Transcripts For MSNBCW The Reid Report 20140805

Report. Jim miklaszewski, appreciate it. Joining me on the phone from kabul is New York Times reporter matthew rosenberg. Joining me here in the studio is nbc analyst journal jack jacobs. Matthew, do we know at this point whether or not this truly was an afghan soldier or someone who had stole an uniform . We have no reason to believe he was anything but an afghan soldier. This is not the first time this has happened. Its happened dozens of times. The widespread belief among afghan officials and coalition officials and american officials is that in almost the propond rans of cases, these are afghans who have grown disgruntled, alienated, and frustrated at the foreign presence in their country and have turned their guns on their foreign counterparts. Some of them have reached out to the taliban before doing so and said, sure, you know, you can come join us after you do it, those who escape. But in very rare cases has it been a taliban plant or a guy who wandered in. Its hard to imagine some random guy put on a uniform and wandered into the military academy with a loaded weapon and was able to do this. The only event thats taken place in the last few weeks that would have changed the conditions there on ground would be the recent elections, which of course now are in the postelection phase where theyre trying to figure out who really won. Was there any indication before this happened of increased tension, increased threats, anything like that, that you heard of or know of . There wasnt. There was an upsurge in attacks. Theres been an upsurge in some taliban attacks in recent weeks, but its hard to say theres any connection here. This is a persistent threat that Coalition Soldiers have faced and americans have faced. Its not as bad as it once was, but there are far fewer americans than there once was. It signals this is something thats going to have to be contended with. Colonel, the incidents of these kinds of greenonblue attacks, but you could call it people we trained essentially attacking us, theyve gone down. If you look at 2008, there were two such incidents. There was a huge spike, i guess, as we sort of ramped up the beginning of the end when there were more american troops going into afghanistan. The peak was 44 such attacks in 2012. Its way back down. You can see that chart there. Is this just something that we just have to deal with as a consequence of still physically being there a few months before we finally make our exit . Well, the short answer is yes. This was an inviting target when you so Many Coalition forces in one place with highranking officers on both sides there. Yeah, its something were going to have to put up with. Theres always the danger as we reduce the number of combat troops, which were doing precipitously. That the few remaining americans, 9800 or so until 2016, will be more at risk. I think you can expect to see some more of this after 2015. And what is the vetting process like for people who have allowed to be in such close proximity to somebody with the rank of a general . Well, we you know, we leave a lot to the afghans. At the end of the day, theyre going to have to run their country when were gone. Theyre going to have to train their own people, which is one reason why were assisting them in training at their training center. So were going to have to rely on the afghans themselves. We cant vet everybody. The place is crawling with afghans in uniforms with weapons, with ammunition and so on. And i remember when i was in vietnam as an adviser, i was there twice as an adviser. Though these kinds of incidents happen from time to time, they were very, very rare. And we had the place crawling with vietnamese with weapons and we trained them. It happens. We have to do the best we possibly can. But theres no way were going to be able to prevent wholly prevent this sort of stuff from happening in the future, either here or any other place where were deployed. Theres some measure of risk to being in uniform, being in a place where there are bad guys. And this is of course not just americans who were here. According to the reports, there were Coalition Forces from multiple countries there. This is sort of a multifaceted security operation. What does an incident like this do to the Security Cooperation . Because as you said, we are turning this country over to the afghans so the afghan army. Does this change anything about the way we calibrate our relationship with them . Is this more training . What is the normal response that youd expect . Well, there will be an investigation, obviously, into what happened. There will be some Lessons Learned from this investigation. And maybe some suggestions and how to improve security in situations like this. But those improvements will be at the margin. Dont forget, we are leaving. As a result, the amount of resource that we can put to bear to protect american troops, theyre going to be diminished too. At the end of the day, we can do some stuff at the margin but not very much. And then in terms of the afghan government, as far as you understand it, you know, were leaving a country behind. Weve been in longer than we were in vietnam. Is the assessment at this point that the afghan army is capable of providing security in that country, or are we leaving because our politics say were getting out of there, we dont really know whether they ready. Theyre not mutually exclusive. The president has made a political decision to leave. He said were leaving. Hes the boss. When he says lets go, we pack up and leave. That is