hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. and here is what is on the agenda this morning. just a short time ago president obama and his wife and vice president biden and his wife released their 2011 tax returns. and it's just before tuesday, the deadline. nbc news white house correspondent mike viqueira joins me now with the details on this. mike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, thomas. and let's get right to those details. the first lady and the president filed jointly. they report a total income of $789,674. let's call it $790,000. about half of that, of course, $400,000, is the salary of the president of the united states. half of it, proceeds from books that the first lady and the president have published. they paid about $162,000 in taxes. that is effectively about a 20% tax rate. donating more than that. $172,000 to 39 charities. primarily fisher house, something with which the first

lady's very familiar and involved with. she was there just a few days ago. that is an institution that helps the children of fallen and disabled soldiers from iraq and afghanistan. the president in a press release, his press secretary pointing out that the president paid under what would be the threshold for the buffett rule. you know, those making more than a million dollars would pay a 30% tax rate. the president obviously falls short of that but points out that the president is willing to go along with that still pushing that. and not incidentally this all happens obviously in a political context. white house or campaign officials i should say, obama 2012 campaign officials holding a conference call with reporters earlier. the chair hitting mitt romney telling him he needs to release his tax returns over the course of the previous ten years. he's only done that for two years and reported a tax base -- or a tax rate that he has paid of only about 14%, thomas. >> mike viqueira at the white house for us this morning. mike, thanks so much. i appreciate it. well, also in the news this morning, the renewed focus from the romney campaign on women

voters getting this unexpected boost, but the president's team is not sitting on the sidelines of this one. ann romney as you probably heard has been thrust onto the stage of the campaign battle. and her husband in standing up for stay-at-home moms across america. hilary rosen's comments about romney's wife have sparked this national discussion and put some of the big names walking the white house halls into damage control mode. >> my response is that's an outrageous assertion. if my daughter wants to be able to say i'm staying home and raising my kids, no one should question that. >> i think we can all agree, democrats and republicans, that raising children is an extremely difficult job. >> i've watched michelle, you know, who for most of her career had to juggle work and family, but there were times where she was on maternity leave. and i promise you, that's work. so i think this was an ill-advised statement by somebody on television. >> let's bring in our friday the 13th political power panel.

it is friday the 13th, gang. nbc latino's alicia mendened ez. chip salzman. and roll call staff writer david drucker. do you think friday the 13th will make any of this go away? probably not. but david, i'm going to start with you because the first lady has weighed in here with her tweets saying "every mother works hard. every woman deserves to be respected." so the president, first lady, vice president, the press secretary has come out, this just crossed my desk. another tweet from hilary rosen that came out at 10:39 saying "i deeply apologize again to work and home moms, mrs. romney and the potus." not going on "meet the press" this weekend. i'm going to be a mom who stays home." so david, how can this i guess snare trap that the left seems to have fallen in go away? or is this something that's going to be talked about as a priority for the next couple of weeks? >> well, it will eventually go away. all gaffes do, all dust-ups like this do. but i think it's instructive and

reminds us of something. don't attack the spouse of a political candidate, particularly if that spouse is likeable and good on the stump. even though wives and husbands have become real integral parts of the campaign, they've become top surrogates, in a sense you'd think that would make them on limits as opposed to off limits. but it just isn't so. and that was the first mistake that hilary rosen made in my estimation. i think what she was trying to do was to play into what democrats are trying to do with mitt romney, which is to say he's a big rich guy who doesn't understand what you're going through and that goes for his wife too. but it doesn't work that way when you're talking about a spouse because she is very empathetic. and i think that as a general rule of thumb moms talking to other moms get each other even if one makes more money than the other. >> alicia, let's talk about what the right is doing because sarah palin jumped into this debate with both feet last night. take a listen to this. >> the comments that hillary

