but they did go ahead with the broadcast this morning. a moment of silence at 6:45. the anchors held hands as they talked about alison parker and adam ward and everything they meant to them here at the station. that exact moment, 6:45, when their colleagues were gunned down in cold blood, most shockingly on live tv. i want to show you here outside the station, the growing memorial here. people dropping off balloons and flowers and notes remembering alison parker and add ma'am ward. people here so heart broken because they knew them almost as members of their family because they came into their home every single day. i talked to a couple that came from an hour away just to be a part of this to share in everyone's grief here. again, because they felt like alison and adam were part of the family. i also want to talk about

alison's father who spoke out today. he said she loved what she was doing as a reporter. she felt like she was a true member of the community. most importantly, he wants people to know that he's on a mission for gun control. he says he's going to be the john walsh of gun control doing whatever he can do to make sure guns don't get in the hands of people who have mental issues. clearly, that was the case in this situation and that will be alison's legacy. >> and any sense -- are people there moved by how much national interest there has been? this is a story that just captivated the country. >> reporter: yeah, it's very unusual for the reporters that we've been talking to. a whole setup of national media here coming to this town. very unusual for the people who cover the news to actually be in the news. so that's a very uncomfortable situation for them. but they're taking it in stride. again, they're just so numb. still in a state of shock trying

to take it all in. these were people who loved the community, alison and adam and they were so known in the community for everything they covered. they were on every morning doing stories from car accidents to feature stories. it was just the 50th anniversary of a tourist attraction and their lives were taken at such a young age. she was 24. he was 27. she was engained to be married to the anchor here. he was engaged -- his fiancee was the producer of the show watching this in realtime on live tv. just more than anyone could really handle. >> yeah. appreciate your reportering, adam reece. as we were telling viewers, we will go to that news conference as soon as it starts. >> right now we go to hallie jackson at the location of yesterday's shooting with new details about this killer. what do we know how? >> reporter: new information about what was in his vehicle

when police tried to pull it over in northern virginia on interstate 66 yesterday morning. according to a search warrant obtained by nbc news, here are some of the items that vester flanagan had in his car. a to-do list, a briefcase with three license plates, a wig, a shawl and an umbrella. flanagan had texted somebody while he was driving away from this location where the crime happened saying along the lines that he had done something stupid. that is the part of the information we're learning. we're also discovering that flanagan used a glock that he had legally purchased in july. one of two guns that he had legally bought in this 23-page manifesto sent to nbc news. indicating he had put down a deposit for the weapon after the shooting at a church in south

carolina. that was in june. given the background checks and the processes you have to go through to get the gun, that would not have kicked in until july. >> what are authorities making of the warning signs that did exist but of course didn't trigger anything personally from his colleagues nor employees nor obviously -- actually, i think we have -- stay with us for afterwards. we have the general manager and news director of wdbj. this is the news conference they're holding here. we're going to go to it live as soon as they begin speaking there. we see them coming out to give their remarks. this is the news station that has been of course rocked by this double murder yesterday. the news director and the general manager expected to speak and talk about what they've been going through as an employer, as a workplace, hit by this terrible tragedy and presumably about the community at large which has rallied around them. you can see folks embracing

there as they gather getting ready to speak to the public. we're going to go ahead and listen in and carry this live and see what they have to say. as we wait, we're awaiting this news conference at wdbj there. we see the folks coming out to the podium. we're going to listen in. >> i'm the president general manager of wdbj television. thank you for allowing us to do this all at once. we're bouncing from interview to interview and earlier today and it just got so time-consuming, we were maybe taking our eye off the ball here at the company. so we're going to share some thoughts with you and some information. first, i want to answer a question that everybody's been asking today. kelly zuber, the news director about the pins.

