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tv   MSNBC Live  MSNBC  May 3, 2012 11:00am-12:00pm EDT

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edwards family drama on display in court. this is gut wrenching. the details about elizabeth edwards collapsinging on the tarmac after confronting him about his affair. the gun lobbyist breaks silence over gun laws vowing to defend them despite serious questions raised by trayvon martin's death. hi, everybody. great to have you with me. i'm tom roberts. a linebacker considered one of the best defensive players of his generation football icon junior seau, unstoppable, played for three nfl teams, new england patriots, san diego charge hers, miami dolphins. he's dead in what authorities describe as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. today family and friends expressing their grief as well as their shock. >> i pray to god, please, take me. take me. leave my son. but it's too late. >> i can't believe he's gone.
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>> i was devastated. i couldn't believe he was dead. >> an autopsy on seau is expected to be completed today. his death follows a string of others involving former nfl players and it's raising more questions about their quality of life after the game. nbc's gabe gutierrez live in san diego. here in the studio nbc news contributor, psychologist and assistant clinical professor jeff guardeer. let's get facts and talk about how people are reacting to this. they say it came with little to no warnings there was such problems in seau's life. >> reporter: tom, good morning. that outpouring of support continues in san diego. the makeshift memorials as you can see continue to grow here at his restaurant and also at his oceanside home. police aren't saying why seau may have pulled the trigger. he did not leave a suicide note but this has come as a shock to san diego. seau was a legend here. a star linebacker at usc,
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drafted by the chargers in 1990. he was selected to the pro bowl 12 consecutive times. his last season was in 2009. life after football wasn't very easy, apparently, for seau. in 2010 he was arrested on a domestic violence charge. he drove his suv off a cliff. he said he wasn't trying to kill himself at the time, that he had only fallen asleep at the wheel. he's now the second retired nfl player in the past few weeks to commit suicide. last year chicago bears star -- former chicago bears star dave duerson took his own life. that is bringing up questions on what role concussion and head injuries may have played in seau's death. the two other players families have sued overhead injuries. they have focused on safety and crack down on hits to the head.
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we again want to stress we do not know what may have caused seau to shoot himself. he did not leave a note. his ex-wife did tell the "associated press" that he played through several concussions throughout his career. it was just part of the game although she does not know whether those head injuries may have played a role in his death. as you mentioned, thomas, the medical examiner is expected to finish his autopsy later today. >> dave gutierrez, thank you so much. as we're hearing from gabe about the troubles that happened to junior seau later in life after leaving the football field and the troubles he in his rif relationship, the domestic issue, the potential of what may have been what he said falling asleep at the wheel but falling 100 feet over the clip at his career. hindsight being 20/20, are there red flags people should have keyed on.
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>> yes, those are red flags. those are part and parcel of depression, being involved in risky behaviors, being involved in violence. when you're looking at football players where a 2000 study showed that close to 60% of them had traumatic brain injuries, and from those traumatic brain injuries we see all sorts of psychological problems but especially the depression. >> these are from the head first hits that are now making the parallel of what happens to these players after their historied careers but what happens later in life to them and the connection that is can be made. now we have these examples. i want to go over them for everybody. april falcons ray easter ling committed suicide, 62, suffering from dementia. here is the one dave was talking about. dave duerson, former chicago bears safety in 2011 shot him in the chest. in his suicide note he specified he wanted his brain to be left to science because he was suffering from issues of memory
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loss and other things that had concern for him. he wanted his brain to go to the brain bank. here we have the same thing with junior seau doing the same type of gunshot wound to the chest where they may now have access to see if his brain would match up to the similar thing they were able to confirm last year that duerson was suffering. >> you're making a very important point and i hope people are getting that these football players are not shooting themselves in the head. often with suicide if someone uses a gun they shoot themselves through the mouth in the brain. these football players are doing it through the chest so the brains are left behind so they can be studied. they are very, very upset because for the longest time the nfl would not acknowledge the fact a lot of players have the tbi, not just from the hits but the concussions that they end up sending them back into the game playing making them ill, giving them memory issues. of course, not just the depression but dementia, early
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alzheimer's. all of that then also makes them to be very depressed. they have to live with that at a young age. >> jeff, good to see you today. appreciate it. we switch gears now and focus back on the politics. we're talking about mitt romney and barack obama both having eyes for old dominion. obama and romney are targeting swing state of virginia with laser focus. the obama campaign holding one of two campaign kickoff rallies in richmond. republican rival mitt romney in the hamptons area today. with the governor. rom is narrowing the gap in other key swing states, florida, ohio, now too close to call, pennsylvania. joining me chair of the democratic national committee. congresswoman nice to see you this morning. >> you too, thomas. >> the quinnipiac poll showing mitt romney narrowing the gap
