good morning, everyone i'm tamron hall and this is "news nation nation." in just a few hours the body of the pastor of emanuel ame church church clement a pinkney. the flag lies just feet from where reverend pinckney's body will lie.

there is opponents to the confederate flag and the house could vote on it as early as next tuesday. state senator, paul thurman, the son of segregationist strom thurman. >> i'm glad to be on this side of history on race and bigotry from the state house, but let it not satisfy us to stop there. we must take down the confederate flag and we must take it down now, but if we stop there, we have cheated ourselves out of an opportunity to start a different conversation about healing in our state. >> as momentum against the flag spreads, the nation's biggest flag maker, valley forge, now says it will stop producing the confederate battle flag. political leaders in three of the nine states featuring the

flag on license plates are taking steps to remove it. and a list of retailers stopping sales of confederate flag merchandise is also growing. and this just in within the last hour. alabama has just removed its confederate flag from the state capital grounds. it comes after an order from governor robert bentley. nbc's charles hadlock joins me now from outside the state house in columbia. there are a lot of developments with the flag but i want to start with the remembrance that will happen there and many people that will file in line to pay their respects to state senator pinckney. >> that's right, tamron the flag is still flying bovr theabove the memorial. reverend pinckney will come behind me where it will lie in state until 5:00 local time.

thousands of people are expected to pay their respects to the reverend who was shot and killed a week ago tonight at his church in charleston. he got the calling to become a minister at the age of 13. he became a pastor at age 18. he was 41 years old. relatives and friends say he was not a rich man, but he was rich in spirit and in kindness. people really loved him here and they are going to miss him a lot, tamron. >> his colleagues have mentioned, charles, spoke of his opposition of the confederate flag that is still there. it was noted that governor nikki haley, while speaking strongly that she wants it removed, she is essentially helpless in removing it today as his body will be in that very building. >> yeah it was a legislative order that put it here after it was flying on top of the state capital for many years back in

the '60s. they had a compromise to move it to a smaller pole here next to the confederate memorial. but now people want it removed from the state grounds entirely both the state house and senate have agreed to debate that issue in the coming weeks. but right now they want to pay their respects to their fallen colleague. >> and the only according to the south carolina law that you were referencing, the only time that flag can be removed would be to replace it due to wear and that is not something the governor apparently is willing to do on this day, as we understand it. >> that was the rumor, that perhaps there was a chance they would take down the flag for, quote, unquote, maintenance today, but so far we have cameras trained on it. it hasn't moved a bit. >> charles, thank you. joining me now is jodi armor, law professor of "negro racism." good to have you.

>> good to be here tamron. >> for many people this flag is something they think of in popular culture. for example, we just got word in vulture is reporting that warner brothers has decided it will no longer produce the stars and bars that were seen on their iconic show "the dukes of hazard" that aired between 1979 and 1985. myself, like many other people around my age, watched that show. very popular family show and it was part of what made the general lee, and even this flag almost caricatures and not represent what we really should in many ways acknowledge that flag represents for america. >> yeah how did we get there, tamron, is the question? you start out with a battle flag that's part of a kind of revolution against the union, against the stars and stripes in

support of slavery and maintaining the south autonomy and suddenly you have it appearing on popular shows as a positive symbol. that evolved over time. it was originally just used for confederate veterans kinds of ceremonies and to commemorate fallen confederate soldiers and then in the '40s, the segregationist party in the south adopted the battle flag of general lee for the northern virginia army this flag and then it was put into canton the georgia flag in 1956 because brown versus board of education was decided in '54 saying immigration, so it was arguably saying we're going to be defiant in the face of these demands for immigration, so how do you get to that in association with segregation and slavery? that is an incredible journey. i think part of it had to do with the fact the state started putting it in their flag

frankly. >> it's amazing how "the dukes of hazard" neutralized the confederate flag. it came to represent not just the rebel, but also the good ole boy, the southerners who represent cracker barrel's dining establishment. we have a list from usa today of the confederate flag used in popular culture. lynnrd lynyrd skynyrd never shied away from it kid rock tom petty, et cetera, never shied away from it. here i was a kid in the '60s in texas watching "the dukes of hazard" rooting for general lee and the two with the confederate flag with a child's mind all while still learning in school

