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. good afternoon. i'm richard lui in for craig melvin today. here's what's happening right now for you. >> trayvon is not here to speak for himself. it's very important that pare s parents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, you speak up for these children. trayvon was a child. >> demanding justice for trayvon martin. family and demonstrators are taking part in vigils in over 100 cities, just one day after the president revealed his candid thoughts over his case. >> trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago.

also ahead, a judge battles detroit's bankruptcy filing, the largest of its kind ever. what's down the road for this once mighty city? and a brave new label. recycling guns and bullets into beautiful jewelry, but it's not for glamour. it's today's big idea. first, we're going to follow the several marches being held across the country for trayvon martin. right now the national action network is holding justice for trayvon vigils in about 100 cities. reverend al sharpton is urging the justice department to investigate civil rights charges against george zimmerman. trayvon martin's mother sybrina fulton, and his father and brother appeared in chicago just hours ago. >> not only do i vow to you to do what i can for trayvon martin. i promise you i'm going to work hard for your children as well. >> trayvon's father, tracy martin, had this to say at a rally in miami this morning.

>> my message this morning is simple. i'd like the world to know that trayvon was my son. he was a loved child. he did nothing wrong. and we're not going to let them persecute him the way that they have. >> we're going to go to michelle franzen at a rally in new york, as well as stephanie stanton is in los angeles. michelle, let's start with you. when you're out there, michelle, what was the mood that you've seen so far? >> reporter: the mood was very uplifting, richard. we've still got people lingering here, having that dialogue, having that conversation here, but about an estimate of a crowd of about 1,000 people turned out here, and it was pretty sweltering temperatures. they were glad to have the people that they did have here. as you mentioned, there were speeches. trayvon's mother sybrina telling people she wants to hear their voices, also saying she needs to hear those voice ins a peaceful

way. we've watched this past week across the nation as protests and anger certainly turned into a call for action in this area, and that's exactly what they're hoping the takeaway from these vigils from coast to coast will bring. they want the federal civil rights charges filed against george zimmerman. they very disappointed in their purpose today, making sure that trayvon martin's memory lives on even though he was killed 17 months ago. richard? >> michelle, just yesterday we both heard from the president on this very case. any response to the words that came from the president? >> reporter: the president's words in a surprise sort of dialogue -- not a dialogue, but more of a monologue he gave the press yesterday, with his personal account. saying i could have been trayvon martin 35 years ago, or trayvon martin could have been my son. those words certainly resonating with people here today in new york city and likely around the country.

they said it was very important for them to hear from the president since he also shares many of their same experiences, and they said that it was something that they were glad to hear him come out and speak about. >> 2:03 eastern time. nbc's michelle franzen for us live in new york. thank you so much. we'll now take you to los angeles, where it is 11:04 a.m. stephanie stanton is there at another location of a vigil. what are you seeing, stephanie? >> good afternoon to you, richard. this vigil ended about 30 minutes ago. you can see a small crowd behind me. the crowd peacefully dispersing. i spoke to one of the organizers here. he told me it was an absolute success. he told me it was nonviolent. it was a way for them to get their voices heard, to talk about pressing for those civil rights charges against george zimmerman. to talk about overturning the stand your ground law, not only in florida, but in several other states. we had several speakers taking the stage. also, this is los angeles. you talked about beyonce and jay-z making that surprise

appearance in new york. i'm told that oscar-winning actor jamie foxx was here in the crowd to show his support. also, former reality star omarosa, who is now a reverend, she gave remarks here as well. this event is over, and by all accounts, it was a success. >> a little bit of hollywood out there this morning in los angeles. stephanie, any response or discussion points you heard in reaction to the president's words from yesterday. >> reporter: richard, you know, with the organizers here told me they were absolutely energized by president obama's remarks. this is something they have been waiting for, waiting for the president to speak up to talk about his feelings about the george zimmerman verdict. that's exactly what they got. it was definitely something they really took to heart here today. >> nbc's stephanie stanton live for us in los angeles. thank you for your report there. as you heard, reactions still coming in on the president's surprising and unscripted appearance at the white house briefing room yesterday. he spoke from the heart about

race relations in america and his personal experiences of being a black man in light of trayvon martin's shooting death. >> when trayvon martin was first shot, i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is that trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. >> kristen we will kelker is at white house for us now. kristen, as has been said, the president's appearance a surprise to many. watching on this side of tv, you there at the white house as well, the press corps scrambling for their seats, right? you have to ask the question, talk about the timing. why then? why like that? >> reporter: richard, it's a great question. i think that part this was a decision that had been building over time. the national back drop is this very emotional reaction to the george zimmerman verdict. a number of african-american leaders calling on the president to speak out publicly.

