hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. "news nation" is following developing news. paul ryan going on the record about todd akin. aiken's decision to stay in the u.s. senate races in missouri and his own pro-life platform. >> he should have dropped out of the race but he's not. he's going to run his campaign. we're going to run ours. >> are you going to talk to him again and try to convince him? >> i have no plans to. i'm proud of my record. i'm proud of my record. mitt romney is going to be the president. the president sets policy. his policy is exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother. i'm comfortable with it because it's a good step in the right direction. >> those remarks made by congressman paul ryan while en route to an afternoon campaign event in north carolina. they follow his sitdown interview with a local pittsburgh station where he distanced himself from akin. >> his statements were outrageous, over the pale. i don't know anybody who would agree with that.

rape is rape, period, end of story. >> congressman ryan would not discuss his cosponsorship of a bill with akin that originally had language limiting federal funding to cases of forcible rape. >> you sponsored legislation that has the language forcible rape. what is forcible rape? >> rape is rape, period. end of story. >> so that forcible rape language meant nothing to you at the time? >> rape is rape. there's no splitting hairs over rape. >> nbc's ron mot is with ryan in north carolina. so ron, obviously, the congressman trying to distance himself from akin and the problem that this is now for the romney campaign. what's the latest from there? >> hey there tamron. it's going to be hard for ryan to distance himself from that vote on ho-3 which is a bill akin and a lot of other republicans supported that would have restricted abortions in almost every case.

the language about forcible rape, the provision allowable for abortion. we asked about that on the plane ride down here to raleigh north carolina. paul ryan brought the press corps back a trayful of cookies perhaps thinking the questions we might ask be on the sweeter side. we wanted to get around to the aen issue. he answered us much like he did to the reporter that rape is rape and there's no splitting hairs about that. that would be the end of the story. it's not going tobts end of the story because todd akin will continue his race in missouri for time being. he was asked if you will by paul ryan to step out of the race as have a lot of the other folks. and republicans asking representative acondition to get out of that race. they thought they had a pretty good chance at unseating claire mccaskill. this may be an opportunity lost for them. so in whole issue about abortion

is not something they want to talking about publicly. perhaps that plays well with the base on the floor of all of these events but when you're on the stage, you're talking to the nation. paul ryan and mitt romney know that very well and have stayed away interest this issue on the stump. they have been asked about it behind the scenes with one-on-one interviews. >> so there's no indication that they plan to get on that stage and address any of this, right? >> it does not appear so. tamron, you mentioned, you showed that clip from the plane where paul ryan is the right of mitt romney on the issue of abortion. governor romney does favor abortion in cases of incest and rape and when the health and welfare of the mother is in dire need of having to be addressed with an abortion. outside of that, he does not believe in abortion. is he pro-life for the most part, governor romney. paul ryan is an anti-abortionist, if you will. he does not believe the country should be going on that direction toward offering more abortion services. he believes fewer is better. so i don't think that

conversation is going to make its way to the stump here anytime soon, but they may be forced to because of the climate out there right now to answer from time to time. >> headlines and what's at stake. thank you very much. let me bring in our panel for today. nationally syndicated radio talk show host michael smerconish it, jonathan coledgeio, american crossroads and nia henderson "washington post." jonathan, your super pac linked to karl rove. it was monday, i believe, that joe scarborough said listen, karl rove and the other heavyweights of this party will have to get out front and show this man they're not backing him. american crossroads, the president released a statement stephen law saying representative akin faces a simple choice, will he help democrats hold the mccaskill and potentially the senate majority by staying in the race. here we are now, he is still in the race and not backing down. what are your feelings? >> first of all, todd akin's candidacy is dead, whether he

realizes that or not. he's probably taking a poll and will be able to determine that condition cluesively. the facts are his candidacy is dead. there's no way he can win. as long as he's on the ballot, we cannot be talking about the issues that matter most to americans, economy, taxes, debt. instead we're talking about todd akin. he needs to leave the ballot for the good of his country. we can move on to bigger and better things. >> you've said democrats will hold onto the seat. the good of the party now, that brings meese to congressman ryan. just now on the plane he said he stands behind his record as pro-life record. he says though he is comfortable with mitt romney being the opposite there being not opposed to abortions in case of rape or ince incest. at the same time, he says had the language of quote language of forcible rape. >> i believe him.

