davies. where is that lousy law when you need it? black girls in tutus, breaking barriers with pairouettes. and the truth about truth. and first, making the case of america, better, stronger and faster than ever before. yesterday afternoon, we were all reintroduced to an old acquaint answance in four years. president barack obama took off his jacket and tie and rolled up his sleeves, and, poof! transformed back into candidate obama. >> hello, ohio!

>> and with those words, before a crowd of 14,000 at ohio state university, he officially launched his campaign to reclaim the presidency. he followed that up with a repeat performance, only hours later in richmond, v.a., at virginia commonwealth university. so president obama wasted no time framing this not as a referendum on his presidency with a question, you can get with this, or you can get with that. >> now we face a choice. for the last few years, the republicans who run this congress have insisted that we go right back to the policies that created this mess. republicans in congress have found a nominee for president whose promised to rubber stamp this agenda if he gets the chance. ohio, i tell you what. we cannot give him that chance.

not now, not with so much at stake. >> and in addressing the economy, the issue with the highest stakes for most voters, president obama had to strike a delicate balance. he needed to make the case for why his freshly minted campaign theme forward describes the general direction of the economy, while also acknowledging that there is still a long way to go. >> the economy is still facing headwinds. and it will take sustained, persistent effort, yours and mine, for america to fully recover. that's the truth. we all know it. but we are making progress. >> now, if you're governor mitt romney, some progress is not enough. and it's that question, somehow america doing, that's at the heart of this election. the answer, according to conventional wisdom, is that the country has declined to the point that it's almost

unrecognizable as what was once the most powerful nation on the planet. devastated by economic down turn fr that we have yet to recover. status as a world superpower. it's a bleak outlook. an author daniel gross takes an entirely different view. the decline is a complete and total myth. the great recession of 2008 and 2009 was at the beginning of a down turn he argues but the beginning of a rebirth, and we simply don't recognize the new improved america yet, because it's lost a lot of weight. gross writes, the u.s. economy has come back better, stronger, and faster than most analysts expected and more than most of its peers. gross argues its private sector has reinvented itself and reemerged as more productive, efficient and better prepared for success in the future global economy and this narrative proclaims it is indeed the dawn of a new day.

just one that is markedly different from what ronald reagan looked out upon when he pronounced it was morning in america, 1984. if this rebuke to mitt romney from candidate obama is true -- >> corporations aren't people. people are people. >> if that is true, then that new morning for america's private corporations means that not everyone is going to see the light of day. so daniel daniel gross here wite at the table. "better, stronger, faster, the myth of the american decline and the rise of the new economy." he is also co-host of the daily ticker at yahoo! finance. also with me is alice stewark. also, perry bacon jr., msnbc political contributor and author

at thegrio.com. and kelly haul-tom kins. thank you for being here. >> daniel, your article, and the book has nerdland in a tizzy. we're trying to decide if this is the best news we can imagine, that, in fact, we have really just sort of given into a rhetoric of decline, but we're not in decline, or whether or not when you say we're doing better, you really mean corporations, you don't mean we are doing better. >> i'm just saying after that, your introduction, i'm attempted to just call it a day. all these sources of decline, obama is a ists according to the right. and the reality, our economy, on the aggregate, has come back.

larger than before the recession. we have took this immense fall. none of us had ever seen anything like this. >> so you are not arguing that we did not dip into a really massive recession? >> we had the worst -- >> one longer and harder than anybody alive. >> 2009 was a 1933 moment. and in 1933, everyone said we had this socialist in charge, and mussolini has this great economy italy and stalin is expanding and power in asia that's expanding too. japan. we're helpless. we have high unemployment. and we got fdr and got back on track and it was the public and private sector. my argument is that the public sector did just enough to stave off catastrophe, and the private sector, instead of setting on its rear, restructured, a lot with the help of their own, consumers have done so at a slower pace, but the real

question is the ability to engage the world. u.s. is the number one exporter. we export more than any other countries. exports have risen 30% as we are allegedly declining. >> this is the widea we do make things that people want. i'm going through your evidence. ist not just a claim. you bring evidence that we bring 104% increase in the s & p 500 since march 2009. in addition to sort of exporting things we also in all of this, 62 million foreign tourists visited u.s. and leave their dollars here. 4 million private sector jobs since february 2010. and $2.1 trillion in exports since 2010. >> obama's war on profits going really badly. >> so if we buy daniel's argument, does this suck the air out of the room for mitt romney and for republicans who are

saying you have to give it back to us so we can improve the private sector? if this is, in fact, the private sector leaner, better, stronger, faster. >> i appreciate your optimism and the book looks at the rosy picture. with the jobs report that came out it's a dismal picture and president obama's policies to blame for that. we have above 8% unemployment for the longest period in recorded history. >> just barely. pretty soon you won't be able to say that anymore. >> when that day comes, we won't say it anymore. median house cold income dropped $4,000. that's a lot of money to people. gas prices have tripled -- have doubled. $15 trillion debt and this is because of the policies with president owe graema. he said after he took office if he cannot turn the economy around this is a one-term proposition. i'm anxious to hold his feet to the fire on that. >> despite our disagreement around sort of the idea it's

president obama's policies that are responsible for this, i do absolute al free with you on is that ordinary americans are not feeling better stronger and faster. they are still feeling a lot of pain at the kitchen table, at the gas pump. even though we disagree at the source, that pain could be used by republicans. >> unemployment 8.2%. black unemployment 13% in some cities, 20% in other cities. is it a case that american corporations, maybe americans themselves individually are not doing that particular well. but they will get better as the -- recession is two years old, but it will get better? >> no question, typical worker is doing worse than they were four years ago. also doing worse than they were in 1999. people talk about japan's lost decade. we had our lost decade.

