lth care options for women. stage right as the republican candidates prepare for their first debate this week. the man who tops the leaderboard is trying to lower expectations. >> i'm not a debater. i've never debater before. i've never been on a stage debating. i guess my whole life has been a debate in one way. i really don't know. and is joe in it to win it? maureen dodd sets off a political storm on a weekend report that joe biden might take on hillary clinton. we'll talk to who party insiders coming up next. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. the presidential race was supposed to be dominated by bush and clinton. but vice president joe biden and donald trump are making their own headlines with the

republicans up ending one primary race and the democrat considering a serious challenge in the other. we have new msnbc/wall street polling this hour about how trump is doing among latino voters. joining me now for our daily fix, chris cillizza "usa today" him inauguration reporter alan gomez and jean cummings. chris cillizza first to you. let's talk about the whole possibility of joe biden jumping in to this race. we know what maureen dodd reported. i know my own reporting is that certainly beau biden and hunter biden, surviving son, wanted him very much in to do this. the family has not made its decision. they will decide by late summer early september. how viable would a joe biden campaign be at this i imagine stay, this late stage? >> i think it would would be very, very tough, andrea. i don't think there's a huge amount of clamor for him.

i do think there is some hand wringing in the democratic party about hillary clinton and her numbers and how competitive bernie sanders has been and what if hillary implodes then is the democratic party left with bernie sanders? i think that's a theme that's out there in the party. short of that though it doesn't make a ton of sense. many of the things she represents he also represents establishment. been around a very long time linked to the obama presidency. you mentioned beau biden, hunter biden bid, biden biden, and dr. jill biden. if he decides to run none of the stuff i just said matters. if one of your son's dying wish cess that you run for president this may just be about joe biden wanting to make good on that. you know so it may not be a political calculation per se. that's what makes it hard to handicap, i think. >> and we'll have a lot more coming up later in the program on that. i did want to talk about donald trump and the "wall street

journal" -- msnbc/"wall street journal" polling. dump topping the list at 19%. ben carson at 10%. ted cruz at 9%. we now can sort of see, we'll know at 5:00 tomorrow night, according to fox news when they average the national polls, but, jean cummings, what are the most likely candidates now in this race? at least on the debate stage? does john kasich make it in his home own state and is rick perry the one falling off the ledge here? >> that's what it looks like now. at the moment kasich and chris christie look like they are going to secure the last two slots. but we don't know exactly who is still out there taking surveys and doing polls so that they can weigh in before that deadline for fox. it would be interesting if those two voices were at the table because both of them have put

out real -- well, christie has put out social positions on social security and medicare and kasich is a policy guy. it will be an interesting conversation if they are on. >> you and i were down in florida on friday when hillary clinton was unveiling her cuba policy and the polling has all shown that she is more in the center of the -- the sweet spot of polling as hispanic-americans and cuban-americans begin to move on lifting the embargo. here donald trump has said all along that he leads among latinos. we over sampled latin thats in our poll. 75% has a negative view of donald trump. 55% believes trump's comments were, quote, insulting and racist. what are you hearing in your reporting? >> i mean everything i've been hearing is about the same thing. donald trump is running around saying he's going to win the latino vote but when you come

out describing undocumented immigrants or mexicans at large or immigrants in general as the criminals and the rapists as he portrayed them to be when he first came out it makes it incredibly difficult to win that vote. and so if he is in this debate this week what we're going -- what might happen is basically a repeat of what we saw in 2012 during that republican primary process, where the herman kaines and other candidates were pushing the moderate candidates so far to the right on immigration, in that case you were left with mitt romney endorsing net policy of self deportation that led him to win 27% of the hispanic vote. one of the big contributing factors to his loss. if you have trump on that stage kind of continuously over several months pushing these candidates to the right, suddenly folks like jeb bush marco rubio, who have a slightly more moderate stance on immigration, you wonder they're going to have to start going in that direction as well. >> and on the subject of the republicans, several of them have now had very buzzy videos

done by a group -- organization called ij review. we saw lindsey graham killing his cellphone. the latest i got to show you is ted cruz basically using an automatic weapon using a rifle, to cook bacon. let's watch. >> texas. we cook bacon a little differently than most folks. ♪ machine gun bacon. >> machine gun bacon. i think chris cillizza is this trying to get attention, because of donald trump? i mean what is motivating all this? >> well, i mean look you