white house officials said that behind the scenes the president has been watching the reaction come in, both within the african-american community, but also all across the nation, and he's really been thinking deeply about how he should respond. it's a decision he discussed with his family and with his friends, and then on thursday he called some of his top advisers to meet with him. he said that he had decided he did want to address the nation. i am told that some of them were skeptical, and they weren't sure it was the right decision. but once the president laid out exactly what it is he wanted to say, it was unanimous, and his advisers said you should absolutely go forward and talk to the nation about your thoughts. as for the element of surprise, i am told the president wanted his remarks to be extemporaneous, and white house officials didn't give reporters a heads up, by, by the way, they almost always do, richard. they didn't give reporters a heads up because they didn't want us sitting around speculating about what the president might be discussing. they didn't want to take away from the moment, in essence.

i think what was also striking about the president's comments yesterday is what you pointed out. they were so deeply personal. not only did he say that he could have been trayvon martin 35 years ago, but he also talked about his own history of being racially profiled. i think it's a message that a lot -- >> kristen welker at the white house. it looks like we have a little technical difficulty there. if we can solve that, we'll bring her right back. nbc's kristen welker reporting to us on the white house and the reaction by the press corps. up next, new reaction to the president's candid remarks on race. what it means for florida's stand your ground law, and the president's legacy. >> it's been like a roller coaster. i have my days where i'm perfect and i don't even think about anything, and i have my days where i'm just like constantly reminded about that night. >> the day of remembrance. today's gatherings exactly one year after the movie theater massacre, and two survivors are turning this nightmare into a dream come true. plus ahead of their time.

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kristen welker back at the white house. we decided to reconnect the cables to get talking to you. you were noting, as we listened to president obama yesterday, that this was a different tone. a more vocal and candid president talking about race. we really have to go back to '08, four or five years back before we have a discussion, a speech from the president on that very issue that was scripted. so talk about that. the tone, the cadence, the volume -- all different this time around. >> reporter: right. i think it's a great point,

richard. thanks for having me back, by the way. when president obama spoke back in 2008, he was a candidate. i was there in philadelphia when he delivered that speech. it is certainly one of the defining moments of that candidacy and for this president, but he really hasn't delivered extensive remarks on race since then. that is one of the reasons why his comments yesterday were so notable and so remarkable. if you compare them to the 2008 remarks, this is a president who was speaking as a second term president, not worried about re-election, less concerned about the politics. certainly, you could argue the politics are tricky here in terms of coming out and weighing in on the george zimmerman verdict. i think he felt freer to express himself, to get personal, talking about the fact he could have been trayvon martin 35 years ago, and also talking about his own experiences in terms of being racially profiled. i thought that was one of the most interesting points that he brought up, and it's something, i think, resonated with a lot of

members within the african-american community. and put into context for the entire country why we have seen such a heated reaction and emotional reaction to the george zimmerman verdict. so i think that certainly we saw a very different president yesterday. and i expect that, as we listen to him in the coming months and years, we will sort of continue to hear a more personal side from him. richard? >> certainly, content and tone different yesterday there in the briefing room. before we let you go here, kristen, something that we just learned this morning. we've heard that legendary white house reporter helen thomas, whom we have both watched before, many, many years, she's passed away. a pioneer in journalism, a pioneer for women. what's the reaction right now from the press corps? >> reporter: well, richard, certainly one of my role models, and i think that the overall reaction that's been that just one of respect for her legacy, the body of work she left

