become such a big deal, you know, in a school system and it affects the students. >> okay, mark, check with your fourth grader. i'm sure he's mature enough to choose a song for a kindergarten graduation >> good evening. tonight the plan to sabotage obama is put on trial and i'll offer some free legal advice. this is the ed show and, as ed would say, let's get to work. >> let's be honest. the republicans are stalling every effort that he has tried to make to create jobs and help the economy. >> americans are waking up to republican sabotage and new

polling proves it. authors thomas mann and norm ornstein say republicans are the problem and they're here tonight. >> a new report shows net family worth down 40% in three years. wall street is back, corporations are making record profits. where is the recovery for the 99%? i'll ask former labor secretary robert reich. and should a-list white celebrities get a pass for using the "n" word? >> gwyneth gets a pass. >> russell simmons has a lot to say about gwyneth paltrow's tweet. >> today the american public gave a direct answer to a direct question. yes, they believe republicans are sabotaging the economy in order to defeat president obama. in a new poll 49% say republicans are intentionally stalling efforts to jump start the economy to ensure obama is not reelected.

50% of independents believe the same, that republicans have sabotaged the economy for political gain. had is not a new idea but it has not yet gotten the attention it deserves. not too long ago it was the ideal that dare not speak its name. you could accuse republicans of a lot of things, the thinking went, but sure live they would not intentionally sabotage the economy to keep president obama from winning election, would they? then came the infamous quote from senate minority leader mitch mcconnell who said this just before the mid-term elections two years ago "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president." senator mcconnell caught so much flak for that, he tried to back pedal and said it was simply his chief political goal. >> our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny president obama a second term. >> well that, is true. that's my single most important political goal along with every active republican in the country, but that's in 2012. our biggest goal for this year is to get this country straightened out. >> their story line is that

there must be some villain out there who is keeping this administration from succeeding. >> they say democrats want to create a villain, that it's not true that republicans sabotaged the president. but then came the book from robert draper, detailing how the effort to block obama began on the very night of his inauguration with a bevy of lawmakers. but wait, republicans cry foul. they say it's only their principled differences that led them to vote against the president again and again. but here's the catch -- when republicans vote against their own ideas, you know something stinks. when they were for it before they were against it. the republican party used to support infrastructure spending but not when president obama asks for it. more on that in a moment. republicans used to allow deficit spending to get us out of recessions. they did it under their hero ronald reagan.

under president george w. bush alone, they allowed massive tax cuts toward medicare part d, all unpaid for, all of those items ballooning the deficit. before president obama, republicans rarely voiced opposition to the federal reserve using monetary policy to help the economy. under president obama, the federal reserve chief ben bernanke is called every name in the book. but you know republicans are trying to sabotage the economy when they vote against tax cuts. as when they opposed extending the payroll tax cut benefiting middle-class americans. let's not forget republicans voted against a stimulus bill that was 40% tax cuts. let's not forget that republicans brought the country to the precipice of default. and when bad numbers hit, they pounce. >> i think under the right leadership, they can do better. >> if they would have taken our advice and worked with us, the economy would be better. more americans would have better

jobs. more americans would have better incomes. that's clear to us. >> this is very bad news for the american people and the president is always quick to find someone to blame. first it was george bush and then it was congress, atm machines, europe. he's always got someone. but the truth is the job of the president is get america back to work. >> it all plays into the hands of the presumptive republican nominee mitt romney, who has the audacity to ask the president to produce a jobs plan. >> with 23 million people out of work or stop looking for work, he hasn't put forward a plan to get us working again. now, i know we're getting close to an election so he'll come out with one soon but three and a half years later we're waiting. >> the intentional stalling continues to this day.

