tv News Nation MSNBC June 8, 2012 2:00pm-3:00pm EDT
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about this injury. you have people who were looking forward to this weekend who weren't fans of racing, but they wanted to see the possibility of history made. >> absolutely, tamron. and good to talk to you. look, the injury is some swelling in the front left leg. it's an issue that they had first noticed a couple of days ago here. the swelling was reduced a bit. when they went out and ran this morning, early this morning in the early morning fog as the sun came up, they said it was a slow jog and an easy gallop and everything looked fine. in fact, doug o'neill claimed at that time that his hor horse was fit and ready to race. but then as the cooling down period started, as you noticed o'neill say, they noticed swelling coming back and said it was not worth it to jeopardize the horse's future. not only for i'll have another. as you've talked about throughout the day, this is going to have a triple effect from the betting windows to the merchandise to the actual number of patrons that show up at
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belmont park tomorrow. they were expecting strong crowds, maybe 100,000, but not what they would have seen if this race was a race for history. a lot of the vendors will have to wait on the cash payout that could have come from that, as well. >> and, obviously, when we got word that i'll have another was not entering the race, people were concerned about the horse. we all remember what happened with barbaro. ultimately, barbaro had to be put down. in 2007, anybody that loves animals, and i think most of us do. the owner said this wasn't worth it, which is a relief that they wouldn't push this so a point it could have been disastrous. >> i think you're absolutely right. and that's the point of everything that happened here today. could the horse have run? doug o'neill said yes. that's easy to say when you've scratched your horse. there's no question he could
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have run. but what it would have done long-term to the animal was a major concern. and you're right, it is good to see that this team decided, hey, we're going to pull back. we have this shot at history. more importantly, we want this horse to have a good life and we're not going to do something that may damage him for the rest of his life. >> thank you very much. also, developing news with politics. president obama firing back against republican accusations that his administration leaked classified national security information to boost the president's chances of re-election. now, the leaks involve a recent record in the "new york times" about the president approving a kill list of terrorists and his decision to launch cyber attacks against iran's nuclear program. >> the notion that my white house would purposely release classified national security information is offensive. we're dealing with issues that
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can touch on the safety and security of the american people. our families. or our military personnel. or our allies. and so we don't play with that. >> kristin welker joins me. kristin, in addition to focusing on the accusations, most of which were republicans. the president said he would go after anyone in his admin strange responsible for a leak. >> absolutely. president obama had strong words today in talking about those allegations that his administration would leak classified information. and he specifically said that his administration would investigate any classified leaks. when pressed on that point, when asked if his administration was currently investigating links, the president stopped short of confirming that. he would only say we are going to look into each and every leak. he really pressed the point that these leaks made things more difficult for his administration and for the folks on the ground
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and could potentially endanger people who are embroiled in these complicated and difficult situations. having said that, tamron, it's not clear that this will do anything to tamp down the speculation or rhetoric on the republican side. senator john mccain has been one of the people who have alleged that this administration might be leaking classified information and that's called for a special prosecutor to look into this. but it's not just republicans. some democrats have expressed concern. senator dianne feinstein. the fbi is going to investigate these leaks, the senate armed services and intelligence committee is set to hold hearings to get to the bottom of this. so it doesn't look like this is an issue that's going to go away anytime soon and it looks like the administration will be looking into it, as well. >> let me bring in josh gerstien. josh wrote about that on an article on the website. in the last hour, the intelligence committee chairman
