Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live 20130804

I can help us be a better team. And i havent seen a lot of my brothers in a long time. And arod insists he has a future with the yankees. But sources say hell likely be suspended until 2015, all but ending his career. The official announcement expected tomorrow. We begin today with the unspecified Terror Threat affecting embassies in u. S. Interests overseas. The government knows just enough to be on high alert. Not enough to know exactly where an attack will occur. And so 22 embassies and consulates in the muslim world are closed, including in egypt, yemen and afghanistan. This morning, on nbcs meet the press, senator saxby chambliss, the top republican, on the intel committee, said they is the most serious threat hes seen in years. We dont know where the location is. Thats part of the problem. But what we have heard is some specifics on whats intended to be done, and some individuals who are making plans, such as we saw before 9 11. Nbcs atia is monitoring the situation from afghanistan. And ayman is in kyra, and Kristen Welker is at the white house. We know the embassy in kabul is closed. Is there a sense of unease on the ground there . Hi there, mara. I have to say, luckily today was quite a qualm, quiet day in kabul. Theyre still on high alert. They had restricted movement, no embassy vehicle or personnel was allowed to leave the embassy compound. Anyone that was trying to come in for meetings, those meetings were canceled. And the afghan staff were asked not to come into work today. That being said, they will continue to be on high alert. They are always on high alert since this embassy has been targeted in the past, especially by the haqqani network, based in pakistan. But primarily targeting sufficient troops, International Troops and afghans within afghanistan. This is an area thats been targeted over and over again by terrorism. They face it on a daily basis. But this warning is a special warning, according to an official i spoke to on friday. He says that this was the most major warning that theyve received at the u. S. Embassy in kabul, in a very long time, primarily because of the global implications. As i mentioned, the u. S. Embassy has been targeted in the past. But embassies and consulates of all nationals have been targeted inside afghanistan. In jalalabad, the consulate was attacked by three wouldbe suicide bombers who accidently prematurely detonated their own vests within their own vehicle. In the end, still killing at least afghan civilians, including children. Terrorism here is on a daily basis, but this warning is a special warning. We still dont know if the embassy will be closed tomorrow or even in the days to come. Atia, you make a good point, this is an area always on high alert. Aside from the embassy being closed, have you seen any additional fortifications in the form of blast walls or barricades or anything like that . Actually, no, we havent seen the additional fortification. Something with the u. S. Embassy here, when i go in there as an american citizen, you usually get stopped by the afghan police, then you go through another gate and another gate. There waste any new extra blast walls. But we have to remember that the u. S. Peace heembassy here alrea plenty of blast walls. They have security measures that they cant share with the public, especially the media after the september 2011 attack. And the building constructed nearby, firing rockets onto the embassy compound. It was a very scary situation that lasted for hours. And after that situation, the embassy worked with their afghan partners to try to fortify the compound even more than it has already. Its actually a fortress. But its still within the city of kabul. A very busy, very crowded and very tight city with buildings surrounding it, including Afghan Government buildings, including buildings that are still being constructed. Its actually pretty frightening for some of the People Living within the u. S. Embassy compound. I can imagine. Thanks so much for that. Now turning to egypt. Already facing its own political unrest. And now adding this latest al qaeda threat as well. Lets go to ayman who is live in cairo. Ayman, how has this new threat intensified an already intense situation in egypt . No doubt about it, it has intensified the threat. Its a volatile political environment. Theyre no stranger to the street violence over the last two years. In fact, on september 11th of last year, protesters actually managed to scale the Embassy Walls of the United States embassy here. Tear down the american flag. And since then, the u. S. Embassy has put up blast walls. There are additional Egyptian Military units on patrol and plain Clothes Police officers. In addition to that, traffic in and around the area of the diplomatic compound has been diverted. The challenge for the u. S. Embassy here is twofold. Not only is it dealing with the new emerging threat seeming to emerge from the al qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula, but the street violence. The concern is the convergence of the three elements pose a serious risk to the u. S. Embassy. In addition to that, on the political side of things, the u. S. Embassy is often the target of a lot of anger of those who support the ouster of morsi, who said the u. S. Has been closely allying themselves with the brotherhood over the past year, and the military removal fl of the president said the United States has been backing what theyre describing as the military coup. So the u. S. Embassy here remaining very vigilant. Theres no evidence to suggest the embassy