if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? don't wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. i'm tamron hall. it's been an incredible 30 minutes to say the least. the news nation is following the big breaking news. only moments ago president obama, this nation's first african-american president, addressed on camera for the first time the not guilty verdict of george zimmerman. the president addressed race, stand your ground, his own personal story, and also addressed the martin family. take a listen. >> first of all, you know, i

want to make sure that once again i send my thoughts and prayers as swewell as michelle'o the family of trayvon martin. and to remark on the incredible grace and dignity with which they've dealt with the entire situation. i can only imagine what they're going through, and it's remarkable how they've handled it. the second thing i want to say is to reiterate what i said on sunday, which is there are going to be a lot of arguments about the legal issues in the case. i'll let all the legal analysts and talking heads address those issues. the judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. the prosecution and the defense made their arguments. the juries were properly

instructed that in a case such as this, reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. once the jury has spoken, that's how our system works. but i did want to just talk a little bit about context and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling. you know, when trayvon martin was first shot, i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. when you think about why in the african-american community, at least, there's a lot of pain around what happened here, i think it's important to

recognize that the african-american community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history. that doesn't go away. there are very few african-american men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. that includes me. >> joining me now, nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. obviously, there's a lot of analysis that will go on here. let me get the tick to ptop. there was the president giving remarks. some thought, was this about detroit? no, it was regarding the george zimmerman verdict. what do you know behind the scenes was going down? >> reporter: tamron, this moment can only be described as extraordinary. for the entire time i have covered the white house, some two-plus years now, the white house press corps has gotten

some sort of heads up when the president is going to come to the briefing room, if only off the record. in this instance, we really had seconds to prepare for him to come out to the briefing room. the president, the white house have been fielding questions all week about why we haven't heard from president obama on camera. of course, attorney general eric holder has come out and spoken about the zimmerman verdict. we know this president has been monitoring it. you remember in the days after trayvon martin was shot, the president said trayvon martin could have been my son. today he went one step further, as you just heard, and got incredibly personal and said trayvon martin could have been me. this was striking because it was so personal, because he talked about the history of racial profiling in this country. but he also gave a prescription about what should happen moving. forward, tamron. so it was significant for that reason as well. again, white house press secretary jay carney has been fielding questions about what should happen next. today president obama tried to answer some of those questions in terms of saying, look, there

should be a review of state and local officials and how they're responding to these matters. there should also be a review of state and local law, including the controversial stand your ground law. it was fascinating to hear him say, what if trayvon martin had been the one to pull the trigger? if that would have been murky, then we need to go back and look at the stand your ground law. he also called for strengthening african-american youth and young boys in this country. in addition to that, he also said we need to recognize the country has come a long way. it was striking for a number of reasons, in part because it was deeply personal, but also because it looked forward. again, we just weren't expecting him to come out today. so this was certainly a surprise for everyone here. >> an incredible moment. kristen, i'm going to get you to hang on. let me bring in our political panel. we also have in florida nbc's mark potter, where all of you

know people are held up in the governor's office, if you will, standing their ground against this controversial law. let me get your first impression. i think andrea mitchell put it so well. when breaking news in history happens, you have to have a moment to digest it. we've had a couple minutes. what's your gut impression here, joy? >> tamron, i immediately tweeted that you can't overestimate how huge this is a moment. an african-american president who really hasn't spoken that much about race. he did that big race speech when he was running. since then, everything he does is racialized but it's usually other people racializing him, whether it's the disrespect with which he's treated from the house of representatives or him saying that if he had a son, he'd look like trayvon and all the baggage dumped on to him any time he approaches the issue of race. for this president to come out and be so full-throated about it, to talk about experiences -- think about that. this man is the president of the united states. he's still had the experience of getting into an elevator and women clutching their purses. or someone click the car door locked when he walks by.

