Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Jose Diaz-Balart 20160127

Give money to the veterans. Theyre going to make a fortune with the debate. Now lets see how many people watch. Fox news replied with this statement, quote, we learned from a secret back channel that the ayatollah and putin both intend to treat donald trump fairly when they meet with him if he becomes president. Trump has his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings. Meanwhile, trumps main rival ted cruz is challenging him to a one on one type gathering. We can do it with no moderators whatsoever. Well do 90 minutes, lincoln, douglas. He can lay out his vision for this country, i can lay out my vision for the country in front of the people of iowa. If someone did that, didnt show up at the interview, you know what youd say, youre fired good wednesday morning. Im jose diaz ballart. This was supposed to be a quiet day on the campaign trails as they prepare for tomorrows debate. As you can see, its nothing but a debate. Lets get to Kristen Welker and Steve Kornacki in new york. Good morning to all of you. Peter, let me start with you. Does there appear to be any chance of trump rethinking this decision . Well, thats a good question. Here on msnbc earlier today the Campaign Manager for donald trump said he really didnt think so. He said to us late yesterday that Donald Trumps word is bond, that this is not under negotiation. Recognize, this is a very big gamble for donald trump right now barely 100 hours out from the caucuses here in iowa. Its fitting that were in farm country because this is now a high stakes game of chicken. Heres what Corey Lewandowski told msnbc. Unlike the very stupid and highly incompetent people that run our country, mr. Trump knows when to walk away from a bad deal. Mr. Trump doesnt play games. You geese know that. Hes been to six debates. He stood on the stage with megyn kelly. He answered every question from every debate moderator whos posed a question to him. Hes won every single debate. This isnt about megyn kelly at all. This is about hearing from the candidates directly in a fair manner. Of course, the Campaign Says this is not about megyn kelly. Donald trump called her a light weight reporter. The reason this is a gamble of course, with so little time left theres the potential theres an empty podium. It demonstrates trump were the alpha male as it were in the campaign cycle. It also opens him up to the potential opportunity for some of his opponents to attack him. For now we wait and see exactly what the campaign does in the final hours. Steve, this may also be good for trump because it kind of cements what people think of him before this debate and if he is leading or thinks hes leading, why risk another debate . Yeah, no, look, this is the Million Dollar question obviously right now. You could absolutely see a scenario where this plays to trumps benefit. You put the statement up there that fox news put out yesterday. Lets just be honest. I cant think of another major News Organization that would put that kind of a statement out while in the same breath saying, we are going to treat you and every other candidate fairly. You have our assurances. Trump was not happy with megyn kelly being selected as the moderator but he was still prepared to go to the debate with megyn kelly. What pushed him over the edge saying, i cant read that statement and think that im going to show up on that stage and be treated fairly. I have to say, i have to imagine a lot of people could understand that logic. It could look like a strong move. The risk is, how does fox respond . Do they put that empty podium up there . The blanket statement that he was not going to attend that debate came after, only after that fox statement . Yes. He said last night when he read that statement that is what made him say, you know what, im not going to do this anymore. Peter, he got into a bit of a back and forth with donald trump. Listen to this. In 1999 you said you were pro choice in all respects. And i said what did i say . You didnt read it. Read the full statement of what i said. Are you a trustworthy excuse me. Very trustworthy. More so than you because, you know what, you didnt read the question. Ill read it now. Im very pro choice. I hate the concept of abortion. Why didnt you say when you asked the question before that i hate the concept of abortion . Do you apologize . I i do you apologize. Do i apologize for reading your words . For not reading my words. No. No, for not reading my words. No, do you apologize for not reading my words . So it kept us apologize . We didnt apologize, of course, but the reason this matters is because here, of course, in the state where donald trump is trying to demonstrate himself as a trusted, true conservative and so many evangelicals here will dictate in many ways which way the caucus goes, were asking him a question hes been hit on by a lot of his opponents, including ted cruz about a comment he made in 1999 on meet the press where donald trump said that he was very pro choice in all respects. As you noted, he also said, i hate abortion. I think most mercamericans woul agree they hate abortion. That doesnt necessarily dictate what their opinion is whether theyre pro choice. Nonetheless, his getting fired up about this sort of demonstrates, i think, the way he has been able to, a, dominate this and, b, the way hes been able to avoid some of the tough questions that have been presented to him. Why hes disinclined to show up on the debate stage. Because if he does hes likely to come under attack. Many are degs perfect rate to beat up on him with little time left. Things have changed in the campaign trail because when i tried to get a question in to him in laredo texas, he didnt let me go more than four words and didnt let me ask the question. You got a chance to at least talk a little bit more. Thats an unusual thing. I got seven words. You got seven words. Youre beating me by three. Kristen, we have a new poll out showing the democratic race tightening as well . Thats right. The race has been tight here in iowa for quite some time. This latest poll underscores that, who i say. Look at the numbers. This is the latest quinnipiac poll which shows Bernie Sanders has a slight lead over Hillary Clinton, 49 to 45 . Heres the real headline. Take a look at what happens in voters under the age of 44. 78 to 21 favor Bernie Sanders. And right now that is where a lot of the focus is, trying to get those young firsttime caucus goers to actually turn out. Back in 2008 there was a lot of question of whether they were going to turn out for then senator barack obama. They did. That helped to propel him to victory. So the Sanders Campaign hoping to see that happen again. Theyre reaching out to those young voters in a number of different ways on college campuses, through social media. The Clinton Campaign is as well. Secretary clinton making her Closing Argument saying they has the experience and also saying that she is the candidate whos really put the details of all of her plans on the table. Take a listen to what she had to say in iowa yesterday. I do put my plans on my website and i do tell you how much it will cost because i do want you to know that im not just shouting slogans, im not just engaging in rhetoric. Ive thought this through. I have a plan. I want you to understand it because i dont think you can get what we need done in this election or in the presidency unless you level with people. You tell them what you can do and you let them respond to it. Bernie sanders making headlines as well for some huge crowds that he turned out yesterday in minnesota. Take a look, 14,000 in saint paul. 6,000 in duluth. A lot of the folks who turned out, jose, young voters. But, again, the question here in iowa, will they actually turn out to caucus. Later today Bernie Sanders will be meeting at the white house with president obama. That meeting comes on the heels of president obama praising his former secretary of state in an interview with politico earlier this week. Secretary clinton, for her part, will hold a get out the caucus event here in dell in a few hours. Kristen welker, peter alexander, Steve Kornacki, thank you for being with us. We are following breaking news out of oregon where eight people have been arrested, one person shot and killed after an end to that nearly monthlong standoff at a National Wildlife refuge. Nbcs joe fryer has the very latest for us. Good morning, jose. 25 days into this occupation authorities decided it was time to make some arrests, but things turned violent. The confrontation played out not at the wildlife refuge but at a highway 50 miles away as some members of the Antigovernment Group were driving to a Community Meeting. Along a rural highway the fbi and the state Police Stopped the occupiers vehicles to arrest members of the group when Authorities Say shots were fired though they would not elaborate on who was fired. One protester was killed, an arizona rancher who became a spokesman for the occupation. Honestly, there are things more important than your life and freedom is one of them. Reporter nbc news spoke by phone with finicums daughter. I want to know why because i know my dad. He would never put someones life in jeopardy. He would only protect his life. Reporter another militant was injured and turned over to the fbi. In all, eight occupiers are behind bars, including the leader, amand bupd bey and his brother, ryan. 59yearold shawna cox was arrested. We saw her making soup shortly after the occupation began. We are setting ourselves up to help the citizens here in Harney County claim their lands back. I have to go again. Another arrest happened in arizona. He posted a video on facebook hugging his kids before turning himself in. They took control of the wildlife refuge on january 2nd. Theyre calling for local control of the federal band and demanding freedom of two oregon ranchers. Many county residents wanted the group to leave, authorities made no forceful attempt to stop the occupation until now. Some armed militants still remain at the refuge so the occupation is not over although a few did choods to leave this morning. Those who are arrested now face federal felony charges. Jose . Joe fryer, thank you very much. For more on how all of this went down i want to bring in nbcs justice correspondent pete williams. Whats the latest . What happened . Good morning. Well get more of a full account in a News Conference that will take place in a couple of hours. According to a Government Official whos familiar with what happened, this is how it went down. The Law Enforcement people, this is the fbi and the Sheriffs Office had planned for some time if they were ever going to arrest the leaders, which there have been growing calls out there locally to do, it would have to be away from this facility, while they were on the road. They were on their way to a Community Meeting last night. Went in two cars when they were stopped at a roadblock. The official said both cars did pull over but then the lead car tried to get away, took off and didnt get very far and ran into a snowbank. According to this official, finicum, whos the man who was shot, jumped out of the car brandishing at least one firearm. He was then shot and killed. This official does not know which Law Enforcement agency fired