tv Weekends With Alex Witt MSNBC February 28, 2015 9:00am-11:01am PST
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let's take on the world with 100 calories, snack yoplait greek 100. there are hundreds of reasons to snack on it. the inside story, how congress pushed the department of homeland security to the brink of a shutdown and why it might happen all over again in the next week. which one of these three candidates looks like the front-runner in a gop straw poll of today's big conservative gathering and how much does it matter? why a young woman in massachusetts is being charged after her friend committed suicide. the details around the unusual case. the one man trying to understand himself. he walked away from millions of dollars and is now telling his story in a powerful video. high noon here in the east. 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt."
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the department of homeland security is open today after congress approved and the president signed a stopgap funding measure just two hours before the department was scheduled to shut down. the measure keeps the homeland security department funded through the next seven days. but it also sets up another funding showdown for next friday. president obama and the democrats wanted full-year funding but conservative republicans want any legislation that funds the dhs to also block the president's immigration action. joining me now, nbc news capitol hill producer frank thorpe. frank, with a welcome on this saturday, here's the first question to you. how will house speaker boehner introduce a clean bill? and what does a clean bill mean? explain that. >> reporter: well, it's a real question about whether or not that's going to happen. depends on which side you ask. congressional democratic leadership has said that as a part of the deal to get democrats to vote for this one-week stopgap measure, they were given assurances by speaker boehner that that clean bill
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would be brought up next week. what that means is this is the bill the senate passed early on friday. this is the bill that the house-passed bill that went to the senate with provisions that would curtail president obama's executive actions in regards to immigration. but senate democrats blocked consideration of that bill over on the senate. so senate majority leader mitch mcconnell agreed okay we'll vote on a bill that will just fund the department of homeland security through the end of september and send that back to the house. so that was sent over. but conservative republicans still want those provisions as you had mentioned, to be attached. so they want to be able to vote on this clean bill. but speaker boehner's office has said that they have given no assurances to congressional democrats that this is actually going to come up. so it's actually -- it's a question that we're going to find the answer to in the next coming days. >> frank, wouldn't a clean bill benefit the republicans because it would separate immigration from the dhs or does that take
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away some perceived bargaining power? >> reporter: there is an argument to be made that taking the immigration riders out of the dhs fight would allow republicans to fight this independently without the specter of a shutdown looming over them. but a lot of republicans and members of congress in general see their power as the power of the purse. if there is a provision or if there is a policy that they disagree with their job in congress is to pass bills that will cut funding to those programs. so they see this as leverage. i think there are a lot of moderate republicans, especially some that are speaking out publicly now, that have said that they don't want to go down this strategy anymore. they want to be able to just -- if they're going to be start attacking provisions from president obama's policies, they want to do that independently. but conservative republicans still see this as a bargaining chip. >> but if the house failed to pass this three-week extension to fund the dhs and almost all
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democrats voting against that measure, they opt for the one-week funding measure, what's the logic behind not passing a three-week funding bill? i'm curious, what is going to be different about the next seven days than what we just saw in the last seven? >> reporter: it's kind of the same here. there are a lot of questions about what was going to be different in three weeks from now and even house republican leadership aides admitted that saying, if we pass this three-week bill we're not really sure what's going to be different three weeks from now. the difference here is that democrats have said that they have this assurance that they will get this clean full-year funding bill and have a vote on it next week. they didn't have that assurance before on the three-week bill. so that's the main difference. next week what we're going to see is republicans passed a motion this week that would try to encourage the senate to go into negotiations between the house and senate bills. senate democrats are going to block that and then the idea -- the understanding is from
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democrats that that will then result in this clean bill being considered over on the house side. >> okay. i think it's going to be a long week ahead. frank thorpe thanks for joining us. republicans have kicked off the final day of cpac in maryland. that gathering offers aspiring presidential contenders the opportunity to gauge support for a potential white house run by touting their conservative credentials. >> the simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 million people. >> liberal policies have failed our inner cities. >> let's go to the white house. nbc's kristen welker with a good afternoon to you, what is on tap today as cpac wraps up? >> reporter: we're watching for a few more big names. we'll hear from mike huckabee. he's a potential candidate in 2016. this is a big first test for potential candidates and on friday former florida governor
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jeb bush defended his conservative credentials. take a look. >> god bless you and run! >> reporter: he's often thought of as one of the republicans' more moderate candidates. but friday, jeb bush pushed back against his skeptics, describing himself this way. >> practicing reform-minded conservative. >> reporter: one of the thorniest issues for bush, immigration. he's rankled republicans by calling for comprehensive reforms, stressing the need for better border security and defending his plan for dealing with undocumented immigrants. >> we should give them a path to legal status where they work where they don't receive government benefits, where they don't break the law. >> reporter: bush also stood by his record on education, supporting the common core standards which many republicans oppose. >> the federal government has no role in the creation of standards either directly or indirectly. the federal government has no role in the creation of curriculum and content.
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>> we don't need a bush! >> reporter: while a few people walked out, for the most part bush got a warm reception. >> all jeb bush wanted to do was do no harm. all they wanted to do was say, here are my conservative credentials. this is who i am. >> reporter: but more conservative candidates, scott walker ted cruz and rand paul, fired up the base. >> it's time for hillary clinton to permanently retire. >> reporter: the big finale tonight is the straw poll. that's a contest that senator rand paul has won twice in the past two years and then governor mitt romney won before that. it's a good indicator of which potential candidate the base likes. alex? >> it certainly is. we'll see what happens with that. thank you, kristen. developing today in moscow grief and outrage, mourners have gathered at the site of last night's deadly shooting of russian opposition leader boris nemtsov. this is a live picture right now from moscow where a makeshift memorial is being created.