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with president obama, leading in pennsylvania. florida, your state ohio, too close to call. doesn't the president need those states to get to 270 and your state especially with florida being in jeopardy. what's your opinion on that? >> well, thomas, what we've been doing throughout the republicans primary nominating contest, while they were busy embracing extremism and trying to outright wing each other and engage what was a circular firing squad we used their contest as an organizing tool. we have been standing up the most significant grassroots presidential campaign in history as a result. what that allowed us to do is put summer organizers and fall fellows in states across the country and build neighborhood teams and establish a grassroots campaign that's done thousands of door knocks and phone calls so we've created numerous pathways as a result to the 270 electoral votes president obama will need in order to be re-elected. i'm confident because of those
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pathways, although i am also confident he's going to win my home state of florida, which is the biggest battleground state, we have a number of pathways to 270 that actually put barack obama in a very strong position comparatively to mitt romney. but at the end of the day, it's all about their policies. there is a dramatically different direction that our country would go if mitt romney were elected president. president obama has been focused on fighting for the middle class and working families and turning the economy around. >> specifically about the economy that is a weak point in the achilles heel of president obama, mitt romney with experience in the private sector. >> i don't agree. >> americans are listening onthemselves and perking up their ear. as mitt romney pivot's back on the economy in virginia yesterday, again, the swing state, take a listen. >> what i would do -- people ask me, what would you do to get the economy going. i say, look at what the president has done and do the
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opposite. >> quinnipiac showing people in ohio, florida, they think romney would be better, better at handling the economy. is there a plan to combat that narrative of romney as the better person to pick, the businessman in chief? >> well, i think we should listen to mitt romney. because if somebody tells you something, if they telegraph what they are going to do, you should believe them. he said right there we should look at what barack obama is doing and has done and do the opposite. that's exactly the problem. mitt romney would take us back to the failed policies of the past. he's publicly acknowledged right there and in his proposals that he would take us back to a time when we focused on millionaires and billionaires and made sure that they got all the tax breaks, they got all the largesse, let wall street write its own rules again and forget about the working class and middle class families. barack obama has taken us from where we were hemorrhaging 750,000 jobs a month as a result of those terrible policies to
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now after three years we've had 25 straight months of job growth in the private sector, more than 4 million jobs created, unemployment coming down. if you look at the polling that's been done, quinnipiac politicly, they asked florida voters, they asked virginia voters whether they thought the economy was beginning to improve, they said yes by more than 50%. that's why i think the economy and its improvement and president obama's focus on the middle class and working families is a strength and that's what will help propel him to the white house. >> one side that is a strength and both sides want to go after is looking to get women behind their individual campaigns. mitt romney and president obama doing this. the obama campaign launching this new initiative today targeting female voters with something called an info graphic, showing how women are impacted by president obama and romney policies. how do you think that is going to help define which person would be better as their president for an american woman? >> well, we wanted to make sure
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we illustrated what life for a typical middle class woman would be like, what it has been under barack obama's policies and what it would be like under mitt romney. can you go and see. start with julia, president obama's commitment to funding head start programs. that would be compared to mitt romney's commitment to slash them under the romney ryan budget. fast forward to when julia is 22 years old and she unfortunately has to have some surgery that was unexpected. she's been able to stay on her parents' insurance until 26 so that surgery is covered. under mitt romney's plan, he would actually say we'd kill obama care, we'd repeal it lock, stock, and barrel. julia wouldn't have that opportunity. with an unexpected catastrophic illness she could potentially be in medical bankruptcy and debt for the rest of her life. let's go to when she's senior citizen. mitt romney would end medicare as we know it and cut her
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benefits by up to 40% as a senior citizen. barack obama would make sure that we shore up medicare, make sure that she has an opportunity to have that safety net in place so she could live out her retirement years with strength and peace of mind and prosperity that she's earned. mitt romney, the message he's sending to women is campaigning with governor mcdonald who just signed a bill into law that makes sure when a woman wants to make her own reproductive choices she has to have a nonmedically necessary invasive ultrasound to be able to do it. that is the wrong message to send to women, shows how out of touch he is with women. >> thank you so much. >> thank you, thomas. we originally had the congressman's counterpart booked, chairman priebus, unfortunately he canceled. he knows he has an open invitation to come on this hour. will he stay or will he go?
