let me finish tonight with this. a sixth of our country is a spanish background. one in six and growing. imagine the enhanced dignity they must feel after what happened last night in rome. the election of pope francis is so new it's going to take a while to get our head around it. all the people here in our country from central america, the caribbean, they must be thrilled. the cardinal from buenos aires came as a surprise, didn't it? he wasn't a front-runner. my sense is that he will be very offbeat from what we're used to in politics in this country. usually you hear someone say i'm a liberal on social issues but conservative. pope francis is progressive on matters like poverty and economic justice. he's like some old-style democrats who are pro life but

solid on health care for the poor, protection of minimum wage. you know, like former bob casey. and more conservative when it comes to matters of sex. maybe it's the best we can do. and that's "hardball" for now. "politicsnation" with al sharp ton starts right now. thanks, chris, and thanks to you for ktuning in. senator one-term mcconnell, meet the president's second term agenda. president obama was back on capitol hill today. this time to meet with republicans in the senate. and the ring leader, mitch mcconnell. you know him. he's the man who threatened to make obama a one-term president. but today he and the other republicans were all smiles. >> how are you?

good to see you. >> how are you? >> thanks for coming up. >> good to see you, sir. >> mr. president, welcome. >> thank you so much. >> we're serving lobster today. >> bragging a little bit. >> lobster jokes? always a good sign. afterwards, president obama seemed to think it went pretty well. >> i think we've had good conversations. but ultimately it's a matter of the house and the senate, both caucuses getting together and everybody being willing to compromise. we'll see. >> all right. now let's see what republicans thought. texas senator john cornyn said, quote, it is clear to me that balancing our budget and cutting bloated washington spending are not president obama's top priorities. the president and i have significant disagreements.

huh? i guess after all that lobster lunch, the claws really came out. and over in the house, well, let's just say the speaker's not really glowing about his meeting with the president yesterday. >> i think we had an honest discussion but it's going to take more than dinner dates and phone calls. it's going to take senate democrats rolling up their sleeves, making tough choices about how to solve our problems. >> dinner dates and phone calls? give me a break. the president has already bent over backwards for the gop but he's not going to back down from his core presence. following today's meeting, the democrats -- he told the democrats that, quote, i said to the gop caucus, is there not one loophole we can close? one loophole? i just think one. i think i can guess what the answer was.

joining me now, congressman emanuel cleaver, democrat from missouri, and richard wolffe, executive editor of msnbc.com. thank you both for being on the show. >> thank you, reverend. >> can the republicans make a deal? >> well, it's going to be difficult if they are unwilling to come up with or agree to anything related to closing some tax loopholes and i would think that 98% of americans realize and understand that we have protected spots in our tax code for rich folk who have airplanes and yachts and it's just mind boggling that people can't say, yeah, we can close those loopholes. we don't want those people taking advantage of the tax code so they can keep millions of their dollars when poor people are paying a disproportionate amount. so david throw said things don't change, we do.

there's going to have to be some changes going on with individuals and their philosophies if we're going to bring this nation around to propelling this growth or we're going to fall down again because they are not going to move. >> when you look at the fact that speaker boehner wrote and this is an op-ed that says, obama's outreach is nice but where's the leadership? if we're going to find bipartisan solutions, the president will have to move beyond the same proposals as democrat democratic dogma. aren't they saying, there can be an agreement as long as everybody agrees with me? >> yes, he is. but he's trying to do other things with these kinds of press conferences and op-eds. by the way, you spent plenty of time with the president.

i have, too. saying he's not a leadership is going to get under your skin. that's a cheap shot. he doesn't care. he knows who he is and he's the president of the united states. john boehner knows very well indeed and all of the republican leaders know very well that this president has put entitlement reformed on the table. they may think that they are not enough. i'm sure they feel very sincere about that. but there are plenty of democrats who think that even the entitlement cuts, even change cpi are too much and they know very well that there's only one democratic leader right now pushing hard for that and that's the president of the united states. so there's a bargain on the table. if they want to drop the cheap shots and take what's on the table, it's not a grand bargain. it's a small, teeny bargain. it's nonetheless important. >> congressman cleaver, when you look at what's already happening right now to real people, there will be furloughs for food