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many are placing blame right on the kremlin. here we have two protesters holding a sign which read, putin killed my friend. nemtsov who served as deputy prime minister of russia back in the 1990s accused putin's administration of corruption. nemtsov had been organizing a march planned for tomorrow to protest russia's hand in the war in ukraine. joining me right now, mikey kay, former adviser to the ministry of defense. with a welcome to you, what do you make of this shooting? to say it sounds suspicious is rather an understatement. >> it has suspicious written all over it. one of the sad things about this is boris nemtsov was a glimmer of light in the future of russian politics. he wasn't afraid to stand up to putin and wasn't afraid to illuminate a lot of the corruption and embezzlement that's gone on since putin's been in power. one of his big reveals was the sochi olympics and just how much
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money had been spent by the state on the sochi olympics and exposing putin for the underhanded embezzlement deals that were going on in terms of what the olympics were. he was also about to reveal a report that apparently had a lot of evidence linking russia to the separatist-backed rebels in ukraine and russia's involvement on what we see on the ukrainian border at the moment. just by looking and taking a step back from this you can actually see why putin would want this guy wiped off the face of the earth. >> but what i just said this has intrigue and suspicion written all over it. would vladimir putin engage in an act like that where everybody thinks oh, well, hmm? >> vladimir putin directly probably not. but the secondary and tertiary links he has in terms of where he's come from ex-kgb officer, we shouldn't underestimate the
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power he has. in an interview on february 10th boris actually said i am afraid putin will kill me i believe he was the one that unleashed the war in ukraine. i could not dislike him more. and just hours before his death he denounced the president's policies as mad, aggressive and deadly. >> what do you make of "the new york times" that came out an hour and a half ago about russian authorities that are saying, he may have been assassinated by members of his own opposition party because they want to create some sort of a martyr and make him more powerful in death than he was in life? >> fantastic conspiracy theory. the government is also coming out and is also saying there might be islamic jihadists involved in this killing. there's another state-sponsored news website that is also saying that this could be money owed due to an abortion from a love child. there are already a number of different conspiracy theories surrounding this. so let's not underestimate just what or how powerful the russian
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government is and what its contacts are with russian state media. and the sad thing about all this is the investigative committee that's just been set up to investigate the death of boris is headed up by vladimir putin. >> what's interesting, this is not the first time that vladimir putin has been -- or at least the administration, we should say, has been accused of killing political rivals. talk about the overall climate right now in russia. >> the thing that we're seeing with russia at the moment is we're seeing its economy tank whether it's the stock market -- this is all because of oil, really. the price of oil has come down from $100 down to about $50 a barrel. that is absolutely crippling his economy because all his eggs are invested in that basket. now, the really interesting piece here is that there's a lack of continuity in terms of how the west deals with putin in terms of his involvement in ukraine. and the answer that we've been looking at the answer that angela merkel wants to look at is pressing on economic sanctions. but we also know we have people like john mccain over here in
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the u.s. that is advocating arming rebels in ukraine to fight the separatist rebels. so there's a lack of continuity from a global perspective, from the west perspective in terms of how you deal with russia. and i think the answer really is just to keep on providing the evidence or trying to establish that russia is directly involved in this looking at economic sanctions. but also being aware of escalating it to a point which would be -- which would destabilize the whole region. the other big thing we have to acknowledge here as well is the jihadist, this is how syria started. creating that governance vacuum. there's a big problem in the north caucasus region. it's a very complicated region. >> absolutely it is. we'll have you back at the bottom of the hour. so hold some of those thoughts. thanks for that. we have other news to report now as illinois lawmaker aaron
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shock has reimbursed the government $40,000 for his controversial office renovation. the republican congressman's makeover came under intense scrutiny for closely resembling the set of the hit tv show "downton abbey." anthony mason died today after suffering a heart attack earlier this month. the power forward was instrumental for the new york knicks back in the '90s. he also played for the charlotte hornets, milwaukee bucks and miami heat during his 13-year career with the nba. anthony mason, just 48 years old. and georgia police confirmed that nascar driver travis kvapil's stolen car has been found. surveillance video from thursday night showing that trailer being stolen from outside an atlanta hotel. inside that trailer was kvapil's $500,000 race car along with other equipment set to be used
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in this weekend's sprint cup tournament. kvapil's team sent out celebratory texts early this morning. but no word on whether he will get to race that returned car. it is not over yet, there appears to be no break in the parade of winter storms as we head into march this weekend. let's check out the scene in lubbock, texas. that's where all three school districts were canceled on friday. all the classes canceled because of the snow. who's feeling the worst of it? let's get the details from the weather channel's dr. greg postel. hi, greg. >> we have a winter storm that is going to be spreading from the central plains up through the northeast this weekend. let's show you what it's going to be look like today. we have freezing rain and/or sleet to the south in places like dallas. this whole storm complex is going to move off towards the northeast and extend its influence into the ohio valley with a swath of accumulating snow all along and just north of i-70 from missouri on through parts of ohio. and then tomorrow watch out,
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new york city, for the possibility of snow moving your way. and the middle atlantic, freezing rain to start your day. surface temperatures will be at or just below freezing. sunday night, warm air will try to work its way back in into at least southern new england, limiting snow accumulations there. starting through the central plains this is how much snow we think we're going to get. ohio valley, swath of 5 to 8 there. continues off into the northeast with more snow perhaps a couple of inches in new york city before it all goes over to rain. >> thanks greg. just as one crisis is averted, the nation is on the precipice of yet another budget drama. will congress get its act together before the one-week funding extension expires? we'll discuss that ahead.
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now what? an 11th-hour deal has averted a shutdown of the homeland security department but could all be deja vu all over again in just one week because john boehner could only get a one-week extension passed in the house house. >> i'm just saying to the speaker, get a grip. get a grip, mr. speaker. get a grip on the responsibility that we have, get a grip of the legislative possibilities that are here. >> let's bring in republican strategist and former george w. bush spokesman mercedes schlapp. also joined by jimmy williams, executive editor of bluenationreview.com. hey, guys. mercedes, tell me what happened here. john boehner couldn't even get a three-week bill through the house. >> sure. i think speaker boehner is in an incredibly tough position here. he can't seem to pull together the conservative sides with the moderates in pushing along an
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additional three weeks in resolving this problem partly because i think the conservatives want to get this done now. they're pushing for a conference, a bicameral conference which as we know, senate republicans don't want it. senate democrats think it's not going to happen. it's putting boehner in a tough position. all of us are scratching our heads saying what's going to happen next? >> do you worry that's regardless of who's responsible, the gop will just take the blame for it? >> you know if the government shuts down -- and this is where i think the senate is definitely in a separate position than the house, i think the republicans are going to be hit hard. they normally -- when you look at the poll numbers, it clearly shows that republicans are usually the ones impacted when there's a shutdown in place. and of course president obama can go out and use the bully pulpit to say it's their fault, they're the ones causing it. so the democrats are playing this game where they don't want to push for a conference, they don't want to have any negotiations.
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which i think is a very toxic environment for congress overall. they should have both parties get to a point that there's a conference and they have this discussion and deal with this problem because there are senate democrats out there that do not agree with the president's unilateral executive action on immigration. >> something that's interesting. in the past we've seen nancy pelosi and the democrats, they've thrown a lifeline to john boehner when he's been unable to get conservative support but not this time. why? >> she did at the end last night but she didn't before. this is simple. when you ask for the majority and you ask for the power, it is up to you to be the majority and to lead. they didn't do that. they have failed miserably and it's only february 28th. we're only two months into this congress and they can't even -- by the way, i want to remind everybody watching when we passed the budget deal last year, who demanded that they take out the department of homeland security funding, separate it out, put it on a pedestal and demand that it be meld
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held hostage? it wasn't the democrats. it was the republicans. how stupid could they possibly be? so here we are. it's almost march. we have not funded the department of homeland security except on these short-term band-aid measures and people are asking why we're not going to conference? i have an idea. pass the department of homeland security's bill which we were supposed to do last year and if you want to have a fight about immigration, let's have that debate, let's have that fight. let's debate it. but that's not what's happening here. they think they have the ability to tell the president of the united states that, in fact he can't veto something or they don't have the numbers to veto him when he does have that power. so it's absurd. >> to jimmy's point, alex i also think that -- there is where i think in the house, the moderate republicans and moderate democrats coming together and basically saying, hey, we've got to get this done. we know it's not good for our country, it's a bad move to even try to close down the department of homeland security. it is a priority for our nation
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to make sure that that's done. so in fact in passing a clean bill and then dealing with the immigration issue after, that could be a better approach absolutely. >> guys, i want to move to cpac because it's wrapping up its conference today in maryland. the conservatives taking aim at hillary clinton, the presumed 2016 front-runner for the dems. take a look at this. >> hillary clinton embodies the corruption of washington. >> it's time for hillary clinton to permanently retire. >> i will say this. if hillary clinton had to face me on a debate stage, at the very least, she would have a hitch in her swing. >> ted cruz also hammering clinton for reports this week that revealed the clinton foundation collected millions of dollars from foreign governments while she was secretary of state. do you think this is going to be a problem for her if she decides to run, jimmy?
