awesome game in basic cable news, send us an e-mail. tell us who you are, where you're from and why you want to play. we have so much garbage we need to get rid of. please help us. new word from the attorney general on the future of the ferguson police department. hear what eric holder said that left them stunned after this week's doj report >> a day to march history. president obama expected to speak in selma today 50 years since bloody sunday. we will tell you who will be there and who won't be there. >> the missing flight remains a complete mystery. what do we know now that we didn't know then. >> a work benefit many americans are not taking full advantage of.

well good morning everybody. welcome to "weekends with alex witt". i'm betty nguyen. comments from eric holder saying he would consider taking a dramatic step of dismantling ferguson's police department if necessary. good morning, dara. what is the latest with this? >> good morning, betty. attorney general holder made these comments. the new comments come days after the department of justice report offered racial bias and police used excess and i have dangerous force and disproportionately targeted the black population there. here's what the attorney general said. >> i'm hopeful that the ferguson police department and figure nonmunicipality will work with us. as indicated in my remarks, i guess two days or so ago, we're prepared to use all the power

that we have to ensure that the situation changes there. and that means everything from working with them to coming up with an entirely new structure. >> does that include dismantling the police force? >> if that's what is necessary, we're prepared to do that. >> two ferguson police officers resigned after the doj reported two racist e-mails the the top court clerk was fired in connection with the e-mails. they are his strongest to date. they were asked if what he could learn from the report surprised him. >> i was shocked towards the end by the numbers that we saw and the breadth of the practices that we uncovered. the notion that you would use a law enforcement agency or law enforcement generally to generate revenue.

and then the callous way in which that was done and the impact it had on the lives of the ordinary citizens of that municipality was just a calling. >> in an view he said city leaders are not racist. in two weeks, ferguson city leaders are expected to meet with the justice department officials. betty, back to you. >> dara thank you so much for that report. new jersey senator biopsy mennen dez is speaking out about impending federal criminal charges against him. he has been under investigation for his acceptance of gifts and free jet trips from his friend a florida eye doctor. federal prosecutors want to know if the senator abused his office to help the doctor with personal business interests in exchange for the gifts. >> let me be very clear, very

clear. i have always conducted myself appropriately and in accordance with the law. every action that i and my office have taken for the last 23 years that i have been privileged to be in the united states congress has been based on pursuing the best policies for the people of new jersey and of this entire country. that's dr. melvin. anyone who knows us knows that he and his family and me and my family had been real friends for more than two decades. we celebrated holidays together. we have been there for family weddings in sad times like funerals and have given each other birthday holiday and wedding presents just as friends do. >> sources familiar with the case say a federal grand jury could bring charges against him later this month. potential republican 2016 hopefuls are once again flocking to the state of iowa. many leading gop names will

appear at ummit at the iowa state fairgrounds to compete for voter and media attention. jeb bush was out raising funds last night. >> as governor of the state, i got to as a candidate, i got to say what i was going to do. i talked about cutting tax,s, about creating a world class business climate about changing our education system about turning the system upside-down so people could prosper in our state. for eight years i got to act on my conservative principles. and it worked by the way. >> casey hunt is in des moines this morning. all right, casey, how hard will it be for jeb bush to sell his conservative issues. >> reporter: whether or not he can come here and outline a vision that fits with the caucus electorate which kicks off the presidential process. so much discussion about how he

might have the donor, fund-raising organization tphal base he might have trouble when it comes to appealing to voters. all eyes will be on him at this agriculture summit and later today when he holds a campaign-style event in cedar rapids about two hours from des moines. it will be his first chance to talk to voters. we heard from him at that fund-raiser and he focused on what he described as his conservative record in the state of florida. he talked about foreign policy. he said he doesn't believe this president thinks that american power is a force for good in the world. he also backed away from the language that he has previously used to talk about his support for common core that set of standards that have been adopted across many states but that have now become seriously problematic with the base. he had a woman stand up and tell him, hey, i support common core. i want to see you stand for

that. he said what i'm for is higher standards. >> so we look at that iowa summit today, resultly how does iowa factor into the caucus us. do they fit into the gop picture historically? >> reporter: well i think you will see here all the people up on stage today will be fighting in particular for this conservative segment of the electorate. you will have the governor of wisconsin and rick santorum. george w. bush won here in 2000 and obviously went on to the white house. santorum, who ultimately won the caucuses, though he was not declared the winner on caucus night, it took them longer to actually count the votes correctly. he went on to lose the