and some great schools, i might add, what the civil war means for my people. it's amazing how popular culture can dilute our minds. >> popular culture, and it was led by states like georgia and mississippi and south carolina adopting the battle flag as part of the state flag. after its part once the government starts standing behind a particular symbol and saying it's okay with us popular culture can follow that lead and say, hey, this is a state symbol. you know we bond around this symbol in a lot of states. and so that's why that texas decision is so important. it said that the state of texas did not have to issue specialty license plates with the battle flag on it. because that's government speech, not private speech. that was a very important way to take the legitimacy out of this symbolic expression of the battle flag. >> and think about that you cannot make this timing up that decision regarding those license

plates, the tragic slaughter of innocent african-americans at around the same time mind you, of this discussion with the flag and the license plates in texas. but i do want to play an interview my colleague ron allen did with a man who lives in columbia and he has a barn full of confederate flags, and this is his perspective on the discussion of where this flag should exist in our culture. >> it's a war memorial to honor 25,000 men, a quarter of the men in south carolina died to protect this state. >> so many people in this state and this country see slavery, they see racism, they see the klan on that flag. >> they stole it. they dishonored that flag. that flag never had anything to do with slavery. >> you have people like jeff

mccain there who are asking when does this end. there are a dozen counties a few press points out, who have figures like robert e. lee, confederate leader davis who has already asked for the statue of davis to be removed from the rotunda there. general nathan bedford, early founder of the ku klux klan his bus is in the tennessee capitol, though the government there has not endorsed -- i should point out the government has endorsed its removal as of tuesday. so you have people wondering, then, this is actually a statue that's on private property that rachel maddow was talking about yesterday. that's a whole other issue because it's private property. nevertheless, the bus, the street names as well folks ask, where does it end. >> it may have to end. for one thing, we want to take all symbols of the confederacy out of government speech so flags on state grounds or

issuing license plates or trademarks, you know the redskins' name for example, with the washington football team. that's a government trademark. so there may be some issues about government speech versus private speech there as well. so first you start getting out of government speech and then you start asking the question which flag is more important, the american flag or the battle flag? the battle flag stands for one definition of us. the american flag stands for more inclusive definition of us and it's a battle of flags in a way. we have dueling flags, and we have to make a decision which of those flags we're going to stand under and find solidarity in. >> thank you very much. this is all moving very quickly, and we're seeing from movie studios to local governments taking action to your point of which flag do they want to stand behind. thank you for your time there. developing in the next hour, president obama is expected to

announce a major shift in u.s. policy concerning americans captured by terrorists. most notably, the president is expected to announce that families will no longer face the threat of criminal prosecution if they try to pay ransom. the president is scheduled to speak at 12:20 eastern time after meeting with the families of americans held hostage. the shift comes largely in response to criticism from those hostages' family members, among them the families of james foley held by isis and killed last august and kayla mueller also held by isis and killed earlier this year. >> any parents out there would understand that you would want anything and everything done to bring your child home. and we tried, and we asked, but they put policy in front of american citizens' lives. >> if they weren't going to rescue them they couldn't get them home what do you do leave your kid in a jail to get beaten? no way. >> well today the white house

will also announce it's creating what it calls a hostage recovery fusion cell that will be based on the the fbi. it will include a coordinator to work directly with the families to keep them better informed. now, some republicans are criticizing the policy change. house committee chairman bob goodlatte said good luck. it does more harm than good. and duncan hunter says pathetic response to a serious problem. other countries allow families to pay ransom. some countries, even do that. this is a very delicate balance here because you hear the sound from those family members, and they can only wonder if this change had been made prior to losing their loved one if they would have worked and there is no guarantee it would have. >> there is no guarantee it would have but we do have some insight, because in so many of these cases they were european hostages that were in some cases in the same cell as the american ones. in the case of some of the european countries who do pay

ransom or allow families to pay ransom the vast majority got out alive. the only other country that has the same policy always the united states is the united kingdom, and they have had as much success in removing their captors as the u.s. which is to say not very well. >> this only empowers isis and the next terror group that pops up years from now to believe, if i get an american i get what i want. >> there is no doubt about it that kidnapping and hostage taking is a very lucrative business for terrorist organizations. that is a fact. the numbers back it up by 160 million on how much isis has made on the kidnapping of foreigners. but you saw from these parents' perspective, they will do what they can to bring home their loved ones. but this new change in policy has a lot of questions to be answered for, and some parents have put out statements, like the wasserman family and they said they would have preferred