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mike roger was on talking to my colleague, andrea mitchell. he's comparing the investigation he'd like to see to the valerie plame leak involving execue ini libby. >> if you look at the valerie blame case, it was bad enough and somebody went to jail on it and i argue rightly so. the damage that has happened over these cascading leaks is 100 times worse and much more dangerous. >> is he exaggerating, josh, or is that accurate? >> he's probably right that overall, they're more significant leaks. you're talking about jeopardizing whole programs, potentially, as opposed to like a single individual. i'd have to take issue with one thing he said.. he said somebody went to jail over the valerie plame leak. actually, one person was found guilty, but nobody went to jail. the only person that went to
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jail was judy miller, the "new york times" reporter for a couple of months. >> the president, very stern, saying it was offensive. john mccain, lindsay graham, obviously, there have been democrats, as well. but the large group of people making these accusations are republicans. i know mr. mccain said who benefits the most from it? >> right. if you look at all the leaks, the recent one webs anyway, they tend to portray the president in a resolute, decisive way. they show him being directly involved in some of these counterterrorism successes. the republicans don't have a lot of evidence that it's coming from the white house, although in the case of one of these leaks about an al qaeda operation, it appears that a national security official may have inadvertenty confirmed some of the information. it's mostly a process of deduction that if the leaks benefit the president politically, they might be coming from the white house. there's one other bit of evidence, which is if you think
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back to the anniversary of the osama bin laden raid, there was a lot of effort by the white house to capitalize that. i don't know if you can say they released specific classified information, but there's no question they let crews from nbc into the situation room and the white house is clearly eager to generate as much publicity around that as they could. >> and you point out in your article that since president obama took office, a total of six leak related criminal cases have been filed, including the pending case on private bradley manning. so this administration, at least in the articles you've indicated, has not been soft in pursuing criminal cases. >> oh, no. it's widely agreed that this administration has been more aggressive in the criminal sphere and going after leakers than any prior in history. the six cases that you mentioned are more than in the entire prior history of the united states. there are maybe three other cases you can point to from
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before this administration. so they have been going after these cases so aggressively, in fact, that whistleblower groups say it may be discouraging employees of the government who have information about what they view as wrongdoing or misconduct from coming forward. >> so what is likely to happen next here? >> well, we're going to have this fbi investigation go forward. but everybody says these investigations are very, very difficult and it's very hard to make criminal cases. some of the reports say they did dozens of interviews. it's hard to say which official provided the key information where you can say that's the classify information and everything else that people got, that was stuff that was out there in the public domain. >> josh, thank you very much. i appreciate you coming on to talk about your article. thank you. and herman cain, remember him? he just wrapped up his speech at that annual conservative
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campaign. some hard feelings here, though, take a listen. >> governor romney is a tremendous improvement pore that. as i said during the campaign, i think we could have been even more of an improvement, but that issue has passed. >> has it passed? >> plus, bill clinton is trying to get back on message. we'll take a look at this past week in our post scripts. join our conversation on twitter. let us know what you think about these leak wars, as they've been labeled. they have names like idle time books and smash records and on small business saturday they remind a nation of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement... and main street found its might again. and main street found its fight again. and we, the locals, found delight again. that's the power of all of us. that's the power of all of us. that's the membership effect of american express.
