ecking on your burgers after they're burnt! [ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. this morning, my question? when a baby is born, what's the first thing you ask? and we'll talk baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and chevrolet. how do we measure progress on equality. first, i know i'm sounding like a republican, but i can't help it. it's tax time! good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. before we get to the top political story, we want to bring you the latest on an ongoing situation in afghanistan. this morning, multiple coordinated attacks in cab uhl,

an area that holds several western embassies. in response, the u.s. embassy is now on lockdown. with a text message to reporters, a taliban spokesperson took responsibility for the attacks and there are reports that this could be the start of an insurgent spring offensive. we'll take you live to cab null a few moments. first, our top political story. it's april 15th. did you do your taxes yet? or is your desk full of receipts and w-2s. maybe you passed off the ho headache to an accountant. maybe you issued digits into tax software. you spent countless hours searching for documents, noting deductions, punching numbers on the calculator and hoping you didn't make any typos. hate it? me too it's enough to make me earn for herman cane's 9-9-9

plan. a version of president obama's tax plan, the buffett rule, goes before the senate tomorrow and calls for an effective minimum tax rate up to 30% on people making more than $1 million a year. if it passes, maybe buffet will pay a higher rate than his secretary this year. despite the threat and swearing that carries me through the mid-april tax madness is a democratic spirit. the belief we're all in it together. paying into the collective pot is part of our duty as citizens and means we have roads for our cars, schools for our kid, retirements for our parents, research for our universities and cartoons on public tv stations. taxes are how we all do our part and we all want to believe that the tax math adds up to an equitable system, where everyone pays their due, but that's ppro. not everyone does seem to be

paying their dues. last year, once again, more than 200 fortune 500 companies paid no income taxes, boeing, verizon, coned and general election. and then there is mitt romney who filed an extension and only paid an effective rate of $13.9%. the majority of his income came through capital gains. our president, who brought in a little less than a million, who paid effectively less than his own secretary. i don't expect anyone to pay more than they owe, when i am poring over my own paperwork, it doesn't help that my wealthy neighbor isn't taking responsibility. if they don't pay, why should i, right? i mean, the messy process of exemptions and deductions which help corporations pay little or nothing, isn't just a technical

headache, it's pain of a compromised political system. our tax code is political and the convoluted tax code is built on political deals. democrats, encouraging the wealthy to contribute more, and republicans counter with exempti exemptions, exclusions and deductions which seek to protect the wealthy and reduce government. and it will boil don't to read my lip republicans and tax and spend democrats. both sides are looking to wield political benefits. rick newman, chief business correspondent "u.s. news & world report." randa fahmy hudome, and joy-ann reid, managing editor of the grio.com. thank you for listening me to rage about doing my taxes. i want to start with you.

you just wrote that the buffett rule, while potentially important, sort of moving in the right direction around deficit reduction, is really the wrong place to start. explain to me why. >> i think it's a reasonable idea is because if you look at the tax rate for top earners over time, it's drifted down overtime and much lower than an historical average. it makes more sense to push it closer than an historic average. we have enormous problems with our tax goad, government debt. the buff set rule is so marginal it won't improve the debt. we have a joblessness problem. it won't reinvigorate the economy or take on any of the big problems we have. it's popular, i see polls say 60% of americans support it. maybe more than that. but it's not going to do anything to energy our economy.

you have to crash your head and say is this the plan he's going to run on, or is there more coming? >> the politics of a tags piece, it's popular, maybe sufficient for anyone to submit a policy. you know, obviously you have a position, randa, as having been in a republican administration, talk to me about what you see as the key ideological differences? >> this has been going on for decades if not centuries. republicans believe you need to stimulate the economy, and the way to do that, not tax those who create jobs and those who create jobs are not small business owners or individual laborers. those happen to be large corporations and we here in the united states have the highest corporate tax rate than any where in the world. i travel all over the world. we have a 35% corporate tax rate. do you think corporations want

to create their base and maintain jobs here? no, republicans believe people will step up and contribute what's right. this is america, lean forward. it's not a crime to be wealthy in america. the american dream is to come to this country and do well. >> i want to push back just a little bit on the idea it's been centuries for the republicans. it wasn't, fast, republican, the most famous, abraham lincoln opposed the fist income tax to pay for the civil war. the confederacy did not do this and the union won the war. i want to show the president and i want to quickly come to you, joann, talking about the motion of what he sees as a trickle down analysis in the job creates narrative. i want to quickly listen to the president on this. >> we need republican politics to get on board with where the country has come.

we have tried this trickle down, and middle class has seen their security eroded to tell them that they are going to have to do more because wealthy americans will do less. >> the president in his weekly address is this just politics, let's not tell the middle class? he's clearly saying trickledown economics doesn't work. >> this is part of a piece of a puzzle. the obama camp takaign will set the following argument. he is saying, look, the rich have an entire political party devoted to their interests, about getting lower and lower taxes for the wealthy. however, the experience this country has had, is there no impair call connection, in fact, this country has seen some of its biggest economic growth during periods where there were high taxes on the healthy. post world war ii era, taxes elm

extremely high on the wealthy. why? you have wage earners building wealth. it's a fairness argument. people get it, very simple and easy to make that argument. why shouldn't warren buffett not pay the same tax rate as his second. republicans have never been able to show a connection between more largess for the wealthy and more jobs. it hasn't happen thad way. the presidents that have raised taxes have ra resulted in higher job growth. and president o >> i think it boils down to a three-letter word for the obama campaign and that's war. they are about the war on the milledle class, the war on women. what they will try and do is rile up the american public to think that the democrats are

going firing class warfare. >> you mean descriptively. i get that where we are in partisan discourse on both sides, a narrative about war. but i guess part of what really struck me about your article was the sense when you say the buffet rule wasn't enough, you mean because everybody needs to be paying higher taxes, not sufficient because we should leave the job creators loose. have we gotten to a post prosperity moment where where he need to talk about more sacrifice by everyone. >> we're taking a breather from prosperity. what comes next? i think there will be an american revivarevival, but i d think it comes from fairness arguments. fairness does nothing to create jobs. let's see you feel the system is fair. that doesn't mean there will be a better job for you, a raise, promotion, not going to help you get ahead. we need big changes and nobody

in this presidential campaign is telling the middle class the truth, we have wig changes coming. >> we are going to take a quick break now, and after the break, a live report from afghanistan where the u.s. embassy currently on lockdown, plus much more. we can figure out if we get truth here on the table about taxes. water was meant to be perfect. crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita,

to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. you can adjust it to whatever your needs are. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. now, sleep number redefines memory foam, combining coolfit gel foam with sleep number adjustability! during our white sale, receive $400 in free bedding. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] choose the same brand your mom trusted for you. children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. guys. come here, come here. [ telephone ringing ] i'm calling my old dealership. [ man ] may ford.

