Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rundown With Jose Diaz-Balart 20141205

Pivotal time. A number of critics saying the administration has been slow to respond to a series of crieses abroad. This move is an acknowledgement by president obama that his Foreign Policy to some extent needs a reboot. Ive been talking to white house officials here who say carter was tapped in large part because hes not afraid to deliver bad news. Hes not afraid to challenge the president. Recently, they point to the fact he disagreed with mr. Obamas decision to withdraw most u. S. Troops from iraq instead of leaving a strong residual force which carter would have preferred. Now, if confirmed, carter will face a lot steep hurdles. From the escalating campaign against isis to looming budget cuts at the agency. He deeply opposed to those budget cuts. Hes going to push back strongably against them. Chuck hagel stepped back amid reports he was too passive in the face of these new challenges. He spoke to reporters. He pushed back firmly against that idea that he was forced out. Now, talking to people on capitol hill largely bipartisan praise from the hill but republican senator cruz among those who have been critical. He says hes skeptical carter would be a strong leader. He slammed the administration for having four defense secretaries in six years. Sources on both sides of the aisle say barring something unexpected, though they think that carter will likely be confirmed. A little bit of biographical information about carter. He has authored or coauthored 11 books. Hes a native of philadelphia. Hes married with two children. Jose. And a rhode scholar i understand as well. He taught at harvard lectured at stanford. One who is a policy wonk jose. A lot of people curious to see how that is going in to factor in his leadership at the pentagon if he is confirmed. Very different tile than the outgoing defense secretary hagel. Thank you very much. Well be talking about this all morning as we lead up to the president s announcement at 10 10 eastern time. Of course youll see it live right here on msnbc. Now to a new jobs report that just blew expectations out of the water. Within the last half hour the Labor Department announced, listen to this 321,000 jobs added in november. About 100,000 more than predicted. Employment rate held steady at 5. 8 which is a sixyear low. Cnbcs Hampton Pierson joins us. Yes, this is one of those job reports we say both main street and wall street has really got to love. That 321,000 monthly increase in jobs in november frankly is the best in nearly two years in a month other month basis. There was also some good news inside the report showing wages actually gaining, as well as people working more hours as well. Couple things too we want to get to. Beyond the headline numbers. If you take a look at the ethnic breakdown. The overall Unemployment Rate is 5. 8 . For blacks its 11. 1. Latino, 6. 6. Whites, 4. 9. Asians, 4. 8. Now, the job gains were wide spread really across the board. With professional and Business Services leading the way. In just the last month, that sector of the economy added 86,000 jobs. Thats the best monthly gain for that sector in four years. Retail up 50,000. Health care 29,000. Manufacturing, gaining 28,000 jobs. Widespread job growth. Good news for, as i said both main street and wall street. When we talk about 300,000 plus, its been a while since weve seen a report like that. Absolutely best in two years. Hampton pierson, thank you. A little later in the hour were going to get white house reaction from president obamas top economic adviser. Joining me now, the man with all the insight into the days political headlines. The moderator of nbcs meet the press. That is some jobs report. This is a big deal if this is the beginning of an acceleration. Its been years since Something Like that. Its 100,000 over what a lot of the economists were expecting. This is really unique. It is. Look sometimes its just one month. If this is the beginning, everybodys been wondering, when is that next level acceleration in this recovery. Because then thats when the recovery mosts beyond the cities. Moves beyond the coast. Thats when youll see suburban america feel and rule america feel the economic recovery if we start seeing more like that. It change, the political scene big time. You will see a big change if this is sustained. Lets talk politics. Specifically surrounding hagels dismissal and carters nomination. Is there a sense this was mishandled by the white house . I think theres some i think the white house would quietly say theres frustration with how they think maybe chuck hagel handled it and vice versa. I think theres frustration among chuck hagels supporters how the white house has handled it, because its been awkward the way the whole things been done. That said think its interesting how ash carters coming in with basically a ton of bipartisan support. Youre going to see former secretaries of defenses from republicans and democrats say nice things about ash carter including robert gates who of course had some choice words for president obama in his book. So i think ash carter is going to receive a fairly easy looks like hes going to have a fairly easy confirmation process. Theres a whole bunch of quiet administration aides who are saying the best part of carter is hes not going to be afraid to be confrontational with the National Security team which of course has been among the criticisms many previous secretary of defenses have had. Lets see how that plays itself out in six months. Yeah i mean yeah. Thats a good point. Hes a handson guy. Ash carter. The biggest difference ash carters a hands on guy. Hes worked in the pentagon. Two different stints. He knows every part of that building in a way that most secretary maybe not since gates and before that rumsfeld. If you had somebody with the type of experience managing that building as ash carter has. Thats a big deal. It could mean hes a very a very handson secretary of defense. And it contrasts from hagel in that big now, republicans versus republicans, which one is a bigger deal . I think its the republicans versus the republicans. In many respects. If you notice that fight is why they really havent been able to respond to the president beyond sort of symbolic that symbolic house vote yesterday. The fact of the matter is the spending bills are going to be approved. All of them are going to be approved outside of the department of homeland security. So lets see what happens. Lets set up a different fight that will be more between republicans and march perhaps, i think some house leaders are concerned about the perception the National Perception the party has with hispanics. They want to be confrontational about the president and his ability to act the way he acted. But they want us not seem so antihispanic when they do it. So i think thats why the leaders in this case thats why its been the more important story here and why its had no impact so far on any confrontation between Congressional Republicans and the president. Chuck, looking into the issue of race and politics. Just overnight, there were more than 200 arrests in new york city alone. You expect the white house to get more deeply involved following the garner decision . I do. In a number of respects he is concerned that in particular cynicism is going to spread that opportunity is not there, that theyre not treated equally. I think you will see the president try to get more involved on the issue like this. I think hes more comfortable getting involved in the garner situation where there seems to be political consensus around that versus ferguson which have very polarizing in the role of Law Enforcement in that respect. On immigration, im going to have Police Chiefs d. A. S, all sorts of a summit on Law Enforcement when it comes to that on meet the press sunday. Ill also have greg abbott the incoming governor in texas and the man behind the big lawsuit. Ill be tackling that as well. Thank you so much. We should remind folks well be Digging Deeper into all kinds of issues on meet the press this sunday on nbc. Now to history in the making at the Kennedy Space center. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And liftoff. The dawn of orion and a new era of American Space exploration. Were now near the halfway point. That may one day pave the way for a manned mission to mars. Nbcs tom costello joins us. I can give you an update. Were a little more than two hours into this mission. Everything is going as perfectly as they could have ever wish. Not a single anomaly. Everything is going just as you would expect if you had perfectly calculated everything. They completed a burn. A burn that will now take orion to its highest altitude. So when it gets to that point, it will then turn back around as part of an orb, a loop around the earth, and then begin the decentde descent back to earth. It will slow to 20 miles an hour eventually. It will have to endure 4,000 degree temperatures on the heat shield. I want to bring in former astronaut steve robinson. He was on the shuttle four tie s times. Talk to me about the importance of what theyre doing right now, bringing this spacecraft so far from earth, 3,000 miles away. This is a spacecraft that will take humans out beyond lower earth orbit. What we mean is where the International Space station is right now. Research is being done there. About 150 miles off the earth. But if you want to go anywhere else, you need a different kind of spacecraft. This is the new ride being tested today. This looks a lot like apollo. Its on that massive rocket stack. The capsule itself almost looks like apollo. Within the next hour its going to pass through this critical radiation belt. A high radiation impact