the national rifle association is now getting involved saying it will watch closely how members vote and will rank them or score on how they vote. that could have a big impact on democrats in swing districts. that is something congressman john larson's chair of the house democratic caucus suggested earlier today. >> suffice it to say certainly that the nra is a major force on then hill as the vice chair has said, it seems rather extraordinary that they would score this issue, but some members are impacted by that. >> and so far two democrats have said they'll vote to favor holding the attorney general in contempt. the first announced yesterday, utah congressman jim math this son and today john barrow of georgia. joining me is luke russert. the numbers are as many as 35. what are we hearing from

democrats? >> well, there's a lot of democrats, tamron as you know very well that come from swing districts places where the nra has a lot of influence especially in rural areas but also in sort of suburban slightly rural areas. the nra is the most powerful special interest group in this country. and there's a lot of democrats from swing districts that do not get on the wrong side of the nra and will be forced to hold eric holder in contempt tomorrow afternoon. this is something we've heard numbers from 25 to 35. the reason why is because darrell issa has this theory that the reason why the white house has been slow to act on the fast and furious was that there was going to be a national swell, if you will, for gun control perhaps bring back the assault weapons ban because of what was going on between the mexican and american border about the gun flow there. that perhaps if enough stories got out about dead agents there

would be a call for an assault been. there is no evidence to back that up. the white house has denied it. agents on the ground said the that's not the case. but there are folks who feel that could be part of wa what's going on here. darrell issa suggested. speaker boehner distanced himself from it. but the nra decided to score the vote. that's going to have a powerful impact because no matter what it is, there's a lot of democrats that can never go against the nra. it will invite thousands and thousands of dollars of advertisements against them in their district. >> luke, on the side of you, we have a live picture on capitol hill where things are in place. we will start to get more information on the rules. what can you tell us specifically is going on right now? >> what you see there is the house rules committee and the house. this is the committee that sets up rules for debate for tomorrow afternoon in the contempt vote of mr. holder. there's going to be a criminal contempt vote and a civil contempt vote. the criminal will say that the

district attorney here in the d.c. area should prosecute mr. holder. they won't do that. it's all for naught. the other will say they should refer him to a court which would instruct him to cooperate with the congressional investigation. that probably won't happen. if it does at any rate of speed. much of this is purely symbolism, tamron. what you're seeing right there they're getting the rules together for debate tomorrow. both sides go to the floor and expect to hear some very, very interesting sound bites from both sides when this debate carries out on the house floor tomorrow afternoon. >> thank you. as luke reported the nra agrees with congressman darrell issa's theory that the white house allowed fast and furious to take place as' way to perhaps increase gun control. in fact, just a short time ago, house speaker john boehner refused to agree with that theory as it's called. >> i've never indicated that that was the case. i don't know whether that's the case because we don't have the documents. >> and joining me democratic

congressman peter welch of vermont, the chief deputy whip. thank you for joining us. first let me get your reaction. the rules committee meeting right now looks like for now, this thing is moving forward. there was a meeting yesterday where the justice department planned to turn over at least 30 new documents and congressman or chairman issa did not feel that that was adequate. so we are moving forth. >> that's right. and from my perspective, this is a legitimate investigation but it's not a legitimate petition for contempt. that's really over the top right now. essentially, eric holder has been very responsive. he testified in congress eight times, turned over thousands and thousands of documents. he met with the speaker. he met with mr. issa and indicated a willingness to work with him. two things that are lacking in my view are number one, the original subpoena that was sent out was requiring eric holder to turn over things that would have been illegal for him to turn over. grand jury transcripts and transcripts of wiretap

applications. both prohibited under federal law. and then the second issue, this conspiracy theory that's come out, there's a big failure with this conspiracy theory. this gun running or this guns -- program was started under the bush administration. and the second amendment's never had a more friendly president than president bush. so the notion that there is a conspiracy that was developed in the obama administration, there's absolutely no factual basis for that. >> and to your point, how do you react to the fact that with the information you just provided, and we've reported here many times as well, i think people who watch the show and any of the political programs know that this program, this fast and furious started under the praevs administration. it was ended by this attorney general. with that said, as many. as 35 of your colleagues, democrats are now willing because of pressure reportedly from the nra to vote for the contempt of this attorney general. >> that's right. but it's sort of washington

