Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room 20140704 : compareme

keep attracting the best and the brightest from beyond our shores we're going to have to fix our immigration system. >> and july 4th immigration fight as president obama greets new citizens at the white house, would-be immigrants are greeted by angry protests in a california town. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm brianna keillor. you're in "the situation room." hurricane arthur is heading north. the category 1 storm with 90-mile-an-hour winds are churning up the east sxoeft warnings are up from cape cod to canada. millions face dangerous conditions with heavy rains and potential flooding. and arthur did not leave soon enough for many on the north carolina coast who are left with a lot of water in their homes and on their streets and not a lot of power. our correspondents are standing by with full coverage, and we begin with cnn's senior correspondent joe johns in nag's head, north carolina. >> reporter: brianna, the sun is out here but people in north carolina still aren't completely in the clear. road repairs continue on the infamous highway 12. this is the road we've been telling you about for the last three weeks that essentially connects north and suouth here n this part of north carolina. that road is shut down now. there are also concerns, real concerns about a bridge out there, the bonner bridge. engineers have been checking it out all day long. to try to determine if it's structurally sound and safe for traffic. hurricane arthur slammed the north carolina coast as a category 2 storm with sustained winds of up to 100 miles an hour. in its wake thousands without power, flooding and damaged piers. roofs ripped from houses. uprooted trees. >> a lot of rain. a lot of wind. can't question mother nature. you know. >> reporter: some of the worst damage was inland and on the sound side of the outer banks that doesn't benefit from the natural prevths sand dunes. the governor, who had urged residents and visitors to use their best judgment. >> don't put your stupid hat on. >> reporter: today -- >> happy fourth of july. >> reporter: -- is smiling. >> we are glad that the public took our warnings and because of that i think we've reduced the negative impact of hurricane arthur. >> reporter: no serious casualties have been reported. but threats still remain as independence day celebrations resume. >> we're still evaluating some of the outer bank beaches. please listen to life guards. look at the warning flags. do not get in the water if the lifeguards and local authorities say do not get in the water because we could have rip tides further up, especially the northern beaches. >> reporter: for john lily, he's seen it before. >> have you grown up in the area? >> yes, sir. nags head. >> reporter: so you've seen a bunch of these. >> many hurricanes. >> reporter: so while hurricane arthur won't rank as one of the worst hurricanes to hit these shores, he might have been the most untimely. for the carolinians and those visiting the atlantic coast beaches, arthur wasn't a welcome holiday guest and they're glad to see him go. power outages are also a concern here. the two major electricity providers were reporting as of this afternoon that there are only about 5,000 people out of power. that number greatly reduced from earlier this morning. brianna? >> sure is. joe johns for us. thank you so much. and let's turn to cnn's rene marsh. she's in beaufort, north carolina which is right where the storm came ashore. rene? >> reporter: well, brianna, we can tell you when the sun came up the coast guard took to the skies. they wanted to assess the damage. and this is what we can tell you. trees downed, power out, and roads flooded. that's pretty much the extent of the damage that arthur left behind. the good news is no casualties and no serious injuries. arthur interpret much turned out to be more of a nuisance more than anything else. you just heard joe mention it. at the beginning this morning we knew that more than 40,000 people were without power. and at last check now that number down to more than 5,000 people. let's not forget a lot of these beachfront towns had plans for fourth of july fireworks. namely the one i'm in right now, beaufort. but that's not happening today. despite sun and blue skies. simply because they had this fear that hurricane arthur was going to wash out the show. so they will have fireworks tomorrow. that being said, you know, we do know that there's still a little bit of work around town to be done. we see a lot of those downed trees but they are moving really fast as far as getting that debris off the roadways and getting the power back on for those customers. but really when you talk to a lot of people here, this is a coastal community. they are very seasoned when it comes to hurricanes. so they really were not that impressed when it came to hurricane arthur. brianna? >> it's really amazing. you can see the flooding in those pictures. and yet they're so ready for it. it's something that would be such an inundation for other communities. rene marsh, thank you. arthur, though, can still make life pretty miserable for millions as this thing is moving north. the latest forecast is just in. let's check in with cnn meteorologist and severe weather expert chad myers. what's it saying, chad? >> down to 80 miles per hour, brianna. you know why? because it's getting into cooler water. the warm water is the fult to the fire. the cold water, the cooler water makes it die. and that's what's going to happen by tonight. i don't even think this will have really a name. it will probably just be an extra tropical storm heading on up toward halifax. it's still going to affect boston, though, the cape. also eastern parts of long island getting very heavy rainfall at this hour. there is the eye right there moving obviously quickly now. moving to the northeast at 26 miles per hour. that's a pretty good clip. so i don't believe we're going to get any rain back into baltimore. no rain. none of these outer bands back into d.c. that's good. still seeing some chance of rain in new york. but because it's moving so quickly, no chance of getting a lot of rain on that back side. that's the great news. here's the heavy rain for boston all the way down to the cape itself and all the way up to the main coast. there still will be rip currents. there still will be rip currents this weekend as the storm rolls on up the east coast because the water and the waves are still going to come onshore and all of that's still going to want to rush out. the same type of rip currents we had in the carolinas yesterday. that right there is a live picture of north carolina 12. i dare you to find the concrete. or the asphalt. because it's not there. that's covered in sand. there are feet of sand that came in from the ocean. the beach should be back there about 1 h00 yards. it's now right on the road. still some flooding. they're getting bulldozers. it looked like they were moving snow out of the way today. that's how deep the beaches were here, covering the roadways. still not an open way to get out of north carolina right now. the outer banks got hit. finally seeing some of the bad pictures that we knew were out there. sometimes that damage takes a little while to come in because it's hard to get to that damage, brianna. >> pretty amazing. you could go to sleep last night, not have beachfront property, wrak up and maybe you did. all right, chad myers, thank you. >> you're welcome. violent street clashes between palestinians and israelis in jerusalem, and they're trading rocket fire and air strikes across the gadda border. i' i'll be speaking to the former israeli ambassador to the united states. >> usa! usa! >> and a july 4th fight over immigration. protesters and counterprotesters square off in a california city. ♪ f provokes lust. ♪ it elicits pride... ...incites envy... ♪ ...and unleashes wrath. ♪ temptation comes in many heart-pounding forms. but only one letter. 