>> yes. we're wearing ribbons today and we'll continue to wear those as long as we can. they represent adam and alison. the maroon represents virginia tech and adam's love for virginia tech and the teal was just alison's favorite color. one of our reporters put these together for us and we appreciate her efforts and it really helps solidify our feelings about them and show everyone how we feel. >> thank you. a lot of questions have been asked about the employment situation of vester flanagan also known as bryce williams. i wanted to put it together in a statement and we will distribute copies of the statement. and i want to thank the wdbj 7 team for coming out and joining us for this because we're all in this together. i'm going to read the statement. be glad to take questions about

anything regarding what happened yesterday. vester flanagan was employed by wdbj 7 as a reporter between march 2012 and february 2013. he applied for the position using the air name of bryce williams. as part of wdbj's standard policy and protocol for background checks, we received only positive references. flanagan's job performance and interaction with his coworkers led his manager to place flanagan on a succession of performance improvement plans. only slight improvement was noted each time. flanagan was placed on a final warning in december 2012 for failure to check facts in a news story and generally for poor news judgment. in january 2013, he accused one of the news photographers here of making trouble for him by questioning a decision to go on

private property in pursuit of a story. at that point, in a meeting with a manager and hr, he raised some concerns with hr of perceived unfairness and those accusations or concerns were immediately investigated and found to be without merit. shortly after that, he confronted an anchor in the hallway, an anchor assigned by a producer to review one of his stories and he was not happy about that. at that point, management made the determination that it was the appropriate time to separate him from the company. on february 1st of 2013, two news managers and the hr manager notified flanagan of the decision to terminate his employment. he reacted angrily telling them that they would have to call the police because he was going to make a stink and it was going to be in the headlines. the hr rep then called 911.

employees had been notified to give flanagan space to clean out his desk. once at his desk, flanagan attempted to reach the corporate ceo without success. at that point, the police arrived and escorted him from the building. on the way out, he handed a wooden cross to the news director who was at that time dan dennison and he said you'll need this. he also made a comment to adam ward as he left. the only context between wdbj 7 and flanagan after that were routine calls to hr about termination benefits. shortly there after, flanagan filed a complaint of harassment and discrimination with the equal opportunity employment commission. wdbj responded that his claims were unfounded and the eeoc denied the claim based on all the evidence we provided.

he later filed a civil action in local court in roanoke. that action was dismissed. in two and a half years since the termination, employees reported seeing flanagan in public places and there were no confrontations. he was never seen following employees and he did not attempt to enter the offices of wdbj 7. all claims of mistreatment were investigated by senior management, by our hr representative who is here with kelly and me today, and with our legal counsel of the firm of woods rogers. all of these investigations determined that no reasonable person would have taken any of the cited instances as discrimination or harassment. i wanted to summarize this in one page for you to make sure that you had the timeline and everything we think was pertinent to his employment. that all ended two and a half years ago.

and we are still at a loss to figure out what happened to him in those two and a half years. but most of our time, we are spending focused on the results of his actions yesterday. the loss of adam and alison and our bond with the community which has been so strong for the last 30 hours or so with everyone from the communicate that we can imagine coming and shaking our hands and reaching out to us and us reaching back through our media, through wdbj 7 and our web and mobile outlets to make sure that we continue to seven the public as is our mission. that's what i have for you at the moment. but i'd be glad to take questions and kelly would as well. and i'll bring victor if it's

too complicated for me. >> there's a report in the guardian that flanagan was warned that he needed to get medical mental health or he would be fired, that he was given that warning. >> mark, is that -- we made it mandatory that he seek help from our employee assistance program. many companies have them. they provide, you know, counselling and other services and we made it mandatory that he do that. >> did he get that help? >> on at least one occasion, right? he complied with what we asked him to do. >> do you know whether he was on any medications? >> i do not know that. start here and then there. [ inaudible question ] >> hi, andy. it's been a while. >> what advice would you give to other companies that have difficult employees or troubled

employees like this? no one ever expects something like this to happen. is there anything in terms of changing the laws or changing the rules do you think -- [ inaudible ] >> well, you know, almost every reporter i've asked that of, i've asked the question back. first of all, yes, there probably things we can do. we can probably, you know, screen more. but by and large, we get great employees here. ones going to slip through the cracks every now and then. i'm very proud of our hiring record. and we have a very elaborate program to screen employees at our parent company. so i don't know the answer to that question. nor do i think i'm likely to come up with it in the first day

