needs to stop. you know, the cops taking advantage of their power to the minority and to the people. >> good afternoon. i'm abby huntsman. as we come on the air, the fallout from the south carolina police shooting has taken a new turn. the video feidin santana shot led to the arrest of north charleston police officer michael slager. slaiger is charged with the murder of walter scott, who was apparently unarmed. regardless of why scott ran from the officer, what happened next was caught by santana as he was walking to work at a local barbershop. he turned the video over to the scott family who provided it to police and the media on tuesday. we want to warn you, the video is disturbing but it is essential to understanding this story. here is the relevant portion of it. [ gunfire ] after firing eight shots, the officer then tells an

unresponsive scott to put his hands behind his back. when there's no movement, slager cuffs the man himself and without offering aid, leaves the body. he walks to where the scuffle began, retrieves an item and then appears to drop it next to the victim's body. more than a minute after scott fell to the ground a second officer starts to administer aid and directs ems to their location. now t remember, this all started as a traffic stop for a broken taillight. now the scott family is planning his funeral. the mayor and police department initially stood by slager's story. when the video was made public three days after the shooting, they quickly moved to fire slager and arrest him that night for murder. he's now being held without bail and without pay. we're learning more about previous accusations against him for excessive use of force. msnbc's craig melvin is in north charleston with more for us. craig, let's start with that 2013 incident. tell us more about your interview with mr. santana. >> let's start with the

incident. march mario gibbons is the man's name. he held a news conference a couple hours ago here and recounted a night back in 2013 when officer slager showed up and according to mr. gibbons pulled him from his house without asking his name without giving a great deal of information about why he was there and used his taser on him. there was a neighbor who corroborates some of this. a complaint was filed. gibbons files a complaint against the officer. law enforcement investigated it and decided that at that point, charges were not warranted. so at this point, you have a lot of folks who are starting to dig through the history of officer slager. so going back to the gentleman who's by the way being hailed as a hero in this community, feidin santana, the gentleman who shot that video, as you indicated, abby, this is the route he took to work every day.

he's a local barber from the dominican republic. he said he saw something and heard some things that didn't sit well with him, so he did what a lot of people do these days. he whipped out his cell phone, and he hit record. what's interesting -- what's most interesting to me at least about the video is that there's a good chance we never would have seen this video had santana not watched the coverage that night, not read some of the local press reports. so he takes it upon himself to look at the police report. he says essentially it didn't jive, it's not what he saw. he wanted to step forward and do it the right thing. he goes to the police department and says you should know i got all this on my cell phone. i've got this on video. the officer, after a few moments of incredulity, leaves comes back says wait right here. at this point, he said to me that he kind of had an idea how that thing was going to end for him, so he got up and left.

he got an attorney. it's interesting when you talk to him because you do get the sense that he is still deeply conflicted about coming forward with the video. he said this was something he wanted to do for the family but at the same time he knows that he put his own personal safety at risk to a certain extent. >> incredible story. very courageous man. craig melvin, thank you so much for that report. and here with us now is defense attorney and former prosecutor karen desoto as well as former nypd officer assistant district attorney and prosecutor eugene o'donnell. eugene's now a professor of law and police studies at john jay college of criminal justice. thank you, both for being here. karen, i'll start with you. the big takeaway from this whole story is the importance of this video that santana was so brave enough to release. because he released it there's really no debate as to what happened here. it allowed the city to respond as quickly as they did.

it makes you wonder how many things go unnoticed without anybody seeing and also why cops should not have cameras on them at all times. >> you know it's interesting because the cases that have had the most controversy have had videotapes, right. as a prosecutor, yes, it's a great aid, but with police cases, it doesn't tell the full story. so it's problematic. although it's good sometimes it's bad. what i've noticed as a lit gator is that jurors, even if it's 100% a clean shoot or if the police officer was in the right, it is still very disturbing for anyone to watch any type of violence, whether it's right or wrong. so social media and tapes now being what they are, you're going to start seeing more and more of this video. will that desensitize people or will they start looking at the ramifications before and after the video were taken? >> eugene question for you. it seems cops who shoot unarmed black men read from a script. it always goes the same. they always say, he went for my gun. or in this case, a taser.