1999 to 2009, no income growth, no return for assets of any kind. what we receive, companies doing extraordinarily well, investors doing extraordinarily well, the consumer and the worker, not so much, because the companies are keeping much more of the pie. making a lot more pizzas, all being delivered to park avenue. that's the issue. so for our recovery to continue, companies have to start to give it up. and by that i mean they have to start paying more dividends, more taxes, more wages and benefits and they have to start hiring people. 3.5 million jobs open in the u.s. and not filling them because they are concerned about whether the demand will be there. so there's plenty of work to be done. >> what i find interesting about this, i want to ask you about this. we talked a bit about american exceptionalism in part as the argument that romney has put out against the president. the president doesn't have an american exceptionalist argument he claims. now, this is -- i kept struggling with this -- with the

argument that you make here, daniel. it feels like a kind of american exceptionalism argument, but also it kept crying out to me for a little more of the spread -- spread the wealth argument, which like politically, i'm not sure how you make both of those arguments. we are doing great. oh, yeah, we need to spread the wealth. >> it's the verb. we can do really well. i thought was really interesting about the opening conversation was you had two different sets of facts featured. the facts we feature matter. ask yourself, how did you feel with fact set one and fact set two? in fact set two, you are worried about the future. you're not that sure we'll be able to get there. fact set one, yes, we still have the same problems, but now you're more optimistic. how be feel about the strength of the economy matters, over and above all the data. and we thank from social psychology. i read that article and i felt better about what we can do.

that matters. >> stay right there. we'll ask if this fact set is a useful one for going forward. and whether or not america is really stronger. oh, yeah and we'll talk about george clooney later. [ female announcer ] with swiffer wetjet, cleaning better, doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm going to... drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] mops can be a hassle, but swiffer wetjet's spray cleaner and absorbent pads can clean better in half the time so you don't miss a thing. swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. and for dry messes big and small try swiffer sweeper vac.

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we're here today talking about two comebacks, the return of candidate obama and the rebounds of a leaner, meaner american economy. still with me, daniel gross and alice stewark, perry bake ann jr. and kathleen haul jamieson.

i want to turn back to this question that we are discussing did they get better, stronger, and faster on the backs of american workers? if so how do we get to where president obama is sort of framed yesterday, where he said it's not just about getting back, but about getting back for fairly. >> no question. business, responded more quickly. so much more ruthless about cutting obligations. if you are a company and own $10 billion, you file for chapter 11 and it's gone if three weeks. if you are a consumer and owe a couple hundred thousand on your mortgage, that takes you two or three years to get out of. so they respond much more quickly. companies are able to get into overseas markets where growth is. can do that better than an individual can. the best -- you know, the way we get gains for workers sustained growth. that's what happened in the '90s. the labor market got tight, companies said we have to start paying people more to take these jobs. we're such a far -- so far from that. because we have so much slack in the labor market.

the strength of unions has declined and no sanction from government at any level to companies that say, you know, you really should be paying a living wage. paying health insurance. so they are able to do this. so part of it is the private sector doing what it does naturally and part of the is a failure of the public sector, mainly political system to say there are norms of behavior for corporations and we want to hold you to them. and that's fair on both republicans and democrats. >> obama's biggest accomplishment i guess you could call it. his biggest failure, obama care, harmful to corporations. harmful to businesses. it doesn't help them. many of them are facing financial hardships. >> why would it be harmful. really imicalpaiimpimicily, u.s

giveaway to american insurance companies and if every american is carrying health insurance, shouldn't it reduce the burden on employers to provide health insurance for new employees? if they got it by the time they end up in the labor market? >> i believe we'll find out from the supreme court that aspect of obama care will be unconstitutional. right off the bat, probably going to be an unconstitutional aspect of obama care. we're hearing story after story, corporations, businesses large and small, that are facing terrible financial hardships already due to obama care, and we can't have that, that's the biggest signature achievement in his campaign. >> also the whole killing of osama bin laden thing, which we heard this week. >> obama spent much of 2011 basically begging corporations. have you huge amounts of property, please hire more people. i don't know what more he can say. he will shift it to the you won't hire anyone, so we will tax the wealthy more.

>> the public sector has shed a million jobs. >> and it shed them largely -- >> by choice. >> by state governments, often republican-led state governments shedding public sector workers, we have to be clear, teachers, firefighters, police officers and that sort of thing. >> i have been to probably 30 states, many countries, talking to business people and companies that are growing, and the number of times that somebody has said, you know, i'm really having a problem because of this health care mandate that's coming in 2014 is zero. when you go out to north dakota, where they are shipping all the food they can make overseas and they are drilling for oil and natural gas like nobody's business, nobody talks about health insurance. the issue for businesses is whether you have growth and demand. whether customers are showing up with money to pay. and that's the thing that matters the most. >> and growth in demand requires american consumption.

this is a point of angst for me. there was a moment when to be a great patriot meant to sacrifice. we were looking at this great image of world war iwh edith wi brought in to mow the lawn of the white house, because you had to -- everyone was in a mode of sacrifice, meatless mondays and all that sort of thing. but now it feels like in order to be a patriotic american, are you supposed to consume. are you supposed to buy. that's the thing that then drives demand. should we, like as consumers also be leaner and stronger and faster, rather than the idea that we need more and more bigger houses, bigger cars, that sort of thing? >> i think people are doing that out of necessity. people have to balance their own checkbook and with all due respect to the research did you with your book, traveling across the country and perry has done the same too. people at town halls and meetings across the country, they are concerned about the economy, they are concerned about jobs, concerned about the direction that our country is going and president obama, that's why he wants to look

forward and not back this will be a referendum on his record. and his record is one of broken promises, not of achievement. we have someone like mitt romney, a record of accomplishment, in building a successful business, in creating jobs, and turned the "olympics around. he cut taxes 19 times. >> he does have a record of accomplishment in the private sector, but the public sector looks surprisingly like president owe brabama's, a majo health care plan for the citizens of his state and of president obama's. people in america do feel like, boy, we're in a bad place. part of why daniel's book is so counterintuitive. there is a narrative, as you point out. a narrative. you know, that we're in a really

bad place. but we are perhaps more nimble perhaps than the framing would suggest. >> two other factors. we now have squeezed every amount of productivity of the available workforce. we had hit the capoff of productivity squeezing. second, this isn't really an election that is based on everybody's perceptions across the whole economy. virginia, unemployment down, against the national average. ohio, down against the national average and republican governors want to argue that jobs are being increased because they are taking part of the responsibility and hence the credit in that environment, very difficult for republicans to say, wait a minute, no, jobs, things are really awful. those are a republican governor that wants to take credit. >> that's really useful. there is a state by state narrative. coming up, why i'm all about guns at the gop convention. seriously. later this hour, stand your ground in reverse.