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the blind dissident now says he wants to leave the state with secretary of state clinton. how elizabeth edwards found out about her husband's affair. heart wrenching details in court even her daughter kate having to leave. carfirmation. only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.
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elizabet former republican rivals beginning to loin up and unite behind romney. expected to pick up the endorsement of tea party favorite michele bachmann in virginia. yesterday he picked up a less than resounding nod from former opponent newt gingrich. take a listen. >> i'm asked sometimes is mitt romney conservative enough. the answer is simple, compared
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to barack obama? this is not a choice between mitt romney and ronald reagan. this is a choice between mitt romney and the most radical leftist president in american history. >> joining me for today's political power panel msnbc contributor and correspondent for the nation ari mel ba, former huckabee campaign manager chip saltzman, msnbc contributor from the grio joanne reed. i want to start with you. gingrich's statement yesterday was far less than a resounding endorsement for mitt romney yet that's bound to come down the line. it was more about president obama. why not take that time to give and deliver a more deliberate romney endorsement. >> right. thomas, there's a bracket online about who is giving the most tepid endorsement for mitt romney. he's never had the heart and minds. there's no margin for him to go
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full on for mitt romney nor anyone who considers themselves part of the conservative movement. there's nothing in it for them to do it. they have to as faithful members of the party give them their nod but i don't think they want to show their live. >> tea party helped propel michele bachmann, could her endorsement help woo women to support ropz as well? >> i think it's one piece of the puzzle. as we're kind of really recovering from a very tough primary, having michele bachmann who won the iowa straw poll this summer, one of the many front-runners we had during this process, i think it helps the whole process healing. i think michele bachmann's endorsement is good for military today. >> when we talk about mitt romney referencing former president jimmy carter, listen this time around. it was in virginia. >> it was the most anti-small business administration i've seen probably since carter. who would guess we'd like back at the carter years as the good
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old days. >> why do you think mitt romney is trying to push this link between president carter and president obama. >> i think it's a deliberate strategy to make people feel like the economic problems today are similar to the type of malaise we had, some people criticized the presidency of jimmy carter for not being active, get things done, telling people to put on a sweater instead of helping grow an economy. to many people it seems like an unfair critique, it does resonate with swing voters, connective tissue, not like clinton or fdr, other presidents compared to obama, he wants one of the least popular presidents. >> do you think that correlation draws people to president carter not a war hawk and president obama is a war hawk. >> compared to bin laden killing, he said carter would have done that which displayed a lack of intelligence, a 60-40,
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something he didn't support it. not sure carter would have done that but we'll hear the language. >> beef stakes, everyone wants to bet on this, the bracket for weakest endorsement. odds takers on who will be the next vice president. beside governor bob mcdonnell on the short list of rights in virginia, romney's gender gap, could mcdonnell be the troublesome choice here and not somebody romney wants to buddy around with too much. >> no, i don't think so. i think the governor of virginia might be an excellent choice. it will be the ultimate swing state, tough on the presidential slide, a huge senate race part of the equation as well. it's going to be tough. the governor is very popular there. i think as we see, we're going to get a different vp tryout about once a week for the next couple of weeks as we figure out who is going to be on this shorter long list and the real
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ones in the next couple of weeks. i think he's on the list. >> new quinnipiac, showing veeps stakes, senator marco rubio getting double digits in florida, ohio, pennsylvania, portman doing well in ohio, other states single digits. heading up the veep pick, what do you think is in her category, the syllabus what to look out for. >> someone outside of washington like governor christie or someone who at least can claim to be new to washington, part of the reforming alliances we see with tea party, rubio. have you to have that. i don't see how mitt romney with the emphasis on an outsider can go in and pick someone a longtime senator. the governor from virginia is another example of that. >> jo-ann, what do you think when it comes to picking somebody for mitt romney, making
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him look more charismatic. chris christie owns the room. that could be a bad thing from mitt romney. >> he could learn from john mccain's example you don't want to be overshadowed by your pick. that's what happened to john mccain. at the same time the pick of sarah palin drew the base in a way he didn't have it. he needs somebody to excite the base. he needs a baptist, resonate with christian conservatives. he definitely wants somebody with an outside the beltway image but if he goes too far right he further alienates groups he needs like women. you pick bob mcdonnell, it comes right to the forefront. >> new book released on the president in june describes the president as refashions himself. how do you think this is going to hurt or help the president in the general? >> i've got to tell you, this book -- we were at the grio talking about this book. i don't know this book will necessarily hurt the president. for a lot of people it seems
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weird. you have a woman who was smitten with imhad in college, writing or giving her missives about him. the language is odd. doesn't sound like a real person, doesn't sound like a college student. the weird factor. >> except the one part where she says i love you and he says thanks. >> back at you. weird. >> what do you think? do you think it will have an impression on the voters minds? >> the president is very polite. we've learned that about him. at the end of the day, i don't like to give the president a pass on many things, this is fodder for folks like us on tv more than voters. let's be honest, i don't want an old girlfriend when i was 22 years old to write anything about our relationship. >> you gave the thank you line, too, didn't you? >> pretty much. i'm pretty sure i was an idiot at 22. some people think i am today but at 22 i know i was paragraph great to have all three with you hear today. thank you for your time and insights.