to see this fusion. >> explain that. >> the families were complaining they weren't getting the communication they needed from areas of government. the fbi, obviously with the kidnapping of any american citizen is involved in these kinds of cases. they wanted to have a single point of contact that can become the clearing house of information coming from the government and back to the government. when the family learns something about their son, if they're communicated to through an intermediary or something like that, they can relay it back to the government. it seemed there was miskmublgz miscommunication on various levels and that was the main point. the question then becomes, is this the right place to have it? was it at an fbi level or should it be at a higher level. it's going to be time sensitive to see how this was tested. hopefully we're not in another situation where another american is not kidnapped, but it will be the test of time i think. >> thank you for those details and we'll follow the president's remarks later today. happening now in a boston

courtroom. victims of the boston marathon and their families are giving emotional impact statements in the formal sentencing hearing for dzhokhar tsarnaev. patricia campbell mother of crystal campbell killed in the bombing, said the jury did the right thing in sentencing him to death. and father of the youngest victim martin said dzhokhar showed destruction, hate and death and that he deserved a lifetime to think about what he's done. meanwhile, outside the courthouse more than a dozen anti-death sentence protesters have gathered to show their opinion for the sentencing. is there any indication from his attorneys that tsarnaev will speak today? >> hey there, tamron no. they have not given any indication whether he's going to speak. just sort of based on his body language so far this morning

where he's occasionally glancing at some of the victims as they make their remarks, it doesn't seem likely he's going to speak. a lot of legal analysts who are handling this case says he doesn't have much to gain from speaking here especially since there are automatic appeals that will last years and years and years. you mentioned bill richard. he lost his son, eight-year-old martin richard in the bombing. he reiterated his family's position that the jury should have sentenced him to life in prison so dzhokhar could have a lifetime to think about what he's done here. it's not just the physical pain a lot of emotional scars, too. there was a gentleman named michael chase who spoke to dzhokhar. he was standing right behind the richards family when that bomb went off, and he instinct actively went to pick up martin's sister who lost her leg in that blast and left martin to fend for himself. he said that's been a very difficult thing in their marriage. they're working through it but it's a very painful thing he

carries around every day. one of the other victims who got up was a transit officer with the mtba vick donahue, and he said he was seconds away from leaving behind a six-moldnth-old, but he said he survived and one of the most painful things in that recovery was watching the funeral of the one that was ambushed that led to that shootout. but he said the united states welcomed his family here and to turn on us he should be treated as such. tamron? coming up the autopsy report on the death of freddie gray is leaked. if t finds he died from a high energy injury. what the state police and the attorney's office are saying today. also developing now, france's president is said to call president obama today about

new revelations that the nsa may have eaves dropped on three french presidents including president on. we're live at the white house. donald trump surges to second. you can find the t at news nation twitter, and you can find me on instagram and facebook under my name. we'll be right back. s. and ones you never thought you'd make. we help connect where you are. to places you never thought you'd go. this, is why we travel. and why we continue to create new technology to connect you to the people and places that matter. ♪ turn around ♪ ♪ every now and then

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developing now, new details are emerging in the investigation surrounding the death of freddie gray. the baltimore sun is reporting maryland's medical examiner's office concluded gray's death couldn't be ruled an accident and was instead a homicide. the report is based on a leaked

autopsy report obtained by the sun that was completed on april 30th and has not been made public and has not been seen by nbc news. this leaked information comes two days after the six officers charged in gray's death pleaded not guilty. nbc's craig melvin has more on the report. >> reporter: according to the autopsy report reviewed by the baltimore sun but not independently verified by nbc news the state medical examiner's office declared freddie gray's death a homicide because officers failed to follow safety procedures through acts of omission. >> the baltimore sun obtained the autopsy report for freddie gray. they say his death met the legal definition of an accident acts of omission by the officers involved, such as failing to restrain in a seat belt or rendering aid which caused it to become a homicide. >> reporter: according to the

paper, it obtained the information from a known source. they compared his injuries to those seen in shallow diving accidents. >> when the van desell rated suddenly or accelerated, that caused him to hit his head. >> reporter: he suffered injuries while in police custody. his death a week later sparked protests and riots in baltimore that drew national and international attention. six officers were charged in gray's death. they have all pled not guilty. the defense attorneys for those officers said neither the six officers nor any of their attorneys have a copy of the autopsy report nor have we ever seen it. both the medical examiner's office and the state attorney's office say they're not the source of the leak of the report. mayor mosby also said i

strongly condemn anyone with access to trial evidence who has leaked information prior to the resolution of this case. >> the paper noted there the injury was mostly to his head and it also noted that it happened in a slightly reclining position or as he was changing his position on the floor of the van. developing now, we are awaiting an update from new york state police on the manhunt for those two escaped inmates. now the question is has joyce mitchell implicated another prison worker? we'll have the latest. and thousands of people are without power this morning from a round of pretty fierce storms that spawned a tornado and shut down several major airports. and there's more severe weather coming this afternoon. it's one of the stories we're updating this morning around the news nation. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on