not exclusive from the question of whether or not the afghans are fully trained and able to defend themselves. Theyre much, much better than they used to be. Theres no doubt about that. Theyre going to be ready to roll on their own when we leave . The answer is no. The only thing we can do in this case is to train them also at the margins and make them better than they are now. Theres no way theyre going to be fully capable of defending themselves when well have left. Yeah, no doubt. Thank you. All right. Now the latest developments in the deadly Ebola Outbreak. The second american infected with the virus is now being treated at Emory University hospital in atlanta. Missionary Nancy Writebol arrived a short time ago after flying from liberia overnight. She joins dr. Kent brantly whos also being treated. He was flown back to the u. S. From liberia over the weekend. Both patients have received an experimental drug cocktail with brantly reportedly experiencing improvement in his condition within 20 minutes of receiving the second dose. In new york, doctors say theyre performing ebola tests on a patient who recently travelled to west africa out of an abundance of caution. Also new today, a severely ill saudi man is being tested for ebola in saudi arabia after a recent business trip to sierra leone. Hes currently in critical condition. And British Airways as suspended its flights from liberia and sierra leone until august 31st, citing safety concerns. After the break, well give you an update on gaza and whether the ceasefire is holding up. Then my interview with top obama adviser Valerie Jarrett on major domestic policies and the u. S. africa summit. Youre looking at live pictures from that summit in washington. Vice President Joe Biden is speaking to the crowd now. We expect to hear from president obama shortly. Stay with msnbc for full coverage ahead. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, were not just insuring our lives. 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It would have been virtually impossible in that confined space to move to change radio frequencies. I mean it hurt. I couldnt even get up and drive let alone teach somebody and be responsible in an airplane. As a pilot that meant i was grounded. Were 13 hours into a delicate threeday ceasefire between israel and hamas. So far it appears to be holding. At the same time, diplomats in cairo are pressing for a longer term agreement. The truce went into effect this morning with both sides halting crossborder attacks and israel withdrawing its Ground Forces to gazas border. Zael says its army has destroyed the last of 32 tunnels located inside gaza. The fourweek Israeli Military operation has claimed the lives of 1900 palestinians. Overwhelmingly civilians, along with 64 israeli soldiers. In addition, three israeli civilians have been killed. Meanwhile, here in the u. S. , a new nbc news wall street journal poll finds 44 of americans think israels military actions are justified. 24 think israels military actions have gone too far. And 32 say they dont know enough to have an opinion. However, the poll shows that a Strong Majority of americans, 53 , want the u. S. To treat the israelis and the palestinians the same versus 34 who want the u. S. To favor israelis over palestinians. In just a few moments, president obama is scheduled to speak at the u. S. africa summit in washington, d. C. Where hes expected to focus on a wide variety of topics important to african nations and to the u. S. Now, shortly before the show, i spoke with senior white house adviser Valerie Jarrett about the summit as well as the president s domestic priorities for the remainder of 2014. Joining me now is white house Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett. Thank you so much for being here. My pleasure, joy. How are you doing . Very well, thank you. This is an interesting and exciting week. I want to start by asking you what the white house hopes to get out of this summit. Well, as you know, we have over 51 heads of state who are here, 40 of them this morning attended a White House Business Forum where we announced 14 billion worth of new investments from u. S. Companies, companies such as cocacola and General Electric and ibm, mastercard. A whole range of u. S. Companies, small, medium, and large, who have confidence in africa and view it as an opportunity to invest. I think, joy, this is one of the main messages from the conference, that no longer look at africa simply as a continent in need of foreign aid or where precious materials are extracted and taken somewhere else. We want to send the strong message that the continent of africa is one that is ripe for investment. The indications that we have from the 14 billion coming from u. S. Companies sends a very strong message that that is, in fact, correct. How much does it complicate efforts to send just exactly the message that you have just described to american businesses when you still do have issues like governance and human rights, terrorism, and of course now this deadly Ebola Outbreak in west africa . How much does that complicate your message . Well, any time a company is trying to decide whether or not to make an investment, they look at all of the risks and the advantages. I think the fact, again, that we have 15 billion and counting, and from the conversations i heard this morning between ceos of u. S. Companies and African Leaders as well as african businesses, that is a number that will grow in the course of this day as well as over the next days and weeks ahead. So risks are considered, factored