zone. Why do we care . What matters . If you were on the spacecraft now, for anybody whos going to go on it you have to be very concerned about radiation in your body. Just like if you get a if you get an xray at the dentist or at the doctors, you have to concerned about how much xray youre going to get. So this is very important for astronauts. We need to measure how well the shielding is working so we can plan for future missions. Because eventually if they go to mars theres going to be a lot of radiation exposure. I think that is one of the big hurdles about going to mars. You are excited today, aernt you arent you . Im excited. I think anybody whos ever gone in space or is a fan of the knowledge created from going into space, this is the new era. Its starting today. Look at how well its going. This is an Amazing Mission so far. Whats also amazing is they have 1200 data points that theyre getting off the vehicle itself as well as unbelievable camera imagery. Theyre going to be able to learn a lot from this mission and the pictures are spectacular. Back to you. They really are. Tomas, im telling you, you and i are going to go to mars together. I look forward to it. Tom costello thank you. Were just Getting Started on this friday edition of the rundown. Up next symbolic vote. It has opponents like congressman gutierrez invoking the gipper. Im happy that president obama is following in that great and proud tradition set forward by president obama ronald reagan, that he would rather put families first. The dem mogry and any policy always last. What the deal means on a funding measure next week. Plus these killer cops have got to go. More than 200 arrests in new york city overnight during protests over the grand jury decision not to indict in the eric garner case. Well talk with congressman meeks about whats going on in his home city later this hour. [ shutter clicks ] hi there [ laughs ] im flo i know im going to get you your rental car. 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Hi, hows it going . Whatever youre looking for, start by testdriving near this bill is not about border security, work visas, everify or administration reform. This is about the administrative overstepping its bounds and unilaterally challenging the laws of this great nation of ours. Driving d. C. This morning, Florida Republican ted yoho. The man behind the republican rebuke of the president S Immigration action. His bill passing in the republicancontrolled house yesterday by a vote of 219197. But it has almost no chance of becoming, well a law in the senate. Speaker boehner continues to vow he will have enough bipartisan support to pass his chromney bus bill to avoid a political shutdown. Benji, you wrote this bill was a key test for boehner. Did he pass it . Id say he passed with flying colors. There was a lot of concern getting into this that some conservative members of the house might vote against it from the right. Tud ted cruz had talked about how they shouldnt have meaningless show votes. Had called it purely symbolic. In the end of the seven republicans who voted against this bill, five of them were voting from the left including congressman diazbalart. These are all people who have a district with a large hispanic constituency and were not comfortable as being seen as pro depror tation. Theyre not going to be a problem with spending bills. This suggests there may be only weak conservative option to boehners plan. Casey, he does mention several republicans with large latino districts who didnt vote for the bill. How much of a preview did we get of the 2015 gop congress yesterday . Well, jose i actually think those seven votes that you mentioned probably are more representative of the trends were going to see as these two years continue. Think about the broader politics of this. Youre going to have a president ial election looming on the horizon. That means not doing things. Also in congress boehner, while his majority is now more republican and that would seem to indicate its more conservative, it may play out the opposite way. Some of these members who are coming in theyre people who campaigned from him. People from swing districts. So placeses where they need to make a broader appeal. So hes not going to be as beholden to those 15 or so conservative republicans. I think the senate as well were going to have the same sort of dynamic at work. Mcconnell is concerned about his senators who are going to be up in 2016. Many of those are from blue states. Pennsylvania for example. Theyre not going to want to vote for bills like this yoho proposal. Speaker boehner has said he has bipartisan support for his cromnibus bill. Where does that come from . Get all this shutdown fight out of the way immediately would probably accept this proposal. It wasnt clear at first whether democrats would go along with boehner. It still isnt officially clear. Some house members have said they would. Issuing a veto threat for this spending plan. Harry reid on the senate side sounded open to it. While it was in question earlier there seems to be a sense that even if baber loses a significant amount of conservative support there may be democrats lined up to help them out. This is a question i was just looking at. The shot yesterday with mrs. Pelosi. And theyve talked about a Rapid Response team to deal with the republicans and how they deal with the president s executive order on i grags. Do you think immigration is going to be an imptant part of the discussion both in the house and in the senate in the next congress . Absolutely. But its a question how this discussion goes. Does it actually lead towardS Immigration legislation . That doesnt seem very likely now. Theres too Much Division really to get something forward. It does change how democrats talk about it. Up until now in the last election cycle, they were mostly concerned about protecting a handful of democrats in very conservative states where i where immigration issues still are very controversial. So kacie hunt whats your read on that . As far as what democrats need, i mean look well the immigration discussion, what will be in the next congress. I think look jose were going to see a few months of this Early Congress then well be running a president ial election and thats going to overtake everything. Immigration reform is something i think republicans want to be concern as being able to take credit for, you know, and i think thats actually going to be if theyre going to put president obama in a tough position. If republicans can actually manage to pass a major immigration bill that maybe includes things that democrats dont like maybe they give people a path to legalization but they wont include a path to citizenship. Does he sign it does he not sign it . So i think thats going to be the dynamic you see play out in the next couple of years. Thank you well see you in the next hour. After the break, well zoom through some of todays top stories including a man hunt going on in florida for an alleged killer and the latest of the investigation into the brutal murder of a teacher in abu dhabi. Why did this woman do it . The police say they believe they know why. The details next. Turn the trips you have to take, into one youll never forget. Earn points for every flight and every hotel. Expedia plus rewards. This is the equivalent of the sugar in one regular soda. And this is one soda a day over an average adult lifetime. But theres a better choice. Drink more brita water. Clean, refreshing, brita. [ female announcer ] hands were made for talking. Feet. Tiptoeing. Better things than the pain stiffness, and joint damage of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. 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And aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. So why am i still thinking about this . How are you . Aleve, proven better on pain. A look right now at the opening bell at the new york stock exchange. Executives from aol are there, celebrating five years trading on the exchange. Well see how much wall street celebrates that big jobs report announced just an hour ago. Following another night of protests across the country after the grand jury indictdecided not to indict a Police Officer in the death of eric garner. These debates are necessary and were looking at everything were doing closely. Training hiring practices. Out of all of this controversy, a lot of good will come. More than 200 people were arrested overnight in new york city. Thats up from 83 the night before. Demonstrators gathered in cities across the country last night, including philadelphia pittsburgh boston chicago. Were also learning new details about what went on behind the closed doors of the grand jury. The group met for a period of nine weeks. They heard from a total of 50 witnesses and 60 exhibits were admitted into evidence. Another officer involved shooting death is making headlines this morning. This one in phoenix. Protesters gathered outside Police Headquarters there last night demanding answers in the death of the 34yearold africanamerican father of four unarmed when he was fatally shot by a white Police Officer tuesday night. A Police Spokesman says he was pulled over because his suv matched the description of a suspected drug dealer. He said that after a foot chase and a struggle. The officer fired, mistaken a pill bottle in brisbanes pocket for a gun. Let me bring in new york congressman gregory meeks. Congressman, pleasure. Always good to be with you, jose. The commissioner says out of all this controversy from the garner case a lot of good will come. Do you see it the same way . I certainly hope so. I think were a great nation and we need to put things forward. I think what commissioner bratton and mayor de blasio are doing are