in cairo is the target of any plot. But it is the largest u. S. Compound in the arab world. It has a lot of symbolic and strategic significance. In the past al qaeda looks for those types of areas for attacks. Now to washington. White house correspondent Kristen Welker. Kristen, this must be an odd day for the president. Hes celebrating his 52nd birthday in the midst of a Global Security issue. President obama was celebrating his 52nd birthday from camp david. Hes just returned. Hes been updated regularly on the global Terror Threat, including at least twice yesterday. Once after a meeting of his National Security team which included his adviser susan rice, secretary of state john kerry, and chuck hagel, and a number of other top officials. So he has been monitoring this situation quite closely. And i expect those briefings to go on throughout the day. This all comes as we are looking a little bit of new information about what top officials really are focused on right now. According to a Senior Administration official and top u. S. Official who has been briefed on the latest intelligence, weve been talking a lot about the fact that they are bracing for a significant attack. These two officials tell me significant could either mean one attack or simultaneous attacks. We also know that intelligence officials are particularly concerned about the fact that al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been working to gain the capability to use surgically implanted explosive devices. Now, weve been talking a lot about the possibility about a threat on the homeland. Ive been told by the two top officials at this point in time theres no known intelligence to point to the possibility of an attack on the homeland, but they still cant rule it out because they dont have the specifics about the nature of this attack. Heres more of what senator sexby chambliss had to say earlier this morning on meet the press. Theres been a lot of chatter out there. Chatter means conversations among terrorists, about the planning thats going on. Very reminiscent of what we saw pre9 11. Now, we also know that the department of Homeland Security has stepped up screenings of International Flights that are headed to the United States. This attack is one that they are concerned about, not just against u. S. Interests, but really, western interests. And to that point, britain, france, germany have all closed their embassies in yemen as they try to gain more information about the potential planning for this attack. The state department is looking at the possibility of keeping their embassies closed down for longer than just today. Theyre trying to assess the intelligence and where they go from here. Thank you all for that. And joining me now from seattle, to talk more about this ongoing Terror Threat is congressman adam smith, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services committee. Congressman, thank you for being here this afternoon. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate the chance. Your colleague on the hill, dick durbin, told David Gregory that the House Appropriations bill sent to the committee with 48 million to upgrade security at Embassy Buildings and consulates overseas. Lets listen for a moment what he had to say about that. We need to protect the people out there representing us, and realize were living in an increasingly dangerous world. This specific threat that weve been briefed on over and over again has reached a new level. Are our interests overseas more vulnerable than previously realized . And does this threat speak to the need for more permanent fortifications of embassies and the like . I dont know if its more than previously realized. I mean, weve had threats to our embassies for a long time. Certainly from al qaeda. Back to 1998, Embassy Bombings in kenya and tanzania, weve been aware of the fact that our rather extensive foreign presence does make us vulnerable and we need to shore up that security. A group of us were briefed by Vice President biden last week, and others, on what the steps are going to be to take to beef up our presence overseas. Embassies, of course, but consulates as well. Look, al qaeda hasnt gone away. Particularly in the parts of the world where their ideology is most present, we need to be constantly vigilant and protect all of our assets and interests, because they are under threat. You say al qaeda hasnt gone away. Id like to talk a little bit more about that. On one of the sunday morning talk shows, peter king said in many weighs al qaeda is stronger now than before 9 11 in that it has mutated and spread. Do you agree with that assessment . Well, i dont agree that theyre stronger. They had a central base of operations pre9 11 in afghanistan. They had nowhere near the pressure on them that they have right now. Their Senior Leadership was safely ensconced, unthreatened. There is no place on the global right now that al qaeda is operating that we and our allies are not attempting to put pressure on them. In afghanistan, in pakistan, and yemen. That disrupts plots and makes it more difficult for them to operate. I think the task has become more complicated, because pre9 11 it was pretty much just afghanistan. It was osama bin laden, and al qaeda Senior Leadership. That has since spread to somalia, yemen. We have problems in mali now. There are cells in different places. But we also have many, many more assets that we have brought to bear to try to contain them. To try to take out their leadership and try to undermine their plans. So they are still a threat. I would not agree that theyre stronger than pre9 11. And