after the disaster, andy. yes, sir? >> you said that there -- members of your staff ran into him after he was terminated. [ inaudible ] you say there was no confrontation, but to be clear, was there any indication he still held some kind of grudge against the company? >> it never fed back to me that that was the case. it was a sighting, but it wasn't -- it wasn't even a conversation, i think. i think i never heard even of a conversation. yes, sir? >> you tell us that you have live teams out yesterday after this incident and have they been out yesterday? >> why don't i ask kelly to answer that. >> we did not have live teams out yesterday nor do we have them out today just in an

abundance of caution. i know a lot of other news organizations around the country are wrestling with that. we'll evaluate that as we go and we'll also consult with our staff and see what their comfort level is with this. law enforcement has real actually reached out to us and said, hey, if you're doing a live shot somewhere, let us know and we'll be there, we'll help you. so we appreciate that. >>. [ inaudible ] >> i have the greatest news team. you know, i love each and every one of them. and they have performed so well. i have watched anchors and reporters half an hour before a newscast be crying in the news room and then get on that set and deliver the news to the people of southwest and central virginia. they have had to talk about their colleagues and, you know, deal with some difficult

situations. i give you the example of our meteorologist this morning found a candy wrapper while on the air that adam ward had always eaten and had left somewhere. and it's those kinds of little things that are just kind of getting to us now. my sports director just said to me, i lost it when i saw -- walked out and saw his car in the parking lot and had saw clothes in there. every little thing. but the performance of this staff has been incredible. they cry, they hug, and then they get the job done. and that's all i can ask of them right now. >> yes, sir? hold on. let me go over here and then over here. >> what did you say about -- and give us an example -- [ inaudible ] >> well, we've had church

services held and there are more planned. we have had people come with flowers. there's another bouquet of flowers arriving. we have had countless deliveries of food which we really appreciate. our people have -- this newsroom moves on it stomach, okay? and the people here have appreciated that. i have 819 e-mails. have -- all my voice mail box are full and it's all with people reaching out. there's two communities. one is this community here which we so love and strive to serve. the other is the greater journalism community. we have heard from organizations on every continent. i just talked a little while ago to scott pelly who offered to do anything he could. we are just gratified by the support from the world of journalism and broadcasting as well in trying to do our job.

yes, sir? [ inaudible ] >> we work very hard to try to reflect our community. diversity does not just refer to race. diversity refers to education, age, height, ethnic background, all those things that make us a mixture of people. we do not tolerate any attitude of illegal discrimination, harassment, or anything that makes the workplace other than a safe place to work. we have terminated employees for -- for violating that standard and we would again. i am absolutely certain that nothing like that happened in this case and that it was in the imagination and perhaps the preconception and preplanned

attitudes of the fellow in this case. yeah? >> the manifesto mentions being ber rated by a camera man passing a corn field on the way to smith mountain like. are you familiar with that incident? was adam the camera man and do you think that may have had significance in the location of the shooting? >> i have no idea what the significance of the location of the shooting was. so i can't comment on that. i know that there were a number of incidents he cited. i don't recall that one specifically and i don't recall whether adam was the photographer on that. i do know from everything we've said and learned that vester's behavior annoyed a lot of people in the newsroom, not just photographer. other reporters, anchors and

managers. and that he -- and so he could have been berated. but it was almost certainly in response to something he was doing. and i -- i would defend the actions of every person who was in that newsroom when he was here because i saw the way he behaved and, if anything, he -- let me just leave it at that. i saw the way he behaved. yeah, john. thank you, john. >> if we can go back -- is there any indication from staff that may have seen this developing that they even knew there was someone standing there or did they have no idea -- after the live shot is there any indication how that might have played out? >> well, we haven't talked to vicky gardner about that