positive steps. I look forward to the completion of the investigation being done by the Justice Department attorney general holder, as well as the review by lynch. So im hoping, you know, we move forward and we hit some things. We have it is extremely important that we acknowledge we have a problem. A problem in america. The only way we can deal with that problem is having a comprehensive agenda and trying to figure out how we fix it. As you know attorney general eric holder announced the results of a Justice Department investigation into cleveland Police Officers launched in 2014. The report comes less than two weeks after a cleveland cop fatally shot 12yearold tamir rice. He was playing with a toy gun that resembled a real weapon. Saying he violated rices civil rights. Do you think this should be a National Model . I think what the ag is doing is looking at practice of Police Departments across the board. I think thats tremendously important we do that. The fact you see blacks whites asians hispanics, everybody marching in these streets in new york and los angeles and chicago, that says that the American People are saying that we want things to be better. I think we need to look into for example, what took place in new york in regards to the grand jury system. Its important because i want to know as a former prosecutor what took place. What questions were asked by the d. A. Did he thoroughly cross exam the Police Officer when hes on the stand as most d. A. S will do when you give a defendant the opportunity to testify before the grand jury. And why did all of the other Police Officers receive immunity . You didnt need it when you had a videotape. These are all Big Questions i think if were going to get forward, we need those answers. I hope the attorney generals investigation includes what took place in the jury room because we need that transparency. In the garner case the fact there was videotaped evidence of what happened is a significant difference. Youve said for example of putting problems on Police Officers will not solve the problem. What Viable Solutions are there . Listen its not one thing thats going to solve the problem. It is multiple things. Yes, thats one element of what we need to do. Obviously, theres much more because here you did have a camera and we still have what took place. So as the camera it can be looking at the grand jury system that was taking place there and how its getting people voting again so they can elect various folks in the ferguson situation. Its making sure that its a different type of policing. You cant have policing where police are afraid of the individual that theyre policing. A 14yearold boy. Look, im afraid of police which is bad. So its a multiple number of items that have to be put together in order to solve this problem. I dont think anyone should look at one thing should look at an answer. The one bullet that will fix this problem. Congressman, always a pleasure, thanks. Now to the other major debate. Over the president S Immigration action, the white house announcing the president will continue to sell that action. Going to go to nashville next week to talk about it. Los Angeles Times reporting deportations have dropped by 14 in the fiscal year to the lowest number ever in the obama presidency. All this companies as advocates took to the d. C. Area yesterday from capitol hill to a meeting at the white house to continue the fight for permanent reform. One of the advocates is director of advocacy and policy for united we dream. Good to see you. Good morning. What was the message from the white house . What was your message to the white house yesterday . Yeah the white house wanted to hear the stories of dreamers who have benefited from the deferred action for childhood arrivals program. The the twoyear temporary freedom from deportation. Its a victory we fought for. Its hearing both that and the impact that the new executive actions are going to have in our families. What its meant, what this announcement has meant. Given that we fought so hard we have to convince a lot of people. We have to talk to america about why this is good for our country. And the message im sorry, i just go ahead. The message we have for them is besides the fact that this is about our stories and about the positive effects this is going to have in our country, its also important to remember this is not about a partisan fight for us. This is not about the president. This is not about the democratic party. Frankly, its not about the republicans. Its about our families. The message we delivered both to the white house and to republicans yesterday was that any political leader that stands in the way of our victory and to block the relief that my mom will be able to benefit from next year is going to have to face us. Its going to have to come forward and answer some serious questions for us. I want to talk about that because you were brought here from peru when you were 11 years old. You do qualify under doca. But your mom until now was facing deportation. Talk to me about the moment when you and chela as they call your mom were able to talk about your future in not fear at least for a threeyear period. I was undocumented for 14 years of my life. I was able to fix my status two years ago. I still lived with this fear my mom could be taken from me at any moment it i saw the impact it has on my sister maria who was excited about going to school and getting involved. For my mom, she was with me in d. C. When the announcement happened. She was overwhelmed with joy. She kept saying i qualify. She kept on asking is this really happening . Is this real. It wasnt until we went to vegas to hear the speech that it sunk in for her. We were also very sad at the same time. While my mom will get to benefit from this relief there are many of my peers in the Dreamer Community whose parents wont be able to have that protection. Which is why what we reiterated to the white house yesterday and what weve been saying to our communities, that we will not stop until everyone in the community is protected. And we will face every political leader that wants to block our victory and who doesnt want to actually put forward a new vision on immigration. Im glad to hear about your sister. Understand you just graduated suma caule, is that correct . Right, from quinnipiac university. A manhunt for a killer. Remembering an American Teacher and a familys plea. Massive manhunt this morning. Investigators say he killed his wife and another woman at a house before going to a church where his wife worked and killing the pastor. Theres no word on a motive yet. Friends and family are mourning an American Teacher stabbed to death. On facebook her exhusband said, quote, your beauty and pure heart will live with us all forever. Yesterday, Police Arrested a female suspect. They say ryan was targeted because she was an american. Investigators say the suspect also tried to plant a bomb outside an american doctors office. The state Department Warning americans to keep a low profile overseas. In the middle east concern growing over american hostage luke somers. The deadline set. The Al Qaeda Branch holding him is now two days away. On thursday his mother and brother pleaded with the captors to free him. Lucas spent the last two years making it his home. Hes a good person. Hes only been trying to do good things for the yemeni population. Please show mercy and give us an opportunity to see our luke again. He is all that we have. Luke somers was kidnapped more than a year ago. Hed apparently been moved recently. Days before a rescue attempt. Coming up on the rundown, replacing chuck hagel. Jim miklaszewski breaks down president obamas pick of Ashton Carter to lead the Defense Department. The cabinet announcement the president will make at 10 10 eastern time. Well carry it live right here on msnbc. No, no, no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no. Germs, germs, germs. Icky germs, icky germs. [bell rings] cute. Thats cute. Delete it. Cute. [bell rings] by their second kid, every mom is an expert and more likely to choose luvs than first time moms. And luvs with nightlock offer our largest absorbent area ever. They lock away wetness better than huggies, even overnight. Live, learn, and get luvs. [ narrator ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans. Wow [ narrator ] on a mission to get richard to his campbells chunky soup. Its new chunky beerncheese with beef and bacon soup. I love it. And mama loves you. A live shot on your left part of the screen. The roosevelt room. On the right, the white house. About a half hour away from president obama nominating Ashton Carter as the next secretary of defense. We expect to hear from him, as i said from the roosevelt room. Theres some guys passing through with some coffee but everythings ready to go. About 15 minutes from now. For carter would served in the dod under president s clinton and obama, the nomination comes with a lot of challenges. Theres isis the uncertainty in afghanistan. Hes got to shore up relations with the white house while coping with some big budget cuts from congress. Jim miklaszewski will have firsthand views of all this and he joins me this morning. Lets talk about carters priorities if hes confirmed. First of all, carters got one huge advantage over former incoming secretaries of defense. He was the deputy here. Only a year ago. Not much has really changed as far as that kind of job. He knows how this works. He knows all the nuts and bolts. The dollars and cents. He was in charge of the massive pentagon budget at the time. Its going to be a very shallow, not a steep learning curve for carter. He has to catch up on the situation with isis what appears, now, to be a growing mission beyond what the president thought