one of the theories is that one of the reasons were seeing these threats right now is in that theres a lot of anger behind recent drone attacks in some of the parts of the world where the embassies are being closed, particularly in yemen. Do you think that the use of these drones, so commonly in that part of the world, is actually fueling more antiamerican sentiment, thats ultimately making us less safe in those areas . Well, i mean, its hard to say. Because on the one hand theres no question that the drone strikes have made us more safe. In one very clear way, theyve undermined the ability of these folks to plot and plan against us. Anwar al awlaki, and the underwear bomber in detroit, to place bombs on i forget if it was u. P. S. Or fedex planes. We took out some of the Senior Leadership in pakistan and elsewhere. The obsession with drones, i find a little odd in the sense that the question is the war. Al qaeda declared war on us in 1996. They Vice President chan they havent changed their mind. Were trying to defend ourselves and go after them. Its not just drones. We, of course, have done what weve done in afghanistan. I mean, would it be better if we were launching cruise missiles at us. They declared war against us, they are threatening us. Yes, you know, violence begets violence. But when you have people out there specifically plotting to attack us, i dont think we can sit back and say, well, we dont want to risk making other people mad. Al qaeda Senior Leadership and al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, you know, are actively plotting against us, we need to use the tools that are in our toolbox to disrupt those plots. Congressman, any thoughts on how long the Embassy Closures will persist . You know, its hard to say. Depends on what the intelligence tells us. And on how quickly we can get to the bottom of the plot and the people who are responsible for it. And stop them. It will depend on the intelligence. I wouldnt make a prediction. I dont think anybody should at this point. Congressman adam smith in seattle. Thank you. Thank you. Unfinished business. Congress is on vacation for five weeks. Why some say september and october are going to be a mess for lawmakers. And dissident or a traitor . Someone tried changing the Wikipedia Page about edward snowden. But who was it . Thats a great choice. Let me show you some faucets to go along with that. With the latest styles and guaranteed low prices, you can turn the bath you have into the bath you want. Good choice. More saving. More doing. Thats the power of the home depot. Right now, this abbey vanity combo is a special buy. Just 299. She was a picky eater. Well now im her dietitian. And last year, she wasnt eating so well. So i recommended boost complete nutritional drink to help her get the nutrition she was missing. And now she drinks it every day. Well, it tastes great [ male announcer ] boost drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones, and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. And now boost comes in two delicious, new bars. Look for them next to boost drinks. [ dietitian ] now, nothing keeps mom from doing what she loves. Being my mom. For the latest analysis on our top stories, lets get right to our brain trust. Managing editor at politico. And christine niedermayer, author of straight scoop politics, the blog. Thank you all for being here today. Thank you. Rachel, u. S. Interests abroad are facing the Terror Threat. The president is golfing and celebrating his birthday, which hes entitled to do. And congress is on break for five weeks, which is scheduled. But do the optics of this look back while all of this security assessment is taking place globally . Congress is scheduled to take a break, of course. I dont think it looks bad that they left town for that reason. For all the other reasons, though, the optics arent so good. Cranky Congress Heads home but doesnt have a lot to show for it. Tensions running high, but the appropriations process is a mess. They didnt get the farm bill done. Immigration is stuck. For all those reasons, the optics are not so good. Boris, South Carolina republican senator Lindsey Graham told cnn he does feel the administration is treating this threat appropriately. Lets take a quick listen to what he had to say. To the members of the congress who want to reform the nsa program, great. But if you want to gut it, you make us much less safe, and youre putting our nation at risk. We need to have policies in place that can deal with the threats that exist, and they are real and they are growing. Is it too early to be politicizing this, or is this exactly the right time to say, hey, this is what these programs are for . Its the right time to do so. The issues been out there for a long time now. Theres no question that the programs are in place for a while. Intelligence has been around a long time. This shouldnt be news. It should not force our country to stop some of the forms of keeping our country safe. For us to say, theres a rogue idiot, snowden releases this information, we should not push back by stopping some of the programs that keep us safe. We should do the opposite. Senator graham is right on point there. Christine, weve been hearing for the last ten years how weakened al qaeda has become through our efforts against them. But then when you have Something Like this happening, does this cause the public to question whether theyre stronger than we were led to believe . I think in benghazi, we saw what happened there. The president wants to anticipate a potential attacks. Several other countries have done the same, so not just the