us we can move forward as a state in harmony and we can honor the nine blessed souls who are now in heaven. closing in. 189 days after their escape police in new york get their best lead yet in the search for richard matt and david sweat. and the husband of the woman accused of helping them escape speaks publicly for the first time exclusively to matt lauer. >> you say, did you help these two prisoners escape? >> i said how can it happen? she said that this -- i was scared. i got something else to tell you. i say, what's that? and under threat. more than 47 million americans are in the path of severe weather today as it moves east after spawning more than a dozen tornadoes overnight. >> look at the damage out here. many of these trailer homes, some of these mobile homes, some of these winnebago type vehicles have been smashed. real mess out here. it's going to be a long clean-up process.

good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. hundreds of people are gathered in the south carolina capitol of columbia at this hour to pressure state legislatures to remove the confederate flag from the grounds in the wake of last week's killings. >> bring it down! bring it down! bring it down! bring it down! >> the reaction from some people in charleston today seem to be mixed. >> i just think it's a flag. you know there's a lot more in this world to focus on than a flag. i mean it doesn't cause people to act a certain way or do a certain thing. i mean it's people out here killing people. let's focus on that. >> the confederate flag is a symbol of institutional racism.

it's a powerful memoir of a dark time in american history. >> i think the flag actually represents heritage. that's what it means to a lot of people. but as far as african-american people go a lot of people view the flag as something negative. >> nbc's craig melvin joins me now in columbia near the state capital. craig, what is the plorocess here? where does it go in the legislature and why would it take until augusto get h accomplished, if it is going to get accomplished? >> reporter: in about an hour the lower chamber here behind me presumably while this rally is still going on the lower chamber will convene. they will start debate on the budget. legislators haven't approved a but jet here yet. they'll have to approve the budget here first, i'm told shortly later this afternoon legislature is going to be introduced by a republican upstate representative who will introduce the legislation that will start the process to bring

down the flag. the house is expected to take it up fairly quickly and dispose of it fairly quickly. some folks saying this could be done with the house at least by the end of business tomorrow. the problem will be then the senate. the senate has to take up the bill. the senate in south carolina has never been known to move swiftly. so there are some who are surmising that there is where there could be a hangup. most legislators if not all legislators of course will be on charleston on friday so they won't be in session here for senator pinckney's funeral. that then pushes it in to next week. so the thinking at this point is, if it drags into next week andrea, the senate hasn't approved anything by next week and they go home governor haley has said she will then call them back for a special session. there are a couple of holidays in there. so that is why they're saying early august is probably the soonest that the flag itself will come down.

what is going to be interesting in terms of visuals tomorrow one of the nine killed last week in charleston again, state senator clementa pinckney he's going to lie in the rotunda behind me. his body will lie not 300 yards away from the confederate battle flag, the came flag of course that was celebrated by the man who is accused of killing him, sitting in jail down in charleston. so behind me this rally, smaller than they were expecting. that could be because it's roughly 100 degrees here in the capitol. it's also the middle of the workday as well. it's a smaller rally than they were expecting but the folks out there quite vibrant. there was an exchange between some pro flag folks and some anti-flag folks a short time ago. i can tell you that is something that we've seen here over the past 10 or 15 years. andrea, this rally that's happening behind me probably seems unusual to a lot of people watching and listening.

this is at least the tenth such rally that i've covered here on the grounds of the state capitol. there was, of course for years an naacp boycott. that prompted a number of rallies. the naacp called for a big business boycott. that prompted a number of rallies. then back in 2000 there was the grand compromise that took the confederate battle flag from atop the state house dome to its current position. there were a number of rallies before and after that. but this time it's different. i've spoken to a number of lawmakers who on the record in the past have been adamantly opposed to doing anything about the flag. they say this time it's different. nine church goers being killed at the end of a bible study, including one of their own, a state lawmaker changed things dramatically. >> craig melvin thank you so much. we can see over craig's shoulder, of course the flag flying. i'm joined now from charleston -- thanks craig -- by mayor joseph riley, long