hi, yeah. do you guys have any crossovers that offer better highway fuel economy than the chevy equinox? no, sorry, sir. we don't. oh, well, that's too bad. [ man ] kyle, is that you? [ laughs ] [ man ] still here, kyle. [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. right now, very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 equinox ls for around $229 a month.

what is the first rule of presidential re-election campaigns? don't raise taxes in an election year. progressives really do believe in raising revenue to subsidized government programs. yep, i'm not ashamed. i believe a fair tax code can

promote a fair country if that makes me a tax and spend liberal, so be it. back with me, rick newman, randa familiar knee hud ohm, and rhonda nead. we were talking about it in the break, i was thinking about this issue. is there something that we should be doing, fundamentally differently in our tax code, the buffett rule seems like a small change. kyle, i will let you start. >> a return to what you were saying just now, is that what we really need in an election season, we can and should debate. but what we have to do to get there is have a broader conversation about why we tax people, and i think that when we get into the fight where we'll have next week where we have two

sets of bills, neither of will which pass, but are about forcing that conversation, i think it's important. particularly in election years, let's stop and debate. why do we tax people in the first place? >> i love the tax receipt? the federal tax receipt. i love this motinotion, here isr federal taxpayer receipt with percentages of how we're spending your money. >> and the tax conversation had in two places in wonky level weeds which most people carton connect to, or caricatured situations. a debate that says let's talk about taxes, in order to have a government that functions for everybody, in order to have

roads and stop lights and police and schools, we have to raise revenues. let's talk about how we do that. it's important to keep the big pictures in the discussion. >> we have to remind ourselves, the tax code not just the government raising revenue. it's the government statement of reference. the government saying we proceed you have children, he would prefer married peoples over singles. it's a way the government expresses government. the job creators, looking up to tows who are wealthy, saying that he are the job creators. oncreate fors are the people who shod. those make that business need to hire people. if you don't have customers, you can't create jobs, the true job

connectors aren't the wealthy. they are those who are able to shot, therefore, buying the party. >> the fun mental problem with the tax code is that americans don't have confidence in the federal government. when they have to hanover that check, they are not convinced the government is responsibly using those funds. you know the united why, where the american people -- i have faith in personal sponlt of the american people to choose where our tax dollars are spent and that might give people an incenti incentive. >> randa is on it. people don't trust the government, don't trust institutions. trust in all institutions virtually, except for the military, and how do you fix that? you could argue obama gets to it

with the buffet rule. you have to give people more trust that their tax money is being used well. here is what we need to do in broad terms. make it simpler, something everybody can understand. eliminate most of the hoop holes so everybody doesn't feel like a sure and accountant is getting what they bargained for. >> i got to move toward afghanistan, i promise we'll keep talking about this as we talk about economic questions in the next block as well. die wonder on the one hand saying, republicans have spent a lot of time saying government is bad. literally making a war on government, for 30 years, and the problem is government doesn't trust government. and not just republicans, sort of the new democrats, but they

don't have their own party to say it. as a matter of like -- >> voting power. >> strategic partisan. >> folks do like government when you ask them about services that are working for them. >> but that's lakely state government or local government. we're talking about the federal government here. when it's different, when it's closer, you feel the effects. >> those of us in louisiana, we are not that fond of local government. reports in afghanistan, seven locations under attack. the taliban taking credit for the attacks. let me turn to our reporter live on the ground. what's the situation?

>> well, it all started with small arms fire would could hear half a mile away. assaults took place in seven different places. our on the ground, the scene throughout the whole day have told us these search places including the u.s., u.k. and german embassy, nighto quarters and a four-star hotel used by foirners. the afghan parliament also under attack. no further details on what's happening there. and compounds within the same area. this is a hub for western officials. witnesses say the attackers used a combination of small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. militants said to have holed themselves up in a building and are firing in different directions in this building. so far, five people have been

said to have been wounded in the attack, many more casualty wet to about about, and u.s. forces arrived soon after. the aaccident is still continuing. the chief of police have confirmed two attackers have been killed, and three have been caught and arrested. they found a car laden with explosives outside parliament. sources we've been speaking to said they saw rockets landing in the u.s. embassy and british embassy compounds and there is talk about the u.k. ambassador's residence being hit. and also sort of a similar assaults have sort of taken place related to this attack around the country, on the jill al bad road, and the afghan interior ministry says from

their initial findings, this shows that the hikami met work may have been. they confirmed other attacks elsewhere and said these are just the beginning, in this is a spring offense if and it's been in the planning for many months, and i have just been told that the taliban are claiming to have hit the presidential compound, that the come bound of president karzai and this hasn't been confirmed yet. >> thank you so much. appreciate your report from the ground there. in our next hour, what it's like to be trancegender in america. but, first, what happens when you add up baseball, apple pie, and chevrolet? right after the break. i love that my daughter's part fish. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice...

and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ i've been fortunate to win on golf's bies. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit,

even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists.

[ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine pull on those gardening gloves. grab the nearest spade. and let's see how colorful an afternoon can be. with certified advise to help us expand our palette... ...and prices that give us more spring per dollar... ...we can mix the right soil with the right ideas. and bring even more color to any garden. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot lay down a new look, with earthgro mulch, now three bags for just $10.

quick. what are the first images that come to mind when you hear the word america? how about grandma's apple pie. little league baseball. and what about cars, cars, cars? from henry ford's model t, manufacturing revolution, to the explosion of suburban sprawl, the automobile has driven economy, culture, and politics. we go back to 1974, and the campaign to make the automobile the ultimate american icon. take a look. >> america what is your fav that rid sport? >> baseball. >> sandwich? >> hot dog. >> dessert? >> apple pie. >> you sound like america to me. you better tell me again. i might forget. ♪ we love baseball hot dogs apple pie and chevrolet snebd. >> baseball, apple pie, hot dogs

apple pie and chevrolet. >> baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and chevrolet. yep, good americans drive american cars. when the auto industry hurts, the u.s. which economy hurts and cars are part of our personal and national pride this year, a huge part of our politics. more on what's driving the upcoming election when we come back. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

just as when you say america, you think baseball, apple pie, and cars. when you say cars, you think detroit. that has been the epicenter of american automotive power, figuratively and literally. when president obama says he saved detroit, he means the american auto manufacturing industry, which helped fuel an important part of our economy. the president may have mitt

