Transcripts For MSNBCW Weekends With Alex Witt 20140504

Move by the nba to push him out. Is this all the food you will ever need . Whats behind the creation that sounds an awful lot like a 1970s science first movie. And how does it taste . Hey there, everyone. Its high noon in the east, 9 00 a. M. Out west. Welcome to weekends with al lix witt. Were coming to you from washington, d. C. We begin with politics and the lightning rod issue is emerging as a central gop focus for 2014 and perhaps beyond. Benghazi was front and center this sunday after john boehner announced plans to establish a special committee to further expand the republicans quest for answers but this morning democratic congressman and member of the House Intelligence Committee adam schiff encouraged his Party Leadership to flat out boycott speaker boehners special committee. Its a colossal waste of time. With the republican conferences so fractured, theres only two things they agree on. They dont like obamacare, so weve had 50 votes on that. And they do like talking about benghazi. Youre saying you think the democrats shouldnt appoint anybody to the special committee and let it simply be Republicans Holding this investigation . Thats what id recommend. I dont know what our leader shipp decide but i dont think it makes sense for us to give this select committee any more credibility than it deserves and i dont think it deserves very much, frankly. Republicans renewed interest in benghazi was prompt bid the release of white house documents, including an email that conservatives quickly declared a smoking gun and proof of a coverup, a charge the white house has strongly denied. Nbc White House Correspondent Kristin Welker is joining me now. Lets talk about benghazi. Its quickly flaired up again. How much of this a gop strategy timing wise heading into the midterms . Alex, i think it has to do almost everything with the midterms. One thing is clear based on this renewed debate. Republicans see this as a winning issue in 2014. You can expect this to be a key part of their talking points on 2 trail in 2014 and potentially 2016, particularly in former secretary of state Hillary Clinton throws her hat into the ring because, of course, this occurred under her watch. Just two tell you what these renewed emails or these newly released emails actually say, alex, they involve the talking points, the preparatory talking points for susan rice who, of course, made that now infamous appearance on the sunday shows when she said the attack against the u. S. Consulate in benghazi was caused by those protests that were sparked throughout the middle east and not the result of a terrorist attack, something that has now been debunked. Those newly released emails really suggest that she emphasized and focused on the administrations response to the protests that were sparked throughout the middle east. Now, as you say, republicans say thats a smoking gun. Administration Officials Say its not a smoking gun because the emails were really just describing and preparing susan rice to talk about the broader issue that was spreading throughout the region. Nonetheless, this has added momentum to republicans talking points. Take a listen. Why is it that were just receiving this email that really shows where the idea for from the video came . Because that video was not in the talking points and yet that is what ambassador rice pushed on your show and every sunday show. And, of course, those protests sparked may be many called an antimuslim video that you just heard senator ayotte reference there. Ive been talking to Administration Officials who say theyre not too concerned about this because if you look at the polling what most Americans Still care about most things like jobs and the economy. But theres no doubt the issue of benghazi does rally the republican base. Alex . No doubt about that for sure. Kristin, we were both in that room last night listening to the White House Correspondents dinner presentations. Lets talk first of all about the president. As we know, there was some level of truth in comedy so did the president subtly suggest that hillary would be the next president of the United States . Well, alex, you could read some of his remarks that way. He made several jokes about Hillary Clinton being essentially the democratic nominee. That made a lot of people think, rankled some of bidens supporters. Take a listen to one of the jokes for president obama last night. Lets face it, fox, youll miss me when im gone. [ laughter ] it will be harder to convince the American People that hillary was born in kenya. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] so the president made about three jokes by my count, alex, about Hillary Clinton. But we should also say that he did make a joke about biden, other possible 2016 contenders were mentioned by the president and Comedian Joel Mchale as well, ted cruz, rand paul. But Chris Christie got some of the most searing criticism from joel mchale and i have to say that has a lot of people talking today as well, a lot of people saying that it underscores the fact that Chris Christie is still very much in the 2016 game despite the whole bridgegate scandal. Yeah, okay, he did go after him. I was kind of like hmm. Anyway, well dish more about the White House Correspondents dinner next hour. Ill see you then. Look forward to it. Lets go to other political headlines. Texas governor rick perry is weighing in on the oklahoma lethal injection controversy. In an interview on this mornings meet the press, governor perry, whose state leads the nation in death penalties, argued that any reform should be made on the state level. In texas for substantially long period of time our citizens have decided that if you kill our children, if you kill our Police Officers for those very heinous crimes that the appropriate punishment is the Death Penalty. Was this inhumane . I dont know whether it was inhumane or not but it was botched. So its not quite super, but in tuesday is the first big primary day of the midterm elections. On the calendar are indiana, North Carolina, and ohio. Surely the biggest name on the ballot is former American Idol star clay aiken who is running for North Carolinas second congressional district. And while most of the washington establishment was at the Correspondents Dinner last night cracking jokes, Hillary Clinton was in chicago where she received her home state of illinoiss highest award, the order of lincoln. To have the chance to come and be with so many of the people who have made this state such an exceptional place in memory of the greatest bhpresidt who ever served our country very special indeed for me. Ukraine Security Forces are pushing back against prorussian separatists controlling towns in the Eastern Region of the country. Authorities said Government Forces clashed with separatists to reclaim a Television Tower in the eastern town of kramatorsk. An offensive there left ten people dead, 42 were killed in fire fights between government supporters and opponents in odessa friday. All this comes as rebels freed seven European Military observers who were held hostage for more than a week. New documents regarding the recently sunken south korean ferry show a breakdown in regulations meant to ensuring safety. The ferry was overloaded with cargo on 246 trips. Thats almost every trip it made with cargo in the 13 months before it sank. Meanwhile, search teams recovered another body, bringing the total number of dead to 244. 60 people are still missing. South korean President Park guenhye met with relatives of the victims earlier today and she told relatives her heart breaks to think about how they must feel. That ferry went down 20 agonizing days ago. A grassroots rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial yesterday tried to energize support for the nigerian teenaged girls kidnapped by the islamic fundamentalist terrorist group boko haram. About 150 students and a professor organized the protest to raise awareness through social media and word of mouth. They want the u. S. To pressure noorj ya into taking more aggressive action on the kidnappings of about 200 girls from their school. Secretary of state john kerry voiced his support yesterday during his african trip. Let me be clear the kidnapping of hundreds of children by bow qko haram is a crime and we do will Everything Possible to support the Nigerian Government to return these young women to their homes. Well, the terrorist kidnapped those girls on april 14. Back state side now, the city of seattle has announced the biggest minimum wage hike in the nation, increasing it to 15 per hour over the next several years. But what will be the impact on the economy and does an increase have any hope on the federal level . Joining me now, democratic congressman Jim Mcdermott whose Washington District includes seattle. Hes a Senior Member of the ways and Means Committee and the budget committee. Representative mcdermott, good to see you, thanks for joining me. Good morning, alex. What will you, sir, hearing from your colleagues across the aisle when youre away from the microphones or behind closed doors. Is there any support for a minimum wage compromise . They all recognize its something we should do. Many of them are afraid in the house to do anything about it so the states are just going ahead and doing it themselves. First it was a little town, seatac, then Seattle City Council and the mayor took it up a and well do it ourselves at the state level because you cant count on the congress to get it done. Were going to lead the country in this whole effort. Do you think they should just veto doing anything on the federal level . Give that up and deal with the focus on the state level where it seems to be more effective . I would do what nancy pelosi is doing, which is continuing to hammer on the republicans to do something that would be good for all meshes. To put more money in workers pockets mean it goes into the economy. 