watching that twitter page so she can make it official. hillary clinton expected to make the announcement very soon. what could be her biggest hurdles. the new normal with cuba. what lies ahead after the first discussion between u.s. and cuban leaders in more than 50 years. and new dash cam video showing what an officer said moments after he shot and killed a south carolina man. hey there, everyone. high noon here in the east 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." developing now, we've all been monitoring hillary clinton's twitter account all morning long for the long-awaited announcement that she's officially running for president. it will put to rest the months' long rumors she's been planning

a second shot at the white house since her failed 2008 bid. msnbc political reporter alex seiswold is outside the likely campaign headquarters. exciting good day to you. what are your sources telling you about the timeline? >> reports are that she would announce at noon. clearly that's not the case. i talked to aides yesterday who said she'll do it when she's ready. it will start with a tweet, which will link with a video, which will explain her rationale for running. they're putting the final touchesn to behind n toon it behind me here. >> the behind the scenes action, what has that been like? >> clinton's staff moved into headquarters friday. they're up on the 11th floor. yesterday they had a big team meeting. campaign manager passed around a memo to everyone making it clear that he wanted no drama this time around. in 2008, it was toxic.

they're going to have none of that this time around. he says he wants a team atmosphere. he wants people to work together. once a decision is made that's the final decision and they're all going to work on it together. there were meetings as late as 7:30 last night. they're back again this morning. a new tone for dealing with the media. a clinton aide came around today and handed out coffee and donuts to the press that have been staking out here. the republican national committee had staffers here. and there's art hung up on lamp posts around here as well. clinton staff up on the 11th floor watching all of this from above. >> okay. and once it becomes official, which could come any time now, what are the plans for the early days on the campaign trail? when does it kick off? >> after the launch there will

be perhaps 24 hours of down time. they need a lot of operational time to get things together. they haven't had a pac. they haven't had a political operation. they need to prepare before clinton hits the campaign trail. likely tuesday and likely in iowa. it'll be a focus on small events, person to person scale. not these kind of large rallies, although that will come later. then later to new hampshire and potentially beyond that south carolina and nevada. but the emphasis is definitely on kind of coffee shops, you know, unscripted intimate events with voters. one big question that remains is whether bill clinton, chelsea clinton will make an appearance. i haven't been able to get an answer on that front yet. >> okay. alex, stick around with us. i'm going to bring into the conversation right now our colleague steve kornacki. let's talk about what happened on "meet the press" earlier. chuck tautdodd was speaking with new york city mayor bill de blasio. he talked about an endorsement of clinton. here's the response. >> not until i see -- and again,

i would say this about any candidate. until i see an actual vision of where they want to go. i think she's a tremendous public servant. she's one of the most kwal fewed people to run for this office and thoroughly vetted, but we need to see the substance. >> so all the drumming up to build up to today. vision, substance. do you think that the media and the people out there have a clear sense of what that entails? >> no, i mean people have a clear sense -- a lot of people especially her supporters, have a clear sense of who hillary clinton is. one of the best things that happened to her politically is the fact in 2008 after she lost that election barack obama took her out of day-to-day politics and made her secretary of state. that elevated her stature. it made her a states woman. it also meant that day to day, when all these food fights were break out in washington for the last six-plus years, everybody in washington was asked, everybody in washington had to take sides. hillary clinton never had to

answer those questions. a lot of the biggest controversies that have really divided this country over the last six years, hillary clinton has not had to weigh in on them. today she's not going to. i don't think in the near future she's going to be giving major policy speeches on this stuff. now that she's entering, over the next few weeks and month, this is going to start to change. she can no longer say, i'm just a private citizen, i'm the secretary of state, i don't do politics. now it's, hey, i'm aspiring to be i'm telling you i want to be the next leader of this country. then there's an expectation there. if that's what you want you have to answer these questions. >> does she need to differentiate herself or rebrand herself from '08 as a campaigner? >> differentiation is going to be a question of barack obama. the flip side of becoming barack obama's secretary of state is she became part of the obama administration. of course, in the '08 campaign they couldn't have been farther apart personally, but now she runs as somebody who for four years crafted the foreign policy helped to craft the foreign policy of the obama administration. it raises an interesting balancing act for her. on the one hand she's in very good position on the democratic side.

she doesn't want to do anything to mess that up. she wants to keep the party united behind her. break obama remains universally popular. however, his overall approval rating, it's in the mid to high 40s right now. there's a lot of people out there who are done with this basically. that's their attitude. at some point, hillary clinton is going to have to try to address those voters without alienating her base too much. >> so alex let's get you into this conversation. how closely do you expect clinton to align herself with the president? and does he want to be aligned? do you expect to see a lot of him on the campaign trail? >> well that's a great question. i talked to two clinton aides about this last night. they're saying she's going to stick very close to him. there will be points where she will disagree with him, but it will be organic. it will be genuine policy differences. they've not going to look for places to disagree with him. they view it as she worked for him, he was her boss. they've been close friends, worked together. there's no way they're going to possibly differentiate each other, so their fates are tie

the up together. historically, they're looking at this election like 1988 rather than 2000. in 1988 the vice president, george h.w. bush ran sticking pretty close to ronald reagan and won. it was the only time in history that a party won a third term in the presidency, you know, instead of switching to the other party. in 2000 al gore distanced himself from bill clinton, didn't want anything to do with him, and obviously lost. so that's the historical analogy they're looking at here. he will likely be on the campaign trail as a surrogate, but those details are long to be decided. >> well, yeah, because we have to make it official. steve, quickly, the voter demographics. whom do you think hillary clinton has to work the hardest to bring into the tent? >> well it's an interesting thing. if she can reconnect with some of the voters there was a divide that emerged at the end of the 2008 democratic primaries where voters -- these white- working-class voters in pennsylvania, ohio and through

appalachia, west virginia, kentucky, states like this she did extremely, extremely well in those parts of the country, in those states against barack obama. these are voters in a lot of way they're historically democratic. they've moved a lot closer to the republican party. it's really been accelerated during the obama presidency. these are voters who have gone in droves to republicans. so there's an interesting question here with hillary clinton. if she becomes the democratic nominee, can she reconnect with those voters and can she make the democratic party competitive in some of these rural states that are historically democratic but have gone republican? can she bring west virginia back? can she put kentucky back in play? some people think this is gone but arkansas bill clinton's home state, can she make a game of it there, missouri? that's what i'm interested to see, if she could change the electoral map in any way. >> okay steve kornacki. alex seitz-wald thanks so much. you can always watch steef on "up" every weekend at 8:00 a.m. here on msnbc saturday and sunday. president obama is back in the u.s. this morning after a busy weekend in panama at the

summit of the americas. not least among the headlines, his statement of support for hillary clinton as the democratic nominee for president. just ahead of her expected announcement any time now. >> she was a formidable candidate in 2008. she was a great supporter of mine in the general election. she was an outstanding secretary of state. she is my friend. i think she would be an excellent president. >> well, all this follows a day of milestones as president obama became the first u.s. leader to sit down with a cuban president in more than 50 years. nbc senior political reporter perry bacon is joining me now. welcome to you. what is the significance of the president's show of support for hillary clinton? >> i think it's important, alex -- the keyword you heard just there were excellent president. she didn't endorse hillary clinton, but he basically said she would make a good president. those are powerful words coming from the person who's now in the oval office. also, it tells you what's difference from 2007.