calling for removal of the flag from capitol grounds. thank you again for being with us. and thank you for all the leadership that you have shown has been truly extraordinary to those from outside charleston who is not as familiar over the years with your bipartisan and biracial approach here. but what do you make of this debate now? does this tear south carolina apart or bring it together? >> well, it brings south carolina together. it's unfortunate such a horrific tragic event is the reason, but it's going to go. it's going to go in a museum and i commend governor haley for her leadership and the bipartisan support for this and overwhelmingly a majority of south carolinians believes the flag belongs in a museum. it's not a flag for everyone. it's a flag of history to some

revere but certainly for african-american citizens and many others it's not their flag. and on state house grounds, if you've got flags, they should be flags that everybody can embrace. >> what do you make of the decisions by walmart, now kmart, sears and others big box stores, with big roots, certainly walmart in arkansas, r, roots in the south deciding not to sell memorabilia with the flag souvenirs with the flag on it? >> that's so wonderful, because what we -- what we know deep down is that for some this flag is a symbol that they revere because it opposed racial integration. it propose -- opposed racial justice, and we are -- you know we can't fool ourselves. that's the case. not for everybody, but for many. so i think for these important

national retailers to provide that leadership is just absolutely outstanding. i commend them for that. >> what about the president's visit? what are you looking forward to in terms of the message from the president being there? the eulogy that he's going to give at the service on friday for senator pinckney of course? >> well, you know in sad events in our country, the president's voice has been soaring and moving and healing. and i know that will happen here. i've spoken with the president and the vice president in recent days and he will -- he will touch the hearts of the people around our country. here the hearts are especially broken. and for those, the families and the citizens of charleston who knew these dear people that to have the president and first lady the vice president here you know when you're grieving,

someone gives you a gift or comes and pays you a visit or something like that it makes you feel better. it's part of the road to recovery. president of the united states coming here on friday will do just that for the citizens of our community and i know across the country. the country is mourning too. the president's visit is very important and will have great healing power. >> mr. mayor, never has political leadership been more important. it really is a matter of family nationally and of course in charleston. thank you very much, sir. >> thank you. and according to the southern poverty law center there are currently 784 active hate groups operating across the country. a number that is growing. up 30% in the last 15 years. i'm joined by richard cohn president of the southern of verity law center. you have been of course been a voice on this subject, a voice in the wilderness very often. do you think now that the rest of the country is beginning to get it?

>> i hope so andrea. you know for a long time we only think -- we've only thought about jihadi terrorism and have ignored the kind of terrorism that the charleston shooter represents. it's been a threat the whole time. there's been you know a body toll the whole time. but this is something that's a wake-up call really for everyone in the nation. >> why do you think there is such a sharp increase according to your data? is this a reaction to barack obama, the first african-american president, is it a reaction to the militarization of america, gun violence? how do you quantify what's been happening? >> a couple of things. i think the big increase that we've seen in the number of hate groups in the last 15 years has been a response to the changing demographics in our country. it proceeded the election of the president but intensified by him. you know there's a backlash to the changing demographics of

america. on top of that you have the globalization of the economy that's created dislocations in local labor markets. and of course you know whenever, you know a democratic president comes into office suddenly people start talking about, oh, they're going to take your guns. and you know that whips up hysteria. people start buying ammunition. and these kinds of crazed con spirtoryial minded right wing militia groups spring up. so it's a variety of factors like that. >> there's a quotation from one of the hate groups the hate group memorabley mentioned in his manifesto. we itler by condemn roof's despicable killings but they do not detract in the slightest from the legitimacy of some of the expressions that he's expressed. what do you make of that? >> they are unrepentment repugnant racist and they've always been. the organization was built on the mailing list of the old white citizens councils.

they've talked about, you know black people being a retrograde species of beings. you know they are despicable thing. one of the things they also said after the charleston killings it was very rich they said we hope that it doesn't add to the racial tension of -- in the country. i mean, there couldn't be anything more hypocritical than that. >> do you think that this effort to take down the flag should be followed by efforts to take down statues? there are at least eight statues in the statuary hall in the state's capitol of leaders and heroes, if you will of the confederacy? >> i think it's certainly something one should consider. in my home state of alabama what i wish they would do is ending these holidays that glorify, you know people in the civil war. we have a jefferson davis day we have a robert e. lee day. we have those holidays in this state because historically the state had wanted to honor these

people. and i certainly think that should change. >> and do you think that the flag itself is more than a symbol? is it an impetus to haters like the suspect in this case? >> well, you know i think symbols are important. they are things around which people rally. they are things that give people an identity. so i think they are something that helps people come up with cohesive ideologies and ultimately perhaps you know lead in that kind of way to action. >> thank you very much. thanks for being with us and for all the work by the southern poverty law center. governor bruce iraner errauner of illinois spoke. the governor and other officials are holding a news conference right now. severe stops ripped through the town overnight damaging a high school and a fire station.