behind. the white house released this statement, "michelle and i were satd to learn about the passing of helen thomas. helen was a true pioneer, opening doors and breaking down barriers for generations of women in journalism. she covered the white house since president kennedy's, and during that time, she never failed to keep presidents, myself included, on their toes." and this statement from the white house correspondents association. she, by the way, was the first female president of the white house correspondents association. they say, "women and men who followed in the press corps all owe a debt of gratitude for the work of helen that she did and the doors that she opened. all of our journalism is the better for it." and i think we saw some of the strongest comments come from some of my colleagues who continue to be reporters to this very day. mark noller, the sort of unofficial historian here at the white house. he tweeted out today, helen had her faults, but as a news gatherer, she was ferocious and

indefatiguable. and another female pioneer, our own andrea mitchell, tweeted out, "helen thomas made all of us who followed women pioneer journalist, broke barriers, died today, would have been 93 next month, rest in peace." i think that helen thomas' legacy is one that's garnering a lot of admiration now. she's covered every president from president kennedy to the first two years of president obama. she did retire in the wake of controversial comments she made about the middle east, but certainly the field of journalism mourning her loss this afternoon. >> kristen, all those decades of us watching her during the white house briefings, her questions always riveting and interesting to watch. thank you so much, kristen welker at the white house with the latest today. an msnbc contributor and managing editor of the goldie taylor project. and bob e. franklin, a syndicated columnist. and raul reyes, a usa today columnist and nbc latino contributor.

goldie, let's continue that conversation that kristen welker and i were having about this tone, this cadence, this volume, everything about the way the president spoke yesterday. is this a president we have not heard from before? >> i think we have actually heard from this president. we've heard more and more from him as this president has continued to grow and evolve, as we do with all presidents. i listened to this speech again this morning, and i heard nuances there that i did not here on yesterday. i think the more you sort of dive into this thing, the more personal you know that it feels. and so i'm actually deeply proud of this president and that he did it sort of on the fly yesterday. >> what nuance stuck out to you that you saw today that you didn't see before, goldie? >> i think the biggest nuance that i saw that i think everybody missed is that this president spoke honestly about wrapping his arms around black men and boys around this country, who may be the victims of violence from inside or

outside their community, and the willingness of this president to have the very difficult conversation about solving crime that's happening in our inner cities today, and no one, no one is ignoring that as a crisis. i think the president put that on the table yesterday. it was really missed by so many of us. >> raul, what i found striking about the message was that he was able to communicate what it is like to grow up in america as a black man, and in a way and from a position that nobody else can communicate such an experience. >> right. i really thought the speech was masterful, not only because it was so authentic, but because he was really giving two messages. the president was explaining what it was like to be a black male in the united states even in 2013. at the same time, he was conveying to the black community and all people of color that i understand the anguish, i get it, i understand the sadness. what i find so remarkable about that is consider president obama

is often held up as the symbol of how far we have come as a nation, and if you look at trayvon martin as a symbol of how far we have to go, the president made the direct link between himself and trayvon, and i think that is very important and worth noting. >> bob, here's another part of the message that the president gave yesterday. take a listen. >> 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. >> so, bob, the way that the president expressing some very personal experiences there that would be difficult for anybody to discuss. when you look at that, will those comments move the public to examine or reexamine racial attitudes? >> well, i think that part of what he said yesterday was addressed to us white people who may not have experience d that daily humiliation that he characterized as the black experience, particularly for black males. i think what he's saying is that, as we have a dialogue, we have to be open minded, first of all, to understand that that actually occurs and to also examine ourselves and how we react, that is to say, whites to blacks. there was a book of about 50 years ago called black like me in which the white author was

medically turned until he had very dark skin, and he went through the jim crow south. and the one thing i remember from the book was the common experience he had was what he called hate stares. these days, i think the experience is fear stares, but it is also fearsome and something we need to deal with. >> goldie, pipe in here. what's your thought about that sound, now that we've heard it -- or you've heard it now for the third time -- and the president expressing his thoughts on this very issue? >> one of the things that i was struck by was the difference in reaction to this president's speech yesterday. of course, on the right, you've heard a lot of cat calls about race baiting and how this president is making an issue really out of nothing. but i saw a particularly disturbing piece on salon.com last night in which one of the writers referred to attorney general eric holder as president obama's inner "n" word. i was struck by something like that, struck by the idea that some on the progressive left don't believe that the president

