>> no love for mitt indeed. we'll get to the 2012 race in a moment. but we begin with an issue that's front and center on the campaign trail and in washington today. with the economy improving the president's poll numbers rising and his supposedly inevitable opponents struggling, republicans have opened a broadside from inside the beltway. it is a direct attack on the president's health care initiative requiring all hospitals including those with religious affiliations to provide contraception. a fairly popular move according to the polls unless, of course, you're john boehner. >> in imposing this requirement, the federal government has drifted dangerously beyond its constitution it will boundaries. this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand. >> and not to be outdone, just a short time later, senate gop leaders excode those sentiments

going so far as to say the extra time the president is giving religious organizations to come apply is a slap in the face. >> that may actually be almost the most offensive part of this whole idea. the religious institutions you have to do things that are contrary to your faith principles and by the way, we're going to give you a year to figure out how to accommodate that change in your faith principles. >> but today's award for golden hyperbole may wrong in rick santorum. he addressed the contraception decision but saved his best ammunition for a court decision allowing gay people to marry in california. and according to rick, that is an act of intolerance. yes, gay marriage is a form of intolerance against who? conservatives, of course. snoorls irrational hatred and bigotry toward a group of people is the only reason you could

possibly be for marriage between a man and a woman. now, where is the tolerance in that? it is the most intolerant, just like we saw from the days of the atheists in the soviet union. >> wow. the soviet union. well, the white house responded via press chief jay carney. >> but let's be clear, we are committed, the president is committed to insuring that women have access to contraception without paying any extra costs no matter where they work. >> these are hot issues that have always been on the back burner but today, well, they just exploded. joining us, democratic congresswoman barbara lee of california. good afternoon. >> good afternoon, martin. >> is the speaker making this rare promise of new legislation because you've wrapped up work on the payroll tax cut extension? you've wrapped up the issue of unemployment insurance and

medicare doc fix and we can now move on to other business? >> let me say the republicans and the tea party, of course, have a way of trying to shift the debate away from what is really important and that's creating jobs and turning the economy around. i just have to say, as it relates to this latest rule and what they're doing in terms of politicizing women's contraceptive, access to contraception and health care, you know, martin, i was raised a catholic. i was a practicing devout catholic. i understand very clearly the tenets of the catholic church and, of course, i respectfully disagree but i respect religious beliefs and freedoms. i also respect the separation of church and state. this latest ruling really is very important for women's access to contraception. i just want to lay out the fakes for just a minute. what it does is it provides access for women, for example, a woman who is working in the

cafeteria of a catholic hospital, she may or may not want access to contraception. this allows her that access. what it does not do is tamper with the 335,000 religious organizations that have already been exempt. and in fact, martin in, 28 states now, we have these exemptions which provide for coverage if women decide to choose this is type of contraceptive coverage for half of the women in the united states. and so the facts have been distort distorted. i think the president made the correct decision. we have to keep the separation of church and state as central and we have to acknowledge the religious beliefs of all. but this in no way requires a catholic, doctor, exto write a prescription. it does not require any health care worker to go against their religious beliefs. >> we know mitt romney is struggling to win over the conservative faithful. is there not something shameless about a man who is governor,

accepted a very similar law on contraception and in 2005, he even asked the massachusetts department of health to stish regulations requiring all hospitals, including catholic hospitals, to issue emergency contraception to rape victims? but now he says he's distressed to see the president attacking religious freedom. the only question i have for you is, really? >> the president is not attacking religious freedoms. i think that the longer the republican primaries continue, the more people will begin to understand the backgrounds of some of these candidates and what they say and what they do. they really will begin to see that we have to re-elect president obama if in fact, we're going to move forward and make sure that women and everyone have axis to affordable and accessible health care. i think that -- >> there also seems to be a very real conflict here between principle and practice because according to one measure, 52% of

