nancy pelosi is coming to nerd land. and st moral protest in north carolina. this time it's voter suppression and so much more. but first, teenage girls, sex and who is really at risk? ♪ good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. monday evening, 5:52 p.m. the unbelievable story that has dominated the news cycle began with this call to 911. i've been kidnapped and i've been missing for ten years and i'm here. i'm free now. >> that was 27-year-old amanda berry who disappeared the day before her 17th birthday in 2003, calling for help after emergeg from a 10-year nightmare. berry along with her 6-year-old daughter was freed from the house of who rows where they were held captive. sometimes bound with ropes and

chains. more than a decade. the survival story of these women after enduring abduction, enslavement and torture is a chilling echo of others like jaycee dugard and elizabeth smard that have also captured national attention. these are the stories they remember because they go to the heart of the most horrifying svu filled nightmares of teen girls and sexual vulnerability. but far more common when it comes to young women and sexual exploitation, teen girls denied the support to emerge safely into womanhood in an environment of sexual consent and exploration. instead they are shaped, exploited and sometimes denied health care. we got a good glimpse of what

that looks like in policy form. they would have advanced minors to get notarized consent from a parent or guardian to be treated for a sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, substance abuse or mental illness. backers of the bill were hoping it would, quote, reinforce the long standing pruesumption that fit parents act in the best interest of their children. this is the that all children have fit parents. it ignores that some are survivors of rape by the parent or guardian that would have to give their okay. it overlooks the uncomfortable truth that younger women are more likely to have an older male as the first sexual partner, which is associated with a increased risk of unpanted pregnancy, childbearing and sexually transmitted the diseases.

pregnancies go up while the likelihood goes down. at the federal level, the obama administration is per suing the opposition to lifting age restrictions on over the counter emergency contraceptions. this is one of the safest purchases a young woman could make at the drugstore. so devoid of opposing easy access to the drug, the administration boils down to this. listen, i get it. it is not a thought that a parent wants to entertain. but less appealing is the idea of girls facing unintended pregnancies and finding themselves with limited production on options. we cannot escape the facts?

7 in 10 teens have had sexual intercourse and thinking about teen girls being vulnerable to sexual perversion makes you want to stop listening now, you may want to take a deep breath for this. some of those sexually active girls are having sex because they really like it. now you can stop clutching your pearls. the fact is that all teenagers who are having sex are not just acting out some kind of pathological behavior. safe, consenting, pleasurable, abandoning the willful ig forns requires embracing both ends of the spectrum. and those who are sexually empowered. comfortable with the discourt. and finally talk about teenage sex, starting right now.

dr. melissa gillian and the center for inquiry ininnovation in sexual and reproductive health, both at the university of chicago. an education psychologist and professor at hunter college. an organization devoted to helping women deal with domestic violence. she herself was once a survivor. this is what we saw of cleveland was tough. >> absolutely. this has got to serve as a wa wake-up call that tolerance will no longer be held when women are violated, when girls are violated. and it begs the question, where do we go from here? perhaps amanda and gina and

michelle's abduction could have been prevented if ariel castro had been held accountable for viciously beating his wife years ago. if the police had followed up on leads that got me on the community and if we as a community paid close attention to the size. we are so plugged in to our iphones and ipads and our busy lives that we become unplugged to humanity. >> it feels like a special kind of evil from castro at this moment. this is inexplicable and unimaginable. i don't want to imagine it. she told me she's not outside anymore. i worry our response to the who row that we shau in cleveland

it's to become more horrified about the idea of the vulnerability of the daughters. so we muss what they are vulnerable too. >> if the reaction is let's lock up the daughter and protect them, why is the reaction to make sure the son is not the next ariel castro? or make sure my son's friends know how to intervene in cases of rape and sexual assault. but the biggest dangers are being uninformed and starting to explore the sexuality. but not strg the legal access to contraception. not being able to talk to the daults in their lives at school. there are only 20 states in the united states that mandate sex education with hiv education. so we still have young people not getting this information. that is where they are the most vulnerable on a day-to-day.

you're engaged with young people on the ground there in the city of chicago on the question of vulnerability. we can look at it two different ways. we are going to be very naive if we think young people don't don't have questions. so we have to create these spaces for young people. but helping them to thrive this every aspect of their life. and those assets, communications, great schools. all things help to defer the risk behavior. >> so we have in part the plan "b" image up. the other piece that was going around behind this was the idea that we need to protect the

girls. not only from exploitation but of their own decision making. and buying plan "b." st there a good reason to limit the access of plan "b" to young teens? >> no, these are policies that harm the most young people. there accessing medical care is really, really difficult for young people. so the goal is to lower as many barriers for young people. it's really hard for young person. and for the middle of the night, that's not when you want the unnecessary barriers in place? >> what are the key barriers the young women are facing? i think a huge bar yeg is the shame in judgment that sexual young girls face. and i get the message that female sexuality is wrong from all fronts.

parents, teachers, music, media, all of that. so that can really inhibit a young girl from talking to their daughter or to their parents, absolutely. and the shame really silences young people. >> if i have to go in to get plan "b" and i live in a small town and it's behind the pharmacist counter and i live in a very small town and my pharmacist knows my whatever, my aunt. there's ways that because we don't act like it's an antihistamine, we have a shaming position on it. >> and this is so much better than trying to call up a doctor you know. it's frut traiting to me. much less the transportation, the finances and the wherewithall to do that. this is so much a better option. >> when we come back more about the issue of how we educate young people.

elizabeth smart weighed in abstinence education. copd makes it hard to breathe... but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can help make this a great block party. ♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory

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i remember in school one time i had a teacher who was talking about, well, about abstinence, and she said, imagine you're a stick of gum, and when you engage in sex, that's like getting chewed, and then if you do that lots of times, you're going to become an old piece of gum. and who is going to want you after that? for me, i thought, oh my gosh. i'm that chewed up piece of gum. that's how easily it is to feel

like you no longer have worth. you no longer have value. why would it be worth screaming out? why would it make a difference if you are rescued? your life still has no value. >> that was elizabeth smart speaking last week at john hopkins university about how abstinence only education made her reluctant to come forward her her nine-month abduction. currently, 26 states require students be taught that abstinence is the best method to prevent pregnancy. even when research shows us abs innocence only education doesn't work. a 2011 study showed the effectiveness. and even when you control education, et nis tis, health care, abstinence only education doesn't result in abstinence

only behavior. they concluded it's a state policy ineffective at stopping teenage pregnancy and may be contributing to the high teenage pregnancy rates in the u.s. ha commentary by elizabeth smart is gut wrenching to hear how it made it easier for her to be victimized. >> for me it was not uncommon. i have seen a warm cup of spit and a thorny rose with no petals. and the problem is this abstinence only sex education is telling women the only worth is sexual and then not giving them information to be empowered sexual beings, which would be the goals. we don't want to talk about our kids having sex but the whole goal is for everyone to grow up and be a functional, happy respectful adult. my worth is i'm a sexual thing and i'm going to be used and if

i'm used, no one will want me. young men are being told i'm a predator. these feelings i have make me a bad person, rather than being taught now not to be a predator. how to negotiate consent. abstinence only is telling young people sex is bad. you are bad. and they're getting all these messages. >> and if you engage in it, then you're used. >> and it's just heartbreaking. but it happens on an individual basis. i hear it in my therapy office. i hear it from my students. and we wonder why boys are treating girls in a disrespectful manner. and you think of steubenville. we are teaching kids girls are worthless if they're sexual. boys are going to view the sexual girls as worthless.

it's not just damaging to girls. it's damaging to boys, too. >> and this is part of the overall cycle of violence. absolutely. it certainly is. and elizabeth seemed to be misconstruing abstinence with self worth and shame. abstinence is a personal choice. self worth and shame is related to rape it's two different issues. we need to focus on teaching our young girls prevention and education and awareness and self worth not tied to their bodies. whether it's wanted or unwanted sex. we are looking to call a national call to action to help them understand greater prevention and education awareness. about self worth and empowerment

and who they are. it is so important that we get involved in the issues sooner than later. that we come up to the front lines and say we're going to protect our girls to help them make better choices. >> one way to protect them is to hear them. to listen to them. they collected data from african-american youth, hispanic youth, white youth. asking them questions about sex and sexuality. these are the young people who believe becoming a teen parent would embarrass their family. and what you see is a minority of youth of all races think becoming a teen parent would embarrass your family. they ask, are you comfortable telling your partner what you are okay with sexually? and a majority of students saying, yes, i can communicate about what i want and don't want. comfortable telling your partner

that you are not ready for sex. and this one. do you feel comfortable persuading a partner to use a condom? that feels like the empowerment we want. we want them to set limits. . but that only comes if we have conversations with them. >> that's exactly right. so the teen pregnancy rate has really decreased dramatically in this country. and a lot of that has to do with sexuality education and the increase in condoms. the rising condom use is because we are unashamed to give a strong message around hiv and hiv prevention. it's the opposite of what we're doing with abstinence education. and young men, as just said, are a very important part of the

picture. >> president obama has been sort of battling an up hill battle around this. there's three pie charts i want you to see. they're complex but just look at the red and what you will see are the federal dollars spent on abstinence only education and the extent to which the president has been trying to shrink the pie in the administration so we are getting information about pregnancy and hiv prevention and education. so it's getting better, but it's still undoubtedly an up hill battle. when we come back we're going to talk not only about this pie chart, but about the culture in which this education is occurring. and don't forget joining us later will be house minority leader nancy pelosi. but up next we're coming back with more on teens, sex and safety. i'm bringing the vampires of twilight into the conversation. hey, look!k! a a shooting s st! mamake a wish!h!

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farrah abraham's story on teen mom is what happens in the aftermath of teen pregnancy. but her latest is a depiction of what she did to get pregnant in the first place. the pornographic film abraham shot with important star james dean has outsold the gold standard of celebrity sex tapes distributed by adult film company vivid entertainment just 12 hours after the debut on monday night. it's already been watched by 2 million viewers. that way outdoes the kim kardashian tape that only got 600,000 views in the same amount of time. okay. no, not trying to do that. on the other hand, i feel like this, the teen mom piece is complicated. and the idea that she learned from our reality tv culture that

exploiting her own body is what will get her fame and fortune, that seems like a problem. >> that is a huge problem. this is an area that i have a lot of problem with. now what farrah decides to do is her choice. but i'm concerned that the only tv we find entertaining is one that exploits young women and young girls around teen pregnancy, teen moms, and tell that person that it's okay the way to get ahead is to now take that and go out and exploit your body. if that is the only tv that we as a culture will accept, shame on us, shame on us. >> right. not on farrah. on us. >> and i've got the twilight poster in the back. this makes me nervous. we see the teenager engaged in

pornography. but also the romantic story of stalking and being bitten and the restrained violence that's part of the narrative. it feels like we generate this idea that what is desirable is this power relationship between the man and the woman. no? yes? >> yes! so what i'm sitting here thinking is this is why we need to talk to young people about sex. if you fatalk to kids about sex. it will make them curious. but they're reading twilight. they're seeing these things on the internet they have to be taught how to see it's media literacy 101. how to see twilight and go wow, that's stalking rather than wow, that's sexy. if we're not talking about what real sex is and real sex looks like, then we have the problem of thinking that sex looks like important. >> i appreciate this.