has gone far enough. i think that he went exactly far enough in that he went inside and took a piece of his american story, the piece that he adds t really laid it there on the table, and i think that's where the healing really begins. >> raul, did the president go far enough? >> i think he did. remember, he also laid out some of the criticisms of our justice system. he acknowledged some of the unfairness inherent in the structure. he referenced that. and just think that in a democracy, to have our president criticize our justice system, that is very healthy. that alone should provoke some debate, and he also specifically took up the issues of the stand your ground law, the circumstances enacted. i thought it was wise of him -- given his legal background, i did think that was wise of him that he really stayed out of the procedural aspects of the trial e the jury instructions. any of that, he stayed clear. i thought he was wise to raise

some questions about this law and how did this all happen? >> raul reyes, thank you so much. bob franken as well as goldie taylor on this saturday. appreciate your perspectives. president obama ended his unscripted comments by saying the nation is making strides and changing attitudes when it comes to race. >> it doesn't mean that racism is eliminated, but when i talk to malia and sasha and i listen to their friends and i see them interact, they're better than we are. they're better than we were on these issues. that's true in every community that i've visited all across the country. >> how much better? remember it was just months ago a cheerios commercial that triggered an internet firestorm because it featured a biracial family. two filmmaking brothers captured a much different reaction when they asked kids about this controversy. >> is there anything different about the parents to you?

>> no. >> wait. let me think. >> what it is is they're angry because they're mixed race parents. they're angry because they're mixed race parents. do you know what that means? >> yep. >> one's white, and one's black? >> that's exactly why people have gotten upset. >> why? >> i don't think that that is fair. >> when was this video made, the 1950s? oh, my god, that's so stupid. vietnam in 1972. [ all ] fort benning, georgia in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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remember that tragedy that happened one year ago today, but also to remember the lives, the beautiful lives that were lost and to think about how they might move forward. but as was said by some of those who spoke today -- the mayor was here, the governor was here -- they talked about how the process of healing was long, painful, and difficult. we talked to several families, and it certainly is true for them. people cried as they recalled their friends and loved ones who were lost that day. there is also something very hopeful here. we should tell you about a young couple, kristen and eugene, they're getting married today. they decided to get married on july 20th because eugene said he wanted his -- his girlfriend, who is about to become his wife, he wanted her to remember july 20th not as a day of tragedy, but as a day of joy. he was injured that day because during the movie he jumped on top of her to save her, to shield her from the gunman's bullet. he was hit in the leg, and it's

taken him something like six months to learn how to walk again. she calls him her hero. today they are heros for one another because they're tying the night. and forever from this point forward, it's going to be one of the happiest days of their life, instead of what it was a year ago, which is one of the saddest. we hear a lot of stories out here, including, i should tell you about, a young man who's a veteran of the iraq war. he's a single dad, and he was shot that night in the theater. he spent the last year recovering, and he said he's even got back to that theater because he said it was important to him to face his demons and let his boys now he's not going to be destroyed by the past. he's going to look to the future. >> thank you for that. up next, standing up against stand your ground. >> i just ask people to consider

if trayvon martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? >> the president asked the question about the controversial law. now the largest civil rights group is calling on lawmakers to prevent another trayvon martin tragedy. we'll talk to the leader behind that push. and fighting crime through high fashion. how one man is turning illegal guns into, well, some very desirable jewelry, shall we say. it is today's big idea, and it's next on msnbc. [ female announcer ] made just a little sweeter...

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to eat. then rest. to fuel the metabolic cycle they were born to have, purina one created new healthy metabolism wet and dry. with purina one and the right activity, we're turning feeding into a true nature experience. join us at purinaone.com richard lui in for craig melvin at this hour. some looks at other stories we're following for you. a ruling in michigan state court is raising questions about whether detroit's move for bankruptcy will stand up in court. a judge moved to block the bankruptcy petition on grounds that governor rick snyder does not have authority to approve the petition. governor rick snyder and city manager kevin orr are appealing while public sector retirees anxiously wait to see what will

happen to their pensions. >> everybody's living in fear right now of what's going to happen. >> i don't know what my future will be right now, but just get ready for the new detroit. a tragic accident has left one woman dead at a dallas area amusement park. witnesses say they saw the woman fall from the texas giant roller coaster friday night. park officials are now trying to determine what caused the accident and if the woman was properly restrained. police are investigating claims that four elderly men found malnourished were being held captive inside a home in northwest houston. the men were homeless, and police say it looked like they were being held so the captor could cash their government support checks. and we're getting pictures of a bomb going off at beijing international airport. witnesses say a man in a wheelchair set off a homemade bomb, but nobody else here. chinese state tv says order was quickly restored to the main terminal, and no flights were affected. reacting to the acquittal of

