lots of options, huh? i can help you narrow it down. ok thanks. this one's smudge free. smudge-free. really? and this one beeps when you leave the door open. upgrade your laundry room and kitchen appliances during red white and blue savings. thank you! more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. your choice, maytag or ge washer, now just $399 each. good afternoon, americans. welcome to "the ed show" live from new orleans, louisiana. let's get to work. >> education is an economic

issue. if not the economic issue of our times. >> there is an unparalleled relentless attack on public education. >> that is the goal. >> despite the dismal returns on these experiments, we continue to experiment on african-american children. >> you have to wonder what country are we in. >> what's not working for black kids and hispanic kids and native american kids across this country is the status quo. >> do you see these kids? i see them for who they are. our future. ♪ >> good to have you with us, folks. ed schultz here. i'm broadcasting live, today, from new orleans, louisiana. thank you. this is a state where the

republican governor and conservative legislature. republicans here and all across america have been attacking public education for years, cutting budgets. gop governors like bobby jindal, scott walker, chris christie. they're going after teachers' unions. they are slashing budgets, and in some cases, even democrats are forcing public schools to shut down altogether. folks, if we lose public education, it will tear apart the very fabric of this country. the republican crusade 'to destroy public education and create a class of working americans, it never seems to stop with that crowd. but teachers and parents and students are fighting back. take a look. >> first of all, you will find throughout your life that there are tests. >> the key to measuring is to test. and by the way, i've heard every excuse in the book, why we should not test. and for those who claim we're

teaching the test, uh-uh. we're teaching a child to read so he or she can pass the test. >> the goals of no child left behind were the right ones. but we've got to do it in a way that doesn't force teachers to teach to the test or encourage schools to lower their standards, to avoid being labeled as failures. that doesn't help anybody. >> american education is the foundation of this country's greatness. and when bestawe start picking choosing kids, when we start picking and choosing neighborhoods, when we start picking and choosing based on race, based on socioeconomic situations, we lose. we lose as a country. >> i got an education and it worked out pretty good. >> public schools all over the country are under attack. in ohio, governor john kasich. in louisiana, governor bobby jindal. in louisiana, let's not forget slick mitch daniels. in michigan, well, it was governor rick snyder. how about new jersey? governor chris christie has no

problems berating teachers at town halls. he's also actively fought the teach teachers' union and made it harder for teachers to gain tenure. >> i mean, are you kidding? it's a rigged game. they are a political thuggery operation. that's what they are. >> if i push too hard on this, i'm going to be accused by conservatives of being angry. >> this fight has to be had. >> education has been one of the big pillars of the progressive movement in the democratic party for decades. but you see, that, too, is under attack by the conservatives. >> first off, it's none of your business. i don't ask you where you send your kids to school. don't bother me about where i send mine. >> the arrogance just drips off this guy. >> you're not compensating me for my education and you're not compensating me for my experience. >> well, you know what, then you don't have to do it. you know, the simple fact of the matter is -- >> teachers -- teachers do it because -- >> the simple fact of the matter

is this -- >> teachers do it because they love it. >> well, that's good -- >> that's the only reason i do it. >> well, and listen, and teachers go it into it knowing what the pay scale is. >> who do you think understands the problem better? chris christie or president obama? >> so i want teachers to have higher salaries, i want them to have more support, i want them to be trained like the professionals they are. >> we are at a cross roads in this country when it comes to asking ourselves the question and making a determination as to which direction we take? what do we think of public education? >> it's clear that the president's just not serious about cutting spending. >> a white house report shows that roughly 300,000 education jobs have been cut since 2009. 300,000? is that going forward or backward, you think? and right now, ground zero, you could say, is chicago. >> now we go to chicago, and the outrage being expressed there today over mayor rahm emanuel's plan to close dozens of that

city's public schools. >> one 9-year-old student at a rally had no problem giving mayor rahm emanuel a piece of his mind. >> rahm emanuel thinks that we all are -- he thinks he can just come into our schools and [ inaudible ] we don't care about these kids, but they need safety! rahm emanuel is not caring about our schools. he's not caring about our safety. he only cares about his -- he only cares what he needs. he does not care about nobody else but himself. >> joining me now are chicago public school student sean johnson and his mom. america, i want to introduce you to a family that is well invested in the fight to save

schools in chicago and do things right for all students across the city. sean, good to have you with us. it's been great to get to know you over the last few days here in new orleans. i admire your tenacity and your fight, your spirit, all of it. but this young man is a very impressive 9-year-old who had the guts to stand up and tell everyone, not only in the city of chicago, but across the country, how important public education is. sean, tell us, what motivated you to do that that day? >> well, we just came off of a three-day march before the school closings were happening. before the vote was in. and i felt like i needed to come straight to rahm emanuel and tell him that he should not be closing these schools without looking into them, himself, and seeing how good they are. and why would you close all these schools if you can -- if

cps knows everything and mayor rahm emanuel, they know everything, and you're standing there, they don't have no resour resources, why didn't you give them to them in the first place so they can have those resources and they can be a succeeding school. >> when you say resources, you're talking about an equal number of books. explain what you think of that. >> an equal number of books and it needs to be all equal money into all schools. not -- don't give more money to one school and give less money to the other. don't put more money into charter schools and private schools and -- private schools already get money from the tuition. so why would you -- why are you putting more money into private school if you know they already get money? >> what has this done for you as far as your willingness to speak up and people are paying attention to you. has it changed your life a little bit? >> well, yes, it has, because i have been experiencing a lot of things and this is one of my best experiences ever, coming to