can -- i think there is a set of people particularly in the journalistic world who will roll their eyes and say i can't believe it's come to this. at the same time, those same people will probably tweet it out and send it to people and that video will be viewed a billion times. ij review is founded after the 2014 election, i believe i have the timing right, by a guy i know very very well who i went to high school with phil muster executive director of republican association, been on your show many times, as well as aide. two republicans founded this. described by alex as a mix between sort of buzzfeed in red states sort of a buzzy shareable things created from the republican side of the aisle. look, like it or not, that thing will be shared a gillion times between now and the rebate. >> it is irresist about. what it says about the race, the candidate, all to be continued.

we're going to have a lot more about the biden possibilities, biden versus clinton with ed rendell and bob shrum coming up later. our thanks to chris cillizza and jean cummings and, of course alan gomez. thank you all very much. now to california where 21 massive and fast-moving wildfires are continuing to grow today. tripling in size over the weekend. this the so-called rocky fire in northern california. already scorched an area larger than the city of st. louis. veteran firefighters say they have never seen anything like it. as the blaze threatens thousands of homes today after already destroying two dozen, forcing thousands to be evacuated. nbc's joe fryer joining me now in california with the latest. you've seen a lot of wildfires in all of your reporting but this is extraordinary. >> yeah time and time again, andrea, we're talking to firefighters, people who have 10 20 30 years experience. and they keep saying they

haven't seen a fire like this one, the way it is behaving. they say it's unprecedented, especially alarming was over the weekend. it certainly tripled in size. the good news is that in the last 24 hours they have slowed it down a bit. the fire is still growing. it has now burned 60,000 acres. but it is also now 12% contained. that's an improvement for a couple days. it was stuck at 5%. so firefighters are getting a little bit of a break. the weather has cooled down a little bit. but the wind unpredictable as it is remains a huge factor. a and that is why 13,000 people are still evacuated. even though the flames have largely moved into a more remote area away from homes. they know it won't take much especially this afternoon, when the sun has been out for a while, when the vegetation gets dry and is really ready to go if the wind blows in the other direction it can send it back toward a town or toward a neighborhood. then you could have a bad situation. a number of evacuations are still in place. as you mentioned, andrea more

than 20 large fires are burning in california right now. about 9,000 firefighters are on the front lines throughout the state. 2,000 of those firefighters are here battling the rocky fire. the governor declared a state of emergency which means more resources are coming out including helicopters and air tankers to help attack this fire from above. but with only 12% containment, they still have a lot of work ahead of them. with the size of this fire you mentioned, it's now even larger than st. louis. it's now about the size of sacramento, the fire has grown so much in the last few days. andrea? >> wow, joe fryer, thank you so much. and the manhunt continues for the suspect in the weekend shooting death of a memphis police officer. police are looking for this man. they say 29-year-old trymaine will born shot officer shawn bolden when the officer apparently enterinterrupted a drug deal in an illegally parked car. he was a five-year veteran of the police force, marine

veteran, served in iraq. kerry sanders has more from memphis. >> andrea authorities say that officer shawn bolten was shot and killed by a convicted bank robber. it's unclear why this man allegedly shot and killed the officer, but it may be for something as simple as fears that the officer would catch him with less than two grams of marijuana. that's about three joints. this morning in memphis a manhunt is under way for the killer of officer shawn bolten. sunday night friends and colleagues in tears brought flowers to the street where he was gunned down. >> when you look at this individual, you're looking at a coward. >> reporter: memphis police and u.s. marshals are combing the city looking for this man, trymaine wilborn who they say shot bolten at a traffic stop apparently police say after he interrupted a drug deal. >> to show you how senseless this is we're talking about less than two grams of marijuana, a

misdemeanor citation. >> reporter: as the 33-year-old officer laid mortally wounded a bystander grobbed the police radio, taking the desperate measure because police say the 911 lines were busy. shot several times -- >> call an ambulance. call an ambulance. >> the ambulance is already en route. >> reporter: officer bolten was rushed to the hospital a bullet proof vest he was wearing unable to save him. sunday police recovered a gun in a nearby field they believe could be a murder weapon. >> we as a community must come together and remember that all lives matter. not just black lives, not just white lives, but all lives matter. >> reporter: there's a $10,000 reward now for any information that leads to the suspect. meantime the other person in the car went to police spoke to them, and has now been released and is not charged with any crime. andrea? >> thanks very much to kerry

sanders in memphis, up next planned parenthood. the next political battle. our exclusive interview with the group's president cecile richards after the break. you pay your auto insurance premium every month on the dot. you're like the poster child for paying on time. and then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. no big deal... until your insurance company jacks up your rates. you freak out. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? hey insurance companies, news flash. nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. doers. they don't worry if something's possible. they just do it. at sears optical, we're committed to bringing them eyewear that works as hard as they do. right now, buy one pair and get another free. quality eyewear for doers. sears optical ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count.