rosen made today certainly have awakened many mama grizzlies across the nation. why is it that some on the left choose to divide, to incite with comments like that instead of just respecting women's choices? >> mama grizzlies coming out of hibernation to get around mitt romney. so the contraception debate alienated a lot of women voters, alicia. is mitt romney going to make some of that ground up? everything we've seen just over the last couple of days. >> well, i think this is definitely good press for the romney campaign. it's a sugar high. there are no policies that actually support moms who stay at home. if that's what we were really going after here, we'd hear mitt romney talking about moms who stay at home being able to contribute to 401(k)s. we'd hear about working wages for stay-at-home moms. we're not actually talking about policy. and i think once women voters take a look at the policies, see his position on lilly ledbetter, his unclear position on lilly ledbetter, see his unwillingness to go after the governor of wisconsin when he overturns fair pay legislation, i think that's

what women voters actually care about. >> take us inside the presidential campaign itself. what is the romney team absorbing from this over the last 24, 48 hours, and how is it going to affect positive messaging going forward? >> well, i think the one thing they've gotten is they've got the president's campaign on defense. the fact of what you said earlier, all these people weighed in on, this means they're playing defense, they're not talking about anything else except this. and i think the one thing we've learned is a lesson i've learned in my family for a long time, don't mess with mom. that'll get new trouble. if mom's not happy, nobody's happy. and i think the romney campaigns are going to try to ride this out as much as they can. know they it's more of a short-term deal but they're going to use this as much as they can over the next couple of months. >> well, of course, as we're seeing even stuff that -- swag people can buy now, the romney team capitalizing financially in the short term on this. $6 for a "moms drive the economy" bumper sticker. the bigger issue, though, for mitt romney is the failure to connect. and as we're all trying to figure out exactly what hilary rosen was trying to say, we have

yet to hear mitt romney, alicia, finally say, when i speak to women, when women talk to me about the economy, while i'm out on the stump, this is what a woman says to me. is that what voters need to hear? because while everybody talks about the mommy wars and war on women, this is avoiding the fact that we're not hearing mitt romney say i directly talk to the female voter myself. >> right. it turns out that we're some foreign species to mitt romney. and that's exactly what he needs to do. he needs to be talking not just about the fact that ann is interfacing with women voters but the fact that he fundamentally understands the challenges that women face. whether that's questions about access to contraceptions, when we choose to have children, how many we choose to have, what that means for our bottom lines, he's going to need to be able to speak to that in the first person. >> all right. so chip, when we talk about the strategy here, obviously ann coming out, as you say, certainly very likeable, people getting to know her more right now as being part of the campaign team of the romneys, mitt being the voice on the economy, does that make ann this

relatable figure that humanizes him across the entire republican platform? >> i think it does. and ann is, like david was saying earlier, a lot of empathy for ann for not only her life story but what she's meant to the campaign. and so far in this campaign, as we saw when he he won states and when he lost states, ann was the one introducing mitt. and she was talking about how mitt understands jobs and the economy and the economy is important to women, the jobs are important to women, and basically giving him a mum i humanizing role. and i think a lot of times spouse oz do that for their candidate male or female. and i think she's going to do a very important role in this matter. >> david, i want to get you on the big picture as we look at this new fox news poll that has mitt romney ahead of the president right there. 46% to 44%. do you think that this discussion over women is going to cause this big shift either way in the numbers, or is it just too early? >> i think it's too early to worry about the horse race. but i do think that both sides are going to be jockeying for position with key demographics. female voters are key.

male voters you could also say are important. independents are important. and i think that this is the beginning. both sides and their supporters are going to make mistakes along the way and do things that are helpful along the way. i don't think we're going to know much about the horse race until we get to the fall. just after labor day. but i think this shows that we're in for a very competitive race. and i think one thing that the romney campaign showed this week is that their campaign organization can use social media to fight back against the president. that's been one of his strong suits, what he can do with his organization. so this could be a very fair fight. >> they show they know how to pivot. that's for sure. david drucker, alicia menendez, chip saltzman, thanks to all three of you. the u.n. security council is meeting in emergency session today and is expected to condemn north korea's failed rocket launch, which came in defiance of the international community. the u.s. said the alleged satellite launch was a cover for testing a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. nbc news pentagon correspondent