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on tuesday, florida governor rick scott shot down a request by public buck horn. what was the mayor asking for? executive order to ban guns outside of tampa's republican convention in order to better protect police and citizens. the nerve of him, right? who is the mayor to say people can't carry concealed weapons. i say let them carry guns to their convention. what? you didn't think i would say that not like 100,000 people shot in america a year. and 20,000 victims are teens and 87 people die daily from gun violence. no. why does the mayor need the governor's help. not like there's a 2011 florida state law that prohibits cities from passing their own gun

regulations. oh, wait, actually there is. but none of that matters. how could it? a recent poll found in the last three years, between 65% and 72% of republicans says it's more important to protect gun rights than worry about silly old gun control. even top dog mitt romney gave his two cents at the nra convention in missouri. >> we need a president who will stan up for the rights of hunters and sportsmen and those who seek to protect their homes and their families. president obama has not. i will. and if we're going to safeguard our second amendment, time to elect a president that will defend the rights that president obama ignores or minimizes. i had protect the rights of the mesh people. >> see? romney isn't going to let some mayor try to take away your rights to bring guns outside the republican national convention. he will be safe, since the secret service has banned weapons inside the arena, but

outside, it's every gun permit holding floridian for themselves. it should be fine for local police officers, and how concerned is the mayor really? even he said i believe that there is no reason to have a concealed firearm in downtown tampa that week and to be clear, i am far less concerned with those who have concealed weapons permits, than the ones who may acquire a weapon and use it to create mayhem. all right, mr. mayor, you're concerned about the boogieman. come one, come all. this is florida, stand your ground, conceal and carry your permits and your guns. you don't have to worry about a 17-year-old carrying a bag of candy being shot because of flawed gun laws, or someone shooting you just because they feel threatened. maybe you do. but at least you'll look cool, because you're carrying a gun. coming up, the story of one woman who stood her ground and why she's behind bars, up next. for three hours a week, i'm a coach.

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the trayvon martin murder case has exposed the problematic stand your ground laws in florida and several other states. this week, the state of florida began to take a hard look at it. as the panel directed by governor rick scott begins monday. many people will be there to say stand your ground shouldn't protect george zimmerman. many will be there to ask why stand your ground didn't protect marissa alexander. you should know she's the defendant in another controversial florida case. alexander, a 31-year-old mother of three who alleges she was confronted and attacked by her abusive husband in 2010. she fired one warning shot from her gun into the kitchen ceiling to keep him away and for that, she was denied immunity under stand your ground.

her motion for a retrial was denied on thursday and marissa faces 20 years in prison if convicted on three counts of aggravated assault. let me clear again, marissa did not shoot her husband. she shot the kitchen ceiling. and is facing 20 years. if a survivor of domestic violence uses a gun to warn an attacker, not kill him and that survivor now faces a prison term of 20 years, then what purpose does stand your ground serve? joining to us discuss that is elizabeth schneider, professor of law at brooklyn law school. an expert in the field of federal civil litigation, gender and domestic violence, and nona willis avonowitz. and kim dadu, a survivor of domestic violence who sat in jail for 17 years after being found guilty of manslaughter in the first degree for killing her abusive boyfriend after years of abuse. she's now a member of new york's

coalition of women prisoners. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> kim, i want to start with you. we started with marissa's story, and i think it's useful for people watching to really understand the -- the human faces behind this. can you tell me just a bit about your case and about your experiences. >> sure. i want to thank you, all, for the opportunity to be here. i want to first say that after 20 years, i can tell my story and someone will actually listen. i was in an abusive relationship for almost five years, and i ended up killing him in an act of self-defense during an abusive incident. it was the first time i had ever fought back, and i killed him. and it was not intentional. as a result, i served 17 years

in prison. there is no self-defense law in new york state, unless you are met with equal force, and i see it as the system, revictimizing domestic violence victims. >> kim, thank you. it's really useful for us to know that in part. because, i want to point out, that kim's case, marissa's case, these are not exceptions, right? in many ways, this is the rule of what occurs for women and for men who are in situations of domestic violence. can you tell us about the landscape we're looking at here? >> the landscape is as you describe. i'm a lawyer and a law professor and since the 1970s, actually, i've worked on cases and written about problems of cases involving self-defense, involving battered women that either kill or assault, and these are terrible cases.

and they are cases in which women like kim often serve a very long period of time. they are convicted by juries or sent to prison for long terms by judges. in general, like all the laws, they are laws that are always taken into account, in terms of the context, and where you have abusive situations, where you have abuse, for example, as opposed to the trayvon martin kind of situation, the kinds of understandings that judges and juries bring show a lack of understanding of the history of abuse, a lack of sensitivity to women who have experienced abuse, and a sense that these women cannot be reasonable, which is a critical facet of what the self-defense laws require, and so you see not only i want to say sadly in this country, but i've also worked on cases around the globe, you see

this around the world. >> exactly that sense of like who are these women, who are in situations of abuse? somehow it makes it feel as though they are not the perfect victim in the way that a trayvon martin is. i have been obviously part of a whole group of people wanting and calling for justice on the trayvon case there have been basically a social movement around trayvon martin. we've seen the crowds gathering in florida, and yet very little on marissa alexander's case. despite the fact that this woman, again, is facing 20 years in jail for having not shot someone. for having shot a kitchen ceiling is there something about our inability to see these women as the right kind of victim in some way? >> i think part of the is the problem of telling domestic violence stories in general. i think there is so much history there, he said, she said, she, you know, threw something at him. he called her a name.

with trayvon martin, we had this one scene, this image of him with skittles and iced tea. with marissa, after she got out on bond, she went and attacked him. she threatened him, they have years of -- she should have known that he was a -- >> right. she should have known is a pretty common refrain. why did she say? also, by the way, she was nine days after having given birth when this incident occurred. >> right, even when i was reading it, i think i have even been conditioned to be like, wow, so many personal details here this is not going to become a meam. >> let me ask you about the circumstances you found yourself in really even since. part of what i want to drive home here is that those 17 years in jail for you had not just the effect of those 17 years, but life altering. can you talk to me a little bit about that? >> well, yeah. spending 17 years in prison, of course, i lost the opportunity

to build and have a family of my own. you know, when in happened, i had a very good job, i had a career started, and i lost it all. i had my five-year plan. he was the man of my dreams, and i lost it all. and i want to make a point. you just said that they ask why didn't she leave? >> right. >> why is the victim blamed in a domestic violence situation? ist buit's bullying within the home. there's a big outcry against bullying, but that's what domestic violence is. it's bullying in the home. why didn't you leave? i was reading on marissa's case and it says that they said she should have left through the front door or through the back door and not the garage. well, you know what? i say to those people, i am so glad you've never known that kind of fear that paralyzes you,