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>> they came out very quickly and said they made a mistake, thank god they did. do i think it's going to be a problem? no. do i think the republicans will bring it up? yes. they love nothing more than a clinton scandal. it is the only thing that has kept the conservative wing of america alive all these years. wait no actually barack obama's helped with that cause as well. i don't think it's going to hurt her. honestly, i'm not sure that president clinton and former secretary clinton at night sit around and have conversations about, hey which foreign government is giving your foundation money? >> come on jimmy. >> i don't buy that at all. >> jimmy, that is not true. >> let me finish. if you in fact believe that it doesn't matter what anyone says you're just always going to believe that. >> to that point -- i've worked for foundations and i can tell you the principals are usually very involved and know exactly what's going on in their foundations. so to separate that from secretary clinton is wrong. they shouldn't be running the
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country, if they don't know that. >> they ran it pretty well i thought. >> could this whole issue be put to bed, if you will if they return the money? is it even possible within foundations, returning money to those foreign governments? >> of course it is. of course you can do that. >> and i think when you look at even some of the democratic strategists that have come out, secretary kerry even mentioned this, that there's this appearance of conflict. the right thing to do would be to return the government to these foreign governments. these are like algeria, saudi arabia, these are countries that basically discriminate against women. so she goes forward and talks about women and equal rights but she accepts the money from back channels through her foundation after she's been meeting with these countries while she was at the state department. come on jimmy, that's troubling. >> you're accusing the former secretary of state of while she was secretary of state of doing something that is against federal law. are you actually saying that? >> what i'm saying is that -- >> no, you're not. >> jimmy, she violated -- it was clear in one instance that they
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violated the ethics agreement -- >> they admitted that they screwed it up. >> xaeblgtexactly. >> if they return the money, will you continue to harp on it? >> jimmy, i've got your cpac ticket right here. >> i've got reporters at cpac. it's all good. i don't need to go. >> my effort to have a kumbaya moment here because i know you guys do like each other a lot. >> of course. >> we can't forget this highlight from cpac. let's play that. >> and now introducing my superhero, my dad, matt schlapp. >> jimmy, you know what that is? that's mercedes with these five adorable perfectly dressed, which i marvel at by the way, five girls all with their bows and tights and everything good on you, mercedes. what was that like for the girls to do that with their dad, your husband?
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>> it was an incredibly special moment for my children. it was a way for us to introduce our wonderful -- my wonderful husband and really someone who's really speaking out on the conservative movement. it was incredibly special and just to see my oldest go out there and charm the crowd was very touching. >> the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. mercedes schlapp and jimmy williams, thank you guys. good to see you both. >> thank you. >> watch "meet the press" tomorrow. house majority leader kevin mccarthy will be moderator. that's tomorrow on "meet the press." the great dress debate. is it white and gold or is it blue and black? we'll take the question to the streets next. in small business you have to work hard, know your numbers, and stay focused. i was determined to create new york city's first self-serve frozen yogurt franchise. and now you have 42 locations. the more i put into my business the more i get out of it. like 5x your rewards when you make select business purchases with your ink plus card from chase. and with ink, i choose how to redeem my points for things like cash or travel. how's the fro-yo?
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for a cleaner, fresher brighter denture everyday. you can call me shallow... but, i have a wandering eye. i mean, come on. national gives me the control to choose any car in the aisle i want. i could choose you... or i could choose her if i like her more. and i do. oh, the silent treatment. real mature. so you wanna get out of here? go national. go like a pro. in the past 36 hours, there's been much debate too much about the dress. i don't need to tell you why it became such a controversy. but i will tell you that my colleague hit the streets to get to the bottom of it. >> reporter: it's friday afternoon in new york's times
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square. and we're here to address the mystery of the moment what color is this dress? what color do you see? >> blue and black. >> white and gold. >> i see gold and white. >> reporter: and you see? >> black and blue. >> i think she's colorblind. >> gold and white. >> reporter: do you know it's actually a blue dress? >> i did not know that. >> reporter: you see black and blue? >> yeah. >> reporter: what color do you see? >> white and gold. he needs glasses. >> reporter: what color do you see? >> gold and white. >> reporter: god bless america. >> god bless america. >> sales of the two-toned dress that set off a colorful phenomenon have shot up 347% yesterday. and the british fashion company that makes it confirms that dress is black and blue. time for a quick look at the standouts in today's number ones. we begin with the states where people are doing just fine and others not so much.
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rankings are based on a gallup health weight well being index. alaska with the nation's second lowest rates of poverty and obesity is the second happiest state. hawaii is second happiest. south dakota ranking third happiest. on the other hand, west virginia is the most miserable state for the sixth straight year. kentucky is first runner-up for that title followed by indiana. all three of the miserable states fair poorly on matters of health. to the dogs and the american kennel club's new rankings of the nation's most popular dogs. labrador retriever is number one. german shepherd is second. coming in third, the golden retriever. guess what time it is? girl scout cookie time. >> guess what time it is? it's cookie time. i sell girl scout cookies!
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>> you heard it. it is national girl scout cookie weekend. and some of them are pitching their product on youtube. all told they're expected to sell over 800,000 cookies this year. and thin mints are the best seller accounting for 25% of sells. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle see how much you could save. alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours, but aleve can last 12 hours... and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you?
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in our house, we do just about everything online. and our old internet just wasn't cutting it. so i switched us from u-verse to xfinity. they have the fastest, most reliable internet. which is perfect for me, because i think everything should just work. works? works. works! works? works. works. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." the pittsburgh pirates have released a statement regarding
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the image of mohammed emwazi better known as jihadi john who is wearing their team hat in this undated photograph. the organization saying the class gold "p" stands for pittsburgh and is worn by our players, coaches and fans with a great sense of pride. it is sickening to see this murderer wearing a pirates cap in this old photo. the suspected isis killer's identity was revealed this week after a months-long investigation. and just last week, the pentagon announced in surprising detail a plan to retake the city of mosul, isis' stronghold there in iraq. the plan as many as 25,000 iraqi troops for an april offensive. now "the daily beast" is reporting the military that has scrubbed that plan and say any offensive would have to wait till the fall if not later. the pentagon press secretary said yesterday, quote, i just can't put a date certain on there and say thanksgiving going to happen at a certain time nor am i prepared to rule something out and tell you definitively, well, april is out.
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joining me now, foreign affairs reporter mikey kay, former adviser to the ministry of defense. there was so much to be said about this information getting out there. a lot of people disturbed about that senators mccain and graham were appalled by it. but ultimately, was april even a realistic plan to get these 25,000 soldiers up and running and capable of taking on isis? >> like with all of this there are a number of different components in terms of what would shape and guide the retaking of mosul. isis have been in mosul since june last year. whether it happens in april or a couple of months later is kind of almost irrelevant. what really needs to happen is that the right forces need to be able to conduct an operation that has a high probability of success and not just that. there needs to be conversation between the political components of this piece as well. this is vital, alex. you've got 100,000 peshmerga
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fighters in the area iraqi troops being trained by the u.s. at the moment that are slowly building up their capability. and you have what needs to happen is in order to prevent a security vacuum say the iraqi forces go into mosul and drive the 2,000 militia out. we then don't want to have pockets of power vacuums where then you have iraqis and kurdish fighters all vying for power. there needs to be an acquiescence a political roadmap post the fight for mosul which we didn't have in 2003 when we went into baghdad, in order for the long-term stability of mosul to exist. >> but here's something -- i still cannot get my head around why this information was put out there. you were working in the minister of defense, the british equivalent of the pentagon. can you give any reason for putting this information out there and then effectively withdrawing it? >> there are a number of different reasons.
