ng no signs of the trump slump some pundits had predicted. in fact just ten days before the first republican debate polls show trump is surging. in new hampshire he now holds a 7-point lead over jeb bush with congressman scott walker running third. in iowa he has raised scott walker's lead in that state, just two points behind the governor. since trump's comments about john mccain as prisoner of war, he holds a 3-point lead over jeb bush and an 8-point lead over governor walker. meantime, after a top walker adviser fundraiser called trump a, quote, dum-dum, trump let loose on walker over the weekend in classic trump style. >> yeah he's a nice guy. he came up to my office three or four months ago and presented me with a plaque because i helped him with his election. then today i read this horrible

statement from his fundraiser about trump. i said, oh finally i can attack. wisconsin is doing terribly. first of all, it's in turmoil. the roads are a disaster because they don't have any money to rebuild them. they're borrowing money like crazy. they projected a $1 billion surplus and it turns out to be a deficit of $2.2 billion. and he's the only guy that's ahead of me and i can't believe i'm in second place. i finally am in second place in iowa but folks, will you please put me in first place so i feel better? >> on the democratic side our new nbc news marist poll shows hillary clinton as the front runner, but senator bernie sanders is gaining ground. he has a 26% lead.

msnbc political analyst and columnist jonathan alter. thank you for joining me. lark mark, let's start with the numbers here and it is perhaps more telling that we're looking at how unpopular those at the top are right now with voters. >> that's right. in fact, when you look at all registered voters in iowa and new hampshire, tamron the only person, the major candidate we tested who has a positive favorable/unfavorable rating is bernie sanders. hillary clinton is under water. so is jeb bush. and knowingly, so is donald trump. this has become the summer of donald trump. he's leading in new hampshire, he's running neck and neck with scott walker in iowa. but tamron it's also very telling just how kind of unpopular he is even with republicans. in iowa 44% of republicans have a negative impression of donald trump. in new hampshire, that's 53%. so what's going on here is the

people who are fine with donald trump are basically giving a thumbs up. that's how in this very large field he is ahead. but when you have either half or more than half of your party against you, that poll position is eventually going to go down. >> you know that and jonathan is here. many people have tried to explain the trump phenomenon and what nerve he's hitting this morning. the rnc chair was on the "today" show. let me tell you what he played in his comparison to what he's making on the other side of the aisle with the democrats. >> he's speaking out to people who are really frustrated with washington frustrated i think, in many cases with both parties, so i think there is an element of that. i think there is an element of that in both parties. i think you see bernie sanders at 35% on the democrat side. >> previously saying there, obviously, it's the frustration, these early voters and people who are early engaged are what matters. on "meet the press," the

comparison between himself and donald trump. >> "new york times" "washington post" lump you and donald trump as having or touching the same chord but with very different ways. do you buy that comparison? >> no,i don't. i think the chord we are touching all over this country are people are profoundly disgusted with the economics that make the richest people richer and everybody else poorer. they are profoundly angered and disturbed by a political campaign system that -- >> yeah. >> -- not yeah -- that allows billionaires to buy elections. >> we can't take it we're so mad, we hate everyone except for one or two people? when you look at the un unfavorability numbers mark pointed out. >> you can have people who find trump attractive. i think there is a ceiling on that support, but donald trump is gaffe proof. for his people they don't care what comes out of his mouth, and

they actually like one taking shots at the other candidate. for a lot of them he's expressing their kind of contempt for all politicians. bernie sanders is tapping into a very different kind of anger. it's an anger at the economic system and the unfairness of the way it's structured in the united states. >> but structured by politicians. >> not just by politicians, a lot of what sanders is tapping into is anger at wall street. >> but who was meeting with members of wall street? >> yes. you're quite right. it helps contribute to his support. but this could be tamron a kind of hold your nose election. like i don't really want to vote for scott walker jeb bush whatever, but i also don't want donald trump to be the nominee. or, i don't really think that bernie sanders is going to be the next president, so i'll hold my nose and vote for hillary clinton on the democratic side. so you're seeing kind of a combination of anger at the