would be a reduced mission there in afghanistan. Hell have some catching up to do. Hes a quick study. Hell be up to speed very quickly. For any kind of advances toward improving or advancing the pentagons influence over Foreign Policy. Its still going to be in the hands of the white house. Former secretaries of defense both panetta and gates complained openly just a few weeks ago about the micromanaging of the white house. So in that case i dont think they would have picked carter. Would have thought he would be troublesome. And hes going to be in lock stop pretty much with the white house decisions. Thank you. Well check back with you after the big announcement. Another challenge, the ongoing sexual assaults in the military. A new pentagon report says unwanted sexual contact dropped by more than a quarter in the past two years. Reports of sexual assaults skyrocketed by 63 . Its kind of a mixed message. But outgoing defense secretary chuck hagel said the general trend was a positive one. Showing that Service Members are more comfortable reporting their assaults. Not everyone shares their view however. Heres senator Kristin Gillibrand who earlier this year sponsored a bill to overhaul the way military sexual assaults are prosecuted. To have that number stay the same shows there is no structural reform. That the reforms that are necessary to fix this serious problem arent there. Both side agree theres still much more work to be done. Coming up were going to talk the economy and politics with house economic adviser jason ferman. And maybe a sign of things to come, in Oklahoma City one gas station, under 2. Right now. Orion is in orbit. After blasting off from Cape Canaveral this morning. And get this sesame street is on board. Including a cookie from cookie monster, ernies rubber ducky. The countdown to the mashdown next. Heres our new trainer ensure active heart health. I maximize good stuff, like my potassium and phytosterols which may help lower cholesterol. New ensure active heart Health Supports your heart and body so you stay active and strong. Ensure, take life in. This is the equivalent of the sugar in one regular soda. And this is one soda a day over an average adult lifetime. But theres a better choice. Drink more brita water. And back to the white house where at the top of the hour were covering president obamas News Conference to announce Ashton Carter is the next secretary of defense. Its the podium behind the gentleman there where the announcement will be held at the roosevelt room all decked out for the christmas season. There may be added cheer at fresh job numbers that were out just within the last hour. These numbers shattered expectations. 321,000 jobs added. The jobless rate held state at 5. 8 . Joining me now from the white house president obamas top economic adviser jason firman. Do i sense an extra smile on your face this morning . Its hard not to get excited when you see a number like this. I have to remind myself they bounce around from month to month. Look at the last year and only 11 months we racked up more jobs than any full year since 1999. So this is an economy that is strengthening. Were seeing that translate into gains and wajts, gains and hours, reductions of longterm unemployment, all the things we want to see. What do you attribute this to jason . Part of is for the last year weve had more fiscal stability, more certainty, havent had the type of bricksmanship we had last year. And that put our economy in the position that the private sector could do what it does in america, which is drive our economy forward. Right. And, jason, i want to kind of i was peering down at the numbers which are extraordinary and very positive news. The Unemployment Rate among africanamericans is still more than 11 still 6. 6 in the Latino Community. Thats going trickle down you think, eventually to these communities that seem to be the last ones to get the good Economic News . Right. The United States has, obviously, a long standing problem with unemployment for minorities. Youve seen those Unemployment Rates come down. Theyve come down in about the same way that the Unemployment Rate has for the population as a whole, but that shouldnt satisfy us. We need to do things like create jobs in areas like infrastructure is one of the steps we canould take to create more jobs in the communities. Beyond the job market consumers have been getting a major break at the gas pump. Gas prices are at the fiveyear low. Many states seeing gas prices below 3 some below 2. What is the effect of that on the economy . Good. Very good. Its like a tax cut in the pocket of every single american household. It will help add to our economic growth, help relieve some of the pressure that families are under, and the good thing is a lot of why its happening is that were also producing more oil. And i expect us to continue producing more oil. So you have more supply more jobs, and thats leading to lower prices helping our consumers. Jason, when we produce more oil. You talk about United States of america. Where is that oil being produced. How is it being produced . Its being produced a lot is through unconventional methods in shale like places like texas and north dakota. The total increase in oil in the United States is the equivalent to discovering a new iraq here in the United States. It doesnt just have all the economic benefits were talking about. It also helps our National Security helps make us less vulnerable to shocks in the price of oil from around the world. Its been one of the important economic stories of the last couple of years. Sure has. Jason, looking into your crystal ball there, do you think that reality of the Oil Production in the United States is going to continue or will it fluctuate depending on the price of the barrel on the International Market . The price certainly matters and some places that wouldnt be affordable if prices stay where they are. Bulk will make economic sense at these prices. I expect well continue to see u. S. Oil production rise. Thank you for being with me this morning. I appreciate your time. Thank you for having me. As we take the turn on the rundown, well have more on the nonindictment from the grand jury in the eric garner case. In about 15 minutes president obama is expected to name Ashton Carter to replace chuck hagel as the next secretary of defense of the United States. We have it all covered here on the rundown. woman the constipation and belly pain feel tight like a vise. How can i ease this pain . man when i cant go, its like rocks piling up. I wish i could find some relief. announcer ask your doctor about linzess a oncedaily capsule for adults with ibs with constipation or chronic idiopathic constipation. Linzess is thought to help calm painsensing nerves and accelerate bowel movements. It helps you proactively manage your symptoms. Do not give linzess to children under 6, and it should not be given to children 6 to 17. It may harm them. Dont take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. 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And were just minutes away from president obamas official nomination of Ashton Carter to be the 25th defense secretary of the United States. Were watching for president obama, Vice President biden, and mr. Carter. Well bring you the remarks live when they begin. I want to turn to perry bacon. Good morning. Good morning, jose. Good to see you. Like wise. Set the stage for us. How did carter end up at the top of the list . The president started off with three people they were considering for the job. Jack reid is very experienced on Foreign Policy issues. Michelle michelle, and carter the number two person. What happened early on reid said he didnt want the job because he won a sixyear term. Floor flornoy said no. Carter has been an aid or adviser to 11 different secretaries of defense. He has a broad resume on the issues. Thank you. We appreciate it. Well keep an eye on the roosevelt room when the event begins. Wealth well be carrying it live here. The white house is dealing with some other very serious issues concerning policy and minority communities in the wake of the eric garner and Michael Brown cases. Let me bring in nbc news good morning to both of you. I want to start with you, pete lets go to cleveland and scathing new report by the Justice Department into the Police Department there. What does the report say . Well, this is the result of a 19month investigation by the Justice Department and both the city and the federal government agreed to some changes in policing there in an independent monitor oversee them the report that officers found that officers unnecessarily used their guns, they hit people in the head with their gun, they overused chemical sprays and taserers and documented reports of behavior that is tolerated or even endorsed by supervisors to the point that the report said that officers have so little guidance on how to use force theyre basically left on their own. It found cases of officers shooting at people who were running or driving away and posed no threat or using taserers or hitting people who were subdued in handcuffed. One of the high profile incidents that lead the city to invite the federal government in was a high speed chase in 2012. It involved 100 cleveland Police Officers. At the end of the chase, the two people in the car were hit with 137 rounds fired at the car. And the report said it turned out it started when the car drove past a Justice Center downtown. Officers thought they heard a shot and it was probably a backfire. Jonathan your latest piece focuses on the recent cases involving garner and brown and 12yearold rice. You write this about the officers involved, quote, the men were given a gun and badge and were in position to take the life