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customers feel like friends, neighbors and it makes it a little bit more special. together, we're building a better california. one of the hottest topics this week and last planned parenthood, the senate will have a test vote on whether to kill federal fund for planned parenthood. they're pushing for a measure the group says would take away access to services health services for 1.6 million women. comes after an anti-abortion group released undercover videos which we should warn you some viewers may find very disturbing disturbing. the four videos from the center for medical progress purportedly show workers, doctors discussing the sell of fetal

tissue for medical research. the group says there are more videos to come. the bill is expected to fail but it's already been fodder for republicans this week. >> we have community health people that do everything that planned parenthood does but they don't get into abortion. much less emotional for everyone if we just funded community health centers and didn't fund planned parenthood. >> the videos that came out in the last few weeks are horrifying. you've got senior officials of planned parenthood caught on film swiling chardonnay laughing while they're bartering and selling the body parts of unborn children. you've got multiple videos of senior planned parenthood officials apparently confessing to multiple felonies. it is a felony with a long jail term to sell the body parts of unborn children. so the substantive question should we continue to fund planned parenthood with taxpayer funding? of course we shouldn't.

>> that was ted cruz last night. joining me now for an exclusive interview, cecile richards president of planned parenthood. obviously this has all been very disturbing. it was acknowledged those videos were edited -- >> highly edit sdpled with taken out of context. were they doctors on the video? >> yes. i mean there were some doctors and this was a three-year effort by this fake group to try to entrap doctors and then splice and edit videos to make it look like they were doing something wrong, which they were not. but what i think is really important, and dra and what this is all about of politics as i think you saw from senator cruz, and today of course later today the senate will vote on whether to defund the services that planned parenthood provides to millions of american women and i think it's really important to understand that all of this is about denying women access to health care in this country and the vote tonight will actually be about denying women access to birth control, cancer screenings testing and treatment for many women where

planned parenthood is their only doctor. >> i want to get the facts out on the table because people were so disturbed be i the videos what they think they saw in videos that we've acknowledged were edited. these were doctors and others talking about reimbursements not money that would come from selling. is that -- >> absolutely a fact. planned parenthood operates like all other hospitals that do fetal tissue donations. there were no laws broken. we have the highest medical and ethical standards. i would emphasize these folks spent three years trying to entrap doctors and they were completely unsec cess fulsuccessful. the group behind this, they are not a medical group. they're not about women's health care. they are completely focused on ending access to legal abortion in this country and they've been behind a ten-year campaign to end access to this. >> we can talk about what the fall of fetal tissue is in various diseases in terms of research. can you understand how people looking at this would be

concerned if people are drinking wine and chatting very casually about body parts at all of fetal tissue? >> clearly the group behind this did this and created the distorted and deceptive videos to do just that. that's why it's really important we have said repeatedly we are -- the facts are on our side of planned parenthood. we are proud to be the largest women's non-profit health care provider in this country, have been for 99 years. one in five women in this country have been to us for health care. they come to us they choose to come to us. and women of all political stripes. democrats, republicans, and so what's important to understand is again, what's at stake here is the access of millions of women in this country to be able to come to the provider of their choice for health care in america. this is a completely a political campaign planned parenthood has been around for 99 years. they plan to be around for another 99. >> this vote today is supposed to be an unsuccessful attempt. it's believed that they don't have the 60 votes that they

would need in this procedural vote. what about the future? what's going to happen in the appropriations process down the road when they come back over the recess and on the house side? >> we're proud to have a bipartisan group of senators supporting us today. again, i think they've been hearing from these one in five women in this country who have been planned parenthood patients. i think we will be successful. it's important that congress recognize and the research shows american people trust planned parenthood. they want to be able continue to go for health care. and if congress continues to focus on this they're not actually focusing on the business of the american people are concerned about. >> explain for our viewers what the value of fetal tissue is and, especially, frankly as testing becomes more and more illustrative of the fetus. this whole issue i'ms distressing. >> a lot of you have seen more medical reporters coming out about the value of fetal tissue

