two house democrats pressuring the president, congressman luis gutierrez from illinois. thank you for joining me. >> good to be with you, tamron. good to see you again. >> let me ask you, what do you expect from the president in light of not just arizona but other actions that happened that many believe are anti-immigration efforts in this country. >> well, first of all, he should call on his department of justice and attorney general to challenge the law if it's signed by the governor. that's why we have a civil rights division. they will clearly be violating the civil rights of many in arizona. we know who they are going to ask for papers from. it's going to divide the community from the police. the police should have a good relationship with the community that it's there to serve and protect and not act as immigration a little. lastly, i think it's very important, can you imagine if arizona were to usurp the role of the federal government in terms of epa, banking regulations. obviously they could not do that. we should not allow them -- this

federal government should not allow them to usurp the immigration law. it is the responsibility of the federal government to regulate the immigration policies of this country. what we're going to have in arizona is simply profiling. i think you know who they are going to ask. >> using your family as a personal example, you, yourself, could be profiled in arizona and your family, puerto rican family, americans. >> listen, i once came to the capital of the united states with my daughters. a capitol hill police officer asked me for my id. when i presented my id, they complained that that id was false, tamron. this actually happened about 10 years ago. you know, tamron, when i complained, she said i could just go back where i came from. where am i supposed to go back to, i was born in chicago. that's what anti-rhetoric does,

stigmatizes a group of people. they shouldn't do it, because they will profile people. >> as a result of the pressure you would like to see on the administration you've told or possibly alluded to the fact you want latino voters to stay out of the voting booth in the midterm election. is that the right solution? >> okay. here is what was said. i'm happy you're bringing it up. the reporter says, you really don't have anywhere to go, luis. the republicans treat you so poorly, so badly, so anti-immigrant, you are forced into the arms of the democratic party. i said, well, you know, people can refrain from participating and refrain from voting for democrats. i didn't call for it. i haven't ruled it out. i don't think you should rule anything out, but it's not part of our discussion or debate today. i think we should focus on the senate getting comprehensive immigration bill done here in the senate. i think we should focus on the president and making sure as he sits down today with the judiciary chairman leahy on the nomination of our next supreme

court justice, let's get it done. barack obama made a promise, it's very clear, he was very eloquent and very passionate about it when he ran for president of the united states. you know something, millions of people came out to the polls and responded to that pledge and that promise. all we're saying is keep the promise to comprehensive immigration reform. >> congressman gutierrez, thank you for your time. >> thank you. now to the controversy over the immigration enforcement bill that passed in the state legislature in the state of arizona. it would be one of the toughest, as i mentioned, in the nation giving state and local police broad powers to among other things check an individual's immigration papers if they reasonably pequot they are in the country illegally. it has sparked protests which resulted in arrest. with us republican senator who supported the measure which is now awaiting the governor's signature. thank you for joining us. let us hear your argument for people out there say aing, come

on, this is too much. what is your best way to convince them this is the right thing for arizona? >> i'll give you the best argument. an arizona judge just convicted a serial child rapist that raped 12 and 13-year-old girls to 165 years in prison. he had been deported three times and had numerous encounters with law enforcement officers. just two weeks ago we had an innocent arizona rancher and his dog murdered by someone who had crossed into this country illegally, killed him and then walked back across the border into mexico. mr. gutierrez talked about a civil rights issue. i don't know about any civil rights more important than your own life or the innocence of a child. we have 17% of the people crossing the border in arizona are here to commit crimes. yes, i'll agree the vast majority are coming here looking for work. how do you separate those here looking for a better life and those coming here to prey upon the citizens of arizona? it's really simple. you enforce the law.

