to placate this tea party base of his party, but it's simply irresponsible to even have gotten to this point. we thought we had gotten past this brinksmanship, this you know coming up to the brink of shutdowns, but apparently -- apparently not. apparently there's still an appetite for this in the gop conference. >> it's interesting you say, you know, it's irresponsible we've gotten to this point. a lot of people, again, are asking that question why are we at this point? certainly we know the republicans have sights set on the president's immigration order action but why are we here at this point, again, with the homeland security funding being
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batted about? >> well we're here for a very simple reason and that is that when a certain element within the gop, particularly in the house, can't get its way, and that is it takes up a bill on immigration, it either can't pass its own bill or can't override the president, when it can't get its own way it's prepared to shut down the works, and that's quite astounding. it's very destructive. we had hoped we weren't going to go through this again, but at the end of the day, they are still where they were last session. they are willing to bring everything to a halt if they can't get their way, and that's just no way to run a government. >> how do you feel that this will play out before friday at midnight? >> i think that there will be a heart to heart within the gop conference. there will be some face-saving votes they have to take to placate the members but at the end of the day there will be a clean bill that will attract democratic support in the house and will attract some of the moderate gop members that aren't running scared of the tea party and we will pass a clean bill.
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i think that's going to be end of the story. >> as i mentioned, you're a member of the house intelligence committee. i read just a short part of your reaction to the fbi arrests here in new york these three individuals, also the breaking news this jihadi john, the london man has been officially identified here but these headlines are frequent and there are great questions regarding our ally turkey and if that country can and should be doing more to keep individuals from going through into syria. >> they real very to do more and it's notable that these people from new york were going to go to turkey. that's the entry point. it has been traditional and it still is. i think the turks are taking some steps and not nearly enough to shut down the traffic along their border. it's a traffic of foreign fighters entering syria. it's also a traffic at times of goods and oil and merchandise going out of syria to help fund isis, and this has simply got to
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stop. but it's also very telling when we look at what the profile of these uzbeks and kazakhs who are arrested in new york is but we also look at what has been claimed about jihadi john and i can't comment on whether that's accurate or not, but if those reports prove to be correct, this is somebody who is el-educated and moderately affluent and it just shows the disparate threats that we face. it's not just from people at the margins of society. sometimes it's from the very well educated and those who have a lot to lose. >> to your point, i have to obviously bring up you had an administration official who said that part of the solution is to lock at educating and giving jobs to some of these people who join isis but to your point, this is an individual in london who is educated from a well-to-do family as it's been described, traveling into syria to carry out some of the most
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heinous things that i think any of us have ever seen. >> that's very true, and it just points up a few things. it points us there's a variety of motivations that draw people to isis. it's not just those that are on the fringes of society or are mentally ill. sometimes it's very affluent and well-educated. sometimes they are drawn very much by this perverted interpretation of islam, and sometimes they are just criminal thugs that are looking for a way to act out the kind of violence that they crave, so because those threats are so diffuse it makes the challenge of protecting the homeland very great, but it also points up the necessity of attacking this evil considering what it's doing with the most recent events of the beheading of these coptic christians, the kidnapping of the syrian christians the brutal murder of so many thousands and thousands of
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muslims. this is a group that just has to be stopped. >> thank you very much congressman schiff we appreciate it. >> tamron. coming up the justice department is being asked to investigate the death of a 67-year-old unarmed black man in arkansas. now the family is asking why it's taken five years to see the justice that they feel they deserve. and developing now, a new round of snow is hitting the mid-atlantic states. we are live in virginia where police say they have responded to more than 200 car crashes alone, and this. >> we believe that we're acting lawfully, so i have a lot of things to do here in the district of columbia and me being in jail wouldn't be a good thing. >> the mayor of washington, d.c. vows to move forward with marijuana legalization despite threats of jail from republican lawmakers. will congress actually strike down a voter-approved law? that's the question and join our conversation online. join the team on "newsnation"
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thanks for the ride around norfolk! and i just wanted to say geico is proud to have served the military for over 75 years! roger that. captain's waiting to give you a tour of the wisconsin now. could've parked a little bit closer... it's gonna be dark by the time i get there. geico. proudly serving the military for over 75 years.