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urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of rare but serious side effects. are you down with crestor!? ask your doctor if crestor could help you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. violent clashes broke out today between palestinians and israeli security forces in jerusalem. riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who were hurling stones and fire bombs. dozens of people were hurt in this. the violence erupted after hundreds marched in the funeral of a palestinian teenager who was murdered this week. his death followed the killings of three israeli teens. cnn's senior international correspondent ben wedeman joining us now live from jerusalem with the latest. tell us about what happened today, ben. >> reporter: well, it was really to be anticipated, brianna, when the body of mohammed abu hader, that 16-year-old palestinian whose body was found the day before yesterday in a jerusalem forest, when that body came home we knew it was going to be a stormy funeral and another day of clashes in jerusalem. mourners carry the body of mohammed abu hader home. he's been dubbed shaheed al fajar, the dawn martyr, murdered by unknown abductors wednesday morning. a killing israeli police are still investigating but is wi widely believed to have been revenge for the murder of three israeli teenagers kidnapped last month. israeli police had blocked all entrances to the palestinian neighborhood of shafad where abu hader lived p but that didn't stop thousands from attending the funeral. emotions here further inflamed by images captured by a shafat resident and broadcast on palestinian television that appear to show israeli police beating and kicking a motionless man on the ground. an israeli police spokesman told cnn police and undercover agents have been operating in shah afar but had in further comment. the funeral was followed by more clashes. by nightfall friday more than 60 protesters and 13 policemen had been injured. as well as this correspondent, who was hit in the forehead with a rubber bullet. a minor wound promptly treated by medics. while jerusalem smolders, israel and hamasa in gaza continue to exchange missile strikes and air strikes. in april the u.s.-led peace process collapsed. july and a far darker process is in full swing. and certainly here, brianna, many people are talking about a possible third intefadeh. maybe too early to jump to that conclusion, but it's beginning to smell like it. brianna? >> and certainly that is the concern and i know you stressed ben it's a minor wound. we can see you have a bandage on your forehead. tell us about, though, because this is what many people are going through there. tell us about what happened. >> reporter: well, we were essentially right behind a group of palestinian protesters who were throwing rocks at the israeli police. the israeli police were firing back with these rubber bullets. now, i was just taking off my helmet to put in an earpiece for a live shot like this one, and at that moment i saw just sort of in the instant a projectile coming toward my head, and suddenly i found myself surrounded by my producer karim khadar and the cameraman alessandro gentile, who said there's blood spurting out of your head. it was messier than it was painful. and within half an hour we were up and broadcasting again. so it's not quite as dramatic as it looks. >> certainly looked pretty bad. we're glad you're all right, ben. ben wedeman for us. appreciate it. we want to go in depth now. joining me from tel aviv is the former israeli ambassador to the united states. he's our cnn middle east analyst, michael oren. ambassador oern, thanks so much for joining us at this point. and i want to kind of get to a point we heard ben make. he said it's starting to smell like a movement toward a third intefadeh but he said it's too soon to jump to that conclusion. are you concerned about this? what's your assessment of that? >> reporter: good evening, brianna. happy fourth of july holiday. and i'm glad to see that ben's up and still reporting live. well, the situation is very tense in jerusalem and in the environs today. down south, as ben mentioned, there's rocket fire. israeli planes striking back. the sirens went off in southern israel just a few moments ago. that indicated that another missile had been fired somewhere in the south. but focusing in on jerusalem and in the west bank the possibility of what the palestinians would call a third intefadeh cannot be ruled out. paradoxically, the west bank had been one of the most stable areas of the middle east during this period of turmoil, seemingly immune from the civil strife in syria and iraq. but the question is how long can that go on. previously palestinians in the west bank have been reluctant to engage in violence as they had in the past for a number of reasons. the economy was good. palestinians had never entirely recovered from the previous intefadeh from 2000 and 2005. and also the palestinian leadership under mahmoud abbas had made a strategic decision not to engage in terror because as long as palestinians were not engaged in terror then the international focus was on israel and in particular on israel's settlement policy. >> and trying to put a little more pressure on israel perhaps. when you look at what's going on -- and it's interesting. you hear the parents of both the palestinian teen who was killed and these three israeli teens, we're hearing family members there saying stop the bloodshed. obviously, people aren't listening. what do you think it's going to take to bring some calm to this situation? >> reporter: well, tonight calm has been restored to parts of jerusalem. the riots were taking place in one village, one neighborhood, trafat. it hasn't engulfed the entire city. far from it yet. >> but an overall calm. if you were to move toward some sort of general cease-fire or really we were expecting some of this violence could continue in the days to come, how do you deal with that in the bigger picture? >> the bigger picture would be the prime minister of israel benjamin netanyahu joining with president mahmoud abbas of the palestinian authority and together calling for an end to it. but both leaders tonight, brianna, are under tremendous pressure from hard-liners within their own governments. there are ministers within the israeli government who are talking about a more aggressive response, more robust response to the hamas rocket fire from gaza. israeli troops have been building up along that border throughout the past 48 hours. in mahmoud abbas's own government there are ministers who are calling for an end to security cooperation between the palestinian security forces and the israel defense forces. so however you look at it, while there are many people out protesting and demonstrating in favor of greater acceptance, against discrimination, against violence, there are also forces that are mitigating that movement and activating for even a more violent response. >> and ambassador, there is some closed circuit television of what appears to be the abduction -- or what is the abduction we believe of the palestinian teen, who was murdered. it's not great video, but there is something to it, and obviously as investigators are looking at this it does give them some clues. we heard from some palestinians who said the homes of the two suspects in the killings of the israeli teens were destroyed. they want there to be ramifications when it comes to whoever is responsible for the death of the palestinian teen. prime minister netanyahu said that is a priority. do you see that being a priority, and is that something that you think is essential to maybe sort of restore some calm here? >> the israeli government and the prime minister in particular very anxious to get to the bottom of this. the situation, as we've said again and again, is very flammab flammable, highly combustible, and finding those who perpetrated this terrible crime, it will be very important if we're to put an end to this round of tension and potentially escalating violence. so i spoke to a senior police official today. he assured me that they are work around the clock to find those who murdered this 16-year-old palestinian boy, muhammad abu khdeir, and to get to the bottom of it. he assured me whether the perpetrators are palestinian or whether they're israeli they're going to come out immediately with their findings. >> and their findings, are you pretty confident having spoken with this official, that they will find the killer, muhammad's kilter or killers? >> the israeli police are very proficient. there is a crime scene. the body i think has been mentioned was burnt. and some of the evidence no doubt was destroyed. but the israeli police will continue. keep in mind that the perpetrators of the murders of the three israeli boys are still at large and authorities today are warning about the possibility that the two men who are being sought in those murders may strike again. >> certainly. and they are still at large at this point and have been missing since -- or have been certainly out of sight since the abductions of those three teens. and now their killings. ambassador oren, thank you so much for your insight. really appreciate it. and coming up, a california city is the epicenter of a nasty fight over immigration. is that any way to celebrate the fourth of july? we will be taking you right there. and also this. the three female justices on the supreme court are once again on the losing end of a decision involving contraception. the majority, all male. you're in "the situation room." did you know a ten-second test could help your business avoid hours of delay caused by slow internet from the phone company? that's enough time to record a memo. idea for sales giveaway. return a call. sign a contract. pick a tie. take a break with mr. duck. practice up for the business trip. fly to florida. win an award. close a deal. hire an intern. and still have time to spare. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business. built for business. usa! usa! >> it's been a july 4th fight over immigration. protesters and counterprotesters today again squared off in a california city. and at the center of it all the transfer of migrants arrested for entering the united states illegally. let's go live now to cnn national correspondent kyung lah. she is in murrieta, california. you're right there, kyung. set the stage for us. >> reporter: well, it's a very hot day. some people are going through heat exhaustion. this is an issue that's inflaming a lot of passions here. and i want you to try to peek past the officers here. every once in a while-b 20 minutes or so, there's a scuffle where officers have to become involved, try to separate the two sides because they are so far apart. this is really a microcosm of what's happening on a larger scale. the two sides that simply cannot see eye to eye. we are waiting here, and the reason why all the protesters are here is because if you look at our other live camera, this long road that you're looking at, the anticipation is that there may be an additional 140 undocumented immigrants coming to this border patrol station. immigrants coming here because the stations in texas are simply too full. so why come out here? why spend the fourth of july this way? here's what one protester told us. >> i love -- we're a nation of immigrants. you know, we're -- most of us have immigrants from smer. this isn't about that. it's about a nation with borders. we're a nation with laws. we have orderly immigration policy so that people are safe, so our citizens are safe so, that people that are trying to get here are safe. you know, we're not a borderless nation. >> reporter: so that's one half of the debate. the other half is that this is a humanitarian crisis, that this is women and children who are coming here and that need a safe place to stay, even if they are coming across the borders illegally. but what we're seeing here, brianna-s a lot of words. a lot of yelling today. but so far we have not seen any fists being thrown. brianna? >> kyung lah, thank you so much for giving us a look there at murrieta, california. and this showdown that kyung was talking about near the border, it comes as president obama today celebrated the swearing in of new u.s. citizens, immigrants themselves. let's turn now to cnn's athena jones. she's at the white house, live. and tell us about it. this was a pretty special ceremony today. >> it was. hi, brianna. the ceremony today was celebratory. it was positive. it was far removed from the crisis we've seen unfolding in border states. the president praised these service members for volunteering and signing up for the u.s. military, potentially risking their lives even before becoming citizens. and he said that america should make it easier, not harder, for the best and the brightest to come to this country and to stay here. ♪ >> and 457 happy fourth of july. this is one of my favorite events to do. >> reporter: while president obama was celebrating new citizens at the white house -- >> to these 25 men and women, service members and spouses, it is an honor to join everyone here for the first time in calling you our fellow americans. >> usa! usa! >> reporter: across the country more protests from people who don't want undocumented immigrants brought to their community for processing. >> we're a nation of immigrants. you know, we're -- most of us have immigrants from somewhere. this isn't about that. it's about we're a nation with borders. we're a nation with laws. >> reporter: earlier this week about 100 protesters turned back three busloads of undocumented immigrants from central america. many of them women and children. they were detained in texas and flown to california. a move meant to ease the overstressed border control efforts along the rio grande. >> the rapid influx of illegal immigration -- >> reporter: appearing in a house homeland security hearing thursday, texas governor rick perry talked about the strain on his state. >> officials who should be guarding the border are dealing with overflow instead of fulfilling their primary task. so as a result the border between the u.s. and mexico is less secure today than anytime in the recent past. >> reporter: perry wants the president to increase the number of texas national guard units protecting the border. the president has asked congress for $2 billion to add more resources on the border and says that if republicans in congress won't act on immigration he will. >> i'm going to keep doing everything i can do to keep our immigration system smarter and more efficient. >> reporter: as the debate over this hot-button issue rages on private first class oscar convenient egas gonzales sworn in at the white house today wants americans to understand why he left guatemala behind to become an american citizen. >> it's a great nation. i want to be a part of this. there are so many options and opportunities of just being someone here in the united states of america. >> reporter: now, the president visits austin and dallas, texas next week, but a trip to the border is not on the schedule. at least so far. brianna? >> athena jones at the white house, thank you. and i do want to mention to our viewers that you saw the protest there's in murrieta, california. we will actually be speaking with the mayor of murrieta about his city, which has become, as we heard kyung say, sort of ground zero in this immigration fight on this july 4th. we'll have him next hour. but let's dig deeper now with cnn political commentator and republican strategist kevin madden and democratic strategist janise fuentes. we hear president obama talking specifically -- or not talk k specifically yet, but we're waiting. taking some action on his own now that immigration reform remains dead in this congress. specifically, what can he really do without congress? >> whatever he's going to do is going to be very inadequate and incomplete because it will not be any kind of immigration reform passed, which passed in the senate and the house refused to pick it up. whatever he's going to do is never an answer that's going to last but it's going to have a little sense, logic, and be humane. and i suspect what he's going to do is something similar to what he did for the dreamers, the kids who came here as children and grew up as americans but don't have a status. and today they're not lesionized. i don't want to confuse the viewer. but they have a way to pay taxes and to work. i suspect he's going to do the same thing to the parents of those kids, who have a reason to stay here because the kids are now safe being here. for the time being. >> and that would certainly be a very big move. and obviously, democrats are looking at this, kevin, and they think in a midterm election year where pens are spurred to vote in bigger numbers than democrats they're going to make their base be a little more enthusiastic. with republicans worried about that? >> well, look, i don't know if this is still an issue that is rising to the torch many people's concerns, that's going to be a driving a lot of voter decisions in many of thighs swing districts in the house races and in some of these battlegrounds. but it very well could. we still have five months to go until election day. but i really do think that one of the things that's hurting the president right now is the american people have lost confidence in his ability to be a strong executive and they also see a lot of chaos. they see chaos on our border right now, and that doesn't bode well for the president, his leadership ratings and his overall approval ratings, and his overall approval rating is what's driving a lot of democrat anxiety in the 24 midterm races. >> so when you look, you even said that whatever president obama does it might not be that big of a deal. >> inadequate. it won't be enough 37. >> you call tin adequate, it won't be enough. is that something that will spur hispanic voters, who tend to vote democratic, to the polls in the midterm elections? >> remember that he for the famished a morsel is a feast. these immigrants have nothing. yet why are they here? let's think in terms of business and let's think of the reality of the issue. they're here because there are 8.5% -- 8.5 million immigrants, somewhere between 6 and 8.5 million undocumented immigrants are in our workforce. over 5 hers of our workforce. 