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dea -- want to give a programming note, getting a chance to speak with newt gingrich's daughter, we're always fond of her being here. we'll speak about her father dropping out of the race, her future in the party. dea apologizes for leaving a young man in a cell for days, he was forced to drink his own body fluids to stay alive. what he's saying about that now. plus a lion mistakes a young boy as a zebra. wait until you see this whole thing. the young boy sits there, cool, collected, not worried. with the capital one cash rewards card you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm about to change that.
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we are getting a brand-new look into the mind of osama bin laden a year after his death. seventeen declassified documents have just been released, all part of his personal letters, from the navy s.e.a.l. team that took down the al qaeda leader. jim miklaszewski joins me with the details on this. mik, what is the most striking revelations coming out of these documents being revealed. >> one of the most striking things how many dissension between al qaeda central headed by osama bin laden and many of the al qaeda satellites in places like iraq, yemen and somalia. that was a constant theme in much of osama bin laden's writings, that he was dissatisfied with what those people were doing. also the fact that just a week before he died, osama bin laden wrote about trying to exploit the arab spring that was emerging to insight muslims around the world to rise up in revolution against their
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government leaders. then because this was a serious question on the mind of all u.s. intelligence, military officials, just how much cooperation between pakistani authorities and osama bin laden. in the writings bin laden calls them the trusted pakistani brothers but mentions nobody in specific at least in these documents. it's important to point out there's only 175 pages of documents that have been declassified. there are $15,000 documents in all that were taken. so we may never know the truth to that, thomas. >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. just so you know, you can read a lot more of the just released bin laden documents on their own on our website at tb.msnbc.com. i encourage you to check it out. the fate of a blind chinese dissident is now up in the air after agreeing to leave the embassy in beijing without asking for asylum. he now says he feels threatened and wants to leave china all
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together. in beijing, chen and his family have had this change of heart. explain to all of us what more we know about what prompted that. >> reporter: well, u.s. officials were at the hospital again today talking to chen and his wife. the impression i get is they have been quite shocked as what they describe as a change of heart. they say he was very upbeat when he left the embassy, very positive about this deal they thought they had with china safeguarding his future and giving him a new life really here. now, u.s. officials say that clearly he was very emotional, that when he got to the hospital he had an opportunity to visit his wife. his wife told him about beatings she had faced, abuse after he escaped. also he was taking calls from friends and supporters. i think it was a very, very difficult night for him. he was isolated, complained the u.s. officials that had taken
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him to the hospital had left. he had nobody to talk to. i think in that context he began to have serious doubts about this deal. of course now we're very much back to square one. but he's effectively under chinese jurisdiction again. >> nbc's ian williams in beijing for us. thank you. on a different note kate edwards burst out of her father's corruption trial in tears. what made her break down? we'll explain. plus -- >> my point pointed out to me approximately 219 times, give or take two or three, moon colony wasn't my best comment in the campaign. >> either a laugh out of the moon comment. what it means to his political legacy. [ female announcer ] gross -- i'll tell you what's really gross:
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friend about how her ailing mom elizabeth edwards collapsed in an airport parking lot in grief when she learned of the former presidential candidates infideli infidelity, just one of the powerful and sad things in greenville carol carol. joining us university professor stephen friedman. good to have you back on with us. as we talk about this testimony, it's so voyeuristic it's coming forth. it caused a reaction came from a former campaign staffer, close friend to elizabeth edwards, the details very sad. after elizabeth recovered, confronted her husband, tore off her bra and blouse and said you don't see me anymore. from your legal perspective, how does this testimony affect the jury, what's going on in this courtroom and the damage it's doing to john edwards.