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developing now a major snow storm is battering parts of the south leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and some pretty rough conditions. a mix of snow and ice is moving from texas to the carolinas all the way to the coastal new england area later today. now, alabama, georgia and the carolinas have all declared states of emergency and a foot of snow has already fallen. take a look at this in parts of alabama. sandra dahloff joins me from virginia where more than six inches of snow is on the ground with more falling. quite a sight behind you, sarah. >> well good morning, tomorrow rah. -- tamra. >> reporter: we're dealing with the sleet and freezing rain and
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that's what crews are dealing with, the ever-changing conditions. some working behind me to clear off the roads. they are trying to get to the major interstates and thoroughfares and get to them before the frozen precipitation causes even more of a hazard. and even with all of the heavy equipment all ready for the snow they are still running into some trouble. >> yeah. you -- you will slip a little. you have to be very careful. the brakes yeah can't really apply the brakes too much. really cautious. on my way to work this morning i'm in my car and it is kind of slippery. it's better to just stay off the highway. >> reporter: and it is all hands on deck here in norfolk. the city manager tells me that they are augmenting their crews with garbage collectors with wastewater management systems, and anybody who can get out there and shovel or drive some sort of a truck with a scraper. they are asking to get out there. they are working 12-hour shifts
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so around the clock to keep up with the snow. bringing it here to a parking lot at a baseball field and getting it all out of the way and into this area that they don't need right now so it can melt and get the streets clear. a very he have wet, heavy, dense snow but if you're shoveling your driveway not great for you. >> states of emergency in georgia and alabama and north carolina a lot of people without power as a rul of this ice. thanks, sarah. up next, the justice department is being asked to investigate the death of a 67-year-old unarmed man in arkansas. now the family is asking why it's taken five years to get the justice they say they reserve. i'll talk live with the man's son and a look at what's happened today, thursday february 26. loretta lynch faces a pivotal vote in the senate judiciary committee and before that the vote will go before the
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full senate and the annual conservative political action conference is under way in maryland. iowa senator joanie ernst will honor america's veterans and, of course she's a veteran, and right now the white house -- the president is meeting with african-american faith and civil rights leaders. later he and the first lady will hold a black history month reception. 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+
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but you can help change that with a simple choice. drink more water. filtered by brita. ♪ and introducing our new advanced filter, now better than ever. this week the justice department announced it would not be pursuing civil rights charges against george zimmerman in the death of trayvon, but there's another case that the justice department is also investigating involving the shooting of an unarmed man. on the night of december 9 2010 67-year-old eugene ellison was killed by an off-duty police officer inside his apartment in little rock arkansas. he was holding a cane at the time. now, according to court documents, the officers involved donna lesher and tabitha m mccrillis were moonlighting as
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security guards as the apartment complex when they noticed the door was open and went in to investigate. ellison told them he did not want their help but they did not leave immediately, according to court document. according to police accounts both party exchanged words. a struggle ensued and backup officers were called to the scene. at some point after the two additional officers arrived, according to court documents and the police report officer lesher stepped outside of the apartment and for reasons still unclear she drew her weapon and opened fire. the officer says he reached for his cane and refused to drop it. she said she feared for her safety and for that of the other officer but the autopsy suggests that ellison was not standing up when he was shot. an internal investigation by the little rock police department homicide device cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. we've reached out to the little rock police department and the city attorney who is representing the officers and
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they both said they do not comment on matters in litigation. joining me now, eugene ellison's son, spencer ellison, a former detective with the little rock police department and now a criminal justice professor at the university of north texas and also with us attorney michael lowe representing the ellison family. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having us rpg tamron. >> a lot ofto cover here. family is calling on the justice department. this has been five years now, michael. where do things stand as far as the courts and the justice department right now? >> well tamron, your rendition of the facts was pretty much spot on but there was one thing that i would kind of like to correct. we did pursue a federal criminal indictment or criminal investigation, i should say, of the shooter of mr. ellison, donna lesher and sim to what you reported about george zimmerman the doj refused to issue such an investigation.
