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Couple others in the memo. there can't have been a gun in connection with their offense, and they can't have sold to children. if they meet all those criteria, what he tells the prosecutor is, when you write up the charges, don't write up the charge in a way that it would invoke a mandatory minimum. don't put in an amount of drugs involved, for example, that would trigger the mandatory minimum. so it's going to change the way prosecutors handle these lower-level offenses. now, it's hard to say exactly how many prisoners that are until the federal prison system now are in for low-level offenses...

25% of the world's incarcerated population and a 40-year low in crime. can you read all of that together and say well, one of the reasons we have such a high rate of incarceration and such low crime is because a lot of the bad seeds have been taken off the street? >> i don't mean to cut sherrilynn out, but i totally agree with that. one of the things we did was change sentencing not just in drug area. we have much tougher sentences for those who are repeat criminals. and it's one of the reasons why we saw such a dramatic reduction of violent crime in the new york state. >> listen, in 1991, the...

United states prisons are overflowing. federal prisons are nearly 40% over capacity jammed with more than 219,000 inmates. nearly half of them serving time for drug crimes. and it is an even worse statistic at state level. but today the attorney general, eric holder, is unveiling what he calls, quote, smart on crime strategy aimed at reducing that massive prison population. in part by scaling back the use of these mandatory harsh sentences for certain drug-related crimes. i want to quote here, holder says, quote, we need to ensure incarceration is used to punish, deter, and rehabilitate, not m...

Now here's chuck todd. >> good morning. i'm luke russert in for chuck todd, but thanks for sending in that greeting. a great group here in d.c. that helps the homeless and is near and dear to chuck's heart. let's get right to the big job news. 236,000 jobs were added in february. the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% down from 7.9% in january. the number for december was revised up to 219,000. the number for january was revised down to 119,000. the sectors that showed the biggest movement, professional and business employment increased by 73,000 jobs. construction increased by 48,000, healthcare ...

All share. >> reporter: the most pressing issue is water. >> people say, water's the next oil. it isn't the next oil. it's irreplaceable. >> we are using water faster than it -- than it becomes available. this is why water tables are falling. >> reporter: 18 countries are overpumping, including china, india and the united states. saudi arabia wanted to be self-sufficient in wheat but will soon stop growing the crop because it has depleted an underground water source. when it comes to food, the world's moved to a more affluent meat based diet increases pressure on the land. rising food prices a...