what is your vision of what our strategy should be? i don't have all the answers but i do know we cannot afford more of what we've had for the past 15 years. that does it for this cycle. have a great day. ari "now" starts right now. banning the death penalty. vladimir putin not happy with fifa and flood-weary texas. it's thursday may 28th and this is "now." >> oh no! >> rising rivers and violent winds are forcing more people from their homes in texas. >> no city can handle anything like that. 6 inches fell in just one hour. >> 6 inches of falling water can actually knock a person off their feet. 23 people are now confirmed dead. >> it's the desperate search still under way for those still

missing. >> we're going to survive this together. as a family. we will get through this. >> we are starting to hear some of these really emotional stories about some of the victims. >> i got a phone call from her at 2:45 in the morning. she said dad, what do i do? my car has been hit with water. i said i'm on my way. that's the last i got to speak to her. >> there's a lot of rebuilding. we as a nation are going to have to help. >> heartbreaking story. the death toll from that deadly storm system stretching from the great plains to texas now climbs to 23. that includes 17 from texas alone. in the hard hit area of hays county, 8 people are still missing at this hour and in warden, texas, 16 miles outside of houston. voluntary evacuation of 400 homes due to expected river water levels that are up to 46 feet. across texas it's been the rainiest month ever recorded. in divine texas, the family of

alyssa ramirez held her funeral yesterday. she was swept away driving back from prom. >> i got a phone call at 2:45 in the morning. when i was asleep. and she wakes me up. and i say, honey, what's going on? she said dad, what do i do? my car has been hit with water. what do i do? i said back the car up. she said i can't. the car is tipping. i said i'm on my way. and that's the last i got to speak to her. i never got to talk to her again. >> that is a parent's worst nightmare. at least 19 tornadoes across texas in the central plains yesterday. one striking a drilling rig. severely injuring three people. this was the scene in nebraska where flash floods sent cars floating down the road. a new video showing how powerful the nicheinitial storm surge was.

this was in blanco texas, over the weekend. homeowners are okay but the house was destroyed. it's not letting up at this point. severe thunderstorms into the weekend could make this already challenging rescue effort even more difficult. joining me now from the hard hit town of wimberley, texas, nbc news correspondent jay gray. what can you tell us? >> reporter: hey ari. one of the thunderstorms moving through here making it more difficult. as you talk about. i want to show you the force of the flood water that came up here. this is bark that's been removed from the trees, from the limbs. that's what you normally see in a tornado. that's how strong the water was. it moved up the hill. obviously, much quicker than i am right now. it comes up the hill and makes its way into places that frankly it's never been before. up into the homes that had always been safe. they never worried about flooding up here. now they are dealing with what the water has done, ravaged this area. some of the homes completely ripped apart. wide open. everything inside spilling out. that's the kind of debris.

that's the kind of deafvastation the rescue teams work through around the clock joined by the family members and familywho spoke about making sure their loved ones are found. ari, a difficult situation made even more difficult by rain that's going to continue through the weekend. >> jay gray thank you for that and stay safe. joining me now from houston is nbc's charles hadlock. tell us what you can about the update there as well as the rescue effort. >> reporter: houston is getting back to normal here. the streams are back in their banks. the flooded highways are drained away freeways are moving at speed now. if you're seeing images of cars underwater or freeways flooded, that was tuesday morning with more than 500 water rescues had to be conducted. this is a different type of flood than the one that jay gray showed you there on the blanco river. that was a raging torrent of water coming down the stream.

this was just a rise in the water. a quick rise. it's 11 inches of rain that fell here. the water is all gone away now leaving behind muck in some people's houses as the water drained away. the death toll here in houston was 6 with 1 in the outlying county. that was due to the fact that several people drove into the water in the darkness driving into underpasses that were filled with the rapidly rising water. but houston is getting back to normal now. they're putting this flood behind them. back to you. >> all right, charles had lock. thank you very much for that. joining us now with more directly from there in texas, san marcos. kristy wyatt. can you hear me on the phone? >> i can. >> communications director for the state there, you have been out with the emergency actions. what can you tell us? >> i'm the director of communications in san marcos but we have an operation center and representatives from the county, hays county from dps.