new orleans, right here, in one of these great cities. >> but you like to tell it like it is, don't you? >> yes. >> what do you think's going to happen to public education in america? how important is it for kids from each neighborhood to have the same opportunity? >> well, um, it's pretty bad, because if you take those public education out of their neighborhoods, what type of school are they going to go to? like, people might have a job, like the parents might have a job, but they cannot just go over there and take them like one minute to go to school just pick them right up. but you have to take them farther over to, like, a good city or charter schools, just to get them for the education that they need. and that's not fair. that's why you should -- that's why you should fund all the schools equally, then it would be no problem. and make sure they have all the resources that they need, instead of giving them half of it. [ applause ] >> you are an amazing young man. shonice, you are a model mother,

you know, what you have done with your boys and the way you have stayed involved, explain what you've seen your sons go through. >> well, what i've seen him go through with these schools, he's a first-year public school student. he comes from a private school. so coming into a school district with 600 schools, he just didn't understand how is it that the school i worked for did not have resources, but his school did? and i'm watching him be more of an activist, more of him standing up for everyone, not just the students in his school, but all across america. he's very knowledgeable and looking to see what's going on. and i admire him for that. >> sean, do you think rahm emanuel got your message? >> well, yes, but he's still is not listening to the kids or the teachers. he's still not listening to them. we -- no matter how big we make a difference, we all need to come together as united as one, so he can hear the message and everybody in chicago, well,

everyone that's getting school closes, you need to come together as a unity to stop those school closings, wherever you at. >> well, what does it mean when you close a school down in a community and force kids to go somewhere else? you made a comment in front of a crowd, you either want to build prisons or you want to build schools, correct? tell us about that. >> well, you're wabasically saying, if you take the school down, you're building more prisons. if you take the school down, you're make sugar you're going to build more prisons. because they need that public education in order to have -- know wrong from right. you can have that, but you just might not listen to it. so it's for the kids and the children to listen to your conscious, but not only your conscious, but to your parents, your teachers, make sure that you have mostly everything that you said, because if you get in gang violence, you can get shot down.

there's a lot of possibilities that can happen. >> what do your teachers mean to you? >> my teachers, they are very understanding. they are -- they are welcoming. it's just a really good environment. they help me out. make sure i'm not doing anything bad. it's just a well community. and they make sure that i'm not doing anything bad. if they see kids on the street that they know that go to their school, they'll make sure they get them home safely. >> what do you say about the strin violence in big cities in america where kids are trying to do to school and do the right thing. how hard is that? >> it's pretty hard, because you might get influenced by your brothers, because some kids are in gangs and they're teenagers. because you might just be influenced to be in a gang by your brothers, because you never know, your brother might be one of your role models. so it's very important for the kids, it's very important for the parents, and your brothers and sisters, your big brothers

and sisters to make sure they're not in no gangs or doing anything bad, because it's going to affect your brother or your sister or your children. >> shonice, what has made sean be so passionate about this? >> sean has always been passionate, but he was put directly in the line of fire. coming from a public school -- a private school, and then going into a public school and finding out three months into the school year that your school is closing along with the first list was 193 schools. their narrowed it down to 126, and then they narrowed it down to 80. and they eventually ended up closing 50 schools. so what i'm seeing from this is, him looking at the unjust all across chicago, chicago is very divided him going to different communities, talking to different children and finding out what they have in their schools and he realized the that he had things in his school that other children didn't. when we were on the strike and marching, our school didn't have computer labs, library, art,

foreign language. a lot of resources. we didn't have books. teachers was coming out of their pockets. i was coming out of my pockets for those children. and he didn't understand when he talked to another one of my students, he said, y'all don't have these things, my school has these things. >> so the danger here is that we are actually, by picking and choosing neighborhoods and kids, we're teaching young kids at an early age what discrimination is all about. >> yes. >> they're learning something in real-life situations. they're seeing some schools get resources and other schools be cut because of where they are in low-income neighborhoods. >> yes. >> do you get that, sean? >> yes, i do get it, but it's also unfair that these adults are cutting out the kids' education, so they can have better jobs, and like they're preparing for the future, like, teachers are preparing them for the future. they preparing them for life. this is what school is all about. it's to prepare you for your

education so you can have a good education. if you have a good education, then you can get a good job, you can have a good career. >> what's your interest, what do you want to be some day? you're already an activist. >> i want -- i want to be an athlete. i want to be an athlete first, and then i might get into politics if the athlete doesn't work. and then maybe i'll be a scientist or a lawyer. >> there you go. you've got a goal. that's fantastic. your mom, shonice, is terrific and you're great. your brother is fantastic. it's been great to get to know you here the last few days. and if you had a chance to sit down with president obama, what would you say to him? >> i would say, why didn't you help our schools in the fight? because he lives in chicago, and even though rahm -- i mean, mayor rahm emanuel is one of his friends, he should have told him to stop the school closings,

because he doesn't know -- because rahm emanuel might not know how bad it is in chicago. we are like one of the number one martyr killed in chicago. we are one of the most gang violence. it's just really segregated between us, like, south side, west side, it's a division between that. so he really should have had said to stop those school closings, tell mayor rahm emanuel to stop, because he might not know how bad it is. you might have lived in chicago, but you might not have lived long enough to know. >> so you want the president to get a little bit more involved there, understand it, make sure that resources go to every school district, so every kid gets a chance? >> yes. >> that's your mission? >> well, what do you play in football? >> i play running back -- well, basically i'm all over, because i play kickoff return, kickoff, running back, safety. i was corner back, and i was quarterback for a little while. >> well, you're running back, safety, you said you're all over the place. he's all over the place!

well, i'll tell you one thing, we went to dinner last night, he's got a hole in his shoe, because this kid can eat. no question about it. sean, god bless you. keep going, keep up the fight. you're going to have a great life and you keep speaking the truth, my man. >> thanks. >> you'll get there. >> shonice, thanks so much. thanks for being here. sean johnson and shonice reynolds, thank you for joining us. remember to answer today's question there at the bottom of the screen, share your thoughts with us on twitter @edshow and on facebook. we always want to know what you think. coming up, forever alone. we look at the latest victims of the republican obstruction. and as american students fall behind in science, creationists get a boost from the gop. the rapid response panel weighs in, next. you're watching the ed show, live from new orleans at the essence festival. stay with us. why let constipation weigh you down?