business as usual. any outside group on any issue that sees there to be an opportunity to use that issue to get lever and for their own issue, and they don't like eric holder will. so this is business as usual. but the challenge for each of us in congress is to try to stay focused on what's really at stake. there's a very important congressional principle here of oversight. this is where my view is i wish mr. issa would have worked with committee democrats because we support an investigation and support congressional access to documents but we want a complete investigation and have it beyond the level not turn into essentially a political agenda or something used by an outside group for its own purposes. >> thank you very much. i greatly appreciate your time. assistant democratic leader james clyburn said today what's going on withholder is overkill and told chuck todd that republicans are not interested in finding out all of the facts. >> there were about four of these so-called gun walking

episodes, three of which took place in the bush administration. and the same people who were held over into the obama administration conducted one subsequent to that. so why is not mr. issa asking for all of these records? >> and joining me now republican trey gowdy from south carolina. these are live pictures. chairman issa speaking at the rules committee meeting. thank you for your time. >> yes. >> as we see it, the ball is moving forward. there were some holding out hope that perhaps we would not see this go before the full house. i hope your mic is working here. we've got live moots. chairman issa speaking here. we just heard from james clyburn who says that this program started under the previous administration and he is wondering why the records that have been requested are not going further back from this chairman. what's your reaction to that? >> is that question to me?

>> yes, sir, it is. >> well, this may shock you. i actually would agree with anyone who wants all the information irrespective of which administration it starred under. i made that point when we marked up the reasonable contempt of congress. i don't care if it's republicans, whigs, wide receivers, gun walking is wrong no matter which administration did it. i am happy to have all of the information dating back as far as back as anyone wants to go. that doesn't eliminate the immediate conundrum that we have which is that we have an subpoena which has not been complied with. >> if that is true, why then is chairman issa and perhaps other colleagues of yours in the republican party not at least following or saying those words, that they don't care when the program started, which it did under the previous administration, they want to see all the facts. we see such a heavy focus on this attorney general and to

your point the last eight months. certainly not negating the horrible death of brian terry that is part of this investigation. with that said, are you criticizing then the tactics of the chairman who is not doing exactly what you have recommended? not that he has to take your advice, sir. >> well, no, he's been wonderful in bringing in former prosecutors like myself and patrick meehan. i think if chairman issa were here he would say we've done a lot of what congressman clyburn and welch and others have suggested. we've done it via deposition. keep in mind, some of the officials we wanted to talk to invoked their fifth amendment privilege against incrimination. we can't make them talk. i think they're two different parallel tracks and it's important to keep in mind, yes, we want to learn everything there is to learn about fast and furious. and wherever the chips fall, on whichever political party so, be it. the immediate concern is that we sent a subpoena to the department of justice which they have not complied with. it wasn't bush's department of

justice. it was the present one. >> congressman, you know that the retort to this from the attorney general and even the obama administration is that 7700 pages of documents have been turned over. i want to fast forward to the nra because this is the breaking news here. the nra is now involved and they are alleging that all of this perhaps is a conspiracy by the white house by the department of justice to destroy the second amendment rights of people in this country. this they say is some kind of agenda to affect gun control. do you agree with the nra and thor to that chairman issa says is out there that this is all a plot to destroy the the second amendment rights of american snaz. >> you would make a very good prosecutor because you combined two questions into one. i'm going to answer them separately. i've never heard the nra allege that this was a conspiracy that rooted back to the bush

administration to destroy second amendment rights. i have heard the nra and others frankly within atf i've heard allege is once this became public instead of doing what some of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have done say we need to get to the bottom of it, there was an effort to pivot towards a larger conversation about gun rights. i listened to it for three or four different committee hearings. they wanted to talk about drug trafficking statutes. all the reality is, the perpetrators in fast and furious could have gotten up to 2,000 years in prison. and unless your name is methusula, you can't serve a 2,000-year prison sentence. i'm happy to have a conversation about whether current gun laws are spisht i haven't heard anybody on my side of the aisle say that this was orchestrated to get to this point. >> have you read the statement issued by the vice president of the nra?