research. this a completely voluntary effort. it's only done in a handful of health center where's we have the ability to allow women and family choose to make fetal tissue donations. it is vital research. being used for parkinson's research alzheimer's research whole host of important diseases. as medical researchers have reported, and it's so important to me they reported in the news, i think it's really important that in all of this political smear campaign that opponents of legal abortion have created that in no way this taints the importance of fetal tissue research at solving and getting cures for some of the most important diseases we face as a country and as people. >> is it illegal to sell the fetal tissue? >> it's absolutely illegal to make any profit and we do not. planned parenthood makes zero profit on any fetal tissue donations. there are companies that do this work that are not related to planned parenthood. i don't know enough about their own guidelines and what they operate under but for planned parenthood 100% non-profit. we make zero money from fetal

tissue research. >> it a direct link where pand parenthood, after the abortion proceed churd and the agreement of the patient and/or family you provide this fetal tissue to the medical research centers and get -- >> or to whoever the middle person is or company that's actually works with directly with researchers. >> and you are reimbursed for what costs? >> simply costs of preservation transfer completely -- and our doctors, again, they've been completely -- it's been edited out of every video but our doctors repeatedly say this is not something that makes money for planned parenthood. it is an opportunity we offer families and to women who want to do this. and the stories are -- and i've read many stories now from patients that is quite touching. women who sometimes believe, for them, that the opportunity to donate fetal tissue from a pregnancy that's gone wrong is something where they feel like they can make a contribution perhaps to saving the life of

someone else. and i think it's really important and all, again, all of this political back and forth that we don't lose sight of that. >> are any of the republican candidates supporting planned parenthood in this? >> well, it's interesting. we saw this exact same thing four years ago where every single republican run for president wanted to defund planned parenthood. completely for political reasons. not because they knew anything. and of course we saw the largest gender gap ever in a presidential election in the re-election of president obama. unfortunately we're seeing the same thing this time. republicans are using planned parenthood, going after women and women's health care simply for political reasons. i wish that -- you know it's interesting right now we're at a record low in teen pregnancy in this country. 40-year low. millions more women have access to birth control because the work that we do. that's what we should focus on in this country, is helping every woman plan her family getting access to birth control, and reduce teen pregnancy. that's the mission of planned parenthood.

>> what is the update from texas where you've been facing so many legal challenges? >> our health centers are still open and providing health care to women in texas despite the political attacks. but i think texas is a cautionary tale of what happens if you actually put your political agenda as governor perry did ahead of the interests of women in the state and women's health care access. there are unfortunately hundreds of thousands of i'm who lost lost access to breast cancer screenings cervical cancer screenings, and family planning because of his agenda. >> thanks so much cecile richards from planned parenthood. and up next a key democrat in the house and his first television interview since deciding how he will volt on the iran deal. you're watching msnbc. why should over two hundred years of citi history matter to you? well, because it tells us something powerful about progress: that whether times are good or bad, people and their ideas will continue to move the world forward. as long as they have someone to believe in them.

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senator chuck schumer key vote was noncommittal. >> this is one of the most important decisions that i will make that any senator or congressman can make. and so i'm studying it really seriously. i've read the agreement a bunch of times, but there are lots of other questions that relate to the agreement that are not in it. i've had over 20 briefings. two classified briefings. i intend to continue that. >> california congressman adam schiff, top democrat on the house intelligence committee, decided to support the iran agreement. he joins me now for his first television interview since make that decision. tough division for you? >> very tough. i think among the toughest i've ever had. it's because at the heart of this deal is a very painful compromise compromise. and that is the path to the bomb for raub i think is cut off. that's a major objective and major achievement. but at the same time iran is left with an internationally sanctioned enrichment infrastructure a very

