ellen degeneres cancelled an appearance by kim burrell, after video clips went viral showing burrell preaching about "perverted homosexual spirit." gospel legend shirley caesar, an 11-time grammy winner, is now under fire for seemingly defending burrell at an appearance at a maryland church wednesday night. our cameras we you should have said it four years ago when our president made that stuff all right. jessica: caesar was scheduled to be on our show today to talk about her career, the lifetime grammy she is about to receive, and the intersection of gospel and politics. she canceled her appearance and told us that her doctor had ordered her to rest her voice. caesar's manager told us caesar is a christian who loves all people, and her comments have been taken out of context. we wanted to give caesar the chance to clarify her comment. the question we intended to ask was whether she was referring to burrell's remarks. was she suggesting burrell or others should have weighed in when the nation was debating measures supported by president obama that legalized gay marriage? or was she t

woman named kim burrell actualla do a song with pharrell in theli film her name is kim burrell ase ivick she got the boothe yesterday from the ellen ellen degeneres show and burrell camem fire after last week i was tube video showed her give a hateful sermon against gay and lesbian people calling them "pre veriede and embarrassing".g". they urged ellen not to allowllw week.. ellen yesterday tweeted thishi after, you know, seeing all the petitions saying quote for those asking kim burrell will not be b appearing on my show. meanwhile burrell continues to s defend her remarks.ar she even released a fox -- i'm i sorry facebook live video talking about what she wast shew saying. sa kind of defending her remark bur also trying to clarify what shes thinks she was saying. s i do want to say last week whenw this video went viral pharrellar did tweet out, i couldn't itemte hate speech of any kind muchpeea there's no room for any kind ofn prejudice my greatest hope for inclusion and love for alld for humanity in 2017 and beyond. and then one of the stars of the film jonelle mo'ne also a musici

the talk show hosts says gospel singer kim burrell will not appear on the show as planned. burrell refused to apologize for a sermon she gave in church in which she referred to gays and lesbians as perverted. >>> at the age of 15 grace connor was diagnosed with a potentially deadly b running her own successful ice cream business, filling more than a thousand pints a week nationwide. while the boston teen has her sights set on conquering the ice cream world, she also remembers to give back to the community. she scoops out free ice cream herself at charity events. she is so grateful she can serve up sweet treats to those faces a difficult experience she knows all too well. >> i feel happy and kind of a connection with them. you can see that moment of kind of forgetting everything else that's going on in their life and just enjoying. >> and more on her story on tonight's inspiring america series on nbc nightly news at 7:00 this evening right after news4. >>> a police confrontation caught on camera and going viral. what this teenager's friend says really happened. >> turns out

in 1970 bronwyn burrell was the youngest driver in the race from london to mexico.xi sports car, and is preparing to get behind the wheel again to recreate her epic drive. she's currently in training, and john maguire went along to meet her. wembley, 1970, and a car rally marks the handover of the world cup hosting duties from england to mexico. sir alf ramsey waves them off, and in car 20, three women about to start a 16,000 mile race. we were going to be away for six weeks. it seemed like a lifetime, but wasn't a lifetime, it was a flash. this is us both in our lovely green c&a dresses and red puffer jackets and down the ramp. we were starting our huge adventure. gosh, we were young, weren't we? i think i was the youngest. i had very long hair. it was so unmanageable, really. it was a stupid thing not to have short hairfor that. the team was well—prepared, mechanically and personally. so we decided the best bet here was to have paper knickers, so we had colour—coded paper knickers. i think mine were... mine were probably white. i think tish was pink, and tina was

burrell was supposed to be on pharrell williams booking heldkg up and the two candidly discussed theto this incident but noted she sais some not very nice things about homosexuals. i didn't feel like that was good of me to have her on the show to give her platform after she'sfts saying things about people like me. ellen went on to explain. pharrell says there's no space a or room for any prejudice injude 2017 and for that he receivedd applause.plause. >> that's good way to do it.t. but i was saying degeneres shows she can do exactly what she whas wants but there's one school ofo thought that maybe have kime burrell on and let's talk about it. >> right. >> whatever. or just like the second best thing pharrell came on and they did talk about it.d ta didn't shy away from it.y fr i >> exactly. at the same time didn't give her platform.ti >> right.me .. okay >>> well, bye haters amber roser blessed our lives on wednesdayri when she shared an adorablerabl photo of her laying a big old kiss on her boyfriend val sherman rin ski.in ski. a dancing dude.. >> like tchaikovsky.ko >> so like that.