nbc's kevin tibbles is in coal city. >> reporter: well, andrea as you can see behind me here many of the homes in coal city this one has had its roof ripped right off. coming across a tremendous amount of rain came down over night. this retention pond filled right up. in the distance more home relatively modern homes, have been pretty much destroyed. but there is actually a little bit of good news here, andrea. that is the fact that there were no fatalities in any of this. some seven people injured here in coal city. five people many of those the authorities say had to be rescued from the basements of their homes. and the real good point coming out of all of that is that the warning system that went out here seems to have worked. those people who were found in the basements of their home were exactly where they should have been when the warning systems went off. these people went to seek shelter in their basements and, as you can see, from the shape of many of these houses andrea that was the safest place inside

the house to be. today the clean-up is starting to take place obviously. interestingly enough i was in this same area about two years ago when another twister went through causing significant damage in illinois. i think a lot of people that live in this part of the country, andrea are just -- are just very cognizant of what these storms can do and last night they took shelter. it probably saved some lives. andrea? >> thank you so much kevin tibbles. and up next confirmed dna evidence from a hunting cabin in the woods as searchers hope to close this on the convicts. in a moment more of matt lauer's exclusive interview with the husband of the woman accused of helping them escape. >> according to your wife they were going to kill you for what reason? >> to get me out of the way. she said she was never going through tr with it. that's what she told me. she really loved me and she was in too deep. mazing

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major developments today in the hunt for the two convicted killer on the run now for 18 days since escape that maximum security prison in upstate new york. owls head small mountain town 20 miles from the prison is now the epicenter of the manhunt after a owner of a hunting cabin told police he saw a man running from the cabin saturday. inside, the owner found a jug of water and open jar of peanut butter that shouldn't have been on the counter. sources familiar with the investigation tell nbc news dna roved inside that cab fwin matches both david sweat and richard matt and the two officials believe are still likely together. meanwhile the husband of joyce mitchell, the woman charge with helping the inmates escape spoke exclusively with matt lauer on "today." and he said his wife was just in

over her head. >> there had been reports that your wife fell in love with one of these inmates, richard matt. >> she didn't know if i loved her anymore, she said. she said to give her a little attention, she said then it just -- it went too far. he tried to kiss her a couple of times. no. and she said that's when he started threatening a little bit on things. >> one of the other headlines, lyle that came out was that your wife joyce had had a sexual relationship with one or both of these inmates. >> absolutely not. >> did you ask her point blank? >> absolutely. she swore on her son's life and her son i never ever had sex with them. >> see, this is where it's a tough story, as you well know. >> yes. >> because it's almost more believable for her to try to help two guys escape if she's in love with one of them. it's hard to believe if there

were not an emotional attachment. >> she told me that she was -- matt was giving her attention and stuff and she did not believe i loved her anymore. >> when she keeps bringing up that she didn't believe you loved her anymore, that is -- it does sound like a woman who is looking for love elsewhere. >> yeah. yes. >> and you don't think she found that love with richard matt? >> no. >> you went to see her, you mentioned, in jail. tell me about this meeting. what was it like? >> i just asked her how things were. she said it's rough because she had never been in jail before. and i said is she doing okay. she said yes. >> was she emotional? >> yes, crying bad. she did i did not mean to do this but they were -- things happened. and i said how can you do this? she said it just got out of hand. then i was scare and i didn't know what to do. >> the plan was for her to be there in your car?