george zimmerman on friday, president obama urged a national dialogue about race, but despite his powerful remarks on this very issue, he was skeptical that politicians should take the lead here. >> we should 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. >> one place that conversation is taking place is online, and for more now on this story, i'm joined by rashad robinson, executive director of color of change. rashad, the number of members you have, 850,000 with your organization -- >> actually, over 850,000. >> who's counting, though? >> yes. >> big, big number here. what's been the reaction to the president's comments yesterday? >> our reaction, we've been

hearing both through e-mail and social media, is that people are incredibly proud that the president talked not just about from a cultural standpoint of the challenges that black folks and black men deal with in this country, the disparity in drugs sentencing, but he also talked systematically and pushed that we need to be focusing on the gun laws in the states around the country, in particular, on the stand your ground laws, which color of change is leading a campaign to mobilize and capture the energy of folks all around the country to enforce policy change at the state level. >> practically, on the state level, how do your members effect what you're saying? >> as a c-4 organization that can do political work, what we're trying to do is get as many people to sign the petition, to take the moment that they're having right now and get involved in the movement, and then over the course of the next several months and years, we're going to be working at the state level with organizations who want to

shape this law and help them have the energy of these folks who are now newly engaged. >> talk about those who are energized at the moment. what have you seen in your numbers over the last week or two? have they grown? >> they've actually grown by almost 150,000. >> wow, 150,000. >> so we've actually seen new people coming, and we've also just been inspired by activism all around the country, whether it's the dream defenders down in florida and these young folks standing up and making their voices heard to the rallies and protests we've seen all around the country. we want to translate that into policy change down the line. >> so the president was describing what it was like to grow up in the united states as an african-american man. you have over 850,000 members. it seems like that sort of grass roots connection, you can be part of that conversation about what that perception is and what the reality is. >> we've been part of that since our founding shortly after hurricane katrina. really with this idea that every single day we're hit with all sorts of information.

if we can capture that information through the use of digital technology, we can move people into action. whether it's working to end stop and frisk here in new york or whether it's challenging hollywood on some of the images that come into our homes every single day, that dehumanize and degrade our community, there's a lot of work to do both at the policy level and the cultural level to really do all we can to have a long lasting impact for the memory of trayvon. gl t >> the digital forum -- and you know this quite well because you're online -- has been very important to the african-american community. there's a reference, the so-called black twitter because african-americans use twitter like no other group. talk about the dynamic and what it's meant for your group at color of change. >> there's been talk for years about a digital divide, but when you take into account mobile phones and cell phone usage, there is actually not a digital divide. color of change has not only

been engaged in the work of capturing that energy and giving people sort of something to do when they're outraged. you send a tweet. you hit a facebook, but finding campaign moment where we can say, let's focus our energy here, and we can maybe have a long-term impact or some policy change. during the campaign to fight for justice for trayvon, we also led a campaign against the american legislative exchange council, alec, the organization behind stand your ground laws. and we've gotten 52 corporations to lead alec but mobilizing calls, taking over facebook pages, show up to shareholder meetings -- all with the power of black folks and allies of every race, saying that we can make a difference in these moments of crisis. >> thank you so much for being here today as we talk about what your organization does as well as what we're hearing from the president yesterday. thank you, rashad robinson. coming up, music's missing link. the demo tapes that bridged hard

