eric matthews, patricia todd and david rhode.hank you for joining us tonight. >> the united states falls on 36 on the reporters without boarders freedom index. >> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >> the plight of three aljazeera journalists sentenced to prison in egypt last june prompted worldwide protests and continued effort to see them free, but journalism isn't under assault only in other countries, but here as well with the birthplace of freedom of the press. last june, the u.s. represented the peal that risen could not appeal to testify because he was a journalist. he had refused to testify in the trial of cia eight, david sperling, who was indicted in 2010 for allegedly giving risen information for a book, but now he could face jail time. jim, it's very good to have you with us, and thank you

eric matthews, patricia todd and david rhode.hank you for joining us tonight. >> the united states falls on 36 on the reporters without boarders freedom index. >> we were talking to a young lady saying she just wanted her voice to get out there. >> by the thousands, they're sending their government a message. >> ahead of 'em is a humanitarian crisis where tens of thousands of people are without food, water, shelter. >> a special one hour look at global attacks on free press. monday 9:00 eastern. on al jazeera america. urnalists live. >> the plight of three aljazeera journalists sentenced to prison in egypt last june prompted worldwide protests and continued effort to see them free, but journalism isn't under assault only in other countries, but here as well with the birthplace of freedom of the press. last june, the u.s. represented the peal that risen could not appeal to testify because he was a journalist. he had refused to testify in the trial of cia eight, david sperling, who was indicted in 2010 for allegedly giving risen in

. >>> joining me now is reuters investigative reporter david rhode who was held for seven months by the escape. it's understandable that u.s. government tell a family in advance there's going to be a classified raid for, i mean, for obvious reasons, isn't it? >> well, this is another example of the shifting policy that families have complained about. in my case and in one other i know for sure, my family was told if there was an opportunity for a raid, they would be asked for permission. >> oh, really? >> yes. i know from an active case that's still ongoing they were also told about this. this is the second example of where the american policy does not seem clear, the separate issue is where some families that if they paid a ransom, they would be prosecuted. again, it's five years have passed since my case. there was no talk of anyone being prosecuted for a ransom in the pass, now there's some new standard possible prosecution if you do pay a ransom. >> we talk about this so often about the lack of communication that families say frustrates them. never more than the case of this south a

for example, in the white house, ben rhodes, he's the white house top adviser. his brother davidthe head of cbs news for god sake. we see this with -- when he came out with this thing, the press ignored it. nbc took three, four days to even acknowledge it. ideology is the enemy of truth and ideology is the enemy of with a predetermined attitude about something and then try to make sure this story when they write it mches with their it ideology. >> the story about this high school kid making 72 million bucks in his lunch hour, first, the red flags are immense. you can't be a trader in high school, right? >> well, you can be a trader i think making $72 million is quite difficult. i disagree with your basic premise. i think journalism has gotten better because no longer can these reporters spin a story. i mean, you couldn't have nbc faking the exploding gas tanks today. you've g ts my of been more information instantly available to everybody. we're living in the days of m maxheadroom and journalism is starting to thrive. >> okay, fair enough -- >> benghazi, huh? >> wait, michelle, i

the legislation is expected to be introduced this spring by rhode island democrat representative davidicilian. they expect the push into law could take a te did or longer. that means they still have a long road ahead. this issue is why i wanted you sitting here. they wrote decades ago now, above all else, our politics sprang from the shared belief that black women are inherently valued. that we are not abjecteded to somebody elsed because as our need for human persons for autonomy. that lgbt movements that feminist movements, race movements are not justed ed adj. >> indeed. and having read the american center for progress' report about the need for comprehensive federal and lgbt states right legislation, i can't tell you how many times i wrote in the margin. so it's really there. for example, talking about how in housing that lgbt people of color are worse off in relationship to the discrimination around housing. they're being discriminated against as people of color, too. so it's definitely right there. i think reading the report made me think somebody got the memo back from the 1970s

david unfortunately we have a few seconds left. kmele is right states are broke like massachusetts, rhode island. these states are broke.y're the ones that vote it in. >> the other thing in connecticut in particular, they have very severe unemployment problem. a lot of people are on low-paying part-time jobs. this is only going to increase that. most economists agree whenever you artificially raise the minimum wage, you do squeeze people at the bottom. and, supposedly to benefit the people at the bottom but it end up putting people out of work or forcing people from full time to part time. that is no good for the economy. tracy: we've seen that. they're losing their jobs first-time job workers. thank you all. >>> 'tis the season it seems for engaugements. that must mean diamonds but are they really forever? >>> plus not every corporate campaign knocks it out of the park. some are just downright cringe-worthy. we have the biggest business fails of 2014. here is a question, do you ever have too much money? ♪ these ally bank ira cds really do sound like a sure thing but i'm a bit skeptical of sure things. why's that? look

rhode island. jeff flake accompanied alan gross back from havana the other day. david is in indianapolis. what did you think of the president's comments? caller: i thought he made some good points along the way, but the one position i am mostly concerned with is the issue with the grand juries and the ferguson situation and the new york situation, and many others around the country. i think it is long past time -- and i am hoping the president in theep in with this changes being made in the training of police officers. this is a training issue and the hiring issue. over the years, police departments needed personnel. of course, they have some standards, but i would like to see better standards set. you don't see this at the federal level with fbi agents. with the cuba issue, all i can we about the cuba issue is should've done this 20 years ago. there is no reason for us to carry on these hostilities with our neighbors. we should've been friends with cuba a long time ago. the president ending his news conference, 45 minutes on an optimistic note. this from the new york times online. i thou