we have people here from all different agencies across the state, and locally. we're joining together to pull information and resources. we work together. this isn't just a san marcos issue or hays county or wim wimberley issue but work in coordination to get information to residents and resources to our residents. >> cristhristy, what happens when everyone is on the emergency management positions when you have still people missing? >> well you know it's a very heavy atmosphere. because obviously, this has really affected our community. we have people who are missing. we have now identified three people and last night we got a call there was another body found. a child. it's disheartening but at the same time, it motivates us to do everything we can to help find these people that are still missing and also to get resources to the people who are still with us but are without their possessions and their

homes. >> and with regard to the eight people missing or unaccounted for, do authorities believe any of them may be alive? >> you know yesterday we had a discussion about that. we were talking about how this is a recovery mission. but, you know, we don't handle that aspect. texas task force one is the one that's doing the search for that. but obviously, our prayers are with those families. we stand with them and we understand how difficult this is for them. so we are just behind texas task force one and hope for the best. >> some of the footage from earlier in the week in hays county, looking at all the different folks trying to help with that effort. what is it going to take to rebuild and how long will it take for the community to get back to normal? >> it will be quite some time now. we're just focusing on immediate needs. we have agencies from all over the country coming in. we're trying to organize that.

we are setting up a center so people can get supplies and get information and volunteers who are flooding our city will have somewhere to go and we can coordinate our efforts and so just that is a monumental task. and once that's over they're still making sure our cities are safe and bridges are safe. there's going to be a lot of impact. >> >> kristy wyatt, thank you very much for the update. up next rick santorum wants everyone to know that isis knows his name. why? we will explain and nebraska becoming the first red state in over 40 years to ban the death penalty. it's a pretty big story. we speak with one of the lawmakers making it happen. also, later, russia amasses troops on the border of ukraine and vladimir putin accusing the united states of meddling in international affairs. ahead on "now."

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have been two new additions to the republican presidential field and a poll showing a scramble at the top. here's your official count. eight candidates for the republican nomination in a field that's going to keep growing. while early polls are bad at predicting the eventual outcome, they matter more than ever. only the top ten in the latest nationally recognized pomslls make it into the debate in august. quinnipiac. jeb bush ben carson mike

huckabee, and scott carson. notice donald trump would make the cut here. wmur announcing he'll run for president on june 16th. whatever that means to him. it means even more crowded pack and more work to do for the newest to the race including former presidential candidate, rick santorum. joining me to get into the all of the candidates, communications director jess macintosh and huffington post sam schneid. hi, jess. what does it mean? >> i mean it means that it's going to grow. i can't believe we're looking at a field this big and still voters don't particularly love any of them. jeb bush is seen as sort of one of the favorites, but in that same poll he has more people

saying that they would never vote for him than anybody other than donald trump. i think we'll just keep adding republicans to this pile until maybe one of them seems palatable. >> it's funny you say that. sam, when you look at people like pataki he's obviously got to stand out in a special way. he's not coming in with any great momentum. and yet i want to play a sound here where he was saying on the one hand he loves retail politics but not wanting to get into it with voters at the event which means they have interest in him. >> i reached the cap on social security. and i thought -- >> we'll look at it. >> i understand. is that true? >> not going to answer. >> my name is joe. i came from maine talk with you. i'm a small business owner. >> we'll talk. talk to kevin. >> i love new hampshire in part because so much of the retail politics. where you sit down across the kitchen table. they look you in the eye and ask a question. i love that about it.