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one reasons could be is that we want to show isis that we're not being walked over here. we want to show them that there is a plan which will develop a capability on the military front which will see their days numbered in mosul. the key thing here is when we're talking about classified and sensitive information, it's not really timing. one of the key components of war is surprise. but the real detail in terms of how many troops you're going to position where. in the military we call it the scheme of maneuver. how will troops maneuver around mosul to get in there, what are the call signs, what are the equipment capabilities they're going to be using, how is the intelligence picture going to be shaped? that's the sensitive stuff. no way the pentagon will get that loose. >> this week nbc's pete williams spoke with eric holder about the threat of the home-grown terrorists. >> the total number of people is still relatively small. i think over the last 18 months or so, we have convicted 25
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people or so. we probably have hundreds under some kind of surveillance. this is a nation of 320 million, 315 million people. so it's a relatively small number. but we have to understand it only takes one or two people to wreak great amounts of damage. and that's why we are as vigilant as we are and as strong as we are in the efforts to monitor these people. >> we have seen successes and failures in trying to weed out these one or two people. what more do you think can be done? >> i think what's important is that we get the balance absolutely right between what we're doing on the foreign policy front and the billions of dollars that we're spending every day on military air strikes and the effort that's going in to galvanize regional partners. the funding for the dhs is
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farcical when we're talking about these indigenous home-grown threats. the people we're talking about have american passports. they were brought up in this country. so in terms of this holistic counter, which we've spoken about at length it's very much about understanding the process of radicalization. and there are a number of components. it's a misunderstanding that it's all about social economic problems. if you look at jihadii john he came from a well-to-do middle class background. osama bin laden was exactly the same, did not want for cash. so we have to try and understand better what gets a person into a state where they're open to -- and this is key -- the ideology. now, that could be marginalization marginalization. how does this feeling of animosity certainly occur -- well, it doesn't. it happens over a number of years. we have to target how the ideology is then spread. it's through mosques, it's through prisons, it's through imams, through islamists, through radical clerics. we need to develop better
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relationships with the muslim community in america so we can then leverage what's called the human intelligence. that's absolutely key in the fight in this indigenous threat we're talking about. >> michael kay, thanks so much. >> good to see you. coming up why a young woman in massachusetts is being charged after her friend committed suicide. the details around this most unusual case. this is the equivalent of the sugar in one regular can of soda. and this is a soda a day for a year. over an average adult lifetime that's 221,314 cubes of sugar. 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.
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to send photos but even that doesn't work. she saw the granite counters and the fire pit she went nuts. so i'm trying really hard to describe it but words are not my thing. that was all it took. i mean what do you want, i'm a realtor, not a poet. join us and save without settling on the largest most reliable network. there's an unusual legal case now unfolding in massachusetts. it involves the suicide of a teenager last summer. one of his friends has been charged with involuntary manslaughter accused of encouraging the young man to go through with his suicide even after he told her he was having second thoughts. nbc's ron mott has the story. >> reporter: police say 18-year-old conrad roy killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning last july in a pick-up truck outside this k-mart in fair haven massachusetts, a small coastal town near cape cod. but it's what they discovered later, more than 1,000 text
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messages between the teenager and a friend that led to involuntary manslaughter charges this month against 18-year-old michelle carter. who was indicted in juvenile court as she was 17 at the time of conrad's death. >> ms. carter is alleged to have strongly influenced his decision to take his own life encouraged him to commit suicide and guided him in his engagement of activities which led to his death. >> reporter: authorities say michelle encouraged conrad to get back in his vehicle and complete the act after he sent a text message expressing doubts about going through with the suicide. >> if police are to be believed this is a young woman who has really led a double life. on the one hand strongly encouraging him to kill himself. on the other hand, really seeming to grieve his death. >> reporter: after conrad's death, officials say michelle posted condolences on social media, even organized a softball fund-raiser for mental health awareness in honor of her friend's life. court documents indicate michelle told friends she was worried for conrad's safety when
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he was reported missing by his family, all the while, police say, texting him about finishing his suicide. >> i'm angry, but it's just bringing things back again and it's really hard. >> reporter: michelle carter's attorney told a local newspaper he expects the charges to be dismissed saying they're trying to claim there is manslaughter when they freely admit the boy took his own life. you can't have it both ways. ron mott, nbc news, boston. ahead, the story of one man who walked away from tens of millions of dollars and the powerful video he put out telling the world why he had to do it. that's 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. subaru eyesight.
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he seemed like a young man who had it all. larry sanders was a center with the milwaukee bucks. his 2015 salary, $11 million. last year sanders was suspended for five games for violating the league's marijuana policy and last week sanders was waived by the bucks. in a video interview on the players tribute website, sanders
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says he has received treatment for mental illness. >> i know i disappeared for a while. people were wondering where i was. i went into rogers memorial hospital, it's a hospital for mood disorders. they taught me about what's important and where i wanted to devote my time and injury. >> let's bring in terence moore. welcome to you, terence. first of all, when you saw that video, what was your reaction? >> well first of all, this guy's leave 2g$21 million on the table. i'm going to tell you a dirty little secret that's been the case for years, and this is something that the average sports fan does not realize. that is that just because these guys are magnificent players on the field, court, ice, that doesn't mean they've got it together mentally. and many cases, they don't, as we see with larry sanders.
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to give you a couple of other recent examples stephon marbury admitted he contemplated suicide many times. he was on the internet eating vaseline and crying for help. zack greinke, pitcher for the dodgers, suffering from social anxiety disorder, almost quit baseball. i was talking to terence mathis former nfl wide receiver earlier today. he brought up an interesting point. he said all of these guys all professional athletes should be required to seek mental health as soon as their rookie year because they don't understand the overwhelming pressures they're about to encounter. >> yeah, they sure do get a lot of pressure. back to what you said which was it's a dirty little secret. on the heels of that how hard was it for larry sanders to openly admit his troubles with depression and anxiety?
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>> actually for him it was a little bit easier because of the milwaukee bucks, the team he played for, are one of the few professional teams that actually has a staff psychologist on board to work with players. so he sought out help. and back in december when he left the team with the bucks' blessings, they allowed him to go seek help. so obviously he's a very troubled individual. and i tell you something else, alex, this has happened before. i think of rickie williams who was a wonderful running back for the university of texas and later in the nfl, he's another guy that just walked away after a fairly decent nfl career because of mental issues that he was having. this is not as unusual as people may think. >> so the bucks are dealing with this. but overall, i know one nba executive said we don't deal very well with the problem of mental health and anxiety. what do you think could be done,
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league-wide? >> i'll give you an example. not just the nba. back in the early 1980s i've been thinking about this a lot -- i worked at the san francisco examiner. and i saw an example of a team that didn't get it. and this team is similar to teams of today. and i got a team that really got it that was way ahead of itself way back them. the team that didn't get it the san francisco giants. this is back in the early '80s. they had a player named mike ivey. he suffered from social anxiety disorder. in the middle of the 1980 season, he just vanished and went back home to georgia, quit the team. eventually came back but being ripped by his teammates as being a big baby. one coach told me he was a deserter, just like in the army. but then the san francisco 49ers had a guy named bill walsh who hired a guy named harry edwards, a noted sociologist to be the
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team psychologist put him opt sidelines of every game and i dare say that dr. edwards is a primary reason why the niners won five super bowls as much as joe montana and steve young, hall of fame quarterbacks. >> wow. that's a great attribution right there. larry sanders said he was using marijuana trying to deal with his social anxiety problems. do you think some players' issues are due to self-medicating or at least trying to cope with some sort of a medical condition and they want to keep it under wraps so they try to do it on their own? >> we have to be very careful with that because i'm not a doctor and i don't play one on television, as they say. there's probably some of that. but you look at larry sanders, there's a direct line from the time that he signed this big contract for $44 million back in august of 2013 and virtually the bulk of his problems. there seem to be a correlation there.