70 of the economy is retail and if workers have more money they spend more money and the economy runs. So she should continue to push and embarrass the hell out of them. I think there are places where it will be done instead of in the congress but we should do it at the National Level for everybody. Whats good for seattle is good for texas, its good for vermont, its good for minnesota. Whats interesting, sir, one aspect of what youre doing there in your home district, the seattle minimum wage after several years will be tide to the Consumer Price index. So if you cant get on outright increase on the federal level, do you think some sort of a compromise could be reached to tie it to the cpi . Well, thats certainly a good first step. I think that Everybody Knows that the minimum wage was set a long time ago and things have gone up dramatically since then. But the minimum wage hasnt. So it is not possible to subsist with a family of four in a minimum wage job. Thats why most people have two or three or four jobs where theyre trying to put together enough money to keep their family together. Lets talk about the midterms, because you said something pretty interesting recently. You said that obamacare may help democrats win control of the house in november. You need 17 seats. Do you think thats really possible . I absolutely do. You see, whats happening is that weve organized and weve gotten it started in some parts in this country. Some parts are still sitting on their hands, they didnt implement the medicaid rules, they didnt do anything. But the word is going to spread mouth to mouth and twitter to twiter and all the social media ways and people around the country are going to say why dont we have what they have in california . Or Washington State . Or vermont . And thats going to trigger the question among their legislators well, why didnt you vote for this . Or their governor, why didnt you bring this to us . And i think that youre going to see a wave of people by the 14 election and certainly by the 16 election that says we need to have a National Health care plan across the country. Its not going to happen in one week but its going to happen over time. What about poll numbers, though, sir . As we check these out, for instance, the latest nbc wall street journal poll is finding that only 36 of americans support the law. I mean, thats pretty much unchanged over the past year or so. So what is your pitch to the skeptics . Well, the members that are running and the and can doubts that are running have to pitch the things that are in the law. Because the people support having a law that has no preexisting conditions exclusions, that gives you the ability to keep your kids on until the age of 26, that gives you lifetime limit, take off those caps. All the things that are in the bill if you poll those things people are supportive of them 100 . Its when you tie it to obamacare, which has had this huge Propaganda Campaign against it for five years that people say, well, i dont think i i dont think like that obamacare. But they like everything thats inside the obamacare. Do you think the key may be to focus on the districts where the state exchanges have been successful . Yes, i do. I think where people have already had the benefits will be a lot easier to turn heads around than it will be in those states where theyre still wondering whats all the fuss about. They hear the law is out there but it hasnt done them any good. In the states where its already working i think we have some real chances. And the concept of repeal . Is that dead in the water considering you have more than eight Million People having signed up now . The count is up to some 50 or so votes being taken in the house to try to repeal it. Is that not gong to happen anymore . We tried 53 times but i hear john boehner saying were going to keep trying. I think they cant once theyre riding a dead horse they ought to get off it. But they dont seem to want to do it. I talked to bill frist who used to be the republican leader in the senate and he said to me jim, what we should do is not repeal it but fix it. And one of these days john boehner and his leader shipp going to get together and say you know something . We ought to work with the democrats and fix the law in those places where it needs to be fakesed to make ed fixed to the people. Any concerns that if the Senate Changes hands that this could become a problem, if you will . Well, theyll have the problem that the president is still sitting in the white house with a veto pen. Secondly, theyll have the problem of more and more people will have had the benefit of the program and so it is going to be very hard for them to say were going to give the insurance companys the ability to exclude you because you have a preexisting condition. Or were going to make your kids get off your Health Insurance as soon as they get out of college, which is the way it used to be. Now they can go up to age 26. Its going to be very hard to take those benefits away because youve got millions of people who have now taken advantage of them and theyre going to say what is this all about . What are you people doing . And the republicans will find themselves having to eat crow. All right. Democratic representative from washington Jim Mcdermott, good to see you, sir. Thanks so much for your time. Same to you, see you again. The new study that shows kids who are bullied at school may be taking matters into their own hands. And new reaction from the sunday shows to the clippers scandal and whether Donald Sterling will sell the team willingly. Hy i got a new windows 2 in 1. It has exactly what i need for half of what i thought id pay. And i dont need to be online for it to work. 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Nutrition that performs. I think if mr. Sterling was going to approach it the right way he would apologize, he would embrace the sanctions and spend the rest of his life proving he was not a racist. That was sacramento mayor and former nba all star Kevin Johnson on Donald Sterling earlier today on meet the press. Donald sterlings wife spoke out and blessed the clippers as the league announced it will appoint the ceo to supervise the clippers operation. The clippers beat the Golden State Warriors last night in game seven of the first round of the nba playoffs. They go against up against the Oklahoma City thunder in the second round on monday night. Usa today Sports Reporter joins me now to talk about the clippers and their recent drama on and off the court. Brent, welcome to you. Hello. Lets talk about shelley sterling because she is a coowner of the clippers. What are the chances she could replace her husband as ceo and how much value does her input have with nba commissioner adam silver . The team is held by a family trust so thats where it gets complicated. I think the nba would like the whole family out of this so they can wash their hands of this whole situation but it seems clear the family does not want to give this up without some kind of fight because i think fighting would give them leverage in this case. But shes given no indication she wants to give up her ownership share of this team nor has her husband. Certainly because hes known as one of the most litigious figures in sports, correct . Right, he has a history of suing people and getting sued. It goes back a long way. He is a divorce attorney, a former divorce attorney himself. In 1981 he bought the clippers. In 84 he moved it from san diego to los angeles without the leagues permission. The league responded by suing him for 25 million. He sued them back for 100 million, three years later they finally settled. He paid the nba 6 million which was a concession of 19 million that he saved himself. So i mean, theres a president right there for precedent right there for him showing that fighting this could give this rev ledge. I want to play you a clip from meet the press when Kevin Johnson talked about adam silvers actions. Lets talk about that. The players sent me in to talk to commissioner silver and the players wanted an immediate investigation, they wanted to have a voice. They wanted to make sure that they werent passive participants and thirdly they wanted the most maximum, most severe sanction possible. Commissioner silver exceeded those expectations in 72 hours. Theres no way no one decides things that quickly and he did in the a very strong way. Adam silver getting a lot of credit for handling this crisis swiftly. Its not totally finished but he diffused a great part of it. How was he able to issue the sanctions against sterling so quickly, including that 2. 5 million fine and the lifetime ban from the nba . The nba constitution gives him pretty broad power to act in the best interest of the league. Nowhere in the constitution does it say no owner shall make stupid offensive statements in a private conversation but it gives him authority to act in situations that arise that are not explicitly covered by the constitution. The constitution also does provide a situation where three quarters of the ownership could vote another owner out. If that owner willfully breaks rules. Its questionable in this case and if he does fight he might make that argument that he did not willfully break any nba rule when he made these comments, no matter how bad they were and offensive they were, that they did not break a specific league rule. Interestingly, heres part of shelly sterlings statement about adam silver. It reads i welcome his active involvement in the search for a person with the utmost character, proven excellence and a commitment to providing quality and inclusiveness. What is the timeline for commissioner silver on selecting new ceo for the clippers . I think they want to do this as fast as they can. The process is outlined in the nba constitution where this could happen within a couple weeks where they could have a vote in a couple weeks, they could try to take control of the team in a couple weeks, appoint a ceo as fast as they can to take control of the team in the meantime. But the question we have not heard from mr. Sterling about his future plans and what hes going to do in this regard. Hes expected to fight because of his history of fighting and i think if he does fight he buys himself some time and maybe cts you have to give kudos on the guys to the court when theyve been playing so well and look where they got. I think theyve beaten a lot of expectations, dont you any. They have. They advance to the second round of the playoffs against Oklahoma City. If you look at the history of the clippers, they have been a very poor franchise, a losing franchise for so long the so the fact they won a playoff series is a big deal in terms of clippers history and considering all the distractions that this has caused is is big deal for them to win last night. I think an even bigger deal considering what theyre facing. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. Thank you. More highlights from the White House Correspondents dinner and a bit later, whos watching the border. American citizens accusing the Border Patrol of going to extremes. [ male announcer ] ortho crime files. Reckless seeding. A backyard invasion. Enter homeowner, and ortho weed b gon max. Kills weeds without harming innocent lawns. Guaranteed. Ortho weed b gon max. Get order. Get ortho®. Ortho weed b gon max. Weve always been] at the forefrontumman, of advanced electronics. 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Now to an investment of love for pets. A new amazon. Com ranking shows folks in miami spend the most on their furry family members. Miami outspends on apparel, accessories, grooming and health supplies. Second place, seattle, shells out the most on pet treats and atlanta ranks third overall. Im coming with you. Too dangerous. Sorry, love you, dont hate me. Peter thats some high drama packed with fast action. Its the Opening Weekend for spiderman 2. Looks like a big win we are an estimated take of around 90 million. Those are your number ones here on weekends with alex witt. Ping. Its a little frustrating. [ zach ] i cant help out as much as i used to. Do you need help . Lets open it up. [ afi ] its a swiffer sweeper. [ zach ] its a swiffer dusters. It can extend so i dont have to get on the step stool. Its like a dirt magnet just like my kids. [ afi ] this is a danger zone. Voila i am the queen of clean [ zach ] yeah, this definitely beats hanging out on a step ladder. 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Now for headlines after the half. Thousands of survivors are waiting for food and water after a massive landslide in afghanistan. The number of killed or missing in fridays slide ranges from a few hundred to as many as 2,700. At least 300 homes were buried and the United Nations says more than 4,000 have been displaced. In pennsylvania, Carbon Monoxide poisoning is suspected in the deaths of a man, a woman, and three small children. The bodies were found inside a cabin saturday and police say the building was not properly vented for a propane heater that was inside that cabin. A new study out this weekend shows children who are victims of bullying are more likely to bring a gun or knife to school compared with students who are not harassed. 30 of bullied students told researchers they brought a weapon to school in the past year. Another sunday, another move by some in the gop to dredge up benghazi. A conspiracy storyline. The video story clearly came from the white house and why did it make a difference . Six weeks before an election pushing a story about a spontaneous reaction to a video which is what ambassador rice said on your show and other shows as a result of the attacks as opposed to a coordinated terrorist attack is a very different narrative when youre trying to push this was not a a broader failure of foreign policy. The latest twist includes House Speaker John Boehners call for a select committee to investigate the 2012 attacks and the u. S. Response. Joining me now, jimmy williams. Jimmy is the executive editor of bluenationreview. Com, also an nbc contributor and my good friend. Thank you for joining me in the studio. Happy sunday. Lets begin with what prompted this benghazi revival for the gop and this was this memo that was released by the white house in which some are saying, look, theres a suggestion of a coverup here by the administration. What is your honest interpretation of this memo . Two thoughts. First and foremost they should have released it to begin with. This didnt have to be a foye ya request because now youve given the republicans to keep talking about benghazi. Secondly, i dont remember the outrage in 2002 and in 2003 and 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008 when there were 13 attacks on american embassies, pakistan, india, uzbekistan, saudi arabia, greece, yemen, turkey, 60 people died collectively. 60 people died, including School Children and the gop said nothing. Not a word when george bush was president. Did the democrats create a select committee to investigate this . No, they didnt. They didnt do that. Even when they were in power they didnt do that from 06 to 10. So hypocrisy stinks, especially gop hypocrisy and i have a very big problem. Ambassador rice and three others died in benghazi. It was a tragedy ambassador stevens. Sorry. Ambassador stevens. It was a tragedy. But david foy died march 2, 2006. Where was the outrage then . Silence. The silence is deafening to me. So i have a big problem with what theyre doing here. This is about Hillary Clinton, 2016. Lets listen to what former president ial Senior Advisor David Plouffe had to say today. Was it a mistake not to release this email earler. This has been politicized like weve never seen before. Richard nixon talked about a silent majority. Theres a loud Delusional Party controlling our politics now. Theres no conspiracy at all. Pretty much echoing validating your thoughts right there. Im glad to know i think like David Plouffe. Im not as smart as David Plouffe. The republicans cant seem to pass legislation. They cant get theyre not going to give president any deals on anything from tax reform to immigration reform. Theyre not going to pass anything. The congress is done for the year. America needs to understand that. So if thats the case, what are they going to do . Obamacare is beginning to succeed to so the only thing they can do is say the word benghazi. Its three syllables. Have a select committee. Dan burton did this and Fred Thompson did this back in the 1990s. I worked in the senate and they wasted a lot of money. What did they find out about white water and travelgate . Nothing. Same thing here. So if this is all about politics and coming up with the midterms, tell me, do you think theres any part of this narrative thats going to resonate with the public . I think you have a gop part of the electorate that believe there iss a coverup. I think you have the democratic part of the electorate that doesnt think there was a coverup and i think you have to rest of the country, which is Something Like 50 of inspects that dont know and it doesnt matter to them because it doesnt task cost of College Tuition or gas or are their kids in good schools. America is for all intents and purposes tuned out. So the gop is very good at something in midterms getting their people out. The question is will the democrats do that . Lets have you put on a gop consultant hat for a second. How would you advise the gop . Because this isnt really resonating. Id advise them do exactly what theyre doing. How sick is that . I would say go after benghazi because youre killing two birds with one stone. Youre drumming up your base for november of 2014 and youre attacking Hillary Clinton the entire way through. So youre actually youre double dipping, if you will, into the scandal pot. Now, there is a vein of people raising eyebrows when someone says what did Hillary Clinton do as secretary of state . What were here accomplishments per say in and its hard to pinpoint that, right . I mean, what did did she figure out middle east peace, et cetera, et cetera . No. At the same time we didnt have any crazy stuff happening while she was secretary of state. He had to rebuild our countrys image across the world. But thats what they deal. Thats the vein theyll tap in and say she did nothing and benghazi happened on her watch. Can i ask you about the select committee called for by john boehner. We had congressman adam schiff and he said democrats should just boycott that. You worked on capitol hill, can they do that . They can do whatever they want. You dont have to show up to a committee. By the way, the democrats appoint their members, the same thing in the senate, the caucus decides who will do that. The Steering Committee decides and floeps decide if she wants to put people in that committee. If he were them i would not do that. I would put people on the committee and i would put people on the committee to talk about things i just talked about. Those 13 embassy attacks. I would talk about how the cia intelligence was at best faulty and thats why susan rice got lambasted all over the tv airwaves and i would talk about the senate report, the Senate Bipartisan report that says in fact, yes, a little bit of this was because of that video. So lets have that conversation. Lets get it out there and let them waste money. Republicans are very good at something called overreach. If question is will they overreach between now and november . Sit right there because im going to go someplace here which is what happened last night. Im not leaving. Ill stay with you. Its one of the most anticipated nights on washingtons social calendar, the annual White House Correspondents dinner. President obama held court and he dished out jokes aimed at the media, yes, and washingtons movers and shakers. Many famous faces attend the event. The president didnt hold back, taking a pointed jab at the speaker of the house. And im feeling sorry, believe it or not, for the speaker of the house as well. These days the House Republicans actually give john boehner a harder time than they give me. Which means orange really is the new black. [ laughter ] that was one of the best lines right there. Totally fantastic. No subject was off limits. The president could not resist talking about the next election year. Its a long time between now and 2016 and anything can happen. You may have heard the other day hillary had to dodge a flying shoe at a press conference. [ laughter ] i love that picture. [ laughter ] we all did. Joel mchale of nbc sit come Community Headline it had event. He couldnt help but take a shot at Hillary Clinton as well. Hillary clinton has a lot going for her as a candidate. She has experience, shes a natural leader and, as our first female president , we could pay her 30 less. [ laughter ] thats a saving this country could use yeah, i was there, too, my buddy alicia quarrels of e tweeted this picture of the two of us. Thats a jenny packen dress. Anyone could have worn that and strld looked fantastic. I could have. What did you think of the whole event . Its our prom, everyone calls it the prom. Ive been doing this for years, i went when i was a staffer. Its a lot of fun. I dont go to the dinner because when the president locks you down you cant leave for three and a half hours so theres rather things id be rather doing than sitting in the hilton eating bad food and drinking bad wine for three and a half hours. It wasnt that bad. I had a bitter dinner, trust me. But its a fun thing. And the president is as untapped into d. C. Social life as he is, he love this event and hes good at this event. The president can tell a joke. Bush was good at this, by the way. And this is a fun time for everybody to come together and just have fun. 