16% of the workforce in texas is undocumented immigrants. half of the work force of agriculture. the tomatoes, the lettuce, the cucumbers, everything we aerkts 15% of the people that pick them and bring them to the store are undocumented. so i think it's basically time to face the fact that they're important to our economy and what we have to do to bring them into the fold because all this underground economy it only pushes all of our wages down and the conditions down and that is not a way to live in this country. >> real quick, final word if you have any input -- she's saying it's an economic argument but a lost republicans feel that way -- >> i agree with that. i always say everybody up on capitol hill wants immigration reform. where we differ is on the specifics. i think what's really crucial here and it's missing are two things -- bipartisanship and presidential leadership. and the presidential leadership is really crucial because he's the one who can go up there and build the big coalitions, talk to gutierrez, at the same time talk to goodlat, the people up there responsible with krafth the bill in a way that's going to getting? done. i think that's been missing. instead it has become a political flash-point and that's not really good for legislation. >> but it's congress who makes the laws. so it is not the president. the congress should have picked up the bill passed by the senate last year and made it -- >> he signs it but he needs to work with them -- >> they do need to be talking but they all seem to have a problem with each other. i will say. having covered this from both ends of pennsylvania avenue the last few years myself. we're going to be talking a lot more. so stick around, you guys. next we have the supreme court issues. well, it's issued this order in the newest challenge in the battle over birth control challenge. it is -- this is two this week, folks. and this has three women on the court delivering a fiery dissent. also later, fourth of july in washington. hundreds of thousands are filling the national mall for a beautiful capital city celebration. type 2 diabetes effects millions of us. and for many, it's a struggle to keep your a1c down. so imagine -- what if there was a new class of medicine that works differently to lower blood sugar? imagine...loving your numbers. 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or if allergic to invokana® or its ingredients. symptoms of allergic reaction may include rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. if you experience any of these symptoms, stop taking invokana® and call your doctor right away or go to the nearest hospital. tell your doctor about any medical conditions, medications you are taking, and if you have kidney or liver problems. using invokana® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase risk of low blood sugar. it's time. lower your blood sugar with invokana®. imagine loving your numbers. ask your doctor about invokana®. now, for the second time in a week all three female supreme court justices have been on the losing end of a decision involving contraception, facing off against an all-male majority. the court weighed in yet again on obamacaretion contraceptive coverage requirement which comes on the heels of that big hobby lobby case on monday. this time it was an emergency injunction for wheaton college. this is a christian college. and it says that the school doesn't even have to sign the waiver that would give a third party the ability to provide coverage for contraception. republican strategist kevin madden and democratic strategist jennice fuentes are staying with us on this. but first i want to bring in cnn justice correspondent pamela brown. she's joining us with the details on this. and we really -- i mean, this dissent from justice sonia sotomay sotomayor, she seems very upset. >> right. all three female justices in the high court are really fired up over this. in fact, this blistering dissent, as you pointed out, brianna, is 15 pages written by sonia sotomayor talking about the all-male majority decision tort second time this week having to do with the contraception mandate. she's joined by caig sxn begika ginsburg in this dissent saying with this emergency injunction the government is sowing more confusion and putting undue burden with the costs of bureaucracy. she says the court has no reason to think the administrative scheme it foists on the government today is workable and effective on a national scale. and in fact, brianna, she goes as far as to say what the court did undermines confidence in this institution because it's at odds to some degree with what the court had decided on monday with hobby lobby. in that decision it gave these closely held companies the option to opt out of the mandate but they still would have to sign the waiver. i want to point out quickly, though, it's worth noting that it's unusual for a judge to offer such a strongly worded dissent on an injunction, which is pretty routine. in fact, in january the justices gave the exact same exemption to another religious organization and there wa was no public dissent. that goes to show how contentious this issue is in the wake of monday. >> the little sisters, the catholic charity. let's open this up for discussion. it's a midterm election year. we talked about this when it came to immigration. this is something, you know, even though this is a loss i would say for democratic voters, they would not be in favor, most of them, on what the supreme court has done in both of these instances. doesn't it kind of fire them up and get them to the polls? i mean, i'm going to ask you again, kevin, do republicans worry -- >> you're asking me whether or not democrats are going to get fired up? >> i'm saying do republicans worry about this? >> i think republicans are animated about this issue on the religious liberty terms as well as some -- >> so you think it balances out? >> i think largely the 2014 debate is going to break down along a larger obamacare narrative. and this is a loss for obama care in the sense that it was once again ruled unconstitutional, at least a provision of it was ruled unconstitutional, and any relitigation of obamacare is bad for obama and bad for the democrats. >> so it emboldens, you think, it emboldens republicans in thinking this argument they've been making, that they're sort of seeing headway on that? >> correct. and what people's impact on obamacare, the impact obamacare has had on people has been largely negative in so many of these swing districts and so many of these battleground states. then you look at the senate battleground states. i don't think that senator pryor is really interested in litigating this along the religious freedom lines in a place like arkansas, particularly in a state where obama, his national approval rating -- or his approval rating in that state is lower than it is nationally. >> sow think this even plays when you're talking about these sort of purple areas, where democrats don't even -- >> this is a huge issue. and i think that just to quote the justice again, she said this is a pointless complexity into an already confusing system. if you look at it, woman voters, more than 90% of women use couldn't ras sepgs at some point in their life, regardless of their religion. so i think this will motivate women to think what about religious beliefs, what about the rights of the individual, and why is a court saying that a corporation for profit has the same rights as an individual. i think there's great confusion and there's not one single word in the religious restoration act that says that the protection of the rights of a for-profit corporation is all about the individual. so this is definitely a complexity. >> the court has made its opinion very known on this, however. and this is what really strikes me, pam. this is just the beginning. these are just a couple of the cases. there are many more, right? >> yeah. this is just the tip of the iceberg. this is really just chapter 2 of what could be a very long saga. in fact, right now there's around 100 cases challenging this contraception mandate in the pipeline right now in the lower courts. so this is really sort of setting the stage of what's to come. and not only that but with this ruling on monday, which essentially the court giving -- saying that these closely held companies have religious liberty rights, now we could see more companies bringing lawsuits on religious freedom grounds. so this could really open the pandora's box. >> you think there's 100. there may be hundreds coming this way. pam, kevin, jennice, thank you to all of you. coming up, what better way to celebrate independence day than here in the nation's capital? that's how we're doing it, right? and as you can see, washington's national mall's really starting to fill up for these festivities. also later, growing up in the white house. did you know first daughter malia obama is turning 16 today? the cadillac summer collection is here. ♪ ♪ during the cadillac summer's best event, lease this all new 2014 cts for around $459 a month or purchase with 0% apr and make this the summer of style. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. 