>> sam, what do you make of that? >> you know each of these candidates basically have to carve out his or her own niche. whether it's stylistic or in terms of policy or just presentation, different ideas, they have to distinguish themselves from one another. so for pataki it is going to be tough to distinguish yourself in a field this crowded and one that's going to grow more crowded. but you know, these polls are meaningless to be honest with you. if you just think back to 2012 forever, rick santorum regarded as one of these also side show candidates who had just been absolutely destroyed in his last campaign by the greatest margin in pennsylvania history and no one expected him to climb above 2% or 3% and by the end, last man standing prior to mitt. i think we should stand back and let the process play out a

little bit. >> the part about the polls is that the republicans have decided to let the media use the polls as the measuring stick. that doesn't have to be the formula. also, we're going to count people who have demonstrated the primary voters backed them as santorum did. they're not doing that. i want to remind everyone about santorum. you mentioned him. he was, of course, the sweater vested former senator to honor the occasion of his reentry. we have clips from rick santorum in the years past. >> we don't need a weather man in chief. we need a commander in chief. >> carbon dieoxide. threat. tell that to a plant. >> i'm the guy at the dance. the girls walk by but old steady eddie is there. he's the guy you want to bring home. >> romney he needs our money.

>> quit distorting our words. if i see it it's bull [ bleep ]. come on. what are you doing? what i say goes. i am the law. >> i wish we had more time to spread more places. president obama wants everybody to go to college. what a snob. we'll never have the elite smart people on our side. what is a napkin? a napkin is what a napkin is. it isn't a paper towel. it isn't a car. you can call a napkin a car, but it doesn't make it a car. no tell prompters, no written speeches. the opportunity to see what's in here. what's up here. and what's burning down here. >> and a lot of voters like that. he was the guy, really who acted more like an insurgent rather than the pataki model that seems to be bland and hope for the best. >> pataki isn't actually

registering on any of the scales and i don't think, frankly, he ever will. i mean i'm a new yorker. he was my governor for 12 years. i couldn't tell you anything about the man. i think most of his fellow constituents feel the same way. rick santorum is really fun to watch. he's completely intellectually bankrupt, but fun about it. he thinks we'll solve social security crisis by or there is a social security crisis and it needs to be solved by banning abortion. i think that it's going to be fun to watch him, see where he can position himself. it was shocking he came in second last time and now he thinks, now he knows he has that opportunity. he's going to go even farther this time. >> and he knows how to work the early states sam. the other piece here with rand paul i think, is interesting because people say, all right, is this all just noise? it's actually not. it can be but it can be a really constructive way that we get in and hash out some important debates. i thought it was very

interesting to see rand paul saying here on msnbc yesterday that it's actually some conservatives at fault for the rise of isis and the problems in the middle east which lets santorum call rand paul bernie sanders, in that world, an insult. don't call me bernie sanders. let's listen to that. >> isis exists and grows stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms, indiscriminately and most arms snatched up by isis. >> sam i mean is it a problem for the hawks? >> it goes back to the point i made earlier. with such a crowded field, you know, each candidate basically has to find his or her corner. figure out what sort of group of philosophies, group of policies, either they are comfortable with or they think will best suit voters. in this case, you have rand paul who, there was a while back it seemed like he was maybe moving

more to the hawkish side of the party but recently has very much of the mindset, overdrawn into the middle east that's bad for the foreign policy and basically, him and jeb bush in some respects who are the lone two potential candidates here. i say potential because jeb is not yet in or banking on the idea there will be ideologically consistent at the min-upimum as a way to sell. chris christie done a full flip-flop on common core. two years ago, he said he was never going to do it. today, he backed away from it. this, like you said ari, this whole process does at least give us a sense of the ideological backbone is made of. >> and i think it's interesting, just because on foreign policy, we have such serious problems. a congress that hasn't gotten around holding a vote on the war