catholics actually agree with the health care law and in practice, 68% of catholics are using birth control. so if the principle is so utterly important, why is there such a divergence in terms of practice? i mean, we fight the law even though we live according to it. >> well, as i said, many -- and again, i am a former catholic. so i understand thosedy lem maz. however the catholic bishops have really made a strong push to try to make sure that this became a political issue. yes, you're right. the statistics show that the majority of catholic women do use contraception. the point is, women should have a right to decide whether or not they want to use contraception or not. and that's the issue. i think by coming forthing with this rule now, all women regardless of their income, regardless of where they work, will have access to contraceptive services if they want it. >> even though speaker boehner

and i'm quoting him, says "this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country cannot stand and it will not stand"? >> the speaker is just wrong. i hope the public really looks at the facts. also in a larger context, there is a war against women. when you look at the fact they're trying to at least last year take away funding for planned parenthood, when you look at what is taking place in terms of women's health care, systematically over and over again, we see this assault and this attack on women. so the i believe that women in this country and most people really understand the political nature of what the speaker is saying. we're going to make sure that women do continue to have access to reproductive health care and to health care anton basic kind of affordable accessible health care that everyone in our country deserves. the type of health care that they choose. they have the freedom of choice. all women should be able to decide whether or not they want to access contraceptive care or

not. >> representative barbara lee, born into a catholic family. thank you, ma'am. >> thank you. next, why can't millionaire mitt just -- why can't he connect with voters? stay with us. >> my father never graduated from college. he apprenticed as a lath and plaster carpenter. and he actually could take a handful of nails, stick them in his mouth and then you know, spit them out pointy end forward. the phillips' lady! we have to thank you fo the advice on phill caplets. magnesium, right? you bet! phillips' caplets use magnesium. works more naturally than stimulant laxatives... for gentle relief of occasional constipation. can i get an autograph? [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, rich dark chocolate, toasted oats. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪

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terrible, horrible no good, very bad day. and in the struggle for republicans to settle on a nominee, the last 24 hours have been rough all over. it started with santorum's

sensational hat trick, snatching an improbable victory in three contests, a denial of smackdown proportions in what was supposed to be mitt's fabulous february. indeed, santorum's win was very much romney's loss. representing is three battlegrounds in the heart of middle america. the most stunning out west in colorado. and that's where mitt romney proved last night that if he's awkward giving acceptance speeches, well then his concessions are much worse. let's start with his apparent disappointment at the size of the crowd. >> now, that's a little smaller than the 2800 people last night. >> the people next up, highlight your working class roots. this ought to be good. >> my father never graduated from college. he apprenticed as a lath and plaster carpenter. and he was pretty good at it. he actually could take a handful

of nails, stick them in his mouth and then you know, spit them out pointy end forward. on his honeymoon, he put aluminum paint in the trunk of his car and sold it along the way to pay for gas and the hotels. >> wow, the guy with that will story could do really well in this race. only problem, it's not mitt romn romney. with us from washington, julian epstein and msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications director karen finny. karen, i have to ask first, why on earth did mitt romney think that spitting out a bag of nails is unique to his father when newt gingrich has been doing that trick for 30 years? secondly and most importantly, how on earth did he manage to lose colorado, a state that he won with 60% of the vote in 2008? >> indeed. you know what, i heard him say that, i wanted to say my dad can do that, too. so what. i think that is a question that the romney campaign is no doubt asking themselves today. not only should very have won in

colorado. they should have won decisively in colorado given the amount of money they spent there. so they're clearly retooling. that was part of what last night was because i think one of thenings we know from the results is that his comment from last week has had a chance to really sink in, i don't really care about poor people. they've got the social safety net. santorum i give him credit, he did the work. he got out there. he worked it and he found his audience essentially among very conservative religious conservatives is, tea partiers. i think he's going to give romney a run for his money. he's much moral comfortable speaking about his personal narrative in a way that as we know, mitt romney just isn't. >> julian, mitt romney is now trying everything to appeal to staunch conservatives. he says his father was a skilled manual worker and now using the row over contraception as an opportunity to amplify his conservative credentials. isn't that the problem?