it is in the direction of paul ryan's position. paul ryan is a practical guy. is america going to come all the way around to his position? i think they might go in the direction of his position. i thistle that that is why he's comfortable with govern romney's position. i think on the other side, there were differences between joe biden and barack obama on the issue of partial birth abortion in 2008. and again, they're able to get on the same ticket because they want higher office. >> michael, let me bring you back in as jonathan and other republicans have said, they think it the races in missouri is done, that it goes to mccaskill. with that said, the after effect still following paul ryan, including today. you saw him there not necessarily comfortable answering these questions but still answering them. >> i think the legacy of akin is that he's vaulted social issues back into the mainstream of this campaign. we went through the 2010 cycle without any conversation of social issues. it was all about obama care, the

whole tea party movement, the gads zen flags and so for the, not a whiff of conversation about social issues. regardless of what happens with acondition kin and his individual candidacy, that would not be the situation. take a look no further ahead than monday in what would have been a sleeper when the gop convention adopts its platform, rest assured we'll be having this conversation on monday and beyond regardless of akin. >> the republicans would like to talk about the economy and obviously, the issues facing there as if democrats don't want to talk about that or even independents. set that aside here. this is not one individual, these comments with representative akin. i want to play what steve king, the congressman everyone i'll wa just said recently when asked about akin, he's defending him and goes on to give his thoughts on the notion that somehow, pregnancy is blocked in the event of a violent attack and rape. let me play this. >> i just haven't heard of that being a circumstance that's been

brought to me in any personal way. i'd be open to hearing discussion about that subject matter. >> what he was talking about there, let me make it clear, he was asked whether or not women can get pregnant during a rape. and he said that he had not heard of anyone getting pregnant during a rape. he had not come in contact with someone. so therefore, maybe it doesn't happen. he's a republican. he's another individual in that party with some of questionable thinking there. >> that's right. and there is a wing of the republican party, people in the pro-life community who agree with steve king, who agree akin's initial statement that he's backed off of. and so that's what's being brought to the fore, that there is a wing that actually believes that pregnancy doesn't occur during a rape. i think what we're seeing is there is this re-emergence of cultural wedge issues. as much as i think republicans did want to get away from these things, you hear for instance paul ryan on the stump yesterday saying that he is a catholic and

he's a gun owner. he's a deer hunter. and i think in that way, there has been a realization it can't just be a referendum on the economy, that this is going to be a base election. in this way that a lot of these issues we felt we put to rest around abortion, around welfare and around gun ownership have actually re-emerged. both of these sides are using this issue to ginn up support in their base. >> to your point, will he me bring jonathan in, nia mallika pointed in the comments by ryan that he likes clinging to his gun and religion, obviously a dig at remarks by the president. with that said, obviously there's some part of him that wants to talk about these issues. if not, he would have not have tried to rev up the crowd with those remarks. >> he's a conservative. he's also a pragmatic conservative. we see that in his record in the congress. we see that in the way he's actually promoting policies that will transform the way we view

entitlements. he is a conservative at the same time and he's not backing off of his beliefs. he wants to get there maybe in a different direction. >> he is backing off from his beliefs when he changes from a bill he cosponsored and now says this is romney's lead, he could be the president, god for bid were to happen top governor romney if he were elected. so his thoughts, beliefs cannot be pushed to the side as if they don't count. michael? >> a candidate who is pro-life like paul ryan can be elected. however, if the american people recognize he's a candidate who doesn't want to recognize exceptions for rape, a woman who is raped and is told you must carry that pregnancy to term, that is a stone cold loser. yes, it's been in the platform in the past but it hasn't gotten to the surface of the conversation the way that it will now. that's the issue for paul ryan. >> and what about the issue we often hear conservatives say,

