tv Pulse of America MSNBC February 26, 2017 12:00pm-1:01pm PST
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page. >> watch nbc news more than any other news organization in the world. ♪ hello there, everybody. live at the brokaw news center in los angeles, welcome to the pulse of america here on msnbc where your voice can be heard in real-time. and here are the stories we want your pulse on today. russia and the white house, new calls for a special prosecutor to investigate moscow's alleged interference in the 2016 election. we will tell you which republicans are behind the push. and building the wall, the trump administration is moving ahead with plans.
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but can it stop the flow of drugs coming in from mexico. i went to the busiest border in the world to find out. and diversity in hollywood. look at the hopefuls ahead of tonight's oscars right here in the city of angels. to voice your opinions on our pulse questions today, grab your laptop. grab your phone. log on to pulse. you can vote as often as you like throughout today's show. the issue of russia will not go away. the kremlin's influence on the u.s. election and whether anyone on president trump's campaign had contact with russian officials continues to take center stage. the former chair said friday a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate these matters. but today on "meet the press." senator tom cotton had this to s say. >> well, i think that's way, way
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getting ahead of ourselves here, chuck. there is no allegations of any crime occurring. there is not even an indication that there is criminal n investigations underway by the fbi. if we get down that road, that's a decision that attorney general sessions can make at the time. >> all right. so this brings us to our first pulse question today. agree or disagree: a special prosecutor should be investigated to investigate russia's alleged per peeps in the 2016 election. kelly, so russia seems really to be monopolizing the conversation here. but when it comes up, the president continues to change the subject. he points the finger at the media and he tweeted this afternoon. he said russia talk is fake news played out by the media in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks. so what are you hearing from the white house on this? >> you're right.
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this is a sensitive issue for the president who tries to bat it down and the russia question is a couple of different things. when president obama was still in his office, he and his government said there was clear evidence that russian hacking did try to interfere with the 2016 campaign season. we saw that with breaking into e-mail accounts and so forth targeting democrats in particular. now there is a question that is unresolved. were there affiliates, associates, people in the realm of donald trump's association. that is under investigation, unclear and it is the matter that makes this white house uncomfortable. we see the chief of staff who says he was told by the second in command at the fbi that a particular news story saying there was russian intelligence connections was overwritten, overstated. trying to get help from the fbi and a couple of key members of congress to refute those stories. and that's where we are.
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what would a special prosecutor do? there is no evidence of any crime here, crime referring to contacts between my associates of the president to figures in russia. the cyber hacking a separate matter. and, so, it does get murky. one of the things that's politically so explosive about this is that the president has not been as sort of arm's length about russia as most presidents have been. he has left questions about how close he is to russia. and we don't know if there will be this kind of an investigation. so that's where we are. a special prosecutor is a very big step. democrats think it is appropriate. most republicans at this point say too son. jac jacob? >> interesting to hear from isa, though. we know the president has a very busy week to come, including a speech to the joint session of congress. it is not the state of the union. what is it exactly, and what can we expect. >> reporter: even before that
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tonight, while your city is celebrating the oscars, the president and first lady will have all the nations governors invited to the white house. so there will be some pomp and ceremony here at the white house. but the speech will address an point session of congress. it will look like a state of the union address, but when a president is newly elected it is not referred to under that heading. but it will have a lot of that feeling talking about ideas for what the president wants to do and advisors say he's still working on the speech. but he will explain what he's accomplished. a lot of that having to do with executive actions. some have been controversial, as we know and trying to talk about what he needs a partner in congress to do, things like tax reform and dealing with the health care law. things where congress really has to be involved in order to accomplish something. so it will also be a chance for him to give a blueprint for what he thinks the trump presidency
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should look like and the kind of achievements he hopes to have. so it is going to be sort of heavy on policy, but in broad strokes and i think we'll all be looking to see what the tone is. dark in imagery, will this be more optimistic? that will be a big challenge. >> and also feeling somewhat kind the campaign never ended. kelly o'donnell with us from the white house. thank you so much. let's now bring in our panel. white house reporter for "politico," professor of science at college, and the former speaks man ted cruz for president. let's drill down on this. in a new nbc wall street journal poll out today, 53% say congress should investigate alleged contact between the russian government and the trump campaign and about the statement amount, 54% say congress should
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investigate russian interference in the election. a little more than half of these people say they want an investigation into russia. if congress does appoint a special prosecutor here, what's the downside for lawmakers here? >> there isn't really much of a downside except the fact it will definitely dominate the headlines and there will be leaks and subpoenas and the russia story will continue to dog the trump administration. let's not forget they haven't put forward any legislation yet to the congress. so this whole russia investigation will definitely avert a lot of energy and attention from the congress towards actually pushing the legislation that donald trump promised during the campaign. the thing is unless we do have an independent prosecutor looking into this, i don't think the american people will be happy with brushing it under the rug. they want answers. and probably the only way to do that is to get a special
