tape is so far, i can't wait for the rest of this story to play out. thank you election gods for being so up m more interesting in 2016 than we thought you ever would be. watch this space. >> you may have seen that i recently launched a snapchat account. i love it. those messages disappear all by themselves. >> hillary clinton joking about her e-mail investigation, while all of the presidential hopefuls meet the faithful in iowa. new evacuations and new explosions at the site of a massive blast in china. stepping away. michael sam explaining why he needs a break from football. clear the shelters, why today, the lives of so many cats and dogs could change forever.

good morning. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." here' what's happening. it was a windy shin ding. the contenders spoke at the annual grass roots fundraising dinner where hillary clinton got the big cheers but the other candidates came out swinging. >> it's clear we're ready to rock and roll, we're energized, we're unified and we're going to win this election in 2016. >> the american people are sick and tired with establishment politics. >> tell me what we've come to as a country that you can get pulled over for having a broken taillight but if you wreck the nation's economy you are totally untouchable. >> what kind of neoconcool aid is this man drinking. >> the festivities may be over but there is a lot happening in iowa with the state fair drawing candidates from both parties. no one is expected to make a bigger entrance, though, than

donald trump who plans to arrive by helicopter this afternoon. he's also promised to give free rides in his chopper for the fairgoer. before taking off for iowa trump spoke at a rally in new hampshire last night. >> you look at these senators and the congressmen, they ride around, like kings, they think great, isn't it great, they come, they make speeches, nothing ever happens. >> for more on the big weekend in iowa i'm joined by jane timm. with an early good morning, let's look at last night. it seems like hillary clinton was the clear favorite. >> reporter: absolutely. when we got there it was a hillary clinton martin o'malley supporter shout off. they were out for about five hours having sort of a chanting duel. when we got inside it was clear that hillary, everyone was ready for hillary. they screamed themselves hoarse. her speech was all about the gop. she brought up her college

affordability plan and dug into what the gop does. the gop well, they are all trump. i think we have sound of that. let's take a look. >> ynow i know most of the attention is on a certain flamboyant front-runner. but don't let the circus distract you. if the you look at their policies, most of the other candidates are just trump without the pizazz or the hair. >> reporter: bernie sanders was second in line here and he was well received. a lot of cheers, there are people who like his policy points. he talked about the progressive movement. not talking about hillary or the other candidates ap wasn't talking about the gop. he wanted to talk about what he thinks the future of the country should be. still it's clear like the polls he is the second choice here. >> so taking a look behind you and you have a pre-opening area of festivities there with the state fair. what's in store for that location today?

>> reporter: well, aside from the fried pb and j later it's a lot of politicianings are here. it's a media circus with donald trump and hillary clinton doing media in the same hour, we're also going to see candidates like bernie sanders take the historic soap box, an actual box they stand on and talk about the things they want to do for the country. >> to be clear, both clinton and trump will not be on the historic soap box, right? >> no. neither are taking the soap box. both are doing meet and greets. trump is going to have a little more when he lands in the helicopter and offers to give helicopter rides to people who can come. we're not totally sure that's going to happen. seems like a logistical nightma nightmare. hillary clinton i think has a pool of reporters she can mingle with the people. >> get back on us, with us, on the fried pb and j. good luck with that. thanks so much. like donald trump hillary clinton will not speak but

yesterday's wing ding she appeared to allude to the e-mail controversy with this joke. >> you may have seen that i recently launched a snapchat account. i love it. i love it. those messages disappear all by themselves. you know what, it's not with e-mails or servers, it's about politics. >> joining me now is jonathan allen, chief political correspondent at vox. good morning to you. >> good morning. good to be partners. >> when you talk about politics, a lot of times humor is something to use to put in there, get the popularity, get the applause. in this case is it the right way to go about the e-mail controversy because it's getting some pretty serious attention. got the justice department looking at things, the fbi as well. >> it's going to infuriate people who feel she has broken the rules or potentially broken