romney beat on this much ballyhooed suggest to let detroit go bankrupt. that's a symbolic political win, not a substantive win for detroit. obama administration has been working to help the actual detroit, but because detroit, the actual city, not the metaphor for american economic power is, in fact, going through a very painful fiscal restructuring, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy with $200 million budget deficit and $13.2 million in debt. when we talk about detroit's recovery, we need to make clear the distinction between the symbol and substance. randa fahmy hud ohm, joy-ann reid and hanson clarke of michigan. i'll start with you. can you -- just talk to me a

little bit the actual detroit. we hear a lot about the symbolic detroit what are the circumstances in the city right now? >> well, first of all, the president's recovery, the loans to gm and chris mermaid a difference in the city of detroit. many my friends, their we'ves are working again at chrysler. selling more cars, and the spirit is upbeat in the city, but we're still feeling the lingering effects of the housing crisis. many homeowners put into foreclosure, even though they had the money to maintain homes. they lost their homes, those homes went vacant and were vandalized and destroyed many blocks of neighborhoods that eroded the city's tax pace and contributed to the current crisis. if they had not loaned that to gfrp m and chrysler we would have lost over 140 million in tax revenue.

the entire auto supplier base and the companies that support the suppliers would have gone down as well. we're on the up particular, it's more than just the city. the symbol of creating the best technologies when detroit comes back, it will be a strong symbol that our u.s. economy is coming back, creating millions of jobs for americans. >> let me draw this out well soft folks at the table. we've seen chrysler ads, imported from detroit, right? and the sense of the city on the up tick, moving toward the other space. is this really signalling this homegrown economy is growing? i'm hearing from the congress, yes, it makes a difference, but we're also hearing reports every day about how bad things are in detroit. >> i lived in detroit from 1994 through '95 and worked in detroit six years after that. i know the michigan committecon

right well. everyone is affected when the auto industry is affected. but what we have to see here is we have to parcel this out, remembering it was chrysler and gm that participated in the bailout. ford did not. why did they not? they did not, because they had the sound footing and management structure not to participate. and they did well. did that go bankrupt. did extraordinarily well. we have to look at that. >> what's happening in the auto industry reflects a paradox throughout the economy. gm and chrysler are back, but they are a lot smaller than they used to be, and that's juan of the reasons they are back, they were way too big, sprawling, costs out of control, things like that. same with detroit. detroit just starting to turn around. home prices fallen by something like 50%. worst city in the nation, including las vegas and other places like that. this is a major reset for the city and these companies. i think we're seeing a lot throughout the economy. >> detroit has lost a massive

amount of population. >> a couple of ironies here it came yesterday from the car show. new york auto show, looking at these great cars being reduced and general motors has some terrific cars. when mitt romney -- i almost called him george romney. when he wrote let detroit go bankrupt, the opening paragraph if the bailout happens, the auto industry in america as we know it, we can kiss it good-bye. he talked about the companies have a deficit in technology and interior product. i didn't see it at the auto show. i see a company in general motors because thaw is thriving only because of that bailout. he was not thinking about until 2012 when he rote that. auto bailouts were unpopular, but saved a lot of jobs in michigan and ohio, two crucial swing states, and come november, that may be something that title the election there toward obama. >> congressman clarke, a question. earlier when we were talking

about taxes, federal government versus local government. here you are telling me you have this massive assistance from the federal government on the car -- on the car industry, but on the local government side, right now detroit is cutting public workers, like front line safety workers, $52 million cut from the public safety budget. what does that mean for the city of detroit, practically and politically? back, you need to keep those jobs that already exist here. if anything, the best economic

stimulus would be two fold, allow detroit to keep its federal tax revenue that it typically pays the irs, and then invest in a separate trust fund to rebuild the city. cut debt. if people have more money to invest, buy fuel-efficient vehicles that will increase purchasing power and create jobs throughout the country. >> me lisa i think there is a huge sort of paradigm differential between the federal government investing in general motors and chrysler and the results of that, which we can all argue were positive, and the state tactics in michigan. rick snyder and republican legislature, their answer to the problems in their state was number one massive government infusion, putting michigan under martial law, any city they want to seize their local government and impose this draconian state ownership of cities, and it's not working economically.

>> it's weird, this idea of localism, it breaks down on the state level. >> and then austerity. the idea on the local level when have you a republican governor saying the answer to detroit, mint, and all of the other localities problems are austerity, and the government introduction of cash infusion and assistance worked out in a positive way. >> for eight years, there was democratic governor jennifer granholm, who by all accounts in the state of michigan did a horrible job for the state economy. ask anybody in the state of michigan. her numbers were very low as a result of what she could do for that state. romney's op-ed, written in 2008, four years ago. the point he was making should about not be lost. labor reform. the labor system in the auto industry is out of control. >> not out of control anymore. >> but it was. but that's the point he was making at the time. the time, in 2008, out of control. here is the same in michigan.

when auto workers working one shift, they are democrats. when they are working three shifts, they are voting republican. >> these people are what supports the local economy. >> the cost of cars, people can't afford these new -- these vehicles which we see car costs upward of $30,000, people have got to have income, we'll continue our conversation about cars and also about energy policy as it's related to our connection to cars. thank you, con man clarke, for joining me. we'll keep our eyes on detroit. in the next hour, we'll look at a new obama administration rule that might drinker the next culture war battles. even bigger i think than the contraception controversy. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams.

buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%,

you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for?

this is big news. [ facilitator ] what do you smell? takes me outdoors. sort of a crisp, fresh feeling. [ facilitator ] go ahead and take your blindfold off. [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] the febreze set & refresh. breathe happy for 30 days, guaranteed. has been because of the teachers and the education that i had. they're just part of who i am. she convinced me that there was no limit to what we could learn. i don't think i'd be here today had i not had a wonderful science teacher. a teacher can make a huge difference in a child's life. he would never give up on any of us. thank you dr. newfield. you had a big impact on me.