the latest specific example is the transportation bill. this bill includes vital infrastructure spending and in years past would garner bipartisan support. these transportation bills are often passed in five or six increments but a two-year extension of the transportation bill a dwindling to a possible six-month extension. republicans like to complain about uncertainty? this creates uncertainty and could cost tens of thousands of jobs. senator harry reid accused congressman eric cantor of trying to sabotage the economy by blocking an agreement on the transportation bill, a suggestion that was called bull you know what by a spokesman for boehner. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, do you believe republicans are deliberately trying to sabotage president obama? text a for yes, text b for no. or go our blog. i'm joined by norm ornstein and his co-author. gentlemen, welcome to the show. >> happy to be with you,

michael. >> thank you, sirs. republicans stalling efforts to jump start the economy, give us your view on this. we get a sense of what your book has been about but give as you deeper insight into this conundrum. >> well, i would say you're if you look at the history of things that have been supported by republicans in the past and the urgency of action now and transportation of course it's the summer construction jobs in particular, a market that's really hurting badly. but there's another piece of evidence that i find quite disturbing and that is a top romney economic adviser, his top economic adviser wrote an op-ed in a major german newspaper urging the germans to pursue even more their policy of austerity. that's just not anything we've seen before, interfering abroad in the middle of a campaign. and it's really pretty troubling. >> well, here's bill maher talking about it recently. >> let's be honest, the republicans are stalling every effort that he has tried to make

to create jobs and help the economy. >> i spoke to a senator earlier this week and he told me -- a republican senator told me that mitch mcconnell has told his conference that we're not doing anything, we won't make a single move between now and the election because any move could be risky and all of this [ bleep ] is sliding down on president obama. >> is this idea gaining traction and does the poll reflect that do you think is this. >> i think it's beginning to although it's been perfectly clear since the beginning of the obama administration that the minority republicans saw their way back to power through the failure of president obama and

that meant the failure of the economy. i'm sure in their own minds they dignify it by saying we're have serious substantive differences and our program, our way would have been more successful. but as your lead-in suggested, so many times they have moved away from positions that they have long supported once president obama embraced it. we have such powerful incentives for the minority party to take down the majority whatever the consequences to the economy. right now the republicans are so persuaded by the righteousness and wisdom of their way and their leadership that they're prepared to do that. >> it's certainly to the detriment of the country. here's the president talking about the republican hypocrisy on the deficit. >> it's like somebody goes to a restaurant, orders a big steak dinner, martini, all that stuff and then just as you're sitting down, they leave -- [ laughter ] -- and accuse you of running up the tab.

>> that's a good line but -- you had for a long time republicans in congress resisting the idea of tax cuts for average americans, even though they all signed the norquist pledge and that would in effect amount to a tax increase because it had been implemented before. only when president obama turned up the heat on this issue and it began to gain political traction did you see some change back. and the fact is in so many of these areas where republicans tried to block action or make it seem much, much worse by making it more acrimonious, as long as they could get away with it politically and not suffer, they could go ahead and do it blithely. you have to do that harder to make it work and put him more on

the defensive. that's what his rhetoric now in the use of the bully pulpit is aimed at doing, which he didn't do for much. first two years. >> that blithe indifference has at least negative consequences for the rest of us trying to get bills passed in congress or those who need the resources those billings can make available. do you have any doubt if mitt romney were elected president the republicans would find a way suddenly to pass, oh, i don't know, infrastructure bills? >> oh, for sure. this is the bread and butter of members of congress. it's absolutely essential for

those constituents, those workers and businesses who need an effective communication in order to succeed in this country. we're so underinvesting now in the basics of a modern economy, there's no reason to oppose it. there's every reason to say we should do more now because of the high unemployment rate and the particular problems facing the construction industry. so, no, i have no doubts that they will find a way to pass a transportation bill if they take the white house and both houses of congress. >> you know, michael -- >> i was going to ask you quickly, what's the fall out from your book?

you are a noted conservative, a thinker who has been self-critical in terms of what the republicans have done? >> keep in mind i'm a much more a raging moderate than conservative. i'm taking flak, as tom is, for coming out and basically saying we've got false equivalents here. we've spent 40 years of building reputations being straight forward, calling it as we see it, not taking a partisan stance. we're using the political capital because the country is facing big, big problems. if you don't lay out where the blame is, then voters aren't going to know who to hold accountable and what to do about it. >> thank you for your time tonight. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts at twitter at@ed show.