specifically. she's still in recovery and has some recovery to do. all we can rely on is what we saw in that video which was that he was standing there for a few seconds somewhere off to the left of adam. and it's a mystery to me why he stood there for a while then took action. do you have an opinion, kelly? >> i think as all of you know very well, we're all trained to stand in front of the camera, hold camera presence and ignore people who come around us. because generally they're just looking to see what's going on. in that case, certainly from the video that aired on our morning show, we saw adam go down and then we heard a scream. so there's probably some indication that at the very last moment alison may have recognized what was going on. adam probably did not because

his back was turned to the shooter. i think they had very little notice and were probably not even aware. we understand that the authorities are still investigating. they're still trying to put together a crime scene as to what exactly happened. and i guess we'll know more then. >> for kelly or jeff, do you have any indication how the shooter might have known that alison and adam were going to be at that location at 6:45 in the morning? >> well, it was not something that we necessarily promoted, but that is a two-hour program. and it is conceivable that if someone saw their first hit on the air which was probably about 5:10 they could get from wherever they were to smith mountain lake. with that program continuing on for another good, you know, hour and 50 minutes, they could get to where they were by the time the shooting happened, even if they were leaving from roanoke.

again, we don't know and it's still under investigation. >> would you mind describing the hiring process for -- what kind of screening he went through and were you in contact with his previous station? >> our hr team followed up on references of a variety of sources, and they all came back positive. one of the things i want to say about that is that it's very hard to get a negative reference these days. most companies have policies that forbid their people from -- from giving references. and so what you get a lot of is name, rank, and serial number. but those references that we did get back were positive. and i think anybody can make positive refers happen if they try hard enough. so we exhausted what we could on that. the next part of the process is

to be screened by the news management team for writing ability and his on-air performance ability and all of that. and i don't think he was the strong e strongest applicant we've ever had, but he passed muster of our news management team at that time. and it's very similar to the process we've used time and time again that has produced outstanding journalists. i want to clarify something i just asked my lawyer. said have you picked up on anything yet. he said make sure the people understand that when we send somebody to the employee assistance program or when they reach out, that can be for any number of reasons. it doesn't necessarily singnal any kind of mental health issue, although it can. family assistance, financial problems or what have you. and i think he had a number of issues that caused us to think

that the eap would be a good place for him to go. i don't think we identified that he had mental health issues. we certainly identified that he had performance issues. and one of the reasons we send people to professionals may be to help them sort that out. we didn't say you have mental health issues, go to the eap. i believe we said you have performance issues and issues working with your colleagues, and for that we want you to get some outside help. >> were you contacted in the year since he was fired by any potential employers about hiring him? >> i don't think i was. have you been, monica? no. >> i know we heard a statement from his family -- [ inaudible ] has that family reached out to you in any way other than -- circling around. and did you get any indication --

[ inaudible ] >> i haven't seen the statement. has anybody else seen the statement? okay. our newsroom's received it. i don't think we've had any other contact from the family, have we? it's great to have the whole team out here to fact check what i'm saying. yes, sir? >>. [ inaudible ] -- that the station settled with him over the allegations and the lawsuit. is that true? and could you specify what that settlement might have consisted of? >> i'm not at liberty to say whether we settled or what we settled for. in the hypothetical, i will say that we don't settle for significant amounts. >> but in the interest of the question ask earlier about what advice you could give to other countries, perhaps your settlement, it was too small or too large, might have some bearing on the situation. >> i don't think so.

if there were a settlement in a case like this, it would have been accepted by the individual and that's -- that almost always puts the issue to rest. but that's hypothetical in this case. i'm not going to discuss the nature of any settlement. >> just to clarify. >> yeah. >> i understand that people can go to the employee assistance programs for a variety of reasons, but you wanted him to go specifically because of his behavior, correct? >> behavior and performance issues. the anger and the inability to work with his colleagues from time to time. >> sir? >> yeah. >> where do you go from here as a newsroom? >> we march together putting one foot in front of the other. mourning our loss, never forgetting alison and adam and realizing that they died in the performance of their duty. and we are not going to shirk