he's desperately trying to persuade conservatives that he's really their man, and they just believe him? sneef yeah, i think you just put your finger on it, martin. he has one central problem if you can sum it up in a worden an it's authenticity or his lack of authenticity. he has not been able to win a race unless he outspends opponents by about five to one. i think the speech about the father is a particularly pressure yent moment. it's not that the speech about his father was bad. it was after just several weeks after santorum gave almost the identical speech about his father. it felt a little bit me tooism, it felt forced, staged. it didn't feel authentic. he has a real problem of authenticity with social conservati conservatives. he has a growing problem of authenticity with the moderates, as well. secondly, he's got a silver foot in his mouth. the idea that a candidate could soap quickly walk all over his own big story, the day after he wins florida, he then makes the poor comment. really tells you that this guy

may not be a very good candidate. now, santorum on the other hand, i mean, you know, did he have a good day yesterday. but when i look at santorum, i don't think of a president. i think of leave it to beaver which is great if you're waging the culture wars of the 1980s, but the culture wars are not on the ballot in 2012. so it seems increasingly that the republicans find themselves between a rock and a hard place, a social conservative who cannot, rick santorum cannot appeal to independents. when people learn more about him and his positions, he will not be able to to moderates. thank god for newt gingrich keeping this all going. he's our secret agent. >> he is absolutely doing so. karen, you've written in the hill this week about the chorus of republican protests against the president's framing of contraception. have a listen to what mitt romney said about it on sean

hannity's radio show. listen to this. >> i think the decision came from the highest level. i think the president is making it abundant dantley clear that he is more interested in the laud dits of the people he meets at his fund-raising cocktails than he is in the interests of people -- >> does this make it appear that he's attempting to change the subject to something they can use to attack the president even if it's being in some way exaggerated? >> to julian's point, it is another me tooism because rick santorum several weeks ago mentioned that comment from the president in a way that felt much more authentic. i think this is about mitt romney trying to jump on anything that he thinks might work essentially. and look, the facts are that this decision and this policy is letter for letter, word for word, based on the massachusetts

law. so there's no daylight there. so mitt romney should probably first explain his -- ha that's only one of the positions he's taken on access to contraception. he probably should get his own story straight before he attacks somebody else. i can say this as a catholic, i think it is an attempt on his part to try to curry favor with catholics and with evangelicals. that goes also it julian's point about authenticity. he's trying to take an issue and say, yeah, i'm with you on this one. when actually, the truth of it is, and i think it's important to say this, i think where the president is coming from on this and as a woman and catholic i appreciate this, he's talking about a fundamental belief that every woman in this country should have access to contraception as part of her health care. if a woman and her doctor decide that is in her best health interests simply because seize jooub and she works at a catholic university, she should not be denied or discriminated against. that access to that will -- to

contraception if that's what her doctor thinks is the best for her. that's what the president's talking about. this is not about the religious liberty. this is about women's health. >> karen finney and julian epstein, as ever, thanks so much. coming up, newt. what happened, my friend? stay with us. >> i think we're going doing very well on super tuesday. we're going to compete very intensely in arizona and michigan. i think the big story coming out tonight is going to be it's very hard for the elite media to portray governor romney as the inevitable nominee after tonight's over. ♪ but it ain't me, babe i'm a marathon runner, in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. he's my success story. [ laughs ]

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and hello to "whoa, yum." use campbell's cream of chicken soup to make easy enchiladas, cheesy chicken & rice, and other chicken dishes that are oh...so...whoa. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. we've been reporting on the flairing controversy surrounding the issue of contraception and the president's health care reform, and from the republican campaign trail to capitol hill,

all roads lead to the white house. nbc's mike viqueira is there to help us navigate through this traffic jam. mike, we've heard the president's spokesman say the administration is willing to discuss these issues. >> yeah. >> but what in practical terms do you think he means by that? i mean, are we going to see some kind of change to the legislation? >> that is exactly the key issue because there seem to be two competing initiatives or goals. on the one hand, they say they have a commitment to make sure all women have access to contraceptive services with no copays and no additional costs. that's their bottom line, martin. that is the goal and when they promulgate this rule. but at the same time, they want to "allay some of the concerns that have been expressed." soap how do they do that? there's been talk about something called the hawaii compromise where these religiously affiliated organization don't necessarily provide health care coverage with contraceptive coverage but are required to point employees