because i have it and i can read it to you. >> you're welcome to read it to me, but no, i haven't. >> part of what he says is a political attack on second amendment and that the justice department facilitated a crime to further their gun control political agenda. we have e-mails from people involved in this who are talking about using what they're finding here to support basically an assault weapons ban. that is part of the statement. >> all of what you just said is true. but that doesn't necessarily get to your original premise which was that we -- that there's an allegation that this was all concocted or conspired to limit second amendment rights. my point which is a little more accurate is once fast and furious became public, you can either do what some of my colleagues have done and say this is wrong, let's get to the bottom of it, or you can pivot and change the conversation to second amendment rights and how we need to do something about assault weapons and the gun

buyers show exemption. that's what a lot of my colleagues did initially. they wanted to use this to pivot to another conversation. i think truth is the same people who ran fast and furious aren't smart enough to come up with a conspiracy to limit our second amendment rights. >> those are the same people who started it under the prior administration, not this one. are those the people you're referring to? >> you're conflating things a little bit. >> i don't think that's true. >> wide receiver and fast and furious are two different operations. and look, i don't care what party was in power. find out what happened. but we don't need to conflate fast and furious and wide receiver. they were two different operations. >> we're not conflating them but i will leave it on that note as we move on. but i would love to have you back on tomorrow if you are certainly available to continue this conversation. because i think you know exactly what i am saying here. but we're going to keep the ball rolling. joining me now msnbc michael ser

con nish as well as karen tumulty from the "washington post." it was great to have both sides of the of aisle on this conversation for many reasons. we like to keep it fair here. with the nra now involved, some are wondering whether this points to exactly the point critics have made that the investigation was never about brian terry, never about fast and furious. it may be solely regarding this attorney general and congressman issa, some kind of issue certainly coming from chairman issa, mike. >> there's been anairetive for a long time about this unseen unheard boogeyman that the obama administration represents threatening second amendment rights but when i pushed callers and say what exactly has the obama administration done that jeopardizes your gun rights, people are never able to offer me a substantive answer. yet, tamron, in 2008, and right now, we are living through spikes in ammunition sales

because this is sort of the current that's been put out on this subject. i need to tell you, the nra has got a lot of clout in a state like mine. >> they have a lot of clout nationwide. the most important lobbyist. we know their voice. you and i are from that same kind of state. i'm from texas. their voice resonates far beyond the states like where we grew up in. >> i don't think it's got anything to do with what the issues were. this is a gun running investigation. you would think we would all be supportive of efforts to get rid of illegal gun traffickers. the bottom line is i think the nra is using this as an opportunity to try and embarrass the administration. and they probably will succeed in forcing some democrats who wouldn't otherwise vote for contempt to do so and that will hurt the obama administration argument that this is all about partisanship because now you'll have some ds on that side of the aisle. >> absolutely.

karen, we were just speaking with congressman gowdy. he said we're conflating when you make the point that this program started under the prior administration. have you congressman clyburn saying if there's an investigation, then this investigation arms for lack of a better description should reach beyond this specific attorney general and these eight months. with all of that said, you have people watching and i know really wondering what is the larger message here. and it is complicated. karen, by the fact that we all know that brian terry lost his life, his family wants answers here. but what is the larger message that will be sent tomorrow if this vote does happen? >> well, i had i you know, we've sort of all seen this movie before. it's played out, you know, both directions in the u.s. attorney investigation under the democrats. once congress starts demanding documents to be turned over, ultimately, more often than not, those documents, we go through a

big fight over executive privilege and those documents do indeed end up getting turned over with you know, a lot of sort of political blood on the floor. so i think again, you know, the republicans believe they have a very strong political advantage here and they are going to push it. it does play into as michael said, this kind of narrative that the gun lobby has been fostering since the moment barack obama took office, as well. and they're putting a lot of pressure on democrats in rural districts. it's also, by the way, good for fund-raising for these gun owners' rights organizations. >> that's true. >> karen and michael, i'm going to ask you to stick around. coming up, another democrat announces she will skip the convention but senator claire mccaskill says don't read anything into her decision. >> everybody's trying to make this a big deal. it's stupid. >> has nothing to do with the president?