today, we're talking auto politics, gas prices and the detroit big three and energy policy, all in an election year. back here with me at the table, rick newman, chief business correspondent of "u.s. news & world report," randsa familihmy hudo hudome, joy-ann reid and allison kilkenny. i want to show you -- listening to the republican superpac american crossroads ad, the radio ad hammering president obama on energy policy. >> our health care, pensions, and way of life are on the line. say no to the obama administration's extreme epa rule. american cross kroed roads responsible for the content of this advertising. >> the epa is extreme. newt gingrich, getting surgery,

running on gas prices. this question of energy policy, gas prices and expensive new cars we want to put gas, all connected and undoubtedly will be in the election cycle. >> we have no energy policy. what energy policy? i mean -- we never have. that's just the way it's been since the end of world war ii. we have a bunch of ad hoc measures that people come and go. this leaves people in the auto industry wondering, do we get behind wind, hydrogen? we should either have a policy or leave it to the mark. >> this is some of the most powerful kormss on earth. oil and gas companies invest heavily in companies like american crossroads and others that fight for their interests. let's be honest, huge oil and gas conglomerates attempting to

fund to get their apparatus in power to not be regulated. >> i have to disagree on one point. no policy in the obama administration, bought there was a policy under bush. i know, i worked there. >> weren't you there? >> i should have brought my prop. it called the national energy plan. started writing it in january 2001 and launched it in may of 2001. took five months to write. we had recommendations, which included relaxing some of the extreme regulatory environment that was going on at the time, and we had executive and legislative branch prescriptions, for every cycle issue, whether it was conventional uses of energy, nuclear energy, or renewable energy, and we followed that plan to a "t." so we had a plan. >> but i've got to say, this is one of the things that is really hard for me as someone living on the gulf coast. the issue of gas and oil is very much about jobs. about life-style, all those things, and then bp, which will

have its annual, sort of anniversary, deepwater horizon spill happens. suddenly it's not just a theoretical question, it's very real. we're sitting there with oily water and with all of the things that are livelihood are based on covered in oil. this is not theoretical. this is not about a plan, about our real lives. >> i feel like we're talking about this in kin of a bad way many obviously, energy policy is tremendously important. but when we are talking about why unemployment going up, up, up, why gas prices are continuing to surge if we don't talk about the shady practices of wall street and commodities trading and speculation and the process at goldman sachs, we're talking about a small part of the picture. and i think people thinks president obama has a magic wand, and gas will be $2.

>> i think newt gingrich did suggest that he had this power. >> newt gingrich will not be the nominee of the republican party. >> he won't, much to my chagrin. >> this is a madeup drama. every time gas gets close to $4, we start to argue whose fault is it? regulation, speculateors? this is almost always the markets and things going on. right now, iran. some kind of military confrontation, that affects the price of oil. all other factors, we're talking about pennies on the price of gas. so when gas -- when gas prices come back down, we won't hear about the epa, about energy policy, we'll all forget about it. >> but -- the reason we couldn't forget it gets politicized. the look at president obama on inauguration day, versus the gas price, $1.84 to $3.95, that's

the republicans' favorite chart. >> democrats did it too, in the summer of 2004, when gas prices spiked to close to $4, we were in an election year, when george w. bush came in, and this was the price of gas. i remember, because atta time i worked on the political side, and that's what we did republicans are grasping for an issue. >> the danger is president obama does have a magic wand he uses, but he doesn't work. strategic petroleum reserve. every time gas prices go up, he decided one point to release oil. it's supposed to be used only for emergency situations, not to tinker with the economics and it doesn't do anything for the price of gasoline anyway. he's now talking about doing that again. that is very dangerous. >> that's not a winning political move for him anyway. i think he knows that. >> he's talking about it. >> obama has another magic wand,

u.s. policy toward iran. obama is no dummy. oh, gee, i guess i'll push gas prices up. what do you suppose he's thinking in terms of where he wants iran policy to be in october or november? pushing toward the brink of a confrontation with iran? pushing gas prices to $5 or $6? i doubt it. the pressure on iran now so we can get some resolution. >> i got to tell you, i'm completely -- i'm completely gassed to learn that president has a magic wand. stay right there coming up, we'll boldly go where no cable host has gone before that's right after the break. ♪ surf's up everybody get your boards and your wetsuits ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com's gonna direct you ♪ ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪

offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists. that's chilly. [ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. the chevy cruze eco also offers 42 mpg on the highway. actually, it's cruze e-co, not ec-o. just like e-ither. or ei-ther. or e-conomical. [ chuckling ] or ec-onomical. pa-tato, po-tato, huh? actually, it's to-mato, ta-mato. oh, that's right. [ laughs ] [ car door shuts ]

[ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. now very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 chevy cruze ls for around $159 per month. e.p.a. estimated 36 miles per gallon highway.

now, it is time for nerdland to boldly go where we've never gone before. hmm? i don't know where we were just

then, but this week's pop quiz is taking a star trek twist. on one side, we have mr. spock, the logical cold vulcan from the original star trek series who struggles with emotions and human side. on the other, we will have presidential candidate mitt romney. who, unlike spock, doesn't have pointy ears. so each of my guests gets a paddle for today's pop quiz. here we go. with rick newman, randa familiar knee hud ohm, allison kilkenny and joy ann reid. you have to guess whether it was said by mr. spock or mr. romney. computers make excellent and efficient servants, but i have no wish to serve under them. which one do you think said it? three spock votes. >> oh, yeah. romney would have fired the computer. >> that's right. >> it was, in fact, mr. spock.

very good job, everybody, on that one. quote number two. i'm a normal person, i have emotions. okay, everybody here thinks that's mitt romney, and let me just suggest this. that anyone who has to say i'm a normal person, i have emotions, almost certainly does not. but are you all right. that was, in fact, mitt romney. who said i am a normal person. i have emotions. big fun. i love this game. it's so good. all right. number three. what does it mean, exact change? mitt or spock? >> we've got two spocks, oh, three spocks and a mitt. >> i'm going to go with mitt. >> what does it mean, exact change. >> this one was spock. and in my least favorite one, where they go back to like 20th century u.s., star trek 4. >> you didn't like that one? >> i love that episode. >> my producer lorena also

really loved that one. >> with the whales singing and stuff. >> awesome. >> totally odd. okay. last one, last one here. i tasted a beer and tried a cigarette once as a wayward teenager but i never did it again. yes. our friend mitt. somehow wish could have had, you know, more than one. >> he won't be holding any beer summits? >> no beer sumited. >> an iced tea summit. >> a little tough on our friend mitt and mr. spock. one other graphic i wanted to share. in putting together, lorena and i decided that, yes, perhaps mitt and spock are very similar. but another surprising similarity in american politics and that is between captain kirk and president clinton. totally. clearly we could, in fact, do this same game with the two of them. >> you're absolutely right. >> they are both aging nicely. >> yeah, they are both aging

nicely. coming up -- thank you, i appreciate you playing with us. coming up, it took a beauty pageant to ask what does woman mean anyway? up next, transgender in america. . ntina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing.

with investment information, risks, fees and expenses pull on those gardening gloves. grab the nearest spade. and let's see how colorful an afternoon can be. with certified advise to help us expand our palette... ...and prices that give us more spring per dollar... ...we can mix the right soil with the right ideas. and bring even more color to any garden. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot lay down a new look, with earthgro mulch, now three bags for just $10.