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it's an extremely high standard as you know. what we have under way right now is a pattern and practice investigation request pursuant to section 14141 of the code and what we're alleging is that mr. ellison's shooting while, you know sadly tragic and avoidable, was really part of a bigger pattern within that department and i can personally attest to reviewing files upon files of various police-involved shooting which reflect a really troublesome pattern that really stems right back to the practice of the internal investigation. >> you say troublesome pattern. there are numbers of the police-involved shootings at that department, 73% of them involved african-americans, is that the case? >> that is i believe the number right now, which is -- which is obviously disproportionate to the african-american population of the city. you know one of the things that we are trying to do with this lawsuit and with our request to
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the department of justice is to put an end to internal investigations. you know when you have a trial and you're trying to impanel a jury during voir dire one of the first things a judge will ask the perspective jurors, is you know do you know any of these lawyers? do you know any of these individuals, and the reason obviously that those -- that that question is asked is because we recognize as a society the problems inherit with bias. >> thanks for bringing that up. >> the internal investigation by the little rock police department was done in the homicide did i vig. the officer who killed mr. mr. ellison, her husband oversees that division. he recused himself from the investigation. n.e.t. less his subordinates were the people who investigated. let me transition though to spencer here. first all, spencer, let me say our thoughts and prayers are with your family on the loss of your father. i know this cannot be an easy
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situation in any stretch of the imagination to lose your father but in this way. you were also a police officer, part that little rock department as is currently your brother, and i read a quote from up of you that said these are like your family members and then you have this incident involving men and women you work with and you're -- and it's -- when i read this i couldn't believe what i was reading. first of all, the closeness there. what -- what do you want at this point to happen regarding the justice department? >> basically we want them to look into an investigation as it is and hopefully we can change some policy and procedures to keep from having you know the police department themselves actually investigating the situations involving an officer-involved shooting as it relates to family members. hopefully we can make these changes and what will happen to someone else in the future. >> do you believe that this is
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why you didn't see the justice that you and your family say you deserve because the officer who was involved with this shooting her husband was the sergeant of the division that investigates each though he recused himself? >> well it's -- it's up of those things you know. a have thought initially that they would take this into consideration, the families and dynamics of those involved. the situation in this particular problem, any gratitude. we didn't have the chaplains that come out to visit us. we weren't ever offered any type of resolution to the problem this. situation just kept going on persistently longer and longer and longer. no one actually came forth to talk to us or speak to us about the investigation. >> your brother is still a member of the little rock police department. how is that possible?
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>> it's you have to. it's you have to. i just have to respect his position and support him and be the bigger person in this situation and being the bigger person as the bigger brother, and i have to understand and respect the fact that he loves what he's doing. i mean as he indicated to me earlier. he said hey, i didn't do anything wrong. why should i have to leave? i need to stop what he's doing and hope that he's able to seek justice in his own way and deal with it the best way that he can. >> now, just a time line here michael. 2011 family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officers and the little rock police department alleging that mr. ellison's civil rights were violated. it was ruled in 2013 that the two officers involved would stand trial. now november 2014 where there was a decision made here and that you are appealing, correct?
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>> that's not correct. what happened is the -- the district judge denied the officer's position on qualified immunity. and that is the type of -- it's not really a defense but that's the type of immunity that if it's denied you can appeal it immediately. >> okay. >> so they filed an interlocutor interlocutory appeal and after extensions and extensions that they received, we finally argued it before the eighth circuit court of appeals in december of 2014, and that decision is out as we speak. >> okay. >> so that's the status. that's a procedural posture case as we speak. >> again. there are pages and pages of research on this. we've read over everythingch the bottom line here you feel and family feels all of these years have passed and you've not -- it has not moved forward, it seems. it's just caught up in a lot of litigation here. what is -- what is your goal?