jim miklaszewski joins us live now. so mick, explain what all of the facts are about the failed missile launch, what it means, and obviously the inferences that people get to make around the world about what their capabilities really are. >> you bet, thomas. you know, u.s. military and intelligence officials are poring over all the technical data because they tracked that rocket from the moment it left that launch pad and some 81, 82 seconds later when it suddenly bis pae disappeared from all their scopes because it simply fell apart and fell into the yellow sea there just west of the korean peninsula. now, so far there is no indication that there was an explosion, but it's not clear exactly why the missile fell out of the sky. interestingly enough, officials here at the pentagon insist they are unaware of any actions by the u.s. military or any of our allied militaries in that region. in other words, nobody shot it down. some of the parts fell close enough to south korea that the u.s., south koreans, japanese,

who's ever interested, and even the north koreans may try to recover some of that wreckage from the bottom. none of that's been done quite yet. but clearly, it indicates that north korea in trying to develop a long-range missile program that could reach the united states perhaps with a nuclear warhead is still a ways off. this is the fourth failure of these kinds of rockets. however, there is some concern about the ongoing threat and whether this will encourage north korea to stir things up regionally, for example, taking a look at south korea and japan. they're very nervous. they've got this -- they've got north korea in their back yard. so you can imagine they're concerned, thomas. >> nbc's jim miklaszewski. mick, thanks. newark's mayor talking about his heroic efforts. have you heard about this? all after the city mayor saved a neighbor from a burning home. mayor cory booker held a news conference just a short time ago hours after being released from the hospital, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and burns to his hand. you can see the bandages on his right hand. he last night helped with his

security detail, running into a burning apartment building on his street, and rescued a woman from a back room. and said he said he's no hero. >> i'm a neighbor that did what most neighbors would do, which is to jump into action to help a friend. and i consider all of us very lucky. there was a time when i got through the kitchen and was searching for her and looked back and saw the kitchen in flames. it was a really frightening experience for me. i didn't think we were going to get out of there. >> booker did get out there have. the woman that booker saved is being treated for burns, expected to fully recover. mayor booker took to twitter after that rescue, tweeting "thanks to all who are concerned. just suffering smoke inhalation. we got the woman out of the house. we are both off to the hospital. i will be okay." humble hero there. george zimmerman's attorney believes that the murder case against his client could last a year. we're learning new details about that case and specifics from the night of that shooting. plus, a tragedy in a small new hampshire town. a police chief shot and killed just two weeks before retiring.

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welcome back, everybody. george zimmerman's attorney could attempt to free his client from jail very soon. mark o'mara seen next to zimmerman during his initial court appearance yesterday says a bail hearing could happen one week from today. meanwhile, the probable cause document released after thursday's court appearance is revealing more about the prosecution's case for second degree murder, including that investigators believe martin was profiled by george zimmerman. joining me this morning, our nbc news correspondent kerry sanders and msnbc contributor and managing editor of thegrio.com, joy-ann reid. kerry, i want to start with you about the potential for this hearing, the bail hearing. what more have we learned? >> reporter: well, we know that it will probably be actually set with a time on monday, but it looks like it is going to be on

the 20th. they're just working out the logistics on that. and florida, unlike other states, according to the legal experts, is somewhat different. when somebody goes in and requests basically i want to be out of jail while we're waiting for this process, that's what they're requesting for, so you post a bond at a bail hearing. and the request to do that is actually the burden is on the state in florida. they have the heavy burden to show why this person should not be allowed out. because remember, innocent until proven guilty. and so why should you be punished to sit inside a jail cell while you're awaiting the trial on these charges? it is a life -- potential life sentence here in this felony. and so that does give the state some juice, some energy in their argument. but they have a heavy amount of information that they have to provide to the judge. several things, really two points of their greatest concern that they could argue would be