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from now to brief the public on the search for those escaped killers, richard matt and david sweat. it comes as we learn more about how joyce mitchell says she smuggled in those tools the inmates used to break out of prison. nbc's stephanie goss has the latest from owls head new york. >> reporter: tamron we've been hearing search helicopters and seeing them all morning. the staging area has been moved from the fire department to a local ski resort. the county sheriff tells us the area they're searching is about 170 square miles. but any hope that that promising lead that dna match in a local hunting cabin, was going to lead to a quick capture is fading. david sweat and richard matt continue to slip through their fingers. this morning the grueling search for david sweat and richard matt focused on this rugged thick forest. sources close to the investigation tell msnbc news that's where the cabin owner

caught one of them by surprise. the dna of the men were found. they left behind half-eaten food and even a pair of prison underwear. according to the dna, joyce mitchell said she smuggled tools into the prison by hiding them in ground beef. hacksaw blades drill bits and a hole punch. gene palmer a correctional officer who has been put on administrative leave without being charged, was the one who delivered the meat to sweat and matt. palmer passed a polygraph test saying he didn't know he was handing over tools. meanwhile, joyce's husband, lyle mitchell, told matt she was in too deep and didn't know how to get out of it. >> she claimed that she was forced to do the things she did in terms of supplying them? >> no not as far as the tools. as far as everything else she said when it came down to her and me she said it's off. >> now as the search reaches day 19 experts are taking extra

precautions. this cabin is just five miles from where the dna was found. >> reporter: it's difficult when i pull in and i have to have a weapon with me. you're a long ways from anywhere here absolutely. >> reporter: the details of how matt and sweat escaped from that prison is still ongoing. the probe includes talking to a number of prison officers and civilian staff within the prison. tamron? >> thank you stephanie. coming up what sean "diddy" combs is saying about why he was arrested on the ucla campus where his son plays football. the latest from los angeles on that investigation. today congressional democrats are expected to unveil a new bill that would restore certain voting rights. what it means to states with a history of voting rights violations. it is part of this morning's first read.

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now, french president reportedly plans to call president obama today after wikileaks released documents showing the nsa eaves dropped on alon in 2006 and 2012. already president alon called a meeting with his top officials, and they call the u.s. spying quote, unacceptable and said france will not tolerate actions that threaten its security. france also summoned u.n. ambassador paris jane hartley. first, do we know whether president obama has heard from alon yet and any comments from alon on this? >> reporter: we're waiting for that phone call and we expect that could come at any moment now.

in the meantime the white house is being very careful about their wording about this but they got a very clear message by calling the ambassador to the foreign ministry and by the public comments that were made by president alon. but on the record here's what a spokesperson for the national security council wrote to me. quote, we are not targeting and will not target the communications of president hollande. indeed as we have said previously, we do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose. we are we work closely with france on all matters of international concern, and the french are indispensable partners. this comes along with the deadline on the negotiations of the iran nuclear deal but obviously in statement, no out right denial either the spying

had happened on his predecessors or himself. having said that this came as a huge surprise given what has happened in years past. we do expect in things like that for there to be these kinds of expressions of public outrage. we saw this again at the g7 where i just was in germany that president obama and angela merkel still tried to come together after a spying scandal that she took a hit for and still is under some pressure domestically for some spying scandals there. so obviously we are waiting for the readout of that conversation. to be honest with you, we usually don't get the kind of details that you want as a fly on the wall but we should at least get some confirmation that the call did take place, tamron. >> absolutely chris. thank you very much. president obama's trade agenda is back on track this morning after a razor tight

procedural vote yesterday in the u.s. senate. the senate voted by a bare minimum, 60 votes, to move forward on a bill granting the president's fast track negotiation authority. 14 democrats joined 7 democrats in voting for the bill. the bill sets up a vote for final passage today and then it will be sent to the president's desk for signature. this represents a major victory for the president who has made trade legislation a top priority in his last two years in office. now to our first read on politics this morning. louisiana governor bobby jindal expected to announce he's running for president today becoming the -- are you counting -- 13th major republican candidate to join the race. but how major is he? he'll be holding his announcement very soon but will it make a splash? somebody else is making a splash in the polling. according to a new poll in second place if new hampshire. according to republicans, donald trump. we'll have much more on what, if anything that poll means.