that's all this bill disenfranchisement it encourages and enables law enforcement officers to enforce the law. federal government passed the law in 1986. >> let me go back to the example you gave with the person who committed heinous -- anyone listening would say those are disgusting crimes. you pointed out that person had a list of other criminal issues he faced in the past. current law, if you're in the criminal justice system, police, state and local can check your immigration status. so that was a loophole that could have been avoided. you don't need this law to have enforced that. once that individual was arrested in the past, they could have -- >> that's not the truth. we have sanctuary city policies in the state implemented by very liberal mayors and city counselors. >> that protect people that have been arrested? >> yes, ma'am, they do. they are not allowed to ask for their status. you have guys committed laws,

one-third of the inmates in our prison system are here illegally. we have got to do something. the federal government has failed on a monumental level to secure the border between arizona and mexico. fifty% enof the people crossing the border are coming here through the tucson sector, my legislative district. one out of five of them are here to commit crimes. >> how do you avoid racial profiling. you hearth luis gutierrez, born in chicago, as american as you or myself, how do you avoid racial profiling. >> the left loves to throw the race card. the reality is we actually strengthen the civil rights provisions in this legislation to make it one of the most strict civil rights enforcement requirements in the state of arizona. a law enforcement officer has to have a lawful encounter with someone before they require immigration status. for example, if you get pulled over for speeding. that is a lawful encounter. then the police officer asks you

for your driver license and you cannot produce any driver's license or documentation whatsoever. he has reasonable suspicion. he has the ability to inquire under this law. it strengthens a federal law passed in 1986, immigration reform and control act allows any officer to enforce the law and make sure people are in this country legally. that's all it does. >> republican senator frank antenori. there are people -- >> that's not true. the majority of the law enforcement officers support it. >> i'm saying there are some. you're saying a majority. i'm saying some, which is my statement that you've attempted to correct. there are some, correct? >> ma'am, if the chief of police were appointed to those positions by member of the city council and mayors the rank and file support it. >> some police are not happy. we'll end it there. thank you so much for your time.

>> very few. thank you. >> it was a pleasure having you on. thank you. right now president obama is in a meeting with four key senate members to talk about the opening on the supreme court. he says he's confident that he will get a name to congress by the end of may. some say even earlier. the bipartisan group includes harry reid, mitch mcconnell, patrick leahy and jeff sessions. all four will lead. mike viqueira at the white house. nothing better than to have a date to look forward to. looks as if the administration is giving us may 26th. >> reporter: very interesting. may 26th being the magic date sonia sotomayer was nominated and her nomination was confirmed by the senate before the august recess and that is the practical deadline to have someone seated on the supreme court or ready to be seated by that october date when the supreme court comes into session. actually the president just said, we saw him in a photo-op with the senators you mentioned. he said may 26th, maybe a little

earlier than that. perhaps tipping the hand, we're obsessed with calendars and schedules even though half the time they blow through deadlines. this seems to be firm of the president made some interesting comments, asked about a potential nominee's views on abortion, the president, might not be any surprise to anyone, said he will look for someone willing to protect individual's rights and women's rights as he put it. the president kicking off this process inviting top senators, republican and democrat, into the oval office to discuss impending nomination. he plans after the meeting to make calls to other senators. tamron, let's not bury the lead. he's had informal telephone conversations with the nominees themselves. he's got it down to about ten or so with three they keep mentioning at the top. we should emphasize the formal interview process has not begun, tamron. >> thanks, mike. europe's busiest airport living up to its name after being grounded thanks to a

volcano in iceland. planes lining up to take off and land at heathrow airport. the first flight landed yesterday afternoon from canada. the passengers on board certainly were relieved to say the least. >> where did you come from. >> vancouver. first to land. excited beyond belief. there were cheers, clapping. it was wicked, i was high-fiving the guy next to me and loving it. >> tom aspell from london, tom, if all goes well, how long before they clear up the backlog of people still waiting to be out? >> reporter: tamron, that could be days, could be weeks. there are literally hundreds of thousands of passengers all over the place trying to get to destinations. british alone 150,000 this need to be repatriated from britain. a lot going out empty. the emphasis has shifted over to how much this is going to cost the european union at a time

when it was just emerging from recession. the estimate is so far $1.7 billion for the airlines. interestingly enough there is already talk that the airlines asking the government for compensation much like the u.s. government did to its airlines after 9/11 and the symptomages in the states. tamron. >> thank you very much. tom aspell live for us at heathrow airport. stunning words from pope benedict as he speaks in public about the church sex abuse scandal. for the first time ever. the husband of a missing ohio mom pleads for her return. his words coming up. also ahead disgraced illinois governor rob blagojevich publicly lashes out at the feds. >> in their lies they are hitting below the belt and attacking my wife. they are cowards and they are liars. ♪