the shot, whether it was the fbi or the local authorities. The second person who was injured the second person who was shot and injured was ryan bundy, shot in the arm. He was taken to the hospital, treated and released. They say there were a total much nine people in these two cars. The plan has always been if they were ever going to stop this occupation, they would have to try to get the leadership when they were away from the facility and thats what happened. As for who is remaining behind and what the status of that is, were going to have to wait for the next how hours to see how that plays out. Pete williams, thank you very much. We are expecting a major announcement any time now from michigans governor and the mayor of flint as the city continues to deal with the crisis caused by lead in the drinking water. At the same time, concerned parents are getting their children tested for lead exposure at one local area. Lets go live to tony decople where msnbc will be holding a special town hall. Good. Reporter good morning, tony. This is the home of the Rachel Maddow town hall. The governor later this morning is expected to make similar remarks himself. Hes also going to announce a task force, long awaited for independent task force comprised of key people. Mark edwards, professor at Virginia Tech, instrument al in bringing the led problem to light. There was graffiti in town that says, if you want trust, Governor Snyder, give us Virginia Tech. Thats a call for mark edwards. Mark edwards is being delivered. Also the doctor that found elevated blood levels in children. Lead testing, the second of 15 planned Community Led testing area. These kids are there. I cant emphasize how slow and laborious the blood drawing process is. I think we have pictures of it. Blood take general from the finger, six drops. Six drops per child and its not instantaneous. A lot of tears. A lot of parents also struggling. We talked to one woman who is both a grand parent of a student there as well as a teacher in the school and heres what she had to say. Reporter youre saying youve seen a change in the classroom from tears to today . Oh, definitely. What im saying, we dont know if its lead. Were saying theres something going on. Im very concerned. They dont know the lasting effect. Its a travesty that could have been avoided. Reporter jose, whats really scary about that particular school, it was not chosen at random. It is one of three schools where there are elevated levels of lead. The damage that may have been done could be irreversible. Tony, i dont know if you know this the answer to this question, but when they do that, the blood test of six drops from the finger, is it almost immediately the results or does it take do you know that . Reporter i do know that. Unfortunately for parents it is a tortuous process. Not only do they have to baer witness to the blood being drawn, but then they have to wait two weeks to get results. There are only parents who had their kids stop drinking the water last night, last week, some last month. While we expect the positive results to be low level because people should have stopped drinking the water back in october, there are still parents in the community who have not gotten the message they could have lead in their blood. Tony, thank you very much. It gets worse every day. Thank you, tony. Were just, by the way, hours from msnbcs town hall in flint, michigan. Rachel maddow sat down with kate snow . Why the town hall now at the moment were in now . The interesting thing about the National Coverage sort of surging into flint is that i still feel like theres a couple of things that are being missed. One of them is the voices of the people of flint. The whole reason that we started covering the story is because people in flint were screaming bloody murder. They knew something was wrong. They were trying to get accountability for it. They had no locally elected officials who they could appeal to for their problems. How did you hear about the story in the first place . We had been covering the emergency manager issue. Michigan has a totally unique, totally radical system of governance in which the governor can come in and say, your local elections no longer matter. If theyre in fiscal difficulty. If the governor says theyre in fiscal difficulty so it is a remarkable democratic experiment theyre doing in michigan. I think its radical. We have covered other things that have been a consequence or happened. This was kind of the next one. Weve been monitoring basically michigan Media Coverage and michigan activists. When people started screaming bloody murder in flint it took us a while to figure out exactly what was going on. By the time we did, by the time we realized it wasnt just bad water, it was led in the water, it was clear to me it was a national story, not just a local one. Be sure to watch the flint town hall tonight at 9 00 eastern, 6 00 p. M. Pacific time. Think about this for a second. There are hundreds of people in flint, michigan, who may be undocumented and who have no communication with authorities, who fear authorities and they theyre on their own. I couldnt mow if theyre aware that the water is drinkable. Theyre in fear of officials knocking on their door. Thats happening in flint, michigan, as well. The so called influenza teen ethan couch drops his appeal. Could be headed back to texas. A live report right here on msnbc. Five days, still no sign of three inmates who escaped from an Orange County prison in california last week. One of them so dangerous the District Attorney compared him to the killer from the movies, hannibal lecter. Well have an update on that manhunt. 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Tell your doctor if you have heart or blood vessel problems, or develop new or worse symptoms. Get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Most common side effect is nausea. Being a nonsmoker feels great. Ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. cell phone rings where are you . Well the squirrels are back in the attic. Mom . Your dad wont call an exterminator. Can i call you back, mom . He says its personal this time. If youre a mom, you call at the worst time. Its what you do. If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Where are you . Its very loud there. Are you taking a zumba class . Texas teen who used the socalled affluenza defense could be back in texas. He and his mother were captured in mexico. His mother returned this month. Charles havlock is live in fort worth, texas, this morning. Reporter good morning. Ethan couchs attorneys in mexico say they confirm they have dropped all efforts to stop deportation of ethan couch. That means couch could return back to texas as early as this week. His Attorney Says ethan simply wants to come back home and face the charges against him. Now authorities have been wanting to talk to ethan as early as september when he skipped a probation hearing. They believe he was in a video that shows him at a party where alcohol was served. That would be a clear violation of his tenyear probation for drunk driving, an accident that killed four people back in 2013. His mother took him to mexico. They were both captured in mexico right after christmas and tanya couch was brought back. She did not fight extradition or deportation. Shes currently under house arrest here in tarrant county, but ethan couch fought his deportation until now. His attorneys say they are dropping that fight. Heres what he had to say. We had no way of knowing exactly what the legal basis for his selective deportation was. Now that we have determined there are no violations to his human rights and basically it was just mr. Couchs decision. He wants to go back to his home state and face whatever legal consequences result from whatever actions took place over the past few months. Reporter now during his trial his texas attorneys say that ethans upbringing in a wealthy family, that he was so coddled that he didnt know right from wrong. They called that the affluenza defense, but now the texas teen says that he would rather face american justice than remain in mexico. Jose . Charles havlock, thank you so much joompt is apple in trouble . The tech giant warning sales of the popular iphone could fall for the first time later this year. Well talk what that means for apple and the people with their stock. Were just a couple of minutes away from the opening bell. Futures have been down in early trading. Well watch. Down 58 before the bell rings this morning. To prove to you that the better choice for him is aleve. Hes agreed to give it up. Ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. Well be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. Yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so. More pills. Yep. Another pill stop. Can i get my aleve back yet . For my pain. I want my aleve. Get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. And feeling good, sort of. N and real, and 500 calories or less. The clean pairings menu. At panera. Food as it should be. My lan Early Morning mode. De. And a partly sunny mode. Transitions® signature™ adaptive lenses. Are more responsive than ever. Experience life well lit®. Upgrade your lenses to transitions® signature™ turning now to wall street where tech giant apple is in focus after a mixed earning report. Right now the futures are reporting to a lower open. 59 down, the dow. S p 4. 50. Apple, by the way, sold a Record Number of iphones, made billions in profit yet wall street is disappointed . Msnbc business and Technology Correspondent Olivia Stearns is here to explain all of that. Olivia, good morning. Good morning, jose. It is hard to believe but, yes, the numbers are huge. This is still actually disappointment to many analysts. That is because a lot of people out there are saying that apple may, in fact, have peaked. Lets take a look at the numbers. These are the numbers that represent apples holiday sales, 75. 9 billion. That is enormous, but it is short of what analysts had actually forecast apple would make. Perhaps most worrisome, jose, is for the First Time Ever sales of the iphone, the hugely profitable, essentially the most important apple product out there, were actually flat. 74. 8 million iphones sold in the quarter. Enormous. Just in line with estimates. Ipad sales, 16 point be point 1 million. Ipad sales has actually been falling for two years. 5. 