and i feared for my life. why does it seem like these folks are always reading from the same playbook? >> well this is a terrible case and it's a terrible example of abuse apparently on the face of it. to the extent this is replicated at all, it's outrageous. i wouldn't agree, certainly in my case in new york city. police shootings tend to be overwhelming involving individuals that are legitimately armed at the time they're fired upon. unfortunately, we have a gun culture in our country. policing is done in the poorest places where violence is prevalent. i don't think there's an epidemic of these kinds of issues, but obviously this is one awful, awful case and we have to get to the bottom of this case and also have no safe harbor for this kind of -- not only the actions, but the followup. >> he saw the cop knew or felt that if he said he went for my gun and i feared for my life then he would be in the clear. the video shows that certainly is not the case.

we hear those same words over and over and over. why are we hearing that same playbook over and over? >> we're not sure he would have been in the clear. it's disturbing that he could have been in the clear, but it's possible also the story is so implausible it wouldn't hold together. usually you have to have some sort of account if it's a legitimate shooting. did he try to get my weapon? did he try to get a taser? trying to make multiple stories up as you go along usually unravels, but i wouldn't doubt there's a possibility he would have gotten away. >> the statements match the defenses. why does it seem the same? the case law and the defense is your same no matter where you go. when you make a statement, the reason they are the same is because their strategy and defense is built into their statement. that's why they all sound the same. >> speaking about the stray jitegy of the defense, a lot of people are making a big deal about the fact the officer in this case was charged, right. that's more than what's happened in some other cases we've talked

about. as you well know there's a big difference between being charged and being convicted. you've been -- >> a huge one. >> so you've been a prosecutor. you've been a defense attorney. you're an expert in these kinds of things. based on what you've seen and based on what you know about juries, what do you think is the likelihood that this particular officer is going to be convicted. >> well i can't answer that because there's a lot of information that we don't know. one of the first things that i do when i get a case as a prosecutor or a defense attorney is that i look at the officer's jacket. that always tells me a lot of information. in this case, there's a lot of excessive force. there's certain things i like for off the hop to see whether or not this is a person that i need to delve and how deep. the videos are great, but again, that doesn't tell the whole story. i'm always the person to say let's pause until you get all the facts. again, the video in this case is very compelling. he's running away, he's shooting him in the back. which is also the case in ferguson. however, there was a back and front story to that as well. videos are not 100%. in this case i'd have to say it's pretty disturbing.

>> also the way juries treat police officers, is that another consideration? >> absolutely. jurors always defer to police officers. that also depends on what area you're in. obviously if you're in an urban area, the jurors are a little bit more suspicious of police officers. why? because they've had a ton more contact with them and not everybody has had good experiences with them. >> that's a good point. eugene, you were saying earlier this is one awful, awful case which is certainly true and also certainly true that the overwhelming majority of police officers go above and beyond to do their best and do what's right. but on top of the horrific shooting of mr. scott, which is obviously the worst crime here you also have a police officer who seems to have then lied about what happened and also appeared to plant what some are thinking may have been the taser on mr. scott's body. how much does this case and the fact this officer then went and lied about it -- how much does that hurt the credibility of the

policing community? >> it does. i think we're seeing in ferguson and here that we have a lot of police departments, a lot of police departments that don't pay very well, aren't very attractive. this cop is an at-will employee. that's hard to believe. this is a union-free state he works in. so we're going to have to find people to be police officers. i'm very concerned that some of these departments are really stretching to fill some of these positions. >> eugene there are a lot of terrible things that came out of this video, but one that stuck out to me at the end, when scott is down on the ground it took the officers more than a minute to give him any sort of medical attention. the mayor spoke yesterday saying, look, not all cops are cpr certified. but in a situation like this what should they have done? >> well there's a view of this evidence between the dispatch tapes and the reports that look like a real calculated cover-up bloodlessly done handcuffing him, acting as though he's out of breath. i don't know if he's out of breath. if you look at the video, he