laws, but it's probably not bad for democratic audience. one of the things that hillary clinton does and i think her husband was pretty good at too, when she is under attack she polarizes and make sure the people in her camp feel like they have something to punch back with. i think that's probably what she is doing. this is a serious investigation and the thing we got to come back to is it is hard to defend the way she set up the e-mail in the first place, so if the there were bad fruits from that original decision, that was a decision that was hers alone. >> it wasn't much different when she was speaking about the iran deal. here is part of that. >> this agreement combined with strong enforcement and deterrence, is the only way to prevent iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. there is simply no viable alternative, that is why i strongly support president obama. >> and beyond that as you know as secretary of state she helped

broker diplomacy with iran. how does her backing of this deal play into how the voters view her on foreign policy, could this alines with the president on this deal backfire given its controversy? >> i think one, she doesn't have much of an option. she sent her aides including jake sullivan who is her policy director for secret talks to start the iranian negotiations so on that level she doesn't have a lot of choice. i think it's probably helpful to her in a democratic primary, somebody who is sometimes criticized for being too hawkish to take a diplomatic route to show she is actually done some diplomatic work toward peace. i think in a general election it's a little tougher of a sell, the american public's not completely sold on this deal. i also think most voters aren't going to be voting on a nuclear nonproliferation deal with a country that isn't threatening us with nuclear weapons. >> let's look at the latest iowa poll. it shows hillary clinton leading but you've got voters now

getting excited during this last week about a possible late entry by vice president biden. so what are you hearing about biden's 2016 plans? do you think that the clinton campaign is worried about them? >> i think the clinton campaign is absolutely worried about joe biden. i know the campaign is worried or at least some people that i have spoken to in the clinton campaign are worried about joe biden. i think it's likely that he's going to run. this is something that's been reported in the last couple days, something i was hearing more than a month ago, people said they talked to him and had the sense that he was going to run. certainly people want him to run. i think the likelihood is joe biden gets in the neighborhood of labor day. >> interesting. we're going to hold you to that. only a couple of weeks until that happens. i want to switch gears to donald trump because i know you wrote that the early drop-outs in the race are going to further boost his chances. why does trump benefit from that and not the others? >> so i think there are three

ways in which he could possibly benefit from that. one, their supporters could go to him. obviously that would be a benefit. two, they could spread out among the other lower tier candidates, and what that ends up doing is showing strength for him and relative weakness of the other candidates. that the other top tier walker, rubio, bush. and then if they go to walker, rubio, burks and they split among them, again that keeps down ald trump in the lead. the only real scenario it hurts him is if the other people's supporters go to one of the candidate who is is against donald trump. otherwise we're going to see donald trump in this nomination for a long time and perhaps as a leerd for a long time. >> okay, if you say so. thank you so much. >> we're going to get a live report from the iowa state fair from kelly o'donnell. let's go now to the weather and the up summer storms. in wisconsin a thunderstorm stopped play at the pga

championship tournament. left the course a mess. look at that. the storm knocked down the leader board, also port-a-potties and shredded some tents. play is set to resume this hour. then to the west, four homes were damaged from a mud slide in central utah. no reports of injuries. and for a lot of the country, the stroyr this weekend will be the heat. the weather channel's reynolds wolf. good morning. >> alex my friend, so great seeing you the other day. i hope folks are going to be happy to see, well, the warmer temperatures along parts of the coast, in the northeast the last blast of summer like temperatures, however, you will have scattered storms in parts of the finger lakes, back in the ohio valley. be ready for that as you dodge the raindrops. more where that came from across parts of florida, tampa, jacksonville in the 80s. some showers possible for you new orleans. very muggy across the south land. possibly rougher storms can be expected for the the northern plains, upper midwest, central plains, mainly in the afternoon and the evening.

tomorrow more where that came from. look likes the focus is mostly in the central plains, but then to the desert southwest it's about the heat. good didness gracious on fire, it's going to be roasting in so many places, well over the century mark in spots, a lot of places well above normal. and that heat is going to stick arou around. brutal times this weekend. folks if you can do the best by staying cool, drink plenty of fluids. you know the deal. >> sounds like a pool day or beach day. and those new explosions and contamination fierce at the site of that blast in china. a live report on the changing situation there, next.