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what do you want to get for the ellison family? >> justice and closure. let me say one thing about that. you know have you here two victims or the victims of mr. ellison, you know, the sons of mr. ellison. these guys spend a lifetime devoted to law enforcement in some way or another, and what this shows you and the length of time that it takes for a resolution here shows you is how embedded this system is in terms of staving off these civil rights lawsuits. when two guys like this can't seek justice, i think it's a pretty bad indictment on the system and on what we all as lay people and non-officers can expect. you know i deposed the shooter in this case and i asked her point blank to define for me probable cause and she couldn't give me a definition of probable cause. this is i believe at the time a 15 or 16-year veteran. >> mm-hmm. >> you know, tamron that's a problem because probable cause is what a reasonable officer has
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to have to enter an apartment without a warrant. the way mr. ellison's apartment was entered without a warrant and without an emergency basis to do so. this is not abstract constitutional academic type of, you know gotcha games here. these are fundamental core concepts that govern our society and my involvement in this case has shown that this particular department has officers that are woefully and poorly trained in these really again, core concepts. >> yeah. >> well, we want to point out, again, the police department did not comment because they do not as a policy comment on litigation but thank you both for joining us. spencer, again our thoughts are with you and your family and michael, thank you very much for your time and we'll continue to follow any developments thon story as well. >> thank you, tamron. >> new word from the clinton foundation about millions of dollars in donations including one that violated the obama administration's ethics rules and controversy surrounds the
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reprinting of adolf hitler's autobiography in germany since world war ii. supporters say it's an educational tool and others say it gives voice to hitler. it is our "newsnation" gut check. >> while attending princeton wendy saw a xwlarg cap in america's education system. she wrote a new idea of creating a recent core made up of recent graduates which would sore of low-income communities. in 19990 teach for america became a reality. it was so successful that in 2007 she took the concept globally with teach for all. for more on seven days of genius visit msnbc.com. and now i'm not. i'm a weight watchers coach, all of us have lost weight with weight watchers and are now helping other people do the same. you can log into your computer or your phone at anytime and you can chat with me. we understand, we've been there. or still going through it. you're not alone and you can do it. you can definitely do this. i know you can do it because i did it.
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visit comcast.com/wireless to learn more. developing now. new comments just moments ago from house speaker john boehner about funding the department of homeland security. speaker boehner says the house passed a bill to fund the department six weeks ago and is now criticizing the senate for not taking action. take a his ebb. >> i just think it's outrageous that senate democrats are using homeland security funding for blackmail to protect the actions of the president where the president himself said he didn't have the authority to do this. >> well, now to potentially troublesome development for hillary clinton and her 2016 hopes. the clinton foundation has disclosed that it accepted millions of dollars in donations from foreign governments while hillary clinton was secretary of state, including one donation from violated the obama administration's ethics rules.