in. The overwhelming sense i had today was one of confidence and enthusiasm and encouragement and just delight that the United States had taken the leadership role in convening this unprecedented conference. Joy, i believe its a game changer and that the way africa will be viewed through the lens of u. S. Companies is extraordinarily strong and positive Going Forward. And of course we will be watching for the president s remarks. We will carry those live on msnbc when those happen. I do want to switch you to a couple of domestic topics while i have you here. And one of them, the important ones obviously for the administration being immigration. Youve obviously got nothing out of this congress before they took their recess in terms of the border situation with the unaccompanied minors. Is more executive action to come, and is that the solution . Well, its not the solution, but yes, they will be forthcoming. I think the president has made it very clear that hes committed to a comprehensive solution. The best solution is one that will be embraced with legislation. We know its now been over a year since the senate took action. And weve been waiting for frankly the republicans in the house to take up that bill or any bill. They had a great opportunity to take up a bill focusing on the border issues just last week. And they did leave town without taking any other action. They called on the president to take action at the same time as they were suing him for taking action. So its kind of confusion coming from the republicans on the hill. But, and this is the important point, joy, the president is not going to just sit by and not do whatever is within his power. His first choice was legislation, but he will certainly take action. Hes asked his secretary of Homeland Security jay johnson to come back to him with a series of recommendations for what the president could do. We believe that solving our immigration system is vital to the strength of our economy. Weve come so far, 53 straight months of private sector job growth, but we know that we could do so much more if congress would act. The president is determined to do whatever is within his power. Hes also said, joy, that if he does take executive actions, if the next day Congress Passes any sort of legislation that actually furthers and improves upon what actions the president takes, he would be happy to sign that bill as well. And you have the sort of double message coming out of congress that the president is taking too much executive action but that the house at least wants him to handle the immigration issue on his own or rather the border crisis issue on his own. How seriously do you take some of the threats that youre hearing from republicans that if the president does go it alone and take executive action on anything to do with immigration that impeachment is on the table . Theres a lot of that talk on the campaign trail with republican primaries going on right now. How seriously does the white house take those threats . Well, first of all, the president is going to do any action that he takes is going to be well within the scope of his legal authority. You can be sure about that. I cant control what the republicans may or may not do. But what i also know is that their inaction is holding back our economy. Why havent they raised the minimum wage . Why havent they closed the pay gap . Why havent they improved our School System by focusing on Early Childhood education . Why havent they made college more affordable . Theres so many ways that the republicans are holding back our economy that could flourish. Every Business Leader that i speak with, joy, talks about how we are poised to take off. And weve seen the progress that weve made. Whats holding us back is congress. The republicans in congress, quite frankly. So i cant speak to whatever actions theyre going to take that might affect the president , but what im most concerned about is the inaction thats affecting u. S. Citizens and our economy. Are you concerned that as we go into this election season, as we go toward november that even when Congress Comes back and perhaps even after the election because 2016 is on the horizon, that the kind of gridlock that were seeing is just intractable, or are there partners that the white house has, maybe not in front of the cameras but behind the scenes, that give the white house some hope that theres someone they can work with to actually get anything done before the 2016 election is under way . Well all i can say, joy, is that the president is as committed as ever to working with people on both sides of the aisle who have solutions to our problems. Thats what the American People expect from their elected officials. So he stands ready to work with whoever comes forward with constructive ideas. We have an entire array of issues that we think would be important to move forward. And were willing to listen to great suggestions they might have. So are we optimistic . Well, the past track record is not so great. But that doesnt mean that were not going to continue to work each and every day for some solutions that really deliver on behalf of the American People. All right. White house Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, thanks so much. Youre welcome, joy. Thanks. And now, three things to know this tuesday. Jodi arias, the woman who was convicted last year of killing her boyfriend, will be allowed to represent herself during the penalty phase of writer trial. Arias faces the death penalty. She has no legal experience, no college degree, and no high school diploma, but