mitt romney, ryan, they want to talk about the economy, but yet he goes before this audience yesterday within his full right to say whatever he feels will connect with that audience and brings up guns and religion as if you want your cake and eat it, too. you want to bring up social issues, these things you know the crowd really wants to hear but when the questions get tough and are you pushed on social issues, it is this is a distraction. i really want to talk about the economy, guys. >> well, i think in some ways it is true. they sort of want to have their cake and eat it too, on the one hand want to say that obama isn't talking about the economy, that he's distracted by other things. obama said it's the republicans distracted by talking about medicare or welfare. this is just an electorate. the recent poll you had out, in a lot of ways it hasn't moved since july. as much as different candidates try to throw up different issues whether it's about romney's taxes or welfare or medicare, it seems like a lot of this is already baked into the cake and

a lot of folks have already made up their minds about these candidates. we'll see something of a reset going forward with the different conventions. it's a battle to 3, to 5 to maybe 10% of the electorate that the still isn't quite sure. they're trying to rev up their individual bases and using all of these issues that people in some ways have gone the over in some ways and are thinking about their pocketbooks. they have turned to these issues because it really gets people angry and angry people are more likely to show up at the polls and make phone calls and knock on doors and get out there and make a real grassroots push for their candidate. >> michael this "wall street journal" nbc poll. they were asked about the impact of the ryan pick. 22% said it was more likely to vote for romney as a as a result. 23% said less likely. 54% said does not affect the vote. as nia-malika pointed out, some of the thing was that this would

bring enthusiasm from conservatives, those people questioning mitt romney's credentials and they would see this paul ryan and believe that will maybe romney is on the right direction on some of those issues. but we're not seeing ta bump here. what do you think of that? >> i think the expectation, the hope had been from the romney campaign that two weeks in, it would be a conversationing about fiscal responsibility. and instead, it's been a conversation largely about the net effect of his plan vis-a-vis medicare and now abortion. that's not where they hoped it was headed going into tampa. >> jonathan, you've got 54% saying it does not affect their vote at all. 23% saying less likely to vote for romney as a result. >> most academic studies show that in total, the vice presidential candidate doesn't do that much to the national ballot. where it counts is if the home state. we saw a poll yesterday by triple p that showed wisconsin, romney is the lead there. there has been a huge jump in

wisconsin which is where it's going to matter. if they can turn it into a tossup category and win it, that creates all kinds of electoral pap problems for the democrats. >> we'll take a look at wisconsin and see if there is an uptick as a result of ryan. up next, mitt romney's link to a physician and so-called father of the anti-abortion movement. he's often cited by those who believe pregnancies from rape are rare. and a closer look at that brand new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. why our first read team says it looks more like a poll that you at home would probably see in october rather than august. what that tells us. and the national urban league, blasting nike as it prepare to release what could be the most expensive sneaker ever sold. the group calls the nike lebron x a "empty status symbol," and now want the company not to release the shoe all together.

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>> i guess you think i made the right decision, the right choice? >> that, of course, governor mitt romney speaking for paul ryan the day after he was picked for his vp choice. mitt romney has been enthusiastic about his selection but our are poll shows it didn't

deliver much of a bounce. president obama now leads romney by four points compared to six points last month before he named ryan at his running mate. nbc news senior political editor mark murray has been talking about these numbers. mark, we has jonathan coledgeio on with the american crossroads linked with karl rove. there was a bump in wisconsin he made the point. you look at other battleground states here, as well. help us understand what's going on. >> when you look at it nationally, our nbc/"wall street journal" poll confirms with all the other national polls out there there wasn't much of a bounce. if there was a bounce, it was minimal. but when you do look at some of the battleground polling, wisconsin, there's a brand-new poll out that shows obama with a a three-point there. that's down from a bigger lead. it's worth noting that the sound you just played from mitt romney and paul ryan in wisconsin, that was one of the very big rallieses that romney and ryan had in his home state.