>> our jeep to pick them up. >> at what point did she decide she couldn't go through with that? >> she diplomat say. she said when she started having pains and she said earlier, i realized i messed up. and i loved ya and she said i had to -- i just -- she said i couldn't do it. >> when you stop and think about it now, lyle isn't it very likely that had you been in the back of that car and had she shown up in that getaway car that both of you would be dead right now? >> absolutely 100%. >> and if she had gone in that car -- >> she would have been -- she would have been dead within half an hour, i figure. she would just a getaway. they were going to kill her. all they wanted was that vehicle. >> your wife is facing several charges. >> yes. >> she could end up in jail or prison herself for quite a while. >> yes. >> would you stick with her through that? or might you testify against your wife? but right now, i do not know. i don't know. there is so much going through my mind. >> is she a trustworthy person,

lyle? >> i don't know what to believe at times. in my heart, do i believe she hurt me? no if. >> extraordinary. with more now on this investigation, joining me from santa fe retired fbi profiler candice delong. candice, what do you make of all of this? >> it's rather sad. it's also touching the interview i thought. it looks to me like she was swept away a vulnerable person vulnerable woman, and she was swept away by a couple of really smooth talking conmen. and i do believe if she said to her husband things got out of hand, i can see that happening for sure. clearly she didn't want to go through with it. her body her mind would not go along with it. that panic attack was the best thing to ever happen to her. >> and now the threat to him, i

mean if he ever would want to resume his job and apparently he did initially, he can't go inside that prison. they have allies comrades. i mean they are at risk in a profound way, even if she is not ending up in prison. >> correct. i mean at this point now he's a celebrity prison employee, just as there are celebrity convicts. and whether one is wearing the orange suit or working in the prison assisting people that wear the orange jump suits, if you're a celebrity, you're a target. >> what about the hunt itself? now we have a sighting. there have been some false sightings. a lot of reports. the fbi and obviously state police still want people to call in if they see something. there was the detour to. . pennsylvania. but now you have a confirmed dna match, according to our sources, people close to the investigation, on both men as

recently as saturday someone was seen running from that hunting cabin. what does that tell you about the search and about the likelihood in this dense forest they might be able to get caught? >> well, this is of course, great news. this is the best thing that's happened in the last 18 days is this confirmation that they were in a particular cabin. now they know where they were at least, and very recently. so of course the search efforts will focus on that. it actually is the best thing to happen so far. >> are you surprised that they're together? do you think they're still together? >> i'm not surprised that they're together. i think the fact that they've been together -- that they were together at least 15 days as of saturday we know they were together tells me they are probably not going to break up. they need each other right now. i mean it's not easy living on the run, no money, no credit cards, no shelter.

clearly they broke into this cabin. i would be surprised if they split up. the good news is there's been no reported crimes. >> well, does this tell you, first of all, what is the threat to other campers, people just reopening their summer cabins there, and secondly do you think they had inside help? were they hedging their bets on joyce mitchell let's say, assuming she's found guilty of this assist and do you think others from inside may have been helping her? helping them rather. >> it's hard to believe that there wasn't at least one other person helping. it was a tremendous effort for those two to accomplish their goal. the physical things they had to do to get out of the prison i was there last year. that wall that you see is 40 feet high. and it goes down 40 feet under the ground. it was the tightest security in any prison i've ever been at. and i've been at quite a few.

security was very very high. so it's hard for me to believe they didn't have at least a plan "b." >> thank you so much for being with us today with your experience as an fbi profiler. appreciate it, candice. thank you. >> you're welcome, andrea. ahead, leaders of the pack. we'll go behind the numbers of the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. here is a simple math problem. two trains leave st. louis for albuquerque at the same time. same cargo, same size, same power. which one arrives first? hint: it's not the one on the left. the speedy guy on the right is part of an intelligent system that creates the optimal trip profile for all trains on the line. and the one on the left? uh, looks like it'll be counting cows for awhile. so maybe the same things aren't quite the same. ge software. get connected. get insights. get optimized. when a moment spontaneously turns romantic why pause to take a pill?