you took it to the point of media literacy and critical viewership in reading. it's not keep your child from reading twilight. read twilight along with your child and have the critique. enter into that conversation. the other moral panic is the twerking phenomenon. there are teenagers in san diego who made a twerking video and were expelled. one might be impressed. on one hand it's just teenagers doing dancing. >> i don't know what to say about the 33 girls getting suspended. >> right. they were suspended. not expelled. >> i would hope they took swift action in harassment and bullying as opposed to dancing. >> that's a good point. the idea that they're suspended

for sexuality that they're uncomfortable with but some kids may not be suspended for behaviors far more damaging. >> this is something that they did on their own. have you ever seen a high school dance team? they do the same moves. that's being taught in a class. i have to really wonder if any of the students were bullies or if they were engaging in a video they did on their own that was sexual. they would have laughed it up. there is something so gendered about fearing young women's sexuality because young women's sexuality if we can't control it, then we fear it and try to control it more. it never works. >> you have some tools. some resources. ways to think about doing this bette better. >> so we added a new dpengs the work. we use story telling and narrative and so what is special for us is we hear from young people and tell their stories.

one of the things about being afraid is we don't want to hear it. when you give young people the tools to tell the story, it really opens up a world that most adults do not have the tools and ability to communicate with young people. an then we use those tools as a way of communicating with other people. so we're about to launch a game that has to do with sexual assault and dating vibls violence. it gets to a core piece of this conversation. giving young people tools for their relationships. those are very complex. we're much more quick to say sex is bad rather than relationships are beautiful. >> the goal is not to shame sexuality autoof existence but create healthy empowerment.

thank you to my guests. shelby is going to hang out a little bit longer because up next, the growing and enraging sexual assault scandal in the u.s. military. my letter of the week after the break. [ whirring ] [ dog barks ] i want to treat more dogs. ♪ our business needs more cases. [ male announcer ] where do you want to take your business? i need help selling art. [ male announcer ] from broadband to web hosting to mobile apps, small business solutions from at&t have the security you need to get you there. call us. we can show you how at&t solutions can help you do what you do... even better. ♪ can help you do what you do... even better. meet the 5-passenger ford c-mc-max one. c-max two. that's a super fuel- efficient hybrid for me. and a long range plug-in hybrid for you. now, let's review. introducing the ford c-max hybrid and the ford c-max energi plug-in hybrid.

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♪ for the past several months we here in nerd land have been following closely the dozens of sexual assault allegations at the air force base. so we were particularly concerned to see the new pentagon report showing sexual assault incidents in the military have risen 35%. and we were agast to learn how some in the military are addressing the problem. and that's why we're sending this week's letter to secretary of defense chuck hagel. dear secretary hagel, it's me melissa. congrats again on your new position in the obama administration. i know you have a lot on your plate between an ongoing war in afghanistan, unrest in the middle east, but i just want to be sure in the midst of the

international conflict you don't forget about another crisis con frenting our men and women in uniform. i am deeply troubled by the new report from your department finding 26,000 reported cases of sexual assault took place in the military last year. that's more than 70 instances of sexual assault every day. but what makes those numbers even more troubling is the other news coming out about how sexual assault prevention is being handled. this week the chief officer in charge was himself arrested for sexual battery. and that happened shortly after he completed the sexual assault training course. so i have to wonder what is being taught in that course. if it was anything like the brochure uncoverd this week, there is cause for great concern. the training brochure includes

tips on how to avoid sexual assault. like don't walk or jog alone. avoid doorways, bushes and alleys. and in the case of an attack. it may be advisable to submit rather than resist. do you see the pattern here? sexual assault training maybe should first teem people not to commit sexual assault. instead it moves the responsibility onto the potential victims. then there's the case of matthew and james wilkerson. because commanding officers can reverse criminal convictions, both men had their charges dismissed. in one case against the advice of the commanding officer's legal team. and no public explanation was provided about why assaulters should be hay lowed to return to their post. each of these instances is problematic. but together they spell out a

grave stugal failing. despite the attention received in the past years. this feels like something is not working. mr. secretary. you are to be commended for the accepts you have already taken to address some of these issues, but sir, you got to stay on it. we heard about the changes the military would make and the promises of zero tolerance after the hall yn way horrors of the on the vengs of '91. this time it has to be different. we need real changing that allow victims to report climbs without fear of retaliation or humiliation. they need to set out real consequences determined outside the chain of command. secretary hagel, we are counting on you to lead the change. sincerely, melissa. ♪

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your trip begins at michigan.org. the gun lobbying would have you believe there's no safer place for a woman in jeopardy of being raped than where she can wield a gun. what safer place than the u.s. military? after all, these women graduate from basic training, they carry and train with weapons and by 2016 women will be protecting all of us with the serious weaponry of war. despite this we learned women this the armed forces are vulnerable to assault, perpetrated by the servicemen who are supposed to be on their side. new report indicated there may have been approximately 7,000 more service members who experienced some kind of unwanted sexual assault in 2012

thean 2010. joining us is ann, a retire mad reen captain and now founder and executive director of servicewomen's action network. and sabrina is a contributing editor at rolling stone. whose report appeared in a magazine in february. a tough piece to read. and also with me is democratic congresswoman jackie spear of california's 14th district. nice to have you, congresswoman. >> great to be with you, melissa. this report drew a sharp rebuke from president obama. i want to listen to it for a home and then have you respond. >> i expect consequences. so i don't be want more speeches or awareness programs or training but ultimately folks look the other way. if we find out somebody is engaging in this stuff, they got

to be held accountable. prosecutors tripped of their positions. court-martial fired, dishonorably discharged, period. it's not acceptable. >> congressman s this the turning point? >> i sure hope so, melissa. but we've had plenty of turning points before and nothing seems to change. the military will do a lot of training and prevention, but we're really not going to change anything. and unless we take the cases out of the chain of command, we're not going to see much in terms of the convictions that we need to have. >> i started with with the notion that these guys protect

us. they must be lying about the sexual assaults. we hear this over and over again. what is it unique about the position of servicemen and women in the military that makes them vulnerable? >> the military today is an insulated system. there is little oversight in congress, the white house and the the courts. there's a continuous deference that they have given. so you don't see progress in the constitution. you see they are behind on sexual assault and sex crimes. the access to additional forms of redres for civilians makes this a unique case. >> you have to continue to live next to your attacker. you have to continue to report to your attacker. those are things that are not really part of the civilian