last week on "mhp" we talked about ms. universe contestant jenna talia cova, she was disqualified because she is a trancegenders woman. full disclosure, ms. universe, a division of nbc universal as is nbc news. we were happy when the ms. universe organization announced transgender women will be allowed into next year's contest. but still. what's behind the terminally born woman? for a lot of people, identity is pretty straight forward. i'm black, i'm a woman, and i'm

sis. not a sister, but a sis. it means the sex of the body i was born with the endevery i was asigned at birth and my personal identity all match. that doesn't make me normal or natural? it just makes me, well, sis. i point this out, because the idea of one's gender not matching one's sex is novel and assumed to be ab normal. that means many transpeople have to endure widespread you ignore answer and intolerance. when we see people like chaz bono and others, we are encouraged to see the spectacular and not others. when amanda simpson was named to the u.s. commerce department, she was the first transgendered person appointed to a presidential cabinet. >> being the first sucks, and i'd rather not be the first, but

someone has to be first, so i have broken people. i win people over with who i am and what i can do. in a democracy, recognition matters. asking someone to hide in the closet or live in a body trapped. everyone wants to be seen for who they, not for what other people assume them to be. if we don't see someone for who they, it's possible for them to enjoy the experience of being a full citizen. joining me are kate bornstein, author of "queer and pleasant danger" which comes out next month. mara keisling, executive director for transgender equality and mel wymore. so excited to have all of you at my table. thank you for coming. >> very excited. >> thrilled to be here. >> let's talk a little bit about

why we continue to do so much labeling work when we are dealing with transgender issues and politics. what is it about the notion of needing to label people? >> i think people strive to become identified because the world doesn't fit their picture of themselves. we invent labels in a way to distinguish ourselves from each other. sometimes they fractionalize ourselves. and our gender is on a whole new frontier, and the next level, we're talking about human rights beyond the labels and bringing us together on a much broader scale. >> we could hope that would be the place we were going. >> yeah, we all want a continuum. and we have these two boxes, this binary system. we get to choose one or the other. that's not really the case. the reality is that we live on a

continuum and when we want to create community that have everyone in them, we have to open the tent. >> as you talk about boxes, kate. i teach your book or one or two of your books in two of my classes. one of the challenges my students have when we are discussing your book, trying to have the conversation without using gendered pronouns. 35 students in class and then folks start saying how can i say kate without saying she or how do i do this? it's literally like incull pated into the very linguistic, not just politics and society. >> fortunately in english, people are starting to use the singular form of they and them, that's starting to help. >> or y'all. >> for a while there were more arcane gender free pronounces. but they didn't sound like english in russia, for example, you cannot get away with a

gender free pronoun, it doesn't work. >> mara, talk about the activism work. you know, what i worry about, too often when we start talking about transgendered life and the identity experiences, we don't go to the political questions, to the human rights questions, we talk about what was your story, your personal narrative. >> that's right. transgendered people are ordinary people in most ways, but nature loves diversity. sometimes people are all worked up about diversity. people like to think about those people and us people. trancegendered people are real people that need to work, need to raise our children, need to go to school, need to be in ms. universe pagents. that's part of it. part of jenna's treatmedream, n. a lot of political institutions set up for the us people, and

those people have to come along all the time and say, you know what? us too. >> on the one hand, sort of to be trancegendered is to be human, but the set of consequences of trancegender identity are very real and your organization collected stats that had us all breathless. in grades k through 12 who experienced harassment, 78%. physical assault, sexual violence. these are young people. people under -- and if he look at employment, economic insecurity, the question of being harassed at work. dealing with losing a job, and, in fact, also on housing and homelessness, which we'll talk a bit about later. the amount of homelessness among transgendered youth, it's among all people. the fact that the challenges

strike me as particularly egregious. >> that's right. the statistic that really got people's attention, which i think really encapsulateses t e whole thing, more than twice the number of people with chroniced diagnosed depression, 60% of transgendered people have attempted suicide. our political fight is really a fight for people's lives. >> this brings us back to labels and the need for labels. in a democracy, it's supposed to be one person, one vote. no, it's one person who is recognized and sanctioned, as a recognizable and approved identity, that means man or woman. whereas there are and more and more transgender people who claim themselves to be neither men nor women and try to come up with a word for that. people came up with the word

depender queer. there is no g on the box. there is only m or ff. there is no other. >> identification, the ability to get photo identification for the purposes of voting which we have seen increasingly in particularly passed by republican legislatures and talked about how it impacts african-americans, el berley, those with physical abilities, a huge impact on transgendered people, thele is presentation may be different than their i.d. and could impact their ability to vote. >> the labels are very important until we can get past the labels into an education that talks about humanity in general, for example, the equal rights amendment, passing the equal rights amendment has no labels associated with it, but it would open up the world of gender, because it bars discrimination on the basis of sex. so that would be an important

move to looking at it from a broader human perspective than just at the labels. i do agree labels are important to bring awareness and make sure we have everyone represented. but then we really need to take -- beyond our own hurt and look at the fact that everyone deals with labels. everyone is constrained by conventions that don't necessary fit them. and if we can get that education out there, we can start to move together as humidity, as how we're going to work and live together in our community. >> so you sound like someone running for office. >> i really do? as a matter of fact, i am running for office. >> folks, stay right there we'll take a quick break and come right back. the capital one cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!" phhht! 50% more cash is good ri... what's that.

♪ you can spell. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? ha ha. ♪ ha ha. so i test... a lot. do you test with this? freestyle lite test strips? i don't see... beep! wow! that didn't take much blood. yeah, and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. yep. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? so testing is one less thing i have to worry about today. great. call or click today and get strips and a meter free. test easy. water was meant to be perfect.

crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪

i remember the day i got an e-mail with the subject line, hate crime at mcdonald's, and i thought, okay, this might be tough, but maybe i can bring my public voice, undoubtedly this will be racism by a corporate entity. a group of african-american teens sav agely beating a transgender woman in a fast food restaurant. what i saw was sickening and stunning and it reminded me, simply because are you unaware of one kind of unequality, i decided i needed to be a better sis ally to the work of transgender community. joining in the conversation, just for fun, allison kilkenny co-host at citizen radio and writer at the nation. i wanted to talk with you a little bit about a different story around violence, which was the cc mcdonald's story, we've been talking on the show about

jenna talackova, ms. universe. but the cc mcdonald story makes me feel like the trayvon martin story. tell me about the story. >> she was beaten save agely by a group of folks and fought back. and ended up in self-defense killing one of her attackers. she was charged with second degree murder and put in the slammer and that's that. and slayers been no hope of reeping the case and there is a large petition online now, petition drive to free cc. >> this idea that she was victimized, she and a group of others, victimized by hate crimes, all of this transphobic language and in her fighting back, she ends up being the one charged in a certain way, it feels like she stood her ground. >> she did. >> mel, i joked before the break you are running for office, i

wanted to talk a bit about that. nothing like running for office to create public scrutiny. talk about the experience of that? >> it's been an amazing experience to run for office. because it is the case when thaw when we create relationships and are role models in identities, whatever our identity, we can invite new people into that conversation. you just mentioned changing your -- your advocacy beyond our own issue to other issues, and i think when we see other types of people that are marginalized or fractionalized or excluded from groups and we see them, i would build elm patty around that, we engage more people in the conversation, and we look at the bigger picture rather than the people pitting themselves against each other. we need to get down to business. >> but let me ask it. part of the politics of building a big colags, you heard the lgbt

movement, and it's almost like the "t" is dangling there. and a lot of what's on the national agenda, marriage, don't ask don't tell, don't have the same sort of material impact in transcommunity, am i right about that? >> i think almost everything on the gay agenda is part of the transgender agenda. the don't ask don't tell, the one real exception. transgender people are still not allowed to serve in the military. marriage is important, but we have a whole other issues around identification documentation, access to health care in way that's different than gay and bypeople. >> talk to me about the other things. part of what i notice in conversations, people don't often know when you say health care, what do you mean? when you say prison policy. we're talking about cc being imprisoned. i know in the city of new orleans right now, we're managing a case around a

transwoman who was assigned to a male prison, similarly -- talk to me about what those issues are? >> looking at prisons first, transpeople just do often end up in jail because they are tran. cc mcdonald's case, not entire entirely because she is tran, but that exacerbated her predicament quite a bit there is a walking while tran thing, just like walking while black. when trn people get put in jail, sometimes they might be put in the men's jail. a woman might be put in the men's jail or might be put in solitary confinement for years. >> to protect themselves. >> there is this weird notion that transwomen or transpeople will be sexual predators in some ways, when, in fact, it's almost always the exact opposite. >> much more likely to be

victimized by sexual assault. talk to me a bit about coalitions. >> they are well meaning, and they are like, yay, you did it it's over now. and transgender, we're still systematical systematically disincriminated against in housing and employment. it's wonderful that don't ask, don't tell is repealed and there is same-sex marriage is there, but it's perspective. that's great. it's a small step. it should be sell ambulated, but we can't be like victory is upon us. >> we have more, right after the break. [ dad ] i'm usually checking up on my kids, but last year my daughter was checking up on me. i wasn't eating well. she's a dietitian, and she suggests that i try boost complete nutritional drink to help get the nutrition i was missing. now i drink it every day

and i love the great taste. [ female announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to help keep bones strong and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. and our great taste is guaranteed or your money back. learn more at boost.com. [ dad ] i choose great taste. i choose boost. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at nissan, our ideal is innovation. 5 all-new models over the next 15 months, including a completely reimagined altima. welcome to our most innovative year ever. nissan. innovation for all. ♪

the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building

one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ i'm pack with kate bornstein, mara keisling, mel

wymore and allison kilkenny about gender politics. talk to me about marriage equality, which seems like if you ask ordinary americans watching, they think that is the lgbt issue. >> it doesn't include everybody who is breaking some sort of gender rule or some outside sexuality that doesn't hurt anybody, but it's fun for them. so lgbt, with a few clicks you can find 750 other letters. >> alphabet soup of identity. >> exactly. and a spearheading issue of marriage equality doesn't apply to anyone outside of essentially lesbian and gay. it doesn't talk about people who have families that are nontraditional with more than two partners, it was set up to -- marriage itself set to

give up 1,400 civil rights to the couple on behalf of the children. and leaves out who? single moms with kids, and they don't get those 1,400 right, and so it's perceived as a very selfish spearheading issue, and the key to coalition is finding out what values we share. for example, mara during the break was talking about the -- the sexual -- >> the rape elimination act. >> that would affect a lot more people and we could build a stronger coalition. >> tell me again the name of that. >> prison rape elimination act. we expect regs out from the department of justice. marriage equality has to happen, it is systematic discrimination it is going to end, has to end, but i'm actually really concerned what it will do to the lgbt movement. >> if there is a win it all

falls apart. >> or a stalemate. look what happened to the women's rights movement when it became more of a one-issue movement. an issue very important to me, but i do worry about that. >> but also an us/them movement. as we explore the transgender issues involved, we have a lot to say about gender politics in general and if people were really to look at the experience, the real experience of transgender people, we would be able to say gender on the whole, equality, very important. the coalition is between between women and men and transgender, lgbt, those raare all fractions same equation. if we were able to bring an education around that, a bigger conversation, we would make the difference, shift from identity politics to us/them politics. how do we move forward together. time for us to do that.

>> i love that analogy. we think of the 14th amendment, passed in the aftermath of the civil war, the 14th amendment creates american citizenship, full stock. equal protection due process may have happened in result of racial inequality movement. >> if we can get to that level of coalition and start to have conversation likes this, to your credit. having conversations where we are hatching out some issues, labels versus coalition, separation versus togetherness. how do we move forward? what kind of laws can we put into place? >> allison, a quick chance to weigh in. as i listen to you talk about the issue around prisoners versus marriage, one of the reasons marriage is one of the issues versus prisons is a respectability issue. we all want to be nice and

middle class and do all of the things you are supposed to do, versus the subgroups. >> i think by telling people's stories is a big thing. we have a radio show, citizen radio, and we had a gay listener call in or write in, and his name is big gay allen. a shoutout. we talk a lot about occupy wall street, the narrative of the 99% and the 1%. and the lgbt, i consider white gay men the 1%. not to say it's nefarious in any kind of way. they are not noting against the 99%. who is represented in the media? when a lot of americans think the lgbt, the image that pops in the head is a white gay man. you have to show other stories and perspectives, that's just

good journalism. >> oh, yay. good. i'm so thrilled you all joined me. kate and mel, thank you for joining me. mel and allison, you will stick around. and we'll talk about president obama's new housing rule. it may be bigger than ending don't ask don't tell. after the break. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $6.4 billion in new credit to small businesses across the country last year.

because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible.

the chevy cruze eco also offers 42 mpg on the highway. actually, it's cruze e-co, not ec-o. just like e-ither. or ei-ther. or e-conomical.