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hillary clinton has praised south carolina governor nikki haley for calling for the removal of that confederate flag from state grounds tweeting nikki haley is right to call for the removal of a symbol of hate in sc south carolina as i've said for years, taking down confederate flag is long overdue. that from hillary clinton. this afternoon clinton will be near ferguson missouri talking about race relations. she's been outspoken on the issue since declaring her

candidacy, especially since the troubles in baltimore. what about the republicans though running for president? i'm joined now for our "daily fix" with "washington post" political correspondent ann gear ran, jeremy peters, and msnbc's own political reporter alan siteswald in missouri. you're covering the clinton campaign today. sche spoke on saturday to the conference of mayors in san francisco, also calling for action on gun reform. what are you expecting to hear from her today? >> well, i think we'll hear more of what she had to say in san francisco and also on thursday in las vegas, andrea pap. really leaning into a very difficult issue but putting it front and center of her campaign. she's going to be meeting first privately with black elected officialses here and then holding a larger meeting. i expect her definitely to address what happened in ferguson about four miles away from here down the road. the pastor of this church has been involved with the ferguson

commission, working to repair race relations after that. i expect her to address policing, larger issues you know, the -- as local officials have told me this is a decades long issue not just about policing. as well as what she would do as president to try to repair race relations. >> and jeremy, the republicans have had sort of an awkward move. nikki haley coming out, this was contrary to what she did in her own re-election but coming out as leader yesterday. we see today rand paul one of the last to join of the -- of the candidates to join this march. huckabee did not. >> rick santorum didn't either. >> but rand paul today of we-- this is strange how he was trying to identify himself as the republican to reach out to minority communities. >> he was supposed to be the republican who was going to change the debate and dialogue over race relations inside the party and he's waited now five days to finally say something. we've seen this pattern from him

before on various touchy social and cultural issues. he waited a long time to say anything really about what happened with the police shooting in charleston. he waited a long time to weigh in on the indiana religious freedom law. you get a sense that the campaign of the man who is supposed to run kind of the boldest, most unconventional republican campaign is kind of being undermined by its own timidity. >> rick perry is running as a candidate, what really set -- made this a game changer, i think, ann, was mitt romney. it took mitt romney a noncandidate, to be the first republican to really -- and then the dam burst, you saw priebus, the republican chairman standing right behind nikki haley yesterday. that was a signal i think, to all republicans how important, as you see there, ryan priebus was standing there waiting for her to come in and then right behind her, partially covered by

nikki haley, sending a signal that the party really needs to move and move quickly. ann? >> right. and lindsey graham off to the side who is in the race for 2016. up until that point, as jeremy was saying i think that republicans were really struggling to figure out what they were going to say and what the right note was. it wasn't a pretty picture for a couple of days. but as soon as that press conference was over you saw a whole lot of republicans lining up and very interestingly, a number of republican-led states lining up to say that they too, were going to either remove the flag or take steps to reduce its prominence, put it in a museum is a phrase we heard a good bit yesterday. i'm really wondering if this is a much more significant moment politically than it even might seem right now. this might be the last election in which the confederate flag is

this divisive a symbol as it has been. >> i think you're right. depending of course as to whether there's follow up in the capital in south carolina. anne and alex in particular, quickly to both of you, we've been talking about this race and about the large crowds that bernie sanders in particular has been getting in iowa and new hampshire and minneapolis. but when we looked at our new nbc/"wall street journal" poll now, it's not even close. it's 75% for hillary clinton. dominating the democratic party nationally, to bernie sanders 15%. jim webb 4%. martin o'malley barely scoring. this certainly tells the clinton campaign their strategy as much as it's been criticized, is working for them. >> yeah. these numbers are very good news for hillary clinton. i mentioned one other, that 92% of democratic leaning voters could see themselves voting for her. that's far and away the highest such number we've seen. yeah despite some stumbles that

she had before her big public rally and some underwhelming reviews of that first public rally, clearly something is working. >> jeremy peters alex, we will will be watching this afternoon with you and, of course anne gear gearan. coming up, frenemies, the real relationship between a prime minister and a president of close allies. but, friends, stay with us. when i started at the shelter, i noticed benny right away. i just had to adopt him. he's older so he needs my help all day. when my back pain flared up we both felt it i took tylenol at first but i had to take 6 pills to get through the day. then my friend said "try aleve". just two pills, all day. and now, i'm back for my best bud!