3 million macs sold. Again, all big numbers, but in each of these product groups, as you can see from this chart, this lovely chart which i saw this morning and loved, all of these product categories are actually in decline. In fact, ipad sales have actually now been falling for two years straight. So why the disappointment . In part because of tough comps for the iphone in particular. In 2004 apple got a big boost from the launch of the larger iphone screen plus. This past year it hasnt been that big of a draw. Also, apple is very popular here in the u. S. But globally theyre rapidly losing market share to android. They now have less than 1 5 of the worldwide markets for phones as samsung, htc continue to take a bigger and bigger slice. Finally, this is something that all of the analysts have been buzzing about, its what weve been buzzing about. Its china. China is their biggest overseas market began to show signs of economic softness this month. That has a lot of investors spooked. All in all a bit of a whiff. After years of hyper growth, apple is beginning to look a little bit more like a value play rather than a juggernaut. Jose . Speaking of value. So apple is still sitting on a huge mountain of cash . Huge. 216 billion. Ceo tim cook boasted it is the mother of all balance sheets. Incredible. They built this up because theyre making 2 3 of their money abroad. Basically one of the most Profitable Companies of all time but investors now want to see whats going to be next for apple. Its probably not going to be apple music. They sort of stumbled with the launch of apple tv. Of course, the rumors of the electric cars coming from apple are many years off. Jose . Olivia, has the stock been affected . Very much so. So the stock is trading now below 100. Apple, again, the most valuable company by market cap. Trading at a multiple of 11. Compare that to google which is trading at 37 times. Facebook at 97. Clearly a discount for apple shares on the back of these results. Jose . Olivia stearns. Great seeing you. Thanks so much. After the break we return to iowa where the democratic race is tighter than ever in the latest poll. Going to take you there live as we get closer to the caucus. Speaking of caucus, what is a caucus anyway . Well explain coming up. To truly feel healthy on the outside you have to feel healthy. At your core. Trubiotics a probiotic from one a day naturally helps support both your digestive and immune health by combining. Two types of good bacteria. Trubiotics. Be true to your health. Thats why i switched from uverse to xfinity. Now i can download my dvr recordings and take them anywhere. Ready or not, here i come whispers now hideandseek time can also be catchuponmyshows time. Here i come cant find you anywhere dont settle for uverse. X1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. Ive been blind since birth. I go through periods where its hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. Learn about non24 by calling 8448442424. Or visit my24info. Com. Five days until the Iowa Caucuses and the democratic race couldnt be closer. A few numbers and new numbers out this morning show Bernie Sanders still in the lead, but just barely. Quinnipiac poll has the senator ahead of Hillary Clinton, 49 to 45 . Just inside the margin of error. Clinton remains in iowa today for a series of events. Sanders is heading it what he hopes is his future home, the white house. He is meeting privately with president obama in the oval office today. Its only their second private meeting in seven years since the president s been in office. This after a massive rally last night in minnesota where he continued to ride a wave of momentum. No president , not Bernie Sanders or anyone else, can effectively address the crises facing our country unless there is a political revolution. If we stand up, if we fight back, yeah, we can take on, we can defeat the billionaire class. That is what this campaign is about. Thank you all very much. Lets go to our correspondents in iowa. Casey hunt and hali jackson in des moines. Good morning. Casey, let me start with you. Just this week president obama said sanders was focused too narrowly on income inequality. Hows the meeting expected to go today . Jose, good morning. In iowa here over the past couple of days and now of course going to washington, Bernie Sanders, its hard to miss the fight over obamas legacy here in iowa. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are trying very hard to claim it in different ways. The president , of course, saying very kind things about Hillary Clinton in an interview with politico earlier this week stopping short of endorsing her outright but clearly giving the Clinton Campaign reason to feel as though she is the person who would continue his legacy, and she talks about that quite a bit on the campaign trail. She also talks about building the kind of coalition that sent obama to the white house, including minority voters, but for Bernie Sanders, the feeling here on the ground in iowa is one more like the movement that obama built in 2008 and what clinton is doing. Thats the kind of energy that theyre trying to recapture here. Right down to the signs on the poed dwlaum say, a future you can believe in, which of course echos obamas slogan. They are trying to replicate politically what he did. They have a lot of the support from the young voters, a lot of the enthusiasm on their side. The question is whether or not theyre going to be able to pull it off. I asked them about that yesterday. Are you the heir to president obama here in iowa . I wouldnt look, no. Obama in 2008 ran a campaign which is really going to stay in the history books. Do i think in this campaign that we are going to match that . I would love to see us do that. I hope we can. Frankly, i dont think we can. I think we stand a real chance to create a large voter turnout. I doubt that it will be as high as 2008. Wish it was, but i dont think it will be, but i think it will be high enough for us to win here in iowa. So he doesnt have to replicate exactly what obama did in 2008 to be able to eke out a win here. No one is talking about this as a blowout contest. Remember, Hillary Clinton came in third in iowa last time around, but Bernie Sanders is neck in neck with Hillary Clinton in those polls and thats what hes talking about here on the ground as well. So were still looking at this point at a nail biter on monday, jose. Yeah, casey, when you look at the numbers of support with sanders in iowa, you see that, you know, if you remove the younger folks from the equation, Hillary Clinton has a big a big lead. So the question is is sanders able to bring out look at the numbers. If you just take out the 1844, look at the numbers, Hillary Clinton. Especially 65 plus. But if you add the 1844, then its sanders. These are people who normally come ought to caucus. These are going to be firsttime caucus goers coming out for Bernie Sanders. Remember, the people that came out for obama in 2008, theyre no longer first time caucus goers. This is two election cycles. Theyre more likely to be Hillary Clinton supporters. They met her, got to know her in 2008 even if they didnt support her then. Ive talked to several people on the ground who say thats exactly what happened. They think this time its up to her. Sanders is the question is going to be does sanders have the machinery he needs to get those young people out to vote. Lets talk about the republicans now, hali. If donald trump follows through on his promise not to participate in tomorrow nights debate, who does that benefit . Well, three things. It may or may not benefit donald trump and it probably does not benefit ted cruz and heres why. With donald trump out of the debate stage tomorrow night theres a potential it could be seen as a sign of strength, right. Hes able to call the shots, play by his own rules and do what he wants to do. Hes the man. Hes the frontrunner. He can do it. On the other hand, youre seeing candidates come after him saying its weak of donald trump to stand up and defend his record on stage and answer questioners from a moderator like megyn kelly. That is what youre seeing from rivals like ted cruz, kris christie, portraying donald trump as a whiner. Not having trump on stage could give them some space to breathe, some space to get out there, make their points and perhaps most importantly go after somebody like ted cruz who donald trump off the stage now would be in that center stage position. He would be the leading candidate on stage and the one prepared for the most incoming. The campaign is ready for that. I believe the campaign understands if donald trump does not show up tomorrow night, its ted cruz going to be getting heavy fire from all sides. It opens up the possibility of a real cruz rubio showdown, too, jose . Yeah. That wouldnt be bad for trump to see that. Hali jackson and casey hunt, thank you both for being with me. Appreciate your time. Thanks, jose. So how many people really know and understand what a caucus is . The dictionary definition is a closed meeting of a group of persons belonging to the same Political Party or faction usually to select candidates. People party candidates. Msnbcs jacob silverof is joining me from iowa of exactly what a caucus is and what they do during caucus night. Jacob . Hey, jose. Yeah, absolutely no way to figure out what a caucus is. Thats why people and candidates come to a place like this. Later today Hillary Clinton is going to be inside. Right now the secret service is setting up explaining to people not just how to get out the vote. In fact, not how to get out and vote at all, but how to get out and caucus. A caucus is a process that happens here in iowa, every four years, every eight years iowans go through this. Here on the ground they have a hard time explaining the process. A caucus is, lets just say it, kind of a strange way to pick a president. In 13 states and two u. S. Territories they use some form of a caucus system. What is a caucus exactly . What is a caucus . Well, thats when they try to get out there to figure out whos going to be the best candidate. It helps decide i dont really know to be honest. On iowas caucus day, election day is more like election hour. At 7 00 p. M. , school, legion hall, government building or other location, you have to show up in one person at 1681 precincts to participate. Explain to me, how do you caucus . You go to the area in your precinct and then from there you decide which candidate youre going to caucus for. You kind of go and stand by who you want to support. You kind of go and stand by who you want to support. The group. Because Political Parties control it, it depends on whether youre a republican or democrat. Republican is straightforward, you walk in, write the name of your candidate on a piece of your paper, hand it in, ballots counted, winners announced, delegates awarded. If youre a democrat, caucusing is a bit of a musical chairs. Then caucus goers literally brek into groups for their candidate or to an area for undecided voters. The percentage is calculated and its deemed viable if in the vast majority of the caucus locations they get 15 or more. They can try to reach viability by recruiting additional viable supporters. The process repeats until all remaining candidates are viable and then delegates are awarded. Confused . Youre not alone and its why some say the turnout for the iowa caucus has historically been so low. Are you going to caucus, pat . No. Are you going to caucus . Probably depend on the weather. How about you, are you going to caucus . Absolutely not. Reporter so, jose, in fairness, there are, indeed, folks who go out and caucus regularly. It bears repeating that 16 percent, 16 percent is the alltime turnout. That was when president obama ran in 2008. This year the democrats are trying to make the process a little bit easier by allowing people to caucus remotely or sign up in advance, be in the military, be overseas. If you look at the process hundreds of thousands of votes in a state with 300 Million People could set someone onto the path of the presidency. Thats what people like in iowa but its criticized elsewhere in the United States, jose. Jacob, thank you very much. Good seeing you this morning. Up next, its been five days. Still no sign of three inmates who escaped from an Orange County jail. The District Attorney calls one of them diabolical, violent and cunning. Going as far as to compare him to the brutal movie character hannibal lecter. Jake reese, day to feel alive jake reese, day to feel alive beth, i hear you calling. S but i cant come home right now. Me and the boys are playing. All nig t text beth, what can i do. [siri ] message. Pick up milk. Oh, right. Milk. Introducing the newly redesigned passat. From volkswagen. You can fly across welcome town in minutes16, or across the globe in under an hour. Whole communities are living on mars and solar satellites provide earth with unlimited clean power. In less than a century, boeing took the world from seaplanes to space planes, across the universe and beyond. And if you thought that was amazing, you just wait. This is lloyd. To prove to you that the better choice for him is aleve. Hes agreed to give it up. Ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. Well be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. Yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so. More pills. Yep. Another pill stop. Can i get my aleve back yet . For my pain. I want my aleve. Get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. E trade is all about seizing opportunity. So im going to take this opportunity to go off script. So if i wanna go to jersey and check out shotsy tuccerellis portfolio, whats it to you . Or im a scottish mason whose assets are made of stone like me heart. Papa youre no son of mine or perhaps its time to seize the day. Dont just see opportunity, seize it applause as of today it will be easier for u. S. Businesses to sell some products and services directly to the cuban government. The caveat says they must provide goods and services to the cuban people but who will keep the cuban regime accountable. Alan gomez is an immigration reporter for usa today. Good to see you. Good to see you, jose. Lets talk about what exactly these new regulations that were announced yesterday are. I think one of the biggest ones for the u. S. Businesses is that cubans can get credit for purchases. Before they had to pay in cash for u. S. Businesses or had to route it to other areas. They can allow financing through u. S. Banks. Thats a huge plus for american businesses trying to export down there. In those regulations one of the biggest changes is before they were trying to sell directly to cuban entrepreneurs and to other folks in civil society, activists, but now the Obama Administration has allowed u. S. Businesses to sell directly to these staterun enterprises, something that was they were very hesitant to really get into before but they realized, a, thats only one way to get thei entrepreneurs and realized if it serves a Greater Public good as they describe it, the long run benefit is good. Im glad youre here because you have the knowledge that maybe others dont. If youre selling to a cuban government, to a cuban business. Yes. Who runs that business in cuba . Well, right now, theres about 500,000 private entrepreneurs not talking about entrepreneurs. A business. If you want a tourism business, a restaurant business. If you want to establish some kind of hotel, who do you deal with in cuba . To get anything down to the island, you have to get it through a cuban import agency. Who runs those . The government, the military, people who work in the government or military, basical basically. The u. S. Embargo as far as i understand it, has very specific exceptions as to what american businesses can do inside of cuba. Exactly. And this is different . This is so this is basically well call it obama working on the edges of the embargo and trying to expand and create his opening within a Legal Framework and not running afoul of the embargo. What their argument is, yes, we can sell to the cuban staterun entities which would seem to be in violation of the embargo, but end result is to benefit the cuban people. Who decides that benefit is reaching the cuban people . In other words, where are the metrics . Thats a question i asked yesterday to the state department officials, sorry, commerce and treasury folks. They said this will operate like any other financial transaction. Theres going to be a contract. The contract has to be spelled out so treasury and scomerse can review it and see over the course of the life of that contract if those products are getting to the right people, if cuban Government Officials, military officials that are barred from receiving u. S. Funds are actually siphoning off and taking their cut. And so that is going to be, i think, one of the hardest things to try to figure out. They say theyre aware of it and theyll be watching it. Good to see you. Iranian president rouhani begins the second leg of his European Visit today with a stop in paris. This is the first stop by an n iinnian president in 20 years whats the goal . We have a live report coming up. What if one piece of kale could protect you from diabetes . What if one situp could prevent Heart Disease . One. Wishful thinking, right . But there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease. Pneumococcal pneumonia. If you are 50 or older, one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia, an illness that can cause coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing, and may even put you in the hospital. Even if you have already been vaccinated with another pneumonia vaccine, prevnar 13® may help provide additional protection. Prevnar 13® is used in adults 50 and older to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. You should not receive prevnar 13® if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. If you have a weakened immune system, you may have a lower response to the vaccine. Common side effects were pain, redness or swelling at the injection site, limited arm movement, fatigue, headache, muscle or joint pain, less appetite, chills, or rash. Get this one done. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about prevnar 13® today. Now to california where authorities have significantly increased the reward for information leading to the capture of three dangerous fugitives. The men broke out of a maximum security jail five days ago in Orange County, havent been seen since. Jennifer is live in santa ana. Whats the latest on the search for these guys . First of all, that reward has quadrupled in the last few days. The extra 50,000 added yesterday by the board of supervisors here. This is right around the same time of day, five days ago, that those three inmates broke out of the jail here, cutting through steal pipes, going through plumbing, rappelling down 50 feet, five stories on bed sheets to make their escape. Their absence being unnoticed for up to 16 hour s is the estimate, and there was actually a brawl in the central mens jail here around 8 00 p. M. That same day that may have been part of a diversion, part of the escape plan. The search has been massive. The fbi, u. S. Marshals involved. They have served 30 search warrants, and upped the reward to 200,000 for information leading to the recapture. As i have said, this escape appears to be a very well planned and very well thought out. Based on the initial investigation, we feel very confident that each of the three escaped inmates were housed appropriately in a maximum security jail. You can be assured investigators are continuing to work tirelessly around the clock. And unlike prison breaks, this jail break puts these guys out here in the middle of the community where they allegedly committed their crimes with potential witnesses, family, and friends nearby. Jose. Jennifer, thank you very much for that report. Next hour, a break in the 25day standoff between a group of armed protesters in oregon, and the fbi. Eight people under arrest. One person is dead. Its not over yet. More on this breaking story coming up. Later this morning, a major announcement coming from the mayor of flinlt and the governor of michigan concerning the growing water crisis in that city. Well talk about that and how they got to this point next. We were below the 88th southern parallel. We had traveled for over 850 miles. My men driven nearly mad from starvation and frostbite. Today we make history. Bienvenidos welcome to the south pole if youre dora the explorer, you explore. Its what you do. What took you so long . If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. You did it, yay is committed to truth on thee plabel. D when we say real meat is the first ingredient, it is number one. And we leave out corn, wheat and soy. Learn more at beyondpetfood. Com you have to feel healthy. On the outside. At your core. Trubiotics a probiotic from one a day naturally helps support both your digestive and immune health by combining. Two types of good bacteria. Trubiotics. Be true to your health. Good morning to you. Im jose diazbalart. Were following breaking news on the 25day rancher standoff at a wildlife refuge in oregon. Several people are under arrest alt this hour. One protester has been shotted and killed. Hes identified by family as Lavoy Finicum, who became a spokesman for the occupation. If they come here and try to arrest you, they point a gun at you, they try to put cuffs on you, how far are you willing to take this . Well, dont point a gun at me. You dont point a gun at someone unless youre going to shoot them. Thats the first thing your thought is, dont point guns at people. So im telling them right now, dont point guns at me. Youre prepared to die. Better dead than in a cell . Absolutely. Would you like to be in a cell . Nobody wants to live their live their life in a cell. Our nbc affiliate is live in oregon. Pat, good morning. Whats happening right now . Well, whats happening is the protesters, some are still there back at the refuge. They have moved the front end loader across the road to try to keep police out, should they try to rush it. Were actually on the inside of road blocks now that have been set up and a perimeter throughout the area around the refuge to keep people out. Theyre allowing folks that are here to go out, but then no one is allowed in. This all started last night at around 5 00 when amine bundy, the protest leader, his brother ryan, and several other men were going north from burns to another area to talk about more of their theme of ranchers rights and the federal government overreaching. When they were about 20 miles north of town on a remote highway, state and federal police moved in. They did a road block there. They went to make the arrest, and its my understanding thats where there was a gun battle and Lavoy Finicum was killed. So while that was happening, the militants back here at the refuge were learning some of that. There were votes taken. There are some people who have left. We saw around 2 00 this morning, local time here, we saw four cars leave. They were full of women who had been at the refuge. Im told by the de facto leader now that there are only men still inside. So as the police start to squeeze and tighten the area around here, its been very tense all night, and the protesters say theyre going to stay. The big question is whether police will move in or just wait them out as they have been doing for almost a month now. Pat, thank you very much for that live report. Turning now