she will be her own lawyer. Strange new details in the corruption trial of former Virginia Governor bob mcdonald and his wife maureen. Jurors learned in testimony by a former aide to the governor that Maureen Mcdonald allegedly tried to pitch ann romney on pills from the Pharmaceutical Company that the former governor is accused of doing illegal favors for. She allegedly said those pills could possibly cure her ms. The defense lawyers say they did nothing illegal. And its primary day in kansas, missouri, michigan, and washington state. One big race were keeping an eye sont Senate Primary in kansas where the republican establishment candidate, senator pat roberts, faces off against a tea party challenger. If i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing ive learned is my philosophy is real simple American Express open forum is an online community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make Smart Business decisions. If you mess up, fess up. Be your partners best partner. We built it for our members, but its open for everyone. Theres not one way to do something. No details too small. American express open forum. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. Ugh. Heartburn. Did someone say burn . Try alka seltzer reliefchews. They work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. Mmm. Amazing. Yeah, i get that a lot. Alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. Enjoy the relief. Today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about longacting levemir®, an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours. And levemir® helps lower your a1c. Levemir® is now available in flextouch® the only prefilled insulin pen with no pushbutton extension. Levemir® lasts 42 days without refrigeration. Thats 50 longer than lantus®, which lasts 28 days. Today, im asking about levemir® flextouch. female announcer levemir® is a longacting insulin, used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes and is not recommended to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not use levemir® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. The most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause symptoms such as sweating, shakiness, confusion, and headache. 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Today youre buzzing about comments by alabama represent mo brooks. Yesterday he described his theory for why the gop is losing ground among latinos. Well, this is a part of the war on whites thats being launched by the democratic party. And the way in which theyre launching this war is by claiming that whites hate everybody else. Its a part of the strategy that barack obama implemented in 2008, continued it in 2012 where he divides us all on race, on sex, greed, envy, class warfare, all those kinds of things. You made the hash tag waronwhites trend today. Theres this part. My irony meter just exploded. We reached out to congressman brooks for comment. He released a statement that says in part, quote, as best as i can in the time limitation i have, i tried to make sure people understand what the democrats are doing by using race as an issue every chance they get. Its high time folks started calling out the democrats for their racial appeals. Race is immaterial and everybody ought to be treated the same. War on white people. You can read the whole statement on the reid report blog. Now to another figure known for robust words. I have a plan. Youve got a plan. I have part of a plan. What presumes you have a plan . I dont know, 12 . 12 . Okay. That is rocket raccoon, a star of the blockbuster guardians of the galaxy. Hes based on a comic book cocreated by bill mantlow. He suffered from a brain injury in 1992. Marvel arranged for a bedside screening for bill and contributed to his ongoing care. You cant stop tweeting about this gesture and making your own donations. A fellow comic book veteran is organizing a fundraiser. He tweeted, so many people have visited the donation page. I got a bandwidth notice from my hosting company. Yall are awesome. You can still make donations. Now to our friends at the grio. Com. They are covering this weeks usa africa summit from a special angle. Youre tweeting your take on it and loving our effort to increase african trade. With a little help from celebrity chef roble is taking you behind the scenes with exclusive coverage of the dinner for africas top leaders. Youre cooking for a bunch of people from a whole other continent. How do you approach that . When we found out from the state department that we have a state summit, you know, ongoing for the African Leadership, which is about 50 of them, we did a lot of research and see all of the different flavors around the regions of africa. And you can go to thegrio. Com for the full interview. And you can also join the conversation with fellow reiders on twitter, facebook, instagram and msnbc. Com and keep telling us whats important to you. Now this news, a colorado town cultivates new ideas for what to do with its empty medium security prison. This is charlie. His long day of doing it himself starts with back pain. And a choice. Take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. Honey, you did it baby laughs fancy feast broths. Theyre irresistabowl. Completely unbelievabowl. Totally delectabowl. Real silky smooth or creamy broths. Everything shes been waiting for. Carefully crafted with real seafood, real veggies, and never any byproducts or fillers. Wow being a cat just got more enjoyabowl. Fancy feast broths. Wow served daily. vo ours is a world of the redeyes. daughter