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So for the best devices the best network and for best results, use verizon. The u. S. Customs and Border Protection agency has come under fire for what advocates say is a growing problem of violence and Excessive Force along the u. S. mexico border. Many complaints are coming from area residents, u. S. Citizens who argue in some cases the agency is menacing and disrespectful of private property. Mexico bureau chief for mcclatchy d. C. Tim johnson has written in detalg aboil about t troublesome top pick and he joins me now from mexico city. Tim, what happened along the border . Why are so many area residents outraged . Well, i think its really growing pains by the Border Patrol and customs and Border Protection. The Border Patrol has doubled in size over the last seven years so theres an awful lot more agents along the southwest border and at the same time that immigration migration flows are reducing. But if thats the case, if you have agent numbers having doubled, whats interesting to me is the number of undocumented immigrant arrests, that has dwindled down to about a third of what it was previously. I mean, the agency also plans to hire 4,000 more agents over the next two years. So what does this say about their effectiveness and how is this rapid growth part of the problem . Well, its you know, the result of this rapid growth has certainly been felt among those who are living near the border. Theyre finding that theres more checkpoints that they must endure all the time. If they have the bad luck to live near the border, this is something that they put up with all the time. And u. S. Citizens who come back into the United States are finding that theyre in some cases their Constitutional Rights are not necessarily respected near the border. Tim, interestingly, this agency is also being scrutinized for the number increasing number of fatalities in recent years. Its been called to modify its use of lethal force policy. What do you think is behind the sharp increase and what can be done about it . Well, there have been 21 People Killed by Border Patrol agents since the beginning of 2010 and many of these people have been illegal immigrants. Im based in mexico city so i first became interested in this because so many the majority of those who have died have been mexicans. But increasingly those affected, those killed, are u. S. Citizens and this has brought attention to the fact that the Border Patrol and customs and Border Protection actually have very little oversight and the mood in congress in recent years has been expand almost at all costs so therefore hiring practices and thorough as they should be and those along the boarder are blaming washington more than anything else that theyre encountering problems with Border Patrol agents. It wasnt clear to me in your article, the mother in chula vista, california, the one shot dead by Border Patrol agents, a mother of five, was she a u. S. Citizen or not . She was a u. S. Citizen and thats what makes that case even more really sort of amazing. She happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. She an apartment where undercover Border Patrol agents arrived in plainclothes. She there was no warrant for her arrest whatsoever. They said you cannot leave. She got in her car anyway. A Border Patrol agent jumped on the hood of her car. She started to back up and he stayed on the hood, she stopped, he jumped off, she continued to back up, he fired ten times through her windshield and killed her. But, tim, can we also say this is a Border Patrol agent by your reporting here that had been fired from his previous job as a sheriffs deputy for a variety of misconduct. He hadnt actually been fired, he was in the process of being dismissed and, thats correct, he had a number of disciplinary problems including at one point leaving a person in the back of a squad car with the windows closed in 102degree temperature and he turned the heat on. So he clearly was a man who was not very respectful of the rights of anybody who was arrested. All right. Tim, i want to get in a statement offered to us let me add also, he was no, very quickly. I was just going to say this man is still in his post. Theres a lawsuit going on over it but its you know, they clearly had not done a thorough background check on him and he had been recommended for the job by a member of congress from california. Well i want to add the Border Control says conditions have gotten more dangerous for their officers, there is more violence against the agents and the Statement Read the cbp stresses honor and integrity and always regrets the loss of life. An overwhelming majority of our employees and officers perform their day to day duties with distinction. We dont tolerate construction and abuse within our ranks. Im certain theres some truth to that statement, of course. Well, i think the vast majority of Border Patrol agents try to do their jobs well. The question is are the minority who perhaps are not well versed in the constitution, what should be done to make sure that abuses dont happen . And there have been some incredible abuses. Well, mcclatchys tim johnson, thank you for the article and for coming on and talking with us about it. I appreciate it. The call for action coming from the u. S. And around the world after hundreds of teenaged girls are kidnapped. Defiance is in our bones. Defiance never grows old. Citracal maximum. Calcium citrate plus d. Highly soluble, easily absorbed. The shingles virus is already inside you. You should know that 1 in 3 people will get shingles in their lifetime. Disturbing the pantry. 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Joining me now, julie beck, associate editor of health request the atlantic. Julie, welcome. This is interesting. Where did this idea and the funding come from . So rob reinhart is the guy that invented it and he was just fed up with, i guess, having to make and eat food all the time. He felt it was a burden so he invented it himself, tested it on himself and wrote about it on his blog and it got attention online and they had a crowd Funding Campaign last year that got funded within, like, two hours so theres a lot of interest in it. What are folks saying about this as being a potential end to world hunger were it able to be mass produced. It has no roughage in it, correct . No, there is fiber. Oh,s . There is fiber. So he says it is nutritionally complete. They went off various fda regulations and a lot of guidelines like that. So he claims, you know, it can be a total food replacement. If they can get the price down manufacturing it it could very well be something thats easily shipped to food deserts or places where there is hundredor. Im curious what the cost is now. When you think about trying to end world hunger, youre trying to appeal to citizens of countries where there is hunger and these people make 30 a month. I dont think theyre there yet. He says the cost is three calories per penny, thats what you get for your investment. So they want to get the price down. But obviously this is the first shipment and so theyre they may be able to do that in the future. Is there a market for this here in the u. S. . It seems like there might be just because of the interest they got from the crowd Funding Campaign. Although, you know, humans generally dont care for monotonous diets and they do get bored and so i think that having it be something that replaces food entirely that people drink for every meal or most meals seems somewhat unlikely. You had your own experience with soylent. You did it for about a week. What did it taste like and how did you feel . To be clear, it was a homemade diy version of soy lent so it wasnt the same thing hes shipping to people now but i did live on it for a week. I was nourished, i was fine. I didnt like it that much. It tastes sort of like a click shake but off, is what i always tell people. Theres sort of like a chemically aftertaste thats not great. But, you know, it may be the version he has tastes better. And weight . Stable . Loss . Gain . I lot a little bit of weight that week but it came back when i started eating food again. The name soylent. I mean, thats something that harkens back to that 1970s film and you think of charlton heston, right . Thats what everyone says. For those people who dont know. Play this, guy you guys. Youve got to tell them soylent green is people weve got to stop them somehow i wanted to play the clip there. Rob reinhart, i think he named it soylent because of that which is a weird joke if you want people to eat but well, it is what it is. Julie beck the atlantic, thank you for coming. New reaction about the Los Angeles Clippers from the sunday talk shows. New car hey [squeals] [ewh ] [baby crying] the great thing about a subaru is you dont have to put up with that new car smell for long. The versatile, 2015 subaru forester. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Its the next step in ridding Donald Sterling from the nba. Meanwhile, his wife has issued a new statement about the nba ban. Its a call for action. Rallies in the u. S. Echo those in nigeria demanding more be done to save hundreds of kidnapped school girls. Benghazi blowback. Is that alleged smoking gun, mail really a political boon for republicans . Last year was rough. Geez. [ laughter ] at one point things got so bad the 47 called mitt romney to apologize. [ laughter ] say what . Its the president s annual standup act. So how did he hand this will years laugh lines . Hey there, everyone, welcome to weekends with alex witt. 1 00 in the east, 10 00 a. M. In the west. We have new reaction to the nbas latest move against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Sacramento mayor and nba allstar Kevin Johnson spoke on meet the press about his role. The players sent me in to talk to commissioner silver and the players wanted an immediate investigation. They wanted to have a voice. They wanted to make sure that they werent passive participants and thirdly they wanted the most maximum, most severe sanctions possible. Commissioner silver exceeded those expectations in 72 hours. Theres no way in washington no one decides things that quickly and he did it in a very strong way. Nbcs mike tie yeeb biis joining me from our l. A. Bureau. Lets get the latest. First things first. Lets talk about what happened on the court. The Los Angeles Clippers won. They beat the Golden State Warriors, theyre going on next with the Oklahoma City thunder and the likely league mvp kevin durant, the okc will be favored in that series. But the clippers season goes on but so, unfortunately, does the sad saga, as you pointed out, of Donald Sterling. P even before the clippers took the floor for the game that could end or extend their season, their fans lamented their dilemma, to have a team owner cheered by no one after he shamed himself into a lifetime ban. The superfan called clipper daryl spoke for many. Its crazy. When could you say clippers and championship in the same sentence. Now we can and he did this . Come on. The league has begun the process of forcing Donald Sterling to sell the team and owners voting unanimously to prepare charges for commissioner adam silver to serve on the 81yearold billionaire. And during the game news of another development. The nba announced today that it would appoint a ceo to oversee the team. Sterlings wife shelly was at the same. She was quoted as saying she supports the appointment of a ceo but had no comment on the abc interview of her husbands alleged girlfriend v stifian know who recorded sterlings racist comments. It hurts to see someone that you care about hurting. On the court, the clippers got it done in a game seven nail biter. Theyve gone through held and have survived. Knocking aside the Golden State Warriors despite the added burden their owner created . We had that baggage with us for the series but now its pretty much over. I mean, its obviously still lingering but its not quite the same. Sterling, gone as a presence at the arena with the team hes owned for three decades hasnt said whether hell surrender or sue to try to hold on to the clippers. No matter. The team has moved on. This remains complicated. Sterling, as we said, hasnt signalled what hes going to do but the Owners Committee representing o 10 of the other 29 teams will meet to come up with the charges. They want the commissioner adam silver to serve on sterling to get it started to force him to sell the team. Were not there yet. Alex . Mike, financial implications, what are they for Donald Sterling in a sale . Well, theyre huge. If he does sell now, if he does what commissioner wants, he has to pay a 30 Capital Gains tax. Thats based on the difference between value of the team he bought in the 81 which was 12 million and nearly a billion now. So he could be on the hook for a hundred million dollars. So if he stands and fights, files divorce from his wife and it becomes Community Property he might keep it out of the nbas property. Or if he dies his heirs would only pay Capital Gains on 20 million or 30 million. That Capital Gains tax. Hes having his professional advisors talk to him about that, im sure. Were still waiting to hear from Donald Sterling. Alex . Thank you so much, mike. Banning sterling may prove to be easier than forcing him to sell the clippers. A sports attorney tells us why at the bottom of the hour. Lets go to todays political headlines. A judge in arkansas will hand down his ruling in a case challenging the states ban on samesex marriage. Yesterday, state attorney general Dustin Mcdaniel said he supports samesex couples right to marry but added that despite his personal believes he will continue to defend arkansass ban in court. Texas governor rick perry is weighing in on the oklahoma lethal injection controversy. In an interview on this mornings meet the press governor perry, whose state leads the nation in death penalties, argued that any reform should be made on the state level. In texas for a substantially long period of time our citizens have decided that if you kill our children, if you kill our Police Officers, for those very heinous crimes that the appropriate punishment is the Death Penalty. Was this inhumane . I dont know whether it was inhumane or not but it was botched. The next lethal injection scheduled in the u. S. Is next week in texas. So far the state says it will go forward. Lets go now to ukraine and new video of escalating violence there. Hundreds of prorussian separatists have stormed a Police Station in odessa demanding the release of more than 100 people detain there had since friday. And this follows violent clashes in the city that left more than 40 people dead. Joining me now on the phone, nbcs keir simmons, he joins me from donetsk, ukraine. Keir, first to you. We understand that the prorussian separatists that were detained have been freed. What can you tell us about that . Thats right. Our person there tells us that around 30 activists have been released. What happened was the prorussian protestors stormed the Police Station and released them shouting russia, russia. And what people were worried about in the weeks gone by is whether or not russia might invade ukraine with owl all of military on the border. Perhaps what they should have been worrying about the is rule of law disg. I. Integrating, potentially the country splitting apart because oe zaesz oe zaes is in the south of the country. So it opens up another problem for the Ukrainian Government and these people were shouting we will not forgive because you remember what happens before then was that tens of protestors died in a building when it burned down. There are terrible, terrible stories of people in the street taunting those prorussian protesters in the building as they were dying. People are clearly furious across southern ukraine there and here in Eastern Ukraine where i am. There have been protests on the street. Here as well we continue to see a town surrounded by the ukrainian military. They do not appear to be moving on that town but thats another potential flash point. Alex, there are flash points everywhere and, again, as i say, the concern must be that the Ukrainian Government in kiev is simply losing control parts of its country. The Prime Minister here has been criticizing his own police about the way that the police handled the Union Building that fire the fire in the Union Building before the week end so the Prime Minister criticizing the countrys own police. Very, very difficult time. Thank you very much, keir simmons, for bringing us an update. We appreciate that. There is increasing outcry over the mass kidnappings of teenaged school girls in nigeria. Its been more than two weeks since armed gunman and abducted at least get this 276 girls. Rallies demanding theirs recrew spreading with protests held in various cities including new york and washington. But whats being done find them nbc is following the latest from london. Duncan, good day to you. Who are the terrorists accusedover taking the girls and whats being done to find them . Hey, alex. A group called boko haram is being blame bud no group has claimed responsibility. Boko haar ram translates as western education is forbidden. Its a violent Islamist Group which is trying to carve out an Islamic State in nigeria. Its part of the insurgent any that country for the last five years or so that has cost thousands of lives. Boko haar ram is confined mostly to the northeast of the country, that is where this girls school was. Nobody knows for sure what has happened to them. Some parents say that according to villagers some of the girls have been taken across the borders to cameroon and chad. Local politicians claim some of the girls have been forced into marriage with their abductors but we just really dont know. Secretary of state john kerry is on a tour of african nations. He called the abduction an unacceptable crime. The kidnapping of hundreds of children by boko haram is an unconable crime and we do Everything Possible to support the Nigerian Government to return these young women to their homes. Now, its more than two weeks since those school girls were take son theres a sense of frustration with the Nigerian Government. There have been protests in nigeria and increasingly in cities around the world. New york, washington and here in london. Theres also a social Media Campaign under way under the banner bring back our girls. Through the night, the nigerian president met with security and local state officials and with the head teacher of that girls school and he said everything must be done to free the girls. But more than two weeks on, its not clear how theyre going about that. Alex . The whole thing is outrageous. Thank you very much for the update from london. More republican fury today over benghazi, but what would a gopled investigation really accomplish . Former governor howard dean next. A mouth breather . Well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38 more than allergy medicines alone. So you can breathe and sleep. Shut your mouth and sleep right. Breathe right. Ke me, if yand youre talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about a biologic. This is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain. This is humira helping me lay the groundwork. This is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. Doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. 