doesn't look like he's particularly worse for the wear. so you wonder whether some of this is just done ultimately with an eye for covering up. a legitimate shooting, honestly what happens sometimes is the cops are so shocked they're in these events, they're not ready for them. they're running around almost hysterically. so you need to work on that better. but this video, the dispatch tapes, the reports. now, it is important to say there is a part of this that we don't know. there were events that led up to this. i don't think any of that is going to change. but it is important to say that there is a context -- there may have been a wrestling match, may have been a tasering. just in terms of whether it's a slam dunk or not, that might not make it a slam dunk although i can't see anything that's going to change the outrageous facts here. >> i think we saw everything we needed to see in this situation. thank you so much for your insight. and we're on verdict watch in another high-profile trial. will an nfl stand-out be taken down for murder? also right now, millions of

americans are cleaning up from severe storms. and millions of others are bracing for more. domenica is tracking all of that for us. and rand paul finds himself in south carolina and in the middle of a political storm over that police shooting. what, if anything did he have to say about it? find out as "the cycle" rolls on. it's thursday, april 9th. g sunday dinners. but when my back hurt, cooking all day... forget about it. tylenol was ok, but it was 6 pills a day. but aleve is just 2 pills all day. and now, i'm back! aleve.

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it's back! xfinity watchathon week. the biggest week in television history. it's your all-access binge-watching pass to tv's hottest shows free with xfinity on demand. xfinity watchathon week. now through april 12th. perfect for people who really love tv. i'm meteorologist domenica davis. we're talking tornado watches. they have been posted. this is the time of the afternoon where you start to see these storms fire up. that's exactly what we're seeing now. two tornado watch boxes that are posted that include missouri,

iowa, and now for illinois which does include chicago. this goes until 11:00 tonight. we already have a tornado warning in effect. this is for peoria county right now. it will expire in about ten minutes. we are getting reports of golf ball sized hail with this system. it's radar indicated, moving off to the northeast. so along i-39 and i-80 that's where these strong storms are headed. be on stand by if you certainly are in this area and for the next several hours. it is going to be a tough commute for a lot of folks through the midwest for this evening. here's a look at the risk area for the rest of this afternoon and this evening. it's a broad area that extends all the way down to texas. it pushes up through the great lakes. so cincinnati, knoxville, and even over through atlanta and raleigh. you could all see storms. we have a thunderstorm watch in effect for parts of kentucky ohio, and west virginia through this evening as well. so those storms are going to

continue to rock and roll through the rest of today and then tomorrow that storm system pushes to the east. so the eastern seaboard along i-95 that's where we'll be looking for the shift of severe weather tomorrow from new york all the way down to jacksonville and even back through texas. it will be another day of severe weather talk. that's a look at your forecast. back to you, blake. >> golf ball sized hail domenica. good news, please at some point. >> terrible. >> anyway temperatures could actually approach 90 degrees in south carolina this afternoon. it's a heated environment in more ways than one in the wake of that police shooting we've been talking about all day. just so happens rand paul's four-state kickoff tour took him there a short time ago. he didn't address that fire storm, but he did try to fire up the crowd about his young campaign. >> we need to be for all americans, whether you wear a suit a uniform, overalls whether you're rich or poor white or black. we need to be the party of all

americans. we need to go boldly forth under a banner of liberty that clutches the constitution in one hand and the bill of rights in the other. >> all right. for more on the race and all things politics, we have glen thrush the chief political correspondent for politico and the pride of news day. glen, great to have you here. good to see you. >> you bet, man. >> let's talk about rand paul. sort of the story of the day in the world of politics. rand's had a tough week. he's been getting in some confrontations with the media. i'm all for calling out the media when they talk about petty things, but these are confrontations over real policy positions, substantive things. he's duking it out with savannah guthrie on nbc earlier this week over his shifts on policy. you would think that would have a negative repercussion as he tries to win this gop primary. on the other hand it plays well with the republican primary base to say you're standing up to liberal media. how is this going to shake out for rand paul? >> well i don't think it shakes