in the direction where they can obtain that coverage. but the question remains, how do they do it without a copay and no additional costs and will that be enough to molly phi the conference of bishops, catholic and other organizations who are fighting against this tooth and nail. so a big fight on the way here, martin. one thing that's very interesting purchasesize, the rule here has not technically been written. that rule could come you know, within days or weeks. they talked about what is going to be written into this rule. and these organizations will have till august of 2013 to comply with the rule. but the rule has not been written. so the question is, when will this consultation take place to allay some of the concerns that they're talking about? will it be before the rule? will it be between now and august 2013? and where is the wiggle room and how can they possibly finesse it. it don't doesn't appear to be a good issue politically for the obama administration right now. >> the leaders of some 238 religious organizations have collectively released a statement in support of the hhs

contraception rule. this comes from christians, jewish and muslim organizations. do you think this strengthens the president's resolve perhaps to maintain the law as it is? >> it's difficult to say. some of those organizations lie outside the mainstream of the larger organizations. for example, catholics for choice. i think we can safely say that most catholics or at least the theology of the catholic church is obviously against con trapceptions and certainly against choice when it comes to abortion services, as well. there are other organizations that are certainly represent thousands and thousands of people. but the fact remains that whether it's catholics or other organizations that are fighting against this rule, it is a political problem and it goes against some of the more fundamental beliefs of potential obama supporters later this year, martin. >> indeed. nbc's mike viqueira live at the white house. the day's top lines are coming up, three, two, one. >> do you have it? is that good?

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a little weird science at the white house. while things going woefully wrong for the republican front-runner, here are today's top lines, mitt happens. >> wow. conservatism is alive and well. >> that's a little smaller than the 2800 people last night at arapaho high school. but you guys are loud. >> it's hard for the elite media to portray governor romney as the inevitable nominee. >> this was a great night for rick santorum. >> we had an opportunity to see what one campaign looks like

when a candidate isn't outspent ten to one. >> maybe in massachusetts, they were heard particularly loud tonight. >> i don't get rick santorum. >> we're the only people on earth that put our hand over our heart during the playing of the national anthem. >> i didn't know the that. and neither did any of the people in, well, italy or guatemala or crow aia. >> i use it for shooting marshmallows. >> can we demonstrate? >> he thinks he's smarter than you. >> do you have it? is that good? >> uh-huh. >> oh! >> i care about 100% of america. >> wasn't really worried about the very poor because they have a safety net. i believe the safety net turns into a spider's webb. >> my father could take a handful of nails, stick them in his mouth and then you know, spit them out pointy end forward. >> i think we're going to do very well on super tuesday.

>> potato sack race for all the marbles. >> good luck. you're going to need it. ♪ >> i wouldn't race against the first lady even if invited to do so. let's get right to it. joining us, michael eric dyson, contributor and a professor of sociology at georgetown university. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon, my friend. >> we've had a bit of comedy there, but there is a political horse race. it appears the playbook has now changed. house and senate lead ears today assaulting the president over the contraception mandate. you'd almost think the economy was fine and the culture wars are back. maybe that's what republicans want. i mean, should we call this back to the future 4? >> sure, i think you're absolutely right because i think they want to get on terra firma

on better ground where they are more noble, they think, stronger and able to be attack the president without fear of reprisal. they figure the culture wars are the front they're able to exploit to the advantage of the republican and conservative agenda while ignoring the extraordinaire woes of the economy and the difficulties that most americans have at the bottom of the rung of the ladder of success. >> and i guess it's also great, sir, having newt gingrich out there because he can quickly reprice his contract for america with america from the '90s. he could start a culture war alone in a phone booth, couldn't he, newt gingrich. >> no doubt, except he wouldn't be a superman emerging from the clark kent booth. he's more like a guy who's a darth vader if we can mix metaphors bringing doom and gloom to the universe and the force be with us and certainly not with newt out there and ironically enough, telling mitt romney that the safety net is turning into a spider's web. well, the problem is that newt