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The controversial email sent to former ambassador susan rice by a white house aide outlined a goal to underscore that these protests are rooted in an internet video and not a broader failure of policy. While republicans consider this a smoking gun, democrats call the whole investigation a red herring. I think its a colossal waste of time. Weve had four bipolartisan investigations already. And the republican conference is so fracture there hads only two things they agree on, they dont like obamacare so weve had 50 votes on that and they do like talking about benghazi. So weve had four investigations on that. But i dont think it makes sense, really, for democrats to participate. I think its just a tremendous red herring and a waste of taxpayer resources. Joining me now, former governor of vermont and former chair of the Democratic National committee howard dean. Governor, good to have you back on the show. Nice to be on. You heard your colleague adam schiff. Do you think its a colossal west of time . What do you think of benghazi being back in the headlines . Its along the lines of obama is a muslim or obama was born in kenya. Its a marker for the really hatreddriven core of the republican party. But the problem is, it doesnt do anything for the independents and it probably doesnt do much for reasonable, thoughtful republicans. I dont think john boehner would be having this investigation if he didnt think he needed to do it to keep his caucus together with the 80 far right people in the caucus. So i say bring it on. Have as much benghazi investigation as you want. It has no traction among the American People and it shows the republicans for who they have to cater to. How about the Hillary Clinton factor here, though . Because as you know she has said repeatedly and as recently as this last week that what happened in benghazi is her biggest regret. Is this just targeting and discrediting her as she potentially gears up for a 2016 run . Who knows what the motives of these folks are . Again, its this who knows what the motive of the obama is a muslim routine were. I cant tell you the motives of people who are slightly off the mark. But i dont think look, the most important thing is to look at what people think in america and theres almost no traction whatsoever with this among independents, middle of the roaders, moderate republicans. Theyd like to get on to the economy and things that matter. This is a distraction. All the republicans are doing is reinforcing their inability to get anything done in the congre congress. All the talk, speculation around a clinton 2016 run gets louder and as you can imagine it came up at the White House Correspondents dinner so lets listen to what host joel mchale said about it. Hillary clinton has a lot going for her as a candidate. She has experience, shes a natural leader and, as our first female president , we could pay her 30 less [ laughter ] thats the save this is country could use so not cool. But any way, governor listen, youve been there done that. When can we expect to hear a definite answer one way or the other . Give me a timeline here. Im guessing, i dont have an inside pipeline. I dont think secretary clinton has made up here mind. I think she will take into account the needs of the Democratic Party which wont be so easy to do in terms of having to go through a you have to primary process. I would expect sometime in 2015, well after the 2014 elections are over then shes going to stay. And i think shes got a lot of thinking to do about this. This is a tough one. Once youve done this you want to think carefully before you do it again. For sure. Speaking of the clintons, former president bill clinton defended his economic policies in a very robust speech he delivered to the students at Georgetown University yesterday. Lets take a listen to that. In all the socalled prosperity of the 1980s, only 77,000 of our fellow americans moved from poverty into the middleclass. In the 90s, 100 times as many, 7. 7 Million People, did. That was policy. [ cheers and applause ] i stand corrected, it was not yesterday, that was wednesdays speech. But how much of this do you think was aimed at shaping his own legacy and how much of it might be geared at propelling his wife to the white house in 2016 . Im sure theres a little of both d. Fact of the matter 1 that the middleclass is has suffered in this country for a long time. The average wage has increased among middleclass people, the bottom 80 ,. 3 in the last 20 years. So, you know, everybody whos been in office is a little defensive about that. Everybody whos been in office is a little defensive about the collapse in 2008 which wasnt obviously 100 george w. Bushs fault. Of course, those of us who are partisan might want to blame him for it but the truth is, you know, this countrys been heading in a direction that it needs to change for a long time. Now president clinton is correct. In his administration, a rising tide did lift a lot more boats than were lifted in the following administration but, you know, i can understand what hes doing. I would, too, if i were defending my legacy. The truth is i think we would be better served by looking forward and trying to figure out how to get out of this problem because this income inequality problem is a real problem and it does have to be dealt with it and wont be dealt with by blaming george bush or bill clinton for it. You bring up gop there with george bush. On the gop side, theres this certain exflorida governor who may be giving the current new jersey one a run for his money here. We have the New York Times reporting that jeb bushs increasingly serious and public consideration of a 2016 run has some major republican donors considering jumping the Chris Christie ship. If that happened, howard, tell me what would that mean for christie . Would it mean curtains for him . I think christies already seeing the curtains. Hes a tough guy from new jersey, he doesnt want to admit what he sees and i dont blame him for that. But the problem for Chris Christie is not whether hes guilty or not although obviously if he ends up being guilty of something that will be a huge problem. The problem is hes under two or three investigations. So the first question for every big republican donor is why would i give my money to Chris Christie who has to defend himself every press conference for two years while hes getting ready to run for president when i can find a moderate alternative . And there are several and i think jeb bush is one of them. Jeb bushs problem is that he has, since hes left office, said a lot of things that happen to be true but you shouldnt say them in politics and come across as more moderate. And the problem with coming across as more moderate is it helps you in the general election but its not easy to get through the primary. So i think youll see rick perry hold the right wing banner and hell be good at it. Everybodys poohpoohing him because he forgot a few things in the debate. I wouldnt cut rick perry out at all. I think hed be a dreadful president but hes a slick politician and hell raise a ton of money and hell be a formidable adversary to any moderate. I want to throw up a wall street journal nbc news poll that shows 9 69 of americans believe we should have more than two families. I agree with that. Do you think theres a weariness on both sides. Is this something both parties are not taking into consideration . You know, the thing is that at the end of the day people are going to judge you for what they think who they think you are when they see you. So its true that both the clinton and bush family will have this stuff around them as the condition di family still does two generations after president kennedys and Robert Kennedys death. But the truth is they actually end up judging you for who you are and especially when youre running for president. Youre going to have ample opportunity to examine these two folks if they end up getting the nominations of their respective parties and people are going to make up their mind of what they think of Hillary Clinton or jeb bush, not which family they came from in minute at the end of the day. Okay, former governor howard dean. Do not stay away so long. See you again soon. Thanks. It might be the singlebiggest region for the nations stalled economic growth, but what will get it moving again . Thats next. [male announcer] ortho crime files. Disturbing the pantry. A house, under siege. Say helto home defense max. Kills bugs inside and prevents new ones for up to a year. Ortho home defense max. Get order. Get ortho®. If you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution thats right for you. With easy stepbystep guidance, were here to help you turn your dream into a reality. Start your Business Today with legalzoom. Were here to help you turn your dream into a reality. 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A horse with Humble Beginnings is the winner of the 140th Kentucky Derby. California chrome pulled away from the pack down the stretch to win by 13 4. Hes the first california bred horse in 52 years to win the first leg of the triple crown. Up next, the preakness. New numbers show the economy moving forward but not by much. The department of commerce says that Gross Domestic Product increased only 0. 1 in the First Quarter and Washington Post financial reporters are joining me now. Glad to have you here. Thanks for being here and joining me. Weve had really a horrible winter across the United States when you look at certain things. The blizzards, belowfreezing temperatures left and right certainly and not the norm. So how much impact does have on the gdp, the weather . We knew the weather was going to have a major impact during the First Quarter. Economists were already predicting Something Like a 1 growth rate, but what it turned out to be was actually even worse than that. We saw a growth increase only by 0. 