out particularly well when you -- getting into these fights with absolutely everybody. he had a reputation for that up on the hill. it's actually not a bad characteristic. you talk about news day. i come from a tabloid environment, blake. so zodo you. >> i want to know more. >> uh-oh. >> we like -- i just wanted to slip that one in. >> let's be real. >> keep it real. >> you know we're used to that kind of stuff up in new york. that doesn't really play all that well in the middle of the country. it's fun to kind of have the back and forth with him. it was fun to joust with him on the hill. when you get on the trail, people want to see a different side. it's funny, before his announcement, i had one of his advisers say to me, we got to see the real rand. we've heard that one before with respect to hillary. i don't think we've seen the real rand yet, at least not in really positive sense. >> can i also just say, for a guy who's talking about the republican party expanding their reach and particularly needing to expand their reach to women, i don't think this sits very well.

>> yeah, he's got to figure that out. although, he does expand well in other areas. the woman thing, that does not look so great with savannah and kelly evans. speaking of the media, another issue they like to hit on him for is how he manages his relationship with his dad, ron paul. you have a piece out about this talking about daddy issues. you say his father ron made it all possible, but now he needs to go away. he recently spoke to politico about his dad. here's what he said. >> you know my dad is a great guy. i have a great deal of respect for my dad. my dad is probably one of the most honest genuine characters in american political history. we don't agree on everything, but not everybody agrees with their dad on everything. you know i think that anyone's dad gives them a sense of reference. there are a lot of people who actually became involved in politics because of him. and i think what my job is is to take what he started and make it bigger. >> you know glen it made me think about some of the other candidates, like rand who have

to balance family. it's also jeb bush. even in some sense hillary clinton because family members can be both a blessing and a curse. would you say rand paul is in the most difficult position here? if so how does he navigate that one? >> well i like the way he says it. everyone's dad put out a potentially racist newsletter in the 1990s. >> who amongst us hasn't? >> really come on. typical thanksgiving, right. but i really do think it is an issue for him. and it cuts both ways obviously. there are a lot of voters in iowa -- and let's not kid ourselves here. you can play around with all sorts of possibilities. if rand paul doesn't have a pretty good showing in iowa it's game over right. his old man in a very convoluted way actually wound up winning iowa in 2012. if he underperforms really significantly his dad, and his dad got 23% -- >> i don't know though.

new hampshire last go around ron did very well. he took a high second. >> right. so i think that reinforces the point. if he goes in there and he can't perform comparably to his dad, people are going to start talking about a story line that isn't all that positive for him. >> so we're looking forward to a potential hillary clinton announcement maybe next week. i know she's someone you've covered for quite a while now. i wanted to get your thoughts on this "new york" magazine piece people are talking about that asks whether hillary sr.is good at running for president. they point out the fact she was shaky on her book tour handled the e-mail situation poorly gave a pretty bad press conference to try to clean all of that up. do you think that she is poorly served by not having a strong democratic primary to not shake the rust off? >> yes and no. i don't want to be too equivocal here. i think somewhere between 2008 and 2016 would be the sweet spot. i think if webb and o'malley

make a run from it and allow her to frame herself in the mainstream of her party, that would be pretty good too. my good friend wrote that piece. i agree with it mostly but i will say this. she really was a totally skriz frenic candidate in 2008 to me. prior to super tuesday, she was kind of estimated. i think she has the longest runway of any major presidential contender in 2016. and she does show the capacity once she kind of gets in the mix to really speak to voters. and the more she gets out there and talks with people, and as you know that's been something she's been loathe to do so far, i think the better it is that she'll be. i think she can be a pretty good presidential candidate. the question is does she want to be? >> glen you're going to be covering hillary clinton your entire life. politico's glen thrush thank you for your time. >> good seeing you guys. >> and we're going to have a cycle 2016 exclusive tomorrow. right now, ari is going one on one with former maryland governor martin o'malley who could pose a challenge to