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he says the marijuana use started because of the anxiety thing. but, again, to put it in perspective, even when larry sanders was back at vcu, he had an anger management problem. so he's had some issues even before this. again, it goes back -- appears to be a mental health issue. >> terence, you brought great perspective for us. thank you very much for the conversation. appreciate it. coming up ahead in the next hour, i'm speaking with an 11-year-old college sophomore. you heard me right. it is part of msnbc's seven days of genius coverage and it is coming up next. ig. yeah, i'm confused where's mr. craig? well, i'm sorta mr. craig. we're both between 35 and 45 years old. we both like to save money on car insurance. and we're both really good at teaching people a lesson. um, let's go. cool. sit down! alright. sorta you, isn't you. only esurance has coveragemyway. it helps make sure you only pay for what's right for you not someone sorta like you. i think i blacked out from fear... did we ask him where mr. craig was? we did. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call.
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and college sophomore, how does this boy deal with classmates twice his age. good day, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." 1:00 here in the east. 10:00 a.m. out west. the department of homeland security is open today but the fight to keep it open is far from over. president obama signed a bill late last night that funds dhs for the next seven days after congress approved that measure 357-60 just hours before the department would have shut down. here's what house minority leader nancy pelosi said after that vote. >> we certainly want to protect the american people every minute of every day, 24/7 that includes today. and we believe that within the next seven days hopefully five that we will have a bill that takes us to the end of the year. >> as we said the bill only
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provides funding for dhs until next friday. and the measure does not include any attachments blocking the president's immigration action the main sticking point for republicans. let's go to the white house and nbc's kristen welker. kristen, what about the obama administration? what is it saying about the one-week funding extension? that's it. >> reporter: that's right. alex, good afternoon. the white house knows this really doesn't look good for anyone in washington. but they also know that politically republicans will likely get most of the blame for a dhs shutdown. last night was a real political nail-biter with less than two hours before the department of homeland security was scheduled to shut down and run out of money. congress passed that one-week extension to keep the agency open. that short-term resolution though came after a really embarrassing defeat for house speaker john boehner. earlier in the evening, boehner brought to a vote a bill that would have funded the agency for a mere three weeks. but boehner couldn't even get enough votes from members of his own party to get that passed.
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sot that failed. an issue here, just to remind our viewers what we're talking about, conservative republicans want any legislation that funds the dhs to also block the president's immigration action. of course, that action would provide relief from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants. those conservative republicans argue that the president overstepped his constitutional authority. the president has consistently defended his actions saying it is legal. and he's vowed to veto any bill that would block him. the rationale for this one-week extension, alex is that they're hoping that extra time will give this sharply divided congress a little bit of wiggle room to reach a longer-term deal. but this all comes just as republicans have taken control of congress and senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, vowed to never shut down the government again. so this is really the first true test of that pledge and also of republicans' ability to lead. i'll bring up one more point. house speaker john boehner today denying reports that he cut some type of a deal with leader
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pelosi to vote next week on a clean funding bill with no strings attached that would keep dhs open through the end of the fiscal year, something that would infuriate his base. i have been talking to some republican lawmakers who are privately questioning whether this latest incident could, in fact, jeopardize boehner's speakership. so a lot of interesting days ahead and a busy week here in washington. >> certainly been an undercurrent of conversation. how many times have we been through this together before? will this go to the 11th hour again and we'll be up late friday night getting to the vote? >> reporter: i think it very well could. part of the political calculation here on the part of house speaker john boehner is that he's got to let those conservative members of his party voice their opposition to the president's immigration action. and the best way to do that is to allow them to resist any type of clean funding bill for as long as they possibly can. i can tell you, that last night,
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a lot of us really didn't know how this was going to end or when it was going to end. we knew that dhs would ultimately be funded but we didn't know if that was going to happen in a week or two weeks. so it's hard to say what the timing will look like. but certainly it is very likely that this could be another 11th-hour vote. >> whatever the timing is we know you'll be there for us to report. thank you so much kristen welker. his name is known and his face revealed, jihadii john the knife-wielding front of isis is mohammed emwazi a middle class brit who studied computers in college and as a child loved "the simpsons." authorities are now looking for him in the battlefield of syria. keir simmons join us now. >> reporter: the british prime minister has been forced to defend the security agency saying it's protecting this country from terrorist attack. all the same some uk lawmakers are questioning whether more could have been done as we learn more about the man who came to
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be known as jihadi john. the isis executioner, unmasked while this morning his network of london extremists is uncovered. britain's prime minister vowed to pursue the jihadists. >> when there are people anywhere in the world who commit appalling and heinous crimes against british citizens we will do everything we can with the police with the security services with all that we have at our disposal to find these people and put them out of action. >> reporter: mohammed emwazi was a computer student at london's university of westminster. at the time it's alleged extremist groups met on campus. >> we've also seen evidence of jihadist videos being shared with the islamic society of the university, including those calling for the deaths of coalition soldiers overseas. >> reporter: and this is emwazi as a grade-schooler in 1998 who wrote on his yearbook that he liked "the simpsons."
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he went on to join the most notorious killers in the world. his family moved to britain in the mid '90s. mohammed emwazi's family home is just over a mile away from the scene of a dramatic terrorist arrest a decade ago. the suspects had been hunted by police after a failed bombing. emwazi was then 18. but the british security agencies believe the men who were arrested here were linked to an associate of mohammed emwazi. that associate spent time in terrorist training camps in somalia. court papers say he and emwazi were involved in the provision of funds and equipment to somalia to undertake terrorism-related activity. this morning, it's emerged another extremist, this former rapper grew up close to emwazi. last year in new york his father pleaded guilty to charges related to al qaeda's bombings of u.s. embassies in africa. british officials have often questioned emwazi but failed to
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stop him leaving. and many are now asking, why? meanwhile, one of emwazi's former high school teachers has told the bbc while he was at high school, he did undergo anger management therapy. she says that he was considered to be a success after that. that he did not come from a troubled background. and when he left, they thought he would be successful. so the question remains has to how that young man turned into the man that we saw in those isis videos. >> thanks so much for that. mourners gathered in moscow to remember boris nemtsov, a russian opposition leader who was gunned down in the russian capital last night. nemtsov who served as deputy prime minister of russia back in the 1990s was a sharp critic of vladimir putin's administration. in washington, president obama issued a statement condemning the shooting. nbc's kelly cobiella is monitoring the story for us from london. kelly, with a good afternoon to you, what are the opposition leaders saying about the killing?