to politics. Donald trump promised to skip tomorrow nights Republican Debate on fox news after months of tussling coming to a head last night. Trump says he is, well, sitting this one out. Now, just five days to go until the Iowa Caucuses, the republican frontrunner will be missing from the debate stage. With me, youre dealing with somebody whos a little bit different. They cant toy with me like they toy with everybody else. So let them have their debate. And lets see how they do with the ratings. And i told them, i said, give money to the wounded warriors. Give money to the veterans. Theyre going to make a fortune with the debate. Now lets see how many people watch. Well, the big question this morning is whether the billionaire businessman is bluffing. And fox promises a show will go on either way. Joining me now, katy tur, ari melber, and Steve Kornacki. Give me an over under on whether trumps podium will really be empty. I dont know, frankly. I think anyone who tries to predict what trump is going to do on a fools errand, essentially. I do think there is still a chance hes going to be on the debate stage. When i have spoken with people who are familiar with whats going on, they said wait until midday today to find out what is really going to be happening. We tried to figure out what theyre doing tomorrow, if they do do some sort of counterprogramming to the debate. All we have been able to hear so far is it will be in des moines. Theyre trying to get it to be with some sort of veterans group. We reached out to a number of veterans groups but have not heard back from anyone who said they will be involved with what trump is planning. The advance team is working hard to figure out what they can do. They have a pretty good advance team. If theyre able to do something, they can do it pretty quickly. Whether he will be on that stage, i dont think its a done deal that hes definitely not going to take the stage. Lets listen to how the campaign itself, the Campaign Manager reasoned it this morning on morning joe. Unlike the very stupid and highly incompetent people who run our country, mr. Trump knows when to walk away from a bad deal. Its roger ailes, fox news, they think they can toy with mr. Trump. Mr. Trump doesnt play games. You guys know that. Hes been to six debates. He stood on the stage with megyn kelly. He answers every question from every debate moderator. He won every debate. This isnt about megyn kelly at all. This is about giving the American People the opportunity to ask questions, to hear from the candidates directly in a fair manner. The rnc says its not going to get involved in this. Theyre not going to kick fox news out of the debate or kick megyn kelly out of the debate or try to do that because this is not an issue of anyone getting endorsed, not an issue of anyone being against donald trump. I can tell you from experience as things have gone on, as the months have gone down, as we have gotten closer to iowa, donald trump has become increasingly intolerant of tough questioning, and he, as we have seen for the past six, seven months since hes done that, first fox news debate with megyn kelly, has not let this feud go with her. So he is serious in his plans to intimidate his way into getting his way during the debate, but im not sure hes that serious about not showing up quite yet. And so steve, if trump does follow through and doesnt show up, who does that benefit . Thats the question. Will this be viewed as a show of strength by donald trump . You saw that statement from corey there. You saw what trump was saying about this. Or will this be taken as a sign of fear . He couldnt bear to stand up on stage with a moderator he didnt like. I will say, though, fox really did give donald trump a big opening here with the way they handled it this week because donald trump was sending signals, 36, 48 hours ago, he was still ready to go to this debate. He wasnt a fan of megyn kelly. He would still participate. Then fox put out this statement, a very snarky, sarcastic statement, we learned, from a secret back channel that the ayatollah and putin intend to treat trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president. Trump has a secret plan to replace the cabinet with his twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings. Thats a statement from a News Organization about a candidate that theyre saying theyll treat fairly. Donald trump said thats it. Thats the final straw. I dont think i can get a fair shake from these guys. I do think that gives him, if he wants to walk away from this thing and wants to say, this is a show of strength, im not going to take this garbage, fox gave him an opening to do that, that he didnt have before last night. It is an odd statement. I have to be i mean, it is an odd statement to come especially if youre saying, look, well give everybody the same shot. We want everybody to have the same. Ari, let me ask you, what are the rules . Are there any rules when it comes to the debates . Can a candidate show up or not show up . I think steve and katy have ruled out the politics. The riles are interesting because this is a debate about rules. Rules donald trump doesnt like. What we know is the rnc long ago said theyre going to let the miej emajor News Organizations deal with format and criteria for participation. The criteria is the easy part because it feels numerical. Its a combination of the new hampshire, iowa, and National Polls that basically get you into the debate. Then when you get to the format, thats what this is all about. These News Organizations pick the moderators. Those are journalists who do the questioning. Donald trump doesnt like the moderators, doesnt like the rules. He said hes good at negotiating and hes trying to use everything in his arsenal, his loud voice, public pressure, these taunlts and tormentes against megyn kelly who i will say by the way has put up with a lot and always been professional about this in the public sphere, including a lot of sexism that donald trump used his megaphone and twitter to share and retweet. People can judge for themselves whether thats becoming of a president ial candidate. Then this new information, steve alluded to the public statement. They also got from fox news some of the back story. They say basically as recently as this weekend, the Campaign Manager spoke to fox news and said, megyn kelly had, quote, a rough couple days after the last dubai. He would hate to have her go through that again. They view that as a threat. He was warned, fox says, not to level more threats. He continue to do so, they say, we cant give into terrorizations to any of our employees. Trump is still welcome at the debate and will be treated fairly as he has been in his 132 appearances on fox news and fox business, but he cannot dictate the moderators or the questions. Thats the key here. Theres a lot of bluster. Who knows where donald trump, where he will actually end up. This notion is key and important for voters to consider. You have someone here who when he doesnt like the rules, he tries to change them. If he cant change them, he wants to take his ball and go home. Thats his threat. It is a question about how he conducts himself as candidate or potentially as nominee or potentially as president donald trump, jose. Ari melber, katy tur, thank you both very much. I want to go back to steve for more on the Republican Debate, who is joined by someone from ted cruzs campaign. Thats right. Off Donald Trumps decision to boycott the debate, ted cruz throwing out a challenge for a oneonone debate between ted cruz and donald trump before the Iowa Caucuses. Lets listen. We can do it with no moderators whatsoever. Well do 90 minutes, Lincoln Douglas, donald and me. He can lay out his vision for this country. And i can lay out my vision for this country in front of the men and women of iowa. Joining me now is ted cruzs National Communications director rick tyler. Your candidate responded by saying, look, i want a oneonone debate with donald trump. Any contact between your campaign and Donald Trumps campaign afterward . Is that going anywhere . We havent heard from the trump campaign. We hope he takes us up on this. This isnt really about megyn kelly. This is about donald trump and his debate performances have been mediocre at best. People are finding out what the real donald trump is, who he is, what hes like. And this is not very becoming of a president ial candidate. Iowa voters expected him to show up to the debate, and now hes not going to show up to the debate here in iowa. So i dont know how he endears himself to iowa voters when he wont get on the stage. The one opportunity voters have to see all the candidates together. The best opportunity for them to make a decision and decide what the differences are between the candidates when they get to see them oneonone or all together. And now, hes not going to be there. So look, its sort of typical of donald trump, and we dont know if hes going to come back, but now hes making it into ratings and how much money fox makes. That has nothing to do with it. This is about the men and women who are running for the nomination of the Republican Party and the voters who want an opportunity to discern for themselves who is the best leader. Now ted cruz has done well in debates. But its a shame Donald Trumps erratic behavior is becoming a story as opposed to, you know, the issues that iowans care about. You say erratic behavior. We put this statement on the screen a minute ago. This is fox news statement that donald trump said led to him making this decision. Theyre ridiculing him. Its littered with sarkmp, snarky, talking about the secret back channel, the ayatollah and putin intending to treat trump unfairly. Donald trump has a point here, doesnt he . A News Organization hosting a debate, promising to be fair, promising to give everybody a fair shake. They put out that kind of statement. That calls their fairness into question, doesnt it . Well, im not going to defend fox news or donald trump. So thats between them. What i do know is that the voters of iowa dont get a chance to see all the candidates on stage, and you know, the whole thing looks sort of petty, small, and childish. Because now hes making it about, you know, lets see how many people watch if im not there. Lets see how much money you make when im not there. That has nothing to do with it. This has to do with who is going to be the leader of the free world. Who is going to return prosperity to america. They should have the opportunity to have everybody on stage. Hes going to take his ball and run. Hes supposed to be the greatest negotiator in the world, but he lost this because hes not going to be on stage. Look, were looking forward to a good debate. We have been working iowa the way we have, the way we thing is the iowa way, going out and meeting people, not flying in and doing a few dozen events and then flying out. Were meeting thousands of voters all over the stase. Well finish the full grassley by caucus day, and were looking forward to getting our voters out. We hope for a win. It is fair to expect if donald trump is not on this stage, this will give lower ratings for this debate than the ones we have seen, wont it . You know, i dont know. I think clearly the first debate, which was on fox news, got 24 million viewers. I definitely think people