[ chuckling ] or ec-onomical. pa-tato, po-tato, huh? actually, it's to-mato, ta-mato. oh, that's right. [ laughs ] [ car door shuts ] [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. now very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 chevy cruze ls for around $159 per month. e.p.a. estimated 36 miles per gallon highway. when he was still just a candidate for president, in february of 2008, then-senator obama submitted a completed survey to the houston glbt political caucus, and when asked whether his campaign has a formal written policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity, he said he did, an obama white house will implement a similar nondiscrimination policy. the next two questions asked if he would support a policy for

all federal contractors. he answered yes to both. a friend of the show, metro weekly senior political editor chris gheitner reminded us of this more than a month ago. when the white house didn't comment about when a yes was still a yes. and it became a no when president obama disappointed and vehiclesed gay supporters on wednesday when he decided not to sign executive order banning discrimination by employers with federal contracts. here is the thing, the same administration, just about a month ago, ended the same discrimination against lgbt americans, but this time for any landlord or organization that gets money from the department of housing and urban development. and here is the kicker. they didn't even make a religious exemption to the regulation. faith-based organizations are also bound by it, as religious hospitals are part of the health care system, religious groups provide a lot of temporary

shelter and if they get hud money, you can't discriminate, pe obama administration bans discrimination from housing entities, getting government money and a month or so later, another aspect of the administration doesn't ban it the hud rule is meaningful policy change, one that might get them in a lot of trouble and the failure to sign the executive order, feels like, well, a failure. how do we assess the us are kai wright, author of "drifting toward love." and mara keisling, joy-ann reid, and allison kilkenny, reporter. all right, folks. is there the obama administration succeeding or

failing on these issues? executive order no and yet this very courageous hud rule? >> as you point out, it's great. the hud rule, great policy, but i think what is very clear and the white house articulated this week implicitly is that this administration is not going to be a political leader when it comes to the question of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. keeping with 20 years of democratic party policy. >> it does feel different than the clinton administration, who wasn't a leader, but instituted don't ask don't tell, and here you have the end of don't ask don't tell, and the fair housing thing is not ago in, right? when you look at the pestage of homeless, the issue of often religious organizations that provide housing but won't provide them, won't provide housing around identity, when i first read the rule, i thought,

uh-oh, here comes the contraception fight all over again. >> a little contraryian, think seen as being in the liberal media end of things. i think that lgbt was a little unfair. in the beginning when it came to don't ask, don't tell. there was a demand that executive order be issued. that would bet president not upholding his responsibilities to the full faith and credit of the united states it was a law. congress' burden and congress' responsibility to repeal a law duly on the books. you could use executive order, which isn't true. to indegait the military, 15 years to implement. people forget that and a sense that there is a magic wand that can be waved. the hud rule is not nothing. these are people who are

receiving housing subsidies and they can be directly by the executive. contractors, a little more complicated. defense contractors grandfathered in that you can't just get rid of. how would you preplace a general dynamics? it's a bit more complicated and the ball should be back in the court of congress and people need to be fair and spread the responsibility to congress. >> that said, maura, you had a very powerful statement in response to the president's refusal to sign the executive order, saying president obama right now has the power to stop tra tra transemployees from getting fired on the jochbl despite the fact that things need to be piece meal. >> we're really disappointed. personally disappointed. we need a little perspective. first of all, very important. they didn't say no. they said no, not now.

we are hear no all the time and no doesn't mean nothing. we get past no. second, a lot is happening. courts are saying, yeah, transpeople protected by againer anti discrimination laws, and all through out the administration, agreeing with that in lots of big ways and little ways. we need the executive order and the department of labor's ofccp, the contract compliance office to investigate things and pass the employment nondiscrimination act and a whole host of other things. you know what? we're getting them. i know transpeople and our organization, we're going to keep working them. no don't mean nothing and president obama will be part of the solution. he has been if you line up everything he's done for transpeople and lgbt people, there isn't a president in second place. >> i like that. >> you know, not enough, not fast enough, sure, we're all

frustrated by that, but we're getting a lot done. >> the one step forward, two step back thing, every fight we've ever fought since the beginning of time, you know, and dealing with clinton and then obama, clinton, abysmal on gay rights, i don't think it's a question of -- i have to disagree a little bit. i think the lgbt community has a right to be supermad. i think anger is a good thing it fuels a movement to counter the wrongs that have been thrust upon them, so i'm actually encouraged any time i see people, you know, really fired up and angry at the president. good, maybe this will motivate the base. >> i have to push back on some of this. there are two separate questions, right? the question of policy making and policy making is a complicated and difficult process. have you things to think about like the defense contractors and a whole lot to debate. and then there is the question of leadership. political leadership and what

the white house has said it's congress' problem. it's what they said don't ask don't tell. what it's saying on this issue and it's what the party has often said, we won't take political leadership, and here is why that's a problem. the right has made very clear over the course of the last 20 years, they will use lgbt issues as a divisive sfors force in ev elective cycle. we learned about a month ago, there was a leaked memo from the leading organization. >> we'll wedge between blacks and -- >> similarly use gay issues to drive a wedge between the democratic party and black people and latinos. and it's a divisive strategy and absent the president or somebody else standing up and taking the leadership in the political space, that's what fills the space. >> we'll take a quick break, and we'll continue this conversation. a nod to legendary tv journalist

bi gil noble. he hosted "like it is." on a personal note, when i was creating owe melissa harris-perry," i looked to his show for inspiration. his loved ones are in my thoughts and prayers. we'll be right back. i went to a small high school. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us. free-credit-score-dot-com'sur boargonna direct you ♪ts ♪ ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪

♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™.

but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. mate it, i'llback.