>> absolutely not. >> it is just one of those things we thought you should know. first, tomorrow is the big supreme court rule on health care. today we are looking at some of the major moments over the past few years leading up to tomorrow. here's one from september 9th, 2009 when president obama was interrupted as he addressed a joint session of congress. >> the reforms -- the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. not true. of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice.

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back to politics and the supreme court decision on the president's health care law tomorrow. both sides prepping their responses to the ruling. joining us again karen tumulty, national political reporter for "the washington post." thank you so much for your time.

>> sure. >> let's start off with the president and the obama administration, what do we know at least in these last remaining hours that the administration's feelings are? >> well, it's really been interesting. first of all, it's amazing, you know, that the supreme court is in fact the last institution that does appear to be completely leak proof. apparently the administration is in the dark as much as the rest of us are. and so, they have been absolutely refusing to engage on the question of what do you do if this or if that. they keep saying we're going to be ready. and certainly the most complicated outcome is if the supreme court strikes down parts of the law including this mandate. i think what you'll see out of the white house is an effort to salvage what's left of the law possibly with some executive orders and declare it is possible to move on essentially with part of a law. >> as the reporting was yesterday anyway, the fear is if

we see a piecemeal, if you will, decision from the supreme court that the rest of the law that exists would be under siege if they overturned for example the individual mandate. i want to bring out what politico has reported regarding gop house members and what if any plan they have for people who don't have health care. it says in part if the supreme court strikes down the law on thursday, house republicans won't rush to pass a bill that allows young adults under 26 to stay on their parents insurance and won't pass a legislation forcing insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions and the doughnut hole won't immediately be closed. what is mitt romney saying would be the counter if the supreme court strikes down this health care law? >> what they're going to say is that they are going to continue to try to repeal what is left of the law and that they are going to take their time coming up with some kind of alternative.

on the question of dependents under the age of 26, the insurance companies have stepped forward and said we will keep that in force. there are a lot of other questions out there, including those seniors who are you know, have saved thus far billions of dollars from the closing of that infamous doughnut hole, that gap in coverage and medicare prescription drug coverage. >> there's been recent polling that shows an enormous amount of americans and it was our poll that pointed out so many people are still waiting to make their decision about the health care law based on the decision from the supreme court. >> i think what the supreme court does as much as polls show that people don't hold the supreme court in quite the regard that they used to, i do think that this decision is going to be a big signal to people that if they uphold the law, this is going to be seen as validating president obama and his leadership and his entire approach to this and if they strike down much or all of it, that is going to be seen as a

confirmation of the republicans' argument that this whole thing was a gigantic overreach on the part of big government. >> karen, hank you so much for joining us again. we greatly appreciate it. thank you. coming up, my conversation with irvin magic johnson about his brand new tv network called aspire. >> every one of them to a man and woman said they wanted to see more family programming and family content and positive images of african-americans on tv. >> we'll play more of my interview. plus what the nba legend had to say about lebron. first, some of the big moments in the health care debate. who could forget the day the president signed the bill into law and, of course, vice president joe biden's infamous phrase that followed. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states of america barack obama. >> we are done.

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now to decision 2012 and our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll where it's all about swing states and the base. even with everything that's happened in the past month, the numbers are virtually unchanged. the president has a slight lead over governor romney, 47-44. joining me chris kofinis and chief washington correspondent john harwood. i am one lucky lady today. chris and john, two of my favorite people. chris, you're the vat gist here with all of the things, the europe crisis that happened. of course, the deportation policy change. the list goes on and on. the unemployment number. the numbers point out we're pretty much where we were at the beginning of may. >> we are in terms of the national dynamics. when you scratch down and you look at the battlegrounds and the fact that romney is doing poorly and worse in key