nomination to mitt romney. >> all right. there's perspective for you. let's get you some weather right now. the big chill. after what many hope was the last big storm. philadelphia remains covered in snow. about seven inches in fact fell thursday. snow still covers the steps that rocky once ran up at the museum of art. and look at these kids. they made the most of it by getting out the sleds. but there is still a warmup in the works. reynolds wolf has more on that. >> that's right. let's talk about some changes we're going to deal with all blamed on the jet stream. a trough out to the east, ridge in the west. temperatures will be warming up. for millions of people in the central plains. it will keep the cold air locked well to the north a lot of people breathing a sigh of relief. a shift towards a spring-like pattern.

that's going to be wonderful. it will continue not just one day but several days. sunday into monday expect more of the same. rain from texas to arkansas. louisiana has been suffering from a drought. this is some welcomed news. you don't need flooding. dow need rain showers. however, some places you might have some areas, low lying spots, poor drainage might have problems even into arkansas louisiana, mississippi. all right, folks, stay dry and enjoy the warmer weather. >> so a reminder for you, two at 2:00 a.m. daylight saving time begins. we all lose an hour of sleep. while you're at it change the batteries in your smoke alarm. other news now, protests erupted in madison after a

19-year-old black man was shot and killed by a police officer friday. the police chief say he was responding to a report of a man walking in traffic and hitting pedestrians. he said the officer followed the man to a residence where a struggle ensued after the officer was attacked russian authorities announce this morning the arrest of two men over the murder of russian opposition leader boris nemtsov. president putin has been informed of their arrests. ntsb will interview the crew of the delta air lines crew that slid off the runway at laguardia airport on thursday. bites thought they were in for a routine landing. the airplane has been moved to a hangar for a more detailed examination by investigators. and talk about paying it forward. surgeons at a san francisco hospital successfully completed a six-way kidney transplant friday. it involved 12 donors and

recipients. kidney swaps are becoming common for living knowdonors not compatible with their loved one but still want to donate. they donate to strangers in need. in return their family member receives a donor from someone who is compatible. civil rights leaders mark the 50th anniversary of the historic march. today marks president obama's first visit to selma since a campaign stop in 2007. kristen well cher is in selma. kristen, what can we expect to hear from the president today? >> reporter: senior administration officials tell me that is an emotional event for president obama. he talked about the impact selma has had on his life. and it paved the way for him to become the first african-american president.

we expect him to talk a little bit about that. but he's going to talk more broadly about all the progress made since selma. but also the work that remakes. it comes against the back drop of the report that there is racial bias in the police department in ferguson missouri, where michael brown was killed. the president will talk about that. and two years ago the supreme court scaled back much of the voting rights act. the very things that the folks who marched here in selma were fighting for. this is also going to be a call to action fort younger generation. he will call on them to get more engaged in the political system to go to the polls in bigger numbers. this will be a big speech for president obama. a lot of people will certainly be here. tens of thousands expected all across the country. some of them marched in the final march which started here at this church and stretched more than 50 miles to the

capital of montgomery. of course they were marching for voting rights and civil rights as well. also worth noting former president george w. bush will be here, and 100 members of congress. initially no congressional leaders were expected to attend. and then friday an about-face topped house republican kevin mccarthy has announced that he will be here. so there are going to be tens of thousands of people. an emotional day. you can feel the emotional tension building for it. >> thank you, kristen. we appreciate it. and we look forward to the president's speech which we will carry. what effect will hillary clinton's e-mail setup affect on her campaign. tomorrow marks one year of the of malaysian airlines 370. and the anguish for families. your dog's definitely got your back. but who's got your back when you need legal help? we do.