gingrich wants to put all the poor people to work as janitors and dismisses the necessity of dealing equitably with the issue of race. so the republicans have quite a melee going on over there, and the longer this he extend brother bashir, the longer obama forces and the president have to really gird up their loins and figure out a strategy to be able to beat them in the fall. >> interesting, professor. newt gingrich is in ohio where he almost will literally went nuclear today. listen to this. >> you think about an iranian nuclear weapon. you think about the dangers to cleveland or to columbus or to cincinnati or to new york. remember what it felt like on 9/11 when 3100 americans were killed. now imagine an attack where you add two zeros. and it's 300,000 dead. maybe a half million wounded. this is a real danger. this is not sciencefiction.

>> professor, is nuclear talk like nuclear weapons, is this not a sign of utter desperation by mr. gingrich? >> he's going newtclear for sure. it's a chain reaction setting off some horrible thinking. now you're trying to reintroduce the bear and the cycle, trying to reintroduce the scourge of russia and the soviet union as the predicate for american fear. any boogeyman will do as opposed to focusing on the economy, talking about the ways in which the rich have to take care of the poor and bill yeas can't get escape clauss built into the contract with america. all of this is a diversionary tactic away from the central matters which is why i think the republicans are scrounging can around for the right person to carry their water. >> i have to ask you about mitt romney now wanting everyone to

know about his father's humble beginnings because the last time i read, his father was the ceo of american motors and a former governor. but now mr. romney only wants us to think of him as nothing but a carpenter. >> that's right. he can't be like jesus and pull his 12 disciples together to change water into wine. the reality is, there's a great deal of revisionist history going on here. isn't it interesting, he says he's not concerned about the very poor and now trying to cast his father into the roots of the humble. it changes from week to week with mitt romney. the question is, where is the consistent center and the core of your values? where is your vision that regardless of taking a poll to see what tests well, you articulate to the american people what you feel is the right thing to do. every week it's changing. if the rich are in that week, he's going to stand with donald trump to receive his endorsement. this is quite interesting and quite intriguing and ultimately perhaps quite devastating and

contradictory. >> pro if fesser michael eric dyson. don't you ever chastise yourself for mixing metaphors. we appreciate them and welcome you every time you're on the broadcast. >> as always, great to be here. >> next the president put to the test once again. stay with us. nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers? tylenol: me, too. and nasal congestion. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

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now to the syria and a report today, the united states is reviewing its military options as the government of bashar al assad slaughters thousands of civilians and continues to pound the city of homs with rockets and mortars. at least 70 were killed just today. and that has u.s. officials contemplating everything from humanitarian aid to supporting the oppositioning to air strikes, similar to those we saw in the libyan conflict. congressman peter welsh is a democrat from vermont and chief deputy whip.

and he recently toured the region and joins us live from capitol hill. >> good afternoon, martin. >> in libya, the obama administration intervened to prevent the slaughter of civilians as you know, as the hands of colonel gadhafi. but the united nations is now estimating that more than 5,500 people are being slaughtered in syria. if the president is to be consistent aren't there overwhelming humanitarian grounds for intervening in syria? into there are grounds. assad is his father's son. his father slaughtered thousands and thousands of his own citizens and now bashir assad is doing what his father did. but there were three elements to our involvement in libya. one was a humanitarian mission. and that certainly is consistent with syria. but second, there was broad international support that was manifested with the u.n. resolution. and now we have the active opposition, unfortunately, of china and russia. and then third, we were able to

be intervene in a very limited mission, no boots on the ground. the syrian army is big, powerful. it's well armed. so the calculation in the military that might be required is obviously much different decision than libya. >> but sir, you know there are a number of people who say the big difference between libya and syria is oil. >> well, people say that, but i actually think that there's just horror at what is happening to syrian citizens. and i think it motivates everybody here and the european union and some of the arab league is trying to put an end to this horrendous situation of a government unleashing cannons and machine guns on innocent women, children and men. so it's a humanitarian issue is what i think is pushing this. but we don't have the international support and right now, it doesn't like it could be the limited kind of mission that we had in libya. so those are sobering realities,