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i have a message! a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words. we have come to take our country back. >> that was senator rand paul on tuesday announcing his candidacy for president. the question now who is going to support him in getting there? there is as we mentioned before, the support and looming specter of his father ron paul who ran for president twice in both 2008 and 2012. and as someone who was in new hampshire in 2012 i was in awe of how many young people were out there campaigning for team paul. question is will that support swing over to his son rand? and paul is not the only republican vying for young voters. tea party darling senator ted cruz announced his candidacy

just a few weeks ago, and he said this to msnbc.com. his plan for winning over millennials means speaking their language and having a, quote, sense of humor. so will lols be what wins over millennials? here to break down where the youth voting block may pledge allegiance in 2016 is the co-founder of attention and news source for the next generation. also the author of a news piece that asks "will rand paul win young voters?" good to see you. when it comes to young people they don't necessarily vote down party lines. they're really influenced by issues they're passionate about. economy obviously being number one. the second one i often hear the most about is equality and gay marriage. is that something that you hear a lot from young people enough that would sway their vote? and who's in the best position for that? >> definitely and without question senator paul's biggest weakness is his position on lgbt

rights. recently a video surfaced where he said that he doesn't think that gay rights are even a thing, and he then elaborated basically saying that it's a behavior, which of course pretty much all lgbt leaders have condemned. so for a generation that's very progressive, including even young republicans, 61% of whom support lgbt rights he's out of step there and obviously secretary clinton's the front runner on the lgbt issue generally speaking. but rand paul is pretty interesting on a few other matters. >> yeah and one of the things that you talk about in your piece, matt is the fact that his father, ron paul, whose ideology is not the same as rand but similar, inspired from some of the same places and they have some of the same positions, did much better with young voters than other republican presidential candidates. but let's be real. how many young people are really voting in republican primaries anyway? ron brownstein ran the numbers

during 2012 at "national journal" and found the electorate is much older and much less diverse than the nation as a whole. >> you're right. 9% of young people voted in the gop primaries. that's also a big issue. and obviously if senator paul's campaign and strategy centers on mobilizing younger gop primary voters, he has his work cut out. but i do think that if he can somehow get to a general election and if he strikes this anti-establishment tone when four out of ten young people don't identify with a political party, he's a pretty formidable gop candidate. >> matt let's be really real. a lot of young voters dilute their power by getting behind by falling in love with these idealistic unelectable candidates. ron paul we've been talking about. bernie sanders seems to be that mantle this time around. why do they do that? >> well we're an idealistic generation. we want politicians to push for

bold things. to be honest you know when you're talking about small, tinkering with student loan interest rates, that doesn't get people as excited as saying things about free college. when you're talking about can we slowly reform drug laws that doesn't get people as excited as saying, you know, can we do decriminalization across the board or even recreational legalization. and i think young people are always the optimistic side of voters who want to push for the most ambitious plan. then we need the cynical elders to put us in line. that's how it works. >> is that you toure, the cynical elder? >> here we go. >> i hear what you're saying matt. to stay on this theme of getting real, i think something we can do that can be convenient for pundits like us when we talk about politics is to group people in these large groups. people will talk about the women's vote. this is something that get mess angry. we talk about it as if it's a

monolithic block when it's 50% of the population. everyone has their own unique thoughts and opinions and issues that matter to them. >> and they sway their husbands blake. >> we just do what our husbands tell us to. >> obviously. >> there's a lot of diversity there. >> anyway getting back to the question i was going to ask you about, when we talk about millennials and the youth vote here, isn't there a danger to kind of talking about it as if it's one big monolithic group. i heard you say before this is something that plays with young people. what do you say to that objection? >> no voting group is monolithic, but there are generational trends. we know young people are supportive of immigration reform. we know young people are supportive of marijuana legalization. we know young people are more supportive than any other generation of lgbt rights. you can be monolithic and group the generation on those matters and say, look the broad majority believe this, but of course there are numerous exceptions to the rule. even if you divide the millennial audience among party or among race or among

socioeconomic status, you'll find differences. but largely speaking young people today are the most socially progressive generation and economically speaking we're looking for candidates who are going to make college affordable and who are going to have jobs plans that invest in national service and work force training and, you know, stem careers and getting more women into technology positions and all the things that we're talking about all the time on shows like these. >> millennials, coolest generation there is. matt, you're the only one that's not said let's get real. before you go, let's hear it. >> that said what? >> let's get real. >> let's get real. >> love it. thank you as always for being with us. >> straight ahead, the secrets at an eye-opening new look at what big brother does not want us to see. full transparency here on "the cycle."