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which is perfect for me, because i think everything should just work. works? works. works! works? works. works. welcome back everybody. the decision bisect of state hillary clinton to use private e-mail address is taking on a life of its own. mrs. clinton has yet to fully explain why she didn't use the official state department e-mail account, instead of relling on a private e-mail server.

friday marie harf gave the state department's view as to why the nature of the e-mail account was not an issue. >> each individual employee has a responsibility under the federal regulations to preserve their own records. with the state department account or a personal account when you walk out the door it is your responsibility to provide those. does that make sense? regardless of what kind of account it is. >> all right. so let's bring in msnbc political correspondent casey hunt and colbyic wits. how well will it hold up under intense scrutiny with respect to the former secretary of state? >> -- reviews those e-mails. they said they're going to review the tens of thousands of e-mails they have of hillary clinton's. they're not reviewing it to see if she did anything wrong.

but if she see something she did wrong, that may prompt something else. we have to go through the slog of going through what's in there. >> mrs. clinton responded in a tweet that read i want the public to see my e-mail. i asked state to release them. they said they will review them for release as soon as possible. so is mrs. clinton talking about the 55,000 she apparently already turned over? and do we know if there are thousands more she will need to turn over or is there no way to know? >> well betty, we don't know at this point how many that 55,000 represents. think about just how much e-mail you or i send in a given day. while the state department is up there saying 55,000 that sounds like a lot, we have no idea what fraction of her e-mails this represents. and it's people who work for her decide which should go to the state department in the first place. those are going to be questions

that are going to continue to linger through this even as the state department undertakes this review. >> that's a good point. especially with how many more he details could come into contention here. is this going to be a political football kick canned around relentless by or is there anything substantial that will reach beyond a political problem? >> sure. we have talked to democratic sources who feel a little bit of anxiety that this is kind of the clinton problem we saw back in 2008. s narrative around the clintons they do lack transparency. they're a little secretive, guarded. the idea that the clintons would have not g mail but have their own server for personal e-mail feeds that narrative. a lot of of people have written, there is not a plan b for the democrats. martin o'malley was in new hampshire and south carolina this week. short of that, no one has really stepped up to take her on.

and the republicans will continue this drum beat. the e-mail alone is not the issue. it's the narrative. >> i want to talk a little bit more about that narrative with you, casey, especially when we talk about the server set up in mrs. clinton's home. colin powell even used a private e-mail account. have you ever heard anything about the former secretary of state using private servers in their home for e-mails? >> this evolved quickly once e-mail became the primary mode of the way everyone was communicating. when colin powell came in we were in a decidedly different phase of that. but having a server of your own isn't unique to hillary clinton. jeb bush for example, also owns his own server. jebat at jeb.org. it was widely known to the public and the press. when he went into office he knew

there were sunshine laws in florida that would require him to turn the e-mails over. the server itself creates the perception they might be using it to get around a subpoena legal, administrative case something along those lines. so that also protects potentially jeb bush. it does potentially feed this narrative of the clintons being secretive. >> thank you both so much for joining us this morning. we do appreciate it. >> thanks. nice to see you. >> sure. you too. selma 50 years later. how the economy and government have changed in a small city that sparked a civil rights movement half a century ago.

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from bloomberg. thanks for being with us. >> thank you for having me betty. >> let's begin with up and down. we're talk building the jobs report. that's good news. how did that result in a down? >> so players added 295,000 workers to payrolls in february. great month for job growth. unemployment 5.5% down from 5.7% in january. unemployment at the lowest level since may 2008. that's something federal officials definitely like to see. wage growth is really stuck at this low level we have seen for the entire recovery. 0.1%. just three cents. they're 2% from the year before. >> hello and good-bye at the dow. what company is joining the illustrious average and tell us why. >> apple, the world anticipates largest company, is replacing at&t, joining the dow. a lot of people wondered why it didn't happen sooner.

apple is this iconic tech company. it all had to do with the timing and waiting methodology. but the short end of it is there was a stock split in visa that lowered the waiting for tech companies and the dow and made room for apple. >> and the third headline time-out at work. apparently a lot of americans are not taking time off. i don't know why they wouldn't, but they're not. >> that's right. well you know, it's kind of -- the u.s. chalks it up to this culture that may exist in the u.s. you have promotion, you have a lot on your plate. or you just want to be seen in the office so you don't take the time off and it adds up. an employee has an average 5.7 days of accrued vacation time just waiting there. that's a problem for companies and workers. workers who don't take time off are found to be less productive or perform less well. also, you have to think of this as a liability on company balance sheets as well.

so they offered good suggestions to get workers to take that vacation time. are you ready for this? >> what? >> unlimited vacation time. mandatory days off. and if you can believe it financial incentives to take paid time off. >> really? >> yeah. >> i like that. pay me to take off. i'm good with that. all right. thank you very much. we do appreciate it. >> thank you. 50 years ago today, protesters took to the streets of selma, alabama in a march for equality. what happened next changed the course of our history.