watch as these magnificent creatures take flight, soaring away from home towards the promise of a better existence. but these birds are suffering. because this better place turned out to have a less reliable cell phone network, and the videos on their little bird phones kept buffering. birds hate that. so they came back home. come home to verizon and now get 12 gigs for $80 a month plus $20 per line. verizon. come home to a better network. the possibility of a flare swas almost always on my mind. thinking about what to avoid,

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developing now in china, new evacuations this morning around the port city of tianjin amid the fears of chemical contamination, this comes two days after this massive explosion rocked a warehouse that was storing dangerous chemicals. you can still see the smoke there pouring from the ruins of the facility. as officials report new explosions at that site which is so far killed 85 people. let's go to ian williams in beijing for us. what's the latest on these evacuations? >> reporter: good morning. the officials, the authorities have ordered everybody within 1.8 miles to leave their homes and get out citing concern over chemical contamination. this follows reports that the police have come across a stack of sodium cyanide. that is pretty scary, that's a volatile, very toxic chemical. and there are reported to be

large amounts of it sitting not far away from where the blast took place. but also, an equally as scary, the officials say that they still really don't know what they are dealing with, that they have no record as to what chemicals were stored in that warehouse when it exploded. they don't know what toxic cocktail is sitting there. at the same time today, better news, they did find another survivor. this time a 56-year-old who was trapped inside a burned out shipping container. he has been taken to hospital, he is in critical condition with respiratory burns but still alive. there were also fresh fires that did set off alarm. people thought more explosions. what appears to have happened is a series of cars burst into flames. now, this the as there is understandably growing anger locally, relatives of firefighters stormed into a government press conference

today, demanding more action, demanding answers as to where their missing relatives might be. and there are still a lot of firefighters missing. but no answers and indeed, to that nor to the critical question many are now asking why this site, this volatile hazardous chemical site was located so close to residential areas. apparently in contravention of china's own laws, alex. >> ian, a dangerous situation. thank you for the the update. meantime, the american flag is flying high over the newly reopened u.s. embassy in cuba raised for the first time in 54 years at the ceremony attended by secretary of state john kerry. the event marks the move toward normalization between the two nationings. gabe is in the capital for us there. with a good morning to you, what's the latest from there and how are people reacting? >> reporter: alex, good morning. now that the u.s. flag is flying here in havana for the first time in 54 years diplomats are

preparing for talks set to begin next month. the u.s. and cuba still disagree on many issues but during his visit on friday secretary of state john kerry said that he hoped progress could be made on other points as well. looming large, the u.s. trade embargo which only congress can lift. that sun likely to happen soon. still despite many travel restrictions in place more americans are visiting the island, that is up 54% so far this year. the u.s. is also authorizing more sea voyages to cuba, cruises and yachts and better air travel options couldble on the way. in many ways friday's flag raising ceremony was symbolic. in this country following decades of mistrust boll symbols matter. secretary kerry saying the u.s. looks as cuba as a neighbor. >> and a tourist destination. i'm hearing cruise ships could be there by april.

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approaching 22 past. two miners were killed at yosemite park when a tree limb fell on the tent where they were sleeping. park officials have not released the victims' names nor ages. investigators don't know why the limb broke but did say weather was not a factor. investigators remind campers to check out surroundings even in designated sites. a river in colorado is partly reopened after 3 million gallons of contaminated water spilled. kayakers and rafters can go back. it closed earlier this month after an epa crew caused the leak. the water was contaminated with arsenic and lead and other metals. the river is restoring itself. there is more work to do. >> we are in no way saying we're leaving all things are done, the sediment will be looked at and frankly it's where the longer

term responsibility is for this agency and we will meet that responsibility. >> and to that point while the water is testing normal it's unclear how much contamination remains trapped in the river bed. michael sam is stepping away from football. sam was the first openly gay player to be drafted by the nfl. he made his debut in the canadian league. but friday sam took to swit twitter to say he needs to focus on his mental health. he was drafted by the rams, he played in preseason games but did not make the regular season roster. the spoils of oil smart reading and brew of champions, joining me to break it down is regina lewis. good morning. the spoils of oil. the falling price of crude. how far has it fallen and why? >> big time, actually. 6 1/2 year low as oil hovers around $40 a barrel, some people predicting it could go as low as 20, even $10 a barrel.

