make loyalty to him and the other questions the national loyalty of the one demanding the signatures. stick with napoleon on this one. just stay in the stands and watch these gladduaters go at it through the election. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to the ed show. i'm michael dyson in for ed schultz. mitt romney is horsing around with billionaire donors in aspen while president obama is fighting for the middle class. tonight i'll show you mitt's fancy dancing on taxes. this is the ed show. as ed would say, let's get to work. >> mitt romney's middle class tax increase. he pays less, you pay more. >> on the air and on the stump, president obama is drilling mitt romney over his middle class tax hike. and the romney team is trying to change the narrative. >> that report you referenced is a joke.

>> tonight, karen finney on the politics of romney's ongoing tax nightmare. and dean baker on the undeniable policy implications. and why on earth is twitter getting on gabby douglas over her hair? i'll explain. president obama has mitt romney on the ropes over a tax plan that doesn't add up and would raise taxes on the middle class. just one day after a damage independent analysis, the obama campaign put out an ad that will air in eight battle ground states. >> mitt romney made $20 million in 2010. but paid only 14% in taxes. probably less than you. and now he has a plan that would give millionaires another tax break and raises taxes on middle class families by up to $2,000 a year. mitt romney's middle class tax increase, he pays less, you pay more. >> the romney campaign has been caught completely flat footed. on a conference call this

morning, romney advisers struggled to combat the truth about their tax plan. eric fehrnstrom called the independent analysis a joke. another adviser said the romney plan would create 5 to 10 million jobs. but couldn't explain how the campaign arrived at that number. it's important to understand what they're saying here. after an independent analysis says romney's plan would raise taxes on 95% of americans, romney's advisers call that report a joke. yet won't provide details to dispute the report. then those same advisers claim the romney tax plan will explode job growth. today governor romney tried a similar strategy saying he'd put out a tax plan that can't even be analyzed not by any group ever. so the romney campaign made a tax plan that can't be analyzed yet the tax policy center scored it. they bent over backwards to analyze the romney plan in a very favorable fashion to mitt

romney and it still didn't add up. president obama's new line of attack on romney's tax plan continued today on the campaign trail in orlando, florida. >> he's asking you to pay more so that people like him can pay less. so that people like me pay less. first they said there's a liberal organization. despite the fact it's headed by an economist who worked for george bush. then they said that the study failed to fully take into account the massive economic boom that would come from cutting taxes on the wealthiest americans and the biggest corporations. because we all know how well that worked out the last time we tried it. >> the obama campaign also revealed a digital tool to calculate the effect of the romney tax plan. >> just enter some simple information to see how much you'll save thanks to president obama and you'll also see how

much extra you would pay under mitt romney. >> now, let me get this straight. in the course of 24 hours since the release of this independent analysis, president obama is hammering mitt romney on the stump, the obama campaign has a new ad out and there's a tax calculator comparing the obama plan to the romney plan. but the romney camp didn't make this and they certainly didn't take it lying down. today they rolled out a presidential accountability score card on president obama. here's mitt romney's presentation of the presidential accountability score card in his speech in colorado today. >> i'm going the start off with a bit of a report card. some of you've been handed a little piece of paper here. if you haven't gotten that, you will. i see some people opening these up. i'm going to talk about it in a minute. you don't need to open it up yet. i've got a report card here. and it shows his report card. if you look at the arrows, it says jobs on the far left the obama record. it has a downward arrow, a red

arrow. we have fewer jobs under president obama. then there's underemployed and unemployed. that's gone up. that's in red. >> kind of corny and cute huh? which by the way is not true. it's a tough economy, but it has gotten better under president obama despite mitt romney's report card. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, which one is the joke? mitt romney's tax plan or independent analysis of romney's tax plan? text a for mitt's tax plan. text b for the analysis to 622639. or go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. i'll bring you the results later in the show. i'm joined by patrick gaspard and karen finney. msnbc political analyst and form he communications director for the dnc. it's a dnc kind of night tonight. i want to return to mitt romney on cnbc a few months ago. let's listen.