battlegrounds is striking. his negatives are up. this is a really interesting statement about one, the failure of the romney camp to define him and i think the success so far of the obama campaign to define him. it's an interesting dynamic in terms of where we are. >> the laundry list of swing states, colorado, california, iowa, michigan, new hampshire, new mexico, north carolina. ohio, pennsylvania, virginia, these are all states where we're seeing the impact of the tv ads as well as romney struggling, at least some of that list. john, we have at the bottom of our screen bases loaded because the polling also shows the president ahead in african-americans, women and latinos voters age 18 to 29, but romney leads with tea party supporters. white independents, and white women and men. so we're looking at a divide here, chris matthews noted yesterday that white working class voters may be abandoning

this president but chuck todd krebed him and said we saw the same thing with bill clinton. >> exactly we did. but what's happened since then of course, is the base of minority votes in the democratic party has gotten larger. the president needs to try to rev up that base both african-american who's show high interest in the election, hispanics who don't show high interest so far but overwhelming like the president's new deportation policy that he announced the other day. that appears to have been a big success. the other thing as you and chris were just discussing a moment ago, a lot of the wise guys making the points that the private sector is doing fine was a huge gaffe and other mistakes the president made, look at the swing states how far mitt romney is underwater on the issue of his business experience and obama with a lead. he's doing a lot better in the last month was a lot better than people imagined. >> let's talk about economic pessimism. we know we have a few major things to look to, but certainly

that last or maybe the last two unemployment numbers that will many could out. and perhaps will have an impact on those independent voters as they have not made their choice yet. >> everybody has come to the conclusion that this election is going to be about the economy. we know that. what's interesting if you look at "the wall street journal" poll and this is a fact that's been shown in other polls, when they were asked in terms of did obama create this economic crisis or did he inherit it? 60% said he inherited. that goes to a really powerful theme, the president says listen, i inherited a mess. i tried to fix it. and it weakens i think the criticism of governor romney in terms of the attacks and makes it more difficult to lay the difficult economic situations we have on the president and the president alone. >> excuse me, dude. i just want to point out, that is the nbc news "wall street journal" poll, not "the wall street journal" poll. >> i apologize. >> you sound like harry reid with the bro and the dude, john.

let's talk about quickly though what the first team called the undefined romney. we saw with the decision from the supreme court regarding the arizona law, the president's deportation policy that romney is still largely undefined. i believe it was joe scarborough who brought up the point that others have. is he going to try to run out the clock, hope that these unemployment numbers that come out of the next couple of months are not good and that's the way to win? >> a lot of his strategy is going to be running out the clock. that's not all he can do. he does have this problem of most americans know his name but don't know much about him. he hasn't been able to connect with people on a personal level. he has a lot of raw material working in his favor in terms of economic conditions and dissatisfaction with the economy under obama. he's got to fill in the picture in ways that make him more appealing to more people. >> he may not want to. 6% of the respondents don't know who he is. 20% say they know a lot about

him. avoiding answering questions, for example, of do you support the supreme court's decision on arizona, what's your deportation policy. that may be his desire to avoid giving answers. the less you know, perhaps you go with your gut on the unemployment rate. >> that's true. a lot of it will be filling in the gasp on him personally showing how he can connect personally, not just on policy issues. >> all right, dude and chris. thank you both for joining me. there's been so much heated debate on both sides of the health care reform law as we look back at some of the big moments ahead of tomorrow's supreme court ruling, this was the scene outside the high court back in march. >> hey, hey, ho, ho, walmart care h -- obama care has got to go. >> obama care is here to stay. e, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old

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perhaps a surprising finding by the nbc news "wall street

journal" poll, one of the positive things respondents had to say about president obama was health care reform. well, now we'll find out tomorrow whether the supreme court strikes down the landmark law the president signed march 23, 2010. you may remember the controversial remark vice president joe biden made after introducing the president at the signing ceremony. >> thank you. >> joining me now to talk about some other milestone moments involving the affordable care act, nbc news senior political editor mark murray. obviously, swearing yes, but for democrats for the supports of the health care law, they saw it as what biden said, it was a big bleeping deal to them, park, we know that. >> it really was, tamron. part of it had to do with the year long journey pretty much when democrats started working on the legislation in early 2009 and finally its passage in march of 2010.