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welcome back. we're following some developing news regarding pittsburgh steelers quarterback ben roethlisberger. espn is reporting that the nfl will announce a suspension. the sports network saying roethlisberger will be suspended four to six games. this is in connection to a case that was thrown out by a district attorney after a woman accused roethlisberger of sexual assault. the case was not pursued in criminal court, however, the nfl is expected to hand down a punishment, according to espn of four to six games for pittsburgh steelers star ben roethlisberger. we'll keep you up to date on this and bring you any developments out of pittsburgh on this story that's been swirling around that football player. a 3-year-old boy reported missing in florida monday, he's been found abandoned in the heart of new york city. nathaniel fons left at st. patrick's cathedral with only a bizarre note in his pocket.

the story gets even stranger now that police say the child's mother and a boyfriend were arrested in florida for passing counterfeit cash. nbc's ron allen is here now. ron, we live in new york city, so to give people perspective, this child is left in one of the busiest places you could wander into. >> at a church by a woman, taken in by the police in the rectory. he's okay, in the hands of the new york city police who are taking care of him. the note was for a police detective in florida. the mother is in jail for counterfeiting with a boyfriend. they tried to pawn a $100 that was phony. the clerk got suspicious, alerted police and they found $5,000 in counterfeit money in the mom's car back in florida. she apparently had put the child in the custody of a friend, who had two children in florida. they apparently drove to new york. it's suspected that those are the two people who dropped the boy off at st. patrick's.

crazy story. those two, by the way, are also wanted in the counterfeiting case back in florida. >> now that the boy is safe, where is he now? >> he's in the hands of youth services here in new york. i imagine at a hospital or foster home being well taken care of. >> what about this counterfeiting ring this is tied up in as well. >> they are in jail. that's the alleged crime. the interest part of the story, there are grandparents of the boy who were raising him for the first two and a half years of his life. they are apparently from florida on their way to new york to take care of him. there's a custody battle between the grandparents and the mother who is in jail for counterfeiting. >> what a story. thankfully he was missing and now safe. thank you very much, ron. federal investigators arrest 14 associates of the gambino crime family on charges they say have hit an all-time low even for the mob. to the problem was to go ahead and wear hats. i was always the hat guy.

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conserves water should matter to everyone. fixing leaks can save 300 gallons of water a month. so listen for dripping faucets and running toilets. shortening your shower by a few minutes can save 150 gallons a month. watch your water bills decrease when you turn off the water while shaving and brushing your teeth. for more green information, go to our website at snmp environment.msnbc.com. pope benedict speaking out on the sex scandal that rocked the church in europe. t peters square just this morning the pope promised the church would take action. this comes after the pope's emotional meeting with eight men

who say they were abused by a priest at an orphanage. anne thompson in new york with us. anne, how specific or did we hear anything specific from the pope regarding his new desire to speak out on this? >> reporter: tamron, we have not heard specifics. that will be the next step. it is significant the pope went out and as we would say in this country, put himself on the record on this issue saying that the church would take action to confront this scandal, quite frankly put benedict's goal of reevangelizing the catholic church in europe, reenergizing the catholic church on the back burner. this scandal throughout the continent in ireland, netherlands, germany, italy, france, it has really taken root. people have been wanting to hear from the pope. the vatican in the past month has pointed reporters to the letter that the pope sent to the

church in ireland in may because it has been racked by scandal. but that wasn't enough. they wanted to hear directly from the pope. today he started down that road telling his audience in st. peters square about his meeting with abuse victims in malta over the week and promising action. the question now is what action will the pope take. there's a lot of victims' groups and critics of the catholic church who think that the pope should adopt the norms of the u.s. church. that is the zero tolerance policy that the u.s. bishops put in place back in 2002 for any priests who has abused a child sexually. that policy basically says if you are convicted, you will be removed from public ministry and you could be stripped of your priestly duties. it's a very harsh penalty. that's what critics say they would like to see the broader

church adopt. >> nbc's anne thompson live in new york. thank you, anne. general motors announced today it has repaid the $8.1 billion in loans it got from the u.s. and canadian governments as it went through bankruptcy last year. the automaker's ceo ed whittaker said it's a sign gm is on the road to recovery. he announced gm is investing $257 million in its assembly plant in kansas city and suburban detroit, both of which will build the next generation of the popular chevy malibu. a new report shows democratic and republican national committees are both the party of big spenders. details on their lavish spending plus. new information on another investigation of spending regarding the florida gop and popular candidate. plus did michael douglas's son get off easy in the sentence of his drug conviction? "dancing with the stars" says see you later to kate