or that kind of fear or that kind of danger that prevents you from going out the front door or the back door, and you're trapped within your own home. and how -- how can you blame the victim? you don't blame a rape victim for being raped because she had on tight jeans. why do you blame a domestic violence victim for staying in her own home? >> kim, that -- >> you're revictimizing the victim. >> to me that is so useful and so important in part to recognize that -- that juries and judges are making exactly those sorts of judgments as they are looking at a case like yours. or like marissa's. >> one thing i want to add to what kim said which i completely agree with, in many situations involving women who have experienced violence or experienced abuse, actually we do blame them. i mean, ironically. >> sexual assault. >> the situation kim just mentioned about the tight jeans

is an example of the fact that the way we do look at and judges and jurors do look at what the woman was wearing and whether or not she was in a hotel room or whatever. so there is a lot of different legal situations in which women have experienced violence in which the law shifts and looks at what was their behavior, and, you know, was she recently or appropriate or whatever, based on some often racially based or socially based gender norms. >> when we come back, we'll talk about questions about whether or not we can intervene in law, practice, and policy to address this double standard for women who are standing their ground, right after the break. ho room i. [ woman #2 ] even my laundry started to get a funny smell. [ female announcer ] got a bad odor in your high-efficiency washer? clean it with tide washing machine cleaner. [ female announcer ] three uses will help remove odor-causing residues and leave your washer clean and fresh.

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victim of domestic violence who is facing 20 years in prison, and many people feel she should have been protected by the stand your ground law. back with me, elizabeth schneider, nona willis avonowitz and kim dadou. i want to turn to you. tell me a little more about this case. does this marissa alexander case end up where it is right now? >> it's important to understand the history of the case as i understand it. under florida law, the judge could have made a decision to basically say that as a result of her self-defense claim, she was immune from prosecution, and the judge refused to do that in a motion even before the trial. as a result of denying that immunity motion, the judge then sent the case to the jury. and the jury convicted in 12 minutes. then have you -- >> and she's been prosecuted.

a jury looks at this mother of three who gave birth nine days before, shot the kitchen ceiling, and they find her guilty in 12 minutes. but the prosecutor is angela quarry, the same woman who is prosecuting george zimmerman. >> she will be addressing more fully the differences. the jury convicts -- we don't know what is presented fully at the trial. the jury convicts after 12 minutes and then this week, a motion for vacating the conviction, and for retrial, and it was denied by the judge. what's also going on here is that in florida, have you a mandatoman mandatory minimum sentence, just for having the gun and shooting it up into the ceiling, she is facing 20 years in jail. so there is a lot of effort in florida to also challenge the

mandatory minimum aspect of this case as well. >> right. mandatory minimums will protect us all from criminals. suddenly we see it occurring in a real-life situation like this. >> yeah, i think the bigger cultural problem of what we think of is private versus public in the case of trayvon martin, it was i guess in a different narrative this is an outrage. somebody coming into my neighborhood and disrupting the peace. >> happens on the street between two strangers. >> and he's a righteous victim because here is the scary young black kid in marissa's case, that's her problem. u.s. a private issue. we used to have the same exact reaction to marital rape which was legal until the late '70s, in some cases the early '90s. we have this private/public divide. we have to break that down when we tell these stories. >> kim, i want to ask you about this. in part, because you have gone

from survivor to now activist. what do you see as the way we can begin to address these questions as a matter of policy. >> right now, i'm working with the correctional association of new york. of course, i'm a member -- i'm their upstate liaison, and we have proposed a bill called the domestic violence justice act which is a first of its kind in this country, and there's a couple other states that have taken notice in our bill and it would allow judges to have the discretion when it comes to sentencing, and not have to go by these mandated sentences. they would take notice of mitigating factors and take notice of a domestic violence defense which was nerve entered, and never even looked at in my case, because they said i didn't

fit the depiction of a bat erred woman because i had a career and everything. >> oh, my gosh. you weren't cowering in the corner. >> right. exactly. i had a career, money in the bank, a couple cars, so they said i didn't look like a battered woman. and i'm like really? this isn't alleged blood, bruises, busted lips, black eyes, it's not alleged. and it wasn't an alleged incident. but getting back to the bill, it would give judges the discretion for alternatives to sentencing, alternatives to incarceration programs, and not have to go by the state mandated sentences. and we're not saying let people get away with murder. we're saying this would apply to very few. but a skre important few. and marissa would not be in the situation she's in right now if this bill were imposed in florida. >> we know, also, it's less

expensive to a state, new york spends about 55,0$55,000 a year incarcerate someone. alternatives to incarceration are about $11,000 a year. we're going to head out on the segment at the moment. but i appreciate all of you for being here. we'll keep our eyes on marissa's case and i want to point out, in recent studies, we're looking at nine in ten of incarcerated women are often -- have been the victims of either childhood or teen sexual abuse or are victims of adult domestic violence. when we see those numbers. nearly 90% of the women that we incarcerate are victims and survivors, it changes our idea of what incarceration is. thank you to my guests, elizabeth schneider, nona willis avonowitz and kim dadou. up next, making art accessible to underserved

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what do you want to be when you grow up? for some little girls, the sans ballerina. for too many, the dream is out of reach. accessibility to the arts is a problem in many community. harlem uptown dance academy lost its rehearsal space, and they are still working to get it back. prince and misty copeland have donated efforts to the cause. the dance academy's founder and director, robin williams is determined to regain her space and make dance more accessible to the community. take a look. >> necks are long. my name is robin williams, and i'm the founder of the uptown dance academy. i love teaching kids. i've got a passion for it. one of the biggest lessons they

learn is how to be committed to something, and striving to be the best you can be in something. >> i got accepted to american ballet theater, it's actually really good, because the more places i train, the more i know. >> people sometimes think the arts is just a recreational, fun thing, and they forget about funding it, but it's something that'll really important. just go all the way on the leg. a lot of times when i'm teaching, like to use visuals, and it's hard. because when i show the kids pictures of ballet, the first thing they say is i don't see anybody that looks like me. it doesn't send a welcoming message to them. now that misty is here, and she is in the american ballet theater, they can see pictures of kids in classical ballet. >> i like to dance, because it makes me happy. >> it let's me feel like a part of something more and gives me something to do.