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♪ building aircraft, the likes of which the world has never seen. this is what we do. ♪ that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. the president of the united states and israel's prime minister historically now have the worst personal relationship between the leaders of two close

allies in decades. so whose fault is it? israel's former ambassador to the united states, born in new jersey well-known historian, is blaming barack obama in a new book out today. it is definitely not diplomatic. former ambassador michael oren author of "ally, my journey across the american-israeli divide" is joining me from new york. >> always good to be with you. thank you. thank you. >> well, you have certainly stirred up a storm. you have taken on this relationship and you've just gotten right in there blaming barack obama not b.b. netanyahu. you say most disturb for me personally, you write, is the real sooens that our closest ally had entreated with our deadliest enemy on the existential issue without so much as informing us instead, obama kept signaling his eagerness for a final treaty with iran. in a personal letter to the supreme leader, his fourth the

president purportedly suggesting to return -- >> which is a quote from the president, by the way. those are mott my words. >> why shouldn't israel have veto power over u.s. foreign policy? >> we don't have veto power over u.s. policy but israel is a close and vital ally of the united states. and while the book is -- the way you frame it is about blaming. it's setting the record straight. and the record includes mistakes that israel made i make tas i made personally as am boss door but it is pointing out the obama administration had a change of policy vis-a-vis israel. i told them no surprises and no daylight. no surprises means the united states doesn't make major pronouncements on middle eastern policy without having letting israel have an advanced copy so we have submit our remarks and daylight means if we can have differences and sometimes very deep differences over the settlement issue over jerusalem but we try to keep those

differences behind closed doors. and we don't give our enemies the advantages of knowing that we have disagreeing. and as a matter of policy the obama administration abandoned those two -- those two principles. so everyone made mistakes but there was a change of policy. >> let's unpack that a little bit. behind closed doors. here you've got joe biden twice, as you acknowledge in your book on israeli soil. >> mistake. >> i mean, it was a mistake. >> mistake. the question is whether it was a change intentional mistake, change of policy. in both cases i was with prime minister netanyahu when it happened. he was completely caught off guard as we all were. it was made by some mid-level official. that's different than a change of policy. there was a change of policy made by the obama administration in 2009 about no daylight. the president said he was going to put daylight between israel and the united states. that was a departure from a policy that existed since the mid 1980s at least.

>> but, michael, if there are secret talks with iran so secret that many people at the highest level of the u.s. government didn't know about it why would you expect something that confidential to be disclosed to israel with all due respect, is there any government that leaks more because of the open society that it is than the israeli government the israeli press having a pipeline? i mean i wish i were an israeli reporter to have those kind of sources. you know this. >> if you read the book you find out the greater problem was the leaks on the american side. we had a real problem with leakage on the american side. i go into it at depth. the issue goes to at heart what the book is about and why i brought it out now, why i brought it out in june just difficults before the possible signing of this agreement with iran. because what's at stake here for israel is nothing less than our future security and perhaps even our survival. >> let me interrupt you for a moment. >> israelis are at stake here and on an issue like this one would expect a close ally to

consult with us clearly we have a difference about the iranian regime. you mentioned that the president, you quoted him, saying that it's irrational regime that could be a reasonable regional actor and perhaps even brick r bring about reconciliation between sunnis and shiites. israel sees this regime as irrational genocidal, and worse than 50 north koreas. that's a very big difference. >> let me try to ask the question in this way. first of all, has any administration spent mormone money than this administration on israel's defense on all the anti-missile defenses? and number two, isn't it true that the european allies were going to cancel these sanctions and develop commercial relationships with iran? i mean the argument that if the u.s. had not been negotiating with iran, wasn't it going to lose any credibility and any ability to stop europe from just jumping right back in with

tehran and doing deals? >> okay. two different questions here. the security relationship between israel and united states during the period of the obama administration was excellent. you can ask me you can ask anybody in the israeli security establishment. they will tell you just what i'm telling. excellent security cooperation. not just on aid but on intelligence cooperation, sharing, weapons development, joint maneuvers. very very close relationship. but the daylight wasn't on security matters. it was on diplomatic matters. there was a distinction made by the administration can have daylight on diplomacy but no daylight on security. in the middle east that's an artificial distinction because in the middle east it's just daylight and daylight is searing. that's what enemies saw, the daylight. as to whether the europeans would drop out of the sanctions, i don't think the problem was with europe. probably more of china and russia. at the end of the day, andrea i still believe that the economies of the world do not want to be detached from a $17 trillion