experience of sexual assault. >> absolutely. and we can't train our way out of the problem. they have used the frame for decades. we have decades of survivors hearing the same language. this problem has to be legislative. >> your piece was so tough to read. you feel so powerless in a sense that all of the rules being made are from a system where you have no control. what did you learn about the pros? >> well, there is basically a lack of consequences for the offenders. but the victims who report are

themselves punished. and it comes back to the idea where there is no privacy whatsoever. the victims said as soon as they filed the reports the details were immediately known among cleans, cowork e and friends. and that has consequences. this year the numbers that were released said of the people who reported sexual assault, 62% of them experienced reprisals. where the offenders are not penalized. >> this notion of the immediate shaping, shelby is part of whattic thats this conversation about around young girls. that requested that if you are a

survivor t blame belongs to you. exactly. it's the same thing. as a culture we think rape and sexual assault is tied to masculinity. we say, they're soldiers. what else are they going to do? where the women are being told, well, it's their nature. you should prooecht it. and when they do report, they are diagnosed with a penal illness. and who wants to talk about something that your worth is in your sexuality.

the percentage of women in the military, why are you going to want to talk to your colleagues about that when you know everyone will want to know? there are ways to address this legislatively. we are not powerless in the face of this. >> i think there's no question that there will be more amendments put into the bill that will require more accountability. here it is though, if we justininger around the eajs and say we fixed it, we will still be where we are today and just dealing with another scandal in another six months, another year. until you take the cases out of if chain of commanderer not going to have the independent third party evaluating whether or not a case should move forward.

with the 3,000 cases where you have people having the guts to report the crime. only 191 of them go to kwix. and they still have the authority under the code of justice that with allow them the power to overturn an a conviction and the president of the yis cannot reverse it. >> i want to ask you about the facebook teenage that you got taken down this week.

this week congresswoman jackie spooer of california protested a sexist facebook page ridiculing women in the marine corps. i almost expected to see this trash, speier said. the military is not policing itself. congresswoman, tell me why this piece, the facebook page was

important to you. >> well, i was called by a whistle blower and told about a number of websites, a number of facebook pages. i wrote a letter to secretary hagel, and it was facebook that took down that page on its own. i did not make a request that it did so. facebook said it violated their own rool rules. here is the issue. free speech is free speech. if this was conduct done during working hours on computers owned by the taxpayers of this country, then heads should roll. it was vile. and it really speaks to the fact that the culture this the military is so engrained to think of women as cattle. that that kind of communication could be put up. what was most interesting was the vile comments made about me afterwards. >> yeah, of course.

and it feels to me like what congresswoman speier said there is representative of survivors coming forward. then you are suddenly the problem. not the assaulter or attacker. >> and that is just a day in the life of a marine corps that i experienced. even as an officer. women are subjected to vile behavior every day throughout the armed services. subjected to rape jokes. daily sexual harassment. daily discrimination. that culture leads to condoning of sexual assault. so there's a link to the behavior and the jokes and the crisis of sexual assault in the military. >> there is research that shows in units where sexual harassment is seen as tolerated or sanctioned by the superiors the

rate of sexual assault goes up. >> when in the culture, then in fact they act in these ways. a part of what is constantly hard for me every time we do a segment and the fact that we have done it repeatedly is i just keep thinking we have this mythology about our servicemen and women. we have a notion that our veterans and enlisted particularly in a volunteer army are the people we should be most concerned with protecting. because of the sacrifices they are making for the country. and yet the unwillingness in fixing this just flies in the face of that myth. >> i got to say i keep thinking, where are the women? i think it's notable as wimg elected congresswoman speier who are bringing this forward. there are so few women in the

military who have made it. i don't think we've r ever had a female joint chief of the armed forces. if we had that in there. if we were changing the culture on a day-to-day, more women higher up, then would this change. an the answer is they are going to change. the women in congress are taking over. more than ever before. they are going to demand it and show the leadership. >> the women are in the 113th congress. congresswoman speier, thank you for joining us today. the largest number of women ever. i'm beginning to believe that maybe there's a possibility that we can get this done this time. >> i certainly hope so. later in the program the struggle really continues in north carolina. there are dozens of activists and scholars willing to take the risk of arrest nrd to take the

stand. and up next, the other place where the women in charge are. well, right here in nerd land. house minority leader nancy pelosi joins me live in studio at the top of the hour. for sein a whole new way. for seeing what cash is coming in and going out... so you can understand every angle of your cash flow- last week, this month, and even next year.

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helps minimize stress, which may damage supporting teeth, by stabilizing your partial. and 'clean and protect' kills odor-causing bacteria. care for your partial. help protect your natural teeth. welcome back. i'm melissa harris-perry. i had an opportunity to sit back with nancy pelosi when the supreme court upheld the constitutionality of the affordable care act. nancy pelosi made the passage possible. her tenure as speaker of the 111th congress is the last time anything got done in washington. in addition to giving millions of americans access to health insurance, pelosi's congress rewrote the rules for wall street, worked to revive a slumping economy, invested in alternative energy and ended don't ask, don't tell. and that is just a few.