that says something about race and this president and the time we're in. >> and to joy's point, the president wrote these words, i can recite the usual litany of petty slights that during my 45 have been directed my way. security guards tailing me as i shop in a department store, white couples who toss me their keys as i stand outside a restaurant thinking he was the valet. the man who is now the president. and police cars pulling him over for no apparent reason. i want to play a little more of what he said regarding black boys, what this verdict said, and how it made this black man feel to see this happen. let's listen in. >> we need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and re-enforce our african-american boys. and this is something michelle and i talk a lot about. there are a lot of kids out there who need help, who are getting a lot of negative

re-enforcement. is there more that we can do to give them a sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them? you know, i'm not naive about the prospects of some grand new federal program. i'm not sure that's what we're talking about here. but i do recognize that as president i've got some convening power. there are a lot of good programs that are being done across the country on this front. for us to be able to gather together, business leaders and local elected officials and clergy and celebrities and athletes and figure out, how are we doing a better job helping young african-american men? >> toure, that was a community organizer. he was talking about bringing people in. he's the president. but we need everybody on board. >> it was the president speaking

from that bully pulpit but also his african-american experience. he personalized this in so many ways. so often races is done in these big black and white -- you know, he spoke about bias, which is so much a part of all this. he spoke about how we have moved forward and ways that we haven't. he's acknowledging that black men don't feel a full part of society. yet, he did so in this nuanced way that doesn't hit it with a hammer, that you can't just dismiss it. well, that's just a black guy talking. he spoke about the way the history still matters. so many people want to say, get over it, that's the past. the past is not over. i've been so depressed since the verdict. maybe the jury did what they had to do, but it was just so disappointing to feel like our lives are worth less in this country. and this has given me a new spring in my step. it's only five minutes old since he finished talking, basically, but it sort of rose my spirit to

hear him really gutting into this not as a president who is black, but a black president. >> but he also anticipated some of the things that people have said would be directed at him. for example addressing black-on-black crime. he also -- the trayvon martin line where he said before this could be his son. that was criticized. he went a step further and said that could have been me. >> i feel like the level of vulnerability we see in this moment is striking. as he said several times, black communities are not naive. so anyone watching this is not naive about the storm that is going to follow in the wake of the president's words. i suspect that's part of -- you know, i think there's undoubtedly, even as we celebrate this, we're going to ask about the delay.

certainly part of the delay has been, i'm sure, his sense that waiting into this will also turn it on to him and away from trayvon martin, away from that family. >> and waiting requires thoughtfulness and patience. >> and didn't you feel there's this kind of searching that at least i felt from him as he was speaking about policy on the one hand, the need to bolster up the spirit of boys themselves. you have this sense of this is such a huge thing. yes, i am the president, and i'm going to use the powers i have. in fact, i can't just come and tell you what all the answers are. >> it's an admission he knows it's a work in progress as he's a work in progress in dealing with these issues. i want to bring in lynn on that note. because the president, you followed him, we both lived in chicago together and have known him many years, he talked about back when he was a senator looking for ways to direct his attention on racial profiling down to collecting data on the number of traffic stops.

i'm curious if this will now go into current language with the discussion happening in new york over stop and frisk and the incredible number of minorities being pulled over, 2011, 80% of those were brown and black people pulled over. the president did touch that he's not new to this but bringing it up in a different way today. >> absolutely. tamron, one of the frustrations i heard in this tin credible historic talk he just gave was that he's still grappling with an issue that was his signature achievement when he was a member of the illinois state senate brought about because of the traffic stops of people who -- you've all heard it, everyone on the panel. the driving while black, driving while drown situation. that was what he was tackling and talking about years ago. here it is 2013 and he's still addressing it in one form or another. i also heard in what he was talking about that these problems have now become -- they

won't go away. he hopes they're not intractable. one other thing i want to add, that it hasn't gotten as much coverage, but both president obama and mrs. obama have been stepping up their work with african-american disadvantaged youths in chicago. just yesterday mrs. obama was there talking to a group of 60 or 70 students who were working on a job skills program. obama has worked with a group call eed becoming a man. in both cases, kids who they met they brought to the white house. somehow there i think we might be seeing is the nucleus of something that -- >> i think you're on to something, lynn. in the first lady's words to those students yesterday, she talked about being authentic, being true to yourself. i think we all can read into what that means at a time where many kids as toure pointed out, young black boys and girls, we cannot leave girls out of this equation, certainly having three strong black women on this panel.

and having an african-american first lady who is from the south side of chicago. all this has to be factored in. before we go to break, i want to play another excerpt of the president and we're going to keep this conversation going. president obama addresses the george zimmerman verdict, putting it in a larger perspective of this country and our discussion on race. let's listen in and we'll be right back. >> when trayvon martin was first shot, i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is, trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation.