back then, hillary was the favorite, too, but there were a lot of democrats, including barack obama, who didn't think she was the right candidate at that time. now you see there's a big consolidation around her in the party where pretty much every elected leader is for hillary clinton. that's a big sign for her. it'll make it harder if other democrats to challenge her. >> okay. and let's talk about what else happened yesterday. the meeting with the cuban president. what does that mean for u.s.-cuban relations? what is the sticking point in your mind from all of this? >> this is a big shift. i mean this is the first kind of meeting between the cuban leader and an american president in more than 50 years. so the next thing that's going to happen is there are two next steps. the first is there's talk about currently is on the-- cuba is currently on the state terrorism list. the next would be reopening embassies in havana and

washington, d.c. as part of normalizing relations. >> okay. thank you so much. i want to ask you quickly, i just remembered iran. he made some comments about that, which sparked an almost immediate response from the right. a pretty strong statement as well from senator john mccain. so talk about the impact on the nuclear deal that's very tentatively under way. >> so essentially, senator mccain has suggested that secretary kerry was misleading the public about the deal itself and what it looked like. and the president in panama said he thought that criticism was over the line and there was too much partisanship around this issue. but let's be real here. there's a lot of partisanship on this issue. the republicans are very opposed to this deal for substantive reasons. they don't like the agreement that's there. so this week there's going to be hearings on capitol hill. the key question is not really among republicans but among democrats because ultimately the president wants to make democrats agree with this deal. right now, they're not

convinced. chuck schumer, one of the leading democrats in the senate has been so far very reluctant to embrace the agreement. hillary clinton even was very careful in her words about this agreement and saying whether she liked it or not. that's the key thing for the president next. can he convince democrats this is a good agreement. >> perry bacon at white house, thank you for that. new revelations in the police shooting in south carolina that left a motorist dead and a community demanding answers. new dash cam footage released saturday shows the moments after michael slager shot and killed walter scott. >> hey, hey, everything's okay. okay? i -- i just shot somebody. >> msnbc's adam reiss is in north charleston south carolina, with the latest. this video comes out the dame say walter scott was buried. >> that's more evidence for detectives to analyze. now, a day after he was laid to rest many in the community believe his death will be a catalyst for change a defining moment as it were not only for race relations here in

charleston but maybe across america. now, pastor george hamilton spoke yesterday. a crowd of 700 mourners. his sermon was very direct and powerful. he did not mince words. i spoke to him afterwards. >> it was motivated by hatred. you don't shoot a person in the back that many times without hating the person. if you don't know the person then what would motivate you or bring that kind of hatred where you would actually do that? i feel that it was motivated by racism. you know not covert, but overt racism. i don't blame all of the officers who carry out the law, but there are some that are bad. >> now, church service is under way at this hour. the mayor and police commissioner in attendance as detectives from the federal government and the state agencies continue their investigation into this the shooting. >> okay. adam, thank you so much for

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any moment now, hillary clinton could announce her candidacy for president. the surprise that surprised no one has been a long time in the making. on this morning's "meet the press," chuck todd asked secretary john kerry if that was really good for the party. >> you came through a tough primary in 2004. do you think she needs a tough primary? does that make you a better candidate if you have a real primary? >> i wish her well. i think she did a terrific job as secretary. she's a good friend. she's highly qualified. and i'm confident will wage no matter what, with or without a primary, a formidable campaign and we'll go from there.

>> well joining me now is one man who's considering squaring off against hillary clinton for the democratic nomination. former democratic governor of rhode island lincoln chaffee, who served as a u.s. senate. the first question is your candidacy definite? >> well the process is under the law, you're allowed to have an exploratory committee. that gives you some exabilityflexibility. we're going that step first. then we'll see down the road about making it official. >> all right. how would you differentiate yourself from hillary clinton? and do you take issue with a coronation of sorts? >> well first of all, congratulations when she makes her announcement. of course, there's going to be a lot of agreements on domestic issues, on the environment, on civil liberties, on a number of domestic issues, but the biggest difference is going to be on international issues. particularly the vote to authorize the war in iraq back in 2002.

and all the ramifications we deal with today, not only in the middle east and the chaos that's there, but also across north africa and libya and down into nigeria. even ukraine. it's a result of that bad decision, that lapse of judgment back in 2002. >> well of course on your iraq stance, you and i both know that the aftermath of the war set the stage for this current crisis. but do you think iraq still resonates with the average voter who may not be paying attention to the region? >> i do. and at that time when we took that vote back in 2002 yes, we'd had september 11th, but the world was still peaceful. we were looking at an era of lasting peace at that time right before september 11th. after the anger and fear that came with the attacks of september 11th we needed to make good decisions, smart decisions, and so when the premise for going to war in iraq and taking down saddam hussein was based on weapons of mass destruction, everybody needed to

to do their homework in congress and ask the right questions. is there evidence of weapons of mass destruction? i did my homework, and i came to the conclusion there just wasn't that evidence. it's a hugely, colossally, monumentally bad decision that reverberates today. >> as you've heard, president obama yesterday said that he thinks hillary clinton would make an excellent president. do you interpret that as an endorsement, as a message to the party that it should focus all its support on her? >> i'll let you decide whether it's an endorsement or not. i did hear him say that she had a superlative run as secretary of state. i just don't think she did a great job. too close to that muscular top-down unilateral approach. for instance, in venezuela, she called chavez a dictator. he was democratically elected by the people. he was not a dictator. >> do you, sir, expect to face any liability at all for the fact you switched parties? when you're out on the campaign

trail, should you go there? how will you address that? >> well i've never changed. the issues that i care about. and you can look at my record of 30 years of public service. i haven't changed. fiscal responsibility, care for the environment, using the government to help the less fortunate, government programs that work, avoidance of quagmires overseas, civil libertyies liberties liberties, gay marriage, women's reproductive freedoms, on all these issues, i haven't changed. now i align with the democratic party. i will note that even jim webb was once a republican who's expressing interest in the democratic nomination. even senator clinton was a goldwater girl. >> it's an evolution. >> yes, it's an evolution. i'm proud to be a democrat. >> all right. senator and governor lincoln chafee, thank you so much. we'll be watching closely. it's what he didn't say on "meet the press" this morning that had some people talking. more on new york mayor bide blasio, who managed hillary clinton's senator race on her

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"saturday night live" showed it's ready for hillary. the late-night show poked a little fun at hillary's potential announcement for a run in 2016, even bringing back an old "snl" face. >> i am running because i want to be a voice for women everywhere. >> did someone say women everywhere? [ cheers and applause ] >> hello, bill. >> hillary would make a great president, and i would make an even greater first dude. >> thank you, bill. that's nice. >> hillary, isn't it crazy that phones can take videos now? i mean if they could have done that in the '90s, i'd be in jail. >> oh so good to see darrell hammond there. hillary is expected to announce