and congressional democrats are expected to unveil a bill restoring the voting rights act. joining me with all the news this morning, senior political correspondent mark murray. good morning, mark. >> good morning, tamron. >> let's start with bobby jindal. did he wait too late? can he have an impact? >> he has two hurdles. one is a low name i.d. among republican voters. 36% of republicans said hey, i could end up supporting him versus 28% who said they couldn't, but a whole lot of other folks in the middle really don't know who he is. the other big hurdle he has a very low approval rating in his own state of indiana, and when you see that, that's a big impedimentment for the white house bid.

governor chris christie who may announce next week has a similar problem. >> we believe they could have some impact whether it's in debate or setting a policy conversation that might benefit them in some way. do you see any opening for bobby jindal there? >> yeah, that is a great rationale for making a bid, hey, i'm not going to win but i want to make a debate. he will be hitting that debate stage and folks like bobby jindal are going to be trying to get that ninth or tenth position at the expense of other folks who are also buying the rick santorums of the world and donald trump even chris christie. and so it's really competitive to be able to get into that debate, to have the debate you want to talk about. >> let's talk about donald trump surging in new hampshire, second place. i know people often say, it's very early, he's got high name recognition, a television star

billionaire, et cetera et cetera. but mark i'm curious, we often hear the company line that new hampshire voters are among the most engaged, like with iowa. they perhaps follow politics year round where as the low information voter might of course get in the general election. with that said with new hampshire voters' reputation being one considered highly favorable, how is he in second place? >> you know, tamron i think this all has to do with the bounce. we've seen bounces in the polls from almost all presidential candidates who decided to actually go in so i think the question is, is he able to maintain this? but again, donald trump to be able to get on this debate stage, he has plenty of name identification. his biggest challenge is to get all the paperwork needed to meet qualifications for that audit. restoring the voting rights act bill a very interesting

time concerning this conversation we're having in south carolina and throughout the states on african-american voters african-american community and politics. >> you know tamron that's what strikes me as well on this and of course it's a reaction to a 2013 supreme court decision that struck down parts of the voting rights act. this legislation the democrats will be introducing are ones they say which states have violated voting rights multiple times, as many as 15 times over a 25-year period they're the ones that should have the strictest scrutiny on their voting rights behavior and have to get pre-clearance from the government. getting this through congress will not be an easy task. >> thank you very much mark murray. appreciate it. coming up alarming new findings out this morning about children and the dangers of those very popular laundry detergent pods that many feel look like candy and can be very dangerous. ♪ [music] ♪ defiance is in our bones. new citracal pearls. delicious berries and cream.

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there are alarming statistics out this morning about the number of children poisoned from those brightly colored laundry packets. the pods are appealing to kid because they often look like candy. nbc's tom costello has the latest details. >> reporter: hey tamron good day to you. consider the statistics. 32,000 calls to poison control centers just since 2012 for children getting into these laundry packets that look like candy. if a child does put one of these in his or her mouth, it can be very serious. it happens once every hour. >> #911. >> reporter: an urgent call to 911 or poison control for a person ingesting a detergent pad. the symptoms can be life threatening, difficulty breathing, vomiting temporary

vision loss and loss of consciousness. >> young children are explorers and they like to put everything in their mouth. so liquid laundry packets, which dissolve in water, can either dissolve on wet fingers or dissolve when they're put into the mouth. >> laundry pods make it easy to do the wash but the detergent is highly concentrated. three years ago jessica sutton's 21-month-old daughter isabella found a pod on the floor and tried to eat it. >> diarrhea vomiting. it was pretty much the symptoms of a stomach virus. >> they can have lung damage, trouble breathing, wheezing to the point they need to be placed on a ventilator in the icu. >> the poison control center reports two children have died from ingesting laundry packets. now they're setting standards for laundry pods. the american cleaning institute tells nbc news manufacturers have already made major changes to their packaging, including the addition of

easy-to-understand safety icons, improving warning labels and redesigning packaging so packets aren't visible from the outside. the industry has also joined save kids worldwide to urge them to keep these up and out of the way of children, keep them off the floor, keep them in mortgageoriginal packaging as best they could and put it away. if a child gets into one of these packets, you should call poison control or 911 depending on the severity of the injury. >> a good thing to say put those up high so little kids can't grab them. coming up what sean "diddy" combs and his son are saying about the mogul being arrested on the ucla campus. we'll be right back. he'll tell us everything he knows very shortly, sir. as you were...