that duty as we go forward. our job is to cover the soft stories like tourism at smith mountain lake and our mission is also to cover the hard stories like child abuse when we did the one-hour special last week and all those other pieces we did on child abuse. we are committed to the hard stories and the stories that make this area special. and there is no pulling back from that. we go forward. we learn and we go forward. >> so moving forward, part of that is going to be addressing lots of things -- because the newsroom is now intrinsically tied to the story. you're going to have a vigil out here tonight. how difficult does it make it when the newsroom is actually part of the -- [ inaudible ] >> we've been talking about that. >> you know, it's certainly a challenge. but i think our journalists are

up for the challenge and they realize that there will be a political side to this as gun control is discussed as part of this. and we will cover this story as we cover any story, we'll report both sides of it and we will do it accurately and fairly. that's really all we can do. they're trained as journalists, they're trained to look at both sides. and that's the way we'll handle it despite this is an issue for us. these are the same people that are going to be covering it and getting both sides of the story. i don't think this is going to be an issue. these journalists will rise above this. >> one or two more and then if you have any follow-ups, we'll try to address them. anybody else? >> how's adam's fiancee? >> what do you know about melissa? >> adam's fiancee is obviously

in tremendous grief. it is -- you know, it is bad enough to find out that your fiance is shot. it's worse to be the producer of the show where that happens live. we are all -- and i would ask you on behalf of the family to respect their privacy. this is a really, really difficult time for her and she is -- has family around her right now and is really doing the best she can to cope. this will be a long -- long recovery for her. and we are going to wrap our arms around her and hold her like we are doing with everybody else. >> one more, anybody? well, thank you for letting us do this all at once and for -- for letting us share with you what we feel is pertinent. i want to echo what kelly was implying was that this is all about loss and grief and moving forward and service to the community and our connection to the community. this is less about a dead man

who made other -- two other people dead. except to the extent that there may be any lessons to learn. but that will take time. this is the day after. and tomorrow's the day after the day after. and it's just going to take time for us to heal and for all of us in the roanoke area and -- to -- to deal with this and i want to just for the moment remember them with fondness and appreciation for the people they were and what they meant to our news organization. take care and thank you. >> thank you all. you've been listening to jeff marks. he is the general manager of wbj, the virginia television station rocked by that double murder yesterday. he was talking both about the people, the reporter and the cameraman who lost their lives in that attack, as well as the killer who worked at that

station previously. was let go two and a half years ago. adam reece is on the scene. your thoughts on what we heard? >> reporter: sure. he said that he arrived in 2012, march of 2012. he didn't even last a year. but he did come with some good reviews. mark said that isn't so hard to do in today's day and age. but it quickly went downhill from there. he quickly was receiving performance issues, anger issues, he failed to check facts. he had poor news judgment. soon after that, he was apparently having confrontations with an anchor person, also some photo journalists. it wasn't too long before management decided he needed to be fired. when they told him that, he said there's going to be a sting, you might want to call the police, it will be in the papers. that was very concerning to them. sure enough. it was a friday afternoon. several colleagues reported that there was a stink. he was throwing furniture around. people were very concerned about

their safety in the newsroom. he was eventually escorted out of the building. on the way out, he gave a wooden cross to the news director saying, you're going to need this. he also turned to adam ward, was also filming this whole episode inside theroom. he turned to him and made some derogatory comment. i just want to mention one other thing that's pertinent here. he left here two years ago. but he was living right across the street from the station. that made many people feel very uncomfortable here. >> thank you for that, adam. go down to hallie jackson also on this story for us. two things that jumped out from the press conference, one as we were just discussing, the employment history and the situation that was con fronted this. speak to that in conjunction with the reporting you've been doing. if you want to comment on the other pertinent information about the murder itself, the

news director saying there was an earlier hit on air appearance by the reporter around k5 10 in the morning. was possible this killer took from that that he could come do this attack. >> let's start with that second peace. they last typically for about two hours. you'll see the news crew go out, do a hit in the first half hour, another in the second and then in the second hour of the show as well. that's what he was speaking to. it's possible that somebody may have been able to get to that location. again, we don't know where vester flanagan was coming from. we do know where the shooting happened is about 45 membershin south of wdbj in roanoke. a couple things do jump out, maybe some question marks to narrow down or answer here.