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prosecutor. but it will dominate the headlines. you will hear a lot more screaming from donald trump about the media, that's for sure. >> what do you think? house intelligence chairman said the house would not engage in a witch hunt and he said this is almost like mccarthy revisited. what do you make of his statement? >> you know, i think it is a step too far to say that the idea of thinking about appointing a special prosecutor is a witch hunt. that is not at all what this should be. what we need is we need a thorough investigation from an independent authority into what happened, if anything. and again these are big question marks. so the person who should want this the most is donald trump. he should want a thorough vetting of exactly what happened. there is no right in this country that we hold more dear than the right to vote. we need free, fair transparent elections. any thought of outside external influence into that is something that needs to be thoroughly investigated. and you can't assume that the
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administration is going to be able to investigate itself and have that investigation, even if it is fair, accepted by the american public. we need a special prosecutor or an independent investigation in this. and quite frankly, congress, who is charged with investigating the white house and the administration is going to have a difficult time because of the ties between many of the congress people in charge of these committees and the white house. that's why you send it off to an independent investigator. let them handle it. let them come back and talk to the american public about exactly what they found. that's how this should be handled and that's probably how it is going to be handled in the end. >> let me get your take here. as you heard me talking about on friday. he said he was open to appointing this special prosecutor. i want all of us to listen what he had to say. >> we're going to ask the intelligence committees of the house and senate to investigate within the special areas. >> now, we need an independent
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prosecutor? >> you can't have someone on the campaign and who was an appointee. you need to use the special prosecutors statute and office. >> so, ron, what is your take? is jeff sessions too close to the president and to the white house as well? i remember seeing him out on the campaign trail with the red hats. should he be taken out of the mix on this? >> you know, i know senator sessions, and i know senator cruz speaks extremely highly of senator sessions or now general sessions as a person who is highly ethical, has a strong understanding, you know, and extremely well-qualified. the attorney general is a very ethical person. we have two different things that are being mixed up here. one is an investigation, which is taking place right now through the fbi, which is a part of the justice department. and what the congressman was speaking to is should that investigate be taken place apart
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from political appointees of the president because regardless of whatever the outcome of that investigation is, there are people who could say, well, it wasn't completely objective and so on and so forth. the separate part is that of a prosecution, and there are no laws that have been violated here at this point by anyone or not even the allegation that any laws have been violated by anyone. and, so, that's a completely separate story. congress is investigating this, both the senate and house intelligence kmicommittees are going so. it is wrong to say that that process is somehow flawed because the democrats and the republicans on those committees receive the exact same information and at the end of the day the certain public are going to know what the russians were up to. and it's important that the american people understand this and the russians know we know because this very same type of tactics they were engaging in in 2016 are the same tactics they have been using in eastern europe to mess around in germany, to interfere with the
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french election. this is part of their hybrid warfare under putin, and that needs to be exposed. >> i want to talk about something a lot of us have been talking about. the president said he would not be showing up to the white house correspondents association dinner. here is what was said today about the president not going to this dinner. watch this. >> i think it kind of naive to think we could all walk into a room for a couple of hours and pretend some of the tension isn't there. you know, one of the things we say in the south, if a girl scott egged your house, would you buy cookies from here. i think this is a pretty similar scenario. there is no reason for him to go in and sit and pretend like this is going to be just another saturday night. >> all right. we only got a couple seconds left, but i want to get everybody's take here about the president not showing up.
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>> my thoughts are that actually he would be the one on the stand. he would be the one lampooning the press. he could change the situation and the dialogue between us at the white house correspondents association dinner. it is a good way to break the tension. it would have been nice to have the president there. but at the end of the day, if he feels like he is the victim and would not enjoy himself there, it's probably for the best. >> all right. how about you? >> i think the president is doing the right thing. i have long advocated that journalists should stop going to this. i think the cozying up between the state and the white house is not something that serves the president well and i think the president is right to say he shouldn't be going to this given the circumstances. >> and ron? >> i think this is an inside the belt way event and people outside of the 202 area code will not pay any attention to the fact the president is not attending this dinner. it is probably the right thing for him to do at this time and keep the focus on what he needs
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to be doing, bringing his message to outside the belt way. >> there you have it. thank you all so much. have a great rest of your sunday. and to you at home, we have been asking you guys agree or disagree: a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election whachlt do y election? what do you think? coming up next, we will have more on who was behind the push for that special prosecutor and why some lawmakers say jeff sessions shouldn't be allowed to lead an investigation. we'll be right back.