considerable infrastructure. that's tough to swallow. >> are you satisfied that the inspections be i the international iaea inspectors the u.n. inspectors will be adequate since those are secret private agreementsaniaea and you know, according to senators cotton and other critics, they're not being fully briefed? >> the inspections of the nuclear facilities are very vigorous and the inspections when there's a site called in to question, i think the process is workable even though iran will have 24rope-a-dope. if they're engaged in enrichment activities we will find out. the greater danger is that they engage in weaponization, that's more difficult to detect. but in terms of the side agreement with the iaea we won't haves much visibility on their past military work through that process as i would like. the only thing i think that seriously mitigates that concern is i've looked at our intelligence on what we know of

iran's nuclear activities in the past. we have pretty insights what they were doing and how far advanced they were. in terms of providing the background about where they were and knowing how much farther they have to go we have a pretty good insight on that. >> in the past they fooled us they cheated. also our intelligence is not as good, some would say, as we like to claim it is. we and the israels did not know about the north korean reactor in syria until it was already built and had to be taken out militarily. we did not know about the pakistani and north korean supplies of nuclear equipment to iran. >> that's absolutely true. now, one of the things we will have with this agreement, we wouldn't have without it is those very intrusive inspections, those eyes on the ground. but none the less i think what congress shouldn't reject the agreement it out to strengthen

it and we can strengthen it by making iran understand if we do catch them cheating repercussions will be strong. they will not make it now, not 15 years from now, not 50 years from now and we will use force to stop them. make sure our allies in the region know that we will work with them. >> only today secretary kerry continues his mission, he's in the persian gulf trying to reassure the allies we're going to be beefing up their security and israel's as well although the numbers are not being explicit right now so there doesn't seem to be a quid pro quo but they will get more military defenses as well. the latest nbc news/wall street poll congressman, people are confused confused, divided. 35% opsupport the deal 33% oppose it, and 32% don't know enough. they say they aren't you know,

well briefed enough. >> this is very consistent from what i'm hearing act my quaebt constituents. look, for even those of us who are getting intelligence briefings around this clock on this and have access to all the document, it's a hard decision. if it were a clear choice it would be one thing. it's not. and, frankly, when you're in a negotiation within a plaquable feof foe, you're going to get a deal with parts you like and parts you don't. snapback mechanism to reimpose sanction inspections are very rigorous. where we did not do as well is our visibility into their past military work and the fact that at the end of 15 years they'll have a major civilian enrichment facility. >> have you been under a lot of pressure? >> self-imposed. you know i decided from the beginning i was going to do my best to tune out the noise in terms of external campaigning.

i was going to listen to those who i respect and i have. talked to independent expert talked to people from both sides of this debate but make my decision on the merits and it's just too important to do otherwise. >> congressman adam schiff as always, thanks for sharing with us. appreciate it. and up next, will hillary clinton face a biden challenge? >> you know when i first got elected as a 29-year-old kid to the united states senate not old enough to be sworn in i was always characterized as the young op mist. >> but can biden raise the money in fields and organizations that requires more than optimism to run a successful campaign? that next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." doers. they don't worry if something's possible. they just do it. at sears optical, we're committed to bringing them eyewear that works as hard as they do. right now, buy one pair and get another free. quality eyewear for doers. sears optical

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[music] do you like cougars? terry will you shut up! you are adorable. thank you. ladies your belts all snugged up? why do we have to buckle up? the pick up stinks with diesel. [ding] you've got to be kidding! oh please! ah! this is the end! oh my god! [brakes screech] we need resuscitation. mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. hurry up! [laughing] and this breaking news just in from colorado. the jury in the aurora theater shooting has reached a verdict in the penalty phase.

james holmes was convicted of murder and attempted murder in the 2012 aurora movie theater shoot that killed 12 people and injured 70 others. the verdict, whether or not he will get the death penalty will be announced in two hours. in politics. hillary clinton is launching a big $2 million ad by a new hampshire and iowa. first up with hers political ads but the democratic front-runner may need a shift in strategy if the sitting vice president gets into the race. these are bio graphical ads trying to reintroduce her telling people more about what she's done in the past. joining me now to talk about hillary clinton and joe biden, ed rendell, former pennsylvania governor democratic party chair, and chair of hillary clinton's campaign last time around. bob shrum, senior adviser to john kerry during his presidential campaign. welcome both. thanks so much. ed rendell, as someone who has long been connected to the clintons, how concerned should she be that some democrats are at least worried about the e-mails, benghazi, all the other