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i know that there's been commentary about the fact that the stand your ground laws in florida were not used as a defense in the case.

on the other hand, if we're sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms, even if there's a way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we'd like to see? >> we're back right now with our special panel for this breaking news coverage of president obama's surprising remarks following the george zimmerman trial. jonathan, i'll start off with you. you were in the room. we've talked a lot about the surprise of the moment, but it is more important to talk about the words.

there were varied issue, all of them dealing with this verdict and the impact it's had. >> a lot of people came running in late because you don't expect the president to come in. then it was what the president had to say that really blew people away. i'll just speak personally. i heard toure speaking in the earlier segment about being depressed since the zimmerman verdict and anyone who's read anything i've written will know i've also felt the same way. but to hear the president of the united states personalize that sort of angst and anguish that we've all been feeling and to put it in personal terms where it's not just this abstract of african-americans and feeling bruised by the verdict and what it means, but making it clear to people that even he, the president of the united states, has endured some of these

sleights, some of these biased or racial actions taken against him. the most powerful person in the world has experienced these things, and these are experiences that never leave. these are experiences that inform the way you work your way through society and the way you deal with other people. as everyone has said, i can't add anything else to all the powerful things said by joanne and toure and melissa harris-perry. we have to soak it in and understand how important and historic it was. >> the president said this about the stand your ground law. he says, i just ask people to consider if trayvon martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? many people asked that question during the trial. what about trayvon martin's right to stand his ground in self-defense? >> particularly given he was 60 yards from where he was staying, which according to the castle

doctrine, on your property you have a lot of rights of self-defense. that's a question prosecutors really failed to bring up in this case. had trayvon martin had a gun and had decided that this person who was following and threatening him in his view was a threat and just shot him dead, then would his defense have been as valid as george zimmerman's? the statistics show probably not because statistically, if the person that you shoot and kill is not black, you are 56% -- you have a 56% success rate in claiming stand your ground. if the person you shoot and kill is black, you have a 73% success rate. just the statistics show that even if you'd reversed the situation, you cannot guarantee the same outcome. >> melissa, the president said off the top he didn't want to get too much into the legal analysis. we have a department of justice to do that. nevertheless, he says that on a state and local level, these issues are part of the criminal code, but he was measured in saying what next on a federal level. he said, i don't want to run out a litany of things here. >> look, part of what's so important about the tie between what jonathan was just saying,

the experiences of slaieights, d what joanne was saying, what they do is bring those two together. the president isn't standing up there and say i feel bad when i walk around the world and so do other african-americans. we understand a lot of folks don't care how you feel. it's when those experiences then build to generate the ability to actually take the life, in this case of an unarmed child. so it is that moment that makings it relevant, those two things together. i know the president is clearly treading very lightly on the question of policy, especially because his department of justice is still going to have to make a decision, but there are things the federal government must do. >> i want to go to mark potter, who's in florida, where there's an ongoing sit-in at the governor's office. last night, mark, these protesters were able to meet

with the governor with little success as far as at least what they would like to see accomplished. but there was dialogue. >> that's right. a group of protesters, young people met with the governor. a handful of them met with the governor last night for habit a half hour. it was a cordial conversation. it was polite. in the end, governor rick scott said that he still supports the stand your ground law. the protesters had asked him to consider a special session of the legislature to consider repealing the stand your ground law, but he said that he supports it. he's not going to call a special session of the legislature. what he recommended is that if they have some examples that they want to give their own legislators, they can do that. they can go through that process. but that's highly unlikely to happen. this is a republican governor, a republican dominated legislature. the democrats in the past have tried to deal with this issue. they couldn't even get a committee to look at it. it seems firmly entrenched in florida right now.