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police reaction and the extensive media coverage helped bring the battle for civil rights into every home in america. well this afternoon president obama will commemorate the anniversary. tremaine how is it today? >> the eyes of the world were here on this small city of selma alabama. the bridge where state troopers violently aing taed black protesters who were pushing for voting rights. for 50 years folks have been pushing towards progress. there has been good progress change, some issue. this church behind me was the center of this. and this community continues to push for rights. but there's still issues. here's how they are dealing with it today. >> this weekend the eyes of the nation will again be trained on selma, alabama. this time they'll witness progress. george evans is selma's second

black mayor. >> i think the progress is phenomenal. >> evans says over the years rarely tensions have softened. while no one will forget that terrible day in 1965 most people in selma want change. >> it is such that everybody can get along. >> on sunday is a multiracial group of residents marched across the bridge kick canning off the selma to phobtmontgomery voting rights. despite a half century of social progress, economic progress has been slowed and the city's police force, although mostly black has come under fire of an elderly black man. william riley is selma's chief of police. >> we have come a long ways. no doubt we have come a long

ways since 1965. but we still have a way to go. even though the color may have changed, there is still that lingering memory of what they remember. and, you know sometimes it is hard for people to forget when something dramatic has happened to them. >> many will join the annual pill gramage standing side by side with the first black president. they will be led by george lewis who was on the bridge in 1965 and terry sewell. also on hand president george w. bush wife laura, host of cabinet members, and folks from all over the world. >> think grip selma, the poverty, the injustice. but on the flip side of that there's hope for selma. >> as the city pauses to remember its troubled past

residents will also look towards hope for the future. >> i'll tell you what it's hard to overestimate and overstate how important selma is not just the history of this state but this entire country. to a person who they say is still so much progress but still so far to go. back to you, betty. >> tremaine lee, thank you. the president will speak later today at 2:45 eastern. we will bring it to you live. and nothing new. now his administration is doubling down. the white house national security council put out a new tweet reading interesting take from the column on why netanyahu's prediction on iran have been wrong for 25 years. the headline of his column "netanyahu enters never-neverland.

congressman john yarmouth. >> hi, betty. nice to be with you today. >> i want to play a portion of your estimate. take a listen to this. this was out of the dick cheney playbook. this was fearmongering. essentially saying nuclear war is inevitable if a deal would be to accept it. phrases like this would pave the way to iran having a nuclear bomb. these are are things that are part of what dick cheney would have done and did. this has been the prime minister's pattern. he's gone to the you know and done the same thing. >> congressman, do you believe that prime minister netanyahu is actually call for war? >> well, i think the ultimate result of his policy would be military force. basically what he said is he wants a deal that is impossible to reach.

and he wants things in the deal that iran is never going to agree to. the p5 plus 1 enforcing the sanctions wouldn't all agree to. so he's asking for something that can't be. if that falls through and there is evident that iran is moving toward a nuclear weapon, the only recourse at that point would be military force. i think, ultimately yes, that's what he would be call for. >> well my colleague chris matthews described the speech as "takeover attempt of u.s. foreign policy." have you felt any reverberations on capitol hill? were you suede in any way? >> unfortunately, i think particularly the republican majority has bought into netanyahu line and way of thinking. that is very disturbing.