painful as it is to acknowledge. >> what do you feel about russia's support of assad? as you know, the russians opposed any kind of u.n. security council resolution, but now they've sent a minister and a delegation there to try and force the government of syria to stop killing their own civilians. >> well, i'm skeptical. i think the russians have demonstrated oftentimes very cynical in foreign affairs. they will in some ways are supporting syria because the russians have been so repressive to chechens and to some of the movements, the national movements within russia itself. soap, we do not have a friend there, but i applaud secretary clinton for just getting up every day and trying to persuade the russians to do the right thing. >> i wonder if i could turn your mind to domestic thoughts now and what appears to be the latest chapter in the so-called culture barpz speaker john boehner took to the floor of the house today, as you know to

oppose the obama health care rule that requires religious organizations to include free contraception to employees on their insurance plan. he says it's unconstitutional, and he wants congress to vote on legislation to change it. i found na slightly surprising since there are other more pressing issues right at this moment on his desk like extending the payroll tax cut extension and unemployment insurance. but he seems to think we have time what, to legislate on this issue now? >> well, you're dead right, martin. this has been totally politicized. keep in mind it's mr. boehner and the gop that wants to repeal roe versus wade and set women back. in a lot of ways, we would be much better off if we had a single pair health care system where the benefits would be available including contraception. >> i could not agree more so. that's not what we have. >> that's right. so the white house is doing the right thing here where it's acknowledging that we have to make certain that women who want access to contraceptives have

it, and they try to work out an arrangement where that can be done without asking some bishops and prelates to violate what they regard is a doctrinal matter. >> peter welsh from vermont, thanks so much. coming up, dylan rhadigan takes his 30 million jobs tour to the lone star state. but first, courtney reagan has the cnbc market wrap. >> let's take a quick look how stocks are doing right now with the just about 15 minutes till the closing bell. positive territory across the board. though the that dow jones has been fighting to stay there all day long. the nasdaq, that tech heavy nasdaq doing the best of the bunch. that's it the from cnbc. we're first in business worldwide. [ male announcer ] let's level the playing field. take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual.

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i'm not slipping off into the sunset. i'm not riding off into the west.

we got plenty of work to do right here in the state of texas. >> oh, governor perry, things just haven't been the same since you quit the campaign trail for the friendly confines of texas. and he's right. there is plenty of work to do in texas and across america. and if he's not the man to do it, well, that responsibility may be in the hands of my colleague friend and the author of "greedy bastards" dylan rhadigan. he may have a chance to bump numpl governor perry. there he is. he joins us now live. dylan, how are you? >> i have never been happier. i have to tell you, if you have never been to the state -- >> i have many times, even austin. >> but a lot of folks don't come down here like i didn't like george bush. get over it. texas is awesome. and we're just so excited to be here. >> dylan, rick perry would dig for oil under your home in new york. but are there now strong

economic reasons as well as environmental ones for encouraging the development of clean energy projects? >> well, i mean, there's no question. remember, the single greatest thing that we all agree to, we can argue about health care and about banks and talk about housing and jobs till we're blue in the face. you cannot find an american, a tea partier, not a republican, not a democrat, not an independent, not and arcist, can't find any of them who are not hugely in favor of america seizinging this generation, these returning veterans this time our energy independence through a combination of massive efficiency upgrades which are huge job creators and siggive in can't development of alternative fuel sources and traditional fuel sources in this country starting right now. it reduces our trade deficit by 50% and gives veterans something to do when had he come home. they can fight another war to make sure their children never have to fight a war for oil again. there is only one form of political resistance and that is