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welcome back to "the ed show." i'm joined now by joy reid and dr. james peterson. this week the interest rate on new federal student loans jumped from 3.4% to 6.8%. student loan debt, just the total debt in the country, already tops over a trillion dollars. this will only worsen with students being asked to pay more. let's go to the panel. it's another roadblock for

people seeking higher education. you first, joy. what does it do an what message does it send to young people about vaadvancing themselves be >> first class airline passengers they found a way to get this done -- >> that's because they use it themselves. >> they couldn't organize this to make this fix. we're telling young people to go to college and advance yourself but now we're making it expensive. the thing is it's so sad because it's something that congress failed to do it. >> this is a real hit on middle class families and kitchen table budgets. it also loads the debt on young people coming from economically challenged families. >> what does it mean? >> it shows you that congress can't do anything unless they have these impending doom edge of the cliff deadlines. they kind of got out of town before this had to come to term.

at the end of the day for black folk, people of color, working class folk, we need access to higher education as an equalizer. when you add $2600 which is the average it will add on for families who need these loans that's a tremendous burden for kids coming out of school. >> where are the advocates? i've interviewed bernie sanders who says big banks get money at three quarters of a percent. >> elizabeth warren is one of the great advocates. she's saying look at the interest rates we're giving big banks. why can't students get these? >> will this keep young people charged up? >> the republicans have a problem with young voters and this compounds it. where are the advocates? the people that don't have a big money lobby that can come in because they will hold campaign donations over the heads of these members because there's no one like that for student, they get thrown under the bus along

with the poor and middle class. >> we should point out no republicans are stepping up talking about the injustice. this is a social injustice as much as it is anything else. it's an immoral move and it's unnecessary. who needs to make the money? the education numbers -- >> they're making it on kids coming out of college. we're right here in the start of summer when you have a lot of young people who just graduated from college. you get a six month delay of having to pay the bills but now they looking at getting jobs that will probably pay less and now they're going to be adding on this tremendous burden and it's a payment you have to make. it will ruin your ability to get a loan. >> you can't discharge it. >> fixing credit at a young age is a very hard thing to do. it's really an injustice in many respects. i want to get your thoughts on another topic.

louisiana governor bobby jindal is a big fan of the voucher system. they rob taxpayers money and funnel it into private schools. in a number of private schools in louisiana this state creationism is part of the curriculum. a columnist wrote last year vouchers have turned out to be the answer to a creationist prayer. meanwhile the united states ranks tenth in science scores worldwide falling behind china and japan. is this a distorted priority? >> there's a great danger in the movement to install creationism into our school system.

at the end of the day we need to do the long hard work of overhauling and reforming public education. charter schools even though god bless them, some of them are okay, the voucher system don't go to the key issue of what we need to do. we need to value our education system much more broadly and directly. >> lawmakers using vouchers to push certain ideologies. t >> there are two tracks on public education. one feels they took god out. the other system is they want to inject profit. they don't like the idea that the public school system is a public good. it's a public concern that we pay for. they rather it be privatized and

voucher and then they can inject religion in instead of money and can make money. >> thanks for being here. you made it through traffic. >> it's a craze crazy city here. >> having covered katrina, the way it's bounced back, you do that with heart and soul and a lot of belief and community. these folks have been fantastic. maybe getting stuck in traffic is a good thing. great to have you with us. coming up, the crowd here at the essence festival. we'll share their thought ons the state of education. next, we're taking your questions live at ask ed. stay with us.

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welcome back. live from new orleans. we love hearing from our viewers. in our ask ed live segment the first question is, why are so in democrats weak or cowardly when republicans are attacking voting rights and health issues? health care was a heavy lift. the stimulus package was a heavy lift. 40 months of job sector growth. that's progress. what are the republicans going to do. they're going to try to attack the power. you attack the power in two ways if you're a republican. you go after voting rights and try to take down the signature

legislation of president obama's legacy which is health care for 30 million more americans. my struggle on all of this is that why aren't the democrats putting universal health care on the table to be aggressive and go to the next level? i think the democrats have been taken off guard by this relentless pursuit of suppressing the vote and going after the voting rights act. the only thing democrats can do right now is communicate. get out in front of the cameras. make sure you're out with the people explaining the great injustice that this is to americans and how suppressing workers rights, suppressing equals rights, the way they're going after women's rights in all of these republican states, the only way to fight back is through information, heart and design and the democrats are going to have to realize the new age and suck it up and be the leaders on this. the next question, will sarah palin really leave the gop and

start a freedom party? very short answer here. sarah palin will do anything to service her own ego at any particular level. stick around. we have a lot more coming up on the ed show. the end. lovely read susan. may i read something? yes, please. of course. a rich, never bitter taste cup after cup. 340 grams. [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] always rich, never bitter. gevalia.

louisiana has been one of the most unhealthiest states in the past ten years tied with mississippi. it's probably going to get a lot worse if we don't expand medicaid. we're going to be paying more. >> why is jindal doing that? why do you think these republican governors are doing that? is it all about defeating obama?

the gop is upset about this. people will die' each year. >> i'm confused as to why the obama administration will take the number two guy at the treasury department 90 days before this is supposed to be implemented after such a heavy lift of years of implementing this and getting at task, where aren't we ready? >> there are lot of employers that even though a lot of them offer insurance they know they'll have to be accountable, put out alerts. they're going to have to make sure that everyone is offered health care or their have to pay the penalty.