strategy against isis, while our troops are bravely fighting for us in a modified air campaign, jess, so if it takes the campaign to actually figure this out or the campaign for the republican party to fully say out loud we were really wrong about the iraq war as were elected democrats, that seems to me it could be a good thing for democracy and then the part, last piece i want to play so everyone is fully updated on what's happening on the campaign trail is rick santorum talking about isis. listen to this. >> last month, i was featured in an online magazine. the magazine of the islamic state. isis. after 12 years of legislating and warning about the gathering storm of radical islam, they know who i am. and i know who they are. >> jess i don't want to be unkind but why would you want

bragging rights about a high name id? >> using isis as a value day foridater seems like a very strange move. i would love to see to sam's point a better more thoughtful criteria for who gets on the debate stage. i think especially with the differences in their foreign policy views and the rest of them, jeb bush i would love to see a real conversation. i think what happened when jeb bush failed to say going into iraq was a mistake, what happened among the republican party is they all decided, yes, in fact, it had been a mistake. they reached that consensus. that was interesting. that was a real sort of sea change for them. i would love to see those debates continue. i don't know if it's possible with donald trump on the stage but i certainly want them to see it happen. >> isn't that generational though? the longer people are in politics or if they are wrapped up literally by family name to bush the more complex it is for them to say what any sort of

younger newer political force would say which is yeah on the facts, the iraq war launched to fight wmd and get rid of saddam -- >> he was tripped up by the same question and he's the young fresh face. he answered it better but still a pretzel he had to twist himself into to say, which hadn't made a mistake. the intelligence was a mistake and the guys who manipulated the intelligence are on the advising committees of a lot of men who want to be the republican new mexico knee for mexico, nominee for president. >> jess mcintosh and sam stein. thank you. up next john boehner suing obama for doing something republicans actually support. we have that just ahead. ♪ sfx: engine sounds

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here's a question. should the u.s. give human rights protections to chimps? this is a real story. two chimps got their day in court. that's next on "now."

boy: once upon a time, there was a nice house that lived with a family. one day, it started to rain and rain. water got inside and ruined everybody's everythings. the house thought she let the family down. but the family just didn't think a flood could ever happen. the reality is floods do happen.

protect what matters. call the number on your screen or visit the website to learn more. >> now we have three stories nothing to do with 2016 or sweater vests. beginning in the house gop lawsuit against obamacare. this is a day of manhattan court debated whether chimps should be entitled to same legal rights as people. most americans use internet from checking facebook to filling out a job application. but when you think about it for many poor americans, it's not easy. 48% of u.s. households that make less than $25,000 have an internet connection. compared to the near universal connection among wealthier households. now a digital divide. fcc a way to subsidize internet access for low income americans. it expands the federal lifeline

program that started during the reagan area. providing 12 million u.s. households with a subsidized land line and cell phone. now the fcc wants to expand to deal with the internet. joining me with this and another bunch of fun topics abbey huntsman and jonathan capeheart. let's start with the idea that the government is helping poor people get online. good or bad? >> i think that one of the most nettlesome aspects of the society is fear of the poor. there's a large contingent any program to the poor they worry about waste, fraud, and abuse. this program has had some but it's called a lifeline for a reason. of the 15,000 or people earning $15,000 or less people with disability people who have no other way to communicate with the outside world and it's absolutely necessary. the other thing i'd add is they can already get it if it's

bundled, if their computer access is bundled with a phone they're already paying. so it's more efficient. it's a recognition of how people get communication these days. people might want a landline not want to pay for a regular phone. just use their $9.25 subsidy to connect to the world. >> from a conservative perspective, this is thot justnot just giving people they'll live on. >> they can't live on the internet? >> some people spend a lot of time on the internet but not the food stamp, lobster. this is a tool. we talk about people 135% of the federal poverty line 24 k for a family of four. relatively poor people getting the internet to get a job or do other things with it. >> this started under the reagan administration and throughout the bush administration. so this is actually not so farfetched from some republicans. you mentioned though the fraud. that's been a concern for many