for the united states this would have serious ramifications in terms of international credibility. we are engaged with five other major powers in the world trying to accomplish this. so credibility is an issue. and the ability for the united states to pursue diplomacy and avoid conflict. because ultimately if military force is involved here and israel gets involved in military force, you know the united states is going to participate. so i think it's scary from that perspective. we don't want to be engaged in another military confrontation in that part of the world. and we also need to continue to be the leader in terms of diplomacy around the world. >> yeah. we'll see how all that plays out. i want to switch gears quickly and talk about the controversy over harrisburg-'s e-mails while she was secretary of state. they have had a reputation for secrecy. combine that with allegationings, however unfounded

unfounded, does this impact her 2016 ambitions? >> you know, i'm not exactly sure at this point. i have heard such a wide range of opinions as to what the rules require, what the law is, what she did and when she did it. >> it's a little confusing, suspect it? other secretaries of state have done it. we're told wait a second there is a shroud of secrecy. >> i'm not prepared to say whether she did anything wrong at all or not. in terms of her political future the fact that she kept her private e-mail is not as significant as what may come up in the substance of her e-mails. if there's any risk it will be from the substance and not the question of whether she actually was right in doing all of her e-mail business on her private account. >> the devil is in the details.

we'll see is how that plays out. all right. then there's this. what is the point of setting ape private e-mail in her home? >> well, that's a good question. i think she needs to come forward and explain why she did it and what her awareness was of the rules and whether she was acting on the voice of others or whether this was motive a ated by secrecy. i think she has to be very transparent as to her motivation. again, i think that's something that remains to be revealed. >> thanks so much for joining us this morning. we do appreciate it. >> thank you, betty. a year ago this weekend flight 370 disappeared with 239 people on board. and today what exactly happened to it remains a mystery. lester holt reports on the suspicions and the search. >> that was the last message from mh-370. 41 minutes into the flight, the mystery began.

>> i'm going to turn to the left. >> in a 777 similarity we duplicated the sharp left turn that came next sending 370 a mystifying journey ultimately towards the indian ocean. >> is there anything that would make this plane make that kind of turn absent a human either pushing buttons in the computer or dialing in the autopilot? >> no nothing. >> adding to the intrigue the transponder and other communications systems were disabled. >> it is described as the hook turn. that's where this event really started to develop from a normal routine flight to what has been deemed either an accident or an intentional act. early focus turned to the captain shaw. he was wondering if he was using his home flight similarity to practice the vanishing act. friend says he doesn't buy it.

>> he would be trying to save the plane. >> search vessels may be on track to finding it. after crunching satellite symbols, experts believe it crashed within a 23,000 square mile arc in the indian ocean. >> that is a high degree certainty but not absolute certainty. >> that was lester hold reporting. meanwhile, the three countries leading the search will hold a meeting in may that could change the direction of the effort. in a moment remembering bloody sunday. an nbc correspondent in selma that day and witnessed the terrifying events that changed u.s. history. # for her. so i tried to get her on video chat. i'm on verizon. i... i'm not. so it's not a problem. my video chat isn't working so i try 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

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volunteers rode on horseback, a calvary charging on its own citizens. the whole time the cameras were rolling. in living rooms across the nation americans watched the violence on the evening news. civil rights movement finally hitting home. joining me now is richard valeriani, a correspondent for three decades. he covered the civil rights movement and was on the ground that day. thank you so much for spending this historical with us today 50 years later. >> thank you. >> bring us back to that weekend. did you know that it was going to be a moment in history? >> no. generally we tend to see the trees and not the forest. however, it was obvious there was going to be violence that day. the forces law enforcement forces. on one side the marchers. obviously it was set up for violence which is where the demonstrators i think hopeful. >> really? you think this is something they

wanted to play out like this? they wanted it to turn violent? >> wanted is the wrong word. now that it would be helpful. johnson told martin luther king at one point, stir up a lot of trouble. >> really? >> see, it had worked in birmingham, remember the firehouses and the police dogs. shocked the nation. so the violence was bad physically personally for the people. but it galvanized the movement and the country. >> we dug up one of your reports from the weekend when you spoke to john lewis, the chairman -- >> the leader of the march. >> and williams one of martin luther king jr.'s trusted deputies. i want you to take a listen to your report. >> we're marching today to dramatize to the nation and dramatize to the world that 00s of thousands negroe citizens but particularly here in this area were denied the right toe vote.

we tend to march to montgomery to george c. wallace. >> what are you going to do if you get stopped? >> we hoped we don't get stopped. but we're going to stand there and try to negotiate and talk them into letting us go ahead to montgomery. >> if you are stopped today, do you intend to march to montgomery? >> it took 40 years. we intend to march us montgomery if it takes us a lifetime. >> he didn't know he would killed. when you look back have you seen any type of determination that's even close to what we saw back on that day? >> where? >> there in selma as they were marching. they went through so much of getting the message out and trying to make sure that they were hurt. and facing all the possibilities. >> as you heard, they were determined. they were going to do it eventually. wednesday, saturday, next month.