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republicans and democrats catching heat for big spending. here are some receipts found in a new federal filing. take a look, the democratic national committee spent $176,000 on catering at the washington hilton. the republican national committee spend $340,000 for their meeting in honolulu. and there's a $773,000 bill for office supply. a lot of pens. mark murray, nbc news deputy political director. mark, the fumbles sound huge, but is this average? how does this follow what we would see normally. >> reporter: it's not all that uncommon, for past expenditures for the rnc and dnc or corporate america. when you're holding a convention in hawaii, it's going to be several hundred thousands of

dollars, particularly if you're holding it in hawaii. democrat's at large expenditure comes from conferences and events they have held at this hotel. this is all part of doing business. what it does come in the rnc's expenditure spending $2,000 at that sex-themed club in los angeles. that's brought a lot more scrutiny. one of the big conclusions, coming out in a "washington post" looking at expenditures in the rnc and dnc, wining and dining big contributors, it costs money to get big-time donors. we just saw president obama for barbara boxer, many democrats putting up as much as $30,000. sometimes you need to give those folks more than peanuts or crackers. >> spend money to make money. i think that's the cliche. let's talk about the developing news regarding marco rubio. what is happening there with this preliminary investigation with the irs. >> florida and florida senate

race has been one of the most interesting races to cover. in the last couple of weeks most of the focus has squared on charlie crist, whether he will make an independent enrun for the senate, might drop out of the race entirely. the new story is there's a federal inquiry into marco rubio. more important the tate republican party and how it spent and used credit cards. marco rubio and his campaign say there's nothing wrong, all the expenses were done for the party, but it's turned into a headache for him at a time when charlie crist has been getting most of the attention in this race. it does raise the question that rubio could potentially be vulnerable in a general election. he certainly is the star among conservatives. but if crist makes that independent bid, you have rubio and the democrat kendrick meek, it's anyone's games. >> "the miami herald," sentinel reporting rubio serving as house speaker used his party issued credit card for grocery bills,

repairs to his family's minivan. could this -- i know you talked a little about it. what are the worst case scenario implications for him? >> reporter: it's a potentially damaging story. it's a story his campaign has had to deal with over the past month. it's never good to have the name federal investigation around you. you can see tv ads made about this. look, the news certainly isn't good for him and how he's able to answer and respond to that can give us a good taste of just how strong of a candidate he would be in a general election in a competitive respect. >> mark murray, nbc news deputy political director, thank you, mark. fbi and prosecutors going after one of the most famous mob families in the country. the charges against 14 members of the gambino family are so bad prosecutors say it represents, quote, a new low. among charges they were involved in, interstate sex trafficking network. that could be a first in the case involving the mafia.

richard shapiro with "the daily news." interesting they are calling this a new low, many would assume the mob would be involved in anything and everything illegal. what do you know about these charges? >> reporter: what we know, 14 members of the reputed gambino crime family were hit with a slew of charges, old mafia standbys, loan sharking, extortion. seven of them running an interstate sex traffic ring, which they say is a first for the mafia. >> i also understand some of the investigation with this case uncovered a possible attempted jury tampering involving charges with john gotti? >> reporter: that's correct. apparently there was a scheme that was hatched in which these guys were trying to get to some of the members of the jury