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so my daughter brought over some aleve. it's just two pills, all day! and now, i'm back! aleve. two pills. all day strong, all day long. and for a good night's rest, try aleve pm for a better am. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." as we await hillary clinton's announcement, let's bring in nbc's senior political editor mark murray to dig into some polls and what they might mean for her upcoming campaign. a welcome to you, mark on this exciting day. this latest nbc "wall street journal" poll shows 44% of people have a positive view of her. but is it clinton fatigue or do you think something else is driving that number? you'd like it to be higher at this point. >> yeah we have seen an erosion in hillary clinton's poll numbers, but i'd actually attribute that more to her leaving her post as secretary of state, which is an apolitical post. usually a lot more republicans, people of the opposition are giving you a thumbs up than when

you become a political candidate. ever since she's put her eyes on the presidency, her numbers have started to come down as republicans and democrats get into their collective corners. but what is worth noting in that same nbc "wall street journal" poll, her favorable opinion, 44%, 36% unfavorable, was really the second best set of numbers below her husband bill clinton in our poll. that measures president obama, jeb bush some other republicans. so yes, her numbers have come down, but they're still better than most out there. >> you make a good point. president obama practically endorsed her during a news conference yesterday. let's take a listen to that. >> she was a formidable candidate in 2008. she was a great supporter of mine in the general election. she was an outstanding secretary of state. she is my friend.

i think she would be an excellent president. >> so mark in this same nbc wall street journal poll 51% of voters believe she would represent policies of the past. 44% believe she would bring some new ideas for the future. given her role as secretary of state and the friendship she shares with the president, is it possible for her to distance herself from him? does she need to? and if she can't, would that cost her a vote? >> you know i think she's going to pick her opportunities to do so. one we've already seen is on president obama's policies overseas as it relates to syria and the syrian civil war. she said i would have armed the moderate syrian opposition more quickly than president obama did. but when you look at 95% of the time that she's been on the side of president obama is in his policies. that's whether it's the executive immigration announcement, cuba normalization, she's been on his side. what you are seeing is a unified

democratic party. of course, democrats were hurt by their association with president obama in the 2014 midterms. of course, 2014 midterms was a different playing field. president obama's poll numbers were in the low 40s. now they're in the mid to high 40s. a little bit of a different situation. as we saw in 2014 when the democrats decided to distance themselves from the presidency, really created a negative feedback loop that didn't help anybody at all. what you're seeing now is hillary clinton and president obama going to probably be on the same page most of the time. >> yeah in this quinnipiac poll matchup with republican senator rand paul, she beats him by four points in virginia but loses in colorado. that couple points from iowa where she notably lost to barack obama in '08 and is likely her first stop on tuesday. so what does she focus on this time around especially in these early states? >> well it's important to note number one that, the early 2016 polls, particularly as they relate to the general election it's very early, alex.

things can change and certainly the poll numbers do. all the word we've been getting from the clinton camp is that they're putting their eyes on the prize of just doing well in iowa, new hampshire, the early states winning those contests not looking ahead to the general election and taking nothing for granted there. but one other thing worth noting about hillary clinton and her map, and you mentioned some of those states iowa colorado, those were president obama battleground states that he was able to win in 2008 and 2012. her map is a lot more like the traditional democratic map. you end up winning ohio you win florida, you win the presidency. in some ways, i think those states are going to be even more important for the general election to her than they were to president obama. they need to be able to do well in ohio and in florida. >> all right. we always appreciate your perspective, mark murray. thank you so much. >> thanks alex. >> for more on hillary clinton's upcoming announcement and other front-page headlines, let's bring in former congressman martin frost, a texas democrat and co-author of "the partisan

divide" and michael steele former chairman of the rnc. gentlemen, with a welcome to you. congressman, i'll reach out to you first. new york city democratic mayor bill de blasio was on "meet the press" this morning. let's listen to his exchange with chuck todd when asked whether he would support her candidacy. >> let me ask you this are you for her now unequivocally or do you want to wait to see if she takes your advice on moving to a more progressive agenda? >> i think like a lot of people in this country, i want to see a vision. again, that would be true of candidates on all levels. it's time to see a clear, bold vision for progressive economic change. >> so you're technically not yet endorsing her? >> not, not until i see -- and again, i would say this about any candidate -- until i see an actual vision. >> congressman, what does his answer tell you? >> well i watched that interview. and look there are a lot of people who are going to wait and see what she has to say. having said that most democrats are inclined to support her. i think de blasio will eventually support her. he wants her views to be closer

to elizabeth warren. she's her own person. i think she'll make a strong pitch in the campaign. she has strong appeal to working class democrats. that's very important in states like ohio and florida that you just discussed. my guess is de blasio will be just fine. but he wants to prod her a little bit in the progressive direction. >> congressman, the nbc "wall street journal" poll there, one of the questions showed that 86% of democrats say they could see themselves supporting her for president. other prominent democrats, like you mention senator elizabeth warren they share this somewhat luke warm sentiment. you're a long-time hillary supporter. so where do you think the truth lies when it comes to how democratic voters feel about her? >> well look she's strong. she is tough. she's an experienced politician. democrats will embrace her warmly. she's going to be a very strong candidate in the fall. now, that doesn't mean the election is going to be easy. depends on what the republicans do.

if the far right wing of the republican pushes their nominee too far to the right, then it'll be a very interesting election and probably good one for her. if the republicans can somehow tell the far right wing to take a hike and nominate someone more moderate, then it will be a close race. i think it is not easy to be elected president of the united states. i think she's a great candidate. i think she'll do real well. >> all right. chairman steele let's talk about jeb bush and his pac. they've just come out with a video aligning hillary clinton to president obama's foreign policy record. let's take a listen to that. >> we must do better than the obama/clinton foreign policy that has damaged relationships with our allies and emboldened our enemies. >> chairman steele do you think hillary clinton will be able to break her ties with president obama when it comes to foreign policy? and is this the best argument that republicans have to attack hillary with? >> no i don't think she'll be able to break her ties. in fact, i think she's going to tighten those ties as much as she has to to secure that nomination.

she needs barack obama as much as any other democrat would need a barack obama running for president at this point. they're going to be intertwined in this regard simply because -- not just because she was his secretary of state, but because of where the president has positioned the democrats on issues in the middle east, on our relations with governments like cuba. so she's not going to break that pact so far. as far as republicans are concerned, i think if they lead with benghazi, people will largely not follow their drum beat. i think that has been tainted politically for the party. i think that there are other areas that we'll see a jeb bush for example, a rand paul speak to where you can engage on a national debate about america's foreign policy. >> congressman, i know you've been an active hillary supporter since she first ran for the new york senate seat. if you think back to the presidential run in '08, what does she have to do differently this time around to win the

ticket? >> you know, running for president is tough, and there have been examples of people who have run and who run successful and came back and won. look at ronald reagan. this is not easy to do. look at george h.w. bush. i think she learned a lot from the last campaign. she has to talk about economic issues. the republicans can talk about foreign policy as much as they want. this election will be determined on basic economic issues and there's also a very interesting element to this election. in all the presidential elections since 1992 there was only one race, one campaign in which the democratic candidate won a majority of the white female vote. that was in 1996. in all other elections, the republicans won the white women's vote. i think hillary will have tremendous support among women. she's a highly competent candidate. and i think that you'll see her perform much better among white women than republicans have in the past. and that could well provide the

difference in this election. >> and you think that support comes from both sides of the aisle? >> yes i do. i've seen that in my home state when ann richards was first elected governor. she had the support of a lot of suburban moderate republican women who thought the republican party was too far to the right. i think she is a trail blazer. the main thing is that she is a highly competent, tough individual. and i'm sure she learned a lot from that last experience. i lost my first race when i ran for congress in 1974. i learned a great deal and won the second time and stayed in office for 26 years. you learn by doing in this business. >> and michael wants to respond, i can tell. >> yeah i appreciate all this love falling on clinton, but the reality of it is she has a people problem. as the national journal piece this morning noted, as one person said i guess, you know, you can get to like her.