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sean diddy combs is speaking out about his arrest at ucla where his son plays football. his representative says it was

self defense. it's a case that's shining light, you might say, on how some parents behave when their kids play sports. here's nbc's joe fryer. >> reporter: out of jail sean diddy combs is fighting back. the rap mogul was arrested monday at ucla where his son, justin plays football. university police are accusing him of assault using a kettle bell but his representative says any actions taken by mr. combs were solely defensive in nature to protect himself and his son. a source familiar with the situation says combs went to meet with a coach monday because he felt the coach was bullying his son. when things escalated, combs claims he held up the kettle bell to defend himself. on tuesday his son posted this photo on instagram writing i thank god for having a father that's always there for me. love you, pops. >> you've heard of a helicopter parent? this is a parent that actually owns a helicopter. that's how much money he has. >> reporter: on espn and beyond the story is generating a lot of

discussion about parents and sports. >> 20 years ago this would never have happened. this is a product today to the empowerment of the parents and particularly ones with money and influence who know that programs need them. >> reporter: celebrity or not, parents are sometimes accused of crossing the line getting too involved in youth sports. this youtube video went viral, viewed more than 2 million times. in extreme situations coaches and referees have even been assaulted making headlines. >> 1, 2, 3, break someone's clavicle! hit the field. >> reporter: over the top parenting was parodied in the movie "kicking and screaming." >> what type of things do you see? >> most often it's parents that are involved in telling their kids how to play the game yelling at referees. >> reporter: so the american youth soccer associationed cates

parents on how to behave. >> one of the things i always tell my parents is when you're cheering at a game if you're yelling a verb you're not cheering for your child, you're telling them what to do. >> reporter: a chicago suburb actually posted adult behavior signs injected with a bit of humor. they say this is a game being played by children. if they win or lose every game of the season it will not impact what college they attend or their future income potential, a reminder of what's important on and off the field. joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. >> well one person is dead and almost 400,000 are without power after severe weather tore through the northeast, and that tops our look at stories around the news nation this morning. strong thunderstorms pushed through several states late yesterday, the same system that sparked more than a dozen tornados in the midwest. a 79-year-old man was killed when his truck hit a tree that was knocked over by high winds in maryland. and more severe thunderstorms are expected to fire up this afternoon in the

plains and midwest going into tomorrow morning. the death of former white house chef walter schreib has been ruled an accident. officials say the 61-year-old drowned in a stream in new mexico. he had been missing for more than a week after going hiking alone in the mountains. he served under presidents clinton and bush. a terrifying motorcycle crash caught on camera with the rider basally escaping alive. jesse lopez was driving along a road in southern california when you went around a blind curve right into the path of an oncoming fire truck. he broke several bones but did not suffer any permanent injuries. that video is terrifying. time for the news nation gut check. we're waiting for president obama in the next half hour to announce a major change in u.s. policy concerning americans captured overseas. now, the president just signed an executive order. the government will stop threatening to prosecute families of hostages for paying

ransom for the release of loved ones. the shift comes largely in response to criticism from families of americans held hostage and later killed by isis in the past year. so what does your gut tell you, do you agree to the changes to the obama administration's hostage policy? go to newsnation.msnbc.com to vote. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. up next "andrea mitchell reports."

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state capitol grounds? and this hour a horse-drawn caisson will bring the body of senator cle menmentea pinckney to the capitol to lie in repose. we are following a lot of breaking news today. at any moment the new york state police are planning to update their search for the two convicted killers, richard matt and david sweat. the manhunt has picked up intensity in the past day after the convicts' dna was found, both of them, in a hunters' cabin. under pressure from south carolina's governor south carolina's lawmakers have agreed to start debating whether to take down the confederate flag from their capitol grounds. this as they prepare to honor senator clementea pinckney kimd in last week's massacre one of the nine. his body