1 . And thats not a mixup in the decimal places, right . Thats a really bad number that showed the economy stagnated. Theres even indications from data thats been released since then the economy may have contracted in the First Quarter. So that raises the question whether was it actually just the cold winter or is there something more fundamental going on thats causing the economy to just simply not be able to fire on all cylinders . But we should say. 1 is better than the opposite direction. So do you see the potential here for further growth . Things moving higher in the upcoming year . Well, there is some sense already that things are Getting Better. So for the second quarter, economists are estimating growth around 3. 6 . Obviously thats a much bigger number than we saw in the First Quarter and we had very good numbers out of the Labor Department on friday showing that hiring much stronger than expected in april. Thats a good sign. But it seems like every time that we have good news in this recovery, it always comes with a caveat. So youre finding that housing which people thought was going to be a real driver of growth this year, thats so far not really giving us the oomph that we need. Youre finding people not entering the labor force at the same rate that we would like to see them. A lot of young people instead of looking for summer jobs or things like that, theyre simply delaying their job search. So were not sure if theyre going to start entering the market. So theres always a lot of reason to be concerned. But there is some hope that things are Getting Better. Those job numbers were pretty good. 288,000 . 288, 000 jobs created in april. And as you said, wed rather have jobs created than lost but the decline in Unemployment Rate was not necessarily driven by job growth but because people were not entering the labor force so we saw the work force shrink. Give me the perspective, the takeaway for the average consumer on this. Average consumer should know that things are Getting Better but its a slow grind. Just the same way its been since we started this recovery back in 2009. Good to see you. Thank you so much. twas the night of wit and wisdom at the White House Correspondents dinner. But did the president ial punch lines hit the mark . What if your yearly checkup came with tickets to a clippers game . [ laughter ] not the old don sterling clippers, the new oprah clippers. [ laughter ] welcome back to weekends with alex wit. The Los Angeles Clippers have reason to celebrate today. A big win advances the team until the nba playoffs. Good news as they try to keep banned owner Donald Sterling and the scandal surrounding his racist remarks behind them. I just thought this team really needed the game. I mean, honestly, i just wanted us to win the game. Not because of the not winning last year. I just thought with all this stuff this team just needed this win. The drama continues off the court. The nba announced theyre looking to appoint a new ceo for the team and sterlings wife says she supports the leagues decision. What happens next . Joining me now, attorney for the National Sports authority, everett glenn. Welcome, glad youre here. Thank you for having me. A pleasure. Sir, what can the nba do . Can they appoint a new ceo to run the team without Donald Sterlings support . Absolutely. Under the nba constitution and bylaws i think the real interest is Donald Sterlings interest. They can terminate his interest. They cant force the family, its owned in a trust, to sell the team but they surely is the power to terminate his interest. As you know and i mentioned here sterlings wife shelly is on board with the takeover. She released a statement that says in part i spoke with commissioner adam silver this week to tell him i fully supported his recent swift and decisive action. As a coowner, im fully committed to taking the necessary steps to make the clippers the best team in the nba. But certainly her estranged husband, if you will, theyre widely expected to have him fight the nbas ruling in court. Hes known to be very, very litigious. How would that work . Well, the commissioner has wide and broad discretion in this matter and, again, i think the reason why Donald Sterlings wife is appearing to cooperate is because, again, they can force Donald Sterling to sell his interest. They cant force the trust to sell the team but i think thats not the real issue with Donald Sterling. The real issue thats the symptom. But the problem is this per sis tent and lingeri ining racism. And were at the intersection of race, sports, and money and forcing donald sister tloing sell a team is not going to address the underlying reasons, the causes for that, which are the stereotyping of young black men and the underlying channeling of them into sports and athletics as opposed to doctors and lawyers. Im curious if you think shelly sterlings support makes the case for selling the Team Stronger for the nba . There are concerns about the leagues bylaws. They dont have a specific article that applies to ousting an owner over issues of character. So in terms of their legal ground for forcing sterling out, could he produce a valid argument against it . Well, i would i beg to differ, they, in fact, do have a morals clause. Any member whos found to either say or endorse comments that are detrimental or president ial to the best interests of basketball or the nba can be fined and any owner or member whose conduct so its worth what you say and what you do can be the basis of and the three quarters vote is the protection for these owners. Its not an arbitrary kind of decision. You have to get three quarters of the other owners to agree that forcing them to sell even because they can by by twothirds vote they can waive whatever penalty is imposed. Well, youre right, the morals clause does put this under that umbrella, i should think. This morning l. A. Mayor Eric Garcetti addressed the possibility of a boycott or a boycott by certain players or a walkout. Lets take a listen to that. I think the players are the ones that have the burden of this and they arent going to want to play for somebody knowing that the money that theyre generating for that individual goes into the sorts of attitudes. So what if this whole case gets tied up in court for months or even longer. How does this hurt the team . How does it hurt the brand or the nba . Well, mayor garcettis comments i find quite interesting because the issue not Donald Sterling. The issue the intersection of race and sports and money. In los angeles, for example, over the past ten years, 92 of all contracts which is our money, hes speaking about the players paying a guy in has these racist attitudes but in los angeles 92 of all the money spent has been spent with white men who represent 14 of the population. So i dont know that the mayor should be the one weighing in on this and the same thing in sacramento. The owner of the sacramento kings. Theyre building a new arena in sacramento with very it will until any participation. So were at this intersection and i can see clearly that we have an opportunity and the opportunity is to look beyond the symptom and lets address the cause and the cause is whats happening to these young men and at the National Sports authority, www. Nsa. Org were developing programs and strategies to stop that. Good. Well, bravo, well done. Were glad youre doing that and we thank you so much, attorney everett glen. Thanks. Thank you for having me. It was a big party here in washington last night. President obama along with hollywood alisters, politicians and journalists came together for the White House Correspondents dinner. The event was filled with punch lines and the evenings headliner Comedian Joel Mchale turned his signature wit on the president himself. Thanks to obamacare or as the president refers to it, mecare [ laughter ] millions of newly insured Young Americans can visit a Doctors Office and see what a print magazine actually looks like. [ laughter ] despite her late night antics, Nbcs Kristen Welker is joining me from the white house. Good day to you, kristen. It was fun to see you. It was a fun event and great to see you. That is great tradition that dates back a long time. Back to 1920. Its a chance for journalists to have outside of work to talk to celebrities but this year was a bit different because it was the 100th anniversary of the White House Correspondents association. A timehonored washington tradition. Oscar winner lupita nyongo, olympian Lindsay Vaughn just a few of the big names turnsing up for dinner. This is an opportunity for media to meet hollywood to meet politics. And his storally a chance for the commanderinchief to give back some of the heat hes taken. Lets face it, fox, youll miss me when im gone. [ laughter ] it will be harder to convince the American People that hillary was born in kenya. [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] reporter a little selfdepprication as well. In 2008, my slogan was idea yes, we can. In 2013 my slogan was control, alt, delete. [ laughter ] reporter headliner nbcs joel mchale didnt spare anyone but may have saved some of his most searing lines for new jersey governor Chris Christie. Governor, do you want bridge jokes or size jokes because i got a bunch of both, i can go half and half. I know youd like a combo platter. [ laughter ] there was a serious side to this night. The Correspondents Association marking its centennial, celebrating an increasingly Diverse Group of journalists and naming a new scholarship in the name of the first africanamerican White House Correspondent, harry mcalpine. And the night largely went off without a hitch with the exception of one technical glitch. The joke doesnt work without the slide. [ laughter ] oh, well. Assume that it was funny. Now, some have criticized the dinner saying that its too focused on celebrities but we should point out, alex, that several awards were given out last night and every year to journalists and also scholarships to aspiring journalists. Absolutely. Hey, i want to bring up a picture about this babe in blue from last night. Whoa that was you there it is. Thats the dress. Thats the dress, alex. [ laughter ] phenomenal dress, dont we love talking about the dresses . To that end i have to show lets see it. Thats with senator casey. Look at this dress. I just love the dress. It was so fun. I got ronan pharaoh, too. You looked fantastic. You looked fantastic and it was such a treat to have you here. It was the dress. Its all about the dress. Such a treat to have you here in d. C. Im so glad to be here. And that dress, jenny packham, wow. Rick perry is talking about the botched execution in oklahoma. What did he say and what does the big three think about it . Thats next. 