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possible ties to russia. a short time ago he tweeted russia talk is fake news played by the media in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks. sounds familiar. the white house today is rejecting the need for a special prosecutor to replace jeff sessions as congress tries to learn what went on, if anything. here is sara hukky sanders. >> the fbi has already said this story is b.s. those are their words. they came to us. we are putting that story out there. i thisty american people deserve to know the truth and that's exactly what it is. there is nothing here. just because reporters say something over and over and over again doesn't make it true. >> did they say b.s. or something else? we have been asking you, agree or disagree: a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election. go to pulse.msnbc.com/america.
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with us a former fbi double agent and the author of how to catch a russian spy a. let's start with you. it was pointed out that in that interview, fbi director comey hasn't spoken out about russia. do you think the fbi could get to the bottom of this on its own without a special prosecutor? >> it is important to tamp out what the fbi is investigating. they are investigating the counter intelligence component of this to see if there is any crime that has occurred. that is one part of this. we're talking about the special prosecutor is the larger investigation of russia's involvement in this. this was an information warfare investigation. >> all right. i want to ask you because honestly, when i have no idea what i'm talking about in the legal word, i go to ari. the talk of this special
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prosecutor really took off this weekend on bill mar, and he's a republican. sara huk by sanders today said i don't think we're there yet. so legally, are we there yet? >> well, whether we're there depends on what kind of conflict of interest the justice department substantively thinks exists. so obviously having even friends of jeff sessions a republican say there may be a conflict is important. again, a conflict doesn't mean you have done a bad thing. it means your relations or situation are such that it would be difficult for you to choose between two conflicting interests. that's why a judge cannot pass a judgment on a defendant who is a family member. it is not to say that that judge isn't fair. but rather that's a ridiculous and impossible to put a person in. so does jeff sessions have the requisite independence, given his closeness politically to donald trump, given the central roll of the election, given his alliance and political endorsement of the trump
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campaign from before he was attorney general. the other point that's important to keep in mind is the fbi finds evidence and facts. the prosecutor decide whether or not there is grounds to charge. and that's a decision that involves judgment. it is not always black and white. the reason, the reason you would consider a special prosecutor here would be to remove any doubt. not about those underlying facts which basically federal agents are going to do the normal investigation anyway, but about the decision to move forward, expand investigation or ultimately try to charge to insew late the doj from that. there is a lot of good arguments that it would be more indepent dent, that it would be clear and give the public more confidence. >> what he is saying there about the fbi gathering evidence and facts, you have been on the inside when you became this double agent for the fbi. what's the process here? how could they get proof of the
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russians working with the trump campaign? >> that's exactly the point, is that the fbi and the doj, they investigate the crime. there is another part of this that is not just the criminal, you know, potential alleged criminal involvement between trump and the russians. the other part of this is the russians themselves, information warfare campaign and i would posit that perhaps there is a practical reason for this not to go to the doj. we need to figure out what the russians did, how they did it, what assets they used and that needs to be released to the american public. that is going to be a larger effort that does not sit just with the fbi. it will involve the 17 intelligence community agencies and i think there is the potential to have agency bias if we just leave this with the doj. that is a strong argument this should be taken out of the fbi and puts into a much larger investigation that is going to look at what russia actually did. >> all week long we have been
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talking about reporting that the white house tried to get the fbi to counter the reporting that was coming out on this, and former cia director john brennan was asked about this yesterday. he served under both parties. let's all watch this. >> the white house needs to understand that the interaction with the fbi on criminal investigations is something that really they need to steer clear of. certainly when i was in the white house for four years and the cia, any engagement about an ongoing criminal engagement was ver boat tent. >> they were also asked to knock down these reports. are there legal lines when you hear that that are being crossed? >> probably not based on what we have heard because there is communication allowed. but i think mr. brennan speaks to a type of discipline or propriety that has been somewhat in absence thus far. you want to err on the side of
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going nowhere near it. it would be better if the white house was farther from that line. >> all right. thank you guys so much. by the way, don't forget, ari melber will be hosting nsnbc live from 5:00 to 7:00 eastern. tune in, get smart. >> we're right before the oscars. you're safe. >> that's true. all right, guys. good to see you. for our first pulse question today we have been asking you, agree or disagree: a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election. first the overall tug of war, 98% agree. only 2% disagree. and breaking it down by all age groups, 25 and over strongly agree. viewers 18 to 24 also agree. a little bit less so. and i think we also have the break down by political party. let's take a look at that. democrats and independents
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strongly agree. republicans also agree but slight lly less so. 97% agree. 3% disagree that a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election. if you missed out on that one, you could voice your opinion right now on our second pulse question of the day: do you agree or do you disagree a border wall will significantly stop the flow of drugs coming from mexico. we're going to have the results later in the show. but first we will go to new orleans. a suspected drunk driver plowed into a mardi gras parade crowd last night injuring dozens, including children. the latest on that is coming up right after this short break.