were interested to see who donald trump was. As the debates have gone on, Donald Trumps performance has been mode oediocre at best. But people stuck with it. They found it interesting. I would expect we would have those people again to watch the debate. But if donald trump wants to make this about himself, and do a competing event instead of about the country, hes welcome to do that. I think hell pay the price. Rick tyler, Communications Director with ted cruz, thanks for joining us. Jose, back to you. Thank you very much. Iranian president rouhani is headed to france today. Another opportunity to take in some european culture and another opportunity to secure lucrative trade deals for iran now that International Sanctions have been dropped. Ali arouzi is our Tehran Bureau chief. How important is this trip for iran . Well, these are groundbreaking times for iran. This is a very big deal for president rouhani to be coming here. This is the first time an iranian president has made a european trip like this in almost two decades and a clear signal that iran is coming in from the cold and ready to do business with the world. Now, president rouhani is meant to meet president holaund tomorrow, they were supposed to have lunch, but they asked wine not be served so the meeting is postponed for after lunch. What is on the menu is huge, lucrative trade deals worth billions. Iran is expected to sign a contract to buy hundreds of airbus planes with 400 more over the next decade. Theyre having meetings with Major Car Companies who want to get back into the iranian car market. Persia used to have the largest stake in the iranian car market, but they lost that during sanctions. They want to shore up all of these kind of deals. But jose, iran still remains unpredictable. Even though theres a warming of relations between countries like france and iran, the two are still opposed on Many Political issues like the fate of president bashar al assad. The french want him to go. The iranians are a staunch supporter of him. Rouhani also faces problems at home. Parliamentary elections coming up in february, and many moderates have been banned from entering the elections, which could seriously hamper rouhanis opportunity to make meaningful reforms at home, which eventually have a knockon effect on international affairs. Having said that, so far, this has been a good year for iran. These sort of meetings would have been unimaginable a year ago. Its interesting because here you are in europe, the french and the italians receiving rouhani, who represents a regime that cleary still has a very Strong Influence on what is going on. The destabilization in syria. Its also threatening via its proxies the stability of saudi arabia by infiltrating in yemen, and all those issues seem to be a lot less important when youre looking at selling 400 airbus airplanes to the regime in the future. It seems as though those issues arent that important anymore. Well, these countries here like france, italy, are hurting economically. These deals are going to bring a lot of money into their countries. Thats why they have opened the doors for president rouhani. He was in italy yesterday. They didnt serve alcohol. They covered up statues. They went the full mile to make him feel welcome to make sure they tie up the deals because they really need them. Both sides need each other right now. As you mention, the Political Landscape in the middle east doesnt seem the priority right now. The bottle line seems the priority. Ali arouzi in paris, thank you very much. Good to see you. So much ahead on this busy wednesday morning. Were expecting a major announcement from michigans governor and the mayor of flint as the city continues to deal with the toxic water crisis. Were live in flint. Ss today ist competition, its protecting customer trust. Every day you read headlines about governments and businesses being hacked, emails compromised, and intellectual property being stolen. That is cybercrime, and it affects each and every one of us. Microsoft created the digital crimes unit to investigate and fight cyber crime. We use the microsoft cloud to visualize information, so we can track down the criminals. Using our advanced analytics tools, analysis that used to take days to run, we can now see in real time. And were building what we learn back into the cloud to make people and organizations safer. When it comes to the cloud, trust and security are paramount. Our passion is making life tougher for cyber criminals, and making it safer for you and your customers. I am totally blind. I lost my sight in afghanistan. If youre totally blind, you may also be struggling with non24. Calling 8448442424. Or visit my24info. Com. Try align for a nonstop,ive sweettreatgoodness holdontoyourtiara, kindofday. Live 24 7 with 24 7 digestive support. Try align, the undisputed 1 ge recommended probiotic. Now to michigan where were waiting for the governor and mayor of flint to make a major announcement this morning. The latest development as the city continues to deal with the crisis involving lead in the drinking water. Meanwhile, concerned parents have been taking their children for testing to determine if they have been exposed to lead. Weve got the story covered. Msnbc Business Correspondent Olivia Sterns, msnbc Senior Editor for video and digital content, kyle perry. Let me start with Tony Dokoupil in flint. Whats the very latest . Good morning, jose. Im outside the home stem academy where msnbc is having a town hall later today. Were going to be looking at how the crisis kicked off and what needs to be done to bring it to a safe conclusion. Governor snyder at his press conference any moment now is supposed to hit similar points and also going to announce a special committee to look at those problems and the longterm solutions. Very key members of the committee have been named already. We got a release earlier. Mark edwards, the Virginia Tech researcher who first exposed lead in the water problem. Hes part of it, thats good news for the people of flint. Also the doctor here, the pediatrician who located elevated levels of lead in the children of flint is part of it, and the mayor of flint is also a part of it. We got news there might be a rift developing between the governor and the mayor. In successive interviews leading up to this latest msnbc interview, the mayor has used stronger and stronger language suggesting that she supports calls or shes sympathetic toward calls for the governors resignation, supports investigation into all the administration should have done more to avertthe crisis, and she sat down with joy reid, and were hearing the language may be stronger than that. I want to bring in msnbcs kyle perry for a lead up to the Current Situation in flint. Jose, we see these pictures of these kids getting their blood tested. Were hear the rifts tony is talking about. This has been going on for two years. I sort of picked seven salient moments along the timeline for our viewers. This started april 25th, 2014. Thats when the city of flint changed its water source. Three months later, october 1st, 2014, a plant, a gm plant, decides that the water is corroding its engine parts. They say theyre not going to use it. Three months after that, january 13th of 2015, this is a key date. This is when there was a change in the Emergency Management structure. Darnell early leaves the city of flint, becomes the head of the detroit public schools. A lot of people are going to be looking at this date in their investigation. Three months after that, a Council Vice President davis attacks the governor on his facebook page, calls it genocide. Another major moment. Thats when we had a lot of National Attention come down on the city of flinlt. Five months after that, september 29th, when Governor Snyder gives a press conference. He calls it a, quote, serious issue. He promises public action steps. Three months later, december of 2015, you have this poster letting parents know its safe to bathe your kids in the water. Believe it or not, that was three months after the governor admitted there was a serious problem. And then just a month after that, after that poster is released, president obama declares a National Emergency in flint. Jose, thats when he freed up 5 million of immediate aid to the city. Thanks. Lets go to Olivia Sterns with more on the Economic Impact on flint. Flint wasnt always so poor. In fact, flinlt is actually the bir birthplace of general motors. One of the most Successful Companies in the history of the United States. Home to their very First Assembly plant in north america. At one point, 80,000 autoworkers were employed in flint. Today, a very sdifferent story. Auto jobs have largely left the city. The total population, just 100,000. Half of what it was in 1960. With the loss of the core industry, poverty has unsurprisingly spiked. Over 40 of the population now lives below the poverty line. Thats more than double the statewide average for michigan. Remember, jose, the federal Poverty Level is 24,000 for a family of four. Now, the loss of jobs and industry, of course, also means loss of tax revenue. So thats a big part of how flint ended up with this 15 million deficit in 2011. Its crazy to think it was just a 15 million shortfall that kicked off this whole chain of events that will now likely result in at least a billion dollar bill to fix the pipes, let alone to treat the people who have been poisoned by lead. Jose. Olivia, tony, and cal, thank you very much. As i mentioned earlier, msnbcs special town hall on flint, michigan, will take place in hours. Moderator Rachel Maddow sat down with msnbcs kate snow to talk about the town hall and shining a light on the story from the beginning. December 15th was your first broadcast where you said this is something theyre going to need national help for. This is a national story. Yeah. You have achieved that. In a way. I mean, i think people would point to your coverage affa catalyst to get other people in the National Media interested. All credit to the people of flint on this, honestly, for telling their story and getting their local media interested. The reason we knowint it is because of the local news media, the local stations. They really have done good work. But the National Aspect of this is the fact that this isnt just something bad that happened to an American City over time because of neglect and old in a infrastructure. This was a policy decision made by a State Government to do a thing that poisoned people and rendered a city of 100,000 people uninhabitable. Do you have a better sense now for how it broke down . Yes. The thing that is frustrating me, part of the reason were going to flint this week is because the governor as recently as this week keeps saying it was local officials who did this. It really wasnt local officials who did this. Thats a big part of the story. That aspect of the accountability being misdirected is still very frustrating to e. Thats important. Hes been talking about bureaucrats, people who were scientists, who were in his employ, but he didnt necessarily know these people, who didnt scream and didnt raise their hands and say theres a lead issue. Hes saying the people who worked for him, people in the snyder administration, screwed up, and he says thats because they have a culture of government. Okay. But you know, the