inspectors if this deal isn't reached soon. already tuition assistance for veterans has been cut. veterans. and 125,000 people are now at risk of becoming homeless due to housing program cuts. and when you look at the severity of these things that are eminent and you hear that the republicans are jumping up and down having a hissy fit as the old folk used to say in my neighborhood over white house tours, i mean, listen to the people at fox. >> this has been a disaster, been unexplainable. >> how unbelievable is this? >> the idea that they didn't think that there would be pushback from the american public when school kid tours was canceled. obviously there are other things in the white house budget that could be cut. >> so they want to distract people like this is about tours. we're talking about affecting real people's livelihoods.

>> well, this whole tour thing makes me sick at the stomach because we're talking about furloughed secret service agents whose responsibility it is to protect the president and i think we need to get that tour thing off the table and start talking about real issues. we're going to lose between 1 and 2% of the economic activity, gdp this year. almost 700,000 jobs are at risk, according to the not nonpartisan government accounting office. so those are real issues. those are real human beings where postal workers in my district and all of the districts in the country. let me say something, reverend, and you hit on it. president obama spoke with us earlier today. he told us some things that we don't particularly like. but nobody is going to be in a mood and do something we don't

like if people on the other side are saying, we don't care what happens, we are not going to close any loopholes in the tax code. so then people on our side began to become more and more inflexible. >> and i want to push you on that a little because i've been in meetings where he's said outright to civil rights leaders and others of us, i'm going to do things that you may not like, you may not be comfortable with. so when the republicans say he hasn't compromised, that's just very, very wrong. is that not right, congressman, from your meetings today? >> from my meetings today and previously. i was in the oval office with him in a meeting once he started talking about cuts in the community block grant. he said, look, i know you're not going to agree with me on that. that's the way it is and you ought to go and say what you have to say. there's not a democrat in the meeting that would tell you that they were jumping for joy at some of the proposals, at least one of the proposals that the

president talked about. but we're not going to budge if the other side is saying we're not going to do anything on tax loopholes. >> richard, isn't it a conundrum for the president? i mean, no matter which way he goes here, the progressives and his own members of his party are disappointed in some things that even on the table and republicans are not going to give them credit anyway. >> we're upset with health care reform. they didn't think it was enough. there are plenty of people on this network saying, where is the public option. >> you watched my show, huh? >> it's not -- he's never going to be able to please everyone and he knows that. i do think that a lot of this comes down to rhetoric. republicans would say, there's not one loophole. but if you say to them, are you for tax reform, they go, oh, hell yeah, i'm for tax reform. what's tax reform? it's closing loopholes. some people are going to benefit and others are going to lose

their loopholes. these things will be on the table. >> congresswoman nancy pelosi called the ryan budget today a hoax. listen to this. >> it's a study in contradictions. it's a hoax. this is as we've moved into the category of hoax, an exercise in contradictions, repealing the affordable care act while using the law savings in revenues to balance their budget. claiming to protect medicare while ending the medicare guarantee for ten years for seniors. >> isn't it true, congressman, while they played this ryan budget that miss pelosi calls a hoax and while they prolong this kind of back and forward to protect loopholes that they are going to have to face a serious backlash, in your opinion? >> a number of democrats were sitting on the floor once again

and we actually talked about this whole issue. it's an exercise in futility. it means nothing. it is going nowhere and it's a talking point. that's one of the things i don't like about washington. things are done as a talking point. trying to eliminate the affordable care act at this point is just not the smart thing to do and it's not going to be done. the president would veto it even if it got through the senate but it will never be brought up and they know it. millions of people probably actually think, wow, we have a chance to still kill obama care and everybody up here already knows, including those involved in developing the budget, that that's not going to happen. >> congressman emanuel cleaver and richard wolffe, thank you for your time. >> thank you, reverend. grab the popcorn, the gop circus has rolled into town big this time. they forgot the small tent. plus, the republican power

grab that threatens democracy. we're not backing down, governor. and from "morning joe," my colleague mika joins me to talk about her two passions, the food we eat and fairness for women in the workforce. it's a big show tonight. stay with us. there's nothing better than salon color,