of a black male without being held accountable is rubbing the nerves raw of africanamericans and all american what is the reaction . Here is the thing why i think africanamericans and all americans have their nerves rubbed raw here. In the case of Darren Wilson and mike the brown and the case of rice you have two you have two Police Officer ss one left a police force before being fired because of a really terrible evaluation that he got at another ohio Police Department. With Darren Wilson he had a perfectly fine track record in his previous Law Enforcement job. The only problem is he had to leave that job because the city council of that town in jennings missouri completely disbanded that towns police force because they were so bad. And with the situation with eric garner and with Michael Brown, i think were seeing the demonstrations around the country because these two officers did not get to go trial to face a jury. A grand jury decided there was nothing to see here. No need to even send them to trial. I remind people that all the demonstrations after the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman the protests were happening because George Zimmerman killed an unarmed kid and wasnt even arrested for it. Once he was arrested and brought into the criminal Justice System and brought to trial, he was able folks calmed down. These two officers in the Michael Brown killing and eric garner killing they dont get to face just nice that way. A very interesting article. I would love to chat with you more about if. I think you bring up many important points. Pete thank you. And back to the capitol. President obama expected to nominate Ashton Carter as defense secretary. While we wait lets bring in nbc senior political reporter perry bacon and military analyst retired army fourstar general barry mccaffrey. Perry, what are we expecting at the event . Be were expecting the president to give a little bit of a send off to secretary hagel who is the outgoing one. It appeared the president pushed hagel out of the job. Ill be curious to watch that. And how the president defines Ashton Carters job. A lot of criticism come that the white house doesnt let the secretary of defense do their job and micromanage that person. The president will probably talk about how he views carter and how he wants carter to be a partner in leading the Defense Department and setting Foreign Policy for the country. Do you think things will change under carter general . First of all, i think karlter is one of the finest public servants. Very experienced. This guy is a real professional. No ego, easy to deal with. I think carter will be able to chart out a sensible course while still responding to the commander in chiefs Foreign Policy directives. And steve, some said carters best quality is hes not afraid to speak his mind. The one area i would disagree with general mccaffrey is carter has an ego and he put better it to good use. He has a lot of other generals and diva in the military world that need to know hes going control them and be in charge. Hes going outline policy as set by the white house. But hes going to be toughminded in policy terms but also tough with them. And i think ego is a big part of that. General, does it affect him in any way he didnt wear a uniform in the past . Oh, no. Absolutely not. When i say ego, the guy is a policy focussed pragmatic, very experienced public servant. He understands how that 2. 3 million men and women at the department of defense work and most important thing for a secretary of defense is how do you get money sensibly applied to National Security. I think hell clearly be in charge. Its good news for the defense of the country. And perry, do you get the sense that the white house will be able to give carter more freedom . I think theyll give more freedom. The view of the white house is hagel, in their mind was not up to the job. I think their view is carter is. He has more experience. I think that the core is that listen to the president talk today about this. I want to hear about his Foreign Policy vision as well and what does he want carter to do. Mostly fighting isis or broader. Will carter have a role in shaping the strategy or implementing it is a question we dont know the answer to. And steve, and were just perry was talking about the issues that confronting United States of america and Foreign Policy. Tell me about the top things on his agenda. Where do we start . Well, i think there a number of places on the Foreign Policy front. Were going have continued negotiations going on with iran. And theyre very sizable military dimensions to that. The largest part to the intelligence bureaucracy are inside the pentagon. Theres a lot of focus in that arena. Dealing with syria and isis and the broad middle east and where we go there. We have great power relations like china and russia are complicated, but putin, right now, has been upping the stakes. Remember hagel walked into a fire storm on swauls in the military. Hagel had to work with that its an unresolved issue. We dont talk about it issue anymore. It continues to percolate as something inside the pentagon and a tug of war with the senate. Ash carter will have to demonstrate where he is there and kind of figure out whether hes going join up with people like Kristen Gillibrand or the generals and say were not going to change our line of command. He has a lot of fronts he has to organize and demonstrate what his priorities will be. General, talking about the isis fight, specifically, it seems like theyre different fights. Iraq syria, maybe even know libya. Do you think carter will be changing anything that fight . Zbl hes an intelligent man. He and defense perry of lead negotiateors when they left i think youll see too kus on the central threat the isis fight in syria and iraq and largely run by general lloyd Austin Centcom commander. Weve run over a thousand strikes on isis. We have 5,000 civilians and 3,000 troops in iraq now trying to get this terrible iraqi army and police force energy i think karlter will know about it and try to org strait it. Its 10 10 in the morning. Were expecting any minute now that this ceremony to begin at the roosevelt room at the white house where the new secretary of defense will be announced. Why do you think theres been so many defense secretaries under the president. Bob gates was the hold over from the Bush Administration when barack obama came in. He applied a lot of discipline that the Bush Administration needed. I think barack obama needed a time when there was lot of doubt about his capacity to deploy power in the world. Since then leon panetta, chuck hagel, and the reinvolving door there, i think, is a function both of the times were in that we havent really we seem to have a wack mole problem. Theres crises happening all over the place. Its legendary how tightly controlled and controlling the white house is over the cabinet secretary and policy. That either creates a comfortable fit for these folks in the cabinet or it doesnt. And clearly that didnt work with secretary hagel. Maybe it will work with ash carter. Leon panetta in his memoir clearly was unhappy with a lot of that interaction and the decisions. I think its a function of the challenges on the table around the world but its also a function of a big shift in the way National Security Decision Making has happened. And theres been definitely a shift from the beginning of the Obama Administration that was so, so controlled. No one was freelancing. No one was back stabbing. And now you have something that is very different recently. Steve, general, perry, thank you. Were keeping a close watch on the roosevelt room at the white house. Well take a short break and be right back. When we come back the ceremony will be starting. Go wow go power. Oats go made from oats cheerios cheerios go, go, go go power oats go cheerios go power go. Power yayyyy my business only works if everything works together. There are a million moving parts to keep track of. And almost as many expenses. Receiptmatch with quickbooks lets you sync your business expenses. Just snap your Business Card receipts with your smartphone, tag, and transfer to intuit quickbooks. Only with Business Cards from American Express open. Im john kaplan, and im a member of a synchronized world. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. Americans drink 48 billion bottles of water every year. Thats enough plastic bottles to stretch around the earth 230 times. Each brita filter can replace 300 of those. Clean. Clear. Brita water. Nothing is better. We continue waiting for the president and Ashton Carter to arrive at the roosevelt room for the announcement of the secretary of defense. Kristin, i want to begin with you. Were waiting for a ceremony taking place behind you. What can we expect . Well, look Ashton Carter a little bit of background around him. Hes 60. A Nuclear Physicist, a former Deputy Defense secretary. He has a long history at the pentagon and his nomination comes at the critical time for the white house. A time uncertainty at the bent pentagon. This move is an acknowledgment by the president he has to shake some things up in the Foreign Policy. It needs a reboot. He has decided to do that by changing the position at the top of the department of defense, now white house officials who ive been speaking to said carter was tapped because hes not afraid to deliver bad news or challenge the president. The counter to that is he has been at the pentagon for quite awhile. Some critics argue he might be more of a yes man. That, of course, remains to be seen. Hes going to face some steep hurdles from the escaladeing crisis against isis which i mentioned and looming budget cuts jose as a part of the sequester. Still the rest of the sequester sit to kick in. Chuck hagel stepped down last week amid reports he was too passive in the face of the new challenges. On thursday hagel pushed back that he was forced out. He said the decision was mutual. Based on my conversation has been largely bipartisan support from capitol hill. Republican senator ted cruz saying hes skeptical that carter will be a strong leader. He slammed the administration for having four defense secretary in six years. He said its add together sense of instability. Sources on both sides of the aisle saying barring something unexpected carter is expected to be confirmed. A little bit of biographical information. He coauthored 11 books, a native of philadelphia married with two children taught at harvard, and spent the last year lecturing at stanford. Thank you. General, it is unusual for there to be four secretaries of defense in one administration well no question. I think to some extendt, the administration had a real malignancy not just in the pentagon but the state department where you have a fairly small staff. 