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the drunk driver in new orleans has been identified. 25-year-old neilson rizzuto was arrested on the scene after he plowed his pickup through the scene of mardi gras parade goers. authorities say his alcohol content was three times the legal limit. >> he is in custody. he is being investigated right now and is at our dwi office. and, so, we send a strong message about not drinking and driving, about making smart decisions. >> nbc sara doll lop is on the scene for us there. sara? >> reporter: good afternoon. amazingly no one was killed last night when that truck driven by a suspected intoxicated driver went over that median behind me and plowed into the crowd who were gathered to watch one of the cities famed mardi gras par
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ri -- parades. 21 people were taken to the hospital. they also included a city police officer, who is still in the hospital today. in fact, we're told several people were kept overnight with injuries ranging from moderate to severe. eye witnesses who jumped into action report a scene of chaos and confusion. the driver of that week, 25-year-old neilson rizzuto was taken into custody at the scene. he is facing at least four very serious charges at this point. officials say they had prepared for crowd safety, keeping in mind some of the terrorist about of the last few months, last year. but they say there were no way they could have anticipated this. >> just a miracle no one died. thank you so much. coming up next, my report from the busiest land border crossing on planet earth. we'll look at how effective a mexican border wall could be in stopping drugs.
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that brings us to our pulse question. do you agree or disagree, a border wall will significantly stop the flow of drugs coming from mexico. we know what president trump thinks. tell us what you think. we'll be right back. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet?
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we are going to stop the drugs from pouring into your country, into your community, into your cities and poisoning our youth. >> the drugs that pour across the border, like water, so we can't let that happen. >> we get the drugs. they get the money. no good. going to stop. >> it is something that we have heard from president trump many, many times. drugs are pouring across the border here into the united states. the president's solution, a border wall, which brings us to
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our next pulse question of the day. do you agree or do you disagree: a border wall will significantly stop the flow of drugs coming to the u.s. from mexico. log on to pulse dotmsn msnbc.com/america. >> this is the port of entry. it is the busiest land border crossing in the entire world. every single day 50,000 vehicles, around 20,000 pedestrians and narcotics make their way to the other side. >> what is the biggest threat coming through these borders? >> it is everything. we're looking at everyone. we're looking at illegal narcotics, heroin, feintal, all entering the borders. >> president trump was on to something when he said the single biggest problem is hero. the san diego sector, seizures of heroin have tripled since 2010 and meth seizures have more than quadrupled.
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because of this overdoses have been die rocket iskyrocketing. >> what he's looking right now is looking at the spare tire. the spire tire potentially look for any tampering. once he sees something, he will initiate contact with the driver, talk to the driver. >> so a physical conversation. >> how are you doing? >> the d.a. says most narcotics are driven in through plazas. metropolitan borders. one thing all these places have in common, they're all areas with a border wall. >> so what we're looking at right now is this vehicle was pull into secondary screening here at the port of entry, and it got a positive hit from the k canine and in the dash are some narcotics hidden in the vehicle.
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>> they are tearing apart stuff in the engine area right now. and if you take a look inside here in the passenger seat, they have pulled out the glove compartment but nothing yet. looks like they found what they are looking for after cutting out the upper part of the engine below the windshield. they started to pull out these bags of i guess we don't know what they are yet, six of them so far, seven. eight. just keeps coming. >> i'm just looking at how many packages you have here. looks like three deep. he is cutting through these packages with just a knife. it looks like he is getting a little sample of whatever the drug is on the knife and he puts it on a scanner machine? >> he will take a sample out of a package, put it on testing equipment. we'll get a reading of what that drug is. >> do you know what that is there? >> yes. >> twha?