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let's talk about a fashionable stance against illegal guns. it transforms illegal guns into statement jewelry, and i mean statement jewelry. each piece has the serial number of an illegal gun used to make it. 25% of each sale goes to campaigns to reduce gun violence. joining us, peter thum founder of ethos water and liberty united, which is what we're talking about today. we're talking about illegal guns and how they become jewelry. >> it's very simple. we partner with cities here in the united states. they help us to find not for profit organizations in their communities that are working to reduce gun violence. we then receive guns, illegal

guns and bullets recycled by the police departments that get destroyed. we take that material, transform it into jewelry, and after the sales of those, 25% of the sales go to fund the same not for profits in these cities. >> let's take a look at what you brought us. >> this is a collection of jewelry designed by giles and brother. we have pieces made out of bullets and brass. >> tell us about this here. >> this is philips railroad spike design that he came up with about six years ago. this is a bracelet made out of gun metal. it's stainless steel. >> if you zoom in on this, you can see on it -- it might be tough for us here. on it, it has that serial number, and we'll flip it over, of the illegal gun, right? >> that's correct. >> each one of them has it. >> it has a serial number of an illegal gun. we've destroyed it, put remade

in the usa because we produce all of our products here in the united states. so we're also creating jobs here in america. >> and you have this over here? >> we have necklaces, bracelets. these are all railroad spike designs. >> what is this? >> skinny spike. this is a necklace, and so that's all also made of stainless steel. >> and you have different colors. this is from bullet casings? >> recycled bullet casings and brass. all of the same railroad spike design, and this one is made out of stainless sterling silver. >> how difficult is it for you to find the material to make these? >> the process of working out how to help the cities figure out how to do this may take a while. it's been pretty straightforward. in fact, we've had great collaboration with the politicians in the cities as well as the police forces. >> sales? how are they going? >> terrifically. we've had a terrific response so far. >> what is terrific? tell me. give me a number. >> we'd love for people watching right now to take part. >> what is terrific?

>> thousands of dollars of sales so far. >> that's great. when you are looking at these desig designs, how can people get access to them. where do they go to find these? >> we sell everything on our website, libertyunited.com. >> how much? >> prices start at $85 and go to $695 for this collection. again, 25% of the profits of each sale. >> $85 to $695 each? >> correct. and we'll be coming out with more designers in the future. >> great. you started this -- i shouldn't say this, but you started by developing water programs, safe drinking programs for underdeveloped countries. you've now moved into this. what drove you to do this? >> after selling ethos water to starbucks about eight years ago, i was actually visiting our water projects in africa and realized that the prevalence of assault rifles there really threatened the programs we had funded with millions of dollars and thought what can i do about assault rifles? we started doing that in africa, trying to get rid of guns there.

we took 32,000 assault rifles out of circulation so far with founderie 47, and last year we decided to start working on it in the united states. my wife and i, she's an actress, and she said, i'd like to do this here now that we have a child here. we just had our first baby last year. >> congrats. >> let's do this in america, so liberty united came out of that. we launched it about a month ago. and we're funding anti-gun violence sales here in the united states. >> you're only a month old at liberty united. you're an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur. what's going to be next for snu >> this is taking all of my time right now. next for us is more cities, more designers, more sales, and reducing more gun violence or reducing gun violence in more cities. >> thank you so much. peter thum, founder of liberty united, taking, again, illegal guns and bullet casings and turning them into jewelry. appreciate your time. >> it's a pleasure. thank you. >> do you have a big idea that's making a difference? we want to know about it. tell us by e-mailing us at

bigidea@nbcuni.com. flashback time. we're taking you back to 1969. >> the eagle has landed. >> that's one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind. >> that giant leap for mankind happened on this day in 1969, when neil armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. the apollo xi astronauts splashed down safely back to earth. just this month 44 years later, a new bill in congress that would establish the apollo landing site as a historic national park on, you guessed, the moon. coming up in the next hour, the astronaut wives club, the true life tales of the young wives who become instant celebrities as their husbands try to make history. wait a sec! i found our colors. we've made a decision.

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♪ yeah, that's jesse and the rippers performing the theme song of "the full house." the full house band reunited on jimmy fallon last night for the first time in two decades. john stamose was not the only one in the house. you saw bob saget doing whatever he was doing, dancing in his seat in the audience. lori love lynn wughlin, who pla stamos' wife? good to see them together. a 1960s punk group immortalized in a documentary called a band called death. >> three black brothers from detroit, michigan. >> they were both death. >> all right. joining us right now, jeff howe and mark cavino. they directed the movie "a band