there were so many ups and downs, so many twists and turns. so much controversy. finally when it was passed it really was a big deal. of course, the biggest deal might be tomorrow with the supreme court's final verdict on the law. >> i want to play a little bit of what the president said before the passage of the law. we talk so much about death panels, sarah palin talked about death panels and others. this is what the president said back if 2009. >> the best example is the claim made not just by radio and cable talk show host buzz by prominent politicians that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. now, such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. it is a lie plain and simple. >> but with those strong words, mark, from president, there was just a white house adviser on with martin bashir yesterday. he took responsibility that perhaps the administration did not do its part in explaining

the law and really driving home the counter argument of how this could help millions of americans, that somehow it lost its way. and he took responsibility for this. >> well, when you look at the entire communications effort leading up to the law's passage and even in the aftermath where i don't know if the white house and the obama administration have communicated all the different benefits that the law is actually providing now and would provide starting in 2014, when you look at all of that, one thing that's very important to note, tamron is how hard it is to pass major legislation. in politics, it is always easiest to say no than to say yes. and son something as complicated as health care, it was always going to be very difficult. you look at the struggles that bill and hillary clinton had in 1993 with their health care reform to show how difficult it was and democrats who normally are folks who run for the hills at the first sign of trouble, they actually banded together after all those ups and downs and were able to pass it on a

partisan vote then again of course, all that work could come for naught if the supreme court decides to strike down the whole thing tomorrow. >> all right, mark murray. thank you very much. greatly appreciate you joining us. thanks again. up next, my conversation with nba legend, your vin magic johnson about his brand new tv network. plus, what he said about lebron james. >> it's done. it's done. he proved, look, this man is the best basketball player in the world. >> but first, there's a lot going on today and here's some things we thought you should know. senator claire mccaskill of missouri says she is skipping the democratic national convention this year. she faces a tough re-election fight and told "morning joe" that's the reason she's staying in her home state. >> i've never gone when i've had a contested race. i think you know, you've got to say to people at home which is more important, going to a place with a bunch of party hon closes and having cocktail parties or being at home talking to them.

so this is never been a hard call for me. everybody's trying to make this a big deal. it's stupid. >> has nothing to do with the president not being popular? >> no. >> she joins a handful of other democrats also passing on the convention in charlotte this september. and on the house floor this morning, democratic congressman luis gutierrez out of illinois showed a picture of justin bieber and his girlfriend selena gomez to demonstrate how racial profiling in arizona might work. he pointed out bieber is canadian while gomez is hispanic american. >> i'm sure justin gomez learned all about american customs and feel more at home in her adopted country. oh, wait a minute, i'm sorry. because i'm not a trained arizona official. i somehow got that backwards. actually, ms. gomez of texas has helped mr. bieber of canada learn about his adopted corrupt.

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when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. in today's money minute here's a look how wall street is doing today just over an hour before the closing bell, the dow slightly up. he retired as an nba legend more than a decade ago, but magic johnson is far from living the retired life as ceo of magic johnson enterprises, the hall of famer is the chairman of a new television network called aspire. it debuts today. comcast, the parent company of nbc is involved with this. today i sat down with the business mogul to talk about his latest business venture and a few other top picks. >> joining me now is irvin magic johnson. we should say the most successful african-american businessman in the united states

and now you've got a cable network. >> yes. >> tell me about it. >> you know, i've been so blessed. when comcast decided to give four channels to minorities, to african-american channels and two latino networks, i went after one of them. >> i read that you said i want the first. you didn't just go after it. you said i want the first one. >> i wanted the first one. it was important. i think that because i wanted to expand in the media space. i had bought soul train and "vibe" magazine and uptown. i have over 25 radio stations, wbls in new york. so i wanted to also get into the tv game. >> a lot of your business ventures were inspired by something you saw as something lacking, for example, the mean theaters and starbucks in underserved communities. what did you see lacking in.praing to african-americans