the governor said he'll have a prayer day on sunday, a day of unity. but in terms of -- and he also asked the protesters if they have examples of racial profiling and ideas on how to change that, to talk about that, give him those ideas. on stand your ground, he's holding firm. he's not changing his mind. he's clearly in favor of it. >> and florida is not alone. we focus so much on florida, but that's knnot the only state whe a stand your ground law exists. the president said, now where do we take this? how do we learn lessons from this and move in a positive direction? >> well, that's always the big thing. how do we have positive directions? to go there, it has to be policy. i don't believe stand your ground was enacted as a racist tool. i believe it was a marketing tool for the nra. in practice, of course, it has become this racist tool that allows blacks to be killed and you to be found justified in

killing blacks. very hard for blacks in florida or any of the 24 stand your ground states to employ stand your ground when we kill or even shoot into the ceiling as marissa alexander, who is sort of the poster woman for the other side. she was trying to defend herself, to get out -- >> from an abusive -- >> from an abusive husband in her own home. there was no other way to go but to go through him. she shoots into the ceiling and she's doing 20 years. there's a call to pardon her. >> and the same prosecutor is involved in her case. >> so we need relief from these stand your ground laws just as we needed relief from lynching laws. >> can i say quickly, the problem with stand your ground is they depend on a judge or jury's ability to believe that a black person is afraid or to believe that a black person could be afraid of a white person or to believe, which is much more easy given the social science to believe that which ever race was afraid of a black person. and that is the problem. >> and we're talking about jury instructions, right.

people are saying, well, there wasn't a stand your ground hearing, so it doesn't matter. it changes the jury instructions in a fundamental way. >> actually, it didn't because the jury instructions were word for word the stand your ground law. despite the fact of it being overarching, the instructions given were from the stand your ground law. the reverend al sharpton is standing by. we're going to a quick break. we'll be back with our panel as well as reverend al's first reaction to the president's remarks. [ karen ] did you lock the front door?

[ john ] nope. [ tires squeal ]

twelve bucks a night! no. they have waterbeds. ew. no! are we near a gas station? [ phone beeps] [ phone ] no. is that from the mini bar? [ both ] no. is that a cop? no. [ cop ] do you know how fast you were going? no. eighty-seven [ groans ] he's right. is that oscar mayer? [ karen] yes! [ male announcer ] in a world filled with "no", it's nice to finally say "yes". oscar mayer selects deli meat, no artificial preservatives and gluten free. it's yes food. it's oscar mayer. this isn't to say that the african-american community is naive about the fact that african-american young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they're disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. it's not to make excuses for that fact, although black folks

do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. they understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor, black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country. and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history. so the fact that sometimes that's unacknowledged adds to the frustration and the fact that a lot of african-american boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics out there that show african-american boys are more violent. using that as an excuse to then

sons treated differently causes pain. i think the african-american community is also not naive in understanding that statistically somebody like trayvon martin was probably statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else. so folks understand the challenges that exist for african-american boys. but they get frustrated, i think, if they feel there's no context for it. and that context is being denied. and that all contributes, i think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario that from top to bottom, both the

outcome and the aftermath might have been different. >> we are back right now with our panel as we continue to discuss the president's surprise remarks following the george zimmerman trial. msnbc contributor joanne reid. msnbc's melissa harris-perry. of course, toure from "the cycle. lynn, let me start with you. knowing this president's journey, you've him for many years watching this growth and eventually becoming the president here. is this, and will we see this as one of those remarkable moments? there have been so many articles lately about the president's second term and what it will really mean and does he have a spine and what does he stand for. is this moment one of those moments that proves what he stands for, at least domestic as it relates to race? >> it is because some people may say it's about time and it took a tragedy to highlight things

that we all know he's been about, caring about, especially young african-american men as we've discussed. that's not new. but in the first time everyone knew that was not a priority. it took the trayvon martin tragedy now for him to make these remarkable remarks that he did. so is it consistent with everything he's been about? sure. has it ever been talked about in this personal way? no, not for a long time. when we talk about second-term agenda and legacy, i think he's now setting up an expectation that from this something may come. >> now, i think some people will raise an eyebrow when they hear you say it wasn't a priority in his first term, but to back that up, congressman james clyburn was on with me live yesterday talking about the congressional black caucus and they're looking at a flurry of ideas to address among other things racial profiling. he said this administration has avoided talking about race. he's an african-american congressman from south carolina.