system and also kind of a contempt for all of them. >> but is that very different, mark than what we saw, for example, a lot of conservatives did not want to support mitt romney, and early on they seemed to look at -- i think the phrase was anyone but romney but as jonathan pointed out eventually held our nose and went for the establishment candidate. and i bring up this new cnn roc poll that shows likely gop nominee when republicans were asked, they still believe it's going to be jeb bush at 39%. >> tamron it is worth noting that a primary contest and a general election are very very different. you're dealing with different voters, different enthusiastic levels, and the political scientist will often end up telling you more so than the voters in iowa and new hampshire who ends up ultimately deciding a presidential nominee for a party is the party itself. its elected officials, its leaders, its elites are the ones that they might not be able to sway in iowa or new hampshire,

but they do eventually get to where the nominee is going to be. so given the competition in 2012, i don't think it was a surprise particularly after rick perry collapsed that mitt romney was going to be the republican nominee, and in this field i think there are three legitimate folks who will win the republican nomination, either jeb bush, scott walker or marco rubio, and everyone else is trying to get in that conversation that is dominated by donald trump right now. >> i think everyone agrees with that in the general election but there was not one person in the last few weeks who saw this donald trump train coming. last week sunday everybody said it was the end of his political career how dare you say a bad thing about john mccain, and look who won the week? donald trump. so i'm saying the debate where we've not seen anything like this -- it's a tier. you got sweet 16 and two tiers of debates here and some are arguing that the more

substantive candidates will have a more substantive debate. i know most of it will probably go where donald trump is right now, so i'm asking you, is it time to throw out some of the cliches that donald trump won't survive to perhaps not get the nomination but certainly to create a bigger firestorm than people are anticipating? >> he's going to survive. it's wishful thinking on the part of republicans that he's going to go away. he has two assets that the other candidates do not. he can say anything and his people won't desert him. and also he has money. so let's say he loses iowa. i don't think he's going to win iowa. he has no connection to the religious voters in that state. all you had to do was hear him talk about -- let's say he loses iowa and he loses new hampshire. he doesn't have to votedrop out, he

can keep the roadshow going all the way to that republican convention. so i find it unlikely that donald trump will not be a factor all the way to the convention. the republicans better pray that he doesn't then run as an independent, which says hillary clinton is a lock cinch to be the next president. >> it's very early, okay. with that said i'm with jonathan. i think that's exactly what will happen, donald trump will be the independent candidate. if he can't captain the ship he will bring the ship down. he wants to have a lasting impact and that's a way to save face by not getting the gop nomination, which he's kind of alluded to that he's not going to get, but he also remains a major player in all of this. >> tamjonathan, you and i both agree donald trump has a major impact. even if he decided not to run for the presidency starting

today, i think his impact would still be lasting when it comes to the election 15 months from now. i guess the point i'm trying to make, though is despite that impact, he is not going to be the republican party nominee. he might run as a third party candidate, but it's important to note that given his poll position right now, eventually that will come back down to earth with the republican rank and file voters during the nominating contest. >> it's going to be interesting to see what happens with this debate. can you believe it's ten days away and it's like yesterday when you were saying tamron it's a long way away. here we are, ten days out, buddy. coming up republican presidential candidate mike huckabee is responding to outrage over his comments comparing the iran nuclear deal to the holocaust. much more of what he had to say with mark in the first read for you this morning. to the latest surrounding the death of bobbi kristina brown, daughter of the late whitney houston. a medical examiner says an

autopsy will be performed on bobbi kristina. the circumstances surrounding her death are still under investigation. meanwhile, her family including her father bobby brown, and fans are reacting to the news. >> reporter: this morning friends, family and fans are mourning the loss of 22-year-old bobbi kristina brown. the only child of superstar whitney houston and r&b singer bobby brown, the houston family announced she died on sunday releasing a statement saying in part, she's finally at peace in the arms of god. brown's death comes nearly six months after she was found unresponsive at her home near atlanta. a friend discovered bobbi kristina face down and unresponsive in her bathtub face down january 31st. for months her family kept vigil as she was put on a ventilator moved to a rehab facility and finally placed in hospice care. >> i just want to say, clap your hands. >> reporter: as the daughter of two stars, 10-year-old bobbi

