tough year. as you hear us say, the struggle continues. but to survive the struggle, we have to take a little time to celebrate the victories. the hards fought gains. the steps toward progress, and the good moments along the way. so 2014 expanded marriage equality to more than 2/3 of the country. same-sex couples gain the right to get married in west virginia, pennsylvania, north carolina, kansas, and a dozen more states. the u.s. sentencing commission voted to retroactively reduce sentencing guidelines for federal drug trafficking offenses. a change impacting more than 46,000 people. millions of americans who otherwise would not have had it signed up for health insurance thanks to the affordable care act. president obama took executive action that could allow up to 5 million people living here in this country to remain with their families. without the fear of deportation. states reformed the drug laws to
schools, even churches. georgia's governor, his decision, to sign the law is drawing swift reaction. >> it all goes back to the fact that guns don't kill people, people kill people. and if somebody's sound mind enough to have their gun permit, they should be able to carry it freely wherever they choose to. >> this is a sad day for georgia, not a day to celebrate. >> the former chief economist for the u.s. sentencing commission joins us a. this is a highly controversial law. i think people are very passionate when the discussion of guns comes to be. john, explain to me why the governor would want to have this law go into effect. >> because the problems with gun-free zones -- when you ban guns from certain areas, it attracts criminals, killers, terrorists.
story, but you start to hear from others why don't you just leave it alone. you are kind of a trouble maker because you are still pursuing it. it kind of goes from hot to cold in one day sometimes where they ask you to pursue something heavily and almost like a light switch goes off and they look at you all of a sudden why are you bringing us this story? >> atkinson says that she -- she says there's a fear over original investigative reporting that she blames on special interest groups influencing the media. >> busted on the streets could be back out sooner than we think. the u.s. sentencing commission is agreeing with eric holder on shorter federal prison sentences. it cou it would reduce prison time by 1 # 1 months and give judges more leeway in sentencing order. it would effect nearly 70 percent of federal drug trafficking cases. oh my. >> new this morning malaysia
they've not been forthcoming. they owe the american people the truth. >> house democratic leader nancy pelosi says she does not want to touch the racism charges but that the republicans are sexist. >> pretty across the board. i don't want to go to the race piece, but i think certainly it applies to women. >> late today holder had a new controversy. members of the u.s. sentencing commission slammed him for jumping the gun on amending sentencing guidelines for drug offenders before the commission could vote. >> judges have contacted me and were surprised by the actions of the justice department on this matter and expressed their dismay at it. >> race is at the center of that issue as well, concerns that stiffer penalties and sentences come from crack cocaine instead of powder cocaine. in the end, the commission voted to amend the guidelines xs they agree with holder. they were mad he acted union laterally. >> there's new pressure over the keystone xl pipeline. tell us about that.
secretary kathleen sebelius saying health insurance premiums will likely go up in 2015. testifying before congress, sebelius suggested that the sweeping, new health care law will not end premium increases, at least for now. she did say premiums are likely to rise at a slower pace than in recent years. in "the new york times," attorney general eric holder endorsing a plan to shorten sentences in cases of nonviolent drug offenders and reduce the federal prison population. this would affect prison terms in about 70% of federal drug trafficking cases, reducing sentences on average by almost a year. holder's expected to announce his support today for the changes recommended by the u.s. sentencing commission. and from the "washington post," google announcing that it is now routinely encrypting web searches globally. that will make it more challenging for countries like china to sensor user searches and track what citizens are viewing. governments can still choose to block google services
and we actually have a weak form system of government in colorado where you have to pay close attention to what happens in the house and the senate, and so really the republicans would have to take all three in order to repeal those laws, and i don't think you'll find anybody here in colorado that's arguing they're going to take -- i don't think -- i would argue they're not going to take any of the three, much less all three. >> all right. former colorado state senate president john morse, on the front lines of this big debate when these recalls happened. mr. morse, thanks for your time. >> you're welcome. thank you for having me. >> all right. before we go, the next "databank" headline could cut prison sentences. here's the number. 70%. that's how many nonviolent drug traffickers could have their sentences reduced by almost a year if the u.s. sentencing commission agrees with these new proposals. attorney general eric holder is asking the commission today to reduce federal prison time for drug offenders who commit nonviolent crimes. folks, this is a fascinating
minutes time. we're going to be closely following that, trying to get all of the information that we can for you. john? >> jim clancy, as you said, stunning implications here, because if it flew on for 2,000 miles, that's almost an inimpossibly large search area, and as you said, it raises so many questions about why or who may have been flying it for four hours after the fact. jim clancy for us in kuala lumpur. again, we are awaiting new word from malaysian officials and we'll bring that to you when it happens. happening today in washington, attorney general eric holder is set to endorse a plan to reduce mandatory sentences for some drug crimes. holder will speak before the u.s. sentencing commission as it moves ahead with proposed changes in how long nonviolent offenders do spend in prison. holder's expected to say that the move will make the criminal justice system more effective and efficient. president obama today is set to order the labor department to strengthen its rules regarding overtime pay, changing the definition of what constitutes a supervisor so more people, more people can be eligible for time and a half if they work more than 40 hours.
cut jail sentences for drug dealers, significantly. a conviction for 500 grams of cocaine will seasoned you away for a term of 5-6.5 years, 500 grams is a little more than a pound. the new proposal, approved in april by the u.s. sentencing commission, would slice that down to just over four years. the same goes for 28 grams or about an ounce of crack. jonah goldberg, there's a lot to go over this, good morning to you. >> morning, bill. bill: what he wants to do is reduce the prison population. is this the way to do it? what do you think? >> i have to say i'm not exactly scandalized by this. it would, over five years, reduce the federal prison population which is about, what, 9% of the national prison population. most people are in state and local jails and prison. it would reduce it by about 6500 people out of something like 206,000 people. so this is not a huge thing.
opportunities that i had, because i might have been in their shoes, i might have been in prison, i might have been unemployed, i might not have been able to support a family. and that is motivates me. >> congressman, there is a racial aspect to this even with the mandatory sentencing laws. when we look at the fact that there is evidence that 19.5%, there are longer sentences for black men than white men. this is according to the u.s. sentencing commission. there is a clear race aspect to this. it's unfair for anyone, but is even more egregious when you bring in the studied racial dynamics even by the united states sentencing commission. >> well, we found in crack and powder, that crack defendants
administration but every american president to come after him for a constant sisfissian struggle against something that never got better, something that was made worse by them fighting it. jimmy carter tried to undo some of it in the 1970s but reagan ramped it up to a higher pitch than ever when he took over. the 1980s saw mandatory minimum sentencing laws passed and three-strike laws. poppy bush, george h.w. bush re-declared the war on drugs and arrest numbers related to pot shot through the roof. all the policy changes went in the same direction. more draconian laws. more enforcement. more people arrested. more people in jail. longer sentences. democrats were not much help. president bill clinton advised by the u.s. sentencing commission there was no reason for these to be these hugely increased penalties for the crack kind of cocaine as compared to the powdered kind of cocaine. but he rejected that recommendation and decided to keep the draconian sentencing in place for crack.