>> i dance because it really helps me get out my emotions. >> people are not used to seeing african-americans in ballet. now, in the 21st century, we're able to be in ballet companies, but of the majority of african-american and latino people, still feel like, oh, that's an art form that's not for us. the majority of the people in this neighborhood only don't make more than $30,000 a year. the kids in the community, can't afford to go to the bigger schools. part of our mission is not only to train community kids in our unique style, but also to expose the community to a new, unique form of dance they can relate to. they are used to seeing hip-hop and things like that, so we mix it so they can relate to it and they say, oh ms, my god, ballet

cool and they research and get deeper into it and love classical ballet. >> when i dance, it feels like i'm dancing on a cloud and i'm in heaven with god. >> and coming up, one little girl who did make her dream of dancing on a cloud come true. the ground breaking misty copela copeland, right here in the studio. stay right there. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. 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.

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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. ♪ okay, without getting too pbs on everyone, it's time to talk about the arts, why? because alec baldwin says so. the "30 rock" star urged law makers to fund the arts. art is essential for us to be a great country. i agree. art isn't just glitz and glamor and it's much more than the usual suspects. so if i say the names beyonce or nikki minaj, my guess is most of

you know these stars. what about raven willinginson or flo florence prince? they were ground breaking minneso african-american women. what about their contemporaries? can you name any? here is a hint. five short years ago, a talented young dancer became the first african-american soloist at american ballet theater, america's national ballet company. i am joined by none other than the tallented ballerina, misty copeland. >> i'm happy to be here. >> i'm deeply interested in the arts as fundamental to who we are as a country and this idea that arts don't belong in serious conversation seems wrong to me. make the case for the fine arts for me. >> i mean, i just think that it's so much a vital part of a child's growth in every way. i did not have any exposure to

the arts until i was 13 years old. and i found out through the boys and girls club, not through my public school. but luckily, the boys and girls club have grown even more, having me be part of american ballet theater, added state of the art ballet studios to boys and girls clubs all over the united states so that's so near and dear to my heart to have them expand in that way. but it's so important. just in the growth of our minds, as children, and bodies. >> and 13 is actually a late bloomer for a ballerina? >> yes, very late. >> looking at the lovely children in the package before, and they are little tiny people and usually by six or seven, we determine whether or not you have the talent to be in the nutcracker. how at 13 did you discover that this was both your talent and passion? >> it definitely discovered me. i had never seen a ballet, i knew nothing about it, and i had a teacher that reached out to me

and introduced me to the world of classical ballet, and she saw potential in me and knew i had what it took to be a professional dancer, so in four years, i committed myself completely to it, and four years later, i was dancing for american ballet theater. it's very rare, our bodies nit rally have to be molded assith growing, before the body changes, so i was meant to do it. >> and yet even as you say that, i was meant to do it, and the sense of ease, watching you dance feels like as the young girl was saying, dancing on a cloud. but it's really quite difficult, just for viewers who may not themselves be ballet lovers, talk to me about what it means in terms of training, and what it -- that kind of day-to-day basis, being a ballerina, what is that? >> it takes so much dedication and discipline. that's why it's so great for a young child to experience something like that. i had nothing like that in my life that was organized and

disciplined. but, you know, i always say this is not the kind of field you enter to become famous. it takes so much work, that you have to love it. i go on stage because i enjoy the gratification i get from it. i think there is more work that goes into it than, you know, what we get out of it. he hearing the audience's response, knowing i'm touching one young girl and hopefully opening her mind to this world, that's why i do it. >> it feels to me -- when you talk about touching one young girl. part of the young girls you touch is about race. so i took my daughter, who is now 10 1/2, we went to see the rockettes when she was 7 or something for christmas and she says are there any black rockettes? i want to see. it's not that i don't care about the white rockettes, but is there anyone up there who looks like me? and at the nutcracker, which we

went to see, the answer was no. but i am so excited to take he , your pointe shoes, which have been signed. yes there, is someone who looks like you. how does race impact you performing? >> it's a huge part of my daily struggles. i do get a lot of criticism about the fact that i talk about it as openly and freely as i do. it's -- it's my experience, u.s. a part of who i am, part of my life, and i can't ignore that. i respect those african-american dancers that have come before that don't want to talk about it and want to just dance. that's okay. it's so important for me to express my experiences and struggles, because i see the effect it has on younger dancers, and if i get criticized

i will take that criticism if it means helping one young girl see herself through me. it's just -- i don't think it's something that -- it's a touchy subject and a lot of people don't like to talk about it. i see it every day and there are so many young black ballerinas that have so much potential and it's hard for people to hear that, yes, we have to work ten times harder and this is already an extremely intense field to be in, but if we don't have every single thing that it takes, and are that much more talented, we won't even get into the front door of the american ballet theater, paris ballet, the new york city ballet. >> it does feel important to get into those spaces. i'm a huge supporters of the arts that give us entire black

dance troupes, but there is something about penetrating the space like american ballet theater or others. what do you think is -- not that it's more than dance theater of harl harlem. what specifically is the lesson we teach when your body shows up in that space? >> i think that when you talk about alien dance theater of harlem, it's a complete different thing. u. it's a modern company, and alia is its own company. for a black woman to enter a white man's world is a completely different subject and those companies, the elite companies in the world are still closed to us and it shouldn't be that way but american ballet theater is the closest company, having two african-american female soloists before me, they are the first and only company

that has done that in the history of top classical ballet companies. >> absolutely. we'll continue our conversation and bring in another voice. african-american woman, kelly hall-tom kins will join us. she's a violinist. i'm so excited about this conversation. for three hours a week, i'm a coach. but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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in the last decade, state and federal funding for the arts has fallen dramatically. in 2001, 4$451 million was appropriated to the arts on a state level. this year's appropriation?