and with the midterms on the horizon, i can't think of anyone i would rather talk to than nancy pelosi. welcome to nerdland. >> good morning. great to be here. >> i appreciate the time. it's really been an incredible week of news. can we start with immigration sfl. >> you can start wherever nerd land wants to go. it feels like now that we're looking at this gang of eight proposals, are you confident? are you feeling good we're going to get comprehensive immigration reform? i'm optimistic. confident is a hard word to use when you're dealing with house republicans. but i'm opt his mystic. the fact that 70% of voters voted in the election was clear message that republicans needed work. and work they needed to do was

to pass an immigration bill. so i'm optimistic that a good bill will pass. that's what comp mice is about. now the the house we've been having our own force of people, democrats and republicans who have been working on it as well. and i would hope that the principles shared in the working groups would be what congress will adopt. >> there's one piece. you talk about the question of latino voters. there's another intersecting group of lgbt volters and the allies of the lgbt communities. it seems like a stoiicking poin is whether or not gay americans can bring their partners as part of the immigration reform. will that be stymied here? >> we will see. we will hope there will be no

more immigration in the bill as far as enjoying same opportunities. however, there are other obstacles. there's business labor issues that have been resolved in the senate. there are issues about diversity visas. so this is not the outstanding issue. there are other obstacles to overcome. i'm confident that they will. i would hope by then doma would have been struck down by the court and it would be a nonissue. >> so, even though there's compromise beginning to happen on immigration, one place where i'm stunned by the unwillingness is on guns. what in the world is going on, on this question, former congresswoman gabbi giffords. the resources are there. where is the political will?

>> well, nothing is more eloquent to a member of congress than the voice of his or her own constituents. so while 90%, 80%, 70%, depending on your take of gun safety legislation, the public by and large knows we have to have a bill of serious background checks to keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. that has not -- that message has not been delivered clearly enough to some members of congress. it's appalling that it could not pass the senate. but it also raises questions as to why you need 60 bullets to do something that overwhelmingly american people support. but we're never backing down. that's what the t-shirts say. whether it's gabby giffords and

her efforts. mayors against illegal guns. mayors of advocates who have had impact of gun violence. and they brought to me 1.2 million signatures which they gathered in ten days. and i said, well, it's important enough for me to receive them. but it's important for these people to communicate directly with their member of congress. the public sentiment, lincoln said, is everything. so as long as the public is aware of what the choices are and votes with their own constituents and makes their views known, we will have to be ever hopeful that this will pass. i don't know how anybody could go to work the next day, look themselveses in the mirror if congress cannot pass a background check. >> what i love about the response is it shows you are still an optimist about the project of democracy.

the idea that two sides can find a reasonable compromise. we can still hold our elected officials accountable. but then there's benghazi. and it's part of what feels to me -- it takes away the optimism. it sort of chips it away for me. this week we're back to the anxiety about tell us who changed the talking points. i want to take a quick listen to how the white house responded to the revival of benghazi. >> you told us the only changes made were stylistic. is it a stylistic change to take out all references to previous terror threats in benghazi? >>, i appreciate the the question again. what i was referring to was the talking points that the skrrks ia drafted and sent around. to which one change was made. and i accept the stylist may not precisely describe the change of one word to another. >> this was not a change of one

word. these underwent extensionive changes after they were written by the cia. >> there was an inner agency process which is always the case. a lot have a stake in the matter like this. >> so is there a transparency issue here well he himself said he was satisfied with the responses for the white house. the exception my republican colleagues have in the house is it doesn't look like it's on the path to finding a solution, but just to keeping the issue alive. we have to find out everything about what happened there. there's no question about that. to the wording. when it is the intelligence consensus estimate process. everybody says this is how i think it should be. they sign off. those tr the talking points. but the point is this.

it was a terrible tragedy in benghazi. california feels particularly protective of the ambassador. so we want to find out what did happen. but there is one line of investigation or looking into it. the state department with the high, very esteemed, distinguished leadership appointed to look into it. and then let's talk about benghazi forever so we don't have to talk about what the american people want to talk about. they don't want to talk about jobs, economic security, economic growth. we want to talk about their future. and we certainly have to give the full attention that benghazi

deserves. we cannot let it soak up all of the congressional attention. what would be the purpose of that. >> to keep you from governing. >> if you watch the shows, which i don't, surfing the channels, there's an obsession with benghazi, hillary clinton, let's stipulate to a set of facts about it. see how we can prevent it from happening again. that's the point. and recognize that we live in a dangerous world and we certainly want to protect all of our diplomats, our intelligence people. they do great work protecting our country and advancing our values. we don't do that by cutting budgets and then investing what happened. >> as you're thinking about your colleagues in the house. you're about to have a new colleague in the house. representative mark sanford.

>> before you go there. i want to say about benghazi and the rest of that, this, again, with all of the sympathy and concern for the families involve ed, we have to get to the point. there is much of what is being said by my colleagues in congress that is simply not true. and we go into this, well you said but it wasn't true and this and that. it simply isn't true. so we have to make sure that the public record is clear about what actually happened. >> i'm going to leave us then on the brity of thought around benghazi and the importance of getting to the bottom of the facts without getting distracted by the politics that seems to be about discrediting particular individuals so that they're not sort of available for public office later. we will leave that there and take a break. when i come back i want to talk to you about the 2014 midterms

and the special election in south carolina. thank you. we went out and asked people a simple question:

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we're back with house democratic leader nancy pelosi. 2014, the goal is to retake the house of representatives. if that happens, if you pick up 17 seats or more, will you seek the speakership? >> you know what, one step at a time. what's really important is that we get back on track to creating jobs for for american people, growing our economy, educating our children, protecting our people and doing so in a fiscally sound way. on the issue of immigration the message was clear from the hispanic community at large that we want an immigration bill. now we get an immigration bill. so the election could serve two

purposes. we could win or we can win the debate and the agenda will change. but right now with how the republicans in the house are acting with no agenda, nothing, that's our agenda, never does that work for you in terms of timing. looking for what the issues are about job creation as we poouf forward. >> and part of the race is that although you are not currently the speaker of the house, sanford, you would think he was running against you. i want to take a quick look at some of his strategies here. >> i fought hard to make south carolina a better place to call home. nancy pelosi has spent more than $4 million to defeat me. but this is bigger than me. it's about two visions of how