conservatives and part of this new program is trying to fix that as well. by saying let's make sure people are on the food stamp program or have the free lunch program. i think you got to find a name for it. like the obama phone. or obama net or something. got another one? >> catch on jonathan? >> no it's going to be gone in two years. let's call it lifeline. that's what it is. to call it obama net or obama phone is to politicize something that shouldn't be politicized. the idea we're going to be debating whether or not to put really poor americans, give them a subsidy so they can connect with the rest of the country, to me is insane. of course they should have this. it is like a utility. i think we have some interesting points of agreement there. we have another topic you may not agree on as much. should chimps have the same legal rights as humans? yes, according to animal rights activists. the chimps because they share enough human traits should be

treated the same under the law, literally as humans and not be held against their will. chimps may not be able to fulfill certain duties then required by the law. they can perform human actions. look at this guy smoking a cigarette. cool about it. kindness. loosk at that. you look at that and it's pretty human to some people. >> i can't believe you showed an image of a chimp smoking valorizing it. >> if monkeys do it it's okay. >> ridiculous. so they want to legalize chimps as humans but legalize cigarettes. as humans you can't smoke. >> you're getting off topic. the topic is this. because chimps are somewhat human-like -- >> we share a common ancestor. >> the great apes and human beings are closely linked. here's my answer. we're different and if you want chimps not to be in cages, pass

that legislation and pass the appropriate laws dealing with those animals. don't conflate animals with humans. >> what does that mean? sit down in the restaurants with us? i'm trying to wrap my head around what that would actually look like. >> well i'll tell you, abbey. since you're asking the question. the case is about these two chimps being held and if you treated them like people that would be for them a legal tool to not be held against their will in captivity. >> so i have a dog who's my best friend. and i know this is not like a dog, but i treat george my puppy, like a human being. i hope other people would treat their animals like a human being, but at the same time i put him in his crate when i go off to work. i would not do that -- well i think that's the debate here. it's an animal right? >> johnathan you're shaking your head. >> it's an animal. no. no liberty. no nothing. you talked about the chimp

hugging jane good all. can we talk about the monkey that ripped off the face of that woman a few years ago? she had to have a whole face transplant. was that monkey tried for murder? no. because it's not human. this is ri -- i just can't believe people are wasting court time for a case like this. >> jonathan capeheart taking it in the other direction. trying monkeys for murder last time. >> not a monkey an ape and they're going to descend on you. >> they're going to come after you. >> once chimps become humans. >> we have one more legal story to talk about and this one is a little more legit. the supreme court, of course is expected to issue the much anticipated ruling on obamacare anytime in the next couple of weeks today, also the first day of arguments in a different challenge to the law. house republicans suing obamacare. the initial indications here are some good news for the gop. the federal judge appearing skeptical of the administration's argument that

the cage shouldse should be completely thrown out. this is one silly because the republicans are mad about the delay of the thing they said was bad in the first place. >> i think that's fun. i think that's intellectually consistent. they say, hey, if we voted for it, it's congress's right to vote for it and allow employers to delay this provision. you can't impose that administratively. the problem is the legislature should not be suing the executive. i know that some lawyers found that they have some standing to sue, but there are other remedies where there's a system of checks and balances. i read the system. never anywhere said they can sue. >> another bad option is putting force on your ideas. i think it's frustrating to watch this play out. to think, how much time are we spending suing the executive branch when we should be putting forward our thought on what we think the best way forward is on health care, especially with the campaign right around the corner. this should be the conversation. it's so frustrating we are wasting this amount of time helping anybody.

if anything, it's hurting us. >> jonathan there's something to abbey's argument. isn't there? wasn't it conservatives concerned about frivolous lawsuits all the time and there were some legit challenges from people, some citizens about obamacare. the administration won those cases and yet now it seems like they'll just gin up anything. >> yeah. we've known about this sort of quirky thing here for a while now. and to amplify what abbey just said, it's not the 2016 campaign that republicans need to present their vision for health care the supreme court is about to hand down a decision that could invalidate the stages in which case republicans right away will have to present an alternative to obamacare if the supreme court does do that because then millions of people who now enjoy health care will be thrown off health care. >> or just rely on monkeys to do it for us. then they could come up with the health care plan. >> and after the break, we talk about whether the monkeys should get obamacare. no, we're not. no we're not.