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>> methamphetamine. for us, hard narcotics. the packages are getting a little bit smaller for us. the number of them have increased obviously because the packaging is smaller in order to put them in deeper concealment in the vehicles. >> is that all we're going to get today? >> no. i would say we could get up another five, six loads today, and that wouldn't be abnormal for us. >> why do you want to send drugs like this through a legal port of entry? >> on a yearly basis, we're going to deal with 75 million travelers coming across the border. drug smugglers feel their opportunities to mix in with the general population. >> so they think they could sneak it by you. >> right. >> but ultimately -- >> right. >> it was an extraordinary thing to see first-hand. joining me now to discuss what i saw down at the border is jerry
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mccaffrey and former director of the national drug control policy and msnbc contributor and professor at the university of texas. general, i'll start with you. we saw there are obviously plenty of drugs coming through what are legal ports of entry. you just show your passport. what is your reaction? >> look, you know, i have looked at border issue for 15 years. this has turned into the most inname debate imaginable. of course you want control of the u.s. border. population, illegal movement of people, heroin, terrorists, you name it. 650 miles of tt border are ready fenced and have a barrier system and it helps reduce crime and illegal crossing. if you want to stop the drug problem, you can't do it by intradikting the border alone. it is an assistance, but it is not the main line way you approach it. you have your parents and
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pediatricians and coaches tell their kids don't use drugs during the adolescent years. that's the secret to working the drug issue. >> do you get the sense that the president understands that, general, when so much -- so much effort has been put into this idea of a border wall. we heard three clips just at the top of this part of the show of the president saying that's what's going to stop the drugs that are pouring over the border. again, general, is the president sort of misunderstand where the drugs are coming from at this point? >> probably. i think he's also hiding behind that rhetoric because he's really talking about illegal migrants in the united states. here again we got a problem. the country's economy won't work without millions of hard working spiritual family oriented central american and mexican workers. the agricultural system, construction, meat packing, none of it works without those hard working people.
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we need to find a way to bring them in and out of the country legally where they could wire their money home. they are not being shaken down by mexican border police when they go home. that's the problem. we've got to have those workers in the united states. we don't want them dying in the desert crossing. we need them to come through the port of entry. >> what we have seen here, the general just mentioned people dying in the desert. i shouldn't say they are not bringing theme throu ining them desert. the president said over and over he's going to stop the flow of drugs with this wall given what we just saw, is that in some ways an empty promise? >> it is, jacob. and i want to underline something the general said, which is essentially drugs come to the united states, as do undocumented persons, because there is a demand. it's econ 101. if you have demand, there is
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going to be supply. mexico is going to send them. so you need to compartmentalize these programs and say if we want the drugs to stop pouring over, we stop the demand. and i don't mean stop the demand by throwing people in jail. i'm talking about treatment, early intervention, talking to kids, adolescents about not even starting with drugs and the same lesson goes to undocumented migration. if we don't want undocumented migrants, let's start working the undocumented immigrants we have here and instead go after the employers hiring them. >> let's talk about this idea of enforcement that you both mentioned. there are reports that immigration agents recently moved an undocumented woman with a brain tumor from a texas hospital back to a detention center without even being treated. what is your opinion? that there should be more empathy on the part of agents in the field, or is that outside of their job description? >> it's technically outside of
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their job description, but i'm going to take president trump at his word. he said that when he was dealing with the issue of immigration, he was going to have a heart. he was going to do things humanely, hence not going after the deferred action students. but i mean, come on. this poor woman literally dying of brain cancer and you have to make an example on her and use her as an example. that doesn't work. if anything, it backfires. >> could i mention one other factor. >> go ahead, general. >> there are physical threats along that border now. we got to remind ourselves. there are gangs 20, 30 backpackers, drugs, ak-47 automatic weapons. the boarder patrol is at huge risk. so some of these communities have been terrorized by mexican
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par te cartels. we can't ignore that aspect of the story. >> and i would imagine the secretary of homeland security had with their mexican counter parts on their trip late last week. thanks to both of you on this sunday. appreciate it. >> good to be with you. >> thanks, jacob. >> we have been asking you all, agree or disagree, a border wall will significantly stop the flow of drugs coming from mexico. let's see what you guys are saying. 96% disagree. 4% agree. breaking it down by political party. democrats and independents strongly disagree. republicans also disagree, not quite as much. and now by gender. both men and women strongly disagree. and the final scoreboard here, 6% agree. only 6%. 94% disagree that a border wall is going to significantly stop the flow of drugs coming in from mexico. now looking ahead to the oscars