United States. Al qaeda will still be a strong force up there around the country and around the world. And we cant just afford to step back. I might say a couple of things. Snowden, the most recent polls show that snowden is seen as a whistleblower, not a traitor. And number two, even though most polls also show that the American Public supports, and at least doesnt oppose tremendously the nsa program to track our emails and track our phone calls, they want to make sure it has a legitimate connection with security. And the concern i would have also as a lawyer is, you know, the government collects information all the time. But the courts are there to determine whether that information can be acted upon and invaded in a accepts. Here we have all this information thats just going to be sitting there in washington, tempting people who may want to invade it, and look at the security information, this private information that doesnt really have a legitimate Public Security interest. Facts have shown that the courts are in place that follow the process on the surveillance programs. And allowed it to go forward. As far as what the polls show, in my opinion, we should not govern our nations security on what polls think about one person which is governed by whats best for the security of the country. Let me just say, a question of whether its overkill. I think, again, theres a legitimate interest to securing information, to obtaining information. The question that snowden has raised is its too broad. Thats a question that we need to address. Lets turn now to domestic politics from this global Terror Threat. Rachel, just before congress adjourned, the house voted for the 40th time to reveal obamacare. W msnbc. Com lists a number of legislative issues they could tackle. Why do they spend so much time on this to the exclusion of other important legitimate legislative issues . This is pure red meat for the base, this issue of obamacare. Theyre going to try to keep trying again and again. Dont expect this to go away in the fall. In fact, some republicans such as ted cruz wanted to defund obamacare. A lot of divisions in the Republican Party right now over how to handle obamacare. Do you make your stand and try to stop government funding . Or do you allow that to go through on the theory that could be very bad optics for the Republican Party and keep pushing in other ways . So far, its been symbolic, it hasnt had any real effect. Is there a point of diminishing returns where the public says enough, get back to work on stuff that will really make a difference in peoples lives . Thats absolutely a risk. Thats one the Republican Party is going to have to game out. Theres a lot of, again, appeal to the base on this issue. But you run the risk of really turning off all the other voters. And obamacare looks like its here to stay. The Supreme Court has upheld it. It is the law of the land. We are waiting for signup to begin october 1st. So its an uphill climb. And one that could easily be seen as more of a political issue, while the business of the country remains unfinished. Christine, you wanted to weigh in on that . This is just another example of semantics. Not a lot is getting done. Theres an old saying when i used to work on the hill years ago, that washington, d. C. Is 67 square miles surrounded by reality. So i for one think its good that members of the senate and house are going back home. I think they need to hear from their constituents, whether its immigration or the federal budget or spending controls, or all the plethora of issues, they arent getting the job done. How do you explain that . Lets not forget the reason the house of representatives is the majority of republicans, is the majority of the people elected the house to be that way. Theyre representing their constituents as we speak. Are they productive . Ill be open and say theyre not. They would be much more productive to work with democrats on the other side. Obamacare as planned is not going to work. Thats why part of it was already pushed back. So as republicans, what we need to do is say, heres our top five issues. Should obamacare be one of snows absolutely. Because thats what the constituents care about. Immigration, debt ceiling, and getting this economy out of a rut. Were still at tiny gdp growth. Dont you think it runs the risk of creating the perception that its a party of no, that its a party of obstructionism as opposed to putting forth the things they value . Theyre spending a lot of real legislative time opposing the things they disagree with, that have been implemented into law. They are implenting it into law, but parts of them have already been pushed back. I think what the republicans should be doing isnt necessarily focusing on just opposing obamas issues, they need to be focusing on fixing certain mistakes in the obamacare that the democrats agree exist. We could talk about this for a while. But we will have all three of you back later in the show. Rachel, boris, christine, well see you later. Thank you sglsmgs the new hottest thing in music. The group out of thailand has already got three albums and a review from the new york times. But theyre no boy band. Its the thai elephant orchestra. At a refuge performing for elephants, theyve been trained to play instruments especially for them. They perform in groups up to 16 for tourists at the conservation center. I guess you could call it a trunk show. I love to eat. I love hanging out with my friends. I have a great fit with my dentures. I love kiwis. Ive always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. Super poligrip free