accountability within his own administration is something he has to figure out. The idea that flint did this to themselves in some way, that is wrong. And we are expecting a major announcement from what is supposed to be a joint press conference led by rick snyder and flint mayor karen weaver, but there may be a riff between the two. Joy joins me by phone. Good morning. Jose, good morning. Talk to me, you just got off an interview with the mayor. We just spoke with the mayor, and essentially what she said is there may be a press conference at 11 00. Its just not clear she will be a part of it. The mayor has been on the phone with the governors office, with the governor, in fact, all morning. And she has said there are certain things that she wants assurances will happen for the citizens of flint and that until she gets those assurances in writing, she is not committing to standing next to the governor when he holds this press conference shortly, add around 11 00. Joy, what are some of the things she insists must be in any agreement . Well, it starts with money. The state has allocated 28 million to try to fix what was done to flint. But most of that money has essentially gone to the distribution of bottled water, mostly donated bottled water by the National Guard and security for the transport. What the mayor is saying is there has to be much more. There has to be commitment to work on the infrastructure, the pipes going into peoples home are what is contaminating the water. There is no plan from the state level to do anything about that, to retrofit the pipes. They have to be dug out of the ground and replace said. The mayor is also talking about the temporary filters on some of the homes. Those are temporary. And people cant live on those for an extended amount of time. She wants to see a higher end filtration system. Something to give people assurances they can actually drink and bathe in and use the water for an extended period of time because, of course, changing the pipes would take a massive amount of time and money. What the mayor essentially said is that the federal government cannot be expected to come in and spend money that the state of flint will not. She said theres a half a billion dollars sitting in the state right now that is surplus money that they could allocate from the budget today. She wants to see the money spent here to provide nutritional support and assistance to families, Small Business assistances, and she wants economic development. Theres no dwroeth to restore within the city. No major growth where people can even buy the food they need to help their kids get that nutritional support. Joy reid, thank you very much. Just interviewing the mayor of flint. Apparently that News Conference may or may not be a joint News Conference between the governor and mayor. Joy, thank you very much. Be sure to watch this flint town hall tonight at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. 6 00 p. M. Pacific time, right here on msnbc. Well be right back. It takes a lot of work. To run this business. But i really love it. Im on the move all day long. And sometimes, i just dont eat the way i should. So i drink boost® to get the nutrition that im missing. Boost complete nutritional 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. All with a great taste. I dont plan on slowing down any time soon. Stay strong. Stay active with boost®. Im mary ellen, and i quit smoking with chantix. 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Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Most common side effect is nausea. I cant believe i did it. I quit smoking. Ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. I thione second its there. Day. Then, woosh, its gone. I swear i saw it swallow seven people. Seven. I just wish one of those people could have been mrs. Johnson. [dog bark] trust me, were dealing with a higher intelligence here. The allnew audi q7 is here. Socalled affluezna teen who fled to mexico could be in the United States as early as next week. Ethan couched captured in mexico with this mother. Shes back in the u. S. The 18yearold has been fighting extradition. Charles had lock is live in ft. Worth with the latest. Hi, jose. Ethan couchs attorneys in mexico confirm that ethan couch will no longer fight efforts to deport him from mexico. That means ethan couch could be returning to texas as early as this week to face the charges. His Attorney Says he simply wants to come home and face the charges. Now, authorities want to talk to him about his disappearance back in december. He missed a probation meeting with his probation officer back on december 3rd. That was right on the heels of a video that surfaced that authorities here believe that ethan was in. At a party where alcohol was consumed. That would be a violation of his tenyear probation for drunk driving in an accident that killed four people here in tarrant county. Authorities want to question him about that, that he could face time in jail here because of that. Now, ethan could return as early as this week. He faces a hearing on february 19th in which authorities here want to move his case to adult court. Attorneys here for ethan couch have been fighting that move, but the big news is that he could be returning to texas some time this week. Charles hadlock, thank you very much. Coming up, so much buzz about the iowa caucus and the president ial candidates swarming the hawkeye state, but how really important is it . By the way, do you really know what a caucus is . Well try to break it down next. Its red lobsters big festival of flavors where you can savor 2 of 7 new and classic creations on one plate for 15. 99. And bold flavors ghost pepper bbq shrimp and savory mapleandbacon shrimp are to good to last, so hurry in that gives you better taste and better nutrition in so many varieties. Classic. Cage free. And organic. Only egglands best. Better taste. Better nutrition. Better eggs. Light piano today i saw a giant. It had no arms, but it welcomed me. crow cawing it had no heart, but it was alive. train wheels on tracks it had no mouth, but it spoke to me. It said, rocky mountaineer all aboard amazing. Iall across the state belthe economy is growing,day. With creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. Like in the hudson valley, with world class biotech. And on long island, where great universities are creating next generation technologies. Let us help grow your companys tomorrow, today at business. Ny. Gov the iowa caucus is now just five days away. Hillary clinton is ramping up her presence around the entire state. New polling shows Bernie Sanders just edging her out of the lead. A lead virtually unchanged from two weeks ago. Take a look at this. When you break voters down by age, Younger Voters overwhelmingly break for Bernie Sanders. And older voters trend toward Hillary Clinton. Let me bring in hallie jackson, kasie hunt, and Kristen Welker. The campaign has to be nervous looking at the latest numbers. Theres no doubt they have been feeling the heat for quite some time. This race has been close in iowa for a while now. Take a look at the internals, though, what you just pointed out. The Younger Voters are favoring Bernie Sanders 78 to 21 . Thats the most worrisome aspect of this for the Clinton Campaign. Both campaigns reaching out to the Younger Voters on college campuses, through social media, trying to get them to turn out and caucus. The question is, will they . Historically, they dont have a high turnout rate on caucus night. In 2008, they did turn out in big numbers for thensenator barack obama. The Sanders Campaign hoping to repeat that again this year. Now, senator sanders will be meeting with president obama at the white house a little later on this morning. The timing of that meeting incredibly interesting. It comes on the heels of the president s glowing comments about secretary clinton earlier this week. For her part, secretary clinton will appear here at adel iowa. This is a get out the caucus event. Shes going to target all of the voters here, but particularly those Younger Voters, critical if she wants to win the state. Kasie, lets talk about that. The Sanders Campaign is full of momentum. What are they doing to keep it, and how do cow get the young folks to come out and support you . Sanders has a very intense schedule over the next couple of days, jose. As kristen mentioned, hes going to be enwashington today meeting with the president. Of course, theyre trying to replicate as much as they can what happened with obama here in 2008. Over the course of the next couple days, sanders is doing a series of events across iowa. Hes going to focus on Younger Voters. Going to have some celebrity appearances. He appears tonight with susan sarandon. On saturday night, a concert with Vampire Weekend. So trying to go after millennials with that. But at this point, theyre also going to be up on the airwaves in a major way. And were starting to talk a little bit about how the Sanders Campaign could ultimately outspend Hillary Clinton in iowa, whether theyre going to put up a shorter version of that ad featuring Simon Garfunkel that got so much attention, and potentially whether theyre going to put up ads that might go after Hillary Clinton while the ilin a subtle way, at least a little more than he has so far. Just to be clear for the unhip among us, Vampire Weekend is a Musical Group . Yes. Exactly. Exactly, jose. I have to say, i may be on the younger end of the voting spectrum as far as that demo is concerned. Im not totally cool enough to be a huge Vampire Weekend fan. Come on. If you look at the four boxes, the three of you together are actually less than my age. Hallie, lets talk about the republicans. Theyre preparing for tomorrow nights debate. Whats been the reaction to trumps decision not to attend . Oh, its the attack. Thats what were seeing from almost all of the republican candidates so far. All of them coming out, many saying hey, this shows donald trump is weak. Hes whining. Hes scared of megyn kelly and frankly, hes scared of us. Thats what youre hearing from republicans. Ted cruz going so far as to challenge donald trump now to a kind of debate dual. The timeout going at it on the radio. Cruz made this proposition to mark luvin last night. Hey, if donald trump doesnt want a moderator like megyn kelly, lets do it Lincoln Douglas style, mono emono. And that does a couple things for cruz. It gets him back into the media discussion on a day where donald trump is dominating the narrative on the republican side. Two, it allows ted cruz to continue to try to paint this race as a twoman tussle at this point, to the disadvantage of the establishment candidates trying to get in there and trying to get some oxygen. One of those establishment candidates took aim at donald trump. Heres what Chris Christie had to say about his threatened noshow tomorrow night. Fox Business News demoted me from the main stage to the second debate. I didnt whine. I didnt cry, and i didnt not show up. I went behind the podium and the microphone, i put my views out to the American People. Thats what you do and learn when youre a governor. You get bad press, you get crises, natural disasters. You have to show up. If trump is not on that debate stage tomorrow night, jose, heres what well be looking for. How much will he still be a