>> i haven't laid out the details how we'll deal with each of the deductions and exceptions. i think it's funny for them to score it because it can't be scored. those details will have to be worked out with congress and we have a wide array of options. >> is that comment coming back to bite mitt romney where he couldn't sit reasonably in the saddle of the horse he claims not to own? >> good to be on, michael. that comment is absolutely ludicrous and comical if not for the stakes we're contending with. mitt romney has laid out a plan that clearly raises taxes by an average of $2,000 per family on folks making less than $200,000 a year in order to pay for his deficit busting tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires

who aren't even asking for the benefits. an independent analysis has demonstrated this. as the president noted, the center that released that is headed by someone on the george bush council. and romney's campaign a few months ago called the institute's reports fair and impartial. mitt romney continues to try to run for president by not being transparent, not releasing the details of his plans to the american people by hiding his taxes, by doing all that he can to misrepresent this president's record who has done a tremendous amount to pull us out of the great recession that he inherited. >> so karen, in light of that shredding and deconstructing he delivered there, how big a problem is this for mitt romney? in the past 24 hours, the obama campaign employing this report seems to have the romney campaign on the defensive and dare we say on the ropes. >> yeah. here we have yet again team romney not prepared.

the fact that they thought they were going to get through this campaign without having to give any real details. as you pointed out in the opening, the tax policy themselves tried to bend over backwards in favor of romney to make the numbers work out and the numbers still didn't add up. this is part of the problem they're having when it comes to his own tax records and for policy after policy. he's giving us rhetoric and platitudes without filling in the details. in the context of a campaign, it's incredibly naive and frankly, of his team to think that the rest us aren't even going to at least try to figure it out on our own. we're not just going to take his answer as the only answer. we're going to say wait a second. let's see how the numbers might work out. what we're seeing is the devil's in the details. time and again, it goes to the whole thing. his tax records, he doesn't want to give them up because he says there's stuff people will go through and pick through. he doesn't want to give us the details of his economic plan because guess what?

it's going to give a tax break to millionaires and billionaires and gouge the middle class with an additional $2,000 tax increase. >> he can't hide this in the sand and think we're not going to look. we've got google and a thinking cap. so the patrick, the obama campaign has been connections between his bain capital years and his refusal to release more tax returns as karen eluded to and now they're connecting that to his tax plan to paint a picture of a candidate incapable of connecting to the middle class. do you think the narrative is taking a toll on the romney campaign? >> i think we have seen from their reactions to this how they're concerned that it is clear their candidate is radically out of touch and their campaign can't come forward with policies that benefit middle class voters in any real way. if you look at how they explain how they're going to pay for their tax cuts, they say that they're going to reduce tax expenditures. well, what are tax expenditures? the american people need to understand by the reduction of

tax expenditures he means benefits for families that rely on the earned income tax. eliminate benefits for the families with the interest on their home mortgages. eliminate benefits for folks who rely on these tax breaks to provide for their health care as well and for their child care. so when you dig a little deeper, it becomes clear they're trying to hide the facts and mitt romney comes off as the slight of hand artist at the carnival while he's trying to reach into your pocket to take your cash. they're trying to run from that record. >> karen, let me ask you there. the legerdemain aside. i didn't know he was a fan of magic. after harry reid has been told mitt romney didn't play taxes for years, romney said this to sean hannity. take a look. >> it's time for harry to put up or shut up.

harry's going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because that's totally and completely wrong. it's untrue, dishonest, and inaccurate. it's wrong. >> now, who's got to put up or shut up here? doesn't mitt romney have to shut up so everybody else can? >> it's time for mitt romney to put up or shut up. there's another issue here. we've got patrick, i'm going to give him this advice. think about the specter of what we've seen in the last several days. you've had democrats and our president fighting for a tax cut for the middle class while republicans blocked that. and while the republican nominee for president is pushing a plan that will raise taxes on the middle class, that is the contrast in this election. we have to take that to the people. i want every candidate -- i want candidates to explain how they can dare defend something like that. that's the put up or shut up. make mitt romney explain how it is by raising taxes on the middle class or raising tax it