kristina's childhood became well documented in a reality show about her father bobby brown. by age 14 her parents divorced. and five years later, houston was found dead in a bathtub at a beverly hills hotel. soon after, bobbi kristina spoke with oprah winfrey. >> does it seem real? >> sometimes, no. sometimes it's so surreal that you know i still walk in the house, like mom! >> reporter: a year ago she said she married nick gordon a controversial couple. her mother had taken gordon in when he was younger and he was often seen as bobbi kristina's adopted brother. earlier this month, bobby brown sued gordon for $10 million, accusing him of abusing brown and withdrawing money from her bank account after she was in a coma. >> now that she is not here i am my mother. i am my mother and i am my

mother's child. >> reporter: just hours after bobbi kristina's death was announced, legendary singer dionne warwick, a cousin of whitney houston, showed up on a tv show. >> she was a good girl. she's in much better hands now. >> steve has been writing about bobbi kristina. thank you for joining us. to hear bobbi kristina saying i am my mother i am my mother's child, finding her body in a similar way her mother's was found, what happened in the end here? >> there is no question that bobby brown and whitney houston loved bobbi kristina very much. but she didn't have the supervision she needed when she was younger and she made a lot of choices that were not the right choices, including drugs

and that type of thing, and unfortunately did end up costing her life. that's what her life was really like no real adult supervision. >> we referred to her relationship with nick gordon as a controversial couple. the same words were uttered about whitney houston and bobby brown and their controversial relationship, but the fact he was sued by a conservator for $10 million, where would he get that kind of money? >> he doesn't have that kind of money, but it's more of a statement. the conservetors thought he was a bad influence on bobbi kristina and they think he had something to do with her death. >> the fim between the initial laps of her death on january 31st and her resulting death

will complicate reconstruction of the events surrounding her initial unresponsiveness. an autopsy could be helpful to address questions which maia rise about the cause of her unresponsiveness and eventual death. there are questions about nick gordon and the environment he created in that home. >> he was the one that was there and he was there the day she died. whether or not there was a physically abusive relationship which the family alleges, whether or not he was the one who physically killed her at that moment they believe that he was responsible for it with all of his actions leading up to it. >> thank you very much steve, for joining us. obviously very very sad news. so many people expressing their thoughts about it. thank you. developing now, another story we've been following overnight. the search is still going on and it's expanded for two teenage boys who disappeared during a fishing trip together off the coast of florida.

i'll talk live to the mother of one of those boys still missing. next. also still developing, automaker fiat chrysler faces the biggest fine ever in a recent face of recalls. the company will have to buy back nearly half a million vehicles which models are being affected. you can join our conversation on line. you can find the team @ team @newsnation on twitter and you can find me on facebook and instagram. we'll be right back. without the calories you don't... introducing boost® 100 calories. each delicious snack size drink gives you... 25 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. so it's big in nutrition and small in calories. i'm not about to swim in the slow lane. get a coupon for a free sample at boost.com

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developing now, the u.s. navy and coast guard have expanded their semparch for two teenage boys who went missing off the coast of florida. they found their 19-foot fishing

boat off the coast of daytona 170 miles away from where they started their fishing trip. football legend joe namath a neighbor of the stepanous family has joined them offering a $100,000 reward for the boys' safe recovery. >> we just keep on praying, man. it's hard. it's so hard. but we got to believe in their wherewithall, and we have some confidence in that area no doubt. the good lord has got to help us out. >> joining me now, pamela cohen. she is perry's mother. she's joining us live now on the phone. pamela, thank you so much for joining us. obviously our thoughts are with you and your son as well as his friend austin and his family. how are you holding up right now? >> i think the best that can be expected. we're all still completely faithful and hopeful that all these efforts will come with a positive result and bring our