now, the other point about that martha people overlook is it was conceived after a black civil rights worker was shot and killed by a state trooper in marion alabama three weeks earlier. and the march was not only to demonstrate in favor of voting rights but to protest the killing of jimmy lee. >> a lot of voices wanting to be heard. you were attacked and injure indeed a protest a few weeks before selma? >> yeah. >> you were hit in the head with an axe handle. i want to show you a picture of you afterwards. you're filing copy from your hospital bed. apparently news doesn't stop for a head wound. what was the atmosphere like? >> it was scary because you knew you were a target. especially in television. you couldn't blend in because you had a camera. >> with television you have the

cameras so you're sticking out. >> reporters, they didn't know who they were. so you knew you were always sort of looking over your shoulder. and a lot of photographers got hit. this guy came up. first of all we knew we were in trouble that night because local citizens had sprayed black paint on the lenses of our cameras. and the state troopers did nothing to prevent that. and when the march started -- the police waited. some guy walked up behind me and hit me with an axe handle. i stag erred. the camera man held me you. i put my hand behind me head and looked at it. and some guy came up anded, do you kneeled a doctor? and i looked at me hand and said yeah i think so. i'm bleeding. and he thrust his face into mine and said we don't have doctors for people like you. eventually someone did take me. >> what a day it was 50 years

later. hard to believe that so much time has passed. >> it is hard to believe. what i find hard to believe -- i mean, i still think about it. during my lifetime millions of american citizens could not vote. the fundamental right. >> thank you so much for sharing some of your memories with us. >> president obama will deliver a speech later from selma at 2:45 p.m. we will bring you the speech live as it happens. >> star appeal. it is part of our seven days of genius series. that is next. edward jones. this is shirley speaking. how may i help you? ♪ oh hey, neill, how are you? how was the trip? with nearly 7 million investors he's right here. hold on one sec. you'd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. kevin, neill holley's on line one. ok, great.

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this week ms nbc has partnered to bring you seven days of genius. it celebrates the thought leaders who are shaping the way we look at our world.

coming up at noon eastern today, ms nbc will hold a special with some of america's greatest artist including one who many consider a comedic yean js. >> i'm not that smart. that's say big words in my movies. i can't write a smart, witty character. >> he joins us now. looking forward to this. good morning. >> just winning. i torture her with those jokes on the break already. this is fascinating. of course it's too adept to call himself a genius. he blamed it on his lack of breast feeding. he took a stand on some things. i think we have sound of him talking about bill cosby. >> i know it has to do with a lot of race politics. he's an important symbol for accomplishment and people don't want to tear that down. there is a line you know after

20 rape accusations you can start saying maybe he's not the best symbol. maybe we don't need him. we have other people we can look up to. >> you know, obviously we have to say cosby never charged his lawyer has denied charges, cosby has denied charges. there are people in the entertainment industry who are pushish back as what they view as a culture of silence. it's him, carol king they all talked about the strength of character needed to navigate fame. and changing entertainment industry. >> i want to ask you about john mayor. >> he's a fascinating guy. he's a real musician with a capital m. we talked about that exact phrase. he can play with eric clapton, we actually have some of him playtish guitar in the studio. that's the focus for him. he has been distracted from that

occasionally. take a listen to him talking about the charges he is a woeminizer woeminizerwoem woemenizer. >> when is the first moment you thought this is not what i want to be known for? >> the first time somebody misntdss you and says you're a woeminizer. >> you know, he would say yes the thing is what he is he's hypersmart and that's gotten him into hot water. you remember that playboy interview. >> you can see it in there, you know -- >> that's where he wants it to be. he would rather not be interviews about his sex life. >> there's this, up is next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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all right. good morning. thanks for getting up with us. a truly historic saturday morning. what's on tap today? president obama will be speaking in selma, alabama, just a few hours from now. 50 years to the day since bloody sunday. this comes as attorney general eric holder is speaking out about what he's prepared to do to fix the ferguson police department. we're going to be taking a look at the state of that and the civi