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Good to the last drop maxwell house. And im his mom at the dog park. The kids get trail mix, and heres what you get after a full day of chasing that cute little poodle from down the street. Mm hmm delicious milos kitchen chicken meatballs. They look homemade, which he likes almost as much as making new friends yes, ill call her. Aww, ladies man. Milos kitchen. Made in the usa with chicken or beef as the number one ingredient. The best treats come from the kitchen. Time for the big three. Todays topics, botched execution, sterlings twists and this weeks mustreads. Lets bring in my big three panel. Political analyst and grio. Com contributor zer lena maxwell. Jonathan ator is also the author of the center holds available this paper back this week which is exciting and professor of Political Science at hiram college, jason johnson. Good to see you all. Well go ladies first, hows that. Zerlina, lets go to the botched execution because the next prisoner to be executed is robert james campbell. It will happen in texas. Scheduled for next week. Governor rick perry discussed the death panel on this mornings meet the press. Here he is. In texas for a substantially long period of time our citizens have decided that if you kill our children, if you kill our Police Officers, for those very heinous crimes that the appropriate punishment is the Death Penalty. Was this in humane . I dont know whether it was inhumane or not but it was botched. So campbells attorney say that theyre going try to use the oklahoma case to win him a reprieve. Do you think oklahoma will change up anything . I hope so and i think that the last person i want to hear from from on the Death Penalty is the governor who oversaw really likely the execution of an innocent man in 2004, cameron todd willingham. So rick perry is not the person im looking to to talk about this in a very serious way because i think oklahoma really needs to look in the mirror here because really what happened was the human science experiment. And there is no way you can look at the facts of this case and what happened this week and say that what happened was humane. Okay, the president , as you know, jonathan, said in his press conference yesterday that he is going to on friday, rather, that he will discuss with a. G. Eric holder about what steps might be taken. What steps might those be and how do you think president obama really feels about the Death Penalty. I think hes evolving on this issue way he did on samesex marriage and i actually without any evidence, direct evidence, i believe that if you look at the things that he said in new yo york in illinois when he was coming up in politics hes probably against the Death Penalty except perhaps for terrorists because he realizes not only there have there been botched executions before but numerous cases of people on death row in illinois and other states who didnt do it. And we almost executed them and some of them we did execute. Also the other thing that this horrific case brings to mind is everybodys going oh, isnt it terrible the way this was botched. It is cruel and unusual punishment but so is the execution. So people who are so upset about the botched execution are not upset able killing people. And Justice John Paul stevens, just one other thing, alex, has a new book out and he says that the constitution should be amended so when it talks about cruel and unusual punishment it says including execution. Jason, yesterday we spoke with a reporter from the tulsa world who witnessed the execution and heres what she said about the reaction in oklahoma. Are received a majority of reaction. People saying what about the the victim . I dont care if the inmate felt pain. So did his victim. Many people are troubled. They want this carried out lawfully. You know, thats a legitimate issue. You could say more concern is being sean for Clayton Lockett than he showed for his victim. He killed somebody and helped other people bury her alive. They need to do this in an organized fashion not in a cheap way they are trying to combine chemicals because they cant find the resources. They denied him his final meal because it was over the 15 limit. At least do this in a way thats organized and consistent. Thats the problem. There are terrible people who are terrorists, rapists but do it in an organized fashion. Oklahoma the didnt do it. One other thing real quick. You have libertarians who believe the government messes up everything it touches except the Death Penalty. The if they believe government messeses things up clearly innocent people are being executed. I want to get right now to the Donald Sterling and the clippers issue. Lets listen to what with the l. A. Mayor said. I think he is proud of his journey. Its part of the American Dream to come from nothing be a billionaire. I dont think he realizes the sting of the remarks for people to have over come so much to be africanamerican in this country and face the racism. What do you think . Do you give sterling the benefit of the doubt that he doesnt realize the gravity of his remarks . I dont. I dont care what he think it is gravity of the remarks are. Its not here what he said but what his actions are. He has a real history of real dim nation, not just are racist rhetor rhetoric. Discriminating against mexicans and blacks and his wife are whats troubling and why he needed to be reare moved from the the head of the clippers. You cant have someone who with behaves in this manner being in control of black players. Well have to leave it there. The must reads are next. Yea dulcolax tablets can cause cramps but not phillips. It has magnesium and works more naturally than stimulant laxatives. For gentle cramp free relief of occasional constipation that works mmm mmm live the regular life. I have a great fit with my dentures. I love kiwis. Ive always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. Super poligrip free it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. Even wellfitting dentures let in food particles. Super poligrip is zinc free. With just a few dabs, its clinically proven to seal out more food particles so youre more comfortable and confident while you eat. Super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. Everything looking good. Velocity 1,200 feet per second. [ man 2 ] youre looking great to us, eagle. 2,000 feet. Still looking very good. 1,400 feet. [ male announcer ] a funny thing happens when you shoot for the moon. Ahh, thats affirmative. [ male announcer ] you get there. Youre a go for landing, over. [ male announcer ] the all new cadillac cts, the 2014 motor trend car of the year. We are back now with the big three for the must reads. My must read of the week is the New York Times article on two act vis working to combat Campus Sexual Assault and the white house report are released this week after a yearlong effort on their part to raise awareness of this problem and make sure we need the to get to the the point where we are with ending this problem. Thats a timely pick. Thanks for that. Jonathan . An article by Michael Kinsley in the new yorker called are have you lost your mind. Its partly about his examination of his own brain after having had parkinsons disease for a number of years. Its about all of the baby boorms getting older. All of oh us get a little bit panicked. Losing a step or two mentally. He deals with that in a funny and my article is may the fourth be with you, National Star wars day,s as you can see. It talks about the political history of star wars. Thats awesome. Thank you so much. Meet the press is next. E anno] sponges take your mark. [ female announcer ] one drop of ultra dawn has twice the everyday grease cleaning ingredients of one drop of the leading nonconcentrated brand. [ crowd cheering ]. To clean 2x more greasy dishes. Dawn does more. So its not a chore. Dawn does more. Intercourse thats painfulit. Due to menopausal changes. The problem isnt likely to go away. On its own. 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And go to premarinvaginalcream. Com this is worth talking about. Hey, i heard you guys can help me with frog protection . Yeah, we help with fraud protection. We monitor every purchase every day and alert you if anything looks unusual. Wow youre really looking out for us. We are. And if there are unauthorized purchases on your discover card, youre never held responsible. Just to be clear, you are saying frog protection right . Yeah, fraud protection. Frog protection. Fraud protection. Frog. Fraud. Frog. Fraud. I think were on the same page. Were totally on the same page. At discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Fraud protection. Get it at discover. Com some hidden messages, maybe some political insight on 2016 from president obama on washingtons big night of the year, the White House Correspondents dinner. A night for the president to poke fun at the press and himself. What a year, huh . I usually start these dinners with a few selfdeprecating jokes. After my stellar 2013, what could i possibly talk about . Well have some political talk and comic review this morning and a surprise guest will join our round table. Grammy award winner, innovator and social activist will. I. Am will be here. Plus, the conversation continues abra