i have a hard time liking her right now. in places like iowa. so yeah i get this. a lot of the numbers hillary is seeing is because there's no one else in the race. there's a hankering among democrats for there to be a primary. so they put on this facade that oh, yeah 86%, we're with hillary. if you're so much for hillary, why are you still pining for elizabeth warren? you sit there and talk about how the right -- if the right goes too far right, you know hillary has a left problem too. so if she's trying to cater to an elizabeth warren wing or a bernie sanders wing in the democratic party, she's going to have an equal challenge coming back to that center in a general primary where a lot of those women that the congressman was talking about are going to be skeptical. so this is going to be a challenging race for both sides. it's going to really be a bright line test as to who can come up as you noted, with the vision to actually pull america together. >> alex there's a blue wall for

presidents. in the united states in the last six elections, democrats have carried 18 states that have 242 electoral votes. that's a trend. and all hillary has to do is to hold that and then to win ohio win florida, win a couple of other states. this is a tough climb for the republicans. they've got a red wall in which they carried 12 states in which they have about 102 lekelectoral votes. >> i'll acknowledge a blue wall. but look every election is a new election. and hillary has got a whole phalanx of good solid conservatives that are going to challenge her. one of them will emerge. we'll see how long that blue wall stands. >> and we'll see how far that person gets pushed by the far right wing of the republican party. it's not a slam dunk.

>> this is not a one-way street congressman. hillary has a left flank she has to watch as well to see how much she sings that wall street tune or not as this campaign unfolds. >> i'll take the mix in the democratic party to the mix in the republican party on a presidential campaign almost any time. she's a tough, smart candidate. and that's what we want. >> here's something i know. we've pushed it about as far as we can in terms of time. anyway w good to see you both. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> diplomatic breakthroughs. will that be the legacy of president obama?

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picture everyone was waiting for, and that is the leaders of the two countries, the u.s. and cuba, shaking hands a couple of times, actually, and making plans to normalize relations between the two countries. turned out to be more than just a meet and greet. they met longer than expected almost an hour. president obama gave us some details of his conversation with raul castro what happened after the cameras left. >> it was a candid and fruitful conversation between me and raul castro. we are able to speak honestly about our differences and our concerns in ways that i think, offer the possibility of moving the relationship between our two countries in a different and better direction. >> the president said the two men agreed to disagree on a number of things and that includes cuba's human rights record and castro won't be going home with at least one thing he wanted. that's for cuba to be taken off the list of state sponsors of terror.

although, that is still expected to happen. and president obama said embassies could open fairly quickly in washington and havana. but in one sign of a thaw in his summit speech and a lot of people got a kick out of this raul castro called the president brave and humble and said he had read his autobiographies, although he also said he hadn't exactly finished them. and the president won't have time to bask in what a lot of his aides believe is a successful trip because congress is coming back into session this week, and they're getting ready to challenge his iranian nuclear policy. at least for today, the president has a building block of his legacy and raul castro goes home with his country one step closer to ending decades of isolation. alex? >> okay. chris jansing, thank you for that. joining me now for more is author and historian rick shankman, professor at george mason university and editor at founder of the history news network. a welcome to you. good to see you. first question to you, all of this comes on the heels of the

iran nuclear deal. are we seeing the creation of the president's foreign policy legacy? >> well, i know that president obama certainly hopes so because at this point he doesn't have a foreign policy legacy. almost nothing he's tried has worked. the only thing that he could crow about over the last few years was killing osama bin laden. that was a huge victory. he doesn't have any other victories to point to. he's really counting on something, one of these things proving to be a positive on his record. >> you know do you think this was -- is it a sense of a chip on his shoulder to a degree? this is a president who was awarded the nobel peace prize just nine months into office. has he been trying to validate that ever since? >> i can't read his mind. i think that as any president, he simply wants to have some victories. you've go the to get some points on the board. and he's just not had them. he's been preoccupied, of

course, the first few years with winding down the iraq war, winding down the afghanistan war. so now he's finally got a little bit of breathing room. he showed great imagination and initiative in reaching out to cuba. and that's something that's going to win him points in latin america. there's no downside except maybe a little republican opposition, but there's very little downside to the overtures to cuba. iran is an entirely different story. >> we can't pretend that iran and cuba are the only international problems. the middle east has fallen apart. relations with russia and israel are at decades' long lows. does that overshadow any potential successes? >> well i don't think anybody's going to blame him for what's going on in much of the middle east. a lot of that is an outgrowth of, of course the iraq war. we're just continuing to deal with that bad legacy unfortunately.

and compared with president bush obama, by not starting any new wars has been -- he looks better by comparison. but he's not got a great foreign policy record. so -- and let's talk a little bit about iran. the problem with iran is of course that we have had a series of american presidents who have tried to strike deals with iran starting with jimmy carter and then ronald reagan and now barack obama. and in the past, they've not worked out too well. so you really have to hope that something will have changed now and maybe rouhani is a different kind of leader but you still have the overall clergy in charge there. they're difficult to figure out. so he's got a challenge. >> i want to look at our own presidential history because there was a line about lyndon johnson. he wrote, maybe he wasn't the

best president we might have had, but we sure aren't the best people a president ever had. does the partisanship and the political bitterness set any president up for some measure of failure? >> well that's a great royko line. of course, i wrote a book called "just how stupid are we," so i have to say it resonates with me. but look the problem that barack obama's got in trying to navigate the shoals of what's going on internationally, it's not -- it's not the domestic problem that's preventing him from having foreign policy success here. it's what's going on on the ground, in these countries, whether we're talking about syria, egypt, or iran or libya. they've got their own problems and historical destinies they're

trying to work out. an american president doesn't have a lot of control over it. all he can do is try to work around the edges and seize on opportunities. in the case of iran, we're not going to know for years whether or not a nuclear deal with iran actually worked out. do they cheat? did they not cheat? we won't know that for a number of years. so obama's making -- he's making a bold bid here and i give him points for that. that's good but he's got to remember, reagan tried to be bold. that didn't work out too well. it almost destroyed his presidency, the iran affair. carter tried to be bold. that didn't work out so well. so it's very difficult territory. the biggest problem, of course, is that we think that they think like we do, and they don't. >> very good point you make there as with all the others. historian rick shenkman, thank you so much. in a moment, storm chasers get caught up in a hailstorm and find ways to cope with the painful pelting.