involved in one of john gotti's trials. they had actually located the jury members and were set to start intimidating them. but they got an order from john gotti himself to back off, because he was convinced he was going to be acquitted. >> interesting developments. rich shapiro, reporter with the new york daily news. thank you, rich. >> my pleasure. former governor rob blagojevich blasting federal prosecutors and hurling accusations at him as he prepares to go on trial for racketeering and fraud charges in six weeks. here is just part of what blago said in his news conference in chicago. >> yesterday the government filed a motion to prevent me from having all the tapes they taped played in court. worse than that, while they are lying about me, i can deal with that, i'm in this business. last week in their proffer of lies they are hitting below the belt and attacking my wife. they are cowards and they are liars. if i'm wrong with what i'm

saying, i challenge mr. fitzgerald, why don't you show up in court tomorrow and explain to everybody, explain to the whole world why you don't want all those tapes you made played in court. i'll be in court tomorrow. i hope you're man enough to be there tomorrow, too. >> blagojevich is charged with scheming to use his power to fill a vacant senate seat by selling or trading that seat held by president obama. he illegally pressured donsers for campaign contributions, they say. remember balloon boy, last october a family grabbed all of our attention when they claimed their little boy was trapped in a homemade balloon. richard and mayumi heene will pay out of their pocket. michael douglas's son

cameron douglas faced drug charges. michael dogs wrote a letter asking for leniency. some are saying perhaps the sentence was too lenient. let's get the scoop from pop culture columnist courtney hazlet. what did you get? >> he got five years. he's going to be on five years supervised released affiliated that jail time is completed. he also has to do community service. a lot of people are saying this is a case of celebrity treatment. if he hadn't grown up in a famous family with famous influences that could appeal to the judge, he would have gotten a much stricter sentence. essentially it boils down to the fact he was trafficking an enormous amount of drugs for a long period of time. anybody else under those circumstances would have gotten something closer to the ten years. i think the important thing to keep in mind, though, is what professionals like dr. drew penske are saying, he needs to get treatment so he can stay in recovery. cameron douglas says he's sober now for the first time in his

adult life. if that's to continue after these five years are up or however many years he's serving, he needs to get actual treatment while he's serving out this sentence. we'll see what happens there. on a very much lighter note, someone who has been released from -- >> who needs dance treatment. >> dance recovery treatment, kate gosselin, she's finally been voted or "dancing with the stars." take a listen to what she had to say about that. >> i had the opportunity. i'm very, very honored to have been here. i love everyone that i met. it was a great experience. honestly, i cannot wait to watch the rest of these people perform on monday nights because they are all wonderful and they do a great job. i've really grown to love everyone. >> when she said i can't wait -- i thought it was going to be i can't wait to never dance again. it looked so traumatic and painful. >> the "dancing with the stars" tour, maybe she'll get practice again.

>> i don't think practice is going to help. >> she tries. >> she's got two left feet. bless her. kelly clarkson, another reality star who has become very, very famous, you remember her from winning "american idol." >> that's from burleson, texas. >> which is important to point out. she's under intense criticism now because in indonesia where she's planning a concert, if you see there that ad shows that her concert is actually sponsored by a cigarette company, one of the biggest cigarette companies in indonesia. the group saying this conseniority is going to be banned because smoking goes against islamic law. that said, here is a fun fact, according to ap, 63% of all men in indonesia smoke, one-third of the overall population smokes. this is a country where smoking is rampant. >> but it's against islamic law. >> it will be widely ignored. what they are saying is kelly clarkson needs to take a stand and say i'm not going to

participate in a concert promoted by a tobacco company. they are one of the last countries dragging their feet saying its addictive. >> she is not commenting yet? >> she's not commenting at all. her production company, personal reps. a lot of celebrity says, i'm not here to be a role maddel. but defacto you are a role model so you need to make your choices wisely. >> we'll get the latest scoop from her at 2:00 p.m. eastern. >> the miley video always comes up. >> really distracting. >> scoop.msnbc.com. we talk about more than miley and ryan seacrest there. there are things considered news but a few stories this time of the morning that make us say -- >> >> no way! >> so i love this story. a woman in virginia got morning she barring & for when she made a $425 deposit into her own bank

account. the teller accidentally entered the woman's bt number instead of the amount she was depositing which ended up putting more than $39 million in the woman's account. the woman found the mistake when she checked online later the day. the bank has fixed what they saw as a problem. a colorado man a victim of a shocking and horrifying crime. this really will make you say no way. a man lost his ipad and part of a finger when a robber viciously jangd the -- yanked the device of his hand. he said it was heavy, so as he was leaving the mall he wrapped the bag's handle. when the robber grabbed the bag and stripped off the flesh. the doctor said it was broken and the only option was to partially amputate.