most now thinking that the price you pay at the pump could be south of $2. driven by a lot of factors. the energy revolution in the u.s., fracking, et cetera. opec led by the saudis, the cartel not curbing production in effort to maintain market share. and then here comes iran. as sanctions are lifted there they could flood the market with their own oil and the backdrop, greater esfishtcy in the u.s. and the bottom dropping out of china which affects demand. now that all sounds great until you talk to experts who remind you that usually plummeting oil prices is not the sign of an economy that's doing well. last time we saw it 2008, and i don't think anybody wants to go back there. >> no, we do not. quickly, how soon could it get to the below $2 a barrel? >> it's unclear. so i wouldn't want to predict that but it feels imminent to most and it moves quickly as you know. >> let's get to smart reading. what is this new trend there

making smart phone makers adjust to this? >> yes. this is interesting. e-books revolutionized publishing, the nook, the kindle. the smart phone is the ticket because it could be more relevant so e-reading, those devices are up 10% over the last three years but reading on your smart phone has doubled in two years. so, publishers at smart phone companies saying we're going to change the backlighting so it's easier on the eyes at night. we're going to use different fonts and promote books differently so really clever promotions and in airports where you can get a sample of a book, on trains, smart way to laupch a book. and really, potentially revolutionize the industry because now it will be more available and you can read it on your smart phone, then on your ipad and computer. pick up where you are. so they are making adjustments. at the end of the day people seem to be reading more. >> that makes sense now that smart phones are larger with screens. what about the broov champions.

>> wheaties branded mere in minneapolis, the home of general mills, the founders used to work there. breakfast of champions, now i'm not going to disclose who told me but apparently back in the day in college they used to pour it on cereal and call it that. some of the bloggers say hey, they are not say it's for breakfast but not saying it's not. we'll see how that shakes out. >> is that just a local brew? >> it is. not yet but we'll see how the test goes. in the meantime you've got to be within minnesota border. >> good to know. especially if you're in minnesota and a frat boy. thank you so much. the u.s. investigating reports isis used chemical weapons in iraq. how could this change the fight against the militants? 's a fact. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason?

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frightening moments in the philippines. a ferry with more than 500 passengers suddenly caught fire. the flames broke out after the ship arrived in port. many passengers raced down decks to escape as you saw others were jumping into the sea. back in this country, a sprint car driver at a track in southern pennsylvania was killed in a multicar crash last night. the race was canceled after james campbell jr.'s car struck a wall. in madison, wisconsin utility crews are expected to work through the weekend after a water pipe broke and caused a 30-foot deep sinkhole that swallowed three cars. it left some 300 residents of two apartment buildings without water and electricity which may not be fully restored until early next week. a wild fire in central washington state is threatening about 250 homes and forced evacuation of hundreds of residents. the fire destroyed one home and burned two others. police in people broke park, florida video shows a mother

teaching her daughter how to steal a bottle of tequila. you see what appears to be the girl leaving with the bottle while the mother paid for something else at the counter. police are offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest. let's go back to the campaign trail. hillary clinton's e-mail controversy is the focus and with that rumors of a runner-up. joining me from des moines, kelly o'donnell with a good morning. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, first of all alex, it's a beautiful morning to be here at the fair before the crowds and the heat descends upon this place. and today, hillary clinton will be here meeting and greeting, walking around the fair grounds, and her visit here comes at a time when there's a lot of attention on the e-mail controversy, and it is something that clearly she noted last night at a special unity gathering where four of the five democrats were together each appearing one after the next,

making their pitch to really energize democrats from across the state of iowa. and interesting, hillary clinton as a part of that unity perhaps, stayed in the arena for the whole evening, watched her colleagues, also make their remarks. a good sign for the the party but also perhaps a way of keeping some of the intraparty fighting down, harder to take a shot at her if she is in the front row watching. hillary clinton is facing some questions from worried democrats, so she's facing more than just her republican rivals. sometimes a family reunion brings uncomfortable tensions to the surface. for hillary clinton, her e-mail controversy is making some democrat kansas nervous. >> it would be nice to have somebody else. >> reporter: friday clinton