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think about a president hillary clinton? is he ready to endorse her? we've got live reports and analysis straight ahead. a somber sunday in south carolina. amid the questions about walter scott's death, a new expose looks at the thousands of police shootings over the past ten years to see how many police officers have been prosecuted. and left to die with a blanket and a bible. a helpless disabled man found abandoned in the woods who police say put him there draws reactions of disbelief. hello, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." developing news now, all eyes on hillary clinton's twitter account. she's expected to announce any time now that she is running for president. she will become the third candidate but first democrat to officially throw her name into the 2016 race. outside of her likely headquarters, these anti-hillary clinton posters are cropping up. they say the phrase "don't say

ambitious." msnbc political reporter alex seitz-wald is right there in brooklyn. what are you hearing about these ads? >> well they're very mysterious. they appeared overnight hanging from lamp posts. they're very large. and they're a reference to an anonymous twitter account that appeared called hrc super volunteers, that's hillary rodham clinton super volunteers that have been shaming the media from using certain words they consider sexist including calculating, ambitious. they say you're not allowed to use these words. republicans and conservatives saw this as an example of hillary clinton supporters run amok. now it's become a big conservative meme. the republican national committee had two staffers on hand that were doing their own anti-clinton effort, but they say they have nothing to do with these banners. so this is some kind of guerrilla street art we don't know the origins of. >> interesting. we had our eyes on the clock at noon.

that's come and gone. what's the hold up? are you hearing anything? >> they say they'll go when they are ready. the noon reports were unconfirmed from the beginning. i heard some indication that they were -- that was never the plan. they wouldn't have gone while people were still in church people still doing their sunday morning activities and they're going to wait until later this afternoon. exact time remains to be seen. it could be any minute now. and it's fwoipg togoing to start with that tweet, then a video in which hillary clinton will lay out her campaign and why she believes she's the right person to stand up for the middle class. the timing still remains to be nailed down. >> okay. once it does become official then what's next? when does she hit the road and where? >> well, we're expecting her to hit the road tuesday morning in iowa. this will be a lot of coffee shops, a lot of small events. the name of the game is, you know, small and intimate. she'll be shaking lots of hands, kissing lots of babies. . they'll try to reduce the presence around here, which will

be a big challenge for her. she has secret service protection because she's a former first lady. she's going to have a huge number of reporters from all over the world trying to watch her every move. this is going to be a big challenge for them but they want to reintroduce clinton in small event where is they say she can really shine, she can show off her warmth and sense of humor her friends talk about. doesn't come off as well for her in big events. later in the week, possibly to new hampshire. then after that sometime down the road in south carolina and nevada. >> okay. alex, don't go anywhere. i want to bring into our conversation now eleanor cleft, political columnist for "the daily beast." how has the country's per section of clinton changed '08? >> i think in '08, the country saw her as the scrappy fighter who almost won the election. i think a lot of democrats were torn between hillary clinton and barack obama. then she went on to be part of

the team of rivals, you know making up with her -- the man who beat her, serving as his secretary of state. she's won almost universal plau disfor the way she communicated herself to the rest of the world. we've seen some of that support for her erode as she gets closer to becoming a declared political candidate. >> why is that, though? do you think it's because some people see this long drawn-out process as being sort of a coronation of sorts? >> well yeah, i mean it looks like, you know, queen hillary is coming on to the stage, that she deserves it, thinks she deserves it. i think she's got to understand that she has to reintroduce herself to every single volter. i think she herself understands that while she may be perhaps the most well-known woman in the world, she is rather a figure of mystery to a lot of people in this country. there are all kinds of narratives about her.

she and her husband are scheme scheming, she's raised money perhaps through means that crossed over some line she's accepted huge fees for speeches how could she represent the working class person. she's got to sort this all out. and she's got to run a campaign that's really going to -- really has to manage a huge media presence. she's like the battleship gallactica arriving. how she keeps a certain amount of mystery with her campaign we're seeing that this weekend. maybe this is good. maybe this is bad. i'm not so sure. and i think there might even be a little danger of overcompensating. in '08 she came across as the commander in chief. there was no difference between her or a man who might be running for president. now she's all in as a grandmother. i'm not so sure we want to elect a grandmother to president either. she's got to find that balance where she's running for

president, she's got to offer a compelling vision for how she wants to lead the country. i think that's the most important thing. >> what about the clinton camp's ground operation, alex? at this point, can they charge right out of the gate? >> just got off the phone with somebody in iowa who has been plugged in with the clinton campaign there. they've been training stafferser if the past two days in des moines. they sent them all out to their posts around the state today. so they have at least 20 staffers already on the ground who are being sent out all across the state, fanning out. so the moment she arrives in iowa, there will already be an operation in place. you know they're volunteers currently at the moment because the campaign does not exist. but there will be an effort to make sure that people come to those events that they're well attended, that they are, you know, well organized and well produced, but of course you don't want to go too well produced you don't want to look too stage managed. certainly by the time she gets to iowa, her campaign team will

already be in place to a large degree. >> eleanor, give me a sense of the support hillary clinton has on capitol hill? >> i think in the congress she was a very well-liked senator who worked across party lines. all of the female democratic senators wrote a letter many months ago saying they would all support hillary clinton. i don't think capitol hill is her problem at all. i mean i think she's got congressional support behind her. and her problem really is getting the same level of excitement that barack obama was able to achieve in '08 and again in '12. can she reasellsemble that coalition. >> and that all remains to be seen. all right, alex and eleanor, thank you so much. president obama is back at the white house after his historic meeting with cuban president raul castro in panama. let's listen to what he had to

say about hillary clinton's impending announcement at a news conference yesterday. >> she was a formidable candidate in 2008. she was a great supporter of mine in the general election. she was an outstanding secretary of state. she is my friend. i think she would be an excellent president. and i'm not on the ballot. so, you know, i'm not going to step on her lines. when she makes a decision to announce. >> nbc senior political reporter perry bacon is joining me from the white house. perry, sources are telling "the new york times" in a general election, the president is expected to help mrs. clinton raise money, and he would be asked to campaign for her in the swing states he won back in '08 and in '12. how about your sources? what are they telling you?

>> my instinct is she's going to run on the kind of things you heard president obama talk about in his state of the union address in 2012. focusing on the middle class and improving economics. her message is going to be focused on the economy and every day americans and kind of fighting the notions of wage stagnation and declining social mobility. obama's talked about those ideas himself. she'll try to run and build on some of the thing he's already done. you've seen she's been very supportive of the affordable care act, one of his big initiatives. >> right. i also want to get really quickly with you on panama. the president back from that. let's talk about what he has to do in terms of leaving off the selling deal, if you will, of iran to congress. listen to what he said about congressional opponents to that deal. >> i don't understand why it is that everybody's working so hard to anticipate failure. the opponents of the deal don't seem to be focused on how do we get to a good deal as much as

they're focused on how can we show that it's not possible to get a good deal. and my simple point is let's wait and see what the deal is. >> so what's the strategy now to try to bring some sort of unanimity in terms of the tone and approach here? >> you know there's a bill in congress that's going through right now that would essentially give congress some kind of final approval of the agreement itself. essentially allow congress to disapprove of it and stop it from happening. the president is trying to say, let's slow down, can i finish the final details in june 1st and i'm happy to have congress weigh in after that. he's trying to delay people from coming out against the agreement so early before it's finished. i don't know how successful he's going to to be. the key question right now is not -- you've already seen republicans are pretty much adamantly against this. the key question now is will democrats look at it closely and decide they can support it. >> all right. perry bacon at the white house, thank you for that.