that you felt there's an opening for me to get in there and do it right. >> well, it was family programming. we sat with our parents and watched tv together. so on saturday, sundays, all the family gathered around and watched tv. we don't have the programming that the family can sit down and watch. so when i did my focus group, i said okay, what do you want to see? every one of them to a man and woman said they wanted to see more family programming and family content. and positive images of african-americans on tv. >> does that surprise you? here we are 2012. and you are not only a pioneer obviously in the world of basketball, the best to ever play the game but you're business savvy paved the way for not just black people, white people and whoever wants to succeed in business. here we are in 2012 and there is an opening where we can fit positive black images or positive latino is not being

represented on rel network television. >> when you think about the creative community of african-americans, writers, directors, producers, actors and actresses, there's not enough work for them. there's not enough plat fors for them. now we'll provide one of those platforms for them to showcase hair talents and their skill sets and so that's what i'm really excited about. and then when we look at our sponsor partners they all got excited. you know, the coca-cola company. loreal. nationwide insurance. they jumped on board early and didn't even see the station's not even up and running. you was really proud of them. we should support them. >> you're starting off showcasing independent films. one of them is jump the broop, a musical. another one is father's day dealing with her father an abandoning her. sisters in the name of love. i'll be watching that one. you are a range here that's

incredible. >> we want -- when is you think about aspire short films, it's going to be comedy. there's going to be music. there's going to be performing arts. and so we want to educate our audience. we want them to laugh, cry, feel good. but also we want to educate them. that's really important and that's why aspire will be different than anything else on tv. >> i've got to do a quick round of things. according to forbes, your net wort, worth, $500 million. with that said, so many people are talking about small businesses right now and have you millions of people without jobs. some of them want to start a business of their own realizing they may not be able to get back in the workforce the traditional way. what's your advice if you have it. >> i think number one is understand is your product, is your business, is it going to be in demand? okay? that's your niche.

all right? and then can you start it on your own and not have to have a lot of staff. >> last but not least, i've got to ask you about lebron james, the miami heat. he doesn't have five rings or six but he's got one. >> he's got one. >> is the curse over? did he prove that he's -- >> it's done. he proved -- look, this man is the best basketball player in the world. he proved that. he's been proving that over the eight years he's been in the league but it's solid now because he is a champion. now, we can no longer say he's not a champion. and he's only going to get better. he's going to win another two or three rings no, question about it. >> maybe not five. >> i don't know if it's five but i think he's going to win a couple and please people, stop saying michael jordan, he's as good as michael jordan. no, he's not. you've got to win six titles to be as good as michael jordan. >> keep your eye on aspire. i've got my dvd set.

>> you're going to give me some content. >> i've already got six jobs. >> seven. >> you're the smartest businessman i know, so thanks a lot. i now work for magic johnson. next up on the gut check, we want to know what your thoughts are on the top story now that the nra is involved in tomorrow's contempt vote on holder, is this proof it's all about partisan politics? we have a ton of behind the scenes pictures of panel i can johnson. what a class act. he took photographs with the entire "news nation" family. go on our tumbler page to check it out. [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ normal voice ] nope, i've got... [ voice of dennis ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. [ normal voice ] same agent and everything. it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not.

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for the "news nation" gut collect as we reported at the top of the show, the nra reportedly putting congressmen on notice. it says it will be watching how members of congress vote tomorrow on whether to hold attorney general eric holder in contempt of congress and will

score them by that vote. two democrats have said they will vote in favor of contempt and democratic leaders say they are concerned more could join in the ranks. as many as 35 right now is the estimate. what is your gut tell you now that the a is involved in tomorrow's vote on eric holder? go to facebook.com/newsnation to ca cast your vote. i said that magic johnson was the best player of all times that set off an epic debate. including someone on twitter who believes i'm just foolish. cast your vote on that. the big debate continues but the cycle is up next. [ male announcer ] fighting pepperoni heartburn and pepperoni breath? fight both fast with new tums freshers! concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. new tums freshers. ♪ tum...tum...tum...tum... tums! ♪ [ male announcer ] fast relief, fresh breath, all in a pocket sized pack. diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm steve kornacki at 3:00 in lowell, massachusetts, 1 in denver. and high noon in tucson. here's what's going on. what happens when the supremes not their decisions become the headline? how the health care