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president's backyard. the first of three kornss under way in chicago right now as we speak. mitt romney is not there, but several of the speakers are said to be on the short list of possible vps, including three governors, bob mcdonald of virginia, and new jersey's own chris christy. conservatives including rick santorum called for a smaller government while taking a hit at the president's leadership. >> your war here in america. and we have a president who is leading that charge and is a committed advocate of transforming america at its very foundation. >> barack obama's leadership is driving this business, the united states of america towards a fiscal cliff. we better stand together in the next five months and stop him from doing it. >> and let's bring in republican strategist and former huckabee campaign manager chip salzman. good to see you. >> good to be with you. >> which of the men we just
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heard from do you think is your guy? >> well, you know, there's a lot of good folks out there. and i'll be honest. if i had an exact ya box with senator rubio and i'll have another to win the vp stakes. but with i'll have another scratched, i'll have to rework my pecks. >> look at you. let me ask you, speaking of things that might be seen as humerus, what do you think about what rick santorum said today regarding mitt romney? let's play it. >> we cannot afford four more years of president obama. we cannot afford what aes doing to the economy, wa he's doing to the culture, what he's doing to the fundamental freedoms that we have in this country. governor romney is a tremendous improvement for that. as i said during the campaign, i think we could have been even more of an improvement, but that issue is passed. >> chip, has it really passed? it seems like he's still hanging on. >> oh, yes, sure. >> santorum has not been
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alongside governor romney. governor romney has been with donald trump more than he has with rick santorum. >> i think senator santorum will get there. i've been through somebody that went through a tough primary with governor huckabee. four years ago, i couldn't imagine governor huckabee or myself supporting governor romney. but senator santorum is on his own time frame. and you saw senator santorum. surely, he's his first choice. and this is a tough process for people to put everything to bed and start their new lifetime. >> even with that smile on his face, we know we can tell the truth and smile at the same time or reflect true feelings. is he at all reflecting what some of the conservatives who perhaps are even at that conference still feel about mitt romney, that there's still hesitation? they may rally around him, certainly, come november, but
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there's still a little bit of a whisk with some of them and maybe even with sanatorium. >> if there was any of those hesitations, it's reaffirmed by what happened this week where conservatives had a big victory. and talking about the president's press conferences today where he said the private sector is fine. people know it's not. conservatives and moderates and liberals alike know the issues about what's going to happen. >> let me ask you about jeb bush. you say people have rallied around. i would assume that he's considered one of the great leaders in the party. jeb bush has expressed concerns that even he would not have been able to be successful in this climate and that part of the strength of a leader is to be able to stand up against your base. he praised president obama for doing that. could you offer the same praise for mitt romney? would he be able to go to cpac
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and stand up on some of those issues if he were elected? >> great leaders have to know who they were and what they believe and what direction they want to take this country. >> but if he specifically said great leaders need to be able to stand against their base. has mitt romney shown that he's been able to do that? >> well, i think for a lot of different reasons, if you look at his career, i'm not on the romney campaign, i'm not paid by the romney campaign. i don't pay attention to it every sympathy day. but i know governor romney knows exactly what he is and willing to stand up for those issues because he knows what is right. and that's the mark of a great leader. and i know governor romney has done that in the past. if you look at his record as governor, when he saved the olympic, and really at bain capital, he made hard decisions that ultimately were good for individual, businesses and people. as governor, he did the same thing in massachusetts.
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>> let me talk to you about governor chindahl. is there someone at this point that stands out to you as the person that would be the right fit for mitt romney at this point? >> yeah. i think you can make the cases for several at this point. i think if we look at the vp stakes from 30,000 feet, a lot of these folks are on the list for a lot of different reasons. they've been great governors, they've been great senators, they've cut governor. but i think as we're looking at who we think is going to be it, look at who the candidates are that are going out and doing other states on their own. not necessarily with governor romney. we're seeing senator rubio going to colorado on behalf of the romney campaign. we've seen congressman ryan do the same thing. governor christie is traveling all over the country for governor romney. how do they go on the campaign trail on their own and are they being successful saying the
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right thing and is governor romney personally comfortable with them? those are the things i would look for. >> and michele bachmann speaking, as well, later. she sure will probably provide fodder for us to discuss a little later. chip, thank you. great pleasure having you on. >> yes, ma'am. thank you. >> coming up, president obama said the private sector is doing fine. you hear other republicans going after him for those roshgs. >> plus, what did governor rick perry tell a group of texas republicans that got him this reaction? listen. >> booing down the governor. it's one of the things we thought you should know. ggest s. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like.