they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. so we're continuing our conversation about the obama administration's stances, that means plural on discrimination when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity. joining us, kai wright, author of "drifting toward love" black, brown, gay and coming of age on the streets of. mara keisling, joy-ann reid, of the grio and allison kilkenny. before we went to break, we were talking about leadership and

regardless of policy issue there is a leadership role. i wanted to talk quickly about the hud rule a bit more, because mitt romney on friday is still talking about president owe beca obama and the contraception rule. i wanted to listen to obama on this. >> the obama administration decided it had the power to mandate what catholic charities and catholic schools and catholic hospitals must cover in their insurance plans for their employees. well, here we are just getting started with obama care, and the federal government is already dictating to reridgeous groups on matters of doctrine and conscious. >> here is my question. really, legitimately a question for this panel. if they are still hammering on contraception, which feels like a consensus issue among americans, like that people should have access to contraception and using encro h encroachment on faith-faced

issues. aren't we 15 seconds from them saying the obama administration trying to force religious organizations to accept lgbt people when they won't. why would a religious organization not have the same sort of eligibleity policy. but it feels like there is a brewing cultural moment happening. >> we have not fully gotten his etch-a-sketch out yet. so i don't know. the tone may change and i think that may be part of the white house political office's calculation on this. they expect that they will be able to keep lgbt issues out of the conversation. that's what democrats expect, and it never works. you will see it play out. it may or may not play out at the presidential discussion, but you will see it play out at the state level. they hit the lgbtscape goating,

thrive up voter turnout and donations at the state level and congressional races. >> in some ways this is a dumb gamble by romney and conservatives. they are still playing the game as if it were 40 years ago, young voters much more accepting of lgbt people and really for gay marriage. it sounds really dated when people get up there and tries to use scare tactics. right, but that's my neighbor. >> or my senator. >> or me. >> exactly. >> who is the audience with this? i agree with you. i don't understand who the audience is. even younger conservatives are not interested in this issue. much more liberal on lgbt issues. this feels like a primary strategy if they take it to the general it won't help with independents, suburban white voters it will only give them the people they already got. older white, religious voters. >> i'm worried about the

discourse. i tuesday a lot too. young people don't care about this, because we need you to care about this, particularly if the driving issues in an lgbt aend gentleman are lg issues and we need people to understand and care and worry about concerns of transamericans. >> and frankly, i think conservatives have done us a real favor by attacking lgbt people, i don't know how else to say this. it means we're part of who you defend if you are a reasonable person. >> that is lovely. >> and i thank probably gets me in trouble in some quarters, we wren on the map before we started accident tacks this much. and real people who have transkids, who work with gay people, they know we're not the scary monsters that everybody says, and now everybody knows, every reasonable person knows we exist, not a choice. in some ways, it set us back a

little. but it's turbo charged us a bit. >> my point about the leadership question. you don't win a fight unless you have a fight, and if one side is say i saying let's be afraid of these people and do things to make their lives awful and other side says we don't want to talk about it then are you getting beat up. if you see it as an opportunity and you are, in fact, being a leader, and you are, in fact, interested in the unity that this president is passionate about, then you see this as an opportunity, hey, let's lead the country in a conversation about -- the and the stakes are high. the stakes are much higher than partisan politics and so it's an opportunity when you have fights to lead. >> it's a tough critique between the powerful rhetoric that you in part need in order to shift american values, but also the just very real plodding, you know, policy making the obama

administration has been surprisingly good at in health care, in housing, you know. >> i iraq. >> and other issues. >> very workmanlike administrations. one of the contracts, barack obama, rhetorically powerful. when he wants to be. when he did the speech on race during the campaign. we will get this done. >> they arer ins. >> they are nertds. they belong in nerdland. >> you do need both. and i hate to use this term. you need to have the branding campaign with it. you do this agregressive work behind the scenes and it sort of magically appears, people don't know to give the obama administration credit for something like that, and they see he doesn't sign this executive order and that's very public, and you are just fighting us now, not helping anymore. >> it impacts what policy gets

made. i'm sorry. a lot of people in a workman like way happen halfway. because they happen absent leadership. >> we'll leave it there. i think this will be a continuing issue into the election season. we'll see whether or not we touched off a new culture. in a few minutes, i'll share my thoughts on hillary clinton's latest incarceration. first, time for a preview with "weekends with alex witt" with thomas roberts sitting in. >> at the top of the hour, only the section time weather officials gave such an early warning. overnight, five people died after more than 120 tornadoes reported in the midwest in plains, what's in store for today? tax day. guess what? it's almost here. we're taking on a different twist. how much does the fed bring in and then give back on your taxes? we explore. and the buffett rule, a lot

misconcepts about who would benefit. we tackle that in fact or fiction. and da via, 560 years old. surprising facts about the artist's mysterious old. i broke out my most tiffany blue tie. >> thank you, thomas. >> okay. up next -- a brand new definition of cool. [ male announcer ] for two years in a row, j.d. power and associates has ranked quicken loans "highest in customer satisfaction

in the united states." call or go to quickenloans.com to discover for yourself why we're engineered to amaze. to discover for yourself water was meant to be perfect. crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita.

for my footnote this week, a lesson we learned on the power of the image. 20 years ago, the press was excited about hillary clinton. reading her as a kind of a cool version of eleanor roosevelt. the clinton campaign ran on the notion of a two for one deal. and the new first lady entered the white house as a true partner. truly the first of her kind. she was the last first lady of the 20th century, but hillary was the "first outlook" lady not

primarily defined by her husband. she had her own law degree, her own career, her own voice. she was the embodiment of a new generation of women coming into their own. a huge break with nancy reagan and barbara bush. she was a self-avowed political junkie who famously said, i could have stayed home and baked cookies and had tea. but what i decided to do was fulfill my profession. hillary had her own agenda and she was hated for it the headbands and scrunchies not dignified for a first lady. the policy work on health care, not appropriate for a first lady. the philandering by her husband, not becoming for a first lady. but most of all, not cool, none of it was cool. not the pantsuits, not the questionable land deals, not the claim of vast right wing conspiracies, not cool, i'm sorry, none of it -- cool. then came her own presidential campaign with the crafted messaging and staged imagery. rare were the moments when we felt we were seeing the real

hillary. yes, there were the whiskey shots in indiana and the choked-back tears in new hampshire. those were the few moments where even if she didn't seem cool, hillary at least seemed human, likable enough. but then came this photo. taken by diana walker for "time" magazine. honestly, cool doesn't even seem to do justice to this picture. let's face it, madam secretary looks downright bad-ass. there she is on her c-17 jetting around the world to resolve international crises, sunglasses on, blackberry in hand, calm and in control and it gets viral. two d.c.-based communications specialists created a blog, texts if hillary on the popular web host tumblr. they tooked clinton photo and turned it into this i love that these are the ideas she's actually thinking. the smackdown of ryan gosling, the ribbing of mark zuckerberg, the dismissing of sarah palin.

the utter control. for as much as we have known her for two decades, maybe we've never actually heard her voice. she has always worked beside or bow hind some powerful men and has always been very aware of their and her own political future. this site is a peek into the possibility of what hillary unchained would or could say. it's kind of reimagination of what a whole generation of women would do if we really did run the world. and that is our show for today. thank you to kai wright, joanne reed and allison killkenny for sticking around. i will see you next saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern. coming up, "weekends with alex wi witt. ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy

[ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ]

and used by moms decade after decade. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. hi, everybody, it's high noon in the east,