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actually expecting president obama to speak here not too long, in the next hour, and we'll be bringing that to you live, when he has his fourth of july message. i'll tell you, i've lived a lot of places, and there's really nothing like celebrating july 4th in the nation's capital. that's why we want to give you a sense of what that is like. and we're going to actually head to the national mall right now, where sumlin surfati is. tell us what it's like. people must be getting ready for the big show. >> reporter: they are. this is the iconic setting to watch the fourth of july. between 100,000 and 200,000 people are expected to come out today. i want to show you this over here. this is prime real estate. i think you could call it's best seat in the house. that's why some people started showing up here seven hours ago just to claim their spot. more than 6,000 fireworks will be set up overhead memorial. there will be performances by patti labelle, frankie valle, jordan sparks and the muppets. i'm joined by bart and rebecca, you're from mississippi. this is the first time here for the fireworks. how early did you come out this morning? >> we got out about 11:00 for the parade. it was supposed to start at 11:45. we tried to get a good seat for that. we waited and enjoyed that, and made our way over here. so i guess we gout out here probably about 1:00. we've been here most of the day. >> reporter: and bart, tell me how excited you are to be here. your first fireworks display. what are you looking forward to? >> just all the people and the flavor of america, the expression of the patriotics and the fireworks are just going to explode. have just a great time tonight. >> reporter: i've been watching your family. you have a picnic, american flags on the ground, your son is particularly excited to be here. tell me about what you loved about observing the national mall on the independence day. >> there's just so much to see. all the international activities we visited and walked through that and just enjoying the people coming in to celebrate our country's birthday. >> >> reporter: so many people. i should tell you, breeann a president obama and the first family just blocks away from the south lawn of the white house. >> that's right. those folks there have a view as good as the president does, people from all over there on the national mall. sunlen, thank you very much. there's another birthday to celebrate. malia obama, just 10 when her father wentered the white house now old enough to have a driver's license. joining mess from the north lawn with malia's 16th birthday. >> hey, brianna, what kid wouldn't love this? living at the white house, fourth of july, but i guess in the true spirit, we always what we we don't have, the obamas are now talking about how their teenage daughters just want to be normal. malia and sasha obama were 10 and 7 years old. >> i love you, daddy. >> just little kids when they first stole america's attention at the 2008 democratic convention. >> love you, daddy, bye. >> michelle obama once even let a crowd sing happy birthday to malia on. ♪ happy birthday >> since then quietly, mostly behind the scenes they have suddenly become white women. two trend-wearing, gum-chewing, selfie snapping, joke sharing, occasional board-looking teenagers at the white house. as the song goes -- ♪ you're 16 knute you're beautiful ♪ >> know severe weather 16, getting her lerner's driving permit, and generally looking to avoid her parents and all the trappings of non-normalcy, just like any teenager often would. >> they want nothing to do with us. >> really? >> i am so serious. malia is, please, just don't come to my school. just keep your s.w.a.t. team and your -- and, you know, they really want normalcy, and the white house isn't normal. they go other places. so i say, don't you want to invite your friends on the floor to watch a movie? and she's like, no one wants to come here. >> reporter: the president finding the armed secret service handy for a dad of teenager girls who are allowed to date. >> i trust them to make good decisions. the second thing is i've been men with guns following them around all the time. so that -- that kind of makes me a little less nervous. >> could i use them? what do i got to do? >> this is the main reason i ran for reelection. i knew what was coming. let me just project out. i'm going to have them covered for most of high school. >> reporter: president obama has several times mentioned his girls go out for friends, leaving less time for family moments. here's a dad's angst after trying to buy them clothes at gap once. >> some of you may have seen the very attractive sweaters that i purchase for my daughters. they have not worn them yet. so if they're listening, make me feel good. just wear it one time. >> the family is keeping it private. exactly how they'll ring in this milestone with malia here on independence day, but as far as america's super sweet 16s go -- >> what's a sweet 16 without a huge gift? >> we guess it will be more normal if elegant malia gets her wish than many might imagine for this first daughter. >> the president and first lady are about to host a big barbecue for military families. we may even see malia appear with them at some point tonight. >> michelle, a very happy 16th birthday to her. that is a big deal. thanks for that report. that is great. you know, the white house is marking the fourth of july with the help of social media. first lady michelle obama enlisted the four-legged members on vine. >> happy fourth of july, everyone. right, guys? >> up top for the fourth of july. president obama expected to deliver his fourth of july remarks at the top of the hour. when he does, we'll bring those to you live. always coming up, is the u.s. military about to get more deeply involved in the iraqi nightmare? some very blunt talk from america's top generals. life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis is a daily game of "what 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greatest democratic, economic and military force the world has ever known. so today immigrants from around the world dream of coming to our shores. young people aspire to study at our universitieses. other nations look to us for support and leadership at times of disaster and conflict and uncertainty. when the world looks to america, so often they look to all of you, the men and women of our armed forces. every day, at home and abroad, you're working to uphold those ideals first declared in that philadelphia hall more than two centuries ago. every day you giving meaning to the basic notion that as americans we take care of each other. so today we honor all of you, and we salute some of the folks who are here with us on this balcony. we salute our soldiers like chief warrant officer tommy arujo, who has served this nation in uniform for 27 years, including deployments in iraq and afghanistan. two summers ago tom was at the beach, sauce a young girl and father who had been swept out to sea, jumped into dangerous riptides, and pulled them back to safety. that's the kind of service we connect from our outstanding soldiers. please give it up for tom. thank you. we salute our sailors, like seaman referly thomas who came to the u.s. from trinidad. she served in the persian gulf. just a few hours ago i was proud to welcome seaman thomas and 24 others as our newest american citizens. thank you. congratulations. we salute our airmen like technical sergeant cheryl ulakie, who manages the fisher house at dover air force base ensuring the families of our fallen are always provided comfort and care worthy of their profound sacrifice. we're so grateful to you, cheryl, for your great work. we salute our marines like sergeant isaac gallegos, severely wounded after an ied explosion eight years ago, suffered burns on almost every inch of his face, pronounced dead three separate times, undergone 161 surgeries, but he is here standing with us pursuing a master's degree, working full time for the navy. that's what we're talking about when we talk about marines. give it up for isaac. we salute our coasties like lieutenant commander sean plankie, who helped lead a cyberteam in afghanistan to support our troops during too firefights and help detonate the -- so thank you, sean, saving countless lives. and we salute our military families, the spouses who put their careers on hold for their loved ones, the children who pick up extra chores while mom or dad is deployed, siblings, parents and extended family members who serve the country every single day. you're the reason michelle and jill biden started the joining forces initiative, to make sure america is supporting you too, and today we honor your service here today. so as we pause on this fourth of july to celebrate what makes us american, we salute all of you, whose service and sacrifice renew that is promise of america every single day. on behalf of the entire country, michelle and i simply want to say thank you to all of you for your courage and your strength, and your unending service to this nation. happy fourth of july, everybody. have a great party, have a hot dog, a hamburger. we want to see you dancing. god bless you all. got bless the united states of america. thank you. president obama's fourth of july message there to military families at the white house celebrating independence day. also his daughter's 16th birthday, but he has a full plate right now. he's also dealing with an immigration crisis, thousands of children