for that and more i am joined by michael thompson, author of "it's a boy!" and "raising cain."boys. christina hoff sommers, author of "the war against boys: how misguided feminism is harming our young men." she is a resident scholar at the american enterprise institute. and ashanti branch, vice principal at montera middle school in california and founder of the ever forward club, an after school program that helps minority boys succeed academically. world that street ruled by mennier we worried about boys? >> well, it may beñr ruled by mn but boys are not in charge in school. they're falling seriously behind grills where no end in sight. >> ifill: why do you think that is? >> it turns out that brokenÑi families have just a far worse effect on young man's educational prospects, we're now learning that. secondly, our schools have become very accommodating to girls, almost places been i think, michael thompson said, the girls are the gold standard and boys are treated as defective males. we have to meet boys half way. acknowledge that boys and girls are different, they have somewh

the man, mary fallin appointed to spear head it, michael thompson is, as she said, the commissioner ofhe state's department of public safety but that department, quote, reports to her within the executive branch and thompson is a former employee of the department of corrections, which also reports to fallin. the same department the of corrections that carried out lockett's execution. and that's not all. the oklahoman reports that thompson was at the lethal injection in an official capacity. the man tasked with evaluating the state's execution protocol because of a botched execution that may have resulted directly from fallin's disregarding the supreme court when it ordered her to temporarily halt lockett's and another inmate's executions, that man not only reports to her, works for her, used to work for the very same department he's investigating, and is a material witness to the very execution that prompted this entire thing. so, mary fallin, we see what you're doing there in oklahoma. you are not fooling anyone. this entire mess deserves a genuine independent, thorough investigation.

michael thompson played in the nba. >> it's great for the clippers. they have a fresh new start under a guy who has deep pockets, who can treat his employees and his players in a first-class fashion. >> reporter: the potential sale comes after donald sterling's racist comments. the nba banned him for life, fined him $2.5 million and began to force him out of the league. with the nba awaiting sale documents, donald sterling is suing the league for a billion dollars in damages. sterling's estranged wife, shelly, says she's now acting as the sole trustee. i'm delighted we're selling the team to steve. he'll be a terrific owner. the sterlings bought the team 33 years ago for $12.5 million. >> financially, he's a winner. but he's got a reputation that's really destroyed. when his obituary is written, this will be the lead. >> reporter: tonight, the stage is set for ballmer to take over the clippers. a new owner with a fresh start and plenty of enthusiasm. miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> as congress prepares for new hearings on the deadly attack

michael thompson played in the nba. >> it's great for the clippers.hey have got a fresh, new start under a guy who has deep pockets who can treat his employees and players in first class fashion. >> reporter: the potential sale come after donald sterling's racist comments. the nba banned him for life and fined him and force him out of the league. with the nba awaiting sale documents donald sterling is suing the league for $1 billion in damages. sterling estranged wife shelly says she is now acti inin ining sole trustee. i am excited we are telling the team to steve who will be a terrific owner. they bought the team 12 years ago for $5 million. >> he has a reputation that is destroyed when his obituary is written. this will be the lead. >> reporter: the stage is set for ballmer to take over the clippers. a new owner with a fresh start and plenty of enthusiasm. >> our thanks to miguel for that report. >>> a suicide bombing in syria is traced to an american from florida. the attack is believed to be the first involving an american since the syrian civil

williams and thompson were charged in the brutal death of their friend michael rus wheel was choked andad his throat -- rustle who was choked and had his throat cut. a confession admitting to using a knife. he said they killed him for the thrill. saying i guess i wanted to kill somebody, i had my chance and took it. adding just because we wanted to. the defense attorney said that confession came under duerous. >> 30 hours -- dureerous. >> 30 hours. he was locked in a room. couldn't leave. >> reporter: he said thompson did the killing. >> i think it was a false confession. i don't think what he said was what happened. >> reporter: while the district attorney expressed satisfaction over the verdict, the prosecutor was cautious because he has yet to go to trial. >> we are not going to make comment with regards to the verdict. >> the jurors declined to comment. he will be sentenced july 11. live in san jose, robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> a man shot in a case of road rage in san jose died. it happened yesterday morning when a man almost slammed into a car coming out of a mobile home