tried to joke about her media account on snapchat. >> i love it. those messages disappear all by themselves. >> reporter: at this iowa summer party, called wing ding, four democrats running for president appeared on the same stage. a surging bernie sanders bragged about his big crowds. >> we have been generating an enormous amount of enthusiasm all over this country. >> clinton came out fired up and defiant. explaining she turned over her private e-mail server to the fbi, but blamed republicans for playing politics. >> i won't get down in the mud with them. i won't play politics with the national security. >> reporter: at the iowa state fair republican jeb bush told me clinton needs to, quote, come clean. >> mrs. clinton seems no, it to be able to have integrity and tell the truth. and if she's not done anything

wrong be honest about it. >> from new hampshire, gop front-runner donald trump amped up the rhetoric. >> i don't think it's going to be hillary but we'll find out soon. >> the e-mail controversy could even force clinton out of the race. >> a lot of pressure on hillary right now. it's been brutal for hillary and i think at some point chef's perhaps not going to be able to run, is going to have to end her campaign. >> a wild suggestion from donald trump. todaying is better than the pork chop on a stick or the rides on the grounds here, both hillary clinton and donald trump will be working this fair meeting voters on the same day. some of us wonder at the same time? wait for that. donald trump is going to use his helicopter, the one with his game on the side landing to make hissence trans. we expect that hillary clinton

will take questions from reporters as she sees some of the different sights that are here. this is a must stop for candidates, the iowa state fair is in many ways a chance to meet voters up close, also for hillary clinton a chance to address the controversy she really hit it hard saying it's more about politics not about fast fied information on the server he used. that will all shake out but she was trying to fire up democrats to say stick with her. >> kelly, i want to pick up on something you said with regard to donald trump landing his helicopter in the area. you know that he's offering rides to fairgoer but i was under the impression that landing there on the state fair property, that's illegal and he can't do that. >> that is our understanding that trump has worked out a landing area near the fair rounds. this is a massive fixed point in

des moines where the fair is held. there are liability questions. issues when it comes to controlling the skies over the area. remember the secret service has duty for hillary clinton so they are part of planning here today. he talked about the possibility of offering rides to children in a news conference from new hampshire last night. let's see how that plays out for the day. kind of hard to imagine how that would work. you can buy a ticket to ride one of the ferris wheel type things. his campaign put it out there which created buzz. we'll be watching to see his grand arrival in the area later today. >> ferris wheel ride, cool. tilt a whirl, not so much. donald trump's campaigning will take a detour to court monday because the donald has been summoned to serve jury duty.

he ignored summons for which he has been fined. trump says he is looking forward to fulfilling the civic duty. on tomorrow's meet the press, chuck todd will speak with donald trump. so check your local listings for the time it airs in your city. today the u.s. is responding to claims that isis used chemical weapons in an attack earlier this week. n nbc's asked him what this means for the war on isis. >> are you not persuaded that they used chemical weapons, perhaps mustard gas, against the kurds, have they crossed a red line? >> i'm well, they crossed many red lines already and they are one of the most ruthless and dangerous terror groups any of

us imagined. so mustard gas, cutting off heads, burning people alive, it's hard to draw those lines. but i mean, distinctions, not the line but the distinction. >> do we have to take -- >> but on the mustard gas issue, andrea, we do not have confirmation yet but we're completely open to the possibility an we're examining it and joined wp the russians and others in a resolution to try to press a mechanism to be able to get at this so that we don't just find out that yes, it was usedp, but we can find out who did it and point to call pa built. >> for more i'm joined by washington editor at large for the atlantic. good morning. so we heard the secretary saying that, you've got must standard