it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. Even wellfitting dentures let in food particles. Super poligrip is zinc free. With just a few dabs, its clinically proven to seal out more food particles so youre more comfortable and confident while you eat. Super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. From the high fly ball left field. Did he get it and it is gone it was a hit for the history books. Home run number 755 for giants slugger barry bonds. At a distance of 382 feet, it was far from the longest home run in his career, but enough to reach the summit of baseballs most hallowed record, alongside the great hank aaron as alltime home run king. Flashback to this day in 2 7 2007, when barry bonds recordtying home run was met with many cheers, but some boos from the stands. Controversy surrounded bonds achievement because of his suspected use of steroids. While hes never been convicted, he was left out of the Baseball Hall of fame this year, in his first year of eligibility. Bonds currently holds the record for the most home runs in baseball history, with 762. And now to another player currently fifth on that home run list, nbc news learned Alex Rodriguez could be suspended through the end of the 2014 season. Nbcs ron motte has the latest. Nbc sports was told Alex Rodriguez will be suspended by bud selig for the remainder of the 2013 season and likely the entire 2014 season. In connection to the leagues investigation of performanceenhancing drug use by rodriguez and other players. The announcement is scheduled for monday. Sources also say Major League Baseball officials were angered by rodriguezs comments friday night indicating he would not negotiate, even as his team of representatives worked behind the scenes to reach a supplement. I feel great. Reporter after another Minor League Game last night in trenton, new jersey, arod said he was unaware of the commissioners purported ruling. Ive been on the field the last 5 1 2 hours. I havent heard or seen anything. Reporter the yankee slugger said he intended to continue for a sunday workout and a flight for chicago where the yankees are set to play the white sox on monday. Will you still fly to chicago . Yeah, im flying to chicago. Reporter if the lengthy suspension survives the challenge, it will cost rodriguez millions of dollars. Up next, new action over the militarys assault. The pentagon fired 60 counselors, recruiters, and more firings could be coming. Blockbusted. Summer movies now place in an empty theater near you. Is the summer block buster dead . Youre watching msnbc. F the latm beneful baked delights. New heartfuls are made with real bacon. And ovenbaked to crisp perfection. Add a soft appleflavored center. And say no more. New heartfuls from beneful baked delights. Spark more play in your day. And experience the connectivity of the available lexus enform, including the es and rx. This is the pursuit of perfection. From capital one. Boris earns unlimited rewards for his Small Business. Can i get the smith contract, please . Thank you. Thats three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris Small Business earns 2 cash back on every purchase every day. Great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. Read back the chickens testimony, please. Buk, buk, bukka [ male announcer ] get the spark Business Card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. Choose 2 cash back or double miles on every purchase every day. Told you id get half. Whats in your wallet . An arrest has been made in connection with yesterdays venice beach boardwalk crash that left one person dead and 11 others injured. Police charged 35yearold Nathan Campbell with murder, after he plowed his Dodge Avenger into a paved pedestrian walkway that witnesses say appeared intentional. The car came out and crashed into everybody. It hit everybody. It hit my grandmother. Hit everyone. Welcome back to msnbc. Im mara. Heres a quick look at the other top stories making news now. Rescuers on mt. Hood have recovered the body of a snowboarder who went missing this weekend. His friends say an ice chunk the size of a school bus came crashing down on him while he explored an ice tunnel. The daily mail is reporting a member of the u. S. Senate was caught trying to change Edward Snowdens Wikipedia Page that dubbed him a traitor. It was rejected by a wikipedia moderator for being biassed and was traced back to a senate user. New developments in the militarys crackdown on Sexual Assaults. The pentagon has fired 60 troops investigators uncovered they committed a variety of violations after defense secretary chuck hagel ordered the military to examine the records of recruiters and Sexual Assault counselors. A pentagon reporter for usa today, thanks for being here, tom. Thanks for having me, mara. What were the specific offenses that these troops were fired over . They ranged from alcohol related offenses and k450i8d abuse and some cases Sexual Assault. Serious claims here. Earlier this year a report found an simtd 26,000 troops have been sexually assaulted in 2012. 