you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc. stay tuned. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. i'm eating what i know is better nutrition. mmmm. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. havi ng a search great grains and see for yourself. n irregular heartbeat havputs you at 5 times calgreater risk of stroke. don't wait. go to afibstroke.com for a free discussion guide to help you talk to your doctor about reducing your risk. that's afibstroke.com. thought they were dead. [ laughter ] [ grunting ] huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. america's number one weed killer. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. guaranteed. weeds won't play dead, they'll stay dead.

roundup. no root. no weed. no problem.

coming up on "the ed show" the federal reserve shows us just how hard the middle class was hit. mitt romney's conservatives weren't doing much to help him walk back his comments about public sector jobs. >> does that mean there will be fewer teachers? >> the answer is yes. >> and gwyneth paltrow used the "n" word in the tweet. there are some that want to give gwyneth a pass. i'm not one of them. share your thoughts with us on twitter. we'll be right back. ♪

♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

if you're a member of the middle class, the fed calculated your pain today. it figured out exactly what this recession has cost your family and trust me it's a lot. the federal reserve puts out a survey of consumer finances every three years. we should probably issue a warning -- this is ugly. the fed says the net worth of the average american family plunged almost 39% from 2007 to 2010. here's another way to look at it the average family's net worth dropped from more than $126,000 to less than $78,000. as bad as that is, you need to remember two things -- this study covers three years, two and a half of them were under the bush administration. and the reason the recession is worse for the middle class than for the wealthy is because of this, the housing crisis.

the net worth of a middle-class family is basically the value of their house. the wealthy americans have a variety of assets like stocks or airplanes or six houses like mitt romney does. when the market went belly up, the middle-class took hits on the only asset they had, their homes. the republican party should be scrambling to help the american people, right? and economists don't disagree on what we should do. >> we need to work together. this is not about one side being better than the other. this is not calculus, it's just math. >> simple. just pass bipartisan bills on home refinancing, education, taxes and stimulus. instead this is what we got today. >> the president doesn't understand how his policies have made things so hard with the american people. it's finally time to have a president who will be in touch

with the american people and i will. >> let's bring in robert reich, a professor of public policy at u.c. berkeley and the author of the book "beyond outrage ". you got to have another outrage here for this deplorable and vapid comment by mr. romney. what caused this negative for average americans? >> we now have a federal reserve survey, a report, that makes it absolutely clear that when the bottom fell out of the economy starting in 2007, it hit the middle class especially hard. as you said, michael, housing prices have fallen by a third on average and most of the middle class has almost all of its assets in its homes. the middle class, they may have a 401(k), they may have a little bit of a pension fund, a little savings in the stock market but most of savings, their assets in their home. obviously the middle class is squeezed. that same report also shows that the median wage since 2007 has dropped over 7%.

that's the median. that's people who are right there in the middle, half above, half below. and that also explains why this recovery has been so anemic. people don't have money in their pocket. they feel poorer, they're worried obviously. how republicans can continue to claim that the rich need more tax breaks or that the problem is government regulation or that corporations need more tax breaks when the federal reserve board puts out a survey like this making it absolutely clear what has happened, the crisis is a crisis of middle class. i don't get it. >> well, neither do i. because the fed survey shows most persons are actually cutting down on consumer debt and getting loans to go back to school. so what does the average joe really need to do here? >> well, the average people, what do they need? they need help.

one out of four or five people with mortgages are still underwater, they need help with mortgage refinancing and they need help with school. they want to get ahead if they're not in a job where they're working part time, they need help with financing school. these are not handout, these are helping hands. they also need -- nobody is talking about a big major stimulus right now but we do need right now roads, bridges, a kind of wpa, civilian conservation corporation for the long-term unemployed. we did this even in the 1930s when at the depths of the depression we tried it and it actually worked until 1937 when we did just the reverse and a lot of republicans wanted to us do it and that is pull in the rein, stop spending, cut the budget deficit. that's not what you do right now. >> how do we accept that the

republicans are so deeply mired in their own wealth belt they can't see beyond the girth they've been able to manage and see the regular situation of average americans. are they that tone deaf to what's going on with the rest of the middle class? >> well, they are mired in their own ideology. they're also mired in what mitch mcconnell claimed several years ago and that is their number one goal is to get barack obama out of the white house and, thirdly, they are telling big lies. they tell those big lies over and over again. they tell them on every media outlet they possibly can. they have an extraordinary war chest right now and those big lies are again corporations need tax cuts, the rich need tax cuts, trickle down economics works and nothing that obama wants to do and nothing that common sense dictates we do right now is necessary. >> well that, george gilder trickle down economy downwork then and it ain't working now. corporations had record profits today. how does that square with where