middle class or raising taxes by taking away those win credits that is a burgeoning industry in america, that that's going to help our economy. >> all right. let's listen to president obama more today. let's listen to president obama. let's take a listen. >> they have tried to sell us this trickle down tax cut fairy dust before. and guess what? it didn't work then. it will not work now. it's not a plan to create jobs, it is not a plan to reduce the deficit. it is not a plan to build our middle class. it is not a plan to move our economy forward. >> slight of hand, fairy dust, you guys are getting deep into the arts here. president obama is attacking trickle down economics and painting romney as the same old things on steroids. does this resonate or do people get fooled into believing romney is offering something new? >> i think voters always realize the elections are more about the future than they are about the

past. they know that this president inherited a terrible mess. and they know he's pushing us towards a future where our children are going to have a chance to outcompete and outinnovate their competitors overseas. and romney is only going to help the wealthiest folks who aren't looking for the break he's forwarding. mike, if i could, i want to touch on the put up or shut up moment. mitt romney says we need to, this is a man who refuses to release his tax returns to the american public. a man who misrepresented in private equity where he said he created hundreds of thousands of jobs but we know he outsourced instead. somebody who hid the hard drives from his tenure as governor of massachusetts. and we've now discovered that he was hiding his resources under mattresses in bermuda and the cayman islands. so he's the one who needs to put up immediately if he intends to be the chief executive of this land. >> karen, briefly, do you want to respond? >> i want to point out that

think progress put out a great piece today that showed -- i think it's important we remind people and most remember that the longitudinal data shows us does not work. wages tend to stagnate. investment isn't better. the economy grows a little bit slower. again, don't you even have to take it from president obama or the democrats. the numbers actually tell the story. what they're pushing is snake oil and it doesn't work and hasn't worked for this country. >> fairy dust, slight of hand, snake oil. great stuff. thank you so much for your time tonight. >> thanks. >> thank you, michael. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter on ed show. we want to know what you think. mitt romney once said his tax plan could never be scored. now we know it would never work either. economist dean baker explains why romney's plan isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

coming up, mitt romney's tax plan doesn't add up for the middle class.

dean baker weighs in next. a young man in arkansas dies after he's detained by police. now his family is searching for answers. we'll have the details. and mitt romney hit the campaign trail in colorado where the wounds of last month's shooting are still healing. i'll ask the reverend jesse jackson if either candidate will work on gun control. share your thoughts with us on facebook and twitter. we'll be right back. direct rates side by side to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us.

[ ding ] oh, that's helpful! well, our company does that, too. actually, we invented that. it's like a sauna in here. helping you save, even if it's not with us -- now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! the romney camp called the report on the candidate's tax plan a joke. but when you look at the tax policy center's analysis, it's

clear why the romney campaign ain't laughing. we already know the plan would raise income for people making more than 200,000 bucks a year while cutting income for those making less. but as the washington post's ezra klein points out, the plan is not workable. keep in mind the center gave romney the benefit of the doubt when testing the plan. accounting for implausibly large growth effects from tax cuts. under that best case scenario, mitt romney said the plan would work because rich people would pay the same as they do now or more. >> for middle income families, the deductibility of home mortgage interest, those things will continue. but for high income folks, we're going to cut back on that. so we make sure that the top 1% keeps paying the current share they're paying or more. >> yeah, but ain't that the problem? the top 1% paying what they're paying now. can't they pay more? here are some tax expenditures from the tax code in order to lower rates across the board.

employer provided health insurance, social security benefits, moving expenses, education related tax credits, medical expense deductions, state and local taxes, mortgage interest, charitable contributions and many others. not only is it implausible to cut most of those credits, there aren't enough of them to make up for the size of the tax cut for the rich. so what else could romney do? cut spending. according to the report, cutting spending would make the plan more regressive because government spending tends to benefit low and middle income households. and if romney did cut spending, we already know it wouldn't come out of the military. >> i will reverse president obama's massive defense cuts. time and again. we've seen the attempts to balance the budget by weakening our military only lead to a far higher price in the future. >> no cuts on the military but they sure will raid your pockets. for a guy running his

businessman in chief, his tax plan isn't across the board done. let's turn to dean baker author of the book "the end of loser liberalism." thanks for joining me. >> thanks. they must know because they don't put the details on the table. the tax policy center, they're calling them partisan. these are people who have worked in both democratic and republican administrations. their model is open. it's not a secret. mitt romney himself had praised the tax policy center during the primaries when they modeled rick perry's plan and said how much money it would cost the government. if he thinks they've done it incorrectly, he has good economists on the team. say we're not getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction, we'll get the money somewhere