presence among the candidates who are left. How much, for example, will be see the ted cruzs, the marco rubios, jeb bushs, look past each other and hammer trump, or how much will you see the other candidates turn their fire on ted cruz who with trump out potentially, would take the center stage spot, being in the middle. Its something the campaign is prepared for. Jose. Hallie jackson, Kristen Welker, and casy hunt. Before we go, just for the record, my favorite Vampire Weekend is cape cod. Ilitieslts my favorite song. Ill look it up. Please do. How many people really know and understand what a caucus is . Msnbcs jacob is in iowa to give us a lesson on iowas way of picking a president. Jacob. Oh, man, jose. Its very confusing. All these people here are in line to see Hillary Clinton at the Adel Family Fun Center here in iowa. Theyre not only going to get a lesson from Hillary Clinton on why she thinks they should caucus for her, but also how to caucus, even if i heard Hillary Clinton how to caucus, i still wouldnt understand it. I need an animation so im going to share it with you. Take a look at this. A caucus is, lets just say it, kind of a strange way to pick a president. In 13 states and two u. S. Territories use some form of the caucus system. On iowas caucus day, election day is more like election hour. At 7 00 p. M. , whether its at a school, legion hall, church, government building, or another location, you have to show up in person in one of 1,688 precincts to participate. Because Political Parties control the process, what you do depends on whether youre a republican or democrat. The Republican Caucus process is pretty straightforward. You walk in, you write the name of your candidate on a piece of paper, you hand it ip. Ballots are counted. A winner and announced and delegates are rewarded. If youre a democrat, caucusing is sort of a game of musical chairs. Theres a public pitch by a Campaign Representative for each candidate. Then caucusgoers break into group for their candidate or into an area for undecided voters. The percentage each candidate gets is calculated and if they get 15 support or more, its viable. Clocks caucusgoers whose cand dd doesnt meet the 15 are able to pick another candidate. Then delegates are rewarded. Confused . Youre not alone. Thats why some say the turnout for the iowa caucus has historically been so low. All right, so i have snuck into line here. A little chat, talking to some of these people about whether or not they know how to caucus. Whats your name . Jan price. Do you know how to caucus . Yes. Shes a pro. How about you . Cathy jorgensen. Yes. How do you do it . We show up at our location on monday night. When we get there, well separate into our groups depending on who youre supporting and then you need a percentage to be viable. Shes got the caucus down. You know how to caucus . First time. Go home, watch the animation. Youll really learn about it. Jose, back to you. Thanks, jacob. Up next, a real life cliffhanger on the california coast. Residents homes teetering on the edge. Now under a local state of emergency. Look at that. A cliff erosion. Look at that thing. Falling. Look at those apartment buildings right up above and behind them. More on this when we come back. Before i had the shooting, burning, pinsandneedles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet served my country, carried the weight of a family, and walked a daughter down the aisle. But i couldnt bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. So i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. Nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain from moderate to even severe diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. And my biggest reason to walk calls me grandpa. Ask your doctor about lyrica. Breaking news right out of Broward County, florida. There are unconfirmed reports of a possible tornado touching down. These reports several accidents on the florida turnpike including a tractor trailer, possibly on its side. Take a look at the destruction there. Lets turn to Weather Channel meteorologist dr. Greg postel. Thank you for being with me. The weather is bad right now in south florida. Could it have been a tornado . It may have. We dont have confirmation yet. There is a chance. I was covering that Tornado Warning about an hour ago. Just to the west of ft. Lauderdale. Right now, no confirmation, but we have big storms ongoing right now across the southern part of the peninsula. Everything is shifting off to the northeast fairly quickly. We have a Severe Thunderstorm Warning in progress right now, and this is for broward and palm beach county. You can see right in there, until 11 30. If you live in this area, be on the lookout for strong winds, likely in excess of 40 to 50 miles per hour. Everything shifting out of the water pretty quickly. Then the rest of the day, watch out for more severe thunderstorms because there is a chance for that all day today, and i think again tomorrow. So busy times across parts of the southern half of the state. And well be watching that closely. Right back toia. Dr. Postel, thank you very much. Live pictures were seeing thanks to the chopper. Take a look at this destruction. It looked like a cement truck on its side, and then here we see another couple of vehicles that have been turned over. Thats a large kind of a mini bus thats on its side. This once again is happening in Broward County. Thanking the chopper pilot for kind of leading us through this, what seems like a scene of destruction there. Look at that automobile on its side, clearly moved from its parking spot. Rafael is with us from wnbc. These images look just really scary. These cars have been picked up and moved. One on top of the other. You see that mini bus, and hes not with me now, but i can continue showing you these videos. I mean, one car picked up. Look at that. That look like an fpnl truck. Looks like power may be effected in the area. Florida power and light. Look at these, light poles, right . Like toothpicks. And these automobiles that have been moved from their parking spots and just one on top of the other. That one has to be moved at least ten feet. And it ended up on its side. And this, again, look at that. Im going to show you at the same time, the radar picture, there you see, and ft. Lauderdale is just north of miami. This is going on right by Broward College there. And even though the worst of it seems to have passed Broward County area heading out towards the east and north, but take a look at whats coming from the west there. And then as we see these live pictures of what is clearly a very violent weather system that just tore through parts of Broward County, and then just just amazing to think. And again, authorities have not yet confirmed it was a tornado that touch down, but whatever it was was certainly ferocious and intense. It just didnt hit in one specific area. But it clearly affected, you know, a couple block long area, at least in this video, and these are live pictures coming in from Broward County right now. Take a look at that roof up there. Theres people up there surveying the damage. That looks like an apartment complex. The top floor took a good hit there. Wow, look at that. Again, this is the bad weather is affecting all of dade and Broward County, and certainly up to the north in palm beach as well. But you know what. Lightning is a problem. And folks, if youre watching this, stay indoors if you can. If youre in the south florida area, because this is not something you want to be out and about. Clearly, the people out there canvassing it are folks who are trained to be out and dealing with this. But this roof was ripped off. Ripped right out and then look at that. This is happening right now. A possible tornado touches down in Broward County. You know, south florida area. Several accidents reported. And i wanted to bring you this pictures live thanks to our friends at the helicopter. Lets zoom in one more time to see what you see there. Looks like response vehicles. Occurred right by Broward College. Well keep on this for you. That wrapped up this hour of msnbc live. Tamron hall is up next. Im seal you tomorrow. Its time for the your business yaunt of the week. Rob created the swurfer, a swing you can sit on stand on with a surfing effect. He found out the people who really wanted it were at specialty toy stores. For more, watch your business sunday mornings at 7 30 on msnbc. You know the symptoms when they start. Abdominal pain. Urgent diarrhea. Now theres prescription xifaxan. Xifaxan is a new ibsd treatment that helps relieve your diarrhea and abdominal pain symptoms. And xifaxan works differently. Its a prescription antibiotic that acts mainly in the digestive tract. Do not use xifaxan if you have a history of sensitivity to rifaximin, rifamycin antibiotic agents, or any components of xifaxan. Tell your doctor right away if your diarrhea worsens while taking xifaxan, as this may be a sign of a serious or even fatal condition. Tell your doctor if you have Liver Disease or are taking other medications, because these may increase the amount of xifaxan in your body. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan on becoming pregnant, or are nursing. The most common side effects are nausea and an increase in liver enzymes. If you think you have ibs with diarrhea, talk to your doctor about new xifaxan. Theand to help you accelerate,. Weve created a new company. One totally focused on whats next for your business. The True Partnership where people,technology and ideas push everyone forward. Accelerating innovation. Accelerating transformation. Accelerating next. Hewlett packard enterprise. To folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain. Shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. To everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. Make sure your doctor hears you too i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. If you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, dont suffer in silence step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. Tell em cedric sent you. Were following breaking news on msnbc. Youre looking at a live picture. This is where michigans Governor Rick Snyder and the mayor of flint, michigan, are set to hold a News Conference that will start any moment. Theyre expected to ask for federal help in providing longterm health care for children exposed to those leadtainted pipes. Meanwhile, nbc new has learned the city has yet to fix a single lead pipe. Obviously, this development likely will be something that the governor will be asked today at this News Conference, if he is to take questions. Right now, the focus of the News Conference is that the state wants to seek federal aid in providing longterm health care for children exposed to the leadtainted water. As you well know, msnbc will host a town hall later tonight with Rachel Maddow. Well have much more on that. This breaking news out of michigan. Well bring that to you as soon as the News Conference starts there. Meanwhile, good morning. Im tamron hall. Lets begin with politics. Donald trumps decision to pull out of tomorrows Republican Debate a move that has now thrown the gop race into turmoil. Just days before the Iowa Caucuses. Trump, who confirmed that he will not take part in the debate because fox