streaming across the border, perhaps unexpectedly the epicenter for this battle, this protest, protests over this, are now taking place in a southern california city. that's where we find our kyu kyung lah. there's a lot going on behind you. >> reporter: this is the entrance to the border patrol station here in mural yetta. it's a relatively small town for southern california. the reason that all of these people have come out here, and i want to say, brianna, it actually does look like the crowd is thinning out. we have people who are pro and against the immigrants who are scheduled to come here. they were anticipated to come here, but so far we haven't seen them. these are immigrants, undocumented immigrants that have come from central america, and they have been held at different centers in texas. ball those centers in texas are full, the government is moving them to places like this, but so far those buses have not arrived. both sides are extremely passionate today on this fourth of july. here's what one woman told us she supports the migrants. here's what she says. >> europeans came here in droves in the 1800s, and dr we're trying to come through the border, suddenly it's different, because we have -- based on language, and based on -- >> reporter: so she is on the counter-protest side. the people who live here in marietta, what we have overwhelmingly heard is they simply do not want them, but where they are expected to arrive today, we just don't know. immigration and customs enforcement have said they don't want to say where they're being taken due to safety concerns. >> understandable. thank you for the report. the mayor of murrieta joining us on the phone. you urged your citizens to protest the movement of immigrants murriett. >> if you view the conversation, that's not what i did. the protest was being talked about well before the city's involvement. in fact a lot of information came from those involved in the protest, and the press conference had the intent of squelching rumors and putting facts out there, and letting everyone know that murrieta was going to maintain their safety. i did encourage one of two things -- write their u.s. representative and voice their concerns there, and two, come to a town hall meeting so we can constructively come up with some solutions. >> explain your opinion on the fact that there is -- it's essential an overflow of undocumented immigrants being moved to your city. explain the city's involvement in terms of contact with the federal government and this decision being made and where you stand on it. >> well, it started two weeks ago. we were told we would received 500 every 72 hours, and we opposed that, because the local border patrol office did not have that capacity. they said 300, we still opposed it. last friday they said 140 coming tuesday every 72. that was within the capacity. that was the message we sent to the community, that this is within the capacity, we have a plan in place, murrieta will remain safe. on a larger issue, contact your u.s. representative. the concern we have is the sustainability of 140 every 72 hours. while this has all been going on, we've been researching, finding out why is this happening now? and in that research we're looking at the numbers, and we don't see this stopping any time soon. right now we're only able to sustain 140 every 72, because we have shifted our resources to focus on that one operation alone. you know, operationally, we cannot keep the same footprint we had before, because everyone's mission has changed. so the officers that have been patrolling the streets, watching neighborhoods now are focused on this one event. >> where would you suggest that these immigrants are brought to instead? >> well, it's not where they're brought to instead. again, during all of this research, we found out that, you know, it's another thing about making sure there's the appropriate facility, making sure that they've had appropriate health care. one of the first things we identified when we were talking with border patrol, this so-called screening process was not effective nor efficient, so we offered up the resources. we offered up a mobile health clinic staffed with doctors and nurses to give a thorough health cleaning, free inoculations, and we were told they could not accept that, because the approval process would take too long. that's the unfortunate part. the world really hasn't been able to see how compassionate our community is, because we've never gotten there. we have nonprofit groups, faith organizations lined up to help, willing to help, but we never got to that point because it took a turn of unfortunate events on tuesday, which were not endorsed by the city. some of the actions during that protest were deplorable. it's unfortunate that it's now reflecting on the community. >> you don't feel the protesters are reflecting on that compassion? so you don't endorse what you're seeing there? at the transfer station? >> not what i saw a portion of what i saw tuesday. what i've always said and maintained to this date is we will protect everyone's constitutional rights. if you're protesting peacefully, we are going to ensure your safety. that goes for both sides of the protest. what i saw last night was very encouraging. i saw the two sides working together, talking about solutions, and the common ground they have, everyone wants the same thing. they want a legal effective official process for these immigrants to come to the u.s. and we just feel that the inability at the texas border is circumventing that process, and we're sending people in inhumane conditions and dispersing them across the nation. fundamentally we can't agree with that. >> do you feel that i.c.e. officials are not properly securing the facilities that they're using and that they want to use? >> well, we don't know. that's another problem. we have had no information from homeland security, and border patrol at the local level has been very good explaining to us the process. when you get to the i.c.e. agencies, that's where it -- it's a bit sketchy. we don't get a whole lot of answers, because everything depends on something of the there's a lot of moving parts. they don't know until they get here. what we did uncover is one of the rumors was i.c.e. agents takes these buses and they just go dump them off. what we found out at the town hall meeting, that is in fact true. it's a past practice, but it was true. so those are the questions and concerns our community had when they heard these immigrants were coming. again, they had people in the border patrol agency feeding them this information, so going back to the first press conference, the intent was to excel much rumors, let people know you're going to be safe, and if you wanted to make a difference, contact the representatives, because it will be done at the federal level. i did send a letter to the president of the united states yesterday outlining all of this, and offering solutions, and hopefully he'll take that to heart, and he and key members of congress will sit down and we can meet to discuss solutions. >> mayor alan long, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to you. the mayor of murrieta, california, where the protests continue. another story we are following. storm watching and warnings are up from cape cod all the way to canada, as hurricane arthur is continuing this dangerous push north. the storm is still packing damaging winds. the flooding is really a concern here. it's a possibility with up to half a foot of rain forecast in some areas. 6 inches of rain is a lot. residents of the northeast are hoping they'll be as lucky as the people in north carolina who were spared widespread destruction. our correspondents are on the ground there and in the cnn hurricane center. we'll be gin with renay marsh. tell us the scene there. renee? >> you remember just 24 hours ago yesterday we were talking and there was rain coming down. the winds were pretty strong. same thing last night, and fast forward to today, it is absolutely picture perfect for this fourth of july. still, though, now that hurricane arthur has blown through, coastal north carolina, there are some folks who are still cleaning up. trees down, power out, and streets flooded. the category 2 struck north carolina with winds topping 100 miles per hour, making landfall between cape lookout and bo fort rattles homes and for some rattles nerves. >> i heard a noise, a strong noise, and i want something happened. >> reporter: that strong noise was this tree crashing onto the home she was in. we put the mattress against the glass on the bathroom, and we stayed there. >> reporter: arthur tossed sailboats and the storm surge was nearly five feet in some areas. >> we are seeing some beach erosion. there are shingles off some houses. we have some dock debris. >> reporter: but for the seasoned coastal community, no stranger to hurricanes, arthur had more bark than bite. >> we practically slept right through it. >> reporter: the coast guard scanning from bottom for