when you have huge corporations that will have to deal with this there's so many that are saying delay this thing because we're not ready. they are ready. they just don't want it. if obama decides it's going to be pushed through, they'll have to take it. >> how much of a shock was that? >> a big shock. >> just to postpone it for another year even though there were some employers ready to participate, it was a big shock. it was something that has to be done. i'm not sure what the next step will be. >> think about the hospital setting. if you take care of indigent or uninsured patients you have to pay that out of your pocket to care for them for another year. that's millions of years that can be used to build a health care clinic. there are a lot of people that are sick that haven't been to the doctor in ten years. that's not fair.trying to make

everyone has an opportunity. fwhe we need to make sure it's fair. >> has obama care focused in preventive care. the whole mission was to get more people covered and get better outcomes. >> i've always said we have more of a disease management system than a health care system. many of the democrats even though they supported the affordable care law wanted more from their administration. they were looking for more of a single payer type system. we whereaboeren't able to get t. pediatricians, family practice need to be reimbursed better so we can take care of our patients. >> you got to remember, think about this. the money is not in the prevention. intervention is where the money is. intervention is sexy. prevention is not sexy. nobody wants to build a state of

the art cliclinic. they want to give you the medicine and that's the problem. >> i love your passion. you guys are what doctors are supposed to be. >> ed we used to play ball together. we grew up together. >> i got a crossover. he's a little taller than me. >> great to have you with us. i asked you when it comes to education policy are republicans smarter than a third grader? 3% said yes. 97% said no. you're watching "the ed show" live in louisiana. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health

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welcome back live in new orleans. we love hearing from our viewers. we're always checking our blog to find out what stories interest you the most. every week we bring you the stories you've made the top trenders of the week. here are some of our favorites. >> after withdrawing from public life he's ready to stick it back. >> tell me what you think. >> our number three trernds, anthony weiner is back in. the former sex addict turned family man wants to lengthen his political resume. >> he's thought long and hard about this. >> i've learned some tough lessons. >> i'm sure there will be stiff competition. >> the number two trender, john mccain let loose on tea party

troublemakers. arizona senior senator schooled freshman tea partier mike lee on how congress does business. >> maybe the senator from utah ought to learn a little bit more about how business is done in the congress united states. >> did you hear me? i said get off my lawn now. >> this week top trender. apple is at the core of the real irs scandal. >> tim cook was called in to face the wrath of senators wondering how apple avoided paying taxes on $44 billion in nk. >> he got a warm reception from the senate. >> i love app l. ♪ you are the apple of my eye >> i think the committee should apologize to apple. >> i wanted to ask why do i have to keep updating the apps on my iphone all the time. >> i said get off my lawn.

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welcome back. we've got a great crowd here at the essence festival in new orleans. i want to take a moment before i visit with the folks in the crowd about how they have been so wonderful to all of us here at msnbc. they've been so cordial, so enthusiastic. you know what, they love their country. just about everybody to a tee that has come up and talked to me talks about how great this country is and what we fwot to do to make it better. there's something pumping in the south that's very progress iive and for the people. when i say let's get to work i think these people know what we're talking about. what's on your mind as an americ american? >> i want to make sure we have a sustainable country for my kids. i say there's been great work that's been done for us as young

professionals as we've been going forward. let's leave something great for these kids. >> kwhawhat's your name? >> stephen . >> where you from? >> st. louis, missouri. >> i want you to take note about what he said. it wasn't about him. it was about leaving something behind for the next generation. what kind of world will we leave our kids? that's how i took your answer. is that where you're at? >> it's all about the kids. >> let's get this lady. >> i'm from dallas, texas. >> you're governor down there is doing what? >> nothing. >> actually, he's attacking women's rights. >> that's why he ain't doing nothing. >> your message to america. what's on your mind? >> right now i think women's health is the biggest issue and also gun violence.

we have to get gun violence under control right now in america. >> very good. i agree. >> you're from texas. you were telling me what perry was doing? >> he haven't implemented obama care. we have so many kids in houston and all through texas that need that obama care, the medicaid expansion. what can we do to get him to help us with that. he want to sink obama care. >> kwhast yo >> what's your name? >> melny white. >> the rockets are good. >> what's your name? >> austin, texas. >> what do you think of wendy davis? >> i like her. i love her. >> do you think she should run for governor? >> anybody should to get him out

of there. >> how big is this that the governor is going after women's rights? things s that were settled yea ago. >> it's huge. we're so mad about it. they're doing it in the dead of night. he's trying to wreck the women's rights. >> your thoughts on it? >> i agree with her. >> your name. >> i'm bobby. >> where are you from? >> water proof, louisiana. >> no offense, i didn't know anything was waterproof down here. >> i think the country would be well served if the republicans have obstructed the administrati administration. the americans are beginning to see the republicans are all

about. >> how much do you think is they want to see the first black president fail? how much is this about president obama? >> mitch mcconnell said the number one priority to make sure he was a one term president. obviously, that didn't happen because the american people didn't do that. the republicans are fighting against everything that the president does and they will continue to do that. >> you're fantastic. >> where are you from? >> st. louis, missouri. >> your name? >> debra. >> what's on your mind? >> education. we talk a lot about education but what are we doing. it's time for us to rise up and take back the education policy and the structure in our nation. >> fantastic. i want to thank all you have for being here. we're going to be back tomorrow at a special time noon eastern.