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>> reporter: they're saying it was unthinkable until it happened last night. a strong sense among opposition leaders as well that this killing was politically motivated and linked to nemtsov's stance on ukraine. he was working on a report about russia's possible involvement and just hours before his murder, he was on a radio station doing an interview denouncing president vladimir putin's ukraine policy calling it unbelievably aggressive and fatal for our country. in that same interview, he said when one person has all the power and rules forever, it will lead to an absolute catastrophe. alex, there's a lot of finger-pointing right now. no one, however, is pointing directly at the kremlin. the former chess grandmaster, now an active living outside russia, blames the killing on an atmosphere of hatred and violence in that country. >> kelly, i just want to cite a reuters report that i'm seeing
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here in our computer that says the russian president has promised the mother of mr. nemtsov that he will have an extensive investigation, everything will be done to find and punish her son's killers. that said do you see any potential impact this would have an president putin's hold on power? >> reporter: he still has very strong support among a majority of russians. so, no it's not clear it will have any direct impact really on his popularity. of course things could change. we'll have to see how it plays out. that being said the press, social media, politicians have all put an immense amount of pressure on the kremlin from the inside. there's a lot of skepticism that the killers will be found. but there's also a lot of intense pressure as i said to find out who was responsible and perhaps not just the gunman, but someone higher up. >> yeah. we should note to the left of the screen we had a split screen there and we were showing a live picture of the growing
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memorial there in moscow right where mr. nemtsov was shot and killed, murdered, in fact. kelly cobiella thank you so much from london for that report. update right now on a story we brought you earlier. georgia police confirmed that nascar driver travis kvapil's stolen car has been found. surveillance video from thursday night shows the trailer being stolen outside of an atlanta hotel. inside that trailer was a $500,000 race car, along with other equipment set to be used in this weekend's sprint cup tournament. kvapil's team sent out celebratory texts this morning. no word whether he'll be able to race that returned car. the fbi is calling them the black hat bandits and they pulled off a series of bank robberies in gun-toting fashion. nbc's peter alexander shows us how they've become more dangerous. >> reporter: just looking at it, you can imagine the fear a bank robber with a gun to a customer's head, the latest in a frightening string of bank heists. behind them two men the fbi
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calls the black hat bandits. >> violence perpetrated against customers, vaulting countertops, takeovers were these fugitives have held up seven banks since the start of this year. the most recent last week two banks within 40 minutes, even seasoned fbi agents say they've never seen anything like this. >> as you look at this picture with bank robber holding a gun to a customer's head what do you think? >> this has to stop. we have to get these individuals. >> reporter: scenes this dramatic are typically reserved for the big screen. >> anyone else here smarter than me? >> reporter: we've seen plenty of bank robbers in disguise. this guy held up a virginia bank in 2012 wearing a florida state sweatshirt, that mask? mitt romney. there was the darth vader in new york. a back street boy and this bank robber obsessed with fresh flowers. this time around the feds are offering a $30,000 reward to help catch these bandits before they're back in black. peter alexander, nbc news,
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the death of leonard nimoy has elised it tributes from all over the world and now from outer space. an astronaut up on the space station gave the vulcan salute from way up there. the picture has been retweeted more than 6,500 times in just a few hours. leonard nimoy dying yesterday at the age of 83. it is a seven-day solution
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at the 11th hour. congress narrowly avoided a shutdown but still are no closer to a compromise on the so-called riders to the agency's budget which would slash president obama's immigration reforms. joining me here in studio democratic congressman gregory meeks, member of the foreign affairs committee as well as the judiciary committee. welcome, sir. i know you voted in favor of this short-term extension very late last night, wrapping up about 10:00 at night. late yesterday, minority leader pelosi until that point called on democrats to stand against it. what changed and why did you vote for it? >> well it is that the leader said -- and we believe that next week we will have a clean dhs bill that we can vote on that will be good for the year as opposed to just postponing it and doing it piecemeal. >> band-aid measures. >> band-aid. we're told we are going to have
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within the next seven days a clean dhs bill that will keep america safe and keep the employees of the department of homeland security paid. so that's what we look forward to. we hope the republican leadership can governor. >> all that you've just said the goals and what you hope to achieve, can you understand why viewers of this broadcast, your constituents, people across this country are saying come on, this is happening again? >> well listen the republicans have the responsibility to governor. if he wants to put the bill on the floor, the bill that passed in a bipartisan manner by far in the state senate that bill will pass immediately with democrats and republicans voting. that's working together. but if he wants a partisan bill that can only pass if in fact he gets his republican majority to vote for it, then you get this kind of result. that's no way to govern.
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and i think it is incumbent upon the speaker to govern. >> is there any circumstance under which immigration should be attached to it? >> no. let's not hold the security of the nation hostage to anything. that's why the president pulled out any provisions he had within the bill and that's why everyone is claiming -- clearly i'm supportive of the president on immigration. but i would not hold dhs funding to the immigration bill. let's just deal with what it is. it is too important for the safety and security of our nation. >> do you worry at all about the impact of america's perception around the world? if you look at the timing of what is going on right now, isis and multiple issues of security around this world right now, for us to say potentially, we cannot even keep the lights on in our home security agency? >> well that's the message that i hope that we would not give. and that's why i'm hoping that we have a clean bill that's passed next week. that's why i think it is incumbent upon the speaker to
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get his party together his people together so that we can vote on this bill. as i said the senate clearly has come together in a bipartisan manner and passed a bill. if that bill would simply come to the floor of the house, it would pass. it would show that democrats and republicans in the majority would agree. but if the speaker insists on having these bills that can only pass -- that he would only bring to the floor with the majority of the majority, you're going to have these kinds of things. there's 40 or 50 of them who are extreme right wing who, i believe, don't believe in government. and what they really would like to do is to bring the whole system down and allow our government to fail which is exactly the wrong message you want to give to our enemies. >> let's talk about israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who has intimated this week that he believes the united states has given up on trying to prevent iran from trying to acquire a nuclear weapon. is this political bluster, posturing ahead of his march 17 election in israel or do you
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think he truly believes that? >> look i think that it's inappropriate, number one. for mr. netanyahu to be speaking before congress on tuesday. >> will you be going? >> no, i will not. i am a firm supporter of israel. we have to do all that we can to make sure we protect israel and for everyone iran having a nuclear weapon is not an option. we don't know what the deal is yet. chuuk schumer, senator chumschumer said the best result is to let's see what the deal is and let's not sabotage the deal before the end result. so let's -- members will listen i will listen to what he has to say. i won't be there because it's a political game that the speaker and unfortunately mr. netanyahu is letting himself be used in. but let's make sure that we look at what's taking place so that we do all that we can and we
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will make sure that iran does not have a nuclear weapon. >> given everything, though, and the current state of affairs throughout the middle east do you think prime minister netanyahu is launching political salvos here with live ammo? >> all i know is that we the united states and israel have been the closest of allies. we're going to continue to focus on those issues so that our enemies and those who want to harm israel will know that we will still be together. people should not forget when israel was attacked it was the barack obama administration that gave them the patriot missiles and every kind of defensive weapon that they needed to protect themselves. when talked about going after those who want to do israel harm or the united states harm it's the barack obama administration that's done everything, more so than almost any other administration. so we are focused on the issue to make sure that we protect israel and that we make sure that iran does not have a nuclear weapon. but we're not going to get
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involved -- what's taking place now is getting involved in politics, whether it's israeli politics or u.s. politics. that should not be the role of diplomacy. >> i want to ask you about jihadi john and the fact that his identity's been revealed this week. do you think that does anything to help capture him and bring him to some semblance of justice or anything to dissuade others from following in his footsteps? >> i think that it shows that -- i know our president is going to unturn everything still he can find those individuals that harm americans and are harming our allies, just as he did when he went after osama bin laden, just as he's done with drones and others killing the leadership. so i would say if i was that guy, i'd be worried about my life because i can tell you that the united states and our allies, we are going to find you and we are going to get you. may take a little bit of time. but sooner or later, we are going to get you. >> relentless, that's the way you're describing it. democratic congressman gregory