one is the employment history and how flanagan was hired given that there were other issues. he had been fired from previous news stations in the past for example, one in tall a see for similar issues. for performance and confrontational anger issues. the fact that the references were positive is interesting. the fact that he was fired and gone through a series of performance reviews that he never actually improved upon is also significant. there were students for flanagan apparently to improve. that didn't happen. it was that combination of poor performance and attitude issues that led him out the door in the way that adam described. couple of other highlights from the press conference. we heard jeff mark say he's proud of the hiring he's done generally, that good staff work there. although, as he said every now and again, one's going to slip through the cracks. you heard the news director say

when it comes to the issue of for example gun control, something that has risen to the top today, we've heard from alison parker's dad talking about this. she says the station will continue to report accurately and fairly on these issues. they're journalists at the core and that is what they will continue to do, really to honor the memories and lives of alison and adam. the crews are not out reporting live today. we have seen reporters from the sister station in missouri. at this location, we did see a wdbj crew come out. they appeared to shoot blit of video. people out here saying we're sorry for your loss. they are out and about. as you heard the news director say because of just an abundance of caution, they're keeping them from the live shots at the moment. >> hallie jackson reportering in moneta virginia. on "morning joe" this morning, we talked to wdbj station

manager jeff marks and alison parker's boyfriend in an extensive interview about this difficult topic. we want to play that conversation for you in its entirety. >> chris, wow, i feel like -- i think a lot of us feel like we know you and knew alison by just the jobs you had, the life you shared. reading about you, looks like on your late shift and her early shift, you had a way of communicating. you would ask her to text you when she got to work. could you just tell us about that? >> thank you for asking me that question. yeah, it's tough to be in this business, right? and we lost two of our own. two of us. and we get each other. and that's why adam and malieli were such a strong couple and will remain a strong couple

because they were in the business just like alison and i were in the business. i worked until about midnight. would come home around midnight and would stay up for her and be there for her as she woke up and got started with her day. yesterday morning, i made her her favorite scrambled eggs and a smoothie and packed her a lunch. i had never done that before, for any woman, for anyone. i wanted to do it for alison. i just took so much joy and something so minor as cutting strawberries to pack for her lunch. and you know, she was the most important thing in the world to me. so i did worry. i worried about her just like anybody would worry about the person that they love the most. and so we would text each other when we got to work like so many other couples do. she would have to go to work in the middle of the night. so of course, i wanted to hear

from her and make sure she got to work safe. last night, she texted me that she got to work safe and said good night sweet boy and that was the last i had ever heard from her. i saw it before i went to sleep and a few hours later, i woke up to calls telling me to come to the station. >> sounds like it was completely real between you two, planning on getting married? >> of course. we had only been together nine months. and i know that's not a long period of time. but we had a love that burned white hot. we met at the station christmas party last year. that's not when we met, but that's when for some reason something came over me. i saw her in the most beautiful golden dress. >> i remember. >> everyone remembers the way she looked that day. something came over me. something in my head said, chris, you got to do something to get her attention, to get her to be interested in you. and for some reason, she was

interested back and we had our first date on new years' day. we went to a mexican restaurant. she loved mexican food. we couldn't eat any of our food we were so nervous. it was the start of nine wonderful months. we celebrated monthiversaries because we never even got to have an anniversary. for the sixth month, she gave me a book that i've been sharing with people because it was personal to me and to her when she gave it to me. but now i feel like the entire world and country wants to know her and know about how beautiful she was. and she called us the cutest newsiest prettiest couple ever. i believe it. and -- and we were going to get married. she died at her happiest, i can tell you that. i was talking with her parents last night, and we believe that. she celebrated her birthday a week ago on the 19th.

she turned 24. every year she went down to the river outside asheville and went white water rafting and kayaking. she's really good at it. i don't know what i'm doing out on the water. it was the best time that i've ever had. she had a great time too. and there's a part on the river where there's some log cabins and it's beautiful and tranquil. she turned back. we were in separate rafts. she said, chris, this is where i want to marry you. we moved in together at the beginning of august with the hopes of saving money to buy a house and to buy a ring. and i gave her a ring that i bought for her birthday just as a promise ring. i told her it was a promise ring. and i looked yesterday in our apartment and i couldn't find it. i know that she was wearing it yesterday when she died.