boys home to us. >> as we mentioned, the coast guard found the boat sunday night. one life jacket was on the boat. do you know if the boys both had life jackets? i know that they are, by all accounts in the descriptions i've heard, they were great with boating and they were considered experienced even though they were just 14. >> yeah we live in a boating community, and i know it's difficult for people that aren't from the boating community to really understand that. but the boys were very experienced boaters and fishermen. being out in the water is really second nature to them. they are just as comfortable on the water as they are on land. getting back to the life jackets, one was recovered with the boat. there were also more life jackets on the boat which is a very good sign. but they only found one with the boat. we are also looking for a yamaha engine cover that was not recovered with the boat as well

as a cooler that hopefully these boys have them and they're using them as flotation devices. >> tell me a bttlelittle bit about the conversation you had with perry before he and austin set out on their fishing journey. >> i did not see him that morning. he had slept at austin's house, so they went right from austin's house. i spoke with perry the night before. he left and he texted me just checking in. both boys are very very responsible as far as checking in with myself and carly, austin's mom, whether they're out on the water or at the mall at a friend's house. they both regularly check in with us. >> so pamela when did you first learn that to your point, this were very reliable in checking in when did you first learn there was a problem communicating with the boys? >> it had been a couple hours since i had gotten a check-in

so i started texting them and i did not get a response. and then carly and i communicated with each other. shortly after that and she had not gotten a check-in from austin, and we both knew something wasn't right. so we alerted marine patrol right away. >> as we mentioned, the search has expanded. we just got an update a short time ago. also along with joe namath and other family the stepanous family, there is a $100,000 reward. i know there are limitations and the coast guard wants to keep the area as clear as possible so they can work effectively, but what are you asking people to do to help the family at this point? >> well, right now we're trying to organize a public awareness campaign for anyone on the coast of florida, from palm beach north up to georgia, to walk the beaches and see if there is any

debris that they can find. again, we're looking for a white yetty cooler and a white engine cover. it did not have any decals on it. to please let the coast guard and police officials know about it, and if you happen to be on a boat and you do recover something or see something, please be sure to mark your location so the coast guard can get your coordinates. >> pamela i know you have so much going on in your heart and your mind right now, and we appreciate you joining us and certainly we hope that you will be reunited with perry and austin with his parents very soon here. so our thoughts are with you and we'll continue to follow every development in the search for both of those boys. thank you so much. again, our thoughts are with you. developing now as well fiat chrysler is facing a record $105 million fine for mishandling recalls. the company is also ordered to

buy back nearly half a million vehicles for more than market value. a live report on this by consumer news coming up. plus this -- >> not only what he told every republican senator but what he told the press over and over skpoefr againand over again was a simple lie. >> republicans now criticizing senator ted cruz for calling senate majority leader mitch mcconnell a liar. cruz not backing out this morning. we have a couple other headlines in the first read for you this morning. be right back.

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of its vehicles. last month officials criticized the company for how it handled 23 recalls involving 11 million vehicles, including its top seller. nbc's tom costello joins us now. the headline of the big fine catches your eye but if you own a vehicle, you might certainly want to take some precautions to see if you're impacted by this. >> i think that's absolutely right. half a million vehicles with affected suspensions, and we're talking about the million jeeps that potentially have a rear gas tank that can pose a fire risk. let's put up now the list of vehicles involved. we're talking about 2008 to 2012 dodge suvs, also ram pickups and those mid-90s jeep cher keys. if you have one of those vehicles you should be getting notified by fiat chrysler but you can also go to your local dealer to find out what the process will be. they may not be able to answer