damage, most of it minimal, most of a nuisance, knocking out power for about 44,000 people and disrupting july 4th celebrations. now it heads north as a category 1 storm, tracking parallel to new england, bringing rain to the northeast. but in north carolina, where the skies are blue and the sun is shining, arthur is old news. >> today's fourth of july. let's celebrate! >> reporter: talk about arthur being a nuisance here, not only are fourth of july celebrations put on hold mainly here in beaufort, north carolina, they're going to do their fireworks tomorrow. you can't help but was to cool off at the beam, but we still have a threat of rip currents. it's not safety to go into the water, they are warning. there's still a couple roads as well as one bridge by the name of bonner bridge, which is shut down because essentially the overwash left a pile of sand there, so it's impassable. as they address that, people are trying to forget about hurricane arthur in the meantime. as you heard that woman there, celebrate the fourth of july. >> the sun is out, but still cleanup to be done. thank you so much. the danger also may be out of the way, but it's not over entirely yet. our severe weather expert chad myers is tracking arthur for us in the cnn hurricanes center. where is this headed? >> hitting the cape really hard right now from chatham to plymouth all the way to boston, dangerous flooding happening right now, as the storm, its eye right there, moving away from land eventually, probably making its closest approach to cape cod in about three hours, but moving quickly now. 25, almost 30 miles per hour. look at that enhancement, that very heavy rainfall over the past couple hours from boston and southward. here you go, look at some of the pictures there, still from arthur, the waves will be the problem this weekend, and i know we're talking about it being almost over, but the waves are still out there. those waves will still crash onshore and there will still by significant undertow, all along the jersey shores, the delmarva, and then right along the long island parkway very heavy undertow and rip currents this weekend. the storm is really long gone, moving into the bay of fundy, and eventually way out almost over to greenland and make some rain showers over in london in the next couple days. still a tropical storm for barnstable and into halifax. i know i just haired rene marsh talked about the sand piled up. this is north carolina, obxcam.com. that is a pile of sand. it looks like when i lived in buffalo maybe piling up snow. you can see the car on the road, the pile of sand. it blew in from the ocean. this isn't over for some spots. there will be more beach erosion tonight. we'll keep that in mind. if you need to go in the ocean, for whatever renal, even your kids, they need a life jacket this weekend. the waves are still very big. >> life jackets. good to know. >> please. >> just stay out. just enjoy it. enjoy the view. that's what we're saying. thank you, chad. >> you're welcome. one talk about the u.s. commitment to iraq by the president's top military adviser. how far is the u.s. willing to go to keep militants from seizing baghdad? plus, let's be honest, it is a beautiful, but it is a tough song, right? notoriously difficult. we'll be meeting the man who teaches the stars how not to butcher 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crystal clear, brutally clear, if u.s. interests are threatened in iraq, u.s. military force could be called into action. iraqi forces launch a rocket attack, trying to push militants out. itups as general martin dempsey, the president's top military adviser is leaving the door open to possible deeper u.s. military involvement in iraq against sunni militants. >> we may get to that point in our national interests drive us there, if isil become as threat to the homeland that the president of the united states decides we have to take direct action. i'm just suggesting to you we're not there yet. >> reporter: u.s. ground combat forces have been ruled out according to senior pentagon officials, but intelligence gathering continues for potential u.s. air strikes. dempsey adamant that the u.s. is only asaysing iraqi forces for now. >> if the assessment comes back and reveals it would be beneficial to this effort and to our national security interests to put the advisers in a different role, we will provide that option and move ahead. >> reporter: the preliminary u.s. assessment iraqi units will defend baghdad, but is it too late for iraqe force toss recapture lost ground in northern iraq? >> will the iraqis at some point be able to go back on the offensive, to recapture the part of iraq that they have lost? probably not by themselves. >> dempsey is sober on the prospect of iraq closing the divide between sunni, shia and kurds. now the kurdish president, massoud bar sani wants a referend referendum. photos distributed by militants in the north show destruction of shia and sunni sites. the iraq senior cler eric, who called for iraqis to take up arms, jabbed by dempsey. >> when sistani made that proclamation, he talked about an iraq for all iraqis. i hope so. we'll see. everybody we are talking about makes no difference -- >> reporter: dempsey went on even further. he said if the sectarian divide is not solved, the future is bleak, in his words. he's a guy who like toss keep his options open, and that's exactly what he's doing. brianna? >> he's saying we're not there yet, but it certainly does raise questions. we're going to britain in phillip mudd and military analyst lt. general mark hu hurtline. >> he said if i.s.i.s. is a threat to the homeland, that mission could change. we've been talking a lo the about mission creep. that certainly i think perks up a lot of ears when we hear the chairman of the joint chiefs say that. >> i think, brianna, general dempsey is very precise in his language. hi job is to provide options to his commander in chief. that's what he's doing. you know, the forces that are there now have three main goals. they're there to protect american citizens in baghdad and iraq, they're there to assess the situation, and then to determine what's next. they're dowel all those things well, and we've got to remember these advisers have only been there less than two weeks. as soon as he gets those kinds of input, he'll make some more options presented to the president. i think that's his job. >> certainly you're very familiar with general dempsey. you were, i believe his deputy, right, in iraq in to 2003, 2004? >> i was, and we're very good friend. >> you're very familiar when you say he's precise with his language. i want to drill into that. is this just him keeping his options open? is this in case for some reason american forces need to use force? is they talkic about something more protracted and involved? >> he's keeping his options open, what he has to present to the president. he's doing that very well. i heard his conference the other day as he was testifying. that's what he was doing. he was being asked very hard questions, and he doesn't want to rule out anything. the assessment could change, the assessment would be different from what we think it is now, and the government of iraq could start broadening their inclusion of other groups lie the sunni and the shia, and the kurdish tribes. so i think general dempsey is doing a fine job walking that rope, and saying, hey, we've got to provide some options to the president, but we need information first. >> overall, phil, on this, we heard in barbara's piece there, this is about finding a way to get over that sectarian divide. is there anyone in iraq -- it seems so many are casting doubt on prime minister nuri al mall can i. there anyone, an iraqi, who can help bridge that divide? >> i'm not certain this is now. that's because i think in america we don't understand there's a transsession between revolution and democracy. we're seeing problems in that transition in egypt. we're seeing problems in libya. we've seen problems in lebanon decades away. we're seeing problems in iraq. the reason is simple -- remember, saddam husband says was a sunni. he suppressed shia. when they take power, now we have control, they start to say we own the turf and get to decide the rules. i think what we're seeing is the shia represented about i nuri al mall can i, we now own baghdad and we'll rule as we see fit. >> there's a stalemate there as well, nuri al malaki, but i have to drill into what dempsey said. he's keeping his options open, but that scares a lot of people who are very war-weary. they don't want that to be an option at all. >> it's interesting, behind the scenes when that press conference ended yesterday, you had a lot of senior pentagon aides, you know moving around the hallways, very concerned that reporters would take too seriously what general dempsey said, trying to maybe suggest, you know, his words were being misinterpreted. i great deal with general hurtly, his words were not misinterpreted. this is a guy who says exactly what he means. one of the