we are today? >> the market is down and the corporations are doing very, very well. they have between $1 trillion and $2 trillion of cash they're sitting on. the idea they need more money or tax relief or regulatory relief in order to create jobs is laughable. jobs are created by the middle class because when the middle class has enough money in their pockets to spend, that's with businesses say, yes, now we have to expand, now we have to hire more people. but it's not until the middle class has enough money to spend we get the response from the private sector. anybody who says different doesn't know anything about the economy. >> robert reich, thanks for joining us. >> thanks very much. >> mitt romney is standing his ground over the debate over the need of more public teachers and workers. and the kkk is working in georgia to clean up their image by cleaning up the highways. they want to join the adopt a highway program.

you won't believe what i have to say. stay tuned. those surprising little things she does still make you take notice. there are a million reasons why. but your erectile dysfunction that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications,

and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial.

want to start the day with something heart healthy and delicious? you're a talking bee... honey nut cheerios has whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol. and it tastes good? sure does! right... ♪ wow. delicious, right? yeah. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... ♪ well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy.

he wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. did he not get the message of wisconsin, the american people did. it's time for us to cut back on government and help the american people.

>> mitt romney finally had to answer a direct question about his world view on teachers, firefighters and police officers. but as you would expect, he wasn't being grilled by the most hard-hitting journalism of the profession. >> the president is really out of touch with what's happening in america. >> he says you're out of touch, it that you want to cut firefighters and teachers. >> hang on a moment. he says? let's remind everyone who said it in the first place. >> he says we need more firefighters, more policemen, more teachers? did he not get the memo, it's time to cut back on government. >> let's continue with the withering journalistic assault from fox and friends. >> he says you're out of touch, that you want to cut firefighters and teachers that you don't understand what's going on in these communities. what do you say to that, governor? >> well, that's a very strange accusation.

of course teachers and firemen and policemen are hired at the local level and also by states. the federal government doesn't pay for teachers, firefighters or policemen. so obviously that's completely absurd. >> so romney completely avoids the original point he made and instead said it's absurd to think the government can pay for public service workers. one guy who didn't think this was so absurd was massachusetts governor mitt romney. when he was governor and had to close a payroll gam, $500 until in unanticipated federal grants further reduced the massachusetts budget shortfall according to factcheck.org. but back to today in one breath mitt romney said it's absurd to think federal money can go toward state and local employment, in the next breath he slammed the president for trying to do the exact thing he can't be done. >> he's got a new idea, though, and that is to have another stimulus and to have the federal

government to try to bail out cities and states. it didn't work the first time, it certainly wouldn't work the second time. >> the president's plan to prevent more state and local layoffs is hardly a new idea, as romney calls it. the american recovery and reinvestment act, known as the stimulus plan, created or saved 1.4 to 3.3 million jobs. that's according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office. what kind of jobs are we saying when we say state and local government jobs? mostly teachers, who represent the overwhelming majority of state and local jobs, cops and firefighters. last friday mitt romney said americans don't want more teachers, firefighters or police officers. yesterday they say there was wisdom in his comments. today romney says it's not possible for the government to create new jobs through state and local government. which is it, mitt? if only we could find someone in

the republican party willing to tell the truth. >> we have to come to grips with how big the challenge is. does that mean there will be fewer teachers? the honest answer is yes. >> i never thought i would see the day when newt gingrich was the honesty broker in the republican party. i'll have a lot more on this story with howard fineman and richard wolf. is mitt romney campaigning to be president of fantasy land? >> breaking news out of georgia, a judge rules the ku klux klan may not adopt a highway. i'll tell you why i disagree with the ruling. >> and can anyone get a pass for using the "n" word? >> that's my homey. some people gets a pass. >> hip hop icon and entrepreneur russell simmons has a lot to say on the issue and he's here tonight. last time i was at a sleepover my parents

had kraft mac & cheese without me. so this time, i took precautionary measures. looking for these? [ rattling ] [ male announcer ] kraft macaroni & cheese. you know you love it. wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. if you made a list of countries from around the world...