>> thanks. so now that president obama has met cuba's president castro what next in the thawing of relations between the two countries and what could be the economic consequences of the new relationship? former ambassador bill richardson joins us. and what appears to be the work of isis shows up on video again. how the group is trying to rewrite history again. my house... it's a full day for me, and i love it. but when i started having back pain my sister had to come help. i don't like asking for help. i took tylenol but i had to take six pills to get through the day. so my daughter brought over some aleve. it's just two pills, all day! and now, i'm back! aleve. two pills. all day strong, all day long. and for a good night's rest, try aleve pm for a better am. there's only two of us... how much dirt can we manufacture? how much dirthan you think. (doorbell) what's that? what's this? swiffer sweeper. i came in under the assumption that it was clean. i've been living in a fool's paradise!

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a new propaganda video from isis claims to show the destruction of archaeological treasures in an ancient iraqi city. for 3,000 years, those statues survived the armies of countless empires, but isis demolished them with a sledge hammer and saws. the site appeared to be surrounded by explosives and blasted. for more than half a

century, it was an image that seemed unthinkable. the leader of the united states meeting face to face with the leader of cuba. that was the historic meeting last night. a major step toward tearing down one of the last of the cold war walls. >> the cold war has been over for a long time. and i'm not interested in having battles that frankly started before i was born. i am interested in solving problems. >> joining me now, former new mexico governor bill richardson, who previously served as secretary of energy and as a u.s. congressman. i want to talk about how soon you think we could see a full normalization of relations between the two countries. >> well i think very soon you will see an exchange of ambassadors. that's very important because that means more people-to-people

programs. i think you'll soon see cuba off the list as a sponsor of terrorism. that'll mean cuba can have more cooperation on issues like drug like homeland security normalizing relations. where it will be a little slower will be in getting the trade embargo, american investment american businesses coming to cuba because congress controls that. and the congress isn't going to give the president a free pass on that. that's going to take some time. >> so you're expecting a fight on that? >> slow steady progress. >> you're expecting a fight in congress over that? >> oh yeah. it'll be a fight. they may not even give them a chance to open up any of the trade embargoes. see, what happened many years ago is when the united states the cubans shot down two american planes. that caused what is called a helms-burton act, which passed

president clinton, took the power away from the president on an executive agreement relating to the trade embargo. the only way you take it off is if cuba moves toward democratization. that's going to be very slow. the cubans are very hard line on those issues. you won't see much movement there, alex. >> well, interestingly, the critics of the negotiations have said this legitimizes the regime with the horrible human rights record. does this give the u.s. leverage to push for change or are the critics right in some degree? >> the critics are wrong. this gives -- normalization gives the united states leverage. for instance we have leverage with a state sponsor terrorism designation. we have leverage on the embargo issue. so what cuba needs to do is move in the direction of stop harassing all the dissidents. move towards some kind of

openness. open the internet. gradual steps. but it's going to be hard. they're hard line. at the same time they realize that their economy is in terrible shape, that u.s. investment, u.s. tourism, people-to-people programs cuban-americans sending more money in is good for them. so the cubans know they've got a good deal. and i do think this will be one of president obama's legacies in foreign policy that's very very good. it was about time after 50 years that we do this. >> do you see a broader impact on the world stage here the normalization of relations between the two countries? >> yes, i think clearly, alex the president was the star of the summit of the latin american countries. the cuba issue was always something like an albatross around the united states' neck the fact we didn't have normalized relations with cuba the fact we were always pouncing on them. that disappeared.

so president obama became the star of this summit. you know the venezuelan differences we have with them didn't materialize much. i think the president, even by his loudest critics in the hemisphere was praised for taking this dramatic step and i think the photograph of the two presidents afterwards normalizing relations was the story of the summit. along with bin laden and this issue and possibly iran if it happens, those will be the president's three big legacies in a positive way. >> all right. let's switch gears now. have you checked hillary clinton's twitter account? we were all waiting for this imminent announcement any time that she's indeed running for president. should she be the democratic candidate? >> well i believe so. i have my differences with her. i'm not trying to curry favor with her, but she's by far the strongest candidate. she'd be the first woman president. she has serious foreign policy

experience that a president needs to have. she has a great asset in her husband, who is probably the most popular politician in the united states today. and i think the american people and certainly the democratic base wants to see her out there. but i think the steps she's taking to be more inclusive, to not travel with so many entourages to focus on issues like income inequality, jobs, connecting with voters in small settings. i remember in the campaign when i was in it she'd show up with this avalanche of aides, of huge number of assistants and they'd engulf her in the green room. the rest of us the other candidates, even president obama, would be with two or three people. you'd never see her until we'd come out to the debates. i think she has to junk that and do this living room stuff. hopefully it's true. >> you know i'm curious because we were listening to you as you spoke this morning with my colleague steve kornacki.

you called hillary clinton's candidacy an unstoppable train. does that imply that you could envision any sort of a crash down the line as well? is there something that could derail her? >> no i meant that she was unstoppable. although, i think governor o'malley of maryland is showing potential as a good candidate. but i still don't think, alex that there will be anyone that will derail her. you know, the clintons don't make many mistakes. i think she's on a path towards a nomination. she has two problems. one, the coronation argument. secondly, i think a lot of people in the press that want to see a contest, they're going to be digging and poking. at the same time, the clintons know how to run campaigns. they got a lot of good people. i think she has to connect with voters one on one, and it seems that's a strategy. iowa will be the first big test.

that's where you really have to connect with voters. it's a caucus system. those voters want to see you, touch you, they ask you questions. i remember it took me three visits to get one caucus member to support me. then in the end, he switched to obama. so this is a very tough state. and that'll be the ultimate test, i think, how she does there. >> well, listen if you'd added president to your resume it would have been way too long to introduce you every time you're on the show. thank you very much for joining me. >> thank you. yet another controversial police shooting is caught on tape. we're going to bring it to you in a moment. plus the questions that arise from the shooting of walter scott about the other cases where police open fire and don't get prosecuted. (son) oh no... can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg.

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gun. the video was released nine days after the fatal shooting on april 2nd. i want to warn you the video may be disturbing to some viewers. it shows police in pursuit of eric harris, who "the new york daily news" reports was fleeing from police when they tried to arrest him for allegedly selling a semiautomatic pistol and ammunition to undercover officers. a civilian volunteer pulled his gun and fired a round into harris. bates can be heard saying i shot him, i'm sorry. the tulsa county sheriffs office said that harris was absolutely a threat when going down because the deputies believed him to be armed. the sheriffs office characterized the shooting as an inadvertent mistake and called bates the vikctim of something called slips and capture, this which officers confuse their tasers for guns.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." now to the fallout over the fatal police-involved shooting in south carolina. this morning's cover of "the charleston post and courier" saying good-bye to beloved son, this in reference to the 50-year-old victim walter scott, who was laid to rest yesterday. and in the fold on the front page, this powerful headline "2.7 seconds, how eight bullets pierced the nation." as the scott family mourns the loss of their loved one, the north charleston community and others around the country are trying to prevent a similar incident from ever happening again. this is what a friend of scott's said at his funeral yesterday. >> this will bring attention on a national level that we need to