and so it shouldn't be a surprise that you're seeing a little bit of a bump in wisconsin. and also in our nbc/"wall street journal" poll we look the at the battlegrounds, and it showed the race a little bit tighter with president obama with a a three-point instead of the four-point lead that he holds nationally over romney. >> your colleague chuck todd mentioned president obama is about where president george w. bush was in 2004 before he was re-elected. >> that's right. and you look at the 48% and we've actually kind of focused on president obama being mr. 48%. he does have the advantage. but it also ensures a very close contest. that is what we saw in 2004. i remember covering that for nbc news. and every nbc "wall street journal" poll had george w. bush ahead of john kerry, sometimes by one point, sometimes by two points. sometimes by three points. but it was consistent. and tamron, what we've seen in

our current "wall street journal" poll having president obama and mitt romney it, obama has led romney anywhere from two to six points over the past year. that's been incredibly stable. >> and this race, talk about things that have been stable or consistent, regarding kerns from the american people about the economy, the direction of the economy, the president still showing weakness in those areas. but when you put it up against the republican brand, mark, we get interesting numbers on both sides. >> there are two forces at play, tamron, one of the headwinds that president obama is facing when it comes to questions about the country's direction as well as the economy, the headwinds that mitt romney has to face are that republican brand, the gop's numbers are upside down in our poll as are mitt romney's own favorable, unfavorable numbers. one other headwind romney has to contend with are factors about his likability. questions about his image. something he's going to be able to address head-on in his

convention next week. >> mark, thank you very much. interesting poll. we know more numbers to come very soon. thanks, park. the gop now making backup plans as tropical storm isaac, have you heard about this, it's threatening to wash out the convention in tampa. in fact, the mayor of tampa says he's prepared to call the whole thing off if needed. we're tracking that storm. and another story outside of politics, but we're buzzing about it. ll cool j versus the robber. what police say happened to the man accused of breaking into the star's home overnight with his family inside. l.l. apparently took his mama's advice ♪ i'm going to knock you out mama say knock you out ♪ are you okay, babe? i'm fine. ♪

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channel, joins us. jeff, our colleague al roker was saying obviously the brunt of this could come on monday which would be better news obviously for the rnc. >> yeah, it would be if weigh could get it out of there then quickly thereafter. i'll tell you what, there are no guarantees obviously in the weather business. we have to wait till we get a little bit closer to make that call. right now isaac is not all that will powerful. it is a 45-mile-an-hour tropical storm moving at 1 miles an hour. it squally conditions here in the windward islands in the short term. there's another look at it. and by the way this isn't the only game in town. that's isaac. but there is another tropical depression coming in behind it. we are getting into the thick of the tropical season. and that one is expected to become a storm, as well. 80s name would be joyce. but let's keep isaac in our crosshairs first of all. we'll have plenty of time to look at what could be joyce down the road. right now, there are tropical

storm warnings out for parts of the northern windward islands, puerto rico, parts of the u.s. and british virgin islands. further to the west, puerto rico under a tropical storm or hurricane watch. also the southern coast of his pan yo panio la and parts of haiti as well as the north coast. that's where it's basically going to be headed in the short term. when you talk about tropical systems, people usually have two questions, number one, where is it going and two, how strong is it going to get. we do think it will probably become a hurricane. it may take another coup of days and we think it will stay on a track just south of puerto rico but come very close to haiti and the dominican republic and perhaps make a turn toward the northwest. that's when florida starts to come into play here, probably as you mentioned, about monday morning. could be affecting south florida. of course, the convention and the gop convention is up here in

tampa. that starts on monday. that could be a problem here come late monday. hopefully, we can get this thing out of the way by tuesday and wednesday. >> all right, jeff. we'll check in with you and the entire team at the weather channel to keep track of isaac. thank you so much. we turn now to the republican platform now being hammered out which one committee member called "the most conservative platform in modern history." the current draft contains a number of tea party planks and is at odds with mitt romney on abortion. joining me now radio show host steve d.c. e. it's a pleasure talking to you. >> how are you? >> absolutely, mr. gingrich released his 138 convention delegates today and urged the support of the romney/ryan ticket. are you no fan of mitt romney as i point out every time you're on the show. here we are with his debate on the abortion, the platform different from governor romney and different from the actions and the support that congressman

ryan has offered to the issue, including cosponsoring of that bill with todd akin. >> well, i think what you're seeing is that there is a really a permanent fracture between the republican base and the republican party leadership that is working itself out in the last two primary cycles. i believe something like 90 incumbent republicans in various elections either for congress or state legislatures have lost in this election cycle. there were numerous high profile ones in 2010. you're seeing a massive changeover here of the republican party and the republican party establishment is doing their best to try to hold on to control of this thing, but time is really working against them. sooner or later, they're eventually going to be irrelevant and pushed out. >> i've not had a chance to talk with you since the todd akin news broke. do you believe he should drop out? i know you're a social as well as a fiscal conservative here.