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united nations monitors entered the area where 78 villagers have been massacred. they came under fire yesterday by syrian forces and government supporters. this latest massacre comes less than two weeks after 108 people were killed in the nearby town of houla. many of those were children. ayman is watching developments from cairo. as i understand it, the reports coming out since the monitors have been able to reach that village has been absolutely horrific. >> that's correct. the u.n. has been tight lipped about what it's seen so far. accompanying the u.n. was journalists and some of their reports are coming out now. those have been substantiated. in one video, the account given by an eyewitness is shocking. it shows blood stained clothes, the clubs that they say were
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used by the militias against the civilians. you see pictures of livestock completely killed as the tanks rolled over many parts of that city. so it seems now that the amateur video and the accounts posted online a few days ago are now being substantiated. once it comes up with the conclusions and findings will make them public for people to see. the accounts are there. what has the international community been waiting for? that is the puzzle. >> are we expecting any new information regarding what could possibly be the next move for the u.n.? >> there is now a talk of a contract group. one of the goals is to try and get china and russia, one of the
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allies of syria, to try and get them on board with what is called the yemeni solution, perhaps a solution that can be put forth to the president of syria where he would step down and allow for a transition of power to take place with some of his close aides or a transition over the next month or perhaps even a years. right now, there's no indication that either one of those countries is supports any regime change. >> all right. thank you, ayman. and a heartbreaking and disturbing new reports finds suicides among american troops surging at the fastest pace we've seen in decades. why? we'll take a look at what's behind this report. plus, the former high school football star who spent five years in prison after he was convicted for rape, a rape that he never committed, he has an opportunity to find a new life now out of prison. he says his dreams are coming true. >> this is by par the second
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purina one. the president sought aim at the republicans saying an additional 1 million jobs would have been created if congress had passed the economic plan he offered last year. >> and there's no excuse fought nor passing these ideas. we know they can work. now, if congress decides, despite all that, that they aren't going to do anything about this simply because it's an election year, then they should explain to the american people why. >> and joining me now, our news and nation political panel tt national political editor ann corn booth and richard fowler. let me play the hot moment that has drawn this back and forth
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between the president and governor romney on the economy. let me play you what the president said and romney's response. >> we've created 4.3 million jobs over the last two -- 27 months. over 800,000 just this year alone. the private sector is doing fine. >> for the president of the united states to stand up and say the private sector is doing fine is going to go down in history. it's an extraordinary miscalculation and misunderstanding by a president who is out of touch. >> even chris matthews today, ann, was critical of the president's remark on the private sector is doing fine. >> yeah, i would say hold on to your hats, there's going to be a petro bust discussion about which thing is true and whether, in fact, both things might be true. there obviously has been some job creation. it's not the kind of job creation that normally the white house says it wants. and this is where i think what
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obama said is a little bit surprising. usually every friday or when there are jobs reports or numbers revised up towards or downwards from the previous months, the white house is careful to say even on the best days, this is good progress, it's not enough progress. i think what the president did today was provide a sound bite in a urchb larger context that could be isolated to say, i think the private sector is doing just fine. now, he did say it more than once in the press conference. obviously, you're seeing governor romney pounce on that and interpret it to mean that the president thinks there is nothing wrong with the economy, which is white house would say is ridiculous. there's a lot of actually looking at the numbers to see how fine the private sector is. >> richard, we had chip saltsman on. before the end of my interview, he, too, reiterated his words being out of touch regarding this private sector remark. so it's not just governor romney or anyone with an "r" near their name here. let me get your thoughts on if
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the private sector is doing fine. is the private sector doing fine? >> i think the president has been taken out of context. first, i think the only one who is out of touch is mitt romney. at the president's press conference today, he talked about how the private sector is adding job and the private sector is doing fine compared to all the public sector companies. at the end of the day, we need to continue to employ firefighters, teachers, nurses and the only way we can do that is by putting in place the state governments. >> and many of the obstacles are caused by congress. you heard him throughout the week pick up again the wording that congress, for lack of a better description, obstruction, these are ideas that if they were put into place, 1 million people would be working right now. the president said today. we're getting by the numbers, but we also need to hear from this president and from governor
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romney more specific ideas on what they can do now. it is certainly fine to say today that congress is stand in the way. but can that feed the hunger of those people who want to get back to work? >> you would like to say not long, and i think that's probably accurate. but unfortunately, the political system, the way it is right now makes it tough for either side, frankly. if governor romney were president, it's hard to say what will be getting done on governor romney's watch, either. it's an election year. by this point in the year, certainly by labor day, nothing gets done. but this congress in particular has been deadlocked in a pretty unique way. so i think the president, look, he made this decision last year, last august that it was time to turn the tables on congress, to run against them and to make the point that if he couldn't do anything, he was going to at least let themen people know from his perspective whose fault that was.