he's in the weeds there. he sees it. that's his point of view as well. lynn? >> yeah, the point that you're making, that we're all underscoring here is that this tragedy, obama is stepping up. the most personal way, talking about being profiled himself, talking about what so many people related to on both sides of that car door. he's speaking to all of america here. everyone can relate to it, i think think, in a lot of ways. >> that's a great point. i envision the woman clicking that door and the boy on the other side of that door. if you're listening to it the president's words, as lynn pointed out, you know which side of that car you're on. you're relating to this somehow. >> can i make another quick thing before -- i want to hear so much from everyone else here. this is an incredible historic panel in its own way, by the way. remember in his historic philadelphia speech, many people

thought he threw his grandmother under the bus because he talked about how she would maybe walk to the other side of a street when approached by an african-american. >> that's absolutely right, lynn. this is what the president does so well. he speaks from both sides of the divide, not pointing fingers, but able to say others have seen me and crossed the street and my grandmother, who i love, who loved me, has also crossed the street. that gets down to sort of some of the weeds of racism, that there are people we know and love across the aisle, other races, and we accept them because they are normalized, they're humanized to us. can you extend that humanity to strangers in the dark who you don't know? can you pass people on the street who you don't know and not be afraid of them because of things that you've learned and you've been told and you've seen on tv? that's why the moment when he said am i wringing as much bias out of myself as i can? am i judging folks on the content of their character? of course, touching on dr. king there. that meant so much to me. >> melissa, you talked about painting with a broad brush

stroke. this goes back to the beginning of the trayvon martin case. george zimmerman seeing this person. they always get away. this individual who looked a certain way. now people can try to dismiss this and say it was because of the hoodie and all of these other things, but there was something that caught george zimmerman's eye, and it was likely not the clothing. >> well, one of the things that makes president obama particularly interestingly suited in this moment to have this conversation, and this is something he's been deeply criticize td for, particularly from african-american communities, is he has been the respectability president, who has repeatedly said to audiences of african-american boys and men, pull up your pants, do the right thing, be good -- so he has regularly sort of towed that line of present yourself in public in the most respectable way you can. so when he comes out and says no matter what one does, no matter how innocent one is, that

residual reality of racial bias that infiltrates the viewer to look at that child and see a criminal, i do want to point out that one of the things the president restrained himself from doing, as much as he was speaking to everyone, is he really did allow us to speak from the perspective of trayvon martin. he didn't come out and say, i'm sure george zimmerman felt this way. he really fully committed to that experience of the african-american. >> absolutely. let me bring in reverend al sharpton, host of "politics nation." thank you for joining me. i know you have a lot going on. nothing more so than this and what we heard from the president. what's your reaction, rev? >> well, i thought the president made a very, very historic statement that i think had to be said. i think he said it in a way that will make this country have to deal with the reality of why they're seeing such dissatisfaction and such real anger in our community. for the president of the united

states to say that what we all go through and why there's anger, and to say that he said when it first happened and we started marching that trayvon could have been his son. today he said that trayvon could have been him. this is the president of the united states. for those of us that haare in these cities tomorrow, for him to say on the eve of that, really makes the country understand we're not the troublemakers, we're the trouble breakers. it's trouble when you've got to explain to your children that they are vulnerable and that the laws don't protect them. when you have stand your ground laws and other laws that really say that people based on a thought in their head can use deadly force, that is extremely frightening. so i think his statement was

important. i think it was historic. we're going to put feet on this statement. and we have to deal with these laws. i think he set a dialogue. i think those of us on the ground are going to have to set action. as you know tomorrow, tamron, the parents are going to be out there. the mother with me in new york. the father in miami. we're going to be in 100 cities in a constructive but firm movement to really deal with this a week after this verdict. >> but rev, i have to also bring up, you know, people focus so much on the stand your ground and rightfully so. i'm from texas. gun culture. we've seen all kinds of things. we cannot forget the discussion as well, and maybe it will be pivoted from the president's remarks, on stop and frisk. i had nicolas pert on the other day, a young man from harlem, whose mother died of cancer. he's raising his siblings. he's been pulled over for being black in new york, never charged with a crime, and he's one of the statistics. 87% of those pulled over in 2011

were minorities. so the stop and frisk and other laws similar to it where you have, for example, some whites who live in manhattan say, well, crime is down now so it must be working. that doesn't mean it is right or moral. >> well, first of all, you know how i feel about stop and frisk. we helped do the father's day march. we brought 60,000 people by the mayor's house. that's what i'm saying. when you look at these state laws, stop and frisk in new york, 33 states with stand your ground, stop and frisk in other states. these state laws are the 21st century version of state laws that dr. king and others fought 50 years ago. the most insulting thing to me is these journalists that say this is not then. well, it may not be back then. it may not be as bad as the '60s, but it is what we face