else and tell them where it is. i've looked at what the tax policy center did. i think you'd be hard pressed if you're a mitt romney supporter saying this is a way better for the middle class. hard to see what they would do. >> yeah. if they got a better way, tell us. spill the beans or keep talking. romney was noncommittal across the board tax cuts until he felt some pressure in the primary. here he is in february. >> there are a couple things i'd like to announce today. i'm going to lower the rate across the board for all americans by 20%. >> dean, doesn't that mean if romney had his druthers, would he have stayed away from a tax plan like this? doesn't seem to favor what his ideas are. >> well, it is very hard to tell. obviously the republicans got into a bidding war with the bigger tax plan and cuts. certainly very popular with the republican base. we know when he was governor in

massachusetts, romney was a relative moderate. so what does he really think? i couldn't say. so, what he would try to do if he were president, that's something for people to guess at. we have to look at what he's saying now. what he's saying now is tax cuts for the wealthy. if he's saying it's going to be paid for the only way we could see is taking away the mortgage interest deductions which are big things for middle income people. >> this is what i'm trying to figure out. how can the romney camp but any spin on this to make it sound good for anyone but the wealthy? i don't get it. >> i think their whole effort thus far is to be vague and say we're not going to do this or that and try to get away with numbers that don't add up and hope he's not called on. that's why it's great that the tax policy center took the lead and did this. they do have a well respected model. it is used in all sorts of analysis. it's not just out of the blue. they've been used for years and years. they're respected across the political spectrum. again, they put the cards on the table.

and i think it's really incumbent of the romney campaign to say if it's wrong, here's why. >> do you expect romney will fill in the blanks for us or is this all we'll get? >> my guess is he will try to be evasive. i don't see any good blanks. again, i'm willing to be charitable to him. i will tell you right now. if i thought the tax policy center missed something, they did it wrong, i would say that. i'm not on the obama campaign. they're not paying me. i would say it. i don't see it. i don't see any way to interpret his plan and be more generous to the middle class. unless you say he's just going to give people a tax cut and not pay for it. that may be what he intends. that's not what he's saying. >> he ain't saying much. dean baker, thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks. coming up, a 21-year-old man is picked up by police. minutes later he's dead. what happened to chavis carter? we'll have the latest. michele bachmann is trying to save america from the muslim brotherhood.

we weigh in. stay tuned. you're watching the ed show on msnbc.

what happened to chavis carter? police say a 21-year-old man killed himself in the back of a squad car. but carter's mother says that story doesn't add up. over the weekend carter was arrested in jonesboro, arkansas, for drug possession and a missed court date.

>> searched twice, handcuffed behind his back, and double locked. but police say shortly after placing him in the car, they heard a loud thumping noise. when they checked on carter, he was slumped over with a shot in the head and a small caliber nearby. >> every officer has missed something on a search. be it guns, knives, razor blades. this instance happened to be a gun. >> police say carter committed suicide. but how does a person reach for a gun and shoot themselves in the head while handcuffed? carter's mother said her son was left-handed yet he was shot in the right temple. >> what do you think happened to your son? >> i think they killed him. i mean, my son wasn't suicidal. >> police are still investigating the incident. jonesboro police chief michael yates admits the story is bizarre and defies logic and is now ordering and offering further details.

>> we've reviewed the dash cam video, and as late as today managed to have some witnesses come forward that observed the incident from start to finish. their statements tend to support that whatever transpired in the back of that police car transpired in the back with the officers in a different location. >> yates met with local african-american leaders and reportedly told them that the fbi is also investigating. the community wants answers. >> the point is this is strange. you know, and it's certainly demanding further investigation. it's not just a black thing. a human being died in the back of a police car while handcuffed. >> amen, reverend. chavis carter is dead and we don't know why. the police report shows that carter had just $10 worth of marijuana on him. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour on "the ed

show." stay tuned. i think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous. >> michele bachmann has doubled down on her islam phobic remarks. i'll ask the panel. a what point does mitt romney need to answer questions on this witch hunt? >> and why is olympic gymnast gabby douglas getting all sorts of mail on how she wears her hair? i'll explain. [ male announcer ] it seems like every company has a facebook page these days.