rewe restore america and reign in washington spending. >> at one point he had a card board nancy pelosi. so is there anything you would like to say to -- >> i wouldn't dignify it. wouldn't dig any fi it. the fact is that elizabeth colbert-busch, she got -- president bush lost the district by 18 to 20 points. she lost it by 9 points. she outperformed the democrats in the district. it's a very republican district. he chose to run. she's a great candidate. and she made a good run. he shows the bankruptcy of his ideas and i wouldn't go there. >> we put imback on the floor. the desire to increase the number of women in elected office. including the interest in seeing

hillary clinton run for president in 2016. talk to me about that. >> the one thing i don't know about the silliness is bringing my name up in the race. he's been the congress man for a while. he has to talk about something else instead of talking about himself in a republican district. but what i don't like about it is other women who i'm trying to encourage to run will say why should i subject myself to the silliness of these guys? i have options in life. i have a family. we say we want people with options. we don't want people without options. you have to put that aside. if you're effective. if you pass a health care bill, the powers that will be will come after you and they'll come after you with big money. and they'll mischaracterize you and try to associate you with --

i've never met miskohl bertd-busch. i admire her, but i i have never met her. that's what bothers me about it. women, really talented great women that we rant to come run for congress say who needs that? that negativetism if you reduce the roll of money in politics and you increase this you will have more women and minorities running for office. it will be a discussion of ideas and not politics or squeezing the air waves out with their misrepresentations. >> and the viciousness and silliness it all shows back up in the policy. and the key one on the agenda is the flexibility act that is described as though it is supposed to be good for working

women but it's in fact quite bad for them. it's described as a war against working women. you have said that it was a shameful, deplorable and appalling. tell us why. >> well, why that is so is of itself it is a mir raj. it tries to pretend it is something that it isn't. it's worse because it's more dangerous. it's more work. less pay. happy mother's day. i don't think so. and so rather than going into the intricacies of it, it is harmful because it fits along the path of no increase in minimum wage. do not pay past the paycheck fairness ak. we want you to work more time with less pay and call it a break for you when it's really a loan for the company. so they go out there and they put a shine on it. but that's what they always do. they're good at that.

women cannot be fooled by that. they've not been on the side of shutting down government rather than fund planned parenthood. they're trying to undo the affordable care act where being a woman is no longer a preexisting condition. all of it comes to two issues that i would like to bring up. one is child care, which we must advance. affordable, accessible quality child care so moms can work and have their family responsibilities and relate intact. and so we can go nowhere in the congress with affordable child care and the other is the disparity of income in our country, which very negativively impacts women. if you went back 40 years ago you would see that the average ceo of the top company, the average ceo made about 40 times

the average worker. and now the average ceo of the same company makes about over 350 times the average worker. that disparity of income is underpining to the middle class. it's undermining to a democracy. it's undermining to the american dream. these are the same people who want to balance the budget by eliminating investments in education. shun people who need food stamps. working families who can't afford to put food on the table because of their low wages and the list goes on. so we have a moment where we have to protect and defend our constitution and our ghox and a lot of it relates to fairness in terms of our economy. so our flexibility is just another manifestation of their more for us, less for you, happy mother's day. >> and are these the issues that you think they don't want to talk about?

is this what benghazi is meant to paper over so we don't ask about minimum wage? >> well, there are legislate concerns to be addressed there. to make it an exception is all to say let's load the air waves with this when i was speaker, president bush was president t we passed the biggest energy bill in our country. we had issues that relate to low-income people that we work together on and low-income tax credit. but where we could find common ground, we did, and we had many successes there. this president comes in. nothing, does that work for you?

nothing. and they just had an attitude that they will not give him any success. the only reason we were able to pass the act is because we made it too hot to handle. over half o the republicans voted against the violence against women. >> i want to ask about this question of obsession versus real policy. this is the moment when the affordable care act is now finally going to be implemented and we still have members of the house of representatives talking about repeals. when we come back, i want to talk to you more about health care. >> i love that. well, he showed up in a van. [ women ] oh-awww. [ voices in background ] [ female announcer ] swapportunity. the opportunity to swap a higher calorie snack for a delicious 90 calorie yoplait light. ♪ sorry... about your date, the details of your date. [ female announcer ] just one swap a day helps keep the calories away.

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twitter but he tweeted the house will vote next week for a full repeal of "hash tag" obama care. let it go. let's move forward with the most important piece of legislation in the past two decades. >> well, we don't see it in the context of eric's tweets. we see it in the context of a great transformative moment. so there is nothing new about that. same oemd, same old. we are coming into the mode of implementation. test never been off the table for us. as you know children can be on their parent's policies. little children will no longer have a preexisting medical condition to deprive them of

health insurance. seniors pay less for subscriptions. some things are already in effect. now we go into the full implementation. they were there when we were passing the bill. spent hundreds of millions of dollars discrediting what it was. they say it will never be approved by the court, which i always believed it would. now it's very exciting. it's going to be transformative. this honors the vows of our founder's life, a healthier life. liberty. the freedom to pursue your happiness. if you want to be a camera man or writer, self employed, start-up business, change jobs. you can do that and not be job locked because of a preexisting

medical condition and the need for health insurance. and the governors of the states. i lived in louisiana. we're seeing it in north carolina. the decision not to take a medicaid expansion, not extending the protection to the most vulnerable members of other con stitch winsies. but what i do know is as this moves forward and many more people sign up and see what the advantage is to them, whether you're a woman. women are discriminated against. note no longer being a woman is a preexisting medical condition. after all, we had babies and to some-them, you have five children. you're a poor risk. i thought it was a sign of strength. they thought it was poor risk. so yes, they're doing this or that, but the train is leaving the station, and as people see what it means, think of all the people in our country.