today. that's like telling people in the '60s it's not as bad as slavery. why do we have to get comparative progress? why not progress? so to say it's not as bad as it was, the fact that it is unequal and uneven is bad enough. we can be pulled over and frisked in new york, that we can deal with stand your ground in florida or texas or indiana. i mean, to try and rationalize it is almost like, well, at least we don't make you sit in the back of the bus, like that's an intelligent statement. >> reverend al sharpton, thank you so much. i know you'll have much more on your show "politics nation" 6:00 p.m. eastern. we'll have the continuing coverage of the reverend al sharpton's mission to get people out with the national action network and have their voices is heard. i understand right now -- i'm being told i have nbc's chuck todd, who is standing by.

chuck, are you there? >> i am. good afternoon. >> good afternoon to you. what i would like to start off with is the surprise of this. many have been asking all week long, would we hear from the president? he did a couple local interviews regarding immigration reform, but no one asked him during that time. here we are on this friday, and a surprise, very important and emotional remark from the president, chuck. >> you know, i was struck just this morning. our friend and colleague eugene robinson writes this column in "the washington post" that essentially says president obama should not be asked, it should not be demanded of him, and maybe he should not be the one to lead this discussion. i'm not sitting here setting the premise that somehow the president read that, reacted and said, no, no, no. i think what you heard today is the same thing i've heard from plenty of african-american friends and colleagues who are sitting there saying, you know what, here's my personal

experience. this should be added to the conversation. you know, stieps these discussions get lost in personalities, get lost in partisan, polarized politics, especially right now where some portions of cable news, you know, try to use an incident like this in the wrong ways with and we miss the larger cultural discussion. i think, you know, if there's one thing the president can't stand, it is the inability, he thinks, of this modern media to have a mature discussion on race. and i think that this was his case of -- i feel like an example of stories that you heard from the beginning. you know, one of his motivations. he knew that if he successfully won the presidency, that it could be a very impactful thing, particularly to young african-american men, to sort of break that idea that a young

african-american man could be anything they wanted to be in the united states. not just sort of get to a certain point but anything that they wanted to be in the united states of america. and that he would be that example. here's an example of him saying, you know what, he does have a responsibility as president of the united states, but also as first african-american president of the united states, to not sit silent because it might cause swing voter political problems. you know, you've got to be able to have a mature discussion about this. tamron, you and i have watched probably all week, you know, not all parts of cable television -- and aisle ni'm not referring to channel. not all parts of the political discussion have been very mature on this topic. i think that's the case of the president trying to say, let me lift it up. >> we are our backgrounds. we are who we are. folks will come out and members of congress and other presidents have talked about being proud gun owners, being proud southerners, being proud parents. whatever the list.

you can be a proud african-american and still see things clearly. i think that's what people wanted to see from this president, particularly african-americans. him to be an unapologetic black man but still be an american and say i can be both, and i can be fair. i often think about the picture of the little black boy in the office who asked to touch the president's hair. you can both and be fair. >> can i make one other point? you want to be crass here and look at this through a political prism? >> sure. >> this was not the politically right -- you know, if you were to sit there and say what's best for the president's politics at the moment, yes, let's get involved in a race discussion. you can sit there and argue and his political advisers said, if he even asks -- and any time he's done this on issues of race, he doesn't ask. he sit there and say, you know, don't do this. people that look at this and say he did this for political reasons, no. if he was thinking about his politics, he would have stayed quiet today. >> thank you, chuck. i know you got to get going.

thank you for joining. we'll be right back. there are very few african-american men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. that includes me. there are very few african-american men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. that happens to me, at least before i was a senator. there are very few african-americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. that happens often. (girl) what does that say? (guy) dive shop. (girl) diving lessons. (guy) we should totally do that. (girl ) yeah, right. (guy) i wannna catch a falcon!