...with the best math scores. ...the united states would be on that list. in 25th place. let's raise academic standards across the nation. let's get back to the head of the class. let's solve this. in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... he was just... "get me an aspirin"... yeah... i knew that i was doing the right thing, when i gave him the bayer. i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. so he's a success story... [ laughs ] he's my success story. [ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook.

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. ♪

for over a decade harder work hasn't led to higher incomes. bigger profits at the top haven't led to better jobs across the board. you can't solve that problem if you can't even see it. >> that was president obama at a fund-raiser in baltimore, maryland today. the race is on to see which candidate can label the other one as the most out of touch with the american people. will any of the rhetoric move the needle when it comes to the election? let's turn to howard fineman and richard wolffe. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> howard, let's start with you. is the romney camp handling this teacher, policeman and firefighter issue well? >> they need to be careful. you have to be extremely careful on and that you have to make sure if you're a republican or if you're a conservative that you don't look like you're

against the teachers, the firefighters and the police. today on his radio show rush limbaugh was trying to argue that those these categories of workers are not public employees. i couldn't quite figure out his logic in terms of the facts but politically what he was trying to say is let's be careful and i don't think mitt romney has been. >> richard, to howard's point, when the american people are polled on this topic, they overwhelmingly want federal money to be spent on teachers and first responders. how in the heck account romney campaign get around that? >> they can't and that's why they're trying to shift the topic of discussion here. romney's comments today with a strange immersion between the relationship between the federal government and the state government. if anyone's been paying attention, they'd know a third

of the stimulus dollars went to shore up state budgets to keep people in their jobs. he's hoping people don't understand or just accept there's some arms length between the two, that means the federal government doesn't have a say in this but howard's right, the politics of this doesn't work for mitt romney. there's also a failure of the bigger argument, how do you create jobs in you want to cut jobs? you may not think public sector jobs or as worthy as private sector jobs but if you're going to cut jobs, how do you create them? >> a memo came out today saying the obama campaign needs to change the economic narrative or risk losing the election. is the obama campaign taking this to hard or is this more of carville ginning it up to rally the team? >> one thing is the friction between the obama camp and romney camp and two ways of looking it at the republicans party. the clinton people were the pro business wing of the democratic

party and they're trying to portray barack obama somehow as something other than that. so that's part of it. another part of it here is that the president does need to talk in more aggressive terms not only about what he's done right but what he wants to do. in the end the argument really isn't about who is more out of touch or in touch. even if they were perfectly in touch, if they walked the streets, the meanest streets in america and knew them intimately, which neither of these people, you know, truly does, the question is what do they want to do about it? what is their plan? and it's up to barack obama to articulate that convincingly and to argue, as he's trying to do, that mitt romney just doesn't have any plan other than no. as the president said today, it's something that romney could

put on a twitter -- on a tweet and would still have a lot of characters left. >> no doubt. given what howard has just said and given the tension between the clinton and obama camp, not only arguments against the other side so to speak but even the squabbles within the democratic party about subverting the leadership of ballpark while arguing he's not pro business enough. how does he negotiate that while still trying to get over the message to the other side. >> there's going to be second guessing and hand wringing and every other kind of nervousness. the only framing of this that really matter is ronald reagan's framing of this. are you better off now than you were four years ago? the romney camp feels the answer is already out there but in january of 2009 this economy was losing 800,000 jobs a month, not gaining 69,000. that was a bad month. 69,000 gain in the last month. the stock market was going down to a bot off of 6,000 something,

it's now at 12,000 something. the situation is not what it was in 2009. the president has to tell that story in a convincing way and as well as doing what howard says, whh if he doesn't portray that, that sense of forward movement, you know, he won't have done what george bush in 2004, which was to say i know things are bad in iraq but we're a whole lot more secure than we were before 9/11. he's got to make that sale. >> you got to figure out did george bush had v a comparable james carville on his flank as opposed to karl rove. what do you make of the statement that 49% of the americans feel that the gop is trying to sabotage the president for personal gain? >> that's something the president has to talk about but he can't talk about it too much. i don't think he can win the election by listing a host of factors and people and institutions to blame for the