100 million people in our country has or had a preexisting condition. all the advocacy groups rgs cancer, alzheimer's, you name it. all will benefit because of this. we believe in it. we believe it. the structure is there to implement it. and as people come on board it will be wonderful for their lives. and if there is no other reason to pass a bill, if everybody loved their insurance and insurer and their health care, we would have had to do it because the system as it existed was unsustainable fiscally and financially. for individuals, for families for small businesses. globally. for state, local and federal government. that we could not sustain the

costs. already the costs are going dow down. >> and when it comes to the questions of those most assisted, mothers are at the top of that. talk to me about your mother's day plans and how they are different than recent years. >> sooim so glad he talked about affordable care act on women and especially as we approach mother's day. every year if years i've been in iraq or afghanistan and grandmas serving our troops overseas. also the men for protecting our families. i also visited afghanistan, iraq.

but also very poor women. little girls that want to go to school. one that i have told the president about afghanistan and others. those in afghanistan had said yes, we want our girls to go to school. yes, we want to send them to health clinics and go ourselves but it's hard to leave the house if you don't have security. and you cannot have security unless you end corruption. so that's why i'm so proud that our house democratic caucus, 54% women, minorities and lgbt community members. you saw jackie speier representing our men and women figures on assault and women and

men in the military. so many are getting the attention they deserve because of women in congress. >> the 113th congress is amazing and exciting for exactly that. but i am still holding out hope. >> happy mother's day. i have four wonderful daughters who are all wonderful moms. i'm proud of them on this mother's day as well. it's really a lovely weekend just to say thank you to all of the women of our lives. i appreciate you for being here. and also i want to let everyone watching know that tomorrow we are going to present a special program based on a single idea. tomorrow we are spending two hours with the assumption that poverty in america can be solved. we hope everyone will join us for the most important

discussion. that's tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. eastern. up next this morning, the fight for voting rights and so much more in north carolina. the struggle continues. tar heel edition. change makes people nervous. but i see a world bursting with opportunity, with ideas, with ambition. i'm thinking about china, brazil, india. the world's a big place. i want to be a part of it. ishares international etfs. emerging markets and single countries. find out why nine out of ten large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. if you have the right tools. ryobi has over 50 products that work off of one 18 volt battery. and with new improved lithium and lithium plus batteries, you'll get a whole lot more done in less time.

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and a long range plug-in hybrid for you. now, let's review. introducing the ford c-max hybrid and the ford c-max energi plug-in hybrid. say hi to the c-max hybrids. here in neerd land we've been closely following the republican takeover in the new york state legislature main by because of the avalanche of proposals aimed at restricting voting. in the four months since north carolina republicans took vol of both chambers of the general house assembly and the governor's mansion la makers have proposed sweeping changes including restrixing access to

abortion. that's why more than two dozen naacp activists and even a group dubbed the raging grannies rallied at the state legislative building as part of the ongoing protests they're calling moral mondays. so far more than people have been arrested on trespassing. including william barber. the head of the state naacp chapter, who issued this challenge, calling out what he called the so-called conservative christians. >> where are you? we couldn't help but hear you when there was a discussion about sexuality. my concern is as an evangelical, as a person of christian faith is are you reading half the scriptures of the bible.

doesn't the bible have more to say about how you treat the poor and the sick than any other subject in all of the scripture? where are you now? >> where are you now? amen. when we come back more about what is really going on in north carolina. try align. it's the number one ge recommended probiotic that helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ stay in the groove with align. ♪ need help keeping your digestive balance in sync? try align. it's a probiotic that fortifies your digestive system with healthy bacteria 24/7. because your insides set the tone. stay in the groove with align. accomplishing even little things can become major victories. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. when i was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage.

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the latest app from ink. so you can spend less time doing paperwork. and more time doing paperwork. ink from chase. so you can. s. proposed laws that would restrict rights, refusal to expand medicaid access and bill after bill after bill designed to make undemocratic obstacles the right to vote. what is going on in north carolina and why? let's get to it. joining me from washington, d.c. is barbara from the lawyer's committee under the law and from raleigh, north carolina. the profess of history arrested

on monday during a protest. i would like to start with you. tell me why did you decide to take part in this? >> it's important that people of the mainstream stand up for justice. they are trying to eradicate north carolina's history. and as someone who has written about the history, we want to make sure the people knew that the legislature was intent on destroying who we had become over the last 50 years. maybe i should reveal you were my history professor in graduate school. what i know i learned in your courses, reading your text. you're saying there's a progressive history here. i think folks not from the south don't get the story. this is where the sit-in started. in 1960.

they decide they need to berv at a lunch counter. that went to 23 the next day to 100 to 1 thourksz within five days. within nine weeks it extended to 54 cities. that started in north carolina when the direction action civil rights movement came along. after that the state became a different kind of place. terry sanford was the governor, elected in 1960. he was one of the new white people who set a model for the rest of the state by sending his children to segregated schools. he started a war on poverty before the war on pavrty started. and he sent a model on how to be a progressive state to use the models to attract new

businesses. so north carolina has become one of the fastest growing upon the country based upon that foundation. and that's been followed by republican governors. and now this legislature is throwing it all out. it's terrible. it's going to destroy the state. >> barbara, let me bring you in here. the professor has laid the ground work where new york was the place where these mobilizations of the people, and that is definitely what you have been up to, how can people in the face of this disenfranchisement get their voices heard? >> i think it's so important for people to know that the voter i.d. bill introduced in north carolina was introduced on april 4th xz, the anniversary about martin luther king. how nefarious can you be? it's also important to know that we who believe in democracy and

want open democracy and want to make sure everybody has the voting rights according to them, that we have to use the same tactics that dr. martin luther king used in his strategies of pray-ins but also we can use our modern tool so the internet, our ability to mobilize and move in great ways. i'm so glad to hear about these moral mondays. i want to see more of this. right now north carolina is ground zero. but it is critical that we fight in the other eight states. where we have these critical fights going on right now around attempts to suppress the right to vote. >> barbara, i should say something slightly different. how important is north carolina in 2014 and in 2016? >> well, the whole fight is over north carolina. i mean, this battle right now in 2013 is over 2014.

we should be clear that already this year since january 58 to 60 voter suppression bills have been introduced in the various state legislatures. people are thinking really hard about 2014 and how to make sure that people cannot vote and those of us who believe in democracy, we're fighting to make sure that people can vote and expand the right to vote. so there's a fight, wheels, counter visions, different perspectives, but we are fighting every day. and i want to make sure the people are engaged in this fight. that you are making sure that this is your moment. this is the fight of our lifetimes. >> professor, i have just a few moments left. i want to give you a final opportunity. what do you see as the most insidious current legislative actions? what are the things that really seem to undermine this progressive history?