that today, but in the coming weeks. how would be about selling your vehicle back to chrysler or in fact getting a financial incentive to get a repair made in the case of the jeep cherokee? in a statement chrysler said the following: we accept the resulting consequences with renewed resolve to improve our handling of recalls after reestablishing the trust our customers place in us. just a short time ago, about two weeks ago or so the ceo of chrysler also talked about the need for chrysler to do a better job of getting ahead of these recalls, to getting ahead of all these particular problems and working better with the national highway traffic safety administration. so now, as you can see, chrysler is pledging to do just that after this major penalty and after having to buy back all these vehicles. tamron, back to you. >> tom, thank you very much. coming up president obama fires back at mike huckabee after the republican's

controversial comments where he said, quote, it ranthe iran nuclear deal is marching the israelis to the door of the oven. all that and more. plus the boy scouts of america are expected to officially end its ban on gay scout leaders, but the change will not apply to every troop. it's one of the things we just thought you should know this morning. we'll be right back.

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how can something so little... help you do something so big. we are back with our first read on politics this morning. republican candidate mike huckabee is gathering criticism after using the holocaust to criticize the iran nuclear deal. in an interview huckabee said this president's foreign policy is the most feckless in american history. it is so naive that he would trust it rain yanns. by doing so he will take the israelis and march them to the

door of the oven. it started when ted cruz requested mitch mcconnell of lying about a deal to reconstruct the federal bank. joining me now live senior political editor mark murray. mark i want to play president obama's comments just this morning to what mike huckabee had to say. as we know the president is in ethiopia. let me play his remarks. >> you know the particular comments of mr. huckabee are, i think, part of just a general pattern that we've seen that is -- would be considered ridiculous if it weren't so sad. >> and a short time ago, mark mike huckabee released a statement saying what's ridiculous and sad is that president obama does not take the iran threat seriously. it goes on to elaborate there,

you have the response from the national jewish council to the statement the president is leading them to the door of the oven is not only offensive but shows callous and utter disregard to the lives lost and the pain still felt by their descend descendants today. does mike huckabee get any traction or support for these comments here? >> i'm going to invoke the godwin's law which says when one invokes the holocaust, one side is probably losing the debate. huckabee is playing with ted cruz in the battle on the senate floor, you have all these republican candidates trying to out-trump donald trump and trying to gain traction. whether it's iran taking a chain saw to the tax code lindsey graham trying to destroy his cell phone, and now mike

huckabee invoking the oven of the holocaust, the only way that you are currently being able to break through in the summer of donald trump is by outtrumping trump. >> let's talk about senator cruz and his comments yesterday. he's not backing down. let me play what he said reacting to some of the criticism coming from orren hatch and others in the party. >> my saying so may be uncomfortable but it is a simple fact entirely consistent with decorum and no member of this body has disputed that promise was made and that promise was broken. >> so he's called the senate majority leader a person of lies and promises broken here. where does this go? >> tamron, this is extraordinary having a member of the party denouncing the senate majority leader on the senate floor. it's something i've never seen in my lifetime. of course it's over a pretty big issue that fires up conservatives, conservatives led by the koch brothers and their

organizations want to have the export bank completely eliminated, they don't want it to be reauthorized. you're seeing some part of the republican establishment saying it's okay if it's reauthorized and it really has exposed the divide between establishment, republicans and the conservatives, and of course ted cruz really wants to be holding that conservative banner as he has in the conservative contest. >> he certainly has drawn the eye of republican candidates. he said he may be tolerating other venues on the campaign but he has no place for colleagues in the united states senate speaking of the extraordinary measure and tones taken by senator cruz there. thank you so much mark. you got on twice today. pretty good. >> awesome. thanks tamron. president obama in ethiopia the first united states president to visit the nation and he's not shying away from

human rights. in a joint news conference with the ethiopian prime minister just this morning, president obama urged the government to ease restrictions on the media and political opposition. he also defended his decision to visit the country. >> we don't improve cooperation and advance the very interests you talk about by staying away. i don't bite my tongue too much when it comes to these issues but i do so from a position of respect and regard for the ethiopian people and recognizing their history. >> nbc's senior correspondent chris jansing is traveling with the president in ethiopia. this is very consistent when we saw the president in cane whykenya where he drew a clear line on that country, its leaders and their stand on gays. >> you're right, tamron this shows a complex relationship we