political and economic predicament he's in. he can let that sink in and he can emphasize it perhaps by pushing some legislation in washington and daring and demanding and seeing that the republicans will veto it. he can do that. i would also say without being unduly polly anish about the president's chances here, this is a familiar cycle we haven't seen the end of. for now you have the clinton critics who are out criticizing him. the next man bites dog stories will be obama's former supporters criticizing him. then they'll be former members of the obama administration criticizing him and then at some point you have to hope he will hit bottom and it will be the story of the great comeback. i've seen it a million times and we're going through it right now. we're still in the stages of it. >> is there any reason for republicans to lose incentive to

stop the strategy of obstruction at this point? >> no but do i think there's an danger for them. this has been a crisis for this country and if they're just playing politics at a time of crisis it, does not help them. this cannot be the center piece of the obama campaign but for democrats when they were trying to play politics with national security through the bush era, they got beaten time and time again. even through their successes in 2006, as long as they were talking about maybe withdrawing funding for the troops, it did not work. democrats have to have the guts to go out there and say the republicans have been playing with the equivalent of withdrawing funding for the troops. their denial of taking action, their obstructionism, their refusal to support even a recovery act that gave a third of the money to tax cuts, that itself was not patriotic, that

was not part of what this country stands for. >> there you have it from who of the best in the business, howard fineman and richard wolffe. >> a kkk grouch in georgia wants to clean up a highway so they can clean up their image. but they'll have to clean up a whole lot more than a highway. the latest next. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. new v8 v-fusion plus energy.

an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, if your car is totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. liberty mutual auto insurance. the latest next. >> up next, the kkk is looking to clean up their image by adopting a highway in georgia but they've hit a roadblock. details ahead. and did gwyneth paltrow cross the loon when she tweeted the "n" word? russell simmons will weigh in. we'll be right back. you know, we're a little early for this thing... want to hop in the back and get weird? no. family vacation... vegas. ♪ no. no. give it a big yank! really? yeah! [ knock on window ] no! no. ♪ ugh, no! [ sighs ] we can have hotdogs for dinner?! yes. [ male announcer ] in a world filled with "no," it's nice to finally say "yes." new oscar mayer selects hotdogs.

made with 100% beef and no artificial preservatives. it's yes food.

a ku klux klan group in georgia is trying to clean up their image by cleaning up roads. believe it or not, i say let them go for it. the international keystone knights of the kkk filed an application last month to join georgia's adopt a highway program. they want to adopt a one mile

stretch of highway 515 in north georgia. the program enlists volunteers from groups to pick up trash along the road. each group that participate gets a sign on the road with their name on it. the klan says this isn't for publicity, they just want to keep the road clean. earlier today the georgia department of transportation denied the kkk's request. the group is now threatening to sue georgia and they could be in for a long legal fight. a similar battle took place in missouri. the state tried to stop the kkk from adopting a road by taking them to court. missouri eventually lost and the signs were put up. the courts ruled the first amendment prevented the state from denying the application because it disagreed with the klan's viewpoint. in that case they didn't pick up any trash and the signs were taken down. but i agree with the courts, i

believe in free speech and in the constitution and as they say at the beginning of "the godfather," i agree with america. let the kkk adopt of highway but then they should rebuild all the churches they've destroyed and rebuild all the houses they've destroyed and maybe rebuild the lives they've ruined. tonight i asked you, do you believe the gop is deliberately trying to sabotage president obama? 99% say yes, 1% say no. >> and is it ever okay for a white person to use the "n" word? stay tuned. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about market volatility. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 in times like these, it can be tough to know which ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 way the wind is blowing. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we're ready with objective insights about ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 the present market and economic conditions. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and can help turn those insights into ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 a plan of action that's right for you. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 so don't let the current situation take you off course. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 talk to chuck. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. i'm eating what i know is better nutrition. mmmm. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself.

that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. thought they were dead. huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem.