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tonight. this year is the most diverse academy awards ever. 7 of the 20 nominees in acting are people of color. does this signal a shift in film making. we're asking you. hollywood is making more of an effort to produce diverse films? log on to pulse.msnbc.com/america. while we're talking about the oscars. some sad news. bill paxton has died after complications from surgery. he appeared in many major films, including "titanic," "twister" and "apollo 13." (vo) maybe it was here,
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she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. i am jacob over at the bro ka news center out in los
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angeles. a live look now at the red carpet as we count down to tonight's 89th annual academy awards, hollywood's biggest night, as we say. and we remember last year when the oscars were just slammed for not having enough diverse nominees. the #oscarssowhite took over social media. they went as far to boycott the academy awards last year. do you agree or disagree, hollywood is making more of an effort to produce diverse films. let us know what you think. joining me right now from here in laos angeles, stephanie. give us a preview of what we could expect out there tonight. >> reporter: hey, jacob. indeed you just saw that shot of the red carpet. of course it is very busy here. the stars have not arrived yet. but all the media is here from around the world. you saw the crowd assembled in the stands getting ready to
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observe and watch this red carpet go down. we are also under a tarp because we have had some rain here in los angeles. but a big night expected ahead as you talked about last year, the big controversy, #oscarssowhite. well, this year, there are a record six black actors nominated, including denzel washington and viola davis in "fences." it's a very tight race between denzel washington and casey affleck be touted for his performance in "manchester by the sea." but let's talk about another possible hash tag. will the #oscarssowhite be replaced by oscars no political? many people are predicting that we will see a lot of politics in tonight's show. will they use it as a way to speak out against the
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administration and donald trump? a lot of people saying, you bet they will. will we see a repeat of what happened with meryl streep when she took that opportunity to speak out against donald trump? that's something that a lot of people will be looking out for tonight. they will be watching to see if the host, jimmy kimmel, makes any political jokes. a big night ahead. of course, there's glitz and glamour but interesting to see what happens. >> stephanie, you have the best seat in the house. i'll have the second best seat, watching from my couch. good to see you. let's turn to entertainment editor from b.e.t. to continue this conversation. we have denzel washington nominated for best actor, viola davis, octavia spencer both nominated for supporting actress. has this solved the issue of diversity? >> i won't say that they solved it but they were forced to make a change.
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social media activism does work. there was this outrage. so because of the new oscar voting rules that was put into place, it allowed more diversity, more space for oscar voters to vote differently. so i don't think it's solved but we're on the right track. the films that are nominated this year, it's not tokenism, as some folks have said. they are phenomenal films, "moonlight,"" fences," if oscar so white didn't happen, it probably wouldn't have occurred. >> critics are pointing out there is still this lack of asian and hispanic representation at the oscars. is this a problem that hollywood can solve? >> if they can solve it, they put in the work. i was so happy to see six black actors being nominated. it's a record for the academy awards but it was sad to see that, once again, latin actors and asian actors are being ignored.
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diversity is not a monolith. because we live in a diverse america, that should represent in hollywood where hollywood is looked at to be the most liberal and progressive. so we want to see them on screen and at the award ceremonies. >> thank you. >> thank you. hollywood is making more of an effort to produce diverse films. do you agree or not? the results are coming up, next.
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managing my diabetes has been a struggle. i considered all my options with my doctor, who recommended once-daily toujeo®. now i'm on the path to better blood sugar control. toujeo® is a long-acting insulin from the makers of lantus®. it releases slowly, providing consistent insulin levels for a full 24 hours, proven full 24-hour blood sugar control, and significant a1c reduction. and along with toujeo®, i'm eating better and moving more. toujeo® is a long-acting, man-made insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. it contains 3 times as much insulin in 1 milliliter as standard insulin. don't use toujeo® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis,
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learn more at toujeo.com or call 800-580-3421. also, 9 out of 10 medicare part d patients can get toujeo® at the lowest branded copay. toujeo® helps me stay on track with my blood sugar. ask your doctor about once-daily toujeo®. and a very good sunday to you. i'm richard lui in new york. thanks for joining us. right now, russia and the election. a new call for a prosecutor to investigate alleged ties as the white house tries to quiet reporters. how, if at all, will the president address the topic on his big tuesday's speech to congress? then, president trump will not attend the white house correspondents' dinner. that's the word. but why the event may still be a success. >> if a girl scout eggs your house, would you buy cooki
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