im really tired. vo the transfers. Well, thats kid number three. vo the copilots. All sitting. Trusting. Waiting. For a safe arrival. Introducing the allnew subaru legacy. Designed to help the driver in you. Care for the passenger in them. The subaru legacy. Its not just a sedan. Its a subaru. Were watching new developments on several stories at this hour on the reid report. In afghanistan, the pentagon has still not identified the u. S. Army Major General killed in an attack there. A man believed to be an afghan soldier opened fire at a military Training Facility in kabul. The twostar general would be the highest Ranking Member of the u. S. Military to die in the afghan war. North carolina missionary Nancy Writebol has just arrived back in the United States where shes receiving an experimental treatment for ebola at emory hospital in atlanta. Her husband says shes weak but improving. We are tremendously relieved that our mother is back in the United States. We know that she will receive the best medical care possible at Emory University hospital. Were grateful to everyone who has joined us in praying for this moment. Please continue to pray for her and for dr. Kent brantly. And secretary of state john kerry has just wrapped up speaking at the inaugural u. S. Africa Business summit in washington. President obama is expected to speak shortly, and we will bring it to you live when it happens. But first, the leaders of new york citys two Biggest Police units came out swinging today, reacting fiercely to the controversy surrounding the chokehold death of eric garner. We will defend these Police Officers. We will get experts in the use of force. This was not a chokehold. We will get medical examiners to go over this autopsy when it is finally released. This is not a chokehold. A chokehold is a completely opposite tactic than what youre watching. Those comments come after the city medical examiner ruled garners death a homicide, saying a chokehold, pushing on his chest and restraining him face down, caused his death. A bystander captured this video of the disturbing incident on july 17th. Let me bring in executive director of the center for Constitutional Rights vince warren. Vince, welcome back. I feel like we did talk about this yesterday because we did. You now have the union for the Police Coming out and literally saying that what we were just told by the city medical examiner is not true and that despite that report and the video, not a chokehold. What do you make of that . We can all agree that the Police Department should be protecting us and that they shouldnt be using their badges and license to kill people that havent done anything wrong. But the big problem is that this union is standing in the way of police reform. The ground has shifted under the police union. Everybody else knows that. The mayor knows that. The new Police Commissioner knows that. The people in the communities know that. Somehow, this union seems to say that we didnt see what we saw onned v ethe video. That the medical examiner has some political agenda. Note they didnt say that he didnt die. They didnt say that he didnt die in custody. So what they do is they deny the things that they cant admit. And thats the larger problem here. Theyre standing in the way of what we all know is going to happen. There needs to be accountability and a thorough investigation. There is the possibility now, whether or not a ever happens here, it is in the hands of the Staten Island district attorney. Theres a lot of politics involved in that. There potentially is a grand jury involved in that. So you do now have Edward Mullens making a case very publicly that sounds to me like its also aimed at a potential jury, at the politics faced by the da. I want to play another sound bite from what he said. The whole thing was extremely aggressive. It was very defensive of the officer. And he went at, mullens, at one point, this idea of quality of Law Enforcement andi. Take a listen. We forget the fact this is a nation of laws, that we all live under a nation of laws. We attack the broken windows theory until its on each and every one of our blocks. We let it slide when its elsewhere. We dont care until someones urinating on your block or whether theres a window broken o on your block. Then its a big issue. That is aimed at the da and at a potential jury or grand jury s it not . It absolutely is. The union is playing politic on whats a tragedy. Also, in the context of rampant unconstitutionality from this Police Department. Theyre trying to divert the issue to reach out very much like mayor bloomberg did at his last term to bring fear into the mix. Fear doesnt have a role when youre making change. This Police Department needs to change. It cannot change on the backs of black and brown communities. It has to change from within. The sooner the union recognizes that, better all well all be. Its interesting you said bringing fear into the mix. I lived in new york during the 1990s and during the earlier era when part of the giuliani message when he was running for mayor was about you need to reduce sort of the fear of the average new yorker walking down the street. Youve now had reports from the New York Daily News that some of the old atmospherics may be coming back. Quote, a mockup Police Department i. D. Featuring of al sharpton under the title Police Commissioner has been making the rounds among city cops. Cops upset over what they perceive as a civic rights activist sway over the mayor in the wake of eric garners chokehold death have shared the fake i. D. You now have a