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it's a sad day today for one of america's legendary cities. detroit. for decades detroit was a boom town, the heart of an industry, a city where america made things, where families worked and lived, raised their children. the home of the american dream. but the city has fallen on tough times. debt and unemployment have skyrocketed and now republicans see detroit's crisis as an opportunity to push an extreme agenda. they cooked up a scheme for elected officials with an emergency manager who could replace emergency officials and have the ability to fire employees and sell off city assets. state republicans passed an emergency manager law in 2011 but it was rejected by the voters. the law was repealed in a

referendum last november. and to date gop governor rick snyder appointed an emergency manager. >> i like to think of it as an opportunity. this is an opportunity for us to work together. we are going to turn around the city of detroit through team work and collaboration. with he need to work together. the best solution are people coming together. >> work together? really? by appointing an unelected lawyer to rule the city? the truth is, republicans want to turn cities like detroit into giant test labs for their conservative ideas. but we don't have to wait for the results of this experiment. emergency manager for four

years, it hasn't gone well for the people there or democracy. joining me now is pontiac city councilman donald whitecage who has been working without pay since 2011. thank you for being here tonight. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. good to be here. >> councilman, you've had four years of the emergency manager. you told "the new york times," quote, an emergency manager is like a man coming into your house. he takes your checkbook, he takes your credit cards, he lives in your house and he sleeps in your bed with your wife. he tells you it's still your house but he doesn't clean up, he sells off everything, and then he packs his bag and leaves. now, those are strong words. what is happening in pontiac since the emergency manager took over? >> well, reverend, since we've gotten here, first of all, the city of pontiac, just as you

stated before, was a struggling city like the city of detroit. there was close to 1,000 employees in the city of pontiac. we're now down to less than 60. every city asset -- >> from 1,000 employees down to 60 employees? >> yeah. 60 city employees right now through primary, through layoffs, through outsourcing and privatizing of all of the jobs that the emergency manager has made. and -- >> wait a minute. i want to go slow so i and everyone can understand you. through outsourcing the layoffs and canceling -- privatizing contracts, all of this was decided by the emergency city manager who was selected by the governor, never elected by the people in pontiac? >> absolutely. >> so the people of pontiac have no authority at all to stop this man from doing anything? >> he does not have to consult the city council on any

decisions that he's made concerning the budget, concerning personnel decisions, hiring, firing, appointments, nothing at all. the city council meets but we simply meet to hear citizens' complaints and to -- really, there's nothing on our agenda. primarily we -- >> you mean to hear people vent because there's nothing that you can do. the city manager is appointed by the governor, not elected by the people, not accounted by the people, accountable to the people, yet the mayor elected by the people and members of the city council that they elected to handle their finances have no input and this city manager in pontiac has already -- and i'm going to put this back up -- the city has overall labor contracts, it has sold off city assets.

the police and fire department have both been outsourced, garbage collection has been outsourced and this one really got me. the silver dome that was valued at $22 million, he sold it for $583,000? i mean, how does this happen? >> yes. he sold it and without any type of an appraisal or assessment on it. from what i understand, from congress, the piping inside of the silver dome was worth more than the $583,000 that it was sold for and on top of that, the same emergency manager who sold the silver dome came back later and tried to open up a casino in the silver dome with the man he sold it to. so they tried to partner up. and that's that one-manpower corruption. power corrupts. >> wait a minute. the man that sold it to him tried to open up a casino with the guy he sold it to? >> absolutely.

the emergency manager of the town who came back and tried to open a casino at the silver dome with the very man he sold it to. >> but that's not corruption. that's not fiscal miss management. >> that's what we call emergency mismanagement at its best. >> and as announced today, that is the new form of government that has just been announced today in detroit, one of the prime cities in this country. because what i'm afraid of is the experiment across mesh began and you can get away with this in detroit and go to any major city in the court in the name of fiscal restraints. let me ask you this, councilman. were you in pontiac facing fiscal problems and fiscal

questions when the city council was elected? >> at the time the current city council was elected, we did have those -- when i came into office, which was january 1st, 2010, we were on our first emergency manager. we're on our third emergency manager right now because of the incompetence of the first two emergency managers. because my point is that the people that voted for you and the people that voted for the officials in detroit and other cities, they voted for you knowing they had problems and they voted to elect you guys to solve the problem. so how does a governor just decide i don't care who they voted to solve the problem, i'm going to impose with no one's vote, my own emergency manager. >> absolutely. one of the problems i have is because statistics are showing that they are 50 school districts and over 100 cities in the state of michigan who technically would qualify for an emergency manager.