>> you said it was the gold dress. do you remember what you did to finally get her attention? was there a moment? what was it that you did? >> i -- i -- that's between us. and there have been many things that i have shared, but the early moments of our -- of our relationship were white hot and were wonderful. and that flame remained burning yesterday and remains burning in my heart even now. >> so jeff marks, adam ward just from looking at the video seems like any of the great photographers i've worked with. just seemed like such a nice guy. do you know how melissa is doing? i know she was leaving the station. how are you all helping her cope? >> she had a rough day and i haven't talked to her this morning. but i know other members of the staff were with her.

she got the help she needed and she'll -- she's a strong person too and she will find her way through this. >> she's surrounded by people at the station, people that she loves. this station, just like so many other workplaces, but i think unique to newsrooms has rallied around those who have lost today and yesterday. >> right. >> and she loved him with all of her heart. >> and adam was just a quintessential great guy. we had a wonderful team. won the city championship. he kept them in stitches on the morning shift. when everybody was just a little bit tired coming to work, he'd liven things up. there wasn't anything that he wouldn't do for the community or for his fellow workers. >> but it is just -- it's unkogsble to think because they were going to leave us. melissa was going to leave us

the next day. if you want to move up, you can't stay in the same location. it was her last day of work. alison brought her a bottle of wipe and balloons to say good-bye. >> you guys have the most amazing memories. thank you so much for sharing them with us. thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. to folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain... shoots and burns

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we are back following the developing 2016 politics. a lot happening today. donald trump riding high in new polls and campaigning in south carolina. >> i don't wear a toupee. it's my hair. i swear. >> it is. >> it is. say it, please. >> yes, i believe it is. >> thank you. general, i can't call him bush. he doesn't use his last name. did you ever see a sign that says jeb bush or bush. there's a reason he doesn't use his last name because hst hst not going to work too well. i'm going to bring jobs back from china and japan. >> a new poll shows political outsiders trump and ben carson in the lead. few experts believe this is what the race will look like when the

actual voting begins in january. that is partly because trump's ram recognition could matter less and negatives among many republican voters matter more. and arrogant is actually the word that first comes to mind when voters are asked to describe him. hillary clinton's lead among democrats also lagging among democrats. joe biden running better clinton and bush. we start in greenville, south carolina. donald trump here today doing what he does best, an unconventional speech. we just showed part of it. he also read from a "new york times" story that he liked, or at least liked part of it. today, he said this isn't just a campaign, this is movement.

what does he mean by that and what did you see? >> reporter: well, he certainly hopes that it's a movement. he's talking about what he's calling the silent majority, resurrecting that term. he's he thinks he's speaking to. people feel in some ways this country has passed them by, they want hope and change. they don't want obama's kind of hope and change. they want to see the country go back to a place they're more familiar with, they want to see a wall built, immigration become a top priority. they want to see somebody in office who is speaking to them, speaking easily to them, in words that they can understand, these are the things people are telling me. they don't want to hear political double speak and they don't want to be lied to. a lot of the politicians they have elected have certainly lied to them. he was up there talking about lindsey graham, who is the home state senator, you get a lot of cheers when he was bashing lindsey graham saying lindsey graham was behind him so far in the polls, the people reacted