words matter. words have power, material effect, visceral intensity. when you use a word that has an extensive and deeply painful history, you shouldn't be surprised when people get upset. earlier this month actress gwyneth paltrow was in paris attending a concert given by pal jay-z and kanye west. references perhaps the most popular song off the album "watch the thrown," paltrow tweeted in words in paris for real, perhaps for troubling of her casual use of the word the photo in the tweet. the tweet caused a public uproar, causing paltrow to defend herself but not apologize. she suggested she was justified because jay-z and west use the word. hold up, it's the title of the

song. >> paltrow should have offered a "if i offended anyone i'm truly sorry." meanwhile rapper noz believes we should give miss paltrow a pass. >> i will slap the [ bleep ] out of somebody for gwyneth paltrow. she's the homey. she's cool. if gwyneth -- gwyneth gets a pass. real people get a pass, man. we know what this [ bleep ] is. gwyneth paltrow's a real [ bleep ]. >> what you're seeing here are internal debates in african-american culture. on the one hand is the acknowledgement this is the most heinous word in the history of vocabularies, assessment of the african-american people and the other hand this has been used as

a term of endearment for black people to take the venom outside of the viper of the "n" word and drain it for all. now that rappers put it on a $15 cd and it gets circulated around the globe, is it the same as richard pryor or red fox previously using it within the confines of their own cultures? joining me is russell simmons. russell to the show. >> thank you. >> look, you've talked about the painful origins of the word but you argue, quote, we were able to take a vicious racist term and make it a term of endearment. we took control of something that was used for so much hate and made it love. should everyone be allowed to use the word and, if so, if what context? >> well, if you read the blog that you're quoting, it said that unless you have a direct blood line to a slave, then you

probably shouldn't use it. but i also talked about the genius in our community that took the pig feet and the chit lynns, which was given to us and turned it into a delicacy. it's the genius of black people that we're celebrating. and i think this particular incident with gwyneth is something that is innocent and it's behind us. i mean, i'm not hear to talk about that. we talked earlier about me coming on the show and we talked about the implications of our community using it. when is the first time you heard that word, michael. >> absolutely. i told you it was with my pastor talking about the members of his church and we all know that word did not begin with hip hop. is it the point that -- >> what hip hop did do is take our culture, whether it was our fashion, our music and put it into the mainstream. >> no doubt. >> that reality is there.

we've taken something that you know for 50 years as a term of endearment, it's not something that rappers created. i don't recommend up eat pig feet or use the "n" word. what i am saying is it exists and the intention has got to be the most important thing. >> got you. >> her getting a pass by noz and by some of the people who know her and love her and us letting her go is one thing. it's not something we recommend she continue to do, nor do we recommend it's okay because she got a pass to let everyone use it. >> let me say this, jump in, though. the point is this, rap who are have no sense of the historical complexity of how this word has evolved who have done, as you said brilliantly perhaps taken over the word, glorified it, talked about it, drained the venom out of it, rappers doesn't

have the ability to give passes arbitrarily to white people they like. why is it that rappers get a pass of giving white people a pass? >> my father was a professor of black history and he was an activist and a poet. when i was a kid he would say "n" go to church, "n" go to school. i thought my name was "n" for a while. you probably had some of the same experiences. >> of course. >> that reality seeps out into the communities, outside of the black community and some people mistakenly use the word. i managed the beasty boy, all the first white rappers i managed. eminem has elected not to use it. i recommend anyone who doesn't

have a direct blood line to a slave use it. >> don't cool real white people know they don't use that term? >> mostly they do, yes. >> what do you make about the rappers? >> i think they're great poets and in some cases, it depends on the subject matter. all rappers are different. you mean about them using the word? >> i'm talking about them having an awareness or not awareness of the history of the word. >> some do. i think noz has an awareness. i think reverend run knows, knew, and his son -- i know he uses the same word. so that reality is in our community. just because a couple of more affluent blacks and many other blacks, middle-class blacks object to it, older generations, they can't necessarily stop it. we have it, the word is here. it's being used a certain way. >> no doubt. >> how do we deal with it is the question. >> listen here, absolutely right. we got 20 seconds left and i'll just say this. would i suggest ll