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congress to reauthorize nsa's spying powers. key provisions in the patriot act used to justify bold collection of millions of phone calls and records will expire on june 1st. congress appears no closer to finding the right balance between legitimate secret government programs and the privacy of americans. our next guest argues in a new book called democracy in the dark that there's been a governmental shift from keeping secrets in order to protect us to simply just keeping secrets from us. joining us is the author of that book. it's so nice to have you with us. >> nice to be here. >> so how do you distinguish between the good secrets to protect us and the bad secrets? >> first place, you have to because there are some legitimate secrets. then you have to recognize we have many too many things kept secret. 100 million documents each year are made secret now. 20 million are made open and

things are made secret because they're illegal, because they're embarrassing. of course, some are secret because it's legitimate. and then a whole lot of stuff is made secret just because it's the easier thing to do or if you want to have your memo read you better designate it as top secret or people won't pay any attention to it. >> let's be real about transparency and the impact of it. you write the supreme court's refusal to allow televised arguments undermines the democratic process there, which is an interesting idea. i want to compare that with an idea that we've discussed on this show. the senate is not the same as the supreme court, but there are similarities. jimmy williams who's our guy and knows everything about the senate argues that it is cameras in the senate that has perverted that process. can we roll a little bit of jimmy talking about that? >> the bottom line is we went through war, civil wars slavery. we debated world war i. we debated the treaty of versailles. we debated all kinds of pithy, important things.

guess what? they actually oh my gosh they debated them and didn't have a camera on the floor to grand stand. cameras are a bad idea. we've got 100 men and women that are electsed by the people, and all they do is talk to the cameras and not to each other. let's turn the cameras off. >> would the supreme court be better with cameras? >> yes, it's different. there is the problem in the house and the senate that they blab on for home consumption and they've stopped talking to each other. now, that's a matter of their will. they could talk to each other. the court has a set formula of what they do and that will never change. so what's happening now is people who can pay to come or spend the time to come to get 200 seats, that's all there are for the public do so so money changes hands, but the regular public doesn't see what the supreme court's doing, and they should. >> that's interesting. >> and you talk about the importance of finding the right balance here because the conversation, it seems, has shifted very much to just

transparency. there are folks that would want everything to be revealed. as someone that grew up my dad was a diplomat, or i guess he still is, and has been in positions at times that have been secretive. there were things he couldn't even tell his family things that were very secretive for a reason. so talk to us about the times where we do need to keep that protected so that countries like china, like russia, like iran they don't need to know everything. >> one of the things i did when i was your age more or less was to be the chief council of the church committee that was the first place to fully investigate government misbehavior, government secrecy. we found both parties have done it and it was too much. but we also knew you had to keep some secrets. we recognized that in our work. it's too complicated to explain, but the house committee at the same time didn't recognize it and that was one of the reasons they were a failure and we were a success. so one has to recognize there

are some legitimate secrets, but any person looking at this country would say we have far too many secrets now, and they get in the way of even national security. >> it's a fantastic book. i was reading it before we got on the air earlier this afternoon. you've a fascinating section about dick cheney. we know him as this big pro-privacy, pro-secrecy vice president. you mention he actually went through a bit of an evolution. there were three different dick cheneys. when he was a member of congress, the quote here he stressed openness and criticized excessive secrecy. then i'm brought to the subtitle of your book which is "the seduction of government secrecy." he becomes the vice president, all the sudden he likes secrecy. let's be honest it's not just dick cheney. president obama as a constitutional lawyer said one thing. now he has maybe a slightly different view. speak to that kind of shift that we're seeing in some of these people. >> cheney's is quite remarkable because he said when you have a

hard national security or a foreign policy decision you should debate that in public. and of course that isn't what he did. now, it's common that people change. i think i put it in another part of the book they bow toward openness because of its roots in democracy, and they bend towards secrecy because it's more convenient or so forth. so it is common that people talk about openness and then shift to more secrecy. >> or they get into office of the presidency realize there's a reason they keep some of that stuff secret to keep us all safe. >> i think that's one of the reasons, if you explain obama, that he came in and found out that these people in the national security agencies were generally speaking doing good and important work. and i think he didn't want to take them on, on something that fwoez goes to their kind of heart. if you step away i think you should -- i do say obama should