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there has been talk about, you know, should we convene a conversation on race? i haven't seen that be particularly productive when politicians try to organize conversations. they end up being stilted and politicized and folks are locked into the positions they already have. on the other hand, in families and churches and workplaces, there's a possibility that people are a little bit more honest. at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am i ri wringing as much bias out of myself as i can? >> is we' >> we're back now with our panel as we follow continuing coverage of president obama.

before we went to break, chuck todd was with us. he talked about whether people thought he was being a quote/unquote politician, this would not be a politically smart move. what's your analysis? >> when you look at president obama's famous speech on race, he talked about the need for this country to have a mature conversation, serious dialogue on making the country a more perfect union. since becoming president, he never really talked about it. there are obvious reasons why. the backlash he ended up getting from weighing into the henry wage lewis jr. arrest. what he talked about in 2008, what a lot of people wanted him to talk about, i think we got today. that's why we're continuing to talk about this. we're going to be talking about it over the weekend. it's a big moment. looking back in history, i can think of looking at dwight eisenhow

eisenhower's speech on the military industrial complex, where you get honest, surprising remarks from somebody who isn't running for re-election again. i think that's the impact of today's speech. >> it makes me think about the president's comments on the affordable health care act. he said people on capitol hill oppose it because his name is attached to it. we're told the president has stayed out of the immigration debate because if his name is associated with it, we might not see a bipartisan deal struck if it gets through the house. all of these things are the notion if his name or face are attached to it, it becomes a hot potato for those on the far right. so i ask you, what do you anticipate will be the reaction from the president's critics? you don't have the tea leaves or crystal ball, but we live in the real world. we know there will be some pushback from those in that town. >> well, tamron, we're already seeing a lot of the reaction on twitter. i think it's pretty predictable on what we're seeing. some folks aformally supporters

of the president are praising it. others who are critics are accusing the president for being a racist for even bringing up his experiences. it goes to the clip you played earlier about when politics try to have a discussion like this, it's unproductive. here's the reality. this country was already having a conversation about this over the past two or three weeks regarding the trial, once the verdict happened, and president obama, it took him several days, but he added his two cents to this dialogue that everybody person has been having. >> a little more than two cents there, mark. >> yes, that's true. >> i can give you grief because we're texans. you know that. melis melissa, your final thoughts on this as we're wrapping up this hour. the aftershocks of what we just felt. >> tfi haven't been on twitter, but the president is somehow maybe race baiting here. i want to remind folks that one of the smartest, historic speeches about race in which a president stood and said there is an issue of race and

inequality here and we must address it was president george w. bush standing in jackson square in new orleans saying that race and class and inequality were central. now, what the policies were afterward is a different story. in that moment, in that speech, he did it. what he lacked is what you just talked about before the break. that little boy rubbing the president's head and the embodiment of the african-american experience at the same time that you are making that claim is both more complicated and more powerful. >> absolutely. building on that, 50 years ago, exactly 50 years ago a month ago in june when john f. kennedy gave that speech in june 11, 1963, he was reacting to the revulsion, largely of white americans, and the shock of seeing the actual violence in the south perpetrated by other people who looked like them. imagine how much more powerful that is 50 years later for a president who can embody the spirit of the victims, making essentially the same call. >> well, it's been an incredible hour. thank you so much for stick

around with us. thank you to my entire panel. toure, of course, is a part of "the cycle." they'll continue the coverage. lynn sweet, thank you very much. chuck todd. i feel like i'm giving shoutouts on a radio station. it was an important conversation that needed to be had. it will continue here on minsnb. thank you for joining "the news nation" all week long. we'll see you monday morning. he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. are they actually made with real fruit and eight grams of whole grain? does a bear make sparkly hats for dogs? ♪

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which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i'm toure. welcome to "the cycle." washington and the nation are still digesting as what will probably go down as one of barack obama's most important moments in the wake of the george zimmerman trial verdict. >> you know, when trayvon martin was first shot, i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago.

when you think about why in the african-american community, at least, there's a lot of pain around what happened here, i think it's important to recognize that the african-american community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away. there are very few african-americans who haven't had had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. that happens often. now, this isn't to say the african-american community is naive about the fact that african-american young men are disproportionately involved in

the criminal justice system, that they're disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. it's not to make excuses for that fact, although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. they understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor, black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country. and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history. so the fact that sometimes that's unacknowledged adds to the frustration. for those who resist that idea that we should think about