setup thats very much almost sort of a twist on that 90s kind of meme, bringing right in reverend sharpton. Thats exactly right. The Police Department needs to realize this is not giuliani time anymore. Theyre not allowed to use those old tactics. I think its really problematic theyre doing that, but its not surprising. The whole reason why we have civil rights laws around Police Departments is because they dont change themselves. Theyre the last group, the last group to realize that they need to change their tactics in order to keep their officers safe and to keep the community safe. Is that an attempt to add a racial polarizing element to this . Reverend sharpton was called in by the family. The family wanted help because they felt they were not getting justice. Is there an attempt to sort of start to shape the narrative in almost a racial way . Well, i think that seems to be the case in Staten Island. Thats what they seem to be going for. It wasnt bill de blasios picture on that i. D. Card. Theres a reason for that. Mayor sharpton has had years and years and years of saying the same thing to the same Police Department. Its never changed. Their tactic is to put al sharpton on an i. D. Tag rather than making the reforms that are necessary for a community. Were going to have a much harder fight than we thought initially. Especially when you have a mayor that now also ran and was elected on the idea of bringing people together. I want to play one more bite from Edward Mullens presser this morning. This is speaking specifically about the officer. The officer has rights. He has the right to due process just like everyone else. Were not giving him that right. Were calling for federal investigations. Were calling for outside people to come in and take over the case. We dont do that. In fact, if there is not an indictment, do not people have the right to seek a federal investigation in a case where they feel that justice has not been served . Of course they do. They can seek civil rights charges. Thats why the race of the victim and the Police Department are really important. They absolutely have the ability to seek federal intervention and federal charges here. The interesting piece is that this is the same new York City Police union that in our stop and frisk case saying that the ruling should not have happened because its making the Police Officers look bad. This union is more intent on trying to keep the Police Officers looking good than actually changing to make the policies and practicing ones that serve the community. Theyre obviously going to vigorously defend this officer. This case is not over. Im sure youll be back here to talk about it again. Vince warren, thank you very much. Thanks so much. We are also watching and youre looking at live pictures of the usa africa summit taking place in washington. President obama will address leaders from across the continent in just a few minutes. Stay with minus mns for complete coverage after this. Vo this is the summer. The summer of this. The summer that summers from here on will be compared to. Where memories will be forged into the sand. And then hung on a wall for years to come. 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It comes as the white house announces a 14 billion commitment from u. S. Businesses to invest in africa, which is now home to six of the worlds Fastest Growing economies. But the summit is already being overshadowed by the ebola crisis in west africa and ongoing concerns over the continents troubled history with terrorism and corruption. Joining me now is nbcs Chris Jansing. A complicated week to try to have a summit like this. The white house is clearly, i would assume, hoping this will be part of the president s legacy given his background. Yeah, the fact that hes from kenya and the fact that when he was elected there were expectations on the african continent that he would do great things for them, this is a concerted effort by this administration to get American Companies to invest. So the timing really of the ebola crisis, which comes on the heels of all of those terrorism headlines about boko haram and in fact, we still dont know what happened to those kidnapped schoolgirls. The timing really couldnt be worse. As a spokesman for nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday, for investment to happen, companies have to feel like theyre going into a more secure situation. And so those are really the questions that are being raised here. However, a short time ago at the briefing, i asked press secretary josh earnest whether or not that 14 billion that has been laid out as a commitment sin deed a solid commitment. He said it was. Part of the question is what will it mean Going Forward . We also know that there have been some sort of Strategic Moves that have been made to assure people that the safety and health of everyone is being considered. A state department officials, secret Service Officials trained to look for aniy signs of anyon who may show symptoms of ebola. Otherwise, the schedule has not changed at all. I think youll hear a message from the president in a few minutes about why it makes sense to do that investment. As you said, six of the ten Fastest Growing economies in the world are in africa. And there are American Companies who have made a commitment to make a substantial investment there. And lola, ill go to you. The president having a father who is kenyan really did raise the expectations, i think, of a lot of people. My father is one of them. And yet, there hasnt been a lot of focus on africa by the administration. Do