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$29.95 or less after $10 mail-in rebate at your participating ford dealer. so you gotta take care of yourself? yes you do. you gotta take care of your baby? oh yeah! hello. i'm al sharpton live from the 19th essence fest in downtown new orleans. tens of thousands of people are packed into the city for culture, the food, the entertainment. last night it all kicked off at the superdome with great performances by jill scott and brandy, maxwell, ll cool j. there's a lot more to come including new edition and of course beyonce. for the first time ever msnbc is broadcasting live from the

festival. this is a party with a purpose. we're talking about real solutions to real problems facing our community. we begin today with the crisis we can't ignore. the deadly toll that guns are continuing to take on our community. this july 4th holiday weekend we're getting another brutal reminder about this issue in chicago. at least eight people were fa l fatally shot on independence day and more than 30 people wounded overall including a 5-year-old who is in critical condition. it's the kind of headline we see all too often like this shooting on mother's day in new orleans. it sound crowds scrambling and left 19 people wounded. there are things we can do. new orleans is an example. despite some of the ugly headlines there are signs of progress. we learned the city murder rate

is down over the first half of 2013. a 22% drop. we can make a difference. change is possibly. one politicians in washington stop trying to block it, change has come from us. joining me now is new orleans mayor mitch landreau. and frederick haines. what can we do to make our cities safe? >> the first thing is to recognize we have a problem on the city of america. we have too many young people being taken from us through violence. you have young men and women taking each other for no run other than just a spat. it's developed and gotten critical. we have thousands and thousands of people killed since newtown. we had 5,000 people killed on the streets of america.

we got to get into it. it's got to be broad and wide. it's about guns, family, faith, the community. it's about giving people something to do. it's about creating jobs. it's about all of these institutions. if you want to be strong abroad like america wants to be, you have to be strong at home first. we have to think about nation building on the streets of america. >> you took me to the spot where the mother's day shooting was. one of the things you said to me is the culture violence. we got to deal with guns but we also have to deal with the mentality and the whole inf infrastructure. >> you can't just get it on the front end. you have to get it on the back end. mental health, substance abuse, education, jobs. that gives you the strong social frame work that makes people do the right thing for the right reason over the right time.

the most important thing, pastor, i know you know this, we have got to say it's not okay for young african-american to be dying at catastrophic levels every day in america. it's just wrong. 611,000 people have been killed on the streets of america since 1980. that's a lot, and it's a huge problem. >> reverend haines you have done work on the ground of dealing with culture and violence in the african-american community. open your church in dallas and around the country. how do question approach this and where do you see results in changing the mentality and the culture that glorifies violence. >> in dallas we have seen change. we were at the top when it came to the murder rate. there was a partnership between the police department and the local church. our church has the largest volunteer and patrol program. every weekend we took the

streets. the men of the street did and with served as volunteers patrolling the street. not only did we do that we understood the relationship between opportunity and crime and violence. if i have no options or opportunity, if i have no job then my limited options will cause me to make bad choices. we have to correct that. we have to involve the police department with the community. too many instances our community does not see the police department as partner but rather as the vehicle of injustice. we have to correct that. >> if churches, community groups and the city work together, that partnership works. i rolled the other night here with the commander, one of the commanders here in new orleans police department. the first time i've been in the front of a police car without

handcuffs from a different station. i got a sense there's this cooperation they seek because they can't do their job without the community an the community can't do their job without good polices. >> we have a plan in new orleans. it says you have to have police officers. they have to understand the community. it can't just be the police officer. the city has to have recreation opportunities for their kids. you're seeing this in atlanta, newark and dallas. there is an answer to this problem. the funding when congress says they don't have the money they manufacture money for the things they need. we found $32 billion last week. when they said they didn't have it. my guess is when something is important to the country we find the need to do the things that are necessary and then the

community has got to work together and it's got to come from the ground up. you're here at essence with the man all of us scheduling huge entertainment culture components to this. how important is it to get a lot of trend setters and the artists and actors to be involved. i remember growing up, do we need to start talking a lot of trendsetters of the today that they need to deal with a message of nonviolence. >> that's right. what would it mean for them toll say i don't want my community to struggle from the effects of violence. when they speak up and speak out it will make a huge difference.

hundreds and thousands have come to new orleans. it's peaceful time. we can translate this across the country. >> i couldn't agree with you more. in new orleans 85% of the victims are young african-american men and 85 to 90% of the perpetrators are african-american men and 88% of them know each other. when harry belafonte used his celebrity to talk about civil rights, if you had people like that saying we're going to stop the violence, i think you'll see america change for the better. it can be done. it hasn't always been this way which means it doesn't always have to be this way. we can fix it if everybody comes in. >> how much is important from the state and federal government. do you have the resources you

need? >> no. we can't be divided. come together as one america to solve a problem. there's nothing we can't do. >> a lot of times the money is indivisible. >> we have the highest rate of incarceration. we have the greatest gap between the have gots and have notes. in terms of putting resources into the community our governor has become in many instances an enemy to development an faith building as well as nation building. >> i think the challenge must be with perry or jindal but raise the issue of people need the services. >> let me say this. even folks that are strong

military supporters, you have conservatives saying you can't be strong abroad if you're not strong at home. you have to invest in people. you have to get this right because america will be weak if we're not strong at home. >> a recent poll showed 81% of americans favored said only 17% oppose this. clearly for them not to be able to do something as simple as a background check when you have 81% of the country there is unthinkable. >> i think the thing is they're more concerned with the economic of the gun than the effect of the bullet. when you see what happened in connecticut, chicago, new york, they're more concerned with the money behind it. if the money was taken out of gun manufacturing, i promise you

they would jump on something to rectify this. >> you announced an anti-murder campaign with spike lee. >> i love him so much. he's the first person i went to. in a second he said i'm in. his group donated a million dollars in talent to help develop a program called flip the script. change something that's bad into something that's good. it's designed to try to change the attitude of people on the street about why it's better to move from a culture of violence to peace. we believer it can get done.