joining us this morning, attorney, nonprofit executive george burrell.ood morning, george. >> good morning, matt. >> ed turzanski, foreign-policy analyst. good morning, ed. >> morning, matt. >> donna gentile o'donnell, nonprofit executive. >> good morning, matt. >> good morning, donna. and christine flowers, attorney and journalist. >> morning. >> hello, christine. so, president trump is in philadelphia, his first official trip outside the white house since the inauguration. he attended the gop congressional leadership retreat. during the speech, he said this about homicides in philadelphia. >> here in philadelphia, the murder rate has been steady, i mean, just terribly increasing. >> now, the truth is, the murder rate has generally -- you see there on the screen -- generally declined over the long term, going from 391 in 2007 to 277 just last year. however, murders are up significantly in the month of january, 37% compared to the january of last year. it's unclear if that trend is going to hold. but, ed, do you think that the president knew that when he

in 1970, bronwyn burrell was the youngest driver in the race from london to mexico. her epic drive. she's currently in training, and john maguire went along to meet her. wembley, 1970, and a car rally marks the handover of the world cup hosting duties from england to mexico. sir alf ramsey waves them off, and in car 20, three women about to start a 16,000 mile race. we were going to be away for six weeks. it seemed like a lifetime, but wasn't a lifetime, it was a flash. this is us both in our lovely green c&a dresses and red puffer jackets and down the ramp. we were starting our huge adventure. gosh, we were young, weren't we? i think i was the youngest. i had very long hair. it was so unmanageable, really. it was a stupid thing not to have short hairfor that. the team was well—prepared, mechanically and personally. so we decided the best bet here was to have paper knickers, so we had colour—coded paper knickers. i think mine were... mine were probably white. i think tish was pink, and tina was blue. so we could discard, didn't have to worry about washing knickers. s

. >> a video shows gospel singer kim burrell labeling homosexuality as perverted.upposed to perform on ellen's thursday show. >>> next up a lawsuit to shut down that new mcdonald's in one of the world's li >> we first told you yesterday about the controversy surrounding that restaurant just outside the walls of vatican city. it's within the line of sight from where pope francis makes his weekly appearance in st. peter's square. some people calling it mcvatican. one cardinal calls it a disgrace. people living in the area don't seem happy either. especially this man whose family has owned a restaurant across the street for four generations. >> mcdonald's is producing a lot of problems, he told us. it is the same food everywhere. whereas we do pasta hahs famous worldwide and typical roman dishes. >> listen to this. the vatican is in on the deal. receiving more than $31,000 a month in rent. but here's a little perspective. one priest says there are more serious problems in the world. >> i love a big mac and everything but if you're visiting italy, the vatican, isn't mc

decision he allegedl d made without her approval.val according to the source, burrell moved carrie backhem at the base of thet risers in order to make moreeor room for the dancers.s. the problem, this left pourr mariah without any support tortt help her pick up cues.. >> aren't they the dancers righg there right behind her. >> back up singers were moved tw the front of the stage. sge so the dancers would have moreer room so the backup singers werew down front and could not help herself pick up the cues. >> can i just ask a question here? >> this might be a dig to mariah. when she couldn't hear she took out her area piece don't you y still area the music.ic what was the audience sing toeg go?go >> it's live in times square ane some of was reverberating off o the buildings maureen. like sands in an hour glass soo are the days of mariahs' live. >> it gave the back up dancerscs more room.m >> exactly. >> somebody will get fired. >> there you go. >> we should fire ourselvesld fr talking about this.talking >> moving onab. >> hey. don't talk about firing>>t fiing ourselves. >> you're on your o

secretary human burrell has said that removing the affordable care act that have serious consequenceslater, larry summers talks about republican investment.