gas, heinous things. will it make a difference to u.s. policy if the government used mustard gas? >> i think it will make a practical dimension if u.s. forces or its allies begin to muscle up more of a ground. the kurds in syria and the peshmerga have been scoring major wins against isis. you may remember in the first gulf war one of the major things we did for u.s. forces on the ground was protective suits. you have isis which has shown in social media, in black marketing and now may have various forms of chemical weapons. you need to take steps to protect those. that's one dimension that will have to be discussed. i think john kerry is right. it's almost silly to just read line. it's bringing more tear the

world. >> the president talked about those red lines before. partnering with russia, is this anything tosh accomplished there? >> i think that depending on where the state of the iranian nuclear deal, that the nuclear deal in a way has become a platform for new opportunities, not just with iran but with the partners that help thing that forward. it doesn't mean we should be naive but russia seems to show morep flex built. iran is stepping forward with plans that include a post-asaud possible. there is new diplomatic movement in the region that didn't exist 30 days ago. >> steven, all this comes at the devastating reports on isis' use of rape and sexual slavery. the piece from "the new york times" on what they called isis'

theology of rape. kayla mueller, the hostage killed, confirming that she was held as a sexual slave, should and will this change the tactics? >> i think it puts -- i think what it does do that may shaut human face on the night bear that baghdadi represents. the stories of chained up sexual slave, kayla mueller regularly visited by baghdadi. is going to change the way in which this reaches into people's hearts and homes because i think kayla mueller was a real touch point. tactically this puts more meat on the boneses, the money man, the guy keeping the books for oil revenue and others, was pursued and there were critics of the administration saying why

would they go after them with such force. turp going after touch point for baghdadi. we have more a sense of the networks of what's going on inside isis and among some of its players. than we've known befr. so it's very important. >> quickly, you said it puts a human face on this. do you think that gives any momentum to those who want to put boots on the ground? >> i wouldn't go that far. i think moots on the ground are complicated. you have to have a situation in which the sunni arab neighborhood steps up. when you compare what the soudys did rapidly with the other gcc countries in taking action in yemen and yet we have these allies that we keep hearing about and fighting isis but mainly you see the kurdish, syrian rebels still in the game

even though they are -- have been more of the losing front. you continue see a lot of our gulf sunni allies engaged in this. ithink it's hard to justify boots on the ground if the neighborhood which is most involved in this isn't out there first and foremost. >> thanks as always. in a moment someone from a victim's family explains why a court has robbed them of justice. yet. a car that can see trouble... ...and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not honda. not ford or any other brand. subaru eyesight. an extra set of eyes, every time you drive.

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new reaction this morning to the death penalty declared unconstitutional in the state of connecticut. the state supreme court ruled thursday executions violated the state's constitution. 11 inmates are on death row and among them these two men. in 2007, steven hays and joshua broke into the home of the petit family. dr. pettitte was beaten and bound.

he was the only familiar member to survive. jennifer and daughters were murdered. in a statement dr. pettitte spoke out against the court reversal saying the court disregarded key stones of our governmental structure to reach the decision it handed down. jennif jennifer's sister is on the phone. with a welcome to you and we spoke during the break. i want to reiterate what i said to you then because it is impossible to imagine what your family has gone through. what was your reaction to the court's ruling? >> i was shocked to know what had been decided in a court of law by a judge and a jury and one of the most heinous crimes imaginable that a sentence given of the death penalty could be taken away and completely turned around and by really the vote of what came down to was one person in a 4-3 vote of seven people. >> shocking to be certain. how does it make you feel?

are you angry? you feel you can't do anything about this? >> i do feel like our hands are tied right now. i have spoken to my brother-in-law. he says it might come up again for a vote in 2016. so, i don't know if there is is a chance it can be reversed or not. >> well, jennifer, i mean cynthia, we talk about jennifer and the horrible things that happened to your nieces, connecticut's governor he opposes the death penalty. the state executed only two people in 50 years. and here's what he had to say about the court ruling. >> the court has adjudged that the death penalty is cruel and unusual as it my be applied to those already sentenced, and other judges appear to think it's cruel and unusual, period. particularly in a state that does not have a working -- did