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to make it real. ♪ ♪ more stores are joining walmart by hiking pay for minimum wage workers. the parent company of tjmaxx marshall's and home goods are raising its wages for workers who have been employed at that company for at least six months. walmart recently announced it would raise its entry level wage to $10 by next year. the company's vice president saying the wage hike was in response to the changing retail competition competition, saying, quote, we felt like if we are going to make structural changes in owl of our stores -- joining me is susie kim. you write about all this in your latest article. did walmart force the hand of
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tjmaxx and marshall's or would these other stores have raised their wages anyway? >> analysts were expecting other big box retailers to follow suit. part of the reason walmart seems to have made this decision to raise wages is it realizes the labor market is tightening. it's going to have to do more to attract workers now that the unemployment rate is lower. there are fewer people looking for jobs. and in order to compete, it would make sense that a place like tjmaxx wouldn't want to lose their employees to somewhere like walmart. but those aren't the only factors in play. these are retailers that are also looking to improve their business model and they believe that boosting workers' pay is one way to do that. >> workers, that's not all they want. they want more hours as well because despite this wage hike they're still struggling financially to make ends meet. >> yeah. there are a couple of points
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here. one is that part of the reason that i believe that these big box retailers are under more pressure to do this is not only because of the labor market conditions but also because of the wave of labor protests that have been happening. most prominently is probably the fight for 15, what these workers are pushing for is $15 an hour. they say that is closer to a living wage. other things they're looking for are more full-time workers. walmart overall, it's only about 50/50 full-time versus part-time workers. walmart does it to have more flexible scheduling. but workers are saying if we don't have the hours, we're still not making enough to make ends meet. >> just before christmas, walmart said it would raise the base pay for workers at 1,344 stores because of the state wage hike. did that force walmart to raise the wages at all of its stores? >> this is definitely another
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factor that's coming into play. you have red states like south dakota arkansas, alaska that have taken up these initiatives, ballot initiatives and other measures to raise the state level minimum wage. so that's definitely another factor that is putting pressure as well as cities that are also hiking their minimum wage. >> thank you so much. >> thanks alex. before conservatives wrap up their big conference they have a big vote to conduct. what will the result really mean? iness you have to work hard, know your numbers, and stay focused. i was determined to create new york city's first self-serve frozen yogurt franchise. and now you have 42 locations. the more i put into my business the more i get out of it. like 5x your rewards when you make select business purchases with your ink plus card from chase. and with ink, i choose how to redeem my points for things like cash or travel. how's the fro-yo? just peachy...literally. ink from chase. so you can. ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll
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theraflu severe cold won't treat your runny nose. really? alka-seltzer severe cold and flu relieves your worst flu symptoms plus runny nose. [breath of relief] oh, what a relief it is. mommy! hey! good job! still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." 32 minutes past the hour. time for your fast five headlines. first in chile, a 14-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis wants to be euthanized and is asking that country's president for help. euthanasia is outlawed in chile. the girl says she's tired of living with the disease that's already claimed the life of her brother. back in this country, u.s. customs has just pulled off the second biggest drug bust ever at
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the u.s. border. it went down in san diego where more than 15 tons of marijuana was found inside a tractor-trailer that was supposed to be hauling mattresses. estimated street value? about $19 million. the explosion ten days ago at an exxonmobil oil refinery in california is fueling soaring gas prices in the golden state. pump prices have gone up 25 cents since monday and one station yesterday raised prices 20 cents in one day. the los angeles county sheriff believes it has recovered that $150,000 pearl-covered dress worn at the oscars. a dress resembling this one was found in the hotel. the sheriff's spokesman says the thief abandoned the dress after discovering the pearls were actually fake. and sales of that two-toned dress have soared. they shot up 347% yesterday, so says the british fashion company, which confirms that dress is for you doubters black and blue. and those are your fast five
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headlines. it has been called the woodstock for conservatives, the annual cpac gathering is wrapping up just outside the nation's capital, ending with the much hyped straw poll results later on this evening. for the past three days potential 2016 republican hopefuls have been giving campaign themes a test drive and brandishing their conservative credentials. >> i would describe myself as a practicing, reform-minded conservative. >> liberal policies have failed our poor communities. >> we are one election away from triggering another american century. >> if i can take on 100,000 protesters, i can do the same across the world. >> sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up. >> joining us now from cpac in maryland is nbc political reporter alex. with a good day to you. let's start with who you think
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made the biggest splash there? >> reporter: scott walker had a very good cpac. he's doing well in the polls and can unite the activist base here and the establishment republicans. they were thrilled with him. he had a great speech despite that line where he compared unions to isis. republicans here loved it. rand paul also had a very good cpac cpac. he's very popular here. >> rand paul's won that straw poll, conducted later on this evening. who do you think had the toughest time there? >> reporter: i think jeb bush is definitely struggling a little bit with these kinds of voters. despite raising huge amounts of money and really locking down a lot of the establishment republican support, cpac voters weren't very happy with him. he gave a good speech but it was overshadowed by a lot of negativity coming both from the stage and from attendees. a lot of people i talked to compare him to hillary clinton, said he was two sides of the same coin. so he struggled here. also chris christie the new jersey governor, he's been
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fading quickly from the chatter of 2016. he needed a win here. he needed some kind of momentum to keep him going and he just didn't get it. >> i know you said with jeb bush he's struggling a bit. but i think a lot of people were actually concerned given that audience. do you think he did better than expectations, at least? >> reporter: i think he might have changed some minds in the crowd. and he actually asked people to keep an open mind. he asked them to think of him as a second choice. there might be some people who come around on him. that said the crowd is very libertarian, a lot of young people, a lot of college students, they're probably never going to get with him in the first place. and there was controversy that he bussed in supporters from d.c., professional republicans. there was concern about that and some people didn't like that. >> any surprises there from cpac? >> reporter: well, they definitely tamped down on some of the surprises this year. less colorful than previous years. they tried to diminish the
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circus elements. but that said, phil robertson, one of the stars of "duck dynasty" gave what was the equivalent of a grade school lecture on stds. they had to turn up the music and force him off stage. >> let's talk about the straw poll results. that's going to be revealed this evening. who do you expect to win and does it matter much in terms of predicting the presidential nominee? >> reporter: i would definitely put my money on rand paul to win this. he won the previous two years. his father, ron paul won many times previously. it's not super predictive, we should make that clear. in the past four years leading up to a presidential election cycle, it's only accurately predicted the eventual republican nominee once in 2011 when it guessed that mitt romney would be the 2012 nominee. it gives you a temperature of the temperature who come to cpac and a lot of theme are young libertarians and it can give a
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kind of psychological boost to the candidate, it can give them a potential fund-raising boost and it can be something that they can tout to conservatives and to republicans as they're trying to win support. but it's not super predictive of what's going to happen. >> we showed video of sarah palin as she was addressing the crowd. talk about her speech. there were some surprises in that. >> reporter: well, i think one of the things that was surprising is that it was not too surprising. she's made a lot of headlines for recent speeches she's given that have been rambling a little bit incoherent she gave a strong speech here hinted at potentially running for president again. she's always keeping that flame alive. she made some jokes about hillary clinton and bill clinton to be expected. but i think she's trying to regain some of the love that she's had at crowds like this in the past that may have faded in recent years. >> alex, thank you for the report from maryland.
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appreciate it. he's just 11 years old. but when it comes to smarts he is light years ahead of most of us. in just a moment i'm going to have to put on my thinking cap big-time to talk with him. ucing aleve pm... the pm pain reliever. that dares to work all the way until... [birds chirping] the am. new aleve pm. it's the first to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. for pain relief that can last all the way until morning. new aleve pm, for a better am. [ male announcer ] legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom.