as they say in television, we're moving on. really appreciate you all joining me. thank you. we have another important story to get to today. how did one of the reddest states in the united states manage to abolish the death penalty? that's new this week. we're going to discuss why nebraska's new ban might be the most significant political story right now. that's ahead on "now." meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs. billions in tax revenue... and a new century of american energy security. the new energy superpower? it's red, white and blue. log on to learn more.

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another disaster is playing out halfway across the world. but claims the lives of more than 1400 people in india. may and june are generally that country's hottest months temperatures this week have soared up to get this 117 degrees.

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became the nineteenth state to abolish the death penalty and it's the first red state to ban capital punishment in more than 40 years.

after four separate votes and hours of emotional debate there, the state legislature voting yesterday to override the governor's veto of a bill repealing the death penalty outright. and that bill which replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment got just enough votes to override the veto. it's now waiting a signature from the governor who remains technically opposed. joining me here is one of the legislators who voted for the ban yesterday, democratic state senator from nebraska adam moorefeld on a big important story getting national attention. why did you vote to ban the death penalty? >> well for me it was a matter of the fact i do not believe that the state has the right to take a life just as i don't believe an individual has the right to take a life. i think that we need to lead by example. and just so you know we actually overrode the governor's veto yesterday. so it's no longer waiting a signature from the governor and actually will be law within the next 90 days.

>> and as i mentioned in the senate, one of the reasons this is such a huge story beyond being a state level story of crime and punishment is how red nebraska is. you know has it gone for a democrat in the presidential politics in decades. why is this happening in a red state and what do you think specifically was persuading your republican colleagues on this? >> i think people were persuaded on a lot of different levels. for many people it wasn't just one thing. for most people it was an issue of conscience of morality of religion, and then also the fact that it is the most ineffective program in the state of nebraska. it's not proven to deter crime and hasn't been used in about 20 years and it's just not been shown to be effective. and so, you know the other thing that nebraska has that's unique is we have a one house legislature that we take a lot of pride in. it's a completely non-partisan system. we don't have any party kau kus

caucusing. we elect on a secret ballot basis and the quality of the individual. >> i want to single out something you just said. it's not effective. i think if you look fairly at the sort of the science and the criminology here it is clear it is not an effective deterrent to the kind of violent crimes that it supposedly punishes so that's been litigated. but let me push you on the word effective because there are victims, families and advocates who say for them having that on the books makes them feel better or gives them a potential sense of closure in some of these horrific crimes and they say that's what makes it effective in their view. >> certainly. and not all victims' families speak with one voice on this issue. but i tell you what. i'm on the judiciary committee where this bill went through and the most compelling testimony we

had from victims' families who said the death penalty prolongs the pain. prolongs the suffering. all of the appeals required for the due process of that inmate and the murder all of that brings back the memories and the constantly hung in the back of their heads. they were never able to move on or have closure. that was one of the most compelling pieces of testimony we had. >> and that's an interesting point. i want to look beyond the state there to nebraska now the seventh state to ban death penalty just since 2007. so looking further to other states particularly more conservative ones that do tend to still use it do you think there's a trend here or was this really specific to what you guys were doing within your state and not necessarily a case study for elsewhere? >> well i certainly think it could be part of a larger trend. i think that a lot of people are realizing that after many studies and litigation that the death penalty simply is not a deterrent. it also is ineffective in the sense that it doesn't work the way people would like it to in