>> you know, his comments and statements range from the bizarre to stupid. it's a gaffe. there's no best case scenario, no way to defend that. the question is, is that the kind of statement, does that override a pan's entire career in the united states congress. i think the other question. >> what is the answer to that? let me stop you. what is the answer? does it override his career, his ten years in congress? >> i think ultimately, the authority for that is with the people of missouri. and if they don't think it does, i don't think it does, but i don't live in missouri. that's not my call. i don't think it does. >> you don't live in a lot of places, deev deace. that has not stopped you from giving your opinion. you're not a democrat. i'm going to push you again on this you're a certainly conservative and you think this should be left to the people of missouri. your nominee says he should resign. some of the heavyweights in your party from karl rove on down or on up say he should.

you're telling me as a social conservative, you defer to the people in that state? you don't have an opinion? >> those are two different questions. >> i don't think so. >> the first question is what do i think about the establishment telling akin he should step aside. >> do you believe or not that he should resign? >> no, i don't believe so. >> you've never limited your opinion. >> no, i don't believe he should but i'm okay if the people of missouri say we need another nominee. that's their decision. me, i don't believe he should. >> why? >> because i don't believe what he's done throughout the course of his career that this particular gaffe overrides an entire ten-year career. >> what has he done in his career to trump this what many see as malicious? you're married, your wife is a very active and vocal part of your career and life. what has he done that would somehow escape these words? mitch mcconnell said he said he's sorry but sorry is not sufficient. >> it depends on who you're

talking to. it may not be sufficient for msnbc viewers. >> no, mitch mcconnell, senator, the republican mitch mcconnell, it's not sufficient for him and his party and karl rove. >> the reality is mitch mcconnell is one of the worst political hacks on the a plant earth. mitch mcconnells of the world are one of the biggest problems we have. i think more and more conservatives through this todd akin situation seeing the double standard here are recognizing that really the problem here so much isn't the democrats trying to oppose, but it has been their human shields, their defacto human shields in the washington republican establishment that is the most clear and immediate danger. that's why you're seeing such a fault line develop here over this todd akin situation. if there was a consistency of a standard here from the republican national leadership, people might be more inclined to say hey, maybe you need another senate nominee. really what they don't like about todd akin is that he's

pro-life. they want somebody who will take marching orders from the mitt romney party establishment. they want somebody in there that won't fight them. what they're really looking at, tamron, this is about next year. if romney were to get elected, this party right now, the grassroots are so fed up with the party establishment, that while they may still hold their noses and vote for romney this fault, come january if he were to get elected to be president, they're not going to deflect for him. they're going to hold him to a level of accountability you've never seen a republican face. >> is this why, for example, in this new nbc news "wall street journal" poll is shows that the republican brand is danieled? so despite some of the concerns about the economy, the direction of the economy as indicated in this poll that some voters have regarding the president, that the party brand, your party brand is so damaged and so divided between people who believe the same things you do, the conservatives, the tea party and those like mitch mcconnell who you've said the words you'd

like to a about him, and that portion of the party? is that the problem your brand is so damaged thatted you perhaps will not pull out a victory in the general election and may not be able to take over the senate? is that the problem? >> i think there's three political parties in america. that's democrat party, there's the washington republican party or state capital republican party and then there is the conservative grassroots tea party republican party. and those latter two factions are still working out this conflict. i think barack obama is enough left that -- he's hard enough to the left he may hold that faction together for another 75 days, but it will be on like donkey kong if romney gets in the white house. >> that might be the quote of the day. great pleasure having you on. even as mitt romney seeks to distance himself from todd akin and his comments regarding rape, pregnancy and abortion, several reports draw a connection between the doctor behind this theory on rape and pregnancy.