have with these eastern countries. on the one hand you do have human rights issues. number two, on a recent study on jailing journalists, ethiopia also said in the spring they hope there will be free and fair elections here and you saw the ruling to get 100% of the vote. so you see those problems. on the other hand there is a close counter-terrorism relationship, and just hours before the president came here i'm sure you saw that there was a huge truck bombing in neighboring somalia. outside, by the way, outside of a hotel that is generally considered one of the safest in mogadishu, and this points to the challenges by the al qaeda-linked shrks abal shabaab. so the president here to react

to those comments. and what they'll be looking at is the crisis in south sudan. so on one hand some of the positive things the president thinks can be accomplished, but he says that he will continue to push on areas of human rights tamron. >> chris jansing, live for us in ethiopia. thank you so much, chris. coming up new questions about how the louisiana theater shooter was able to legally buy a gun even after his family committed him and filed an order of protection against him. and this -- >> we're in debt for $200,000 right now which will drive us into bankruptcy. >> those are the parents of aurora theater victim jessica gowry on the show last week. why they're being forced to pay the legal fees of an ammunition company that sold bullets in the aurora theater attack. they join us again live after the break. i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks

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five days after the deadly theater shooting in louisiana, the two victims will be laid to rest today. this as new details about the shooter raises more questions about gun control and mental health. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest from lafayette. >> reporter: tamron good morning. eye witnesses are telling police that in recent weeks the gunman was spotted in at least three other theaters throughout the state, in lake charles, baton rouge and here in lafayette. but still no word on exactly why he settled on this one. he had gone out for a night at the movies but this morning their community is preparing to lay them to rest. >> it just is unexplainable, you know. a lot of hurt and a lot of sadness. >> reporter: jillian johnson was 33 a musician and a mom. mayci breaux was 21 a radiology student who was planning her wedding. their deaths hit hard. >> every parent has dropped their kids off at the movies.

>> not thinking that something like that is going to happen. >> reporter: today investigators are digging deeper into the past of the gunman john rusty houser. following his divorce and losing his home to foreclosure, investigators say he planned it meticulously, following the specific date and time for the movie "trainwreck." >> people we talk to friends and family don't lead us that direction. >> reporter: houser legally purchased his gun last year in alabama, but court records show his family had him committed against his will to a hospital in georgia. >> obviously, somebody with this kind of history never should have been able to buy a gun. >> reporter: following the 2007 virginia tech massacre 40 states, including georgia, now authorize or require the reporting of mental health records to a federal database for background checks. it's not clear why houser's involuntary hospitalization did not turn up in the federal

database. >> there's still more that can be done and there's absolutely no reason we can't have all of these records in the system. >> reporter: three of the people who were wounded at this theater remain hospitalized. the u.s. congressman charles bustani tells nbc news that his cousin were among the people who were shot. she is expected to fully recover. tamron? >> on friday we spoke to the parents of jessica gowry one of the 12 people shot and killed when james holmes opened fire on a theater in aurora colorado three years ago. we talked about the reaction to the theater shooting in lafayette, louisiana. after losing their daughter they're now facing possible bankruptcy. they say they find themselves in this situation because a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit they filed against four web sites where james holmes was able to buy, legally buy, thousands of rounds of ammunition and also body armor and tear gas. a judge then ordered the

phillips to pay $200,000 in court fees by those they sued. sandy and lonnie phillips are back with us today. thank you so much for joining us again. >> thank you for having us. >> as you can imagine, so many people on our social media page just were outraged to hear the situation that you're in. lonnie you said it best in that you lost your daughter. your daughter was taken from you. that's something that no parent can even comprehend but now you feel you're under attack again here. >> oh there's no doubt about that we're under attack. the nra lawyers defended them. it's their money that's behind this lawsuit. they're making an example of sandy and i. they don't want anybody to file any suit against firearm leaders of any kind. and the federal law made it possible for them to do this, and colorado law made it possible for them to charge us