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the donations were first reported last week by the "washington post" which raised questions about a potential conflict of interest. now, according to "the post" some of the donations came to countries with complicated military and financial relations with the u.s. including kuwait qatar and oman but a donation made by algeria which has come under scrutiny. in 2010 the clinton foundation accepted a $500,000 foundation from the algerian government from its earthquake relief in haiti. the foundation admits it should have but did not seek approval from the state department before accepting that money. joining me now with more on this nbc news deputy political editor. we said it's potentially problematic here. what is the major concern or question that could affect hillary clinton if she decides to run for president? >> well i think, tamron, that this story really matters to people who are following
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politics every day especially those who understand campaign finance rules. there are specific rules that prohibit foreign nationals from giving money to declared candidates and obviously there are going to be critics of hill while are going to say that the clinton foundation serves as a way for foreign nationals or others who can't give to her directly to curry favor with her at the time that she was secretary of state and going forward. i don't think this story is going to go away from her at all on that front. however, she doesn't have a really strong democratic primacy challenger right now who is going to use this as a cudgel against her and i think for voters they may not be paying that much attention to this kind of story right now. those casually reading the story may see this donation as the clinton foundation claims went directly to relief for haiti after the earthquake. i think a lot of voters especially democrats are going to be shrugging, but i don't think this story is going away for hillary clinton. >> the foundation says the donation was disclosed publicly on website, and it went on to say that it was a one-time
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specific donation, as you're pointing out, to help haiti and algeria, had not donated to the clinton foundation before and has not since. >> mm-hmm. >> absolutely and they said also that this was something that they acknowledged clinton foundation acknowledged. something that we should have alerted the state department done and done an ethics review. failed to do that sorry. >> thanks. up next the congressional republicans want to jail the mayor of d.c. for a marijuana law that went into effect. and raising makes, one stories we're following around "newsnation" and beyonce celebrating the anniversary of the first lady's let's move effort with this new video that's gone viral, this as chef rocco di spirito is helping the first lady host a healthy ettie summit and your new book on how you can, quote, cook your butt
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this morning it officially became legal to smoke marijuana in the nation's capital. the measure voted on upon voters last fall. nbc's peter alexander is in washington with more. >> reporter: hi, tamron good morning to you. this morning the district of columbia is locked in its own drug war unlike alaska colorado washington state where pot use is already legal. d.c. is not a state and at times has to answer to congress. legalized marijuana in washington, d.c. to some it almost begs for a punch line but it's no joke. when the clock struck midnight overnight pot became legal in the nation's capital, but this is washington where they have made smoke and mirrors into an art form. >> the laws surrounding it are really confusing. >> reporter: the law says you have to be 21 to smoke if can possess up to two ounces a sandwich's bag worth and can grow up to six plants but only
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three are allowed to be mature still illegal to buy or sell marijuana but you can give away up to an ounce. still, to understand the law you have to get in the weeds. this this is a local law and about 30% of d.c. sits on federal land where pot is still illegal. you can't light up beneath the washington monument or on the steps of the lincoln memorial. either way the law only allows pot users to light up in a house, just not this house, which is controlled by federal law. some members of congress aren't pleased. two leading house republicans wrote to mayor muriel bowser warning if she decided to move ahead with legalized pot she would be doing so in knowing and willful violation of federal law which is made by congress. the mayor, speaking for a vast majority of d.c. residents who voted for it is taking the high road. >> we believe that we're on very strong legal ground in where we stand. >> reporter: proponents say this could be a critical step to passing more laws legalizing pot. >> nationally this is going to say, hey, if washington, d.c. can do it, so can our state.
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>> reporter: one of those congress members warned d.c. mayors and other district employees could face possible prison time by moving forward. ultimately it would be up to the justice department to prosecute city officials. that's not likely and congress hasn't struck down a specific d.c. law in 25 years. tamron? >> an update on the fatal police shooting of a man from mexico who was shot in pasco, washington. that's our look at stories around the "newsnation." a regional police task force investigating the shooting says three police officers fired at ant toe monfess and struck him five or six times. police say he was throwing rocks at passing cars and officers earlier this month when they shot him. video taken by witnesses appears to show him moving away from police before the shooting. the task force says non-of the shots were to the back. the incident has sparked protests in pasco where more than half of the population is latino. the parent company of the discount retailer tj maax says
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it's waysing employee wages. they announced yesterday it will increase workers' pay to $9 an hour in june by next year. the company says it plans to pay all of its u.s. workers at least $10 per hour. walmart made a similar announcement last week. and madonna says she's fine after a nasty fall during the britt awards uk equivalent of the grammys. fell down off a set of stage and down the the stairs after a dancer appeared to tug the back of her cape to remove t.madonna got right up and finished her entire act and she just tweeted that the cape was tied too tight. and up next i'll speak with chef rocco dispirito who expects to join the first lady today for a healthy eating summit later today. ng online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. like, literally ran into him. [rambling]. this story had 30 minutes left...