the doctor is named democratic wilky. he was in fact, a romney surrogate backing in 2007. joining me now is jody jacobson, editor-in-chief of rh reality check, a women's health website. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> in 2007 romney called dr. wilky a leading voice within the pro-life community. dr. willk ke called romney the only candidate who can lead our pro-life and pro family conservative movement to victory. while congressman akin did not name willke as his source, many have pointed to insane theory to this very doctor who was linked, connect the dots to romney at one point in time. >> right. yeah, mitt romney was endorsed by him in 2007 and the romney campaign touted that endorsement. and as you noted, called him a leading voice in the anti-choice movement. this is a theory that you know, we're facing a real problem in

the country in that a lot of pseudoscience is replacing real science for the purposes of policy making. >> when you say a lot, do you have any specs on this? i've heard a lot of people even on air, but you hear people on air say "a lot of people believe what this man, dr. willke or even akin who now retracted it, his initial words are somehow believed by. what proof do we have this is not just a fringe group of people. >> i don't know that we have numbers or proof it's not just a fringe group of people, but this theory is disputed by the medical community at large. it's disputed by the american college of oggyns, bihar vard school of public health. there's just no -- it's just a crazy idea. >> there's no science, an under dr. willke's theory and i feel uncomfortably even saying it,

but it's been published, he believes that the woman's body reacts in such a way that conception is not possible, and i also feel strange even having to say and that's not true because surely people know that it is not birds and bees and there's no stork. i feel like we're explaining that part of equation, as well. >> here's the problem. the problem is that the anti-choice movement makes up things, repeats them endlessly until, of course, they become a thing we have to discuss. so they make up something that many women, you know, misreport rape or women don't get pregnant during rape or they will make up that women who have an abortion are more likely to commit a suicide. they make up these things. these things are made up ideas to press an agenda of undermining women's rights. every single one of those things is disputed by actual medical professionals, and science and data. there's no data for this claim.

and what's really scary is that you know, a presidential candidate now running for office would endorse someone like this. i mean, this is really junk science at its very worst because it's not just junk science. it's junk science leading to public policy. >> what about the fact that governor romney has admonished akin, says he should drop out of the race, says that he believes in the case of incest, rain, that a woman should be able to end that pregnancy. should he be accountable for a person who was a surrogate in 2007? >> i have to take issue with the characterization of governor romney's position. governor romney has said many times over the course of this, of the primary cycle and in 2008 that he would unequivocally sign a human life amendment or a personhood amendment. that would ban abortion in all circumstances. so i think governor romney is

either lying or doesn't understand the kinds of policies he's signing up to support. because you can't say last week that you will unquivly sign a human life amendment or a personhood amendment and this week say you want exceptions for rape and incest. it's just not feasible. a human life amendment is a total and complete ban on abortion for any reason. it also would ban birth control methods, in vitro fertilization. there are huge implications. >> jodi jacobson, editor-in-chief of rh reality check. supreme court justice antonin scalia on how he feels about justices changing their vote at the last minute. nbc's exclusive interview with the conservative justice coming up next. we'll be right back. e announcer] when this hotel added aflac to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac!

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court's longest serving current justice, also a leading conservative voice in the court and on the national stage. scalia is well-known for his impassioned dissents including one ta disagreed with the decision to uphold president obama's health care law. he is now promoting a new book and sat down with justice correspondent pete williams. >> there was some question about whether it's proper for a justice having initially voted one way to change his or her mind before the opinion comes out. have you ever done that yourself? >> i have not only done that, i have been assigned to write an opinion and have found that it wouldn't write. and so i've written it the other way, coming out the other way. ultimately persuading my colleagues that that is the right approach. >> anything wrong with that? >> nothing wrong with it, no. >> but the opposite would be wrong. if at the time you released the opinion you think it's wrong, that is wrong.

it seems to me, you know. at the time, it's released you have to believe in its correctness. >> and your colleagues accept that you know, here's justice scalia going one way and suddenly he tells us whoops, i think it should come out the other way? >> it happens. it happens. >> by the way, you can see more of pete's interview, the entire interview with justice scalia on nbc news.com. new information on the worst outbreak of the west nile virus in u.s. history. that tops our looks at stories around the nation today. the cdc reports the virus has now spread to 47 states. west nile has killed 49 people and infected more than 1100 others. half of those cases in texas. a long-time judge for the u.s. open has agreed to waive an extra addition hearing so she can be returned to los angeles to face charges of killing her husband. 70-year-old lois good smn accused of beating her 80-year-old husband to death with a mug back in april.