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>> this was really gut wrenching testimony and it definitely brought to the surface the human drama. however, the prosecution risks having the jury very distracted from the true issue here, which is a violation of campaign laws, not nearly as emotional but that's what he's on trial for. >> again, this is very voyeuristic to have all this come out and have people be able to look inside their very personal hell of what she had to go through, not just through her medical condition but the hell of what their relationship turned out to be after this revelation surfaced to the top. steven, more aides on the stand today, some of them associated with 100-year-old bunny mel lon, gave the bulk of the money to keep rielle hunter, the mistress, quiet. how important is her role on this? >> bunny's role is important. campaign laws limit donations to
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$2300. it's listed today she did give a donation of $2300. she gave hundreds of thousands of additional dollars. the question is was bunny rescuing john edwards the person and signing up for his campaign against poverty or was she contributing more to his campaign for president. >> meanwhile very young was on the stand this week pretty much defending her husband andrew young, edwards right-hand man through all this. there's other witnesses coming on not painting such a rosey picture of the kind of guy andrew young is. >> we saw today in court one of the prosecution's own witnesses called andrew young shady. this is really important to the defense that andrew young, a key witness to the prosecution, be brought low and disbelieved. >> professor steven friedman from university school of law, great to have you with us once again. we'll let you get back in there. after months of trailing behind the leaders in the gop race newt gingrich finally
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dropped out. making that announcement in virginia. while he can't bring himself to officially endorse mitt romney as the gop nominee he reinforced his vision for the conservative base. >> the election is an interim step then you have the next struggle. every conservative should be prepared to work every single day long beyond this election. >> jackie is newt gingrich's daughter and served as an adviser to the campaign. jackie, great to have you here again. romney is meeting with rick santorum tomorrow and says he wants some promises from mitt romney. will your father sit down with the man he once called the massachusetts moderate and is there anything your father wants in exchange for a stronger endorsement? >> well, thomas, first of all, thank you very much for having me on. i always love coming and being with you. secondarily dad and governor romney have had several conversations and several meetings and will continue to talk to the campaign staff, romney campaign staff. they are finding out what's the best way to use dad's talents.
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he talked very passionately yesterday, as you said, about the future of our country. he's very clear not only do we need to keep the house of representatives republican. we need to regain the senate as well as have a republican president. there's plenty of work for all conservatives to do this fall. the question is what's the best way to use my father as part of that plan for the fall. >> certainly mitt romney will want your dad's sharp tongue on his side because your dad spent months attacking mitt romney, repeatedly questioning his honesty, even once calling him a liar with rick perry criticized romney's strength, his business experience. is your dad ready to take all of that back? >> i think he's very ready. he said this yesterday, to say, look, this fall we have a clear comparison, governor romney versus barack obama. if you look at those compare sons clearly governor romney is much more conservative and has the values we need. i think, and you mentioned this earlier in the show, one of the things my dad brought to the
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stage when he was a candidate was the big idea. if you think about where we're focusing now as a nation with our energy policy that looks at getting our open oil, energy in our country that frees us up from an energy perspective, national security perspective and could pi down our debt in a generation if we use the royalties properly. i think you're going to see dad continue to have big ideas and talk about big ideas from a conservative perspective. >> when you talk about big ideas, jackie, in some ways there are certain big ideas that became the butt of jokes. your dad referenced the moon colony, callista gingrich said maybe that wasn't such a sharp idea. there is campaign debt, tiffany tabs, zoo trips. do you think in the long hall here, the long game of your father's legacy that this campaign potentially tarnished your dad's political legacy? >> i think you've got a great question but the reality is he
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is the person that let the republicans to the house in 1994. he will always be that person. he's the person that actually balanced the budget four years in a row. the only person that's done that in my lifetime. he is the only person that has that legacy. he will always have that legacy. what i miss and actually wrote about this today you find on jackiecushman.com. i think it's wrong we laugh about big ideas. america has been about big dreams. americans get inspired and work hard and want to reach for the stars. i think it's important as americans we continue to focus on these great big dreams because that's how we inspire ourselves to move forward. >> people laughed at the wright brothers and now we all fly around the country. jackie cushman, daughter of newt gingrich. thank you. >> thank you. a college student suing the dea for $20 million after he was forgotten in a federal holding cell in san diego for days and
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said he to drink his own urine to survive. he was picked up in a drug sweep. he had to be treated for dehydration and kidney failure. >> i hallucinated by the third day. i was completely insane. by that time i was trying to get my sanity back. >> his lawyer said it constitutes torture under international law. the dea apologized for the ordeal. the scream is the most experience work of art. the iconic painting went for just under $120 million last night in new york. the previous record for a painting sold at auction was by about $13 million. big difference there. take a look at this from the oregon zoo. one-year-old jack sat down for a picture when the big cat tried to take several unsuccessful swipes at the kid. the zookeeper thinks the it is boy's zebra like stripes
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those states that do not respect the right. one of america's biggest gun violence groups has responded to that. preventing gun violence. you say the nra went into this self-imposed exile, unusually silent after the death of trayvon martin, now they are speaking out. why? >> because the scrutiny of the american public has been on them. why they went into that self-imposed exile now they are feeling the heat. they feel compelled to defend themselves whatever way possible, even as irrational a way they have through their statement they issued. >> you said the nra made george zimmerman a figurehead. why do you believe that? >> i said george zimmerman is the nra. he's the manifestation of the laws the nra and politicians who do their bidding put on the books. his mentality is the mentality of the shoot first ask questions later, stand your ground laws. he had a gun in his hand.