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>> people certainly cheering when he takes on congress in this way. but as the clocks tick, people who are independents are challenging the president and governor romney to come up with more specifics and what they need to do or the direction they would like to see this economy and mott just say, these are the barriers in front of me and i'm hearing from criticism from both. >> i think you're right, tamron. i think ann is right, as well. this is an election year and you'll have a congress who isn't doing anything. but the sad part is, there's so much congress can do. the president proposed so many bills to the house of representatives for this to get done. one bill they can take up is providing more funding to funds, construction projects, rail projects, road projects, businesses, and all these products will create jobs for every $1 billion spent on transportation creates 34,000 jobs. the president has indicated that he's willing to fund transportation expenditures. unfortunately, congress continues to stand n way of
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that. there's no question that the people are yearning for changes. the truth of the matter is, the president has done everything he can by executive order. this is not only the president's government. it's congress's president, as well. and everybody needs to get to work. >> have a good weekend. i'll see you both soon. now to what we call the nation's post script. we take a look at the stories that dominated the entire week of political conversation. wisconsin, history was made tuesday when republican scott walker became the nation's first governor to defeat a recall election. >> tonight, we tell wisconsin, we tell our country and we tell people all across the globe that voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions. >> we always knew that we would be outspent in wisconsin. when you come to the -- that the colt brothers spent more.
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>> at blue state said we've seen a conservative governor. he cut back on the scale of government and has held down taxes and stood up to the public sector unions and we want more of that, not less of it. >> these reforms were, really, a microcosm for what's going to happen in november with mitt romney's ideas versus obama's failed record on jobs and spending. and i think it's a good news for us for five months down the road. >> and let's bring in nbc's senior political editor, mark murray. that's just a snippet of all the sound coming from every direction, mark, regarding wisconsin. but today, the president held this news conference perhaps trying to end the week on a high note, leaves a message to the american people. he talked a lot about europe, the global situation, what's happening in greece. but, you know, the headline, at least the republicans would like to see today is this private sector is fine comment. >> you look at the entire week, tamron, i think the white house was on the defensive along with
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the obama campaign. it just wasn't the loss the democrats sustained in wisconsin. it was that they were still reeling from the after effects of that jobs report on friday and then, of course, the news conference where republicans picked it apart, jumped on what president obama said about private sector jobs are fine and that they, i think, have had a very, very good week so far. and in addition to the wisconsin recall, the jobs numbers in today's news conference, you look at some of the other numbers. mitt romney ended up outraising president obama along with the republican national committee in the month of may. and so this has been a very, very good week for the republicans, not so good one for the democrats. but one thing to note, these presidential elections have all their ups and downs and the narrative could be completely different next week. >> i want to talk again about what the president said regarding the global issue affecting our economy and certainly what's happening in europe. despite some of these remarks