very well to that. he was easy on lindsey graham today, didn't read his cell phone number out or anything. surprising when you expect him to be harder on somebody, he comes out, and all he says is, he's not doing well in the polls. >> as you well know, easy is it a relative scale for donald trump on the trail. katy tur, thanks for spending some time with us. >> for more, we go to dana milbank and michael warren. a staff writer at the weekly standard. you've argued that some conservative elites have underestimated donald trump and misunderstood his appeal. what do you mean? >> any time he had someone in the republican establishment say, this is it, this is the end of trump, he keeps on rising, i think it's because they do misunderstand what his appeal is, we may listen to a donald trump press conference or an appearance, say, he's polished,

all over the place, he's crazy, it's kind of a refreshing pace. he's quick witnessed. he's funny if you like that sort of thing, it's something you're seeing here in these polls, people are tired of the old way that politicians always seem to be acting. you can say what you want about donald trump, he's not skrupted, he's not doing anything that a normal conservative would tell a candidate to do. that's refreshing. that's why you're seeing him go up, up, up. >> and dana, you cannot argue with these polls that clearly show something. does that something mean he's going to be winning states? the verdict is out. i want to read to you from an analysis here in the new york times that was quoting a reputable firm that used to do data analysis for president obama's victorious campaign. he fairs among voters who don't

regularly participate in primary elections, he leads the other gop karndy dates. even among the most frequent voters, unless he also builds a voter registration arm of his party, he may not be able to capitalize on people who don't usually participate in primaries. >> i think what you're seeing now is the effects of celebrity. and name recognition. and also the fwakt that donald trump is hitting all of the ideological pointses. he had the advantage of coming in this with no real record, take the position that would be the most ideal for the republican primary electorate. and hit all of those points. when you look at it and say, is the republican party going to have donald trump as its nominee, i think most people would say, that's not going to happen, because that would be something suicidasuicidal. the question is, how does that not happen given where the polls are right now. i think the answer is, you are getting at it earlier, when it's

a choice of donald trump or somebody else, whether it's jeb bush or scott walker or somebody else, it's a choice, as opposed to donald trump or 16 small unidentifiable people on the stage with him. >> as a conservative thinker, does it concern you that trump is appealing to darker nativists and really ugly elements in the party? >> politics is messy, people, voters aren't necessarily as sophisticated as political scientists and pundits might hope them to be. i think trump is not speaking so much to what i think is a small segment of the voting population, he's speaking more to -- the questions of economic populous, you see him getting a little more detailed on some of these issues, he's going in a surprising way in a republican primary, talking about closing the loophole for interests that hedge fund managers often

exploit. and so i think he's tapping into something that's not so sort of easily -- this is on the left or right. it's a more populous view. he said some things that are certainly in politics, i think at the heart of what he's getting at is much more economic than i think is cultural. >> you talk about populism, that is a theme here, dana. bernie sanders pushing up on hillary's left flank. joe biden whatever he may do, obviously feels that even as the door may be cracked open, he needs to show people he's willing to spend quality time with elizabeth warren. again, pop lichl. take a look at this new sounds of joe biden, he was speaking to the dnc, a phone call about iran policy, then he spoke to the big question. >> i have to be able to commit to all of you, that i would be able to give it my whole heart and whole soul. right now, both are pretty well

banged up, we're trying to figure out that issue but believe me. giving this a lot of thought. >> well, look, i mean, i think joe biden would like to be anointed and wants to be wanted and embraced. not sending off a lot of signals that he's really got the fire in his belly to do this right now, there is that populous need out there, and he could feel better than bernie sanders. >> dana milbank, thanks for hanging with us here. that is our hour here, i'm ari melber. we'll have the latest of the tv news crew shooting. also, closing bill on a busy week. and the president's remark ten years after hurricane katrina. a lot going on, that's straight ahead. these two oil rigs look the same.

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we're following breaking news on wall street, u.s. stocks bounced back for a second consecutive day with the dow finishing up over 300 points. at one point the dow rose nearly 400 points. president obama will deliver a speech in new orleans' ninth ward to mark ten years since the hurricane katrina devastation. chris jansing is on the ground in new orleans for us. chris, good afternoon to you. let's talk about the president's address today and what we expect to hear him say. >> this is going to be about brazilians, it's going to be about a city that a lot of people have written