have done a little more to take them on. when mr. clapper lied to the congress, he at least should have said that was a bad thing to do. >> right. i think it's very human to justify the things that are most convenient for you and suit you the best. fritz, it's a remarkable book. thank you so much. >> thank you. i enjoyed this. good luck. take care. >> thank you. up next one of the big screen's most famous trilogies ever turns 30. what you might not have known about this hollywood classic and the star who stole our hearts.

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never has there been a more exciting time to be alive. a time of rousing wonder and heroic achievement. as they said in the film "back to the future," where we're going, we don't need roads. >> that's president reagan giving his 1986 state of the union and giving a nod to one of the greatest movies of the '80s. "back to the future," which was a love story wrapped up in a time travel tale filled with laughs and science or science-ish in a weird flirtation with the ed miss complex and starring a young actor who just oozed charisma someone who up until then had only been known as the break-out star of "family ties." "back to the future" made michael j. fox a massive star and spawned a theme park ride video games, a musical, and now

a doc that looks back on the film. it's a pleasure to welcome the filmmaker behind "back in time," jason aaron. this film is 30 years old. why are you still obsessed with it? >> how could you not be? it's one of the great films to come out of the '80s. it has everything in it. you know it's like you said. it's a romance, it's an action-thriller, a little bit -- well, a lot of sci-fi. to me it always felt real. that was always the thing for me about "back to the future." i felt like my neighbor had a time machine in his garage somewhere, and it was just a matter of time. >> it did take time travel in a very serious way, where other films have made a mockery of it. it did have a reality to it in a way. >> yeah, and i spoke to bob gail about that the writer. he said we didn't want to spend a lot of time on the special effects, which is great. in the '80s, you know, it wouldn't hold up today. you get in the car, speedometer, 88, boom you're in the next

place. that's it. no big special effects. and that's what's one of the things that helps drive this story. >> i love "back to the future," as we've talked before. my 5-year-old son loves "back to the future." i'm totally bewith you on this project. one of the things they're famous for are the predictions of what 2015 would be like. there's one i like that's a little bit obscure. i think we can put this on the screen. there's a copy of "usa today." if you look closely, one of the headlines is "president says she's tired of reporters asking the same questions." that's a pretty good one. what are some of the predictions you think are the most fun, the best ones, the worst ones? >> the director, who also co-wrote the films, they spent a lot of time researching it. they didn't just throw things up in the wind and hope they would stick. they really looked at the future and tried to figure out what it

would be like. some of the things were clearly gags. flying cars that was supposed to be a gag where they didn't think that, you know, the mode of transport would be in the air. look, here we are. there's at least two flying car two flying car companies. one of whom we spoke with this week. although we're mostly done with production, we're going to go up and talk with them. they have a working flying car they hope to be circulating in the upcoming years. >> you know what i love the hoverboards, it's so what somebody in the '80s would think would be happening in 2015. >> everything about the movies is so '80s. >> they were convinced the home fax machines would be big. they didn't see the internet. >> i don't know what to make about 2015 being the future year. if it makes us all feel really old, or really cool. but the person who made the film. we talk about how obsessed everyone is with back to the future is michael jay fox. enyou got the opportunity to talk with him. >> i worry it sometimes

frustrates them. they know more about the movie than i do. people come up to me and ask me questions about capacitors and i'm just -- standing in the parking lot with flames running through my legs. i had no idea what was happening. i don't know a lot of the arcane trivia. but i love the people that are so fascinated with it. and they're just so intrigued by it. and it's really amazing. >> michael j. fox. such a legend. >> i live here in new york and michael is new york based as well. and it was the only interview that i woke up in my bed that morning to do. everybody else we have to travel. i got up. i droef my car into the city and next thing you know we're just sitting there. and he's such a regular guy. i think that's what people don't realize about him. he's a huge hockey fan. we were talking about hockey and