you see this as an attempt by the white house to sort of correct that . Yes, definitely. And i think it started last year when president obama made his trip to africa, which i went along with as well. And they really want to signal that the white house is serious because particularly china has invested so much money in africa, has much greater trade and investment in africa than american does. And that really will be a problem if america doesnt do something about it. I think the president is really trying to say were very serious about africa. So america should be. And yet, chris, this is another instance where the white house puts forward an initiative, but it really is incumbent upon them to find private partners because there really isnt anything the federal government can do because you do have a congress that doesnt really work with this administration. So you do have yet another instance, do you not, where the white house is sort of looking and casting about for private business so jump into the fray. Well, i think it was always known that that kind of investment to really continue to expand these economies was going to have to come from the private sector. But i think the white house would also make the argument that they have been deeply involved in taking care of some of these issues that might cause businesses to hesitate about putting billions of dollars into african economies. They have been a very large part in cooperation with their foreign partners to fight boko haram, to fight al qaeda. Theyve also Just Announced theyre going to be sending a special team from usa i. D. To coordinate the u. S. Effort in dealing with those countries affected by ebola to coordinate that response to that. Even though the white house said again today theres no Public Health threat here in the United States, they do think that there is both a moral as well as economic interest in going there and helping those countries to deal with this crisis. And that is a way in which they can make a Significant Impact and make the private sector feel more comfortable with going in. And lola, one of the things that happens when people talk about investment in africa and talk about the continent in general is you think about resource extraction, which is one of the big things thats happening with the chinese that are across the country i mean, across the various countries, looking for partners to do oil and other kinds of extraction. And you think of some of the other issues of terrorism and war. How does the continent and how do Business People from the continent change that duality and that perception . Well, i think that people have been working on that for a while. I think the thing is about focusing on africas possibilities. Its about focusing on the future and not the past. It is a perception issue. Its taken america a while and american businesses to really get their heads around this idea of africa in a new light. I think that is happening. I think its happening by this kind of summit, this kind of engagement. Theres also the u. S. Africa Business summit that happens every year in which African Leaders come together with american Business Leaders to say, this is whats happening. I think the threats of terrorism, the corruption, you know, diseases are very, very important, but you cannot deny the economic potential of what is happening on the continent. I think thats something that american businesses can really buy into. And last, chris, theres also the question of human rights. You did have stories, particularly in countries like uganda, where you have a tremendously shaky human rights situation. Has that come up at all when people are questioning the administration about their goals in partnering with countries like uganda that are growing but also have that troubling aspect . Yeah, i understand there was a call today, joy. I dont have the complete readout on it. I was not on this call. But the question was raised at the briefing today about a call with council on Foreign Relations and questions about human rights and questions about some of the concerns about what needs to be done. I think that this plays all into both the reality and the perception, the very real concerns about human rights abuses there, what influence the United States can have, but also the perception that i think lola talked about, that theres a continent thats teeming with disease and poverty and why would you make that kind of investment. So theyre fighting both the reality and the perception. Those kind of issues and concerns have definitely been raised at this meeting, this summit, which is now in the second of three days. Indeed. And when people talk about the african continent, they talk about it like one big collective whole. Were talking about 54 countries and lots of different economies, different people. What are some of the markets that are particularly growing and rising on the continent right now . Nigeria is a huge market growing rapidly. Rwanda, ghana. You can point to even outside of south africa. West africa and east africa. Kenya is another one. There are really quite a number of countries growing rapidly. Sometimes double digit growth. Also, theyre harnessing i. T. , agriculture, clean energy, really exciting, new, innovative businesses. I think the ones to watch, nigeria, ghana, kenya, rwanda, as i said. Those ones are really moving strongly. Indeed. And if you could hold on and stand by. Were keeping an eye on the summit in washington where president obama is expected to speak shortly. Stay with msnbc for live coverage. Well be right back. All