have some dialogue and we're going to have to figure out in our communities how to take care of ourselves. >> and joining me now is paul butler, a professor at georgetown university school of law and former federal prosecutor. also, james peterson an msnbc contributor and professor at lehigh university. gentlemen, with a welcome to you both. james, i'm going to begin with you. what is your response to what we just heard from scott's friend about a community that must take care of itself? what does that look like? is it hoping there's somebody there to film a potentially dangerous interaction like this case? is it body cameras? >> see, i don't think it's about hope. i think it's about citizens being vigilant and thinking about the ways in which we can provide oversight for law enforcement in some of the most challenged communities around police brutality. some of that has to do with people filming law enforcement. i think that will apply pressure to have good behavior. at the end of the day you know when you look at these things and the continuation of these incidents happening again and again, communities are beyond frustrated and looking for all

means of addressing these issues and protecting themselves from this kind of violence. >> yeah well that frustration you talk about has been percolating for quite some time. paul "the washington post" has this stunning new investigation which shows that among the thousands of fatal shootings by police since 2004 only 54 officers were charged. the justice department has launched many investigations most recently of course that one in ferguson. president obama's policing task force, that's in place. so how can we hold police officers more accountable for these shootings? >> you know frankly, we have to start believing in the stories that african-americans, latinos, poor people have been telling for decades about the police and how they operate in low-income communities. we haven't believed their stories. it's almost like back in the jim crow south where blacks wrntseren't allowed to testify against whites in course. there needed to be corroboration. now we have this video camera these dash cams, these cell phone videos as corroboration. they say often police reports

are not reliable. police make up stuff in these reports. you know, when i was a prosecutor, it wasn't that unusual for us to look at a police report and say, how could that have happened? i think now as a nation we're coming to that understanding. we really need to have checks and balances on the police. >> james, i want to take a look at that other pretty stunning case of an excessive force by police, that really disturbing video out of san bernardino county, california. the fbi jumping into that investigation. the victim was not black. so what has to happen to bring more attention to police brutality? >> i think first we have to acknowledge the fact that there's a sort of epidemic of overpolicing and a number of different communities. most of these are working class and poor communities. we have aggressive sort of indoctrinated police forces that have a certain set of tactics and practices they've been implements for a long long time. we've got to pull back from that. we've got to sort of emphasize de-escalation tactics. think about alternative ways of arresting folks. we've got to separate the

criminalization piece of things from different civic proceedings. so all these are reasons why people can get arrested either through fines or from child support or different things the state should be able to handle without involving armed law enforcement. we've got to figure out a way to partition those kinds of civic transgressions from the criminal. otherwise, i don't think we're going to be able to reel in the police forces that are sort of unchecked in some of these communityies communities. yonchts yonchts >> officer slager has been charged with murder. what do you think the outcome will be? >> you know, alex, i would hope that anybody who shoots a fleeing man eight times in the back, that's an easy case as a prosecutor. but the fact is james is right, it's not only about bad apple cops. the reason we had 600 officer-involved shootings in one year in the united states when germany had four canada had 12, isn't because americans are more violent than germans or canadians. it's because the supreme court among other actors in the

criminal justice process have given the police all this power to use deadly force, even when they're enforcing minor petty crimes like speeding, like jaywalking. remember the cops stopped michael brown in ferguson originally for jaywalking eric garner for selling cigarettes. we have to think more responsibly. not only do these superpowers police have make communities less safe they often lead to situations tragic situations like we've seen in ferguson in cleveland, in staten island and now in south carolina. >> yeah. all right, gentlemen. paul butler and james peterson thank you for the conversation. i appreciate it. >> thanks alex. now to what can be described as nothing more than an unbelievable story but police in philadelphia say this is all true. they have issued an arrest warrant for a mother whom they claim abandoned her 21-year-old quadriplegic son near a city park. the man also has cerebral palsy

and is unable to speak. a passer by found him lying on the ground with only a blanket and bible, his wheelchair a few feet away. a police spokesman said his 41-year-old mother simply left him there to die. >> it's heartbreaking to see another human, especially your mother treating someone like that. obviously he's in the middle of a wooded area. you have wild animals there. you never know what's going to happen. this kid cannot defend himself. he does not function. >> for a mother to just throw him over there like that somebody need to throw her over there in the woods and leave her over there for five days with no food, no water no nothing. >> she's got a point. the man has been hospitalized. police are trying to track down that mother, who's facing charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping, and neglect. still ahead, what hillary clinton needs to do this time to win the nomination and the white house. d i'm like... whoa. open the box and... (sniffing) new phone smell. jump on a video chat with my friend. he's a real fan boy, so i can't wait to show this off. picture is perfect. i got mine at verizon.

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social site any moment now. while her message will be -- not be a surprise rather the front runner status is really not that much of a surprise at this point either. on this morning's "meet the press," chuck todd asked john kerry if that was really good for the party. >> you came through a tough primary in 2004. do you think she needs a tough primary? does that make you a better candidate if you have a real primary, or do you think a coronation is healthy for the democratic party? >> i wish her well. i think she did a terrific job as secretary. she's a good friend. she's highly qualified. and i'm confident will wage no matter what, with or without a primary, a formidable campaign. we'll go from there. >> well joining me now, democratic congresswoman carolyn maloney, former republican congressman connie mac. glad to speak with all of you. i'll reach out to congressman maloney. let's talk about what you've

been doing already with the ready for hillary group. what's been under way? how excited is everyone? >> well, we are extremely excited. we had our last event yesterday. it was explosive. we got what we wanted. we wanted her to run for president. she announced that she will be announcing today. we formed two years ago with a handful of supporters and a po box number. now we have really over 4 million people that have signed up and said they are ready to campaign and work for hillary's election. we've raised $15 million, most of it below $100 98% of it. and we've gone across the country ten times and have really a network of supporters across this country. facebook supporters twitter supporters, and we have a framework of a volunteer grassroots organization that wanted her to run. we are all committed to doing

everything we can to help her win. she is the most qualified candidate in my lifetime who's thrown her hat in the ring to run for president. we'll be working very very hard to elect the first female president. >> well apparently with at least 4 million people right now joining your sentiments. representative mack my colleague steve kornacki was here last hour. he made an interesting point. he said hillary clinton's time as secretary of state protected her from four years of political squabbling, that she didn't have to weigh in on every issue, which does get a lot of potential candidates in trouble. do you think she's coming out of this gate without domestic baggage? >> look i think one of her strengths are that everybody knows her. they've been able to see who she is and follow her position. so i don't think four years as secretary of state has somehow kept her out of the debate on issues because she's taken positions on them.