>> that's what we need. we're filled with the remnants of bigotry and violence. we have to deal with it. >> how can we celebrate the dreamer whose movement was energized by nonviolence unless we move from commemoration to continuation and part of that has to be a nonviolent movement against violence. if we do that we'll make the legacy proud. >> katrina devastated this city but now gun violence and just a culture violence is the bigger threat. >> new orleans like many american cities are coming back. the city has a spectacular story to tell. we have to bring everybody along with us.

that's the american way. everybody's starting to realize we're levering a bunch of folks behind. we have to find the core problems that we all created together and find way out of it. it's not working. >> if washington was watching you right now the political leaders in washington, what would you say? >> i would say first of all when i listen to them talk i hear common ground? 81% of the people like background checks. we believe in second amendment rights. there seems to be common ground. everybody agrees we ought to put every american back to work. get it done. get the resources down to the ground. whether it's the mayor or the minister or the coaches or moms and dads. let us solve a problem we know is solvable. >> new orleans mthank you both

kindness. the threat to voting rights and empowering all of our community. that's coming up. this is a special edition of politics nation. stay with us. hi! i'm sandy, and i know savings. this metal frame pool on rollback, you save $80! and this 4 burner grill on rollback, you save $11. get more summer for your money at walmart's super summer savings event. and now there's a new way to buy a car -- truecar. at truecar.com, we'll show you what others paid for the car you want so you'll know if that sales price is a great price. save time, save money, and never overpay. visit truecar.com.

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we're live at the essence festival in new orleans where the issue of voting right s one everyone is talking about. stay with us. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it.

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welcome back. we're live in new orleans today at essence fest talking about some of the big issues facing our community. unemployment, violence, civil rights, economic justice, and the power positive role models. we're talking about how to address the issues we're facing now and what we need to do to move the country forward. joining me now is dr. julian malvo. thank you for being here.

>> good to be with you always. >> you've dealt with so many of the issues that our community face. you're an economist. the economic challenges of this time, unemployment numbers came down friday. blacks are still unemployed at a higher number. there's been growth in the private sector, not the public sector and that's where we're mostly employed. tell me where we are in the economic challenges. >> the unemployment situation is probably the most dire. as you said yesterday the unemployment rate overall stayed the same, 7.6% the that rate for african-americans are 13.2% compared to 6.2% for whites. that understates the level of our unemployment. there's another statistic that says underemployment is at 14% overall.

for us that means 25.6%. one in every four african-americans are unemployed are underutilized. those jobs that were created sounds good but at that rate it will take us five years to get back to where we were before the recession. the employment issue is the greatest issue for us because we have so little wealth and because there's so littlewell in our community we have about 2% of our nation's wealth, 13% of the population. we don't have a lot to fall back on. the other thing is how much we lost in the recession due to losing our homes. more than $200 billion worth of wealth lost in our homes. for a white couple age 40 to 61 have basically recovered. they got back 99% of what they

lost. similar situated black couple has only got back 60% of what they lost. they're really lagging. all those things, education, that make it much more difficult to compete. you talk about economic justice. that's not even on anybody's agenda. you don't hear economic justice or proverty used in a public policy conversation. >> on top of the economic challenges we have the challenges on voting. the recent decision of the supreme court. the impact of their knocking out section 5. the economic challenges are compounded by the fact if blacks are suppressed from voting you have an elected official or official america that are not even going to be sensitive to the economic challenges we face.

>> precisely. congress who was beaten during the civil rights movement says they have gutted the heart and soul of the voting rights act by taking section 5 out. i was in alabama when the mayor was telling me about this case. one black man had one seat on the shelby counsel. they jergerrymandered him out o his position. you can go to florida and see how many hours our people to do in line. you can go to ohio. the only point the right wing has is there's violations in the non-south. these southern folks have conspired and we know that history, conspired to keep african-american people away from the poles. we had members of congress who

voted for small business legislation. would they vote for it now. >> we're joined now by nationally syndicated broadcaster, activist, the one and only michael baisden. >> i have to reach over this woman. what's going on, rev? >> i want to bring into it about the issue that we face in the criminal justice system. nothing exemplifies that more than this case of george zimmerman and trayvon martin. i don't want to get into the particular case per se. as much as the fact there is case. michael baisden and i came in when they announced there had would be no arrest and really rallied the first gathering there that led to the special prosecutor.

we had about 30,000 people. i think this thing that people are missing is they are discussing a trial like the trial was inevitable. there wasn't going to be a trial. the police chief said it was over. >> i'm proud of the say sybrina fulton represented herself and also the brother did a great job. it's very important to demonstrate this family was a solid family. i think they represented themselves and trayvon's memory very well as well. i got to say a couple things. george zimmerman's comment about it willing god's will completely blew me away. it was four months after and that where his mind set was. >> what he said for listeners is he have asking by sean hannity if he had any regrets. he said i have no regrets.

he said what about what you think. he said it was god's will. >> i was so outraged he would use the good lord, thou shalt not kill. you and michael did an enormous service to us because just imagine this scenario. you follow a white man walking up your stairs in new york. because you feel threatened, you turned around and shoot him. there would be no reverend al sharpton sitting here. you would be up under somebody's jail. you would have to call everybody. >> my thing is i'm not saying how juries should rule. i'm saying a jury should do it. how do you decide that night that this guy is telling the truth. we don't even know the identity of the guy in the mall and we're going to let him go home. >> he's got a gun. any time someone is not there ought to be an investigation. they should have arrested him on

suspicion of homicide and kept him for 48 hours. instead they said good boy, go home. >> i'm in chicago. we know how people behave. if i'm running from someone. let's talk about common sense. if i'm running and approached, i'm not going to then con front the person i've been running from. that doesn't make any sense. you know you're not armed. you don't know whether or not this person is armed. for trayvon to approach him makes so sense. >> you said the particulars we're not privy to what happened. this around criminal justice issue which accounts for the fact that half of incarcerated people are african-american. we're 13% of the population but half of those are incarcerated. they demonstrated while we use

marijuana at the same level that whites do we're six times more likely to be arrested for it. >> got to go. thank you. >> great to see you. >> great to see you. thank you so much. coming up, we're talking about some of the bigst issues on the mind of the people here at the essence fest. stay with us. ♪