stuff, the money, and are taking a serious look that joe biden is taking a serious look at whether or not he should make this run? >> well, concerned. joe biden has been, i think, the most meaningful vice president in my lifetime. he's done a good job. i think his numbers are good with the american people right now. joe would be a formidable candidate. but politics as you know andrea, has changed a lot. it's late to try to start making a campaign. most of the biden fund-raising network, most of those people have signed on with hillary. most of the campaign operatives that are important to building a structure to get out the vote have signed on with hillary. but if anybody could do it and cause a problem, it would be someone who has the profile of sitting vice president, no question about it. >> bob shrum, this would obviously shake up democratic politics and force people to make a choice and no one would face a bigger problem than the president of the united states his sitting vice president,

loyal vice president, close a adviser and former secretary of state. what does this do to barack obama? >> i think he would do what ronald reagan did in 1988, which the president did not endorse his vice president george w. bush, h.w. bush until he had the nomination. but joe biden has a strength that is very important in the atmospherics of this year. he's genuine. he's real. he's a person of authenticity in a year that craves authenticity. his big problems as you suggest, first how is he going to raise the money? right now i don't think he can get on a plane to iowa because he couldn't pay for it he doesn't have any political money and he hasn't accumulated a personal fortune in public service. second, what's his message? i think what he would have to do is argue that he was the real fighter for the middle class and root that in his family. the one thing i'm a little skeptical of is that he can't get the staff. i mean he's got some

extraordinary people around him, including mike donnell and my former partner, brilliant strategist in the party and very involved in the obama campaigns. i think there would be people on the ground in iowa, in new hampshire, who would sign up with him. i don't know whether we're at a passing moment or a turning point. we're probably not going to know for several weeks. >> but there are others like ron klain who signed on with hillary clinton and obviously jake sullivan, people who have been close to the bidens for years who have already joined the clinton campaign and other elected officials who have told me privately they didn't tell us to wait so we joined her campaign. >> right. >> doesn't that create a problem, bob? >> well, sure it does although this has happened before. richard goodwin, the brilliant young guy who worked for president kennedy and then president johnson signed on with gene mccarthy when robert kennedy said he wasn't going to run. then dick had a decision to make and went back to work with robert kennedy. i don't know how many people would do that but i do believe

there are people out there who could help biden sustain this campaign. the other thing that's happened here is this is a reflection and that's why hillary has gone on the air, this is a arereflection of the act she hasn't been defining herself. even though she's given speeches we've all been talking about e-mails and the clinton foundation and that's begun to define her. she has to break out of that and define herself. >> and, ed rendell isn't that what roosevelt was supposed to do, all of these major speeches were supposed to do is to reintroduce hillary clinton, the hillary clinton who didn't take a charter jet in her first trip to iowa who drove across the country. that was awe about biography and about trying to make people realize, you know the hillary clinton that they wanted to introduce to the public. >> that's true. but nothing succeeds as much as paid media because it's there, it's constant it tells your own message, it dlifs it unfettered. bob's right they've got to get moving and they've got to tell people what hillary clinton is

for. it's not good enough to say that she's got an incredible wealth of experience. that's a given. i think the american people know that. she's got to be more clear about things that she's for and one of the things i think she needs to do is stop being afraid of making a mistake. it seems to me that hillary's out there worrying about making a mistake. she was at her best in 2008 when she fell behind and then she came to ohio texas, pennsylvania, and she was the underdog and she rolled up her sleeves and let everyone exactly what she believed in. she had fun in pennsylvania. i traveled with her for almost seven weeks in pennsylvania and she had fun. she let it rip. we need to see more of that hillary clinton. >> joe biden's perceived flaws, the fact that she is a little gaffe prone. does donald trump and the attractiveness of authenticity kind of discount the criticisms past criticisms of joe biden unleashed? >> well, i think bob's right.