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today. >> right now one concern is europe, which faces the threat of renewed recession as countries deal with a financial crisis. obviously, this matters to us because europe is our largest trading partner. or less than manufacturers in places like this or milwaukee. >> so, mark, we'll be watching greece this weekend. might we start hearing more from the president regarding the global crisis that is affecting this economy here, that we're not standing, if you will, on a desert island? >> i think so. you were going to, one, hear the president try to do that to explain to the american public what is actually going on. and right now, europe is one of the biggest macroeconomic drags on the u.s. economy. there's no doubt about that. you have all these companies that are actually holding on to a lot of cash right now. but are holding it back because
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i think that they see a lot of uncertainty. if europe implodes, if greece decides not to be part of the eurozone, i think there is a lot of concern that there could be economic consequences coming out of europe. but also, not only is president obama trying to explain what's going on in europe, as he has mentioned in that white house press conference today, he's trying to do everything he can to convince european leaders to be sure they're acting, and right now. >> mark, thank you very much. we'll see you on monday. >> thank you. military suicides are surging. listen to this, averaging now nearly one a day this year. the pentagon reports 154 service members commied suicide in the first 159 days of 2012. that is higher than the number of service members killed in action so far this year in afghanistan. nbc news pentagon correspondent
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jim joins me right now. what is behind this number? >> i can tell you this is one of the most frustrating issues i've ever seen for pentagon and military officials. and if you ask them, what is behind the sudden spike. >> suicides among active duty and reserve members? they'll tell you, we don't know. they don't have any idea. they say this is a very complex issue and that, so far, they look at this as only a short-term spike and not yet a trend. the worst of these trends occurred about three years ago when the number of suicides doubled and have remained at a level of about 300 per year. that's close to that one a day, as you mentioned a minute ago. according to pentagon and military officials, they've been spending millions of dollars. they put together a couple of
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task forces. the one issue that they're really trying to push is awareness, that every troop has to keep an eye on his brother, his fellow soldier, marine, airmen, sailor. and if there's any sign it has to be reported. but one of the issues here, according to military officials, is that even if they recognize somebody as a potential threat, there's no way to monitor them, really, 24 hours a day. the army, for example, is spending $50 million on a five-year study, which should be due by the end of 2014. but in their interim reports, even these mental health experts from both the military and the civilian world can only say this is very complex. >> all right. and as i understand it, the army convened its suicide prevention group earlier this week to study what is happening there. thank you very much, nick. greatly appreciate it. >> you bet. up next, it is being called the biggest sports lawsuit ever. more than 2,000 former nfl players, many of them stars in
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the nfl when they played, have filed a lawsuit saying, the nfl intentionally misled them about the dangers of concussions. but first, there is a lot going on today and here's some things we thought you should hear on this friday. governor rick perry was slammed in a gop convention for his support of lieutenant governor david duherst. duherst was forced into a runoff election by the tea party favorite. >> we need strong conservatives in texas and we need more conservative texans in washington, d.c. >> texas works. texas works. our style -- >> so governor perry later told reporters that he thought the crowd was yelling du, a nickname for duherst, not boo.
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those are one thing we thought you should know. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits
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i'm president bashir. coming up at the top of the hour, mitt doubles down on his latest lie and rick santorum has finally figured out his next move. he start add pac called patriotic voices. all aboard. now back to tamron. kentucky derby winner i'll have another has been scratched from the belmont stakes. he's suffering from tendinitis. and we're following another big sports story today.