the lobbying power of some of the hydrocarbon companies and others who want to keep us locked into this insane fuel source debate with variable subsidies and variable tax code for for different fuel sources which prevents us from engaging on the real issue which is the complete lack of investment in our independence and efficiency. >> indeed. to quote your book you say there is no greater path to freedom than energy independence. >> that's it. this is the way out. we can talk all day. people say you want to know the way out? you want to create 30 million jobs? talk to david rothkopf and they will tell you at the low end you're 2 million jobs at the high end 5 or 6 million jobs just around the issue of energy independence. tremendous types of work, from efficiency engineering to drilling to all sorts of design work that is possible right now. a tremendous employment opportunity for our veterans and ever in america with the simple and collective decision to actually do it. >> now, dylan, all of us are looking forward to your

broadcast today. i understand one of your guests this afternoon is part of something called operation free, which as you've said gives unemployed veterans a chance to get involved with clean energy. now, can you tell us what this is? we are showing our viewers their website right now but just explain this. >> very simply there are a number of veterans groups that exist to advocate on behalf of our veterans. this is a specific group that is openly crusading to pursue the mission that i just described to you. operation free is in place to recruit veterans and open opportunities for veterans to invest, find work, and create a life for themselves getting america the energy independence that it needs. and in a way that is liberating and empowering for the soldiers and the veterans and for our country. it's what they're doing and i am excited to highlight them. >> you genuinely believe by doing so and if you can be briefed in it you genuinely believe by doing so we can actually reduce the levels of

unemployment significantly in this country? >> there is no question. there is no question. there is the brief answer. we have so much work to do in every state in america from efficiency upgrades in every car, every house, every piece of commercial real estate, every station, every power generation facility, our entire national power grid, and the opportunity to develop safer and more effective fuel sourcing ope ini. there are millions of jobs laying around us. this our greatest problem and our greatest opportunity for jobs out of the whole 30 million. >> dylan, we'll look forward to seeing you. thanks so much for joining us. of course you can catch dylan on his show every day following this broadcast here on msnbc. we'll be right back to clear the air. [ male announcer ] capri sun has 25% less sugar

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time now to clear the air. while the rou over the availability of contraception under the reform of health care has been dominating the political headlines, a perhaps more worrying act of religious intolerance has been allowed to occur without a single presidential candidate offering an objection. here in new york mayor michael bloomberg and schools chancellor dennis wall cot have tried to stop more than 60 churches wall from using school buildings for meetings and services outside of school hours. their decision followed td supreme court refusal last year to hear the case of the bronx household of faith which had challenged the city's position. so now unless the mayor changes his mind, all of these

congregations will be turfed out on february 12th. but that would be the most egregious form of religious intolerance that we've seen for a very long time. first of all, these churches, which are often in the poorest parts of the city, have been meeting in school buildings for decad decades without any ill effects. in neighborhoods with scarce resources these churches offer support to families under severe pressure, compassion toward the marginalized and the chance for young people to be mentored by other responsible adults. indeed, in some areas there is actually a noticeable drop in crime due to the influence of these local congregations. second, the schools themselves have benefited because they've been allowed to set the cost of rental and since renting an existing building is so much cheaper than having to buy one, the churches have always willingly paid the fee. so if this benefits the schools,

the churches, and the community what is the problem? the problem is actually a theological misunderstanding as evidenced in a legal opinion written by judge pierre lavaal. he says a worship service is an act of organized religion that consecrates the place in which it is performed, making it a church. so judge laval says if a worship service takes place in a school on a sunday that school is suddenly and permanently transformed from being an educational establishment to a religious one. and by so doing that would breach the strict division between church and state. without being irreverent toward the learned judge that is absolutely ridiculous. if you decide to hold a prayer meeting in your garden shed does that make it a church? if you gather a few friend together in your garage to pray privately for your sick child,

does that make your garage cathedral? of course it doesn't. and that's why the mayor of new york should stand up for religious tolerance and for the good service these churches render to their communities and allow them to continue to meet as they have done for many years. thanks so much for watching. dylan ratigan is in texas and he's next. welcome to texas. home to these cowboys and these cowboys. 25 million people call this home as do a whole lot of cows. the lone star state is also oil country. 4.8 million barrels of crude processed each day. the second largest state in america and the leading domestic oil producer not to mention our country's biggest energy