and what you can end up having is these emergency managers all over the state with little small kingdoms with one person ruling over these cities. >> and no one voted for them. i've got to throw this last thing at you that's troubling and we're running out of time. when we look at detroit now under emergency management, we did the research. that means that 49% of the african-americans in michigan, almost half of the african-americ african-americans are under emergency managers they didn't vote for. how is that possible? >> absolutely. and let's go a step further. all of the cities that have emergency managers are not only after democratic party, strong

with unauto generion, blue coll primarily the lower economic collar people, either white or black. and how it happens is they get to -- we're in this post industrial stage where all cities with the leading automobile and revenue sharing from the state, this is how they are able to come in and they come in under this auspices and there's so much mismanagement that may have been done. it's a sign of the economic times. >> it's startling, isn't it in. >> yes, it is. >> thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. good to be here. >> coming up, the republicans kicked off their big party today. but a civil war broke out. wait until you see how one

democratic senator took down political bomb thrower ted cruz at today's gun game. when did you know that grandma was the one?

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liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? freshman senator ted cruz thinks he's a tough guy. the man who thinks obama care, a risk of government shutdown also said this about president obama. >> i think president obama is the most radical president we've ever seen. >> but today we tried to elect senator feinstein. it didn't go too well for the tough guy. >> namely, would she consider it to apply only to the following books and shall not apply to the congress deems outside of the bill of rights? >> let me make a couple of points in response. one, i'm not a sixth grader.

senator, i've been on this committee for 20 years. i was a mayor for nine years. it's fine you want to lecture me on the constitution. i appreciate it. just know i've been here for a long time. i've passed on a number of bills. i studied the constitution myself i am reasonably well educated and thank you. >> thanking senators and called for, quote, a vote. now the full senate and the house need to vote on this bill as wells a the measures in the past week. yes, they do. and we will not be deterred on this issue. does senator cruz think we wouldn't see he's not such a tough guy after all? nice try, senator. but she got you. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the greatest show on earth thank you, thank you, thank you. the conservative circus known as cpac is back in town and they promised it would be new and different. sorry, kids. it's the same old show. so let's go right to the center ring where marco rubio is clowning around. >> there's this couple that i know. they are on my son's tackle football team. they are struggling. they live in a little small apartment, they share one car. they are not free dloaders. they are not liberals.

>> and please direct your attention to the ring on my left. who new congressman louie gomert was an acrobat. hold on to your seats as he takes a daring leap off of reason. >> one of the things that we've heard over and over again since vietnam is, well, we don't want to get in another unwinnable war like vietnam. vietnam was winnable but people in washington decided we would not win it. >> the crowd loves it. and over on my right, it's the tax man himself, grover norquist. who knew he was also an animal trainer? >> republican elected officials who vote for tax increases are rat heads in a coat closet.

they damage the brand for everybody else. >> wow. that is a circus act we've never heard before. got to hand it to the gop. they are flying through the air without a net. joining me now, our "politicsnation" correspondents. thank you for being here. >> thank you, rev. >> angela, they promised a new show but it looks and sounds like the old one to me. how do they expect to attract new voters if they keep putting on the same song and dance? >> i don't think they expect to attract new voters, rev. they have is so good, the same old policies by the same old folks. they also need to look at how they are utilizing tokenism. the fact that they can find a black or latino face that is not helpful for their communities or families is highly problematic. whether rubio is looking at

their friends or neighbors sayi saying it has to stop. >> many of the cpac members today say they don't think the gop has to change. listen to this. >> the problem with the modern republican party is you have a bunch of republicans who speak like conservatives and act like moderates. we need republicans who can speak like moderates and act like conservatives. >> now, the popular media, it's that this country has shifted away from conservative ideals as evidenced by the last two presidential elections. that might be true if republicans had nominated conservative candidates in 2008 and 2012? we don't need a new idea.