$203,000 for a lawsuit that never really even got to discovery. we didn't get a chance to lose our lawsuit because it was dismissed. >> sandy, the lawsuit was not about monetary gain. you and lonnie wanted to change the law that allowed, as you say, holmes to buy this ammo and this body armor. the federal district judge, richard maitch dismissed this lawsuit after saying the lawsuit tried to have it both ways after arguing the sellers knew nothing about james holmes when they made the sale but also arguing the companies should have forseen his attack. this lawsuit, you were with -- the brady center actually filed this lawsuit on your behalf correct? >> that's correct. and i think it's important to remember that this was not a lawsuit for monetary gains. it's very scary to my husband

and i and other victims and survivors of gun violence that our on-line system allows this to happen. you haveremember he bought steel-jacketed ammo that went through the chairs of the theater, went through the walls of the theater and to the theater next door hit my daughter in the head who was -- >> behind the seat. >> yeah, she was hiding behind a seat flat down on the ground a bullet hit her in the head and created a five-inch hole in her head and blew her brains out. knowing that they have this kind of a velocity shouldn't there be more regulation on them? and they sold them willy-nilly without even worrying about why this person was ordering five 4,000 rounds of ammunition. and didn't even bother to get a

license for him to make sure he was of age, didn't ask any questions of why do you need this kind of bullet why do you need that many? we need to have some regulations put in place so this kind of thing is going to continue to happen again and again and again. >> gunner's website was designed to not have to ask anyone any questions. that's wrong. >> you wanted the court order requiring these companies to change their business practices as you pointed out. this case is now waiting action from the 10th circuit court of appeals which covers colorado bep. what are your options next here? >> we are not going to continue with the appeal. we -- our lawyers told us we could owe $500,000 if we continued to do that. so we're dismissing the appeal. we are going to go after this law through the legislative

path, not the judicial. colorado law and federal law has made it very clear that anybody -- if our daughter had been shot with a bb gun in the eye we would have a better chance for some kind of redress in the courts. we are relegated to second-class citizens. our civil rights have been taken away from us through this lawsuit. we cannot sue for someone that sold the am mu indication a-- which turned out to be a mass murderer without asking a single question, sold him everything he needed to commit his heinous act. >> what kind of support are you getting from lawmakers? you're saying you're going the legislative route. >> we're having another law firm join us. i'm having my bankruptcy attorney and san antonio join us. so we're preparing to fight. if they decide to push us into bankruptcy, we'll just see what next steps we have to take to protect ourselves. >> let me ask you, tamron if

you were in our shoes would you be willing to pay one penny to the people who helped to murder your daughter? >> first i can't even imagine being in your shoes, the mere thought of losing a loved one in the way you have lost your daughter leaves me speechless. but to answer you directly i would fight with everything i had. >> thank you. >> i appreciate you joining us today. thank you. we'll be right back. ♪ every auto insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. those who have served our nation.

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that does it for this edition of "newsnation." i'm tamron hall. you can check out "gut check" on our website. it has to do with that powerful magazine cover of the women who accused bill cosby of sexual assault. take a look and let us know what your thoughts are on that magazine cover. up next though, "andrea mitchell reports." we'll see you tomorrow. going up! nope, coming down.

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grips with gun violence in our society. >> what concerns us is the prevalence of firearms in our country. we don't know what's going to happen with that debate but certainly it's a at the time bait worth having. red flags. louisiana's governor says the gunman's mental health history should have kept him from buying the gun he used to kill two people at that movie theater in louisiana. >> one of the disturbing patterns we're seeing is folks in mental illness, a history of mental illness being able to get these guns. that should have never happened. and over the line. presidential candidate mike huckabee says the iran deal would take israelis and march them to the door of the oven. today jewish groups across america are condemning the holocaust comparison as have the president. >> when you get rhetoric like this, maybe it gets attention and maybe this is just an