american economy. if america stood by the sanctions, other businesses in the far east or in russia would be very reluctant, very relubt reluctant to break american sanctions. >> the book is "ally" and it is stirring up a storm. thanks very much the. >> thank you. as calls for the confederate battle flag to be removed from state house grounds, up next a leading member of the congressional black caucus elijah yum elijah cummings. ebay will now prohibit the sale of the confederate flag as well as many items containing the confederate battle flag image. you know the importance of heart health. you watch your diet, excercise... and may take an omega-3 supplement, such as fish oil. but when it comes to omega-3s, it's the epa and dha that really matter for heart health. not all omega-3 supplements are the same. introducing bayer pro ultra omega-3 from the heart health experts at bayer. with two times the concentration of epa and dha as the leading omega-3 supplement.

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in baltimore. i want to ask you about the maryland state song. we were talking about flags but here is a song written in 1861 and the lyrics include describing abraham lincoln as the desspitpot's heel is on thy shore. i mean we hear this at the preakness. what about changing the words of this state anthem? >> andrea i am sure that's something that legislature may want to look at. but i think the flag was a much different kind offic than. you've got a flag literally hanging in fronts of the state house where laws are being made and where you are legislating for a diverse population. and that symbol, just sitting there, i've every time somebody passes it, every time somebody enters that building and enters the grounds, they've got to see something that symbolizes a time

that was so painful, to so many of us. keep in mind andrea it's painful to me. my mother and father were preachers from south carolina. met in south carolina former sharecroppers. every time i see that flag it gives me chills. >> let me ask you about the statues. eight remaining statues of confederate leaders on capitol hill in statuary hall. individual states have the options of changing those. these include jefferson davis and robert e. lee. should there be pressure from the rules committee or others to have the states change those statues? >> i think there's nothing wrong with evaluating things from time to time to see whether certain things are still appropriate and whether or not they are sufficiently offensive to many people to at least take a look at it. but again, i think right now i want to concentrate on this flag down there in south carolina. and i'm hoping that the

legislature will work with the governor and make sure that happens. by the way i applaud them for doing that but i want also remind people when the flag comes down there are african-americans in south carolina and throughout the country whose voting rights are being interfered with in south carolina where they cannot get medicaid, where through the affordable care act those are the kinds of things that even after the flag comes down people still have to live and so i'm hoping that we address that. by the way, i do want to take a moment to express my sympathy to all those people who died at emanuel church. i'm going to the funeral of the pastor. and many members of congressional black caucus will be also going. >> before i let you go i don't know if you have any update on the condition because maryland's newly elected governor larry hogan has announced that he has a serious cancer and is

undergoing very extensive treatment. >> yeah. i called the governor yesterday and expressed to him the fact that i wish him a speedy recovery, and let him know that we are -- have him in our prayers and the entire state has him in our prayers. he says he seemed to be very upbeat. and so i just -- i know he's a strong man. he made it clear that he's going to continue to do his job as best he can. and we are going to work with him and pick sure that we are supportive of him. >> governor cummings -- governor sorry. elijah cummings congressman, thank you very much. >> thank you. where most people probably know that geico could save them money on car insurance, right? you see the thing is geico well, could help them save on boat insurance too. hey! okay...i'm ready to come in now. hello? i'm trying my best. seriously, i'm...i'm serious. request to come ashore.

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m and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show online and on facebook and on twitter. "msnbc live" with thomas roberts is up next.ss rooms and exhibit halls, mentoring tomorrow's innovators.

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legislators meeting. this just a day after the governor called for it to go. we're going to have reaction from the state house and from emanuel ame in charleston. and we're asking in today's bing pulse question should the confederate flag fly at government buildings? you can weigh in in @pulse.msnbc.com. ahead, the husband of the prison employee arrested in connection with the prison escape. he breaks his silence. we'll hear from lyle mitchell, the husband of joyce mitchell coming up this hour in the exclusive interview with matt lauer. and now we want to get on to the big story today that is what's happening in south kaur care. the major developments on the fate of the confederate flag. right now hundreds of people are gathering feet from where that flag now fly, calling for lawmakers to remove it. they say it's time to get rid of what for decades has bee