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jeff bezos launched amazon.com in 1999 to sell books on the burgeoning internet. explosive growth led to other products making amazon a multibillion-dollar company and the template for other online retailers. he purchased "the washington post" two years ago and is turning amazon into a digital media powerhouse. what defines a genius? how about an 11-year-old college sophomore who spends his time reading about quantum mechanics? tennish graduated high school at 10 years old and his story has
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been featured on the lifetime channel and is now planning to graduate with his associate's degree and then go on to university. msnbc is partnering with new york's 92nd street "y" for the second annual genius festival. joining me now is that remarkable 11-year-old i was talking about. i'm so glad to talk with you. i have to tell people that you and i were talking during the commercial break, you sound just like any other 11-year-old but you're not. when did you realize you were a little bit different from other kids your age? >> well actually when i was young like when i was in kindergarten, i kind of realized that i was a little advanced because i used to do like second third and fourth grade math. so i realized maybe i'm not just a kindergarten -- another
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kindergartener but maybe i'm a little advanced. >> a lot advanced. i understand you're studying quantum mechanics. please explain. >> explain what quantum mechanics is? >> yes, please. >> quantum mechanics basically is a field of physics that describes the motion of particles that are extremely small, even smaller than atoms. so it's pretty weird, actually because it's not just like regular physics. there are some different properties. for example, sometimes particles can be in two places at once. and there's a lot of probability involved. so it's not like you can know exactly where the particle will be located at a certain place and at a certain time. there will be a probability, like maybe the particle will be located at one place or another but you're not really sure where it is.
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so it's actually a little different and it's kind of bizarre, so -- >> yeah i'm watching you talk about this. you obviously are very comfortable talking about these detailed and complex issues and you love it. i can see the passion that you have. so do you think about what you want to do with this knowledge? >> yeah i do like learning and i'm really into science. and so when i grow up i do want to become a doctor and a medical researcher. and in the long term also become a president. >> oh, okay. well i think we'd love to have someone who's really intelligent and able to speak to the issues. that would be great. what about the way that you're dealing, though with all of the kids who are in your classrooms? you are 11 years old. and the students in your classroom must be, what 18, 19 20 years old. do you guys -- do you relate well to them?
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>> well now i'm used to it because i've been in college for a long time -- >> wait wait for about a year right? >> no actually i've been in college since i was 7. i used to take classes while i was in school but then as like a part-time student. but now that i've graduated high school i now take classes full time. so now that i'm used to having college students that are really -- well i guess old for me -- >> do they hang out with you? do they ever say, we have to study for this test can you come study with us because you might be able to help us? >> well yeah sometimes they do ask for help. but like at the beginning of a semester, they're not sure what i'm doing in class. but then as the semester goes they realize i'm a student and then also that -- so they also
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start to ask help. like one time just this semester, one of my classmates asked whether we could study together for an upcoming exam. so, yeah it happens. and i do like helping other people. >> well, yeah you want to go into the field of medicine, so obviously you do. can i ask you if you ever get downtime? do you ever just chill out and play video games or go to the movies or play with your younger sister who by the way is also a genius like you? >> yeah. i do have some free time yeah like -- and i do like watching tv playing wii with my sister. i play with my sister a lot. we have fun and run around and play games. and during the weekend, we have fun. so yeah. >> how much do you study every
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day? how long does it take you to do all your homework? >> well, it depends on the subject. i do like science a lot, so i guess i'm pretty good at science. but some subjects just need a lot of practice, like chemistry, now i'm taking chemistry and it's a lot of practice because there are so many different concepts. and then you have to write essays and there are so many things. so it takes some time. but i enjoy learning. so it isn't really a big deal to me. >> well, i have to tell you, i've really enjoyed talking with you. you know we'll expect very great things out of you. i have no doubt you'll deliver. thank you so much for being a part of our msnbc project, our seven days of genius. >> thank you for having me. >> so glad to have you. see you again, thanks. >> thanks. >> who are the greatest minds in modern history? you tell us. msnbc and new york city's 92nd
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street "y" have created a bracket asking the public to join the debate. there are four rounds of voting. cast your vote by going to msnbc.com/geniusshowdown next week msnbc will feature more on this special project, seven days of genius. a wounded u.s. serviceman is counting on congress to do something about immigration reform before his mother is deported. but will lawmakers keep the family together? that's next. why are you deleting the photos? because my teeth are yellow. oh yeah, they are a little yellow. hey! why don't you use a whitening toothpaste? i'm afraid it's bad for my teeth. try crest 3d white, it's actually good for your teeth. introducing the new crest 3d white diamond strong collection. the toothpaste and rinse... ...gently whiten... ...and fortify weak spots. use together for 2 times stronger enamel... ...so you can whiten without the worry. your smile looks great! oh, thanks! crest 3d white. life opens up with a whiter smile. good job! still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male
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we could have a wild week in washington. a shut down of the homeland security department was averted less than two hours before the deadline thanks to a one week extension. lawmakers are hoping to hammer out a longer term deal in the week ahead. as congress debates funding, the executive actions on immigration, the president is ratcheting up the pressure on republicans. in a town hall seen right here on msnbc and hosted by our colleague, the president urged republicans to do something.
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>> well said 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 passing comprehensive immigration reform. >> let's bring in our contributor and professor at the university of texas, good to see you. thanks for joining me. >> hello alice. >> do you think the president was able to move the needle at all on this debate that was held in south florida? there was pretty strong interest in the immigration reform given the population there. >> there is alex. i'm not too optimistic about him moving the needle with republicans, but where i do think he had a big impact was with the latino population. one of the young ladies in the audience who stood up and spoke said thank you for coming mr. president, but thank you for engaging us and we want more of you. that's been a frustration of the latino population is wanting to see more of the president engage
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the public on the one to one basis. going out there with a crowds like he did during the 2008 campaign, like he did during the 2012 election and saying i'm here for you, i know this is mucked up right now, but i'm keeping on it. i think we need that reinforcement. >> speaking of one to one, a very movement of this town hall which when a wounded veteran was talking about trying to prevent his mother from being deported let's take a look at that. >> i come back home and only to find out that i'm fighting another war with my mother trying to keep her here. >> you're a great example of why this issue is so important. our country is strong because of generation after generation of immigrants who embraced the ideals of america and fought for those ideals. >> do you hear from republicans any sort of a compassionate answer to that? >> i think you see different camps in the republican party. there is one camp that says you know what you came here
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illegally, we're not going to do anything for you. we don't care the sirksz. but i do think there is that other camper member the gang of eight was a bipartisan senate committee and you see folks who say well maybe it was illegal how you came over let's figure out a way to get you in line and ultimately get you to where you can be a productive member of society because the vast majority of immigrants are productive members. they're not gang members, they're not criminals. most of those have been deported. remember president obama supported the most immigrants of any president. now he wants to focus on the law-abiding citizens. this moment you played was the most touching moment of the town hall and shows the urgency of immigration reform. >> the president of course injecting 2016 politics into this week's discussion. he was referencing jeb bush let's look at that. >> i appreciate mr. bush being concerned about immigration reform i would suggest that what he do is talk to the speaker of the house and the
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members of his party. >> so he makes a point there. how is immigration reform expected to play out in 2016? especially on the republican side? >> again, alex it's those two camps. your more moderate establishment phase, don't forget the george w. bush jeb's brother who is a big advocate of comprehensive immigration reform and push for some sort of change. never came to fruition. the jeb bush's types of the party, the chris christies, they're open to this they say you know what we cannot deport everyone. these are productive members, let's figure out a solution. then you have the tea party-based republicans who will not budge. the primary, i think is really going to come down to how these two factions wrest it will out on immigration. >> can you give me a yes or no as to whether you see anything happening on immigration prior to the election? >> alex i'm going to say no. i am going to be a pessimist here, i think they're going to keep kicking the can down the road and wait for the new
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president to come in. >> pessimist or realist perhaps. >> i hope i'm wrong. >> okay. dually noted, thank you so much. that's a wrap everyone of the show i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, make it a good one. in small business you have to work hard, know your numbers, and stay focused. i was determined to create new york city's first self-serve frozen yogurt franchise. and now you have 42 locations. the more i put into my business the more i get out of it. like 5x your rewards when you make select business purchases with your ink plus card from chase. and with ink, i choose how to redeem my points for things like cash or travel.
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