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we're live at the essence festival in new orleans. right now i'm joined by former new orleans mayor. now the president an ceo of the national urban league. good to see you, mark. >> thank you. thank you. >> thanks so msnbc. >> you know i was thinking 19 years they've had the festival here. i've been here all 19. when we first came you were running the city and you were the mayor. look at it then and look at

where this festival has gone now. >> this is incredible. this is an incredible gathering. it's an economic engine for new orleans. it's always had purpose. 1995 we were on panel together talking about affirmative action and voting rights. >> 2013, we're talking about affirmative action and voting rights. >> the first panel which was the first essence we were on and here we are 19 years later. you just finished the empowerment panel. i'm getting ready to do the keynote address after the show. 50 years ago was the march on washington. we're looking 50 years later at the state of the dream of the dr. king. we're doing advance the dream at msnbc. the mash will be august 24th, august 23rd. national urban league will have come concessions for the march

in washington. a lot of people think we're just talking. give americans a sense of where we are. >> it's a tale of two americas and a two sided coin. when it comes to diversity in college admissions there are many more african-americans with college degrees and in college. on the other side more unemployed and more incarcerated than ever before. we have to look at it in two ways. we've tried to respond working with you. it's called jobs rebuild america. we're going to help tens of thousands of people find jobs. get better skills for jobs and help young people achieve college admission and help

entrepreneurs. it's about the analysis but also about the response and action. we have to continue focus on jobs, on education and also now on this critical issue of democracy and voting rights. >> now the congress was appealed to in '63 by the civil rights leadership around public accommodation and voting. what would you like to see congress do today as we head back to washington 50 years later with these activities we're doing? >> first we need aprehensive focus effort on jobs. focus the medicine on where the economic has degraded. second thing, we need congress to respond to this tragic

supreme court decision. they've got to pass a new coverage formula. it's an issue of democracy and voting rights. i put jobs, i put education, i put voting rights right at the top. we need congress to lead. we need congress to discontinue obstructing. we need action now. >> do you have any confidence on this congress moving on the voting rights issue. the only way there's going to be an alternative now to the supreme court is there has to be a new voting law in place and i know i was on a call with you the other night. there's discussion of some new legislation. >> i think that the voting rights act has always had a bipartisan report base. i think we fake this effort to create a new generation of suppressive voter laws in america.

that's something we haven't seen in such an aggressive way in a long time. it's going to be up to the people. it's going to be up to people across the board to stand up for democracy and stand up for voting rights. we can't leave it to the congress alone. i'm confident with a push from the people and the kind of bipartisan support we've had in the past we can do something. we need it done very, very quickly. that's why we're working together to ensure that people join us in august in washington, d.c. for all the activities that will take place. >> thanks for being with us. >> always. >> we'll be back in new orleans at the essence fest. we'll be right back. i want to make things more secure. [ 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

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we're back live in new orleans. we're at the 19th annual essence festival talking about how we can protect the most fundamental right we have in a democracy, the right to vote. in the two weeks since the supreme court ruling gutted the voting rights act we seen six dozen states rushing to put restrictive voting laws into effect. we can't allow these states to roll back the clocks. we've seen too much struggle and sacrifice to let these rights be taken away again. the heroes marched to make their voices heard and civil rights icons like john lewis risked their lives. they were beaten and bloody to ensure we all were treated

equally at polls. joining me now is one of the greatest heroes of the civil rights movement and one of my heroes congressman john lewis. democrat from georgia. he took the blows on that in selma that led to the first voting rights act and 50 years later he's here leading the way to restore what they did to us a couple of weeks ago. >> thank you very much for having me. i'm delighted eed and very hap be with you. >> you said what the supreme court did was put a dagger in the hearts of the voting rights act. >> i truly believe what the supreme court did was to stab, put that dagger deep in the heart of the voting rights act of 1965.

i've said all along the vote is precious. almost sacred. it's the most powerful nonviolent instrument of tools we have in democratic society and we must use it. why do people want to keep us from voting? there must been something good about it, something powerful about it. that's why for many years hundreds of years they kept us from participating. >> every year many of us that were not old enough to be there in 65 follow you across that bridge to reenact when you and josa williams led that march. you were beaten and friends of yours were killed for voting rights. you won that fight. you got the voting rights act. now we seen the chipping away. i was on call the other night in your name they're talking about a bipartisan bill that will be presented to the congress. tell us about that. >> we're coming together both democrats and republicans on the

house and they'll do the same thing on the senate side. we're going to pass another voting rights act. i'm flattered that some on the house side, some of the leadership want to name the new voting rights act after me. i don't mind it. i'm flattered. the only thing i tried to do almost 50 years ago is try to make it possible for all of our citizens to be able to register and vote, for people to be able to run for office and get elected and i just gave a little blood but to write some of my colleagues and friends and brothers and sisters gave their very lives. we've come too far, made too much progress to go back now. question not dgo back and we wil not go back. >> we're going to push that john lewis bill. 50 years ago was the march on

washington. you know we're trying to organize the march on august 24th. you're the highlight of that day. you're the only one of the leadership, they called them the big six in '63, you're leading the student nonviolent coordinating committee. you're the only major speaker that day that is still alive today when dr. king, 50 years ago, said i have a dream and you're here 50 years later. how do you see the progress that we made in 50 years and what do we still need to do? >> we've ahead a lot of progress. we have come distance. those signs that i saw in 1963 when i was 23 years old in the south. those signs are gone that said white women, white men, colored

women, color men. those signs are gone. the only way our children low pressure swill see them is in a book. that's why it's important for you and others to organize a march. not just to celebrate, not just to commemorate but to rededicate our lives. people ask me all the time whether the election of barack obama is the fulfillment of dr. king's dream. i said no. it's a down payment. we're not there yet brothers. we got work to do. >> thank you so much for your time. honored to have you with us. >> thank you. >> as i mentioned on saturday august 24th, we'll be in washington, d.c. for the national action to realize the dream. 50th march on washington. our fight for progress is far from over. we will continue to push for dr. king's dream to become a