the idea is called america and it still works. >> now, conservatives say their party doesn't have to change but a recent poll shows that americans backed democrats on the issues. >> sure. >> they trust them to look out for middle class, democrats holding a 22-point advantage when they trust in the whole who do they trust to take care of the middle class. on medicare, 18-point lead. health care, 16-point lead. gun violence, 15-point lead. and an advantage on immigration, taxes, on and on, the democrats outpolled. >> first of all, that was awesome. i love that you did that. that was so cool. look, the republicans have a major problem in terms of they have been dealing with this white racial anxiety. white resentment. that's been this sort of fuel

that they've used for decades pretty much since 1964 when they started the southern strategy to rally white working class people who would then vote against their economic interests and roll with the rich people who would make sense to vote for the republicans. if they are going to counteract the obvious demographic trends of america, the browning of america, the fact that in 2042 there will be more black, brown, and asian people than white people, if they are going to counter act that, they have to get off of that. how can you get off the saws when attracting the other voter, the black and brown asian voter will go directly counter to what you are doing in selling the sauce? you can't do it. so they have a major problem and angela is talking about enough with the window dressing, that's absolutely correct. they think they can put a brown face out there and it's going to make a difference, we see through that. >> you do see through it. allen west is back and he once called congressional democrats

communists. he was back today with some more controversial statements. watch this, angie. >> i'm speaking with experience when i tell you that there is nothing on this green earth that a liberal progressive fears more than a black american who wants a better life and a smaller government. >> now, angela, i will admit that i've been blacker longer than you two but i have never heard anything like that in my life from progressive liberals. >> well, i hope you never will again from a conservative white allen west, you know, god bless him. he's one of my former bosses with the black caucuses. last year he was calling people like the legendary maxine waters and others on the democratic plantation. this is the type of hateful, divisive rhetoric that we just cannot afford to have in a country that right now is considering things like immigration reform and finding

parity across the board for folks that don't look the same. this is a conference that right now has an agenda it auem that says, again, with an assault weapons ban, the minute it passed the senate judiciary committee today. we can't afford to play rhetoric with things that are so crucial to moving this country forward. you know, marco rubio talked today about, you know, the idea as america and it doesn't change and doesn't have to change. i reject that. there's nothing in our history that says we have not evolved, we have not consistently changed and it is time for a change, rev. >> and when they use that democratic plantation language, i find it so disgusting to import this language of slavery as if we are trapped here. we choose to be democrats. we choose to be progressives and liberals. we're not trapped here like slaves. that is, again, an insensitive racial language that they

perpetuate like self-deportation that just says, this is why black and brown people don't want to roll with you. >> and then this also, in case you don't remember, the movie, "the washington post" wrote in 2010, after it became clear that hillary rodham clinton would run for president, citizens united released hillary the movie, featuring a who is who cast of right-wing kmen state acommental of this is showing that film tonight at the cpac circus. >> good luck with that. before we even get to dealing with hillary in 2016, they are going to have to deal with immigration and the center of that is can you deal with the changing america that is happening right now. are you going to try to say we want america to stay like it was, like it no longer has been for decades but we still want ward and june cleaver and the

beave. that's not going to happen. >> i know what is best, they listen to allen west. thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> watch touret on "the cycle" here on msnbc. ahead, the true cost of war. a republican said something today that shows the parties have learned nothing since mission accomplished. and my colleague mika joins us tonight on getting us healthy and standing up for woman minute. constipation, women. diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. how we get there is not. we're americans. we work. we plan.