fear of flight, that he may actually be a flight risk if he's released. and that's not an easy thing to prove. and then the other is danger to the community. in this particular case his lawyer will likely argue the danger is to him having him out of jail. the judge could pose some sort of restriction if he is allowed to leave the jail here in seminole county. and that may be something we might consider like a home arrest, sort of a detention in the home or maybe an ankle monitor. but in all likelihood, legal experts i've spoken to have indicated that when the state goes in and argues that he should remain there they have a lot of evidence to present to say why he should be there short of actually calling witnesses, thomas. >> joy-ann, the affidavit that has now been released obviously tips a little bit of the information and reveals why the special prosecutor, corey, feels so strongly about the charges that she was able to commit to. it reveals that trayvon did try to run, but it also says

trayvon's mom says it is his voice on those 911 tapes calling for help. >> right, thomas. i mean, really that affidavit shows that the prosecution has really adopted the narrative that trayvon martin's family has been putting forward as opposed to the narrative obviously george zimmerman has put forward. almost verbatim. many of the things you've been hearing from the trayvon martin side you do see in this affidavit. it does show that as we did learn the investigating officer of the sanford police department they clearly didn't believe the narrative that the zimmerman side has been putting out. and i think that word "profiled" is really important because one key component on the trayvon martin side they've been saying is in fact that he was racially profiled based on his appearance by george zimmerman, who was obviously not in law enforcement but who then followed him because of his presupposition that trayvon didn't belong in that complex. >> real quickly, i want to throw this out to either of you. have we heard anything from the attorney o'mara about the potential of medical records

being released or shared with the prosecution about george zimmerman and what he claimed he had to face that night, a broken nose, the scratches, the rest of it? >> here's the way it works in florida. it's not like perry mason where there's a surprise. everything goes into the court record. everything is shared. the general belief in the system in florida is that if everybody has all of the information it leads to a better form of justice. and so everything that the investigation has uncovered from the state has to be provided to the defense. and likewise, everything that the defense has is provided to the prosecution. sometimes there's hang-ups on the timetable and the way that is sort of passed back and forth. but ultimately everything is shared. and that is why florida is such a unique state in the sense that it is so open with awful its public records. >> kerry sanders, joy-ann reid, thanks to both of you. i appreciate it. the national rifle

association strongly backed florida's stand your ground law, which zimmerman's attorney is likely to use in his defense. and this afternoon republican presidential candidate mitt romney will give a speech to the nra. and when romney ran for massachusetts governor in 2002, the nra gave his democratic opponent a higher rating on gun rights when he first decided to run for president in '06, mitt romney signed up for an nra membership and has since called himself a strong supporter of gun rights. you can see that speech right here on msnbc coming up at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. well, straight ahead in the poly sidebar, how much money mitt romney thinks he'll need to raise to win this election. plus, talk bay wild ride, look at this police officer hanging on for dear life to the front of a speeding bus. [ e ngine revs ] [ male announcer ] strip away the styling. strip away the rearview monitors, tv screens, bluetooth...

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four other officers, was found dead along with a female acquaintance. the shooting began when police tried to serve a search warrant on colin muttri last night. police say he opened fire when they showed up sparking a tense overnight standoff. then police say michael maloney was killed during this encounter. muttry spoke with police after he barricaded himself inside that home, but after talks fell silent police sent a robot equipped with a video camera inside where muttry and a woman were found dead from gunshot wounds. >> this has been a tragedy in the state of new hampshire this evening. and our thoughts and prayers go out to police chief maloney and all the friends and loved ones of the officers that have been injured. and all of the friends and family of the greenland, new hampshire police department and new hampshire law enforcement. >> nbc's michelle franzen joins me now from greenland, new hampshire with more on all this. michelle, explain to us about the search warrant, why police

were originally going after muttry. >> reporter: he was certainly a suspect that police had been watching over the last few years and they were executing this search warrant that the attorney general in new hampshire says was part of a drug task force that was compiled of officers from five different communities and also that chief michael maloney was aiding those officers at that time when they tried to execute that warrant. when they entered the home. that is when authorities say that the suspect opened fire on them, of course killing the chief and also wounding four other officers. two of them were treated at the hospital, and two others remain there and awaiting surgery or have already gone through surgery. so they were executing that warrant, working together as they often do in these situations when that tragedy unfolded, thomas. >> michelle, what have we learned about the report of this female acquaintance that was also found dead inside the home? >> reporter: well, we're still