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hey, congresswoman, how are you? >> i can't talk right now. i'm on my way to a meeting. >> senator mccain was on the senator floor saying what you're doing after huma -- >> i can't do it right now. >> can you do an interview later? >> i can but i've got to get here. >> she's running away from the television camera. michele bachmann is determined to save this country from the muslim brotherhood. she won't answer questions about

it, but she is determined to save this country from the muslim brotherhood. in june bachmann along with four other republicans sent letters to five agencies suggesting certain u.s. officials included longtime aide to hillary clinton huma abedin are part of a muslim brotherhood plot to infiltrate the government. due to bachmann's baseless claims, she now receives extra protection from the fbi. several publicly chastised her tactics. including speaker of the house john boehner. that hasn't stopped bachmann. she has now written telling americans she's protecting them from islamic extremists. i'm on the case because someone has to question obama administration's indulgence. it is my duty as a member of congress to ask why the obama administration has repeatedly undermined america's national security and vows to political correctness related to radical

islam. the safety and security of every person in my district as well as all americans is preeminent concern to me. wow. let's turn to mark simone and marcia dyson. let me ask you, mark, how big of a problem is this islam phobia for the republican party? is this as extreme as michele bachmann has made it out to be? >> let me be honest first. i'm not the biggest michele bachmann fan. i don't know what she's up to. it's like harry reid shooting off his mouth yesterday. it's a problem all through our politics. sometimes there's a legitimate concern but you get this hyperbole and it clouds the issue with nonsense. and huma abedin seems like a fine woman. is she trying to hurt her reputation by bringing up ties to the muslim brotherhood?

she has ties to anthony weiner. what could be worse than that? i don't think bachmann is as crazy as she acts. the same thing with harry reid yesterday. i think they love that controversy and the attention it brings. it's the cheapest way to get attention, but they do it. >> marcia, since this controversy erupted, michele bachmann has raised a million bucks. what does that tell us about the republican party, about her kind of politics? >> well, it shows that bigotry sells and paranoia is lucrative. she also talked about the republican party to try to talk about the political correctness of the democratic party and not going at the so-called terrorists at our country when they forget about the kill of osama bin laden. forget about the incubation of tourism cells. they have an i'm afraid of the muslims and don't give a damn about the other citizens. they don't care about gun regulation with the nra and the

mass killings in our inner cities. they don't care about -- when you have the representative mike kelly from pennsylvania saying it was a terrorist act when an august the first, the affordable act was placed i think into motion, then i think they're totally off base. and michelle obama is playing to the right wing republicans in the party. the most crucial thing is that americans like women who want pro choice and catholics and gays and homeless and jobless people and mormons are american citizens too. >> do you agree with kelly? >> yeah. with you don't tie all republicans to it. that was the answer. she raised a million dollars. it's a fund raising gimmick. it's sometimes you're appealing to the worst element of the base. listen, we've got crazies on both sides of the aisle. >> eric cantor has come to her defense. is he one of the crazies she's appealed to? >> remember, these people all work together. if one of your colleagues here

does something crazy. you have to decide what the relationship is. harry reid crazy with that statement yesterday. you know what it's like when you work with someone. you've got to defend them. >> i don't want to draw a parallel between what reid said and what bachmann has done. you were an ambassador at large for the middle east for the civic forum, participating in civic engagement between israelis and palestinians. what does this do to the argument between them and the possible peace pact? creating that kind of dissension has to be bad news. >> unbeknownst to michele bachmann, a lot of the people here there is a lot of activity going on where you're getting the citizens of the countries of the middle east whether they're israelis or jewish or christians. they have that conversation so they can have their own piece. and what it signals on is you have possible people leading

this country who are intolerant of the so-called other world. creates scares. about tim reed -- he was attacking barack obama. >> harry reid. >> harry reid he was attacking barack obama. but michele bachmann is attacking people in our society. doctors and lawyers and teachers and having witch hunts. and as an african-american woman, i take quite offense to that. and it is a form of witch hunt. she's doing it for dollars, then it's the wrong dollar bill. >> what about that? the fact is many muslim people, people who follow islam have been loyal citizens to this country. have served in every echelon of this society and they're being witch hunted by michele bachmann. i know you're not a fan of hers. why doesn't the republican party stand up to that? >> i think half of them do and half don't. you're not wrong with about what you say. it's not equivalent. what i meant was it's the same stupid tactic. if you have a concern, bring it up. you don't have to use this hysteria to make your point.