2$263 million. national endowment for the arts this year saw a $30 million from its high of $176 million in 1992. with continued cuts, how will the arts survive? i'm back with misty copyla ooy d joining us is kelly hall-tom n hall-tompkins. i was going off about the new broadway of "a streetcar named desire," with an all african-american cast. i was so lucky to see it on opening night. kelly, you're a violinist. we need to talk about our participation in the fine arts. i think there is a sense of how african-americans participate in the popular arts, but in the fine arts. what difference does it make when we are part of this story? >> i think we have a lot to say. we have a lot to contribute to this art form.

i'm a classical violinist. came to me entirely naturally. i am sure it can come to others so naturally. it's important we lend our voices to these art forms. >> part what i love about both of you, your work as performers, but also involved in community-based activities to make sure that other young people have an opportunity. talk to me about that part of your work? both of you. >> well, i'm a professional violinist. that's what i do for leaving. but in my spare time, i created an organize called music kitchen, food for the soul. and i bring high-level chamber music to homeless shelters. i enjoy that. i am ainge to take advantage of my professional relationships and bring a lot of wonderful music into the shelter for people who would otherwise not have access to it. it's been really rewarding for me and the artists i bring in. it's important to expand the realm of access to culture and

the arts. it's a fundamental part of our human experience, to experience the creativity of others. it's really important that the arts thrive in our society and every community. >> yes, i agree. i get out there as much as i can. it's very rare i think for -- especially a ballerina, to speak. we dance and that's our voice, so i just have felt such a strong connection with the african-american community, and i get up there and i go to public schools and art schools and i speak for the boys and girls club, black girls rock. as much as they can see me and someone like you and hear our voices, the more they will connect and want to explore. >> i keep thinking in what we need in order for kellies and mistese muched world to come forward, we need funding for it i look at our school system. a good point so focused in most

of the country around high-stakes testing. very much math and english, which i think everyone should read and do math, and yet the notion the way to get there is to cut fine arts so kids don't have a school orchestra or a school drama club, don't have a school ballet and that somehow if we just cut all of that extraneous extra stuff away, we'll get high-performing students, that see patently false. we need to make the case for this investment is critically important investment. >> i'm a product of the public school music school program. i am a big proponent of funding music in the school. the influences came to this music were elsewhere to start. one traditional, and one nontraditional. i group lutheran and had music in the church every sunday and then there was warner brothers cartoons actually where i had the marriage of music and movement, which totally fascinated me, but the public

school took me to a symphony concert for the first time, and at my public elementary school, a string quartet came, and i was thoroughly hooked. i fell in love with the classical music violent on day one. every child should have that experience. we could talk all day about how the arts can enhance other disciplines. that is so true it will help math and your cognitive skills and left brain and right brain and your imaginative thinking. that's all true. but the arts in and of themselves are so valuable, we need to cultivate a culture of that in this country. i think a lot more. >> even those of us who are bad at it. i'm also a product of public schools and public school orchestras and i'm a really pathetically tone deaf cellist. when i think about what my parents had to go through for having to listen to me practice,

they should all go straight to heaven. there is a way i will forever respond to classical music because i helped to create it, badly. i remember hearing your first cd and thinking, i just -- i wish i could have made my instrument sound like that and similarly, i tie ballet class as a kid. never even got on pointe, but to watch you dance, a kind of physical memory of freedom that returns to me when i see you dance, even for those who won't become the kellies and mistese it seems so critically important. >> i'm also a product of public school, and not auditioning for cheerleading, drill team in my public school, i would never have made ballet. >> i'm going to pause, a made a case for cheerleaders in thon ts show, and i want to pause and

say that misty copeland was a cheerleader. >> for six months before i quit to become a ballet dancer. as of now, it's so hard to be positive about the fact that there are -- the arts is being cut in schools. but i think the positive thing we can look at. society is really taking a hold of the arts on -- in the media and on television, and it may not be the fine arts or something that, you know, we can completely relate to, but just sparking an interest with these arts shows and with dance shows, i think that it's going to spark interest in these kids that would have never been introduced to it in any way, so -- >> the goal is to spark the interest and provide the resources so those interests can be nur turned and we can fin the talent. >> it's important that our society recognizes it's not just extracurricular.

it enhances a total human experience and it shouldn't be first on the chopping block. it's so integral to who we are. >> it's sort of the point. i'm incredibly lucky, i live in new orleans which is a place that understand our whole root edness, everything about who we are, has to do with what we create artistically. it's completely lovely to have both of you here. thank you so much to kelly hall-tomp kins and misty copeland. and coming up, i'll say happy birthday to george clooney and say why he's key to everything. [ female announcer ] women have made it the number one selling

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to live in it. no stranger to the facts of life, clooney is one of those celebrity heavyweights that puts fame and credibility to work for our future descendents and does without annoying everyone. clooney isn't just sitting around like some men staring at goats, on thursday, at his california home, the american will play batman to president obama's robin as he hosts a $12 million fund-raiser. mitt romney may be out of sight at the fund-raiser, but that doesn't mean clooney hasn't contributed to romney's overall good night and good luck. number one song is i'm a man of constant sorrow from the soundtrack of oh, brother, where art thou, starring none other

than george clooney. he doesn't sing in the movie because the ledge end of rosemary clooney may have remaked oceans 11, but not much of a crooner. is he something of a been fact for. it was one fine day when george clooney saw a copy of the video holiday greeting, jesus versus frosty. clooney was such a fan, he helped trey parker and matt stone get south park on tv as a regular series. south park's creators and their success that allow them to launch monrmon" which romney would like to see if he has time. with candidates campaigning from dusk until dawn, it can feel like intolerable cruelty. when activists like george clooney who could choose to stay on the sidelines, but get involved because they don't want to see their country end up in the e.r.

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♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ] this week, michele bachmann turned into a romney friend. she campaigned with him in the swing state of virginia. this is what her 180-degree turn looked like. >> mitt romney, can he beat obama? >> no, he can't beat obama, because his policy is the basis of obama care. >> this is what victory looks like! take a look around! we're all here together to have a welcome party here in the tidewater area for the next

president of the united states, president mitt romney! >> i miss michele. candidates are able to make a flip-flop like that and make it look like it wasn't a flop at all, but to make two truths equal some kind of, well, new truth. what happened to honest abe? here with me at the table to discuss whether we'll ever hear truth in politics anymore is daniel gross, economics editor and co-host of the daily ticker and alice stewark, former communications director for michele bachman. perry bacon, and kathleen hall jamieson, director of the annenburg public policy center at the university of pennsylvania. since we had bachman there, i have to talk to you first. first of the is the 21st century that you can take two spots and put them right together and