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this man with an arrest record and past violence was able to walk around with a hidden gun. states have stand your ground laws including florida despite the fact florida's govern assigned a task force, he's allowing guns at the republican national convention in tampa. what do you make of that decision. >> shows how sacred guns are to people rather than the lives of the people they have been elected to represent. stand your ground isn't about self-defense. george zimmerman wasn't defending himself. self-defense laws have been on the laws forever. it's part of our code to be able to defend yourself. but there's also -- there's also a duty to retreat. what the stand your ground laws do is they actually want to eliminate that duty to retreat and put people like george zimmerman in an aggressive place on the offense. they say that the self-defense laws exist to protect the lives of the innocent. tell that to trayvon martin's
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>> four years ago president barack obama's lack of foreign policy experience was a talking point of john mccain's presidential run. this week the president delivered a sounding blow to that argument in a speech in afghanistan declaring an end to america's longest war was in sight. joining me is a former speechwriter david from also the author of the novel "patriots." great to have you. who would have guessed, not a lot of people four years ago that foreign policy would now be a strength for the president, taking that weakness and crafting it into something that's a strong suit heading into an election season. the economy is a weak point.
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has it made it difficult for mitt romney to combat him on the issue of foreign policy? >> this is one of the spookiest things for me. author of a book in an election year the way reality keeps catching up to the back. in my book it's a hypothetical president trying to end a war in mexico. and is finding that he's just caught up in the agonies of domestic politics as he tries to do this. not too different from the kind of experience that president obama had over four years. >> other news of the week i want to switch to, the fact you wrote briefly this week about the resignation of mitt romney's openly gay foreign policy spokesman. do you believe his resignation was due to pressure from anti-gay social conservatives that didn't think that was the right message mitt romney needed to be sending at this point in his campaign? >> there are a lot of backroom mack i nations. there wasn't that much pressure on rick practicenell.
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one of the things i try to show how these things work behind the scenes. there is always a back story and a front story. it's easy to be in this case to wonder well, you know, rick has a version of events that he's telling and other people have other versions. we're trying to understand it through this lens that we're talking on right now. it's difficult. it's difficult really to understand what actually happens because the occult world of washington is different from what's represented. >> you have a novel out. the country is in a recession, you were quoted saying the book is how washington really works, is any of the book based on real life people? >> a lot of the book is based on real life experiences. the people are sort of composites to use the phrase of the week. one of the things that happens as you know when you report on life in washington, you have a
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lot of stories you can't tell because you're not quite in the room, you think you know what happened, you have a pretty good idea or the story is too embarrassing. one of the things that drives the book are the romantic and sexual lives of the characters. those are not things we are comfortable in discussing in conventional news but important to understanding what goes on. >> david, great to have you on. appreciate your time. that's going to wrap things up for me. i thank you for your time. now with alex wagner coming up in the next hour. >> hey, thomas. up next, chinese activist chen guangcheng is reportedly seeking exit to the u.s. as secretary of state hillary clinton arrives in country to discuss america's strategic partnership with china. we'll discuss this delicate situation with former state department spokesman p.j. crowley. how powerful is exxon mob snl an author is here to discuss the oil empire and the death of nfl
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