35 increase since 2010. Do you think actions like those that are taken now will help address this problem longterm . Right. This action is a direct outgrowth of that report. Chuck hagel came out after that report and said we need to recertify every Sexual Assault counselor and recruiter we had. The army decided that people that they called in positions of trust needed to be looked at as well. Those are drill instructors, and other instructors as well. The records of at least 35,000 troops have been reviewed, or still under review. Do we expect to see more firings like this down the line . As i understand it, there are a number of folks still under review. So the army has not completed all of its investigations and doesnt expect to until october. I think we can probably expect to see more people going. Now, tom, critics argue each branch of the military is enter preting hagels orders to look at records differently. How do we know the pentagon is adequately addressing the pob . The army seemed to go the extra mile. In doing so, they uncovered 55 soldiers who they decided will no longer do those jobs. The other Services Just had a handful. It was only the navy that had five others. So perhaps there will be a call to do more, and look at those recruiters, and in other branches. Congress recently summoned the militarys top brass to the hill to explain their response to Sexual Assaults. One proposal is to take the prosecution of these assaults out of the chain of command. Where does that proposal stand right now . It got removed, or actually a proposal in the senate was voted down. But the senator from new york has vowed to bring that to the full senate as an amendment this fall. Well see if it gains any traction there. She has bipartisan support for that. All right. Tom vanden brook for usa today. Thanks for your time this afternoon. Thanks for having me. You can call him the littlest quarterback. 5yearold cancer survivor ryan encino scored a special touchdown saturday at the Cleveland Browns Training Camp before a cheering crowd of 24 howe. Ryan ran a 50yard touchdown wearing his very own browns jersey and helmet. He was just 2yearolds when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Hes in his second year in remission. That is something to celebrate. [ male announcer ] this is betsy. Her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain. And a choice. Take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. All aboard. All aboard. Okay, a . B . B. A . Thats a great choice. Let me show you some faucets to go along with that. With the latest styles and guaranteed low prices, you can turn the bath you have into the bath you want. Good choice. More saving. More doing. Thats the power of the home depot. Right now, this abbey vanity combo is a special buy. Just 299. The world is coming to an end. Today we face the monsters that was a scene from the bigbudget movie pacific rim. Despite the 190 million to make it, that movie and a host of other summer films failed to become box office hits. Joining me to discuss the lack of blockbusters is joe newmeyer. Thank you for being here. My pleasure, mara. The obvious question is, are they just not good . I think in many cases theyre not. I think audiences were aware of that. Social media is helping to drive early response. So people get the sense that these things are going to be tanking or not. I think also people are aware of big blockbuster thats coming in on a big budget. Theyre wary now and staying away from things. Man of steel made money, ironman made money. We were talking about super heroes, it seems like traditionally the summer was the time of the super hero. Then you have Something Like this summers lone ranger, brought in just 81 million in the first three weeks. Is it just a little bit of fatigue with the same thing . Its battle fatigue with the super hero movies. Were about ten years in the death grip of the com comiccon movies. People stay away from lone ranger, wolverine. Its hard to believe anyone could turn down hugh jackman. This is the sixth time hes played it in 12 years. I think people recognize when its a hard sell like that. And its a title they dont want to necessarily go with to see it, theyre going to ignore it. A lot of movies were seeing today are remakes of something else. Whether its the a team or super hero weve seen ten times over like superman. Were not seeing the ghostbusters or jaws. Is that part of the problem, theres no originality . The clip that you showed from pacific rim, part of the defenders of that movie sort of said, what a shame. Heres an original movie. Its not based on a preexisting comic book or remake, but people still ignored it. But it still looked like transformers and godzilla, which next summer we get both of those. Its different noises, but the same kind of junk. Is this going to change the kind of movies we see in summers moving forward . Are the studios paying attention to what i think young males are staying away from these big budget movies. Theyre the bread and butter of the summer blockbusters. 18 to 25yearolds drive it. But if theyre staying away, their attention is distracted like netflix, indie films that older audiences are going to, hopefully a lly hollywood will t that, they make money overseas, but they absolutely underperform at the domestic box office. Netflix, now we have a lot more options in entertainment than we had, say, 20 years ago. Does this speak to the movie industry 234 generin general th peoples attentions are divided . The first weekend is crucial for 40i8d. If a movie underperforms that first weekend, they suspect it will not play out. And dvd sales are down. It just has the one weekend, 72 hours just to make money back, create a buzz. If that doesnt happen, its gone. A tough business to be in. Thanks so much for your time. Film critic for the daily news. Up next, our brain trust is back with this weeks sneak peek. Dont go anywhere. And 900 Million Dollars are changing hands online. Thats why the internet needs a new kind of server. One thats 80 smaller. Uses 89 less energy. And costs 77 less. Its called hp moonshot. And its giving the internet the room it needs to grow. This. Is going to be big. Its