3 to 400 people trying to micromanage global u. S. Affairs. It doesnt work that way. Too big, too complex, too fast moving. I think its a problem. Some of these secretary of defense have been remarkable people. Panetta, gates, and chuck hagel himself. These are older, experienced solid folks. So theyll be leery of alienating, i think, their new nominee secretary carter. Im sure hell be confirmed. Hes a remarkable public servant. Talented experienced, sensible. I think its good news for the country. And the fact he worked for so long in government in the pentagon. Its presumed easy to deal with that huge bureaucracy that the general was speaking about. I think he can deal well with the huge bureaucracy. He know it is well. He ran it well under leon panetta. Stepping into the number one job will require some different skill sets. Its going to require, i think, when we see the senate confrim confirmation hearings. John mccain isnt going to prosecute Ashton Carter. Hes going prosecute Barack Obamas isis and syrias policy. Theyll ask to see what was in hagels memo andferret out how carter sees it. Some of the tension points between the pentagonen and the dod before. John mccain other senators come out and heaped a lot of praise but said this is going to be a hearing about Barack Obamas defense capacity and his own Strategic Thinking not carter. You were talking about the intelligence within the pentagon. I keep thinking about the need for human intelligence in places like syria, iraq libya, et. Cetera. When its important fight isis but have information. Is that going to change any time . How do you get a ground intelligence when its a very difficult ground youre dealing with . These are not quick shifts. Twothirds of the intelligence budget of the United States is in pentagon programs. And run by the pentagon and ash carter has great technical understanding of facility with that. Thats not the necessarily say that hes going to be the one to make the decision between things like the more technical forms of intelligence and human intelligence decisions. I think that will come elsewhere. Hell be in that room and involved. Mike rogers of the nsa, was recently up at the halifax interNational Security forum also saying that there had to be a better balance between human intelligence and Technical Intelligence but these capacities take awhile to build and the nature of the threat and the frajty were dealing with in the world fast moving that its you know, there isnt a Betty Crocker pop up on human intelligence. It takes a long time to develop these sources and leads. And some people will say, you know, on the covert when you hang out with the folks that we have more of these assets than we let on. There is human intelligence out there we just dont talk about it much. Clearly there needs to be more. Its 21 after the hour. The ceremony was supposed to start at 10 10 eastern time. We see people filing into the room. By the way among those not there is secretary hagel. Hes not expected at this announcement ceremony today. Were going to take a short break. Be right back. You wont miss anything. Well have it for you live. You dont need to think about the energy that makes our lives possible. Because we do. Were exxonmobil. And powering the world responsibly is our job. Because boiling an egg. Isnt as simple as just boiling an egg. Life takes energy. Energy lives here. I was out for a bike ride. I didnt think id have a heart attack. But i did. Im mike and im very much alive. Now my doctor recommends a bayer aspirin regimen to help prevent another heart attack. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. On the rundown from the white house seconds from now we expect to see president obama along with his new secretary of defense nominee, Ashton Carter come out from the door on the right side of the screen at the roosevelt room in the white house. They will be coming out. Someone who is not at todays ceremony the current secretary of defense chuck hagel. Clearly the secretary of defense issue is number one priority and there you see the president. Good morning everybody. Please have a seat. It is wonderful to be able to announce not the creation at least of filling of one new job. Before we do i want to make a somewhat broader statement about the economy and ash is willing to indulge me. Last month, americas businesses created more than 300,000 jobs. This keeps a pace so far this year that we have not seen the 1990s. So far over the first 11 months our economy created 2. 6 million jobs. Its more than any entire year since the 1990s. Our businesses have now created 10 minute 9 million jobs over the jobs. And thats the longest streak of private sector job growth on record. We know that the pick up in pace of job growth this year has been industries with higher wages. And overall wages are rising. A very welcome sign for millions of americans. So weve got an opportunity to keep up this progress if congress is willing to keep our government open avoid selfinflicted wounds and Work Together to invest in the things that support faster job growth in high paying jobs. That means exports, infrastructure, stream lining our tax code Immigration Reform giving minimum wage workers a raise. Its been a long road to recovery from the worst economic crisis in generations. We have a lot more work to do to make sure that hard working americans wages are growing faster. The United States continues to outpace most of the world. Over the last four years, we put more people back to work than europe japan, and all other industrialized advanced countries combined. Were going keep at it until every american who is willing and able to work can find not just any job but a job that pays a deebt wage and allows them to support their families. Its worth us, every once awhile, reflecting on the fact that the American Economy is making real progress. If we can continue in this project i are, and we can continue to grow robustly and if we make sure that those companies who are seeing profits that are higher than any time in the last 60 years theyre also making sure their workers sharing in that growth then, you know, we can get a Virtuous Cycle that will make a difference and be a critical component for strengthening the National Security. National security starts with the Strong Economy here at home. Now i know some people think i announce cabinet positions on fake twitter accounts. In is not the case. A year ago, when ash carter completed his tenure as deputy secretary of defense, secretary hagel took to the podium in ashs farewell ceremony and looked a the audience civilian and military leaders and said ive known ash carter for many years. All of us here today benefitted from ashs hard work his friendship inspiration, and from his leadership. And chuck then went on to express his gratitude for his partner what ash has done for this country and continue to do in many ways. Couldnt have said it better myself. Today im pleased to announce my nominee to be our next secretary of defense mr. Ash carter. With a record of service that has spanned more than 30 years, as a public servant, adviser, scholar. Hes regarded as one of our nations foremost National Security leaders. As a top member of our Pentagon Team for the first five years of my presidency including his two years of deputy secretary he was at the table in the situation room. Hes by my side navigating complex security challenges we were confronting. I relied on his expertise and his judgment. I think its fair to say that ash, in your oneyear attempt at retirement from Public Service you failed miserably. But i am deeply grateful youre willing to go back at it. Ash, as you know brings a unique blend. As a student of history he understand the United States im quoting him now. As a single most provider security of in the world. He played a key role in advising our Defense Strategy to advance that security. Hes also a physicist. Which means hes one of the few people who understand how many of our Defense Systems work. And that has allowed him to serve with extraordinary breadth and also depth in a whole range of work that weve had to do. In one way or another, ash served under 11 secretary of defense. Hes an innovator who helped create the program that dismantled weapons of mass destruction around the world and reduced the threat of nuclear terrorism. Hes never been afraid to cancel old or inefficient weapons programs. He knows the department of defense inside and out. All of which means on day one hes going hit the ground running. Ash is also known by our allies and friends around the world. Having served both republican and democratic secretaries, hes respected and trusted on both sides of the aisle. Hes been a close partner