stuff like that. >> so cool. zblen a lot of the actors just very down to earth. i think, because this film is so legendary, you don't expect it. but that's what you get all the way down. >> and you've talked about why you love this film so much. and it does have a cult following, like he was talking about. they know all the details and have donated money to his foundation, which is fantastic. what are the ingredients here that have made this such a cult classic in that way? >> yeah it has a massive global appeal. i've gotten e-mails from people all over the world. from south korea and all these different asian countries. that was the biggest shock to us. i think because it's such a simple story. when you break it down it's basic characters. he could be your next door neighbor. there's nothing special about him or his family. >> trying the make sure your parents become a couple. what could be a more important story?

thank you so much. best of luck with back in time. still ahead, abbie huntsman joins the elizabeth warren bandwagon. wait, what? [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. it's happening. today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir® an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. and levemir® helps lower your a1c. levemir® comes in flextouch® the only prefilled insulin pen with no push-button extension. levemir® lasts 42 days without refrigeration. that's 50% longer than lantus®

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all right. let's get real. another week another presidential announcement. this week it was for senator rand paul. next week it will be for marco rubio, and the list goes on and on. but you know what they say, you never forget your first, and for the 2016 cycle, ted cruz was the first to show up to the big dance, and he came in with a bang. get this super pacs associated with cruz's campaign are expected to drop $31 million in the bank by tomorrow. and that's just if r this week.

i said this for some time now, eni'll say it again, do not underestimate ted cruz. you don't have to like his politics, but here's a guy who has conviction. he's been consistent. something his supporters love about him. one of the being reasons his wife heidi fell in love with him. >> ted cruz is someone who tells the truth. he knows what he believes. this is a person of conviction. and i think the american people want to know what they're getting. >> so it's still very early, but what i do know is early primary voters are craving a true conservative. i saw this firsthand when hi dad ran last go around. in the gop primary, as it exists today, it has a test. for example, believing in science or i don't know, working for a democratic president probably not at the top of their wish list. something the huntsman family found out pretty quickly. they want someone they can trust. someone who stands for their values, and someone who stands up to big government.

ted cruz could very well be one of the last men standing at the end of all of this. not just because he's a credible conservative, but also because of his ability to communicate an energizing message. mitt romney did not excite the base. they didn't fully trust him. outside of his support group, he didn't have the special spark. it was the the special spark that president obama had back in 2008 that dashed hillary's dreams. and almost eight years later, hillary has not really changed. she does not excite the base and like romney she is the safe bet and already appearing vulnerable in some recent polls. but still at this point, she's all the dems have. ted cruz's announcement made me realize that democrats not only lack options, they lack excitement. which is why i decided i'm joining the team. i want elizabeth warren to run for p president, simply to force a good debate. what they both have in chon is that they will be contenders to their challengers. i don't often agree with senator

warren, but every time she speaks, i walk away impressed. isn't that what we crave out of our politicians? smart, passionate and willing to fight like crazy for what he or she is best for the country. most politicians are more concerned about themselves. whether protecting their personal e-mails, spending lavp lavishly on their office or caving to special interests. at the oend it have day, this is what politics is about, generating hope that the next person in charge will make things different. there's a reason the establishment parties are terrified of ted cruz and and elizabeth warren. that does it for "the cycle." now with alex wagner starts right now. >> rand paul defends his self-proclaimed testy behavior. congressman tom cotton suggests bombing iran but just for, quote, several days. and president obama will take a

stand against gay conversion therapy. but first t south carolina police officer charged with the murder of a black resident had a history of excessive force. it's thursday april 9th. and this is "now." more disturbing details have surfaced today about the south carolina police officer charged with the murder of an apparently unarmed black man. a shooting death that has been caught on video. according to police documents, officer michael slager had two complaints lodged against him over the past five years. one of those complaints that he used excessive force against an unarmed black man in 2013. officer slager was accused of deploying a stun gun unnecessarily on an innocent man, mistakenly thinking the man was a suspect in a burglary. at the time the police department decided to exonerate officer slager a decision they now plan to review. today in an interview with msnbc's joy reid the man officer