awaiting word on the autopsy. the attorney general said that they planned to perform autopsies on the suspect as well as the female companion that was found in the home there. they are not releasing any identity, saying that they're waiting for this autopsy report to come out before they may confirm an identity. but we are hearing around here that mutrie may have lived with a female companion, that she may have been there at this time, and that may be the person. but we do not know at this point the identity of the woman. >> really it's heartbreaking about the fact that the chief lost his life just days now from his official retirement. nbc's michelle franzen. michelle, thanks so much. the special prosecutor in the trayvon martin case has a reputation and a reputation for being tough, determined, and fair. i'm going to talk with someone who has worked with angela corey. plus, president obama steps in the fray and sticks up for ann romney and other stay-at-home moms. melissa harris-perry sounds off on this issue that is now dominating the 2012 campaign. -cs gonna direct you ♪

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those of us in law enforcement are committed to justice for every race, every gender, every person of any persuasion whatsoever. they are our victims. we only know one category as prosecutors, and that's a v. it's not a b. it's not a w. it's not an h. it's v for victim. that's who we work tirelessly for. >> right there special prosecutor angela corey, speaking passionately of her work on behalf of victims of crime in her community. and we're now learning more about the woman at the head of the trayvon martin investigation. a woman known for, as an advocate of victims but also known for her tough tactics toward offenders. and joining me this morning is former prosecutor joe piscopo, who knows of angela corey and her reputation. it's great to have you here because this is a fascinating woman that burst onto the scene when she gave that press conference, and she seems tough and very fair but also very likeable. but as we're learning about her reputation, it's a take no

prisoners approach. the a.p. describing her this way -- saying corey is "phone nor her tough tactics, locking up criminals for long sentences and not negotiating easily on plea bargains. in the first 18 months as a state attorney she won 90% of her felony cases. 83% of the cases went on to a jury. so is angela corey someone that the defense attorney o'mara wants to see opposite him in the courtroom or is this probably the biggest fear for george zimmerman, to have a special prosecutor like her? >> well, you know, first of all, she's not going to try this case. someone else is. but you know, look, why should you be afraid of anybody in the courtroom? i was a tough prosecutor. it's easy to be a tough prosecutor. that's the easy part. what's difficult is to be compassionate. that's the thing i had a hard time learning when i was a prosecutor, and i don't think i was compassionate enough when i think back on all the tough things i did and all the sentences i got. it's easy to get that stuff. compassion is much more difficult. and besides, she's up for

re-election and she's a politician. so you've got to keep that stuff in mind. >> so joe, when we talk about the fact that she has shown compassion, one thing a lot of people were struck with is how she spoke about the very first meeting with trayvon martin's parents. i want to remind everybody what she said. >> we did not promise them anything. in fact, we specifically talked about if criminal charges do not come out of this, what can we help you do to make sure your son's death is not in vain? >> joe, as you say, she is a politician, and she will be seeking re-election, but is this something, being a really vocal victims' advocate could turn around and be a catch-22 for her in a re-election capacity? >> no. but you know, the constitution of florida makes victims and survivors of victims have a special status. and they have to be treated that way by constitutional principles. we passed that law about ten years ago. so you have to do those things or you violate the constitution.

and no prosecutor's going to violate the constitution. you know, the prosecutor is one of the most powerful people in florida. you cannot sue a prosecutor. they have immunity. so you need somebody in there that's not just tough but has some common sense. >> joe, let's talk about the case itself. george zimmerman's attorney saying earlier this week that he hopes to avoid this trial, that stand your ground is potentially this option that he is pursuing, certainly one that has played out as the media has covered this in the very beginning. so legally, what are the chances that he could convince a judge that this was a case of self-defense? >> well, i think you have a good chance because it's a preponderance burden, not beyond a reasonable doubt. so that's not as high. and all he has to do is present evidence that he was in fact acting in self-defense. and if the judge is convinced, she grants immunity and the case is dismissed. but getting back to this toughness, you know, you had a choice here. second-degree murder, manslaughter. the easy choice is second-degree murder to pick. the difficult one was