most interesting things i thought he said, and i want to ask phil about this, is he said, look, we are going to be dealing with this kind of militancy in this country for one or two generations possibly to come. isis will not go away and there is not a military solution. so, you know, even if the iraqis can get some territory back, if they can get a government going, it seems like we're dealing once again with a major turn into how this militant movement is in the middle east. >> i think that's correct. i thought the general was very precise in his language. he talked about threat to the homeland. he didn't talk about threat to baghdad. when you're seeing the islamist insurgencies we have seen for 20 years, in north africa, in somalia, in yemen, in afghanistan, a sliver tends to focus on what they view as the head of the snake. that head of the snake is new york and washington. as long as you see this version of islamist insurgency in iraq, you have to worry that some of the leaders in iraq are going to start to say, when we get comfortable in mosul, when we get comfortable in al anbar province, we have to start thinking about attacking new york. i think if you're looking at the representation of u.s. forces in iraq now, what they're doing is not just collecting for tomorrow, they're collecting intelligence because of the concerns that some day it will start thinking in 2015, and 1202016, about attacks in western europe and the united states. >> that may be what he's talking about when he's obviously having concerned for the homeland and looking very much into the future. really important comments to dissect here. really appreciate it, all of you. thanks. just ahead, the race is over, but not 9 battle. details of post-election ugliness in a very closely watched vote. and he's the unlikely public face of the militant group seizing broad regions of iraq. now we are learning details of his deadly background. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. from safety... to fuel economy... to quality... today's chevrolet has it all. and it's a great time to buy. during the chevy 72 hour sale, you'll get 0% apr for 72 months. plus no monthly payments for the rest of the summer. 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>> so far he's made a lot of pretty serious allegations and talked about all this evidence he has, but he hasn't shown anything, right? >> he hasn't been able to prove anything. it's hard to prove. >> he says he's got -- that the election was stole, and he's positive that liberal democrats vote indeed both their own primary and in the republican runoff. you're not allow to do do that. you can't -- >> you can't vote early and on which often. he's offered absolutely no evidence of that happening, not a single voters has come forward. >> there's also the general term of irregularity. the mcdaniels camp says they have thousands of examples of irregularities. if it would even disqualify someone from voting. there's another part of the charge, which is outright vote buying, which is a criminal offense. there hasn't been any evidence of that, either, but you saw in tom foreman's piece that the mcdaniels campaign is nonoffering $1,000 a head for any arrest or conviction, but if you go on his website, he's also raising money from his supporters saying cochran democrats were paid $15 to vote for my opponent. give me $15 a head and we'll go after them. it's a fund-raising effort as well. >>. >> so is it all rumor, the idea there may have been vote buying? >> look, he shouldn't be fund-raising off of this, with that kind of gimmick. >> it's unseemly. >> if there's serious allegations, he should show the evidence, but as tom and i were just talking about before his piece, even if he prove that voter john smith voted in both of democratic primary and republican runoff, that doesn't make him the senate candidate. >> it's a private ballot. >> it's private. so he can find examples of cochran buying votes, can find examples of wrongdoing, i don't see how he gets to the point that it overturns the results. >> we've run elections, there's no mechanism for him to rerun the election. >> it speaks to the bigger issue, the divide between the establishment republicans and the tea party republicans. how does this play -- like bigger picture how does it play? >> i think a lot of the allegations, we don't know yet if there's solid evidence, but they do play into a broader narrative of conservative grievance against conservative republicans. they didn'tly do. you are thes on filled party in power, you exert undue influence, you buy votes. a lot of them are general accusations, maybe with merit, maybe without. >> and mcdaniel may truly believes this, and it -- >> i think it defines a broader narrative. also in terms of the divide between conservatives and republicans here in washington, it's taken on a circus atmosphere there are operatives on both sides doing research, some of it has gotten ugly, with individuals going after each other in twitter. i think it's widened a lot of wounds that already exist. >> will it have -- is it going to have any real effect? >> i think so. look, this tea party versus establishment thing, this is not a media, imaginary debate. this is very, very real, and we're seeing it play out over several cycles now. a think a lot of tea party members will believe, this election, no matter how this ends, they will believe that mcdaniels had this election stolen from him and will wave it as a bloody shirt going forward. it's going to continue to drive a wedge between these two factio factions. >> chris mcdaniel, win or lose, has made a name for himself, he will be a cause celeb for -- even if he never gets a revote to defeat that had cochran. he lfb talked, and will have raised plenty of money. for year to come, we will refer to this race. >> it's absolutely wild. >> thank you so much, todd and ryan. appreciate you breaking it down. happy fourth to both of you. thank you for coming in on the holiday. >> of course. coming up, the fighter who is now the public face of isis, how this chechen militant rose to the top of the militant group. really... so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 dollars a month? 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[ male announcer ] for certain medical conditions where straining should be avoided, colace softens the stool for effective relief from occasional constipation. go to colacecapsules.com for savings. here in washington a couple hundred thousand people are expected for the concert and fireworks on the national mall and a stirring rendition of the "spar spangled banner." when it is sung well, it is beautiful. but when it is sung poorly, ouch our ears. >> reporter: one man is on a personal mission to stop those cringe worthy moments when singing the national anthem. it's a song that can soar. or sink. enter michael dean on a mission to save singer's egos and our ears. >> the worst part is those performances are bad for everyone. they are bad for the singer and they are horrendous for the listeners. >> call it the how not to butcher the national anthem class. scores of pop stars a list so exclusive it is kept secret have come to him to prep and avoid the humiliation by not only learning the technique but the meaning. the song has a sprawling vocal range of an octive and a half setting up a moment that usually crashes and burns. and the tricky lyrics written in poetry. >> oh, say can you see -- by the star lining -- >> and the rockets red -- red red glare. >> oh, the ramparts we watched. >> so many people forget the words because they don't understand them. >> so gallantly streaming. >> it's just a lot of nonsense words the audience is going to receive it as nonsense words. so studying why these piece was originally written is very important for the singer to do. >> reporter: sadly it seems these days the anticipation of a bad anthem is now the norm. >> a lot of people have told me when they listen to the national anthem and it goes reasonable well the only feeling they feel is relief. they don't feel moved or changed or inspired. they're just relieved it wasn't awful. >> reporter: cringe worthy moments one note at a time to avoid. and very wonderful fourth of july to you. that was a great piece. really enjoyed it. it is a tricky song, for sure. >> it absolutely is. >> happy fourth to all of you watching. i'm brianna keeler in "the situation room." >> next up we have "anthony bourda bourdain: parts unknown." bourdain: parts unknown." it begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ since i was 14 years old, i always wore cowboy boots. maybe because my little boy role models were always the men in the black hats. richard boone in "have gun will travel," robert vaughn in "the magnificent seven." silent killers. men with pasts. men from somewhere else who found themselves in the great american west. a place where reinvention, a new life was always possible. as long as you were willing to kill for it.

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