think about what harry reid is saying. an investor in bain told him that romney paid no taxes? >> you keep coming back to this. this is not about harry reid. this is about michele bachmann. >> we're talking about a woman getting death threats. huma abedin is getting death threats as a result of this. let me ask you this. is mitt romney going to weigh in on this soon? when is he going to weigh in? >> if i were him i would stay far away from this. >> how would you if you're the lead of the republican party and someone representing the republican standard is standing out in a way to besmirch the character of those who are unjustly besmirched. >> i think if he can deal we the situation of the conflict between christians, i'll say michele bachmann, and our middle east situation here stateside, he won't be able to do anything if he's the head of our foreign policy government. he has to speak to it because people are being vilified not about returning their taxes or having disclosure their financial records.

we're talking about people threatened, targeted, and are being profiled in america. we're so ignorant sometimes in america people going after people. i take that to heart. >> you get this crazy stuff year in and year out. every administration. whether it was obama's birth certificate. i wouldn't respond to that. with bush it was leaving the national guard going awol with clinton it was who killed vince foster. if you're the candidate, you've got to stay away from that nonsense. >> but you have to say this is not what represents us at our best. it's not about michele bachmann. it's also about what the republican party's values are, isn't it? >> i think absolutely what their values are. you call terrorism about people who are coming from the middle east when you don't think about everyday life for individuals who won't get health care and things of that nature. >> all right. i'll have to end that conversation there. thank you so very much. thank you so kindly. coming up, she's an olympic

champion and only 16. but that's not what people are talking. i'm cracking it open to look at the word priorities. stay tuned.

coming up, the twitter verse erupts over an american gymnast's hair. we'll look at the idea of priorities next in the dyson-ary. don't forget to go to facebook and like "the ed show." and vote on our facebook poll. we want to know who you think is the greatest olympian of all time. remember, if you don't like "the ed show" on facebook, you have only yourself to blame. we'll be right back. wç

16-year-old gabrielle douglas has achieved more than most people can dream of. douglas and her fellow gymnasts dominated the olympic competition winning the first gold in that event since 1996.

tonight she is one of two competing for the gold again. this time in the individual all around final. americans have taken to twitter throughout the olympics to show their support for team usa and to respond to the games in realtime. well, in tonight's dyson-ary, i'll tell you what the word priority means to the critics on twitter. first the actual definition. priority, noun. something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives. by that definition, you would think that people would be focusing on gabby's accomplishments, her team's big win, the fact she has the potential to be the first african-american to win the all around gold medal in gymnastics. and she's done this at an age most girls are dreaming of getting their driver's license. instead most people in the african-american community have taken to twitter to insult her hair. let's look at some of the low lights. gabby douglas, you made history with your talent and hideous

hair. we as a black community have to fix gabby douglas's hair. congrats to gabby douglas on her gold metal. wish i could say about that hair. oh, my god. horrible. gabby douglas shouldn't be the standout in those commercials until she gets her hair done. and it goes on and on. gabby douglas is an olympic champion. a title for the best athletes in the world. she's being recognized on the world stage for her ability to outperform her competition in a sport. and to get there she had to break a sweat just like everyone else. that should be the focus. let's check the dyson-ary. priority. according to the twitterverse, noun. petty, shallow, self-hating, disgraceful. let's turn it back to the text poll survey i asked you at the beginning of the show. in the spirit of the olympic games we're going to issue a spoiler alert for those of you

who wait until the re-air to learn of the resolutions. mute your televisions now. tonight's survey question was based on the romney campaign's thought that the tax plan analysis is a joke. we asked which is a joke. mitt romney's tax plan or independent analysis of romney's tax plan. 94% say mitt's tax plan. 6% say it's the analysis. coming up, mitt romney signed an assault weapons ban in massachusetts. now he's running away from those issues thanks to tea party radicals. up next reverend jesse jackson will weigh in on banning assault weapons. stay tuned.