she had been in new york for next week's tennis tournament. and ll cool j has sent a man police say, broke into his los angeles home, he sent the guy to the hospital. police rushed to ll's home of an one of his daughters called 911, said her father caught an intruder and was quote holding him down sayres. investigators say the suspect suffered "a lot of contusions to his face area." the man will be booked and taken to jail once he's out of the hospital. wow. up next, our "news nation" gut check. a lot of you sent us tweets on this one. the national urban league takes aim at nike over its plans for a new sneaker. we will talk with the president of the national urban league. [ male announcer ] this is rudy. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain.

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all right. time for the "news nation" gut

check. nike is about to a debut a new basketball sthul endorsed by lebron james about the high end version of it, lebron x, will feature new technology that measures performance like jumping and speed. nike says it has not priced that hi-tech model yet but some reports indicate it will cost around $300. nike says that's not accurate, that the shoe won't cost that much. they have not priced yet but the national urban league says it's outrageous for nike to charge so much for what they called an empty status is symbol and called on nike to pull the shore. joining me, marc morial. thank you for joining me. nike says it's not accurate, that the show is not $350. we do know the current shoe is $250. this new is shoe will be at least be $250 or better. >> these are outrageously overpriced items. they're not necessities. they're niceties. they're directed at children. they're directed at teenagers.

and they've become a foolish status symbol in our nation today. i think nike at a time when we're in a recession and at a time when parents are working to pull money together for school books is, computers, the things that our children need to be able to achieve, this represents a misplaced priority. nike should pull the shoe. and i think parents should pay close attention to whether thissing is really where they should spend their hard-earned dollars. so this is just a moment. just a few months ago when a previous shoe was sbous introduced there was violence at retailers across the nation. it's time to just say no. >> why not take this message to parents? this is a free market. if the priorities are not in line, isn't that the parents' problem? why does nike need to bear the brunt of this? they're a company offering a shoe like apple offers an iphone. we've seen frenz as over

iphones. >> because companies have responsibilities too. >> what is their responsibility. >> to be responsible on one hand, nike markets itself as being community oriented, consistent with i think the great american values. on the other hand, they're marketing a $300 sneaker. a $300 sneaker. not a computer. not a set of encycloped "yaz," not instinct that is necessary, but a $300 sneaker and the shelves of retailers are full of shoes that cost in the $75 to $100 range. i just think this is outrageous. i hope people will step up and take a look. we've got to say, parents have a responsibility, yes. it's their responsibility to say no. but nike's got one, too. we all have responsibilities. it's joint. so the i hope nike, if they're listening, will take another step, take a step back. >> what about lebron and some of the athletes? when i lived in chicago, there

was violence over the michael jordan stuff. and people said he owed to the community to do this. i mean, i have to tell you, a lot of people are wondering a, if you're treating african-american children like kids or parents like kids, they can make their own decisions and this is a company. i mean, the responsibility, if you go act like a knucklehead to get these shoes, you're probably going to act like a knucklehead for something else. as the commercial said, it's got to be the shoes. no, it's not the shoes. it's probably your mom and dad. >> remember, there are going to be millions of dollars of very attractive marketing that will be targeted at young people, at sports aficionados. this is not happening in a vacuum. this is happening with see duckettive marketing that has millions and millions of dollars behind it. absolutely. lebron james, great basketball player. i think a great person. i hope if he's listening, he'll take a look. had this is about not just the responsibility of one but the

responsibility of all. so as a parent, i say no. and i encourage other parents to say no. >> i want to get you back on to see what happens with this shoe once it is officially released. marc morial, always a great pleasure having you on and your thoughts on these topics. what does your gut tell you? do you agree with the national urban league that nike should pull this shoe? go to facebook.com/newsnation and somebody said don't touch their christian louboutins. is that next? i'm tamron hall. "the cycle" is up next. xñ