>> well, they're taking away women's right to control their own bodies. they're trying to outlaw abortion. above all they're trying to destroy the capacity of people po register their opinions at the polls. north carolina had 85% of african-americans in my county registered to vote. they all came out to vote. they helped elect barack obama in 2008 and almost in 2012. it's also important to recognize that 50% of the votes for the legislature this year were democratic votes. but because of jer gerrymandering, two-thirds of the seats that were up were republican. it's unfair, it's un-american and undemocratic. >> professor, i was learned so much from you. i continue to be inspired by your work. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> and barbara, i'm always feeling something from you. i'm going to steal from you this phrase. we who believe in democracy. i think that's a critically important way for us to define ourselves. not democrats, not republicans, but we who believe in democracy.

so thank you for that. >> thank you, thank you to professor in north carolina. up next, the simple imagery that could shake up the gun control debate in the senate. the people behind it are my foot soldiers of the week. ♪ if you have high cholesterol, here's some information that may be worth looking into. in a clinical trial versus lipitor, crestor got more high-risk patients' bad cholesterol to a goal of under 100. getting to goal is important, especially if you have high cholesterol plus any of these risk factors because you could be at increased risk for plaque buildup in your arteries over time. and that's why when diet and exercise alone aren't enough to lower cholesterol i prescribe crestor. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone.

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how did you feel when you first heard about the shootings at sandy hook elementary in newtown? i know i felt helpless. i mean, what could i do in the face of such senseless evil and violence? we know what the teachers of sandy hook did. many gave their lives trying to shield students with their own bodies. nothing could be a greater contrast to the heroism of these selfless teachers than the choice of 45 u.s. senators who voted no on the manchin/toomey amendment that would have expanded background checks. our foot soldiers are determined to make that distinction crystal

clear. our foot soldiers from the brooklyn design firm guts and glory. they created an online campaign called they don't work for you. they pair photos of the 45 senators who voted no on gun reform with pictures of child victims of gun violence. the pictures that you're seeing behind me are from this campaign. fawn and meg were us frfrustrat with the senate's inaction. they put their talents to work. they understood the power of pictures to tell a story, and they told us we needed to distill down a very noisy conversation to its core truths, that these senators voted the way they did because they don't work for the american people. they work for the nra who works for the gun industry whose sole purpose is to sell more guns. although they had never done a political campaign before, they were so moved by the senseless of loss of so many young lives,

they decided to commit every waking hour to this effort. they started with photos from newtown but were determined to show that the tragedy of child gun victims is a routine occurrence in american towns and cities. they wanted us to feel the full weight of grief that each of these families feels, and they wanted us to know which elected members of the u.s. senate had refused to take a stand on behalf of these young victims. i think you're going to agree that these images achieve exactly that effect. the website is also a direct call to action. underneath each photo they provided links for you to click that will lead you to each senator's facebook page or twitter account or you can directly call their offices from their smartphone. fawn and meg are seeing results, thousands are tweeting and facebooking and calling every senator on that list. so for reminding us that we are not powerless and that we can stand up and that we can hold our senators accountable because they're supposed to work for us, fawn chapin and meg paradise are

our foot soldiers of the week. to read an interview go to our website. thanks to you at home for watching. please be sure to join us tomorrow because we're going to present you with one simple idea, that poverty in america can be solved. we're going to take two hours and bring you all the people who have the ideas about how to do it. also, we want to hear from you. what do you ble believe is the most important thing we can do to solve poverty in america. send us your most innovative ideas by e-mail or via twitter using@mhpshow/nerdland. poverty in america can be solved but it will not be easy. hi, alex. >> bravo to fawn and meg. those were amazing foot

soldiers. good job calling them. i'm really glad you did that. thank you for that. the irs is finding itself under the microscope today after a stunning admission and an apology to the tea party. also a decision on what to do with the site of sandy hook elementary school. plus in office politics, i talk to luke russert about what it meant for him to return to boston to cover the marathon bombing. after an abrupt recess, what is next for jodi arias? she says she wants the death penalty but will she get it? ♪ so i reach for roundup extended control ♪ ♪ with the all-new, no pump, one-touch wand ♪ ♪ it kills weeds dead and keeps weeds gone ♪ [ whip cracks ] ♪ roundup extended control ♪ i just spray them weeds, then spray them cracks ♪ ♪ the weeds are gone, and they won't be back ♪ ♪ driveway, patio, i just spray once ♪ ♪ and it's adios weeds for up to four sweet months ♪ [ whip cracks ] ♪ roundup extended control [ male announcer ] roundup extended control ♪ yeha with the new one-touch wand. [ whip cracks ] ♪

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northeast, 9:00 a.m. in the west. welcome to "weekends with al elects wit." the white house says republicans are playing politics as new details surface in the benghazi attacks. at issue, the disclosure of e-mai e-mails. nbc news has confirmed that the white house with input from the state department officials had edited talking points about the benghazi attacks 12 times in the hours following the incident. now, white house spokesman jay carney acknowledges the edits but says they were not political in nature. >> the fact there are inputs is always the case in a process like this, but the only edits made by anyone here at the white house were stylistic and nonsubstantive. they corrected the description of the building or the facility in benghazi from consulate to diplomatic facility. >> republicans are asking for investigations into the irs. the agency alo