with our military leaders, and hes admired by civilian leaders across the department hes a mentor to so many of them. And theres one other quality of ashs service i think is often overlooked and that is his true regard his love for the men and women in uniform and their families. His relentless dedication to their safety and well being. When he cut outdated unneeded systems, he did it because he was trying to free up money for our troops. To make sure they had the weapons and the gear they needed and the quality of life for themselves and their families they deserve. When our troops in iraq and afghanistan were struggling to defend against roadside bombs he moved heaven and earth to rush them new body armor and vehicles. Its no exaggeration to say there are countless americans who are alive today in part because of his efforts. When our forces sat down for thanksgiving dinner far from home or as our Wounded Warriors recovered in the hospital or when our fallen heros returned to dover, ash was there. Often on his own time without any publicity or fanfare. I know, ash will be there for them now as secretary of defense. We face no shortage of challenges to our National Security. Our combat mission in afghanistan ends this month and we have to transition to a new mission of advising and assisting Afghan Forces and going after remnants of al qaedas core. We have to keep degrading and ultimately destroying isil in iraq and syria, we have to build a Counter Terrorism partnerships and new platforms. We have to continue the fight against ebola in west africa we have to continue to strengthen our alliances including nato and continue rebalancing our defense posture in the asiapacific. Going forward our armed forces arent necessarily going to be leaner. As commander in chief im going to make sure we have a military that is second to none that continues to be the greatest fighting force mt. History of the world. That means we have to bolster some new capabilities. Our cyber defenses. How we deal with our satellites and how were adapting our military and investing in new capabilities to meet longterm threats. Were going have to work with congress on a more responsible approach to defense spending including the reforms we need to make the department more efficient. Thats how were going preserve readiness. Thats how were going to keep faith with our forces and families thats how were going deliver world a class care to our Wounded Warriors. Ash is going to be critical to all of these efforts. We talked about this job, we talked about how we have to make smart choices precisely because theres so many challenges out there, and were going have to squeeze everything we have out of the resources we have in order to be as effective as possible and i cant think of somebody who is more qualified to do that. And his career ash has been confirmed by the senate three times, if it were entirely up to my dear friend carl levin who is sitting here i suspect it would happen quickly because thats kind of guy karl is and karl i know, had a chance to work with ashton in the past. My hope in the new congress we get similar speed and dispatch. By the way well miss carl levin. I want to mention that. One last piece of critical information that may have tipped the scales in me wanting to promote ash. Ash is a big motown fan. One much his favorites is a classic by the four tops ill be there so ash, im reaching out to you. You have been there for us our troops our families our nation. I also know that hes been there for his lovely wife stefanie. Sometimes by skype, because hes been traveling, but the sacrifices stefanie has been willing to make, you know, this is a team effort because it is true for our military families and so were grateful to stefanie. She joined ash on a lot of those thanks giving troops to see our troops at the bedside of Wounded Warriors. She knows the sacrifices theyre going through. Stefanie, we thank you for your service. We thank will and ava who couldnt be here. We know they couldnt be prouder of their dad. With that i want to let, hopefully, our soontobe secretary of defense speak. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , mr. Vice president , its an honor and a privilege for me to be nominated for the position of secretary of defense. My long time mentor thank you for being here. Thanks to another long time mentor bill perry who cant be here today. Thanks to you, chairman and many other friends and colleagues past and future for coming out today. I accepted the president s officer to be nominated for secretary of defense because of my regard for his leadership. I accepted it because of the seriousness of the strategic challenges we face but also the bright opportunities that exist for america if we can come together to grab hold of them. And i accepted the offer because the deep respect and abiding love that stefanie and i have for our men and women in uniform. As we talk together in the past weeks, mr. President , we discussed the challenges and opportunities, and the need both to keep america safe and a Better Future for our children. If confirmed in this job, i pledge to you my most candid strategic advice. I pledge also that you will receive equally candid military advice. And finally to the greatest fighting force the world has ever known, to you i pledge to keep faith with you. And to serve our nation with the same unflinching dedication you face every day. Ashton carter nominated for the next defense secretary. There you see at the roosevelt room at the white house. I want to bring in kristin welker. Shes outside the white house. Watching the ceremony with us, also Jim Miklaszewski. Kristen, your reaction to the laid back president this morning. Very laid back, and of course hearing from the nominee, Ashton Carter as he prepares to take on this role if he is in fact, confirmed pledging his candid strategic advice to the president. Of course, thats going to be the key, a lot of people saying the president needs someone who can challenge him. White house Officials Say that is the type of leader that Ashton Carter will be. You have some critics who question that. He served in the pentagon for a long time. He advised or that will be the challenge. For Ashton Carter of course very different Foreign Policy than the one that hagel inherits. The u. S. Preparing to ramp up the campaign against isis. And pentagon preparing to deal with serious budget cuts on the horizon. Another challenge Ashton Carter may face is a reported power struggle between the white house and the pentagon. Some former pentagon officials accusing the white house of micromanaging. Will Ashton Carter if confirmed, be able to 1 2 gatd that. By the way, ive been talking to sources on both sides of the aisle. Its likely hell be confirmed. Kristen, thank you so much. I want to go back to the last seconds of the ceremony. Is the live shot still up . Can we go to that . I want to say its wrapping up but it was great. The president hung out for a bit. You see Ashton Carter saying hello to the folks that con grated a the roosevelt room. The president already left. But it was great how he was able to start the whole ceremony laid back because he started by saying its get somebody one new job when we can announce that 321,000 jobs have been added to the economy the month of november. It was some of the great things were seeing. American government at work and i want to go to Jim Miklaszewski at the pentagon. Ashton carter certainly not laid back in what hes going to have to do Going Forward if and when he gets nominated confirmed. Clearly from the get go the white house and the Foreign Policy are going have a lot more confidence in Ashton Carters capabilities ability than they did with secretary hagel. Unfortunately for secretary hagel. Nevertheless when Ashton Carter talked today about the fact he was going to give quality, candid ed aadvice to the president and white house. It doesnt mean necessarily that the white house is going to take it. Jim thank you so much. Kristen, thank you so much. Up. Next from military policy to politics. Well preview the Louisiana Senate run off. Its saturday. Things dont look for the democrat. 2016 Hillary Clinton one potential candidate playing in on the garner nonindictment. And Chris Christie got good news about the bridge gate investigation. This is what he had to say. When i was u. S. Attorney i used to really really dislike when politicians who didnt know a tenth of what the prosecutors and the grand jury knew would second guess their work based purely for political reasons or out of ignorance. Ring ring . Progresso you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. Well vegetables. Shh taste better in our savory broth. Vegetables . No. Soup oh soup loaded with vegetables. Packed with taste. I told my dentist about my sensitive teeth, he told me theres a whole new way to treat sensitivity. He suggested i try new crest sensistop strips. [ male announcer ] just apply to the gumline of sensitive teeth for a quick 10 minutes. The special ingredient forms a lasting barrier that provides immediate relief and up to one month of protection. See why dental professionals endorse crest sensistop strips to treat sensitivity. Thats 1 strip. 