police are looking for that thief. a quick clarification to a story we brought you monday on a mixed martial art event. strike force middleweight champ jake shields was being interviewed when he was interrupted by a fighter demanding a rematch. that tipped off a huge brawl on live tv. we mistakenly said this was an ultimate fighting match. it was not. it was an mma match. we apologize for the mistake. on a special note, stop attacking me on twitter. now -- and calling me names. republican lawmakers appear to be backing off threats to kill the financial overhaul bill. is the gop trying to change their image as the party of no? the sister of the maryland principal murdered in his home is speaking out. what she is saying about her beloved brother. ? [ cub ] i see a moon, with lots of little pieces. [ female announcer ] you can't pass inspection with pieces left behind. that's why there's charmin ultra strong. its enhanced diamondweave texture

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police in xenia, ohio, say

they have a person of interest in the case of the missing mom tiffany tehan became missing after leaving for a garage sale. her family and friends don't know the man. her parents and husband and baby and on the "today" show early this morning. >> tiffany, we love you. i don't know what's going on with all of this. it's a complete mystery to us. we're terrified. i'm sure you're scared as well. we just -- we miss you so much and we really want to you come home. >> there's a $5,000 reward in the case. if you have any information police are asking you contact them. tonight in washington, d.c., the public is invited to pay last respects to a beloved and well respected middle school principal, brian betts found dead in his silver springs home

last thursday. police say they are making progress in solving the murder and now his sister is speaking out about the family's loss. nbc's norah o'donnell joins us live from washington, d.c. norah, what did mr. betts sister have to say? >> his sister tells me the family is devastated. he had lots of friends and to her, it's unfathomable that anyone would want to kill him. >> do they understand what they have taken away from not just my family but the community. >> jennifer lost her older brother, but she says his students lost much more. >> they didn't take him away from just his knees, they took h -- from his nieces but hundreds of children. >> he was handpicked to transform the middle school, and it was working. >> he knew if a kid needed a firm hand or a hug.

>> police tell nbc news they are now looking closely at his computer and cell phone records. >> we have a protocol and this the process we're going forward w we're getting closer. >> what's your worst fear? >> my worst fear has already happened. there's nothing that could be worse than that. >> reporter: investigators are also searching for two men seen abandoning betts' suv in washington. >> we need to find them, talk with them, and determine what their relation is to the crime. >> reporter: tamron, we're learning a new detail about betts final hours alive according to a facebook post, he said he was settling in for an evening of grilling out and having a cocktail. he texted a friend that it had been a very tough week with students. tamron. >> thank you, norah. republicans may be shying away from a major battle with democrats over financial reform. we're going to head to capitol hill to find out what's happening now. and the treasury unveils the new c-note. the first look next on msnbc.

welcome back. look at that. you are seeing the new 100 dollar bill. unveiled this morning at the treasury department. it features, of course, a larger po portrait of founding father benjamin franklin. a 3d security ribbon and image of the bell on the front of the note that when it's tilted, it changes in color from copper to green. the new bills won't go into circulation until february. there appears to be a new effort by senate democrats and republicans to reach a compromise on financial regulatory reform. there has been more talk of that on the senate floor just this morning. nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us now from capitol hill. what do we hear and see on the senate floor, kelly? >> reporter: there seems to be, tamron, a feeling of more friendliness between the two

parties on an issue that's important to the public and one where both sides have plenty of land mines to deal with politically. also a lot to gain if they can work something out. they're trying to come up with a way to add new reforms and regulations on the financial industry to try to avoid, prevent, really head off any kind of a disaster like we saw a couple of years ago when big institutions failed. now, there had been some real tough talk earlier in the week between the parties. today we're getting a sense that negotiations to work out a bill that could get more than just one or two republican votes, but a good number of republican votes that would really qualify for a bipartisan support for a bill. republicans say that they scored a little point by having unity among their group to get more time to talk about this. and democrats feel they are on the public side of the issue. they feel that they really have the upper hand on this in trying to make this a real mission against wall street, in a way, saying that wall street is the real problem and that has been