the sense that we require due process before we execute somebody and rightfully so. in omaha alone, we had a csi investigator caught planting dna evidence. we had six people exonerated and the death penalty was used to coerce them into confessing crimes they didn't commit after serving 20 years in jail. so we're finding nebraska but also nationwide. >> legally, people know this. it is so completely irreversible. and yet in a human system with errors, you think about a story with a lot of national attention. a bunch of false convictions. the idea of having the state go forward and taking a life is horrifying. i believe we're out of time. thank you for joining us today. >> thank you very much. have a good day. >> you too. coming up something different from russia. with no love. >> there is more than just a

deal for me to consider. i need to show strength. >> no one is going to see this. on the contrary -- >> strength there it is. like the "house of cards" counterpart, putin. what he's up to after the break. ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you have enough money to live life on your terms? i sure hope so. with healthcare costs, who knows. umm... everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor.... can get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today.

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need to make working as one easier than ever. virtually anywhere. leaving you free to focus on what matters most. one day after the justice department handed down the punishment of fifa executives. vladimir putin is calling the fifa investigation odd because the corruption scandal didn't happen inside the u.s. borders and doesn't, he said affect americans. these comments on meddling come as reuters reporting russia's army is amassing troops near the

border of ukraine. russia's military forces conducted an exercise there, 250 aircraft and 12,000 russian personnel, something that didn't come up when putin was speaking of america's supposed meddling today. david, we get it. vladimir putin is a hipypocrite and rabble-rouser of other things. what's the significance of what he's doing here? >> i think he's just posing for pictures. the russian word i think, is chutzpah. it goes around. but you invade a country. you impose your will in that country. violate international law and then accuse the united states of meddling because it pursues through typical international legal channels a case that

seems to be rock solid. there may be something behind the seeds of this. because, of course if they start looking into fifa corruption and that takes them towards russia's bid for the fifa world cup, who knows how close to vladimir putin's doorstep the investigation will take them. >> is this something designed to appeal just to his usual audiences and stake holders or as you were saying a different theory would be, no he thinks he can build some sort of pressure campaign to what scare off the international swiss investigation to look specifically at awarding the world cup? >> i don't think it's going to scare off the investigation but the reality is vladimir putin isn't good at governing. his economy isn't doing well and he doesn't provide a lot to the people and taken away a lot of the rights. what keeps him high in the polls, when he goes after the west when he goes after big powers and shows he's a tough

guy. this is him posing for the cameras and trying to get the kind of bump it usually gets him. >> does it work to get all the giant sporting events for him domestically politically, the olympics and world cup? i mean is that an important part of the governing strategy or just a bonus? >> i think it's a part of his strategy. frankly, i think his message to the people is we are russia. we are a great nation. we have been held down for a couple of decades. we deserve our place as a leader on the stage. look at the olympics. look at what our army can do. and possibly look at this world cup. it shows we are in the big leagues and it counters the feeling that many russians have that since the fall of soviet union, their country has fallen on hard times. >> right. and in all seriousness, david, i know you follow this closely, what is your outlook in the problems with russia escalating its involvement with ukraine?

>> this is not just ukraine and russia in georgia. russia has made a policy of neighboring states. people in the baltic states are nervous. southern states they're nervous. and they should be. this works for putin and if he's done it a couple of times, he's likely to do it again. >> david rothkophf. that is "now." i'm ari melber. i'm in for alex wagner. "the ed show" starts right now. good evening, americans. live from detroit lakes, minnesota. let's get to work. tonight, it's time to decide.

>> we don't yet have all the details. in fact, it's not as i'm told been fully negotiated yet. i do have concerns. >> hillary clinton can be for the trade agreement. she can be against the trade agreement. i just don't know. >> the horse race. the 19 candidates who signaled they might run. >> this is a crowded field. >> later, the duggar dilemma. >> you supported the duggar family. we had the revelation last week. what was your reaction? >> i was sickened by it. >> and viral video. >> everybody can coexist together, man. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. we start with the bernie bump. he's been on the trail for 2 days and already giving hillary clinton's campaign real headaches. during a campaign event in new hampshire, h