10 minutes. And up to 1 month of protection. Satisfaction guaranteed. [ woman ] life opens up when you relieve sensitivity. Its just ordinary fleece but the comfort it provides is immeasurable. The america red cross brings hope and help to people in need every 8 minutes every day. So this season give something that means something. Americans drink 48 billion bottles of water every year. Thats enough plastic bottles to stretch around the earth 230 times. Each brita filter can replace 300 of those. Clean. Clear. Brita water. Nothing is better. To some politics midterm puzzle. It will fall into place tomorrow. Its when voters in louisiana will cast their ballots between mary lanedrieu and republican bill cassidy. Were joined by host of up. Good morning. How are you . Good. An uphill climb for mary landrieu. Yeah. To put it mildly we can show you some of the numbers here. First of all, what is at stake. If you look at the big number the one unresolved race. Its louisiana. Its the question of how much the republican majority is going to be in jan. We know theyll control the chamber. Whether they have 53 or 43 54 votes. To set the scene for tomorrow. This is what happened in november. The key here is louisiana is what they call a jungle primary state. In november when every other state is having a general election, every candidate that wanted to be a senator from louisiana ran on the same ballot. There were multiple democrats and multiple republicans. They held the vote. Mary landrieu got 42 . She came in first. Two republicans came in with a significant share of the vote. 55 if you add them together. Thats why an uphill battle. If you look at the polling weve seen its not the most reputable. Youre looking a the big cassidy lead. Why its happened you can see landrieu survived runoffs before. This is in 2002 she was forced into a runoff. She barely got through it. In 2008 she didnt even need a run off. Last time she got reelected she won the primary outright. Why that is this is the entire story of louisiana and the entire story of the south. In 2008 she basically got all of the black vote. The white vote, something republicans do well in the south. She got a third of it. If you can get a third of the white vote as a democrat in the south wow have a chance of winning. That was the key in 2008. In that jungle primary last month, look at the white vote. Just 18 for landrieu. She did the same among black voters as 2008. She was cut in half among white voters. Thats happening to her and democrats across the south. Thats why its such an uphill fight for her. Correct me if im wrong, if landrieu loses on saturday in the south as far as senators are concerned, that would only leave nelson as a democrat in florida . Yeah. If you look at this way the old confederacy, the 11 state was of the old confederacy thats 22 states. If she loses two from virginia. You have cain and nelson from florida. You would have three. You have 19 republicans. You go back a decade democrats had 10 senators from the south. You would be down to three. Steve, thank you very much. From 2014 to the road to 2016 which is already littered with roadblocks as protesters take to the street of new york and ferguson. The question of race and justice in america becoming a litmus test for any potential candidate. In recent days everyone from rand paul to Hillary Clinton weighed in on the eric garner case. Scrambling to position themselves on one of the years biggest issues. Here to frame the debate. Good morning. Thank you for having us. Abby lets talk about the republican response to garner. We have rand paul saying cigarette taxes. Taking party line on tax yags and applying it to this case. Your reaction . I cant remember the last time you had republicans and democrats sounding so similar on an issue. Its not just republican politicians. You have republicans on the far right of the media. People like glen beck and bill oreilly lie talking about this. Conservatives should be irate. It goes against everything the party stood for. Life liberty, and overreach of government. If you tell any group of conservatives just a story, lets take the identities out of it and say a man was strangled to death and the cop that did that was not held accountable. You would have conservatives up in arms. Thats lot of what were seeing. And i imagine that this might play out i think race would be a big part of the conversation. As you know Republican Party has a way to go when it comes to race. Jose, on the point about rand paul with the cigarette tax comment, it was such an off putting thing for him to say. To take the death of eric garner and hes trying to sound a sympathetic note and said its caused by cigarette taxes. Thats when he shows me hes not ready for prime time. Hes not going to be the one to bridge the divide defeat between the Africanamerican Community and the Republican Party in 2016. I thought it was revealing of rand paul and the fact hes not there in terms of being president ial candidate serious material. Thats interesting. I want to turn you to anotherpotential test. They vote order the proposal that would kill the president S Immigration action. It probably cant get to be a law. Many say its symbolic but do you think the immigration discussion and how its presented is going to make an impact in 2016 . Yeah. I think theres no doubt about it. And talking about litmus test nothing is going to be a more clear litmus test than day one in terms of the executive action that the president took. Im talking about on both sides of the aisle. As you know Hillary Clinton has said she supported the president s executive action but hasnt specifically said whether she was extending it or not. Certainly in the republican primary a big question iS Immigration reform. Sure, the vote is symbolic but sending a real message, as you know, to the Latino Community about where folks stand. Absolutely. And words matter. Words matter. This was something that ted cruz wasnt willing i dont think it was big enough. I think immigration will be the biggest litmus test in 2016. You can imagine the debate stage. If youre willing to overturn it. If you dont raise your hand youre in a difficult situation. Thank you so much. Happy friday. You too be sure to catch them on the cycle today at 3 00 p. M. Eastern. Coming up one more look at the launch of nasas space capsule. Were past the half waypoint of the 4 1 2 hour mission. And the spacecraft hit the high point of 3600 miles. The farthest for human built spacecraft in four decades. Something else out of this world. President obama getting the groove on last night at the National Tree lightening. Check him out. Good dancer well another great thing about all this walking ive been doing is that its given me time to reflect on some of lifes biggest questions. Like, if you could save hundreds on Car Insurance by making one simple call, why wouldnt you make that call . See, the only thing i can think of is that you cant get any. Bars. Ah, thats better. Its a beautiful view. I wonder if i can see mt. Rushmore from here. Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance. This is the equivalent of the sugar in one regular soda. And this is one soda a day over an average adult lifetime. But theres a better choice. Drink more brita water. Clean, refreshing, brita. No victor. I dont think there will be a hispanic james bond. Jose bond. Im not going to a black tie event. This is me proving to my producers that i can do an outfit change during a commercial break. Oo 7. After all, the big announcement yesterday the new bond will be called specktor. On friday i left my martini at home. The real bond the authority of the field guide to birds of the west indie. Thats the name for the inspiration was an american bird expert the number two, with the secret agent bond was an expert in bond ladies . Girls . I dont know what the politically correct term is to use. From halle berry to the famous bikini. What bond would be without . Bond ladies . That correct . Number three, the gadgets and, boy, those are the best wish we had them and our very own. The locations from scotland to miami. Bond trying to step on my own home turf. I dont appreciate that. Number five the villain from the original casino royal and jobs. Bond wouldnt be much of a hero. Bring it back to the camera. You know how long it takes to tie one of these things . Seriously. Takes, like 20 minutes. I have goat on video and youtube to remind me how to do it. Thank you for letting me be a part of your morning. That wraps up the msnbc rundown. Newsnation with tamron hall is up next. Time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. Gabriel wanted funding for wash cycle laundry. His bike laundry pick up and delivery service. He had a tough time getting investors to take the philadelphia. He boot strapped the. [ male announcer ] are you so stuffed up, you feel like youre underwater . Try zyrtecd® to powerfully clear your blocked nose and relieve your other allergy symptoms. So you can breathe easier all day. Zyrtecd®. Find it at the pharmacy counter. vo nourished. Rescued. Protected. Given new hope. During the subaru share the love event, subaru owners feel it, too. Because when you take home a new subaru we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. Well have given 50 Million Dollars over seven years. Love. Its what makes a subaru a subaru. 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Please, please, please, please, please. [ male announcer ] the wish we wish above all. Is health. So we quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. Expanded minuteclinic for walkin medical care. And created programs that encourage people to take their medications regularly. Introducing cvs health. A new purpose. A new promise. To help all those wishes come true. Cvs health. Because health is everything. Good morning everyone. Im tamron hall this is newsnation. We begin with breaking news from the white house where just in the past hour president obama announced that Ashton Carter is his nominee to replace chuck hagel. Carter previously held the number two job at the pentagon and is a Nuclear Physicist with bipartisan support on capitol hill. If confirmed, carter will be president obamas fourth defense secretary in six years. With a record of service that spanned more than 30 years,