compare them. which one is the one honestly michele bachman thinks about mitt rom snow? >> this is what it's all about, the candidates showing contrast. we could find the exact same kind of quotes, hillary saying things against barack obama in '08 and then endorsing him. that's how primaries work. it's been tough, hard and candidates very strong on the issues. obama care's repeal has been front and center. this didn't provide the republican party it prepared the party. we're prepared to take on the party. with her endorsement and rick santorum met with romney the other day, we're seeing candidates that were once competitors are realizing it's time to get on the same team. >> i'll give you, that's what primary process, but still wonder in part, because part of it i want to be able to say this

is what this candidate, president obama or governor romney really believes. just yesterday on "face the nation," maybe "face the nation" doubting there was truth in polling. let's take a look at that. >> the polls suggest when you look at who cares about our problems, things of that nature, it seems to be mr. obama, president obama. >> again, that's another myth of the campaign trail. >> you're talking about poll results and saying poll results. >> so are poll results myths? is it rust just truthiness? that's quite a statement. >> i don't think polls are myths. that said, publishers lie all the time about politics. the poll says this. well, it says this too. i am not concerned. michele bachman, voters know she doesn't like to be around mitt romney that much.

i'm concerned that when romney says individual mandates are horrible they were good in 2005, bad in 2011. that's the kind of stuff, i wonder what you are going to do in office, as opposed to who endorses you. endorsements don't matter. >> lying about politics versus lying about campaign promisesor policy positions or maybe even about impairics. >> polls are snapshots in time. it's a snapshot on that particular day and time. you look at the trends of the polls and how they reflect the eelectorate. most americans trust mitt romney to fix the economy more than president obama that's an important polling data and trend to look at. the economy is the number one issue, and it's still the economy, and we're not stupid. and that's why president obama doesn't want to look at that. >> this goes back to your point, if i look at the polling data, a

huge gender gap that pen fits the president or a trust gap that benefits mr. romney. a big trust gap on foreign policy that benefits the president. if we look at it, it's a complicated picture, is that what you're telling us about the better, stronger, faster, that it's come claitt. >> there are multiple narratives. we have vast disparities. in north carolina, tdakota, the unemployment rate is 3%, in nevada, it's 12%. we're making federal policies on both these places. i was out in toledo, the biggest employer, is the chrysler plant. the bailout worked. but in parts of ohio, where the main industry is coal, the obama administration is no friend of coal. we'll have trouble getting a single narrative about the economy. >> it feels like there should be

something more than -- some similarity claim to me. the truth is different in different places. it feels like facts matter. look, we're in the business here at -- on the mhp show, not the show you come to for me to just read to you the news and facts, right? i'm purposely bringing my own and encourage other people at the table to bring their world view onto things. we try to work really hard to make sure we're not lying on television. some space between truth and truthiness. >> don't use the word truth and don't use the word lying. we don't know what people have in their heads and what their intentions are. we do know what constitutes fact. look at the republican primaries and say it's not factually true that earmarks doubled. it's not factually true that santorum voted to let convicted felons vote. if by that you mean with the orange jumpsuits on the screen, they were given that right while

still in prison. it means factually, when you make the claim about mitt romney by saying illegal, when you talk about medicare fraud and the damon corporation, it's not true to say he was personally implicated in medicare fraud. those are three statements you can adjudicate fact oouly and drive inferences about candidates. if newt gingrich talked about a pro abortion policy, and that person was a pro life conservative, the fact that he can adjudicate the facts, and check fact check.org. and he is trying to help in that process by taking those down and monitoring in civility and because television stations don't have to air third-party ads, and it's a political party, and that's interest group ads and super pac ads, they can look

at authenticity. stand by third-party ads and don't air them if they are inaccurate. we shouldn't elect or defeat based on inaccuracies. >> are you asking for a broader understanding of accuracies. one of the things is the franken biting, where you take a half a sentence of your opponent, and they really did say that it's factual they said that, but they said it in a broader context, you sort of need the whole sentence in order to be presenting what is, in fact, factual. >> that's where we run into trouble. the double-edged soared of social media with twitter and facebook. fact check is terrific for paid ads that are cut and produced. but now we kr have candidates out on the stump, saying something, and if you take one sentence out of context, sure it doesn't make sense or might be wrong or makes them look stupid. once it's tweeted out. >> i only have 140 characters.

>> i explained in my whole story in "the new york post." by the time it's picked up by other reporters, perry is never guilty of this. it's hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube once it's out there. >> we have a candidate, drawing candidate inchss. we have a lot more after the break, don't go away. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track,

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kathleen hall jamieson from the university of pennsylvania. speaking of things put in context in a certain way, joe biden says he is comfortable with same-sex marriage. >> i am vice president of america. the president sets policy. i am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men measure marrying men, women marrying women, hmen marrying women are entitled to the same civil rights. and i don't see much of a distinction beyond that. >> the vice president saying i have a different position than the president. hrc came back immediately with a response, encouraged by vice president biden's comments, rightly articulated that luing, committed, gay and lesbian couples should be treated equally and called on president obama to speak out for full

marriage equality for same-sex couples. i see that sound bite turning into joe biden is a radical who wants to destroy marriage. i also see it as he is the great, progressive conscience in the obama administration. i almost paused, because i am very happy, but on the other hand, i am sad how it could end up as a truthy statement. >> we all know that the truth is that president obama is probably for it, and truthiness outloud view, he's evolving. assumptions i think are more accurate than what the politician is saying. that's what you will hear, more republicans saying obama administration is for gay marriage, why don't they say it out loud. >> no one cares what's in your heart as a policymaker. we were talking about president nixon beforehand, and no one cares if you are a nice guy.

i want to know are you going to make policy that is egalitarian, even if you are an egalitarian in our heart. i would much rather have an egalitarian policy. >> i think we'll see president obama putting on running shoes and running away from that just a bit. >> o >> running away from joe biden? >> running away from a statement like that and we'll see with the romney campaign, statements like that, looped together, one after the other, conjunction with president obama's whispering in the ear, that he'll be more flexible after the election if he's re-elected. he's already indicated once he's re-elected, all bets are off. everything up to this point is off and no telling what we'll see on gay rights or the economy or obama care. no telling. >> i find it astonishing, he can't be decollartive ldeclarat.