not have a working death penalty statute. >> would you like to see the governor reverse that, take action? you think that the heinous nature of the crime perpetrated against your loved sister and nieces, will garner the attention that you would like to see change go into effect? >> yes. i'd like to first see that they follow the sentences and decided by a court of law to all of these 11 individuals on death row, and second, i think that it would be fair to open this up to a popular vote of the citizens of connecticut and not to seven people speaking for them. >> one thing to keep in mind. these two men and the others on death row, they are now being given life without the possibility of parole. they will stay behind bars and die in prison. do you take any solace in that? >> let's see. they were both living their lives in prison before they were released early. that was also vote bid legislators there in

connecticut. they go out, beat my brother-in-law repeatedly in the head with a bat while holding a gun to him hoping hi would die. they rape my sister 11-year-old strangled my sister, and doused the girls with gasoline and light them on fire while they're still alive as the police are waiting oids. that's extremely cruel and unusual, and no, let's see, prison computers, televisions, books, educational classes, workout facilities, three meals a day, heat, air, medical, dental, eye care, it doesn't bring me satisfaction of if i kind, i wish it did. >> i think we'll end it right there. cynthia, thank you very much. well said. >> thank you. bye bye. coming up in our noon hour,ly speak with jameis winston himes about his thoughts about the state supreme ruling.

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we want to take a moment to salute a loyal viewer. happy 95th birthday. our executive producer is home celebrating with his father and family this weekend. we wish you the very best. well, a critical push is under way today to find homes for the 7.5 million animals that enter shelters. more than 300 are participating in the clear the shelters day event which is sponsored by the first parent company, adoption fees are waived or reduced as part of the event. joining me now, from the animal care centers of new york city as well as david, good friends to us. we should say you uls stop by the make-up rooms and we oo and aw. this is bruno and liz zi, tell me about these guys. >> this is a three-year-old that came as a stray. up for adoption today.

he's a mix, and great example of the many animals weapon. >> david, i can't believe lizzie just chilled out. >> she's an eight-month old stray, and bonds quickly. once she gets to trust you, you can't get a better companion than this cat. >> it's so, so important to find homes for these pets, what is the biggest obstacle? why do people not necessarily go to the shelters? >> they get fixated on a breed and thinking that if you go to a breeder that you're going to have a better animal and that's just not true. they say only 20% of people that adopt to the u.s. go to the animal shelters. we need to change that. for example, we've had over 12,000 cats at the animal care and control this year so far that have come through our doors. it's kitten season right now. >> what is kitten season? >> that's between april and september, that's where a lot of

cats breed, they breed a lot, and people bring the kittens in. we have a lot right now and today is a wonderful day to adopt. >> if you're not able to adopt, say you live in a place that doesn't accept pets, is there a way people can help as well? >> absolutely, become a volunteer at your local shelter, help clean cages or play with the animals or help facilitate adoptions. if you travel a lot and just can care for a short period, we're looking for foster care volunteers. >> really? >> sometimes we'll get a stray, bruno is a great example, very thin, very ill-kemt, was not cared for. sometimes they need to go to a low-stress environment for a couple days, couple months, and that could be your home before they go up for adoption. >> some people travel and don't realize that they can get there when they're in the area. >> that is a great thing. we call you the cat whisperer,

david comes in locally every weekend with nancy on nnbc. you do a great job. we're going to expand that out here. amazing. brings the cats in, adorable. nancy and david, thank you so much. thank you bruno, thank you, lizzie. that's a wrap this weekend. join me for a two-hour edition at noon. straight ahead, we have smart local talk with steve kornacki. then melissa harris-perry still to come here on msnbc. i knew it. and her sensitive stomach didn't make things easier. it was hard to know why... the move...her food...? so we tried purina cat chow gentle... ...because it's specially formulated for easy digestion. she's loved it ever since. and as for her and ben... ...she's coming around. purina cat chow gentle. one hundred percent complete and balanced for everyday feeding of adult cats. they make little hearts happy

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the state of the state fair. good morning, thanks for getting us with us. i'm richard wolf, steve kornacki has a morning off. we have a packed two hours of news and politics planned. we want to get to that right away.