we also know that mike burrell, forming actor director of the cia told christiane amanpour of cnn heas seen the document. he has said some of the things in the document are true. >> hold it right there. >> it's clearly a judgment if i can just finish. that conclusion has not been made. >> i want to play this. it goes to what you're saying. this is leon panetta. >> i think the problem is that the intelligence agencies would have felt that they would be at fault if they didn't bring that to the attention of tprincipals. this is what happens in intelligence briefings. if we have information that is unsubstantiated but very sensitive, it's important to bring it to the attention of the key people so that they know that this information is out there even though you make very clear that it is unsubstantiated and uncorp greated. it's still important information for them to have. >> jim, i didn't mean to cut you off. i thought it sort of backs up what you're saying. > i appreciate that. i'm glad you played that. one, they haven't made a final conclusion. they may determine it's all bs. skuts

joining us this morning, attorney, nonprofit executive george burrell.e. >> good morning, matt. >> ed turzanski, foreign-policy analyst. good morning, ed. >> morning, matt. >> donna gentile o'donnell, nonprofit executive. >> good morning, matt. >> good morning, donna. and christine flowers, attorney and journalist. >> morning. >> hello, christine. so, president trump is in philadelphia, his first official trip outside the white house since the inauguration. he attended the gop congressional leadership retreat. during the speech, he said this about homicides in philadelphia. >> here in philadelphia, the murder rate has been steady, i mean, just terribly increasing.

burrel dakotain cause of death, killed by a negro.. this is incredible. i'm blown away. >> you think he deserved it? >> yeah. >> you do? >> i have no doubt. >> it's a horrible way tolaves. i don't feel bad for him. >> i don't think -- i think that's an appropriate response. >> okay. the nerve or as my mother would say the crust of you acting surprised you had slaves. >> i have never heard of my great -- my great, great, great, great grandfather on m >> what have his last name? >> burwell boykin. i have never heard of him before. >> you have no idea? >> the cooper. >> the vanderbilt. >> it was my dad's side from mississippi. they fought for the # confederacy and thought they would have owned slaves if they could have. they were sharecroppers. >> never heard that until that moment? >> i had not. >> do you currently have any slaves? >> no. i honestly not heard that. that's a great show on public television. it is not -- >> not who do you think you are? >> finding the roots. >> you are right. >> skip gates. >> but it's a great, great show

back in 1970, bron burrell was the youngest driver in the world cup rally from london to mexico and nowthe toughest rallies ever staged. we were going to be away for six weeks, which seemed like a lifetime, but it wasn‘t a lifetime, it was a flash. there‘s us in our lovely green sea addresses and red pufferjackets and there we are, starting our huge adventure. of course we were young, weren‘t we? i think i was the youngest. i had very long hair, it was so unmanageable really, it was a stupid thing not to have short hair for that. the team was well prepared mechanically and personally. we decided the best thing here was to have paper knickers, we had colour—coded paper knickers, mine was white, the others were pink, green and blue so we didn‘t have to worry about washing knickers. they we re worry about washing knickers. they were forewarned of the dangers along the 16,000 mile route but decided against being forearmed. teams had told us that if we wanted to we could take guns for protection. they asked us and i said to tish, is that asked us and i said to tish, is that a good idea? so w

secretary human burrell has said that removing the affordable care act that have serious consequences. later, larry summers talks about republican investment. mr. trump: we had a great meeting and a great, great entrepreneur, one of the best in the world, and he loves this country, and he loves china, too. mr. ma: i love china and america. there were some questions about -- mr. trump: we will talk about that at some point. we will be talking to you very soon. we will talk to you about that at another time. we are going to be -- yes, we had a great meeting. it is jobs. you just saw what happened with fiat, they are going to build a massive plant in the united states. and jack and i are going to do some great things. small business, right? >> how are the confirmation hearings going? mr. trump: they are going great. confirmation is going great. i think they will all pass. i think all nominations, jack was even saying they are the absolute highest level. i think they're going very well. >> is there any concerns about jeff sessions? mr. trump: i think is going to do good. high-quality man.