politically quite potent because of the mood of the country. so a lot going on. we could expect a real announcement about getting through some details, and it's all very complex stuff. but the important thing is, there might really be a chance for some bipartisan action. and that's something to talk about. >> that's a big difference than what we were hearing sunday and monday, especially, as you point out, with some of the heated language. we'll see what happens next. that does it for me in this hour. thank you so much for joining me. i'm tamron hall. see you back here at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. we're going to have more on the new federal investigation into whether florida republican senatorial candidate marco rubio used party credit cards for personal allegations. how does it affect his political future? alex witt is standing by. >> we're going to take you from florida, the story you're covering there to arizona. the state legislature just passed a new immigration bill,

one of the toughest in the nation. coming up in our next hour, congresswoman loretta sanchez to discuss this very new controversial bill. stay with us. ♪ because you're tasty with toasty whole grain. [ crunch ] wheat thins. toasted. whole grain. crunch. the crunch is calling.

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[ female announcer ] visit exelonpatch.com for free caregiving resources. the top of the hour with breaking news here on msnbc. a huge explosion on an oil rig in the gulf of mexico. the search is on for as many as 12 workers that are missing. we know seven people have suffered critical burns as a result of this fire. we are dramatic video this morning of some of those workers air lifted to mainland hospitals from that oil rig. good day to all of you. i'm alex witt in for contessa brewer. we're following stories coast to coast. the big story is just off the louisiana coast. we have a dramatic picture of that oil rig on fire earlier today. that massive platform reportedly still burning at this hour as you look at it having lit up the night skies there. the rig is located in the waters about 52 miles or so southeast of the eastern tip of louisiana. authorities are making plans

right now to transfer nearly 100 workers to the mainland. that transfer is supposed to come down sometime tonight about 83 miles south of the new orleans airport. that is where those workers are going to go at this time. but as you heard, we do have confirmati confirmation, seven people have critical injuries. we know two people have been taken at least to the west jefferson medical center there in louisiana. of the two people that were taken, there was some injuries. two remain severe at this point. but they will not give us any further details beyond that. two people were also taken to that hospital. they were treated and released at this time. now, the derivation of that fire, that remains a mystery as well. investigators are going to try to figure that out. the top priority right now is getting all the injured in for treatment and then also everyone off of that oil rig, which apparently is lifting about a ten degree tilt, making it extremely dangerous. this will all be happening with those survivors being taken

about 83 miles south of the new orleans airport. we're going to speak with someone live about this story coming up very shortly here on msnbc. meantime, nbc news has learned that five pirates who fired on a u.s. navy ship in the indian ocean are being brought to the u.s. they're going to face criminal charges there. the pirates were captured last month. normally they would be taken to kenya to stand trial. but because the kenyan jails right now and their court system are so overloaded, the military has decided to bring those pirates back to the u.s. we're also getting some breaking news at this hour on quarterback ben roethlisberger and his future there in the nfl. we're getting word from espn the pittsburgh steelers quarterback will be suspended four to six games for violating the league's personal conduct policy. of course, the story comes from last month's most recent run when a 20-year-old college student accused roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her. prosecutors decided against filing the charges against roethlisberger, some contending there would be a very difficult

case to prove. one of those he said, she said sort of situations. but we are expecting a formal announcement of the suspension sometime today from pittsburgh. just moments ago, president obama said he hopes to announce his pick to replace supreme court justice john paul stevens by the end of may, if not sooner. a short time ago the president wrapped up an oval office meeting with key senate leaders he's going to need to help him confirm the next supreme court justice of the united states. and he offered some insight on what he's looking for in a potential nominee. >> i don't have litmus tests around any of these issues. but i will say that i want somebody who is willing to be interpreting our constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights, and that includes women's rights. >> it's a brand-new poll out today which finds 53% are confident the president will make the right decision with his nomination, although 46% are not confident. nbc's mike vique