is there anyone that doesn't believe gay marriage will be legal in every state? to be behind on this, it's legal in iowa. new hampshire. >> you got to be at least as progressive as iowa. >> new hampshire. new hampshire, republican state legislature. >> remember, he's -- as kathleen pointing out earlier, in the end, he's got to win, for example, virginia, ohio, and i think there is some angst about some swing voters, and angst for republican mitt romney, who will need to move a little more center, and i think there is no doubt. in ten years, maybe 20, but justice delayed, justice denied. i think history will see the president as behind the curve on this particular issue. is there a way for us to, as viewers, as voters, to command

more, just sort of core factual honesty from our politicians? any way to hold them accountable on truths? >> four good fact checking organizations. ap, and fact check.org. and they rarely disagree on the clear cut factual world out there. and in those areas, voters i think can trust that consensus and that that means there is a place on the web, you can go to in order to check, and television stations, we have a deception law that tracts those deceptions already on air about mitt romney and barack obama, and as a result. when you see claims recycled, you can take a look at them and know not to air them before they ever reach the public. that's the ultimate protect on third-party ads. >> we have a guess tax holiday, came up, said this is a great idea. obama said, no, it isn't. this is stupid, here is why. and people voted for him, got behind him. the most truthiness candidates

of these candidates were mitt romney. very obsessed with the facts. he doesn't say the kind of things newt gingrich says. >> he doesn't have big ideas like moon colonies either. >> this campaign will be run by third parties. sup super pacs against super pacs. governor romney could run a campaign of complete integrity and same thing could be true on democratic side. >> and also like in the -- the same vain, we have the pro obama super pacs putting out ads against mitt romney. that's what we'll see, super pacs will be running a lot of show. it's incumbent upon politicians and voters to research, do their homework, make sure what's true. >> if you are a voter, what are you, you're trying to get to work in the morning, turn it on.

msnbc, a few minutes before you head out for the day. it's tough to wade through all of this and feel as though what's happened here, the supreme court through citizens united has allowed the air waves to be flooded by third parties who can spend as much as they want, say whatever they want, even if it doesn't pass muster. >> a lot of mainstream publications, "washington post," "the new york times," the reporters would sift through this and know when they made false claims, have now integrated partisans. "the washington post" has a few right wing bloggers and left wing bloggers that exist side by side with straight up reporters. these outsiders come in, are not held to the same standards. >> i want to push on the idea that they were ever fully

objective. news is always. even the facts you choose for framing it. there is always choice that makes it somehow not simply neutral. >> sure, but people who might feel compelled, if someone makes a false statement, if you are the campaign reporter, you may feel compelled and your editor may say insert that clause, he said that, it's not, in fact, true. if the person who is the opinion blogger, under the same brand, who is a political operative or sees themselves as a political operative. paul begala writes a column in "newsweek" now, for example. and it happens on right as well. that can be much more confusing if people with looking to the mainstream places, it's more confusing than even in the last cycle. >> in 2011, you saw a debt ceiling, where everyone who studies the economy you knows you have to increase the debt

ceiling, but polls showed that large numbers of of americans didn't think we should raise the debt ceiling krl. it's dangerous. >> we're going to stay fact checking and flack checking during the 2012 election campaign. why the homework of today can change the world of tomorrow. time for a preview "weekends with alex wit witt." >> a body found in the barn in the back of churchill downs where the kentucky derby was ran yesterday. and ten students charged in connection with the florida a & m drum maij beaten and kicked to death. why were they charged with hazing and not murder. and sebastian junger doesn't consider himself to be the next earnest hemingway. and we'll have a wrestler from this year's olympics. maybe he will want to show me some moves, but i'm wearing a skirt. not doing that. >> i would stick around to see

that if they bring out a wrestler. >> no, you can leave. >> thank you, alex. coming up, my defense of nerds and geeks everywhere. def nerds and geeks everywhere. on e teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. kiwi. soy milk. impulse buy. gift horse. king crab. rhubarb pie. lettuce shower. made by bees. toucan sam. that's not cheese. grass fed. curry.

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for this week's footnote, a tempest brewing in the academic teapot. on monday, "the chronicle of higher education" published a blog entitled, the most persve eliminating black just read the notations. it called to the elimination of black studies. her study is based on the titles of dissertations, titles like, so i could be easeful. black women's authoritative knowledge on childbirth. race for profit, black housing and the urban crisis of the 1970s. riley opined that this research amounted to left-wing victimization claptrap.

the best that can be said of these topics is that they are so irrelevant, no one will ever look at them. a sentiment echoed by conservative lawmakers in arizona, texas and california, who seek to eliminate ethnic studies programs, deeming them irrelevant and unnecessary. if you're a regular mhp viewer, you know we call ourselves nerdland. it's a nod to our producers, who get geeked out over counting republican delegates with jelly beans. and a reminder that even though i host a tv show on the weekends, my day job is teaching, researching and writing in the academy. so even though riley's comments were hurled at would-be college professors and not at political candidates, they did stir a response here at mhp. riley and the conservative lawmaker who is parrot similar arguments claim that black and ethnic studies are irrelevant because they are specific. but it is irish novelist and poet james joyce who wrote in

the particular is contained the universal. it's a lesson relevant for our political lives as well. can we see the universal threat to equality when the constitutional rights of our particular gay and lesbian neighbors are stripped away? can we see the crumbling futures of a whole generation when one student talks of the struggle to repay student loans? can we see the outlines of the whole complex messy and exceptional history of our nation embodied in one man's biography? can we recognize the extraordinary potential of all human bodies. when we see the singular misty copeland dance. can we see our own sons, when we look at trayvon martin? that is actually the work that african-american studies, latino studies, jewish studies, ethnic studies, women's studies and queer studies contribute to our lives. by specifying the particular, they illuminate the universal. so as we approach graduation

season, i just want to congratulate every student from grade school to graduate school, who perseveres to study what your heart desires. in the face of judgment, cruelty and small-mindedness of critics like riley and i am for all of us to resist the efforts to eliminate whole areas of academic inquiry. we're called the advice of nobel laureate toni morrison, if there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. and that is our show for today, thank you to dan gross, ella stewart, perry bacon junior and kathy hall jameson for sticking around, thank you for watching and i'll see you next sunday at 10:00 a.m. coming up, weekends with alex witt. less, there's definitely a temptations for you. unless you're one of those people who doesn't like delicious stuff. temptations. it's the first jell-o that's just for adults.

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