the victim, 15-year-old michael russell was found stabbed to death in his backyard of november 2009. another young man accused of the crime, randy thompson will be facing a separate trial in july. it is videotaped confession they told police they killed russell because they wanted to. >>> berkeley fire investigators looking for the cause of a fire that could be seen for miles this afternoon. the fire produced huge plumes of thick black smoke from beneath university avenue overpass where number of homeless people live. fire fighters say the black smoke came from the burning of plastic bins stored there. they don't know what started the fire, but discounted earlier reports of a possible drug lab. >> initially that was the report given by tv that there's a possibility that it might be a meth lab. we've investigated the area and found nothing that will lead us to that. >> police help to homeless people trapped by the fire, and there were no injuries. the overpass was closed for short time but caltrans has cleared for reopening. >>> were learning more about a mountain lion that forced the lockdown last night in mountain view. the big cat was

michael russell, was stabbed to death in his own backyard in 2009. at the time, williams said he did it because he worships satan. his alleged accomplice randy thompson will be tried next. >>> other bay area headlines, sunnyvale police want to put a name to this sketch. the man's wanted for robbing an elderly couple at gunpoint in their home over the weekend. one of the victims said the man had an accent and full beard that was closely trimmed. >>> redwood city police want to know if you recognize any of this. they just uploaded these photos to their pinterest page. it's all stolen property recovered during an investigation into a string of open house thefts back in 2011. if you think any of it belongs to you, call the police. >>> a landlord backed off his demands that tenants make $100,000 or leave. we first brought you the story yesterday. renters at the building in san francisco's lower haight were shocked to get the letter last month. after the backlash, the landlord robert shelton sent out a new letter yesterday saying he had changed his mind. that's probably wise because lawyers we checked with say posting new income requirements for existing t

thompson. >> who can forget her as the various incarnations of lorraine mcfly in the "back to the future" trilogy also starring michael in a new coming of age film. it's called "ping-pong summer." >> how are you? you look fantastic. >> you guys are very beautiful. >> going back to the future with you now, you look exactly like the first time i interviewed you probably 30 years ago. what's your secret? get it out of the way. >> i don't smoke or drink. >> i know. smoking is so bad for you. >> "ping-pong summer," this is an interesting concept. it really does take you back to the he a80s, right? >> yeah. it's a really fun movie. i've been playing mothers in the '80s for 30 years now. but this is a really fun movie. and it's so -- it's so square it's hip. i mean, it went to sundance and it went to south by southwest. and it's a really sweet coming of age comedy about ping-pong. >> and that's why susan sarandon is in it too, right? >> absolutely. i was so thrilled to work with her. >> this young boy, he's adorable. he's such a nerd, and he loves hip-hop, and he wants to be good at ping-pong, right? >> yeah. it's really fun

thompson. such incredible credibility to this issue and we thank michael for stepping up and taking on this challenge. i want to thank my colleagues here today. you will hear from ed, as well as no stranger to gun violence. like myself, they are are no strangers and we can't forget that as well. anytime we hear about a tragedy, it just harkens back to howell difficult it is and an issue that needs to be addressed. lois capps is a nurse by profession. her life has been about healing people. and now she has an entire community that she needs to heal. we are going to be there for her not only in words, but also in actions. words have failed us. we fall back on if only if we would encourage and what should we be doing better instead of the status quo. too often we reflect to wonder how did all this happen? we know how these events have occurred it's what's between the gaps and let's not be looking at this in hindsight and wish that something could be done. we have this opportunity in our hands and a comprehensive package that addresses the real and obvious needs for mental health intervention. it closes

even before michael got there, they had require -- had acquired a stake in shop runner, a young company run by the former yahoo! ceo, scotter yahoo! thompsonhey really ramped up their investments in lift, tango, the company behind that. first dibs is a commerce platform. this,ll see a lot more of alibaba and its name popping up alongside other venture capitalists buying stake in other related technology companies in the u.s.. >> will be see out right acquisitions? >> this is an important question. if you think about the strategy so far, buying stakes in companies may be allows you to avoid the headaches that come without right acquisitions, the regulator questions, the government questions, and in the meantime you can learn a lot about different areas. this company is obviously interested in learning about the mobile platforms in the u.s., and why not? at some point you would think that they would think heavily about doing something more significant. trying to winy over u.s. businesses? >> the other thing that stood out for me in the prospectus is not just that they are targeting american and -- american investors, it is american businesse