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the day in politics gets started every day here on msnbc with "morning joe." we watch for joe and mika, too. >> who said that? a democrat or republican? >> democrats. >> since republicans were wining. >> it doesn't always have to be democrat or republican. >> you could say both sides exaggerate. >> new pope from the americas. this hasn't happened in 1200 years. >> what are your hopes, first of all, with the new pope? this is full of fat and full of

sugar and has no value. we want to eradicate everything like this. we don't need it. >> is there a question in there? >> yeah, i'm talking to michelle here. >> joining me now, the co-host of "morning show" on msnbc, mika. >> good evening, reverend al. >> glad to have you with us. >> good to be here. >> this week a judge overruled mayor bloomberg in his pursuit of getting sugary drinks in large quantities out of stores. what do you think it's going to take to get this anti-obesity movement to sink in. >> well, i think it's started and i think it's going to happen at a much more rapid rate. this might have been seen as a loss for mayor bloomberg but i see it as a loss for society because we have an obesity epidemic. people are beginning to die at record numbers from different

obesity-related issues. our children are fatter than ever. this is ultimately hurting our national security and economic security. that's a no-brainer. that part we know. what to do about it? well, someone give us a better idea. at this point mayor bloomberg is ut approximating ideas on the table and if you think about it, they are good ones. he's not banning drinking the drink. he's trying to teach people again, something that's completely gotten out of whack in our society, and that is what a properly healthy portion is. >> now, what was interesting was he said to joe and you the other morning, more people are dying now because of obesity than starvation, which was startling because i've never heard it put that way. >> yeah, the pendulum has swung in the other direction and our society has more knee replacements, hip replacements, diabetes, everything related to obesity. think about it. if we were to eradicate obesity,

we wouldn't have the health crisis, we wouldn't have problems recruiting in the military. we wouldn't have people too fat to fight for our country. we wouldn't have children growing up with social problems and medical problems and shorter life problems. it's all related to obesity. we have to look in the mirror. we have to be able to have conversation. we actually need to use the "f" word, fat, and obese, and be able to say it to people just like they have any other type of illness. >> and i think it lifts yourself-esteem. that's what helped many he to lose a lot of weight. >> yeah. >> and you have a book coming out on this subject? >> i do. it's called "obsessed" and it's about america's addiction to junk food and takes my story as well as a good friend of mine who became obese over the process of 20 years and we both kind of found our way back into the middle in terms of our relationship with food and also looked into the science of the

addictive qualities of food, of sugar, fat, and salt. the key ingredients in most of the food we eat. and right now the science is showing and there are experts on nutrition, brain experts as well as food experts and obesity experts coming together using the term addictive qualities of these substances. the next level is addiction. if we can actually prove that and i think they will, this will end up in the courts just like cigarettes. >> now, talking about books, i have to go to your last book. you did a book called "knowing your value" and you talked about women, you talked about what they still face in terms of inequality. you really champion the cause of continuing the fight for gender equality. now, a lot of people have talked about it now but i see people out there as mika-rites. >> you're nice. >> tell me about it. because you had valerie jarrett

and other people in your book. >> a lot of people are talking about sheryl sandberg's book called "lean in." a lot of issues that she brings up in her book i brought up in my book a few years ago called "knowing your value" and it's about how women undermine themselves and each other in the process of trying to grow in the workplace and become financially equitable to their male counterparts and i look at exactly what we do that causes perhaps problems or creates stumbling blocks along the way and sheryl touches on that as well. women care more about being friends than commanding respect. that women tend to apologize for themselves and they feel so lucky to be there and it talks about how you need to really communicate effectively. so what i like about "lean in" is that all women should come to work and "lean in" but then they need to take it to the next

step. i think we still need to do that but we've come a long way. >> i have two daughters. dominique says the difference in your book and others, including "lean in,"s with thsays don't become accommodating to it. >> that's a key thing. sheryl has received a the lo of criticism that is unwarranted because she's bringing out universal qualities in women many, whether you're at the very top like her or at the bottom starting out and you're in the middle and can't get anywhere, we tend to do certain things first in the conversation or in negotiation or in a relationship that undermines the earning potential, the goal at hand and it's a matter of focusing and commending respect and then understanding that friendship and those other things that you're actually going for will follow. so to will success. >> you are standing up for women

and they call me the activist. >> and you're generous. thank you very much. >> mika, thank you for doing this. >> thanks. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] switch to swiffer 360 dusters extender, and you'll dump your old duster. but don't worry, he'll find someone else. ♪ who's that lady? ♪ who's that lady? ♪ sexy lady, who's that lady? [ female announcer ] swiffer 360 dusters extender cleans high and low, with thick all around fibers that attract and lock up to two times more dust than a feather duster. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning.

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