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more than 2,000 retired nfl players are joining forces in a massive lawsuit, accusing the lead of turning a blind eye to the dangers of concussions. players say the nfl's concealed information linking football related concussions to permanent neurological problems, and now they say they suffer from the debilitating brain disease because the nfl never told them the risks involved. for now, the company that makes the nfl's helmet has been joined in this suit. i'm joined now by michael mccann. thank you so much for your time. >> sure, tamron. thanks for having me on. >> obviously, your magazine, real sports with bryant gumble, so many have written on this in an excellent and informative way. here you have these nfl players, they filed this lawsuit. i've heard this compared to boxing, this could do to the nfl what happened to boxing in that it becomes so violent and it's seen in such a negative light that it falls off as a negative
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sport that we enjoy watching. >> i think a lot of parents are now not letting their children play football, in part because of concerns that have been raised in lawsuits like these. now, as you noted at the top, over 2,200 players in over 90 lawsuits now consolidated into one lawsuit saying the nfl concealed information. it's very threatening to the league. but on the other hand, the league has a strong argument. and the league argument is to say these claims should be waved because they're preempted by the collective bargaining agreement. and judge anita brodie is going to make that determination. >> would we be at this point if junior seau had not tragically taken his life, if these men had not lost their lives and perhaps their families believed it was linked to football, would we be at this point? >> well i think, tamron, those tragedies have only amplified the topic. but i also think that even if they didn't occur, we would
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still see litigation like this. so many retires players are in tough shape. many, although they haven't had those types of tragedies still lingered on with debill stating permanent injuries to the rest of the body and they believe they were misled in playing in the national football league. a lot of people are going to say, now, wait a second. when you play in the nfl, you know you're going up against the largest men on earth who are among the fastest men on earth and put them together, repeated collisions. of course you're going to get hurt. there's an assumption of risk argument. how do we know those injuries were played? >> they say they made player safety a priority and continue to do so. any allegation that the nfl sought too mislead players has no argument. jim mcmahon talked a lot about what he believes the players, perhaps, were not i guess fully made of ware of.
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he's on this lawsuit, as well, has tried to live his life as healthy as he can, like so many others. but i have to tell you, the nfl says that, obviously, with technology, with information, we know more now today than we did when mcmahon and others played. is that a fair argument? >> well, there's certainly some truth to that. let's be real. the science has evolved to the point where they now know more. there's a longer baseline, if you will, in terms of injuries suffered by players who played decades ago and the effects on them now. but you can also argue, information on concussions has been around for a long time. this isn't like the tobacco industry, which can field information about the link between tobacco and lung cancer. you hit your head over and over again, you can get a concussion. this has been known for over a centu century. >> and that's what people are saying, that they believe perhaps the nfl concealed information, which if true, would make it like tobacco. >> it would. and if the players can show that
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the league somehow did conceal that information and they concealed it from their union, the players' union when they negotiated collective bargaining agreements and before cbas were even bargained, the players would have a strong point. but that's ard what burden for the players to show. >> all right. michael mccann, "sports illustrated" legal analyst, thank you so much. >> thank you. up next, do you think the former players who are suing the nfl have a case? we'll tell you how you can weigh in. but first, brian banks, who lost a high school football scholarship when he was wrongly convicted of rape is getting a second chance. banks was exonerated on that rape conviction last month after serving five years of his life in prison. >> this is by far the second best day of my life. may 24th, my day of exoneration and just today. i really don't have words for it. this is a dream come true.
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>> seattle head coach pete carroll said he was impressed by banks' tryout and that he deserved a second chance. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you.
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[ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine on my journey across america, i found new ways to tell people about saving money. this is bobby. say hello bobby. hello bobby. do you know you could save hundreds on car insurance over the phone, online or at your local geico office? tell us bobby, what would you do with all those savings? hire a better ventriloquist. your lips are moving. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.
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time now to get you up to date. we just told you about the lawsuit filed by more than 2,000 nfl players against the nfl. the nfl has denied allegations. but what does your gut tell you? do you think the former football players suing the nfl over the concussion injuries, do they have a case? go to facebook.com/news didnation to cast your vote. that does it for this friday edition of news station. whose phone is on in here? what the -- i'm tamron hall. thank you. martin bashir is up next. ♪
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good afternoon. it's friday, june the 8th. here is what's happening. the president comes out swinging. >> congress decides, despite all that, that they aren't going to do anything about this simply because it's an election year and they should explain to the american people why. >> versus congress. >> of course, congress refused to pass this jobs plan in full. >> and those who say the white house is leaking intelligence for their own benefit -- >> the notion that my white house would purposely release national security information is offensive. >> meanwhile, mitt, he's at a loss for words. >> i will not be that president of doubt and deception. >> i'm not precisely familiar with what i said, but i stand by what i said, whatever it was. >> thank you very much, everybody. thank you.
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