welcome back to "the ed show." mitt romney was campaigning in the swing state of colorado today. he took time to meet with the victim of last month's shooting in aurora. no doubt about it, it was a great thing for governor romney to do. president obama also visited shooting victims and their families in colorado on july 22nd. just a few days later he gave a speech to the national urban league in new orleans. the president said gun ownership was part of our national heritage, but went on to say common sense steps should be taken to reduce gun violence. >> i also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that ak-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals. i believe the majority of gun owners would agree we should do everything to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons.

that we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun seller. that any mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily. these steps should be common sense. >> unfortunately president obama hasn't called for a single piece of legislation furthering sensible gun regulations since he's been in office. meanwhile, mitt romney signed an assault weapons ban when he was governor of massachusetts. but now that he's going for tea party officials, he doesn't have the guts to tackle this kind of issue. let's welcome reverend jesse jackson. >> good to be part of the dyson family reality show tonight. >> what's it going to take for somebody to work on gun control in this country? >> the issue is not only about gun control. it's about automatic,

semiautomatic weapons. guns for protecting your house, to protect your castle if that's your choice. guns for hunting. semiautomatic weapons are in a very different zone. 25 police were killed this year by semiautomatic weapons. the same weapons that was used to kill people in aurora, colorado, could be used to bring down airplanes. this is a matter of national security. you do not hunt deer or elk or rabbits with these guns. you could not protect your house with them. they only kill people. and they should be banned. >> reverend jackson, governor romney signed a ban in massachusetts but he said this only a few days after the deadly colorado shooting. >> i don't happen to believe that america needs new gun laws. a lot of what this young man did was clearly against the law.

but the fact it was against the law did not prevent it from happening. >> doesn't this muddy the situation here? this feeling exacerbates or escalates the problem? >> because it's assumed that vice president dan gore lost the election based on a gun position is a kind of fear. the courage must come bottom up and not top down. that's why police chiefs around the country are now rallying. a police chief in philadelphia and detroit, police chiefs are now crying out because their men and women are less able to defend the public and themselves. if these semiautomatic weapons can get past the zone of the secret service and the police, they have no place in the civil society. what you're looking at is a pattern. and if al qaeda or taliban can come to america without an airplane, can buy 6,000 rounds

of ammunition, can buy unstoppable semiautomatic weapons, this is a threat to national security. this is domestic terrorism. domestic terrorism and domestic tranquil cannot co-exist. let's go above laws on gun control to semiautomatic weapons and bullets out of control. >> your home state governor, pat quinn proposed an assault weapons ban earlier this week. it comes when they have seen a 31% increase compared to last year. what impact will this have on violent crime if it passes? >> well, it would have some impact. factor in criminal behavior today is in these areas, guns in, drugs in, and jobs out. in iraq it is the opposite. we need such an urban policy within our own country. but you don't have guns sold

within chicago, guns are sold and manufactured in the suburbs. the city is the target market for the guns and the target market for gun trafficking and drug trafficking. until we break that cycle of guns in and drugs and jobs out, we're going to be looking at an ugly dangerous bottomless pit. we deserve more and better security. >> yes, sir. ugly, dangerous, and bottomless pit. earlier in the show we spoke of chavis carter. police say he killed himself in the back of the squad car but there are questions about this incident. what do you make of these incidents that happen to young african-american or other people of color? >> over a hundred african-americans have been killed this year while in custody. or police or some security office. in arkansas, here's a young man who they've searched twice. who was handcuffed and they say shot himself in the right temple

with his left hand. he was left-handed. that's houdini. it is incredible. the department of justice must act right now. this is more trayvon martin and worse. >> right. switching gears and let me for the sake of full disclosure say jesse jackson jr. was my former student, your beloved son. we know that he has been battling a serious health concern. can you tell us the latest about the health of your son? 30 seconds here? >> well, the revelation by the mayo is some form of depression, maybe connected to intestinal surgery. but that's not conclusive. all we can say is that he's under the best medical supervision. he's resting to regain his strength. and the prayers of the many are appreciated by our family and him and his family very much. >> our prayers go out to you and him as well. reverend jesse jackson, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you.