manslaughter. it's easy to pick second-degree murder because the jury's going to have all the other choices. and that's the tough-sounding charge. murder, depraved mind, hatred. that's tough to prove that. i don't think we have that in this case. i think it's overcharged. it would have been better to charge it as a manslaughter. that would have seemed more fair. and i'm not sure he'd get convicted of that either. >> joe episcopo. thanks for your time this morning. appreciate it. here's a look at some other stories that are topping the news now for you starting with this. the government has released a list of 48 people who could be called to testify against former senator and presidential candidate john edwards. the democrat's former mistress rielle hunter and former campaign adviser andrew young are on that list. edwards is accused of using campaign funds to help hide his pregnant mistress while running for president in 2008. one of drew peterson's ex-wives will testify against him from the grave. an illinois appellate court ruled that hearsay evidence can

be used in peterson's murder trial. he's accused of drowning his third wife, kathleen savio, in a bathtub back in 2004. peterson was only charged after his fourth wife disappeared in '07 and savio's body was exhumed. prosecutors say the hearsay statements are vital to their case because they have no physical evidence or eyewitnesses. all right. so this is just incredible. look at this video out of vietnam showing a traffic cop being taken for a wild ride. you can see the cop hanging from the windshield wipers of a moving bus after the driver tried avoiding a traffic ticket. he hangs on for more than half a mile as the bus gets up to 30 miles an hour. the driver eventually pulls over after being chased by police and residents. he could face up to three years in prison. cheaper to pay that ticket. all right. so ann romney is taking on a much bigger role in the 2012 race, but it's not the first time that a candidate's spouse and the subject of jobs and motherhood has taken center stage. >> i could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what i decided to do was to

fulfill my profession, which i entered before my husband was in public life. >> the host of melissa harris-perry's weekend morning show right here, melissa harris-perry joins me now to talk about this. so melissa, candidate spouses are going to play a big role in all of this, and they always have. a lot of people remember michelle obama's comments saying "the first time i was vr was proud of my country" comments and the backlash that created. and president clinton's comments about candidate obama to ted kennedy. so how is this all going to play out? and remind people of where spouses need to be when we talk about them in reference to what they bring to the political campaign. >> well, part of it is that presidential spouses, or the candidates even, even before they're the actual president, they give us this opportunity by thinking about the first marriage to actually work out our anxieties about gender roles. so what we saw there with hillary clinton, hillary clinton ended up being the last first lady of the 20th century, right? she was really a representative

of this sort of new version of womanhood that included career and motherhood. and right now, even as we were discussing in media this notion of a war on women, the language around ann romney and hilary rosen's comments about ann romney again allow us sort of as a public to ask what is it that we think a marriage should be? what is it that we think a woman's place is? and i think that that's precisely why it ends up being so politicized and so emotional. >> isn't it when we look at the comments of hilary rosen, who again tweeted this morning her apologies, saying she's not going to go on "meet the press" this weekend to be a stay-at-home mom, but as we look at the gender roles behind those comments and you take it all away, because this has created a really big distraction of conversation, you know, of taking it off the actual conversation of mitt romney not saying "i talk to women." >> right. >> of "i talk to women about the economy." "when i'm on the stump, this is what a woman says to me." instead using ann romney as the conduit to all of that. is this going to make people

rethink that? i mean, this is a great conversation to be having, a big distraction, but it has not had mitt romney say yet i've spoken to this woman about the economy. >> i've directly had a conversation with women, who make up half of the american population, half of the people who will be my constituents, and half of the people who i will be representing as president of the united states if i were to be elected, right? >> right. >> and that is clearly where the weakness is. but i think part of it is kind of putting ann romney out front was a campaign strategy because ann romney is i think actually quite likeable. >> sure. >> she's someone who has that kind of naturalness that mitt romney is often accused of not having. so i think that they've done it in this kind of weird way. she tells me what women think. but the idea of putting a likeable spouse out front in a campaign is not necessarily a bad idea. >> real quickly, i know that a lot of the conversation has been talking about the choice that's women have to make. and as i've been thinking about this, i think for women there are options and then there are choices. and a lot of people when you think about options, like i love