and a lot of what we see right now, commentators and people who are engaged in this debate you know, this is the first step. she's going to make her announcement. it's one of the most important steps in a campaign. if off smooth rollout, it can really give you a boost in the race. if you trip over yourself then it makes it more difficult. so my answer to your question is i don't think being secretary of state kept her out of the debates. we know where she stands on issues, and hopefully what we're going to see is a campaign between either her or whoever wins on the democratic side against jeb bush or whoever wins on the republican side about real issues. i think that's what the american people are looking for. >> you know in terms of knowing her, stephanie, new york city mayor bill de blasio said on "meet the press" that clinton lacks vision. we all know her story, but has she adequately given her vision

or is now the time to start doing that? >> well hillary clinton has a proven record an entire career in fighting for women and families across this country. as we will hear i'm sure in this announcement any moment by the way, is the beginning of that conversation with the american people. this campaign this election is so important to this country. it is about the future. it is about the kind of leadership that's going to lead us forward. and hillary has proven over and over again that she is exactly that kind of leader. and that is what we're going to be hearing in the days weeks, and months to come. >> all right. congresswoman maloney, rick lazzio was on msnbc this morning. let's listen to this exchange. >> what would you advise somebody who's in a debate with her? >> stay at the podium. >> you think they'll play the gender card? >> i think they're going to use it as a shield. and i think they'll use it

offensively if they can. >> do you think her campaign is going to use gender and do you think it will be perceived she's using it fairly? >> oh listen i think that it's so ridiculous. she's one of the most qualified candidates ever. look at the positions she's held. an attorney a member of the united states senate, a secretary of state, deeply involved in city state, and federal issues her entire life. i think her vision is very clear to all of us that know her and have worked with her. she wants an economy that works for all americans and opportunities for all families and a stepladder up to the american dream. i think she will put us on the right track going into the future. we made history with the election of barack obama. and i believe we will make history with the election of hillary clinton. i can tell you that many of my friends that are not democrats that, are members of other parties, are staunchly interested in supporting her.

>> are those female friends of yours? >> mainly. and some male. because of her record. and i think that many of us the clinton economy was the best economy in my lifetime. 22 million new jobs. we left office with a surplus, not a deficit, not a debt. and that's an economy that president obama's working on but she can continue to expand opportunities, strengthen defense. she will be the best qualified person walking into that oval office in my lifetime. >> and mack if it is indeed hillary clinton as the democratic nominee, you mentioned jeb bush earlier. is that whom you'd like to see the republicans put up as having the best shot to go against her? >> absolutely. i'm a fan of jeb bush. i served in the florida legislature when he was governor. he is a smart -- someone who's thoughtful in the process when he debates issues and how he

comes to his positions. so i think he will be our nominee, and i believe that he'll be the next president. i know that there's a bit of a love fest right now going on and i hate to break into that. but hillary is going to have to explain her positions as really the mother of, you know, a central government-owned health care system. she's going to have to answer the questions about benghazi. she's got a lot she's going to have to answer to, and this idea she's going to make her announcement today on twitter and just, you know everything is going to be highlighted in an easy road for her, i think, is a mistake for people to think that way. >> well, i don't think anyone thinks it's going to be an easy road. it's a long time until november of 2016. stephanie, the issue of a small campaign rollout, going to the diners and people's living rooms, all well and good but do you think hillary clinton can morph into that kind of candidate when she's somebody who has like a quarter century

of national and international exposure under her belt? >> well hillary's roots are in the middle class midwest. this is a woman who grew up in illinois and has -- really understands what working families are going through. i think this is precisely who she is. those of us who know her and as the american people will get to know her better and better in the days and weeks to come this is precisely who she is. that's the kind of leadership that the american people are looking for. this is about a conversation of moving forward. and we've already seen the republicans stepping up talking about the focus on her, but the focus has to be about the american people and the middle class. and that's what we're going to see in the diners and the living rooms with hillary clinton in the months to come. i think it's fantastic, and that's why we're going to see this grassroots energy and campaign build and build and build as we move forward. this will not be an easy

campaign. this is not something that is certain. she's going to fight every single day. there's no one who works harder as hillary clinton as we're going to see that. >> well, in in terms of leadership, stephanie schrock with emily's list, thank you for yours, and to our representatives, thank you so much for your leadership on capitol hill. in just a moment lifestyles of the poor on food stamps. does it really include filet mignon as some abuse hawks believe? the realities of what it's really like to get by on relief, next. audible safety beeping audible safety beeping audible safety beeping the nissan rogue with safety shield technologies. the only thing left to fear is you imagination. nissan. innovation that excites. sweet mother of softness... charmin!!! take a closer look at charmin ultra

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there are two new republican-sponsored bills in kansas and missouri. they are aimed at limiting how welfare recipients spend government money. the kansas bill would ban welfare recipients from spending food stamps on cruise shapes and the bill in missouri would keep welfare recipients from buying seafood or steak with their funds. but how real are these, quote, abuses? joining me, linda taroto.

eleanor, i'll begin with you. let's talk about this kansas bill banning welfare recipients from spending food stamps on cruise ships. eleanor, this would also prevent recipients from withdrawing more than $25 a day from an atm machine. how big a problem is this alleged abuse on cruise ships? >> yeah there aren't many cruise ships in land-locked kansas in the first place. and it's a long list of places where people who are receiving what's called tanf temporary assistance for needy families where they can't spend those dollars. they even include swimming pools, nail salons and some places that justifiably, you wouldn't want them spending their money there, but it's totally a fantasy to think that the most single women and children who are on these programs are spending these dollars in these places. so the cruise ship thing is totally, it's a made up. it's a caricature that you have to go back to the days of ronald reagan, when he imagined people

were getting their change at supermarkets and going out and buying screwdrivers with them. that's the drink, the drink, the screwdriver, not the tool. and the limit on how much they can withdraw from an atm of $25. atms basically give money out in $10 increments. so or $20 increments, you can't even get $25, and there's a fee attached. so it really imposes a hardship on poor people and it's hard enough in america to be poor as your other guest can well attest to. >> and linda, we'll get to you now. because the missouri bill bans the purchase with food stamps of cookies, chis energy drinks soft drinks seafood or steak. you were on food stamps as your husband, an iraq veteran, did not get a promised stipend. are people going eating steak on

food stamps? >> absolutely that's what being poor in america is. >> dripping with sarcasm. >> what you buy is what's on sale and that's the most food. secondly, it's interesting that we talk about the poor choices that people make and we say, don't buy healthy food. you don't deserve healthy food. that's why we have this government program, to make sure you're only eating the unhealthiest food but only particularly kinds of unhealthy food, as well. and on that atm fee, that rankles me even sure. pull you can only pull out $20, but then you're having to spend $3 every day on atm fees. and who owns those atms and what's their connection to this whole process and this entire bill. >> and linda, another thing, they talk about tattoos and movies as being something that you're going to spend your stamps on. i mean is this just ridiculous? >> well to begin, you actually can't spend food stamps on anything that isn't food and anybody who says so doesn't understand the nature of the

program. secondly, no no we're not spending our food money on movies. >> got it. linda and eleanor, thank you so much. that's a wrap of this sunday edition of "weekends with alex witt." we'll of course bring you news of hillary's announcement the moment she makes it. take care, everyone. "meet the press," next. uh gift of the name your price tool to help you find a price that fits your budget. uh-oh. the name your price tool. she's not to be trusted. kill her. flo: it will save you money!

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the plane and relax. i put everything on the explorer card. i really want my united miles. this sunday, she's in it to win it, again. >> i am all about new beginnings. another new hairstyle. a new e-mail account. >> hillary announces today. why this time her biggest opponent may be herself. also, rand in the race. >> i think the thing is about the clintons is that there is a certain sense that they think they're above the law. >> but after this week, some are asking whether he has the temperament to be president. i'll bring you my interview with the senator from kentucky. plus, cameras on cops and that police shooting in south carolina. >> i saw him running like you would kill an animal. >> how would that story have been covered if no one had come