day and all of the night the kinks all day and all of the night the kinks yoplait. With a smooth and creamy taste your whole family loves. It is so good all the time. You love this game. But does the game love you . Who cares . Look where you get to stay booking. Com booking. Yeah back now with nbcs Chris Jansing at the white house. Were waiting for the president to speak at the u. S. africa summit. This is obviously a legacy project for the president , but theres real Economic Issues on the table as well. Yeah, and just obviously to clarify, i misspoke at the top before. It is obviously the president s father who is from kenya. You clarified that. But he has a real connection. There has been a great expectation that great things could happen with this president and the african continent. As you were talking going into this, you also have a number of leaders of african countries who have been charged with crimes against humanity. So you have this delicate dance of negotiating with governments and american businesses who want to invest, and there is an ongoing conversation about that. This is really what its about. This is why president wanted to bring these countries together, wanted to bring american businesses together to continue the investment. Again, that 14 billion theyre committing to invest Going Forward and that real question will be, given all these other problems that weve talked about, will there be an ongoing commitment beyond the 14 billion, especially in these six of the ten Fastest Growing economies. Y yes, indeed. And we knew what you meant. We appreciate you being down there and covering this for us. And im going to ask lola this question. The point of the president s background is so key and is so pertinent to everything that he does. And so you do have this high expectation from people in the continent, but you also have a lot of problematic leadership on the continent itself. When you bring these leaders here, you cant do it without addressing some of those issues like human rights. Definitely. Those are fundamental. They are the underpinnings of a society. You know, Good Governance is very, very important. I think that is definitely something that has been addressed throughout the summit and will continue to be addressed. The difficulty is that the chinese, who are heavily invested in africa, dont really have the same approach towards human rights. They have a very handsoff approach. Well give you money, you know, and you can do what you like. I think where america can really step in is say, right, we are committed to africa as well. We will do trade investment with you, but lets also have another conversation about how to make Society Stronger and not have such a handsoff approach. Thats where i think president obama can really make the difference. And you do think after this we will start to see a followup . Will there be continued engagement . I think there has to be. You cant ignore africas growth in the world. And we live in a global economy. America is past that global economy. So i think there has to be that engagement. I think there will be, yes. All right. Chris, lola, thank you both for being here. That does wrap things up for the reid report. Ill see you back here tomorrow at 2 00 p. M. Eastern. Be sure to visit us online at thereidreport. Msnbc. Com. The cycle is up next with live coverage of president obama at the africa leaders summit. What would happen. If energy could come from anything . Or if power could go anywhere . Or if light could seek out the dark . What would happen if that happens . Anything. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. Cs. While a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. But if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. Prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. Because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. Plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. 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Get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. Tell your doctor your medical history. And find an Arthritis Treatment for you. Visit celebrex. Com and ask your doctor about celebrex. For a body in motion. Good afternoon. I am krystal ball. Two huge breaking stories lead the cycle. Major developments in the Ebola Outbreak. But first, that outsider attack in afghanistan. At least half a dozen americans hurt and one dead, the highest ranking u. S. Soldier ever to die in afghanistan. Nbcs Chris Jansing is at the white house. Chris . Hi, krystal. Well, the president was briefed on this situation earlier, and he did have a phone call with the head of nato forces. But beyond that, the white house has not made any comment. This is very typical in a situation like this. There are a couple things going on. One, the exact facts about what happened are not fully known. Although, there was a briefing earlier today over at the department of defense. In addition to that, obviously the president wants to make sure that any family members who are involved have been notified and that nothing is said that might jeopardize that. As far as we know, those final notifications have not been made. Having said that, it has raised some questions because some time ago when there were far more of these kinds of attacks, more protocols were put into place that were aimed at stemming the tide. Josh earnest, the press secretary, was asked today about wether or not there would be a review of those protocols. Heres what he said. Well, of course, review this incident to see if any changes to those protoco