time to build a better enterprise. Together. Were back with our sundays brain trust. Thank you all, again, for coming back. Rachel, i want to start with you and your headline for next week. Whats it going to be . Cranky Congress Heads home. Leaving a line of Unfinished Business and uninteresting fights for us to watch. Stories lines over the month of august. How much will they hear from constituents on that . And how ang rry are halls pushi for action or inaction on that issue. And dealing with it before they left for recess. Now we will see more once they get back. Christina. My headline is will Anthony Weiner cut a deal . People have been watching him plummet in the polles from first place to fourth place. He is going down in flames. But knowing Anthony Weiner, he doesnt want to completely disappear. He has time now, five weeks is a long time in primary electoral politics. And he has time to perhaps approach one of the other two candidates, like debazo or thompson and see if he can cut a deal and survive. Hopefully not. I believe today, yes, today, he was at a parade, an ecuadorian pride parade. And someone joked he seemed to have more ecuadorian pride than the folks there. He was waving that flag and wearing the colors. Is this a sign of a desperate candidate . Is he doing too much to change focus on his scandals. Well, my guess is he will do that for another couple of weeks, then sit down. Because he knows hes not going to win. Even if he did become one of the top two, he would lose one of the top two matchups. He has 24 support of blacks that are support surveys have found that black voters more forgiving. If you need forgiveness, that the group to go to. They are. You know, finny is so desperate and so pathetic. I would love for tell us what you really think. We will talk about this on tuesday morning. He needs to get out. I cant see him on tv any more. This looks awful. He is going after the ecuadorian constituent. Even if he does cut a deal, what is the deal . They stop talking about his weinerisms . It is not about weinerisms. Well i thought about it but it went the other way. My headline is obama goes on vacation as terror persists. We talked about it earlier, are the optics bad . Yes. For congress theyre bad because not only are they gone on vacation, they are here only nine days in september. For obama, on Marthas Vineyard. And i think we all hope the issues become solved and the embassy reopens. 22 countries remain closed. John kerry add problem when he was photographed on a boat during a huge security issue. I think itll be problem again for obama to be photographed on Marthas Vineyard if something happened. If i were him, i would reconsider going on vacation if u. S. Cons lates remain closed. Lets turn to baseball. Nbc news learned Major League Baseball is expected to suspend yankees star Alex Rodriguez on monday now with his ties to the drug defunk et . Florida. Rodriguez should challenge the credibility of the evidence. If Major League Baseball has evidence, force them to show up. We are seeing one of the biggest stars facing a careerending suspension. We have been talking politics so i will give it to you in termsopticses. Major league baseball, showing they are really cracking down. Thats the issue he is facing. And i will put same question to the two of you. We are facing the end of the show. Does this look good for maejor league baseball. They are cracking down on a problem for the sport. Is this an embarrassment for america americas passtime . According to a yankee fan like myself, if you look at him last year pb he was always off on the playoffs except 09. It is an embarrassment because it dragged on for so long. If they were going to suspend him, it should have been two months ago. When ron brawn was suspended. Now if it is appealed, it gets more dragged out. Is an embarrassment but all sports need to be cleaned up. People watch the nfl and different sports across the country. The head of the anti the world antidoping League Statement came out with a statement yesterday, former head who founded it. Said that american baseball for years has been in denial. So i think hernandezs problem is they now have him allegedly for obstruction. They will have a penalty harder. He sees the 36 million he will lose the next two years if he is suspend et to 2014. But some would say sell selig is coming down harder because of his legacy. Buy your tickets, you you may not see arod. Who cares about arod. Thank you all for being here. Rachel from politico. And christine need meyer from the straight scoop politics blog. Thank you for watching our show this sunday afternoon. Craig, well be back next weekend. [ male announcer ] they say it was during an arm wrestling match that mr. Clean realized the way to handle bigger, tougher messes was better leverage. Thats why he created his new magic eraser handy grip. It has a handle that firmly attaches to the eraser so you get better leverage and more oomph with less effort. Its the perfect magic eraser for making stuff thats big and tough not so tough, after all. Mr. Cleans handy grip the newest member of the magic eraser family. In all purpose and bath. [ engine revs ] thanks for disrupting your afternoon. Im karen finney. A house divided and it cant stand american on divide as the u. S. Government issues a worldwide terror alert. They intercepted chatter and it is coming from and targeting yemen. Very reminiscent of what we saw pre9 11. It is scary. What we see is an administration not confronting terrorism. Governor Chris Christie and senator rand paul. This is a good fight. Demonstrating the divide inside the gop. Strong