joe biden's gaffes are because he says i think so this without thinking, without polling. he says things from his heart. i think that's an attractive quality in the current atmos atmosphere atmosphere. >> ed rendell, bob shrum, thank you both so much. back to our breaking news from colorado where a verdict has been reached in the sentence sentencing phase in the aurora shooter hearing. msnbc's scott cohen join mess now from outside the courthouse in centennial colorado where the verdict is going to be read in less than two hours. scott, what's the procedure? what are we expecting? >> well, andrea it took the jury all of about 2 1/2 hours to reach a verdict in this phase. while that normally would not bode well for a defendant, the system is set up in colorado where a single juror can essentially move the case on to just life in prison if they don't agree with the prosecution's assertions here. basically the question before

the jury here is whether the mitigating factor james holmes' mental illness, the fact that he had a clean record beforehand all the things they heard over the last week whether that's enough to outweigh the aggravating factors, the heinousness of the crime of the theater shooting in 2012. if they unanimously agree the aggravateing factors outweigh the mitigating factors then they move on to a third phase in which they decide once and for all whether he should get the death penalty or life in prison. in that third phase if it comes to that they will hear a lot of statements and testimony on impact to the victims and their families. so again, the jury will deliver this verdict it will be read in court at 2:30 eastern time 12:30 local time here in centennial, colorado. andrea? >> two quick questions. if anyone of those jurors decides that it should be taken off the table, that's the end of the penalty phase and the death penalty is no longer an option? >> that's the end of it. right. that's -- if any one juror

disagrees essentially with the prosecution's case it could end right here and that's what the defense is hoping for, with life in prison with no possibility of parole. but if they unanimously agree otherwise, we move on. >> scott cohen, thanks so much. we'll be watching this very closely throughout the afternoon on msnbc. meanwhile, president obama is taking a big step forward on climate change. but is anyone going to follow? up next the head of the environmental defense fund right here. you're watching msnbc. i already feel like we're the most

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president of the environmental defense fund. he's going to attend the president's announcement later this afternoon. tell me why it's so important and why you think the president has the authority to do what he's about to do. >> well, it's a very exciting and optimistic moment. this means that we're going to start by taking a really big step to tackle this threat that is a threat to both our economy and our. environment. and the reason it's important is because it means the end of the era of unlimited carbon pollution going into the sky from power plants. the president has the authority to do this under the clean air act. that was settled way back in 2007 when the supreme court said he not only has the authority but that epa has the responsibility to limit this type of pollution going into the sky. >> now, is it mainly coal that would be effected by this coal fire plants? >> it's all fossil fuel. so, yes, it is coal.

it will also be natural gas, in the short run it will probably help natural gas and certainly will give a big boost to solar energy, wind power, and energy efficiency. >> in the long run doesn't the united states have to come to grips with the whole question of nuclear power which was really set aside after three mile island despite the fact that there really does no meltdown in three mile island and there was no health effects from all the studies that i read. i covered that incident back in the 1970s. isn't nuclear power what has solved this issue, the emissions issue in france and other countries? >> nuclear power is carbon-free source of energy so it should be on the table, absolutely. the concerns right now are costs. the utilities that are going ahead and building nuclear power plants are you know hitting their customers with much higher electricity costs. but absolutely anything that's

proved safe should be on the table including nuclear. the fact that solar has come down in price by 80% in the last five years, that wind has come down in price, though puts some new options on the table that are increasing worldwide by a very rapid clip. >> how do you make this a big issue in 2016? >> well, you know it should be a big issue in 2016 because it's our future and our kids' future that's at stake. what we would like to see is a very bipartisan robust discussion of how the different candidates plan to address the problem and cut carbon pollution both in the united states and inspire the other big emitters to do the same. i want to say that president obama's recent agreement with president shi of kreinchina was historic and set into motion a very positive dieynamic in our country to cut pollution.

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i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? today on "msnbc live," will he or won't he? it could be a political bombshell. is joe biden giving serious thought to his own run for the white house? plus manhunt. a full-scale search for the man suspected of murdering a memphis police officer. a reward being offered for that us expect's arrest. hi everybody. great to have you with me. i'm thomas roberts live in los angeles today. we begin with breaking news in the aurora movie theater shooting trial. the jury reaching a verdict in the penalty phase for the

convicted shooter james holmes. we expect that verdict to be read roughly about 90 minutes from now. the same jurors who decided holmes' guilt has decided whether he should live or die for killing 12 people and injuring doz zepszens three years ago. if jurors decide holmes should be put to death, the decision must be unanimous. joining me now msnbc scott cohen in centennial colorado. scott, i understand the verdict, as i said 90 minutes away. what's the general reaction from people hearing that they are back and they are ready to reveal what their thoughts are? >> well, word is filtering in thomas. and we just heard from scott larimer, father of the shooting victim john larimer, arriving at court right away. it took about 2 1/2 hours of deliberation for this phase but we don't know what that