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until kim realized that stouffer's mac and cheese is made with real cheddar aged to perfection for 6 long months. when you start with the best cheddar, you get the best mac and cheese. so, what about jessica? what about her? stouffer's. made for you to love. nestle. good food. good life. does all greek yogurt have to be thick? does it all have to be the same? not
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purchase any new verizon wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. visit comcast.com/wireless to learn more. developing now, first lady michelle obama is about to give a keynote speech in washington, d.c. celebrities are turning out in full force to help her with the new fitness campaign and in fact beyonce posted very
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funny video of herself working out as part of mrs. obama's give me five movement celebrating the five-year anniversary of the let's move campaign. my next guest is helping out the first lady, rocco dispirito is trying to help parents and children eat better and lose weight and out with "cook your butt off" rocco, good to see you, thanks for joining us. >> tamron so nice to be here. honor and privilege to be in d.c. helping first lady with the fifth annual pha summit. >> what are you doing? >> my role is to create the menu and supervise the cooking for 650 people tonight. i'm actually going to attempt to do all healthy for the entire dinner probably the first healthy meal served to that large a group since jefferson pulled sea food from the potomac so that's going to be fun. >> you're going to try to keep
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it all healthy, the minute we say healthy, people either raise a brow -- >> they do. >> it's tasteless, we won't enjoy it. how will you convince all of these people you can bring the taste without all of the fat? >> that's a great question. the minute you say healthy people roll their eyes and you're the least popular person in the room. that is changing and i do want to give credit to the first lady for helping make that change happen. we are a nation in transformation and there will be a time soon where healthy and delicious and affordable options will be widely available. so the way i do it, i use my chef skills. the issue with the healthy food market, there are not a lot of chefs involved. for me flavor is para mount. i take dishes apart and put them back together in a healthier way but leave all of the flavor. today i'm serving a classic lobster roll with mayo and meatballs and pasta and lasagna.
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>> all healthy? >> all healthy, you're making my stomach rumble here. >> you can make it up here it's a one hour flight. >> i have to ask -- >> i have an extra ticket. >> cook your butt off, we can burn calories and lose weight while we cook. how can we do that? >> my new book debuted on the new york times best seller list. i designed these recipes for maximum calorie burn by keeping them low tech and keeping your hands moving a lot. and you can track it with an activity tracker to see for yourself. this is my first gluten free book which is an important step in the evolution of my healthy crusade. >> all right congratulations on being there and helping to keep us all healthy with your great recipes, we'll talk with you, i'm sure soon. >> that does it for this edition of "news nation." up next kristen welker filling in for andrea mill etch. most of the products we all buy are transported on container ships. before a truck delivers it to your store, a container ship delivered it to that truck. here in san diego,
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in new york state, we're reinventing how we do business so businesses can reinvent the world. from pharmaceuticals to 3d prototyping, biotech to clean energy. whether your business is moving, expanding or just getting started... only new york offers you zero taxes for 10 years with startup ny business incubators that partner companies with universities, and venture capital funding for high growth industries. see how new york can grow your business and create jobs.
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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," targeting terror jihadi john is identified. can the masked isis fighter who has become the face of terror be found? meanwhile in new york three men are in custody accused of trying to travel to syria and fight for isis. >> so this is real. this is the concern about the lone wolf inspired to act without ever going to the mid east. >> those people exist in every state. i have homegrown violent extremism investigations in every single state. >> and the clock is ticking and still no solution in the pipeline to solve the homeland security funding fight on capitol hill. president obama places the blame squarely on the gop. >> what we said to republicans is instead of trying to hold hostage funding for the department of homeland security which is so important for our national security fund that and let's get on with actually
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passing comprehensive immigration reform. >> plus the south, snowed under, historic snowfall has led to major roads closed across several states and hundreds and thousands without power. old man winter isn't done with us yet. ♪ >> very good day to you, i'm kristen welker in washington in for andrea mitchell. we're monitoring new developments on isis tletd overseas and here at home. jihadi john the man responsible for beheadings of americans jail foley and sotloff is former resident mohammed emwazi. we're hearing more about the three in custody, one of those
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