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>> the essence festival in new orleans. it brings together the biggest names in music. it also is a forum bringing up important topics in the community like empowering women and giving them the tools to lead happy and successful lives. joining me now is dr. rachel ross, a practicing family doctor reached critical acclaim for sex and love and the acclaimed spiritual life coach and my friend for many years, van zandt

of "fix my life" on own network. thank you for coming on the show. >> my flesh. >> thank you. >> dr. ross, why is the festival so important? >> oh, man, to bring together this many african-american people, families in general, and to have access to all these different exhibits with all this information, particularly health, wellness, fitness type of things, it's mind boggling. then you guys doing this whole free doctor for two days. when you look at the statistics of how many african-american women don't have access to health care or health insurance, the idea that you are providing free health care for a couple days is huge. it's reminding women that they have to take care of themselves as we are the heads of the household and taking it a step further and showing we care. >> you heal people by making

them deal with their pain and dealing with their infirmity. you have been doing it all your life. we both come out of brooklyn, i have known you for decades. i think self-image is built by what you see. how important is it for people to see models at places like the essence festival and is that why you spend time here? black people, a lot of us are in denial about our pain and about our needs to deal with psychological wounds. >> not so much in denial, but just not aware that it's a problem. if everybody in the neighborhood doesn't have a problem. if everybody in the neighborhood has a working mother. if everybody in the neighborhood has domestic violence or lack of health care, you don't know it's a problem.

an orphan doesn't wake up and say i'm an orphan. they adjust and accommodate to whatever the situation is. i think it's important for me as a leader of the one of the spiritual leaders in this community. i have been blessed to be trained and thought and exposed to so many technologies of healing to be present at an event such as this. there's nothing like this in the world where we all come together. i want to apologize to everybody i didn't say hello to trying to get through the crowd to get here. >> right. >> it's just important we understand that whatever goes on in the body has an origin in the mind and affects the spirit. so, while you take care of the body, i'll do the mind and spirit. >> if i had a dollar for everybody i say you need to fix your life, you do that. >> i'm giving information that is here and been excluded,

dismissed, denied, ignored. nothing goes on in the body that doesn't have an origin in the mind. if we want to begin to heal our bodies, we have to look at our minds, we have to look at our spirit. you know, you can take a pill for everything except sadness. >> wow. >> you can take one, it won't work. >> you know -- >> makes you sadder. >> how many people, particularly in the african-american community and as a black, latin person, afro-latina, how many of us are dying of sorrow, when we wake up in the morning and i don't want to do this no more. >> what we don't discuss is how that affects your body. the cortisol affects obesity and your blood pressure goes up. >> cortisol? >> it's a stress hormone. when it's elevated, you gain

weight. it gets your blood pressure up. there are so many different things related to how you feel mentally, if your mind state isn't correct, you can -- >> are we still -- my mother used to say hanky about going to the doctor? >> yes. not only that, we don't value it. you know, we don't value doctor/patient care. i hear a lot of patients tell me, my health insurance costs too much. i'm just not gonna use that anymore. i'm not going to buy health insurance for my family. maybe not understanding that it's delay the gratification of a new car or get my hair done next week is to budget for it. >> up to a few years ago, i couldn't afford health care. >> why? >> i couldn't afford it. i'm an author, i'm a speaker. my income is tied to what i do.

when the economic decline hit, self-employed people suffered because we couldn't get unemployment. >> and african-american women are continuing to suffer because we have less health insurance than any other -- >> your hairdresser, your person that has an in-home child care, your auto mechanic who is fixing the cars. that may pay the rent and put food on the table, but it doesn't cover health insurance. for me, the first thing to go was the health insurance. >> it usually is. >> and the cable tv. >> those who contract suffer. >> exactly. we have to look at it and begin to do the preventive things. >> right. >> things like, if you get up on tuesday, go to bed on tuesday. >> right. >> many of us are dying from lack of sleep. >> right. well, you know, this is a great festival. they only made one mistake. they have you doing the keynote

this afternoon, i'm doing one in a few minutes. i looked at the schedule. they said sex in the age was yesterday. we were supposed to be on yesterday. i don't know what's wrong with them. dr. rachel ross and van zandt, thank you for being on the show. we'll be right back. trust calcium plus vitamin d to support strong bones. and the brand most recommended by... my doctor. my gynecologist. my pharmacist. citracal. citracal. [ female announcer ] you trust your doctor. doctors trust citracal.

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essence festival. i have been here every year. it only gets better. the people here are inspired and inspiring. it's a party with a purpose. i'll see you back here tomorrow at a special time, 1:00 p.m. eastern. my colleague craig melvin picks up things now back in new york. >> good saturdays afternoon. i'm craig melvin, you are watching msnbc. here's what's happening now. developing news in egypt. a temporary prime minister is expected to be sworn in any moment. who is he and what will he mean for the deadly protests that continue there. we are live in moscow. bolivia joins venezuela saying they will take government leaker, edward snowden. what the