to have options but i don't like to have choices because choices mean consequences because of sacrifice, of things that women have to sacrifice when they make the choice to work and when they make the choice to pay the electric bill over the gas bill or the -- >> i was going to say the idea of having a choice to work seems odd. the vast majority of american women who work work because it's a financial necessity. but i want to also point out that even if you do have the financial wherewithal to not work and you choose to, as for example hillary clinton did, that the notion that that should somehow be inherently painful when we don't expect that men find it inherently painful to both pursue their careers and their family life, i guess the final thing i would say, though, is it is interesting to hear the gop right after this whole conversation about reproductive options to start talking about choice as if they are the great champions of choice. it's interesting. if women have choice, we ought to have it at every stage. >> we need a whole segment on double standards. and we'll get you back on that. but you can look for melissa harris-perry every weekend right

here on msnbc. 10:00 a.m. saturday and sunday. melissa, thanks again. >> thanks. you know, the night megan and i got married she actually thought she was marrying cedric the entertainer. >> i sure did. >> but that's how the law works. >> comedians with a cause. "parks & recreation" actors megan mull lally and nick offerman offer their support for marriage equality. and nick offerman, aka ron swanson, he's going to join me next. plus beyonce's letter to the first lady michelle obama, details ahead in the poly sidebar. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air.

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you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky. it's amazing what soup can do. s welcome back, everybody. one married couple is using their celebrity status to promote marriage equality. actors nick offerman and his wife, megan mulally are the latest celebrities to lend their voices to the human rights campaign's americans for marriage equality. in this ad the comedic couple states their support for same-sex marriage while also poking a little bit of fun at themselves. >> you know, the night megan and i got married she actually thought she was marrying cedric the entertainer. >> i sure did. >> but that's how the law works.

any random man and woman can casually show up at a 24-hour wedding chapel in vegas, exchange i dos. >> and boom, they're married. >> so why can't gay and lesbian couples who've literally spent their entire adult lives together have the same opportunity? >> all right. so joining me now is nbc's "park and recreations" star nick offerman. nick, it's great to have you here. obviously, megan realized you're not cedric the entertainer. >> she eventually figured that out, yes. >> and things are going well, right? in spite of all that. >> yeah, we cleared that first hurdle. >> this is a great campaign. why did you and megan want to get into this and be a part of it? >> i guess in the entertainment industry we have lots of friends and loved ones that are directly affected by this problem. and they're in marriages that we've seen and known them our whole lives, they just would like them to be called such. their marriages already exist. they're loving, committed couples. >> when we see the advance

that's have happened in this country, right now with eight states that have legalized marriage equality and washington, d.c., roughly there are 17 i believe it is that do recognize certain civil union capacities for same-sex couples in this country, what's your message to legislators? because that's where this is really going to take the turn. i mean, we've seen the american public shift in a quick way on this and continue to shift. but legislators are where the buck stops in terms of getting bills passed, laws made. >> it's true. i can't -- i don't know. i mean, i have a hard time not being emotional about it. my message would probably be a firm slap to the cheek. but if i had to be more tempered about it, i would say it just makes common sense. you know, those marriages are part of the team. these people just want to be a loving family. and not only -- it's not only the marriages that we need to focus on but a lot of these people have children. and those children are also

being denied rights that are afforded normal marriages, you know. >> why do you think, though, right now -- and i want to get it up there so everybody can see it. that the gallup poll shows that 53% of shows surveyed believe that marriage equality should have -- or those in same-sex unions should be considered to be valid and marriage equality should move forward but when we talk about those people that would be staunchly entrenched in wanting to see traditional marriages and not providing same-sex couples with the capability of having the same type of loving, committed relationship, that they would have, what are you trying to say to them? what are you trying to do to change people's minds that may not agree with where you feel? >> i think i would say, you know, what we're talking about, the root of the problem is that they see it is a simple act of love between people. it's almost like they're engaging in a war on love where this is a problem. these two people want to get together and build a loving life

and be supportive members of society. so i would say to sort of try and let go of previous misconceptions and focus on the fact that these people are going to live their lives the way they want to. their marriages exist already. they just want them to be recognized as such and be afforded the same rights that other, you know, normal marriages are afforded. >> nick, thanks for coming in. it's great to meet you. say hi to megan for us. >> all right. thanks. my pleasure. >> you can catch nick on "parks and recreation" every thursday night at 9:30 eastern, 8:30 central right here on nbc -- or on nbc. a crying baby interrupts the vice president but mr. biden uses it to his advantage. and that topped today's poly sidebar. it happened as vice president joe biden was giving a campaign speech in new hampshire yesterday. he was talking about the buffett rule and mitt romney, and then this happened. >> the romney rule proposes to give another $250,000 a year tax

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>> the diving into the republican mind, the conservative culture bred from a way of thinking that molds the leaders of the movement today. so what does a scientific look into the gop perspective tell us? >> chris mooney is the best selling author of the republican war on science and his latest book "the republican brain"

examines this issue. it's great to have you here. i've been reading your book. au approach the subject of republican thinking from this neuroscientific perspective, neuroscience in a sense being the external form of brain surgery. but explain to everybody why you wanted to look into the science of the right brain. >> sure. well, america is extraordinarily divided today over reality and what's factually true in a left/right way. i show evidence suggesting that liberals tend to be right. why is that? if you look beneath the surface of ol ticks, you find out we differ by psychological traits. politics is personality. that gives a great win. >> a lot of people will say science is just flawed as anything else. it's not perfect. there is no such thing as a perfect science. people will look at this book in a skeptical manner saying you're just trying to do a hatchet job on the right. >> science is full of

uncertainty. that's absolutely true. the liberal psychology tends to be more comfortable with uncertainty. this is not to say ta conservative psychology doesn't have a lot of good things about it, being decisive and loyal but when it comes to science, science and liberalism really seem to get along. >> when you talk about the reasons behind this book and now that it's been out there for a little while, wa have been some of the most interesting things you've heard from the people on the right that have picked up your book and what have they shot back at you? >> unfortunately, i think they're misunderstanding what i'm saying. i talk about how conservatives have often misunderstood studies on the psychology of ideology. they'll say we're suggesting it we're crazy. none of the research suggests that. all the research says that is not what we're saying. liberals and conservatives just process things differently. >> when you talk about processing things differently, is there a way to find

bipartisansh bipartisanship, and is that going to be your next book? i think there's things you can do in order to make your message appeal to people who think very differently than you. for example, liberals often full of ambiguity, full of knewence and a scentive likes communication that is more direct. that doesn't beat around the bush. it's a different in cognitive style. >> journalist and author chris mooney. the book is on my nightstand. it's a great read. very interesting. thanks for joining me today. i appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> that's going to wrap things up for me. i'll see you back here at 2:00 p.m. on "news nation." i'll be back on monday. until then you can follow me on. now with alex wagner is coming up with a special friday the 13th edition right after this. f, a great clean doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 duster's extender can clean hard-to-reach places in less time.

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. mitt romney is taking a break from fighting the war on moms to focus on some different game. the nra. can the massachusetts moderate win over the gun lobby? it's friday, april 13th. and this is "now." joining me today, msnbc political analyst and georgetown university professor michael eric dyson, steve kornacki of salon.com, the intrepid maggie haberman of politico and buzzfeed editor-in-chief buzzy ben smith. mitt romney who once campaigned in massachusetts by saying he does not align with the national rifle association will address the gun rights group in just over two hours from now. romney now has a lifetime membership to the nra and has mused about hunting small varmi varmints. joining us from washington is former rnc chairman and political analyst the notorious michael steele. oh, michael steele. >> what's up? how you doing? >> varmint hunting aside,