called death." let me start with you, jeff. you fwis are saying this is really the first punk band. why and how? >> for us, in talking to the hackneyes, this is good old rock and roll. being the first punk band, it's so good to hear that from folks today. back in detroit in the early '70s, if you called someone a punk in their neighborhood, you'd get a bloody nose. >> you wobt wouldn't have a happy response necessarily. >> things have shifted, correct. >> mark, let me go to you on this. why didn't we hear about death, the band called death, if they are the first indeed punk band? why is it now that it is a compelling story and that you're bringing it forward? >> they recorded this music -- it was 35 years ago, now it's about 40. they tried shopping it around,

and nobody was interested. mostly because of how fast and heavy the music was but also because of their name. one person was interested, and that was clive davis, and he wanted to sign them, but david hackney, the leader of the band, said there's no way we're changing our name. so they never got signed. >> because they wouldn't change their name? >> they wouldn't change their name. so they had this record they couldn't give to anybody. so they got their master tapes back and pressed 500 45s to get their name out there, and people weren't having that back then. they gave a crate of these 45s to a friend of theirs, don schwank, just pass these around. we're moving to vermont. if you make any money off of this, you can keep some. they owed him money. the rest, send it our way. don waited 35 years to take this crate to record stores. that's essentially how people started to hear them. >> jeff, tell me about why they

would not change the name. >> david was very adamant. he said, if we change our name, you take everything, you take our identity, you take our music. so he just wasn't going to have any of that. >> was it because of his father, though? there was some mention of that, i had heard. >> he just stood his ground, just early on. it was just all of them -- the rest of the brothers in the band just back up their brother, and when david the elder said this is the way things are going to be, he would just stand his ground. >> mark, if you can, tell me about whether they realized how good their stuff was and how significant it was as well. >> i think david always realized it. i think david, who's not with us anymore, who was the leader of the band, he knew right from the start that this band is it. this is what we need to be.

this is going to be successful. it might not happen now, but it will eventually happen. the other brothers, it took a lot of time for them to understand it because, in their eyes, the band was a failure. even after david's passing, just before david passed, he gave them the master tapes and said, i want you to hold on to these. the world's going to come looking. bobby didn't think anyone was going to come looking. so he put them in his attic and forgot about them for eight years until the world came looking. >> what's the reaction so far to this documentary? have you seen it? have you talked with them? >> yeah, they actually live 20 minutes down the road from me. their reaction is what you'd imagine. it's very emotional. they cry every time they see it. when i showed them the first rough cut, that was probably the most emotional for me. i got up crying, and i turned around, and bobby sr., the lead singer of the band, he was right next to me. he was crying. we just hugged for 20 minutes. it brings back a lot of

memories. >> are they thinking about perhaps hitting the road, getting out there, having a concert with the surviving members? >> they are, yeah. bobby and dennis, the surviving members, who are a drummer and a bass player and a lead singer, they got -- they recruited their guitarist from their reggae band, bobby duncan, to take the place of david hackney. so they are touring now, and they're actually recording new death music, so that's great. >> i'm going to look for them when i hit new york city. thank you so much, mark and jeff, a bit of history we didn't know about. and the documentary "a band called death." coming up, a social media storm. they disappointed the hopes of a zimmerman juror. and a police officer could lose his reaction for his reaction to the "rolling stone" cover. copd makes it hard to breathe...

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good afternoon to you. i'm richard lui in for craig melv melvin. here's what's happening now. >> i'm going to continue to fight for trayvon until the day i die. not only will i be fighting for trayvon, i'll be fighting for your child as well. >> trayvon martin's father there. rallies are happening around the country demanding justice for trayvon martin. they're pushing for civil rights charges against george zimmerman. we're live on that. plus the candid and rare comments on race from president obama, the message he wanted young black men in this country to hear, also ahead for you. >> trayvon is not here to speak for himself. it's very important that parents, godparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, you speak up for these children. trayvon was a child. >> trayvon martin's mother there. we'll continue to follow her reaction as well as the father's reaction. we'll have more reports and discussion this hour on those very rallies that are happening across the country. we're also looking at this.

bankruptcy becoming detroit's last resort. the city is $18 billion in the red right now. what this means for other cities teetering on that edge. but first, we're following the several marches that i was mentioning, organized by the national action network today. justice for trayvon vigils were held in about 100 cities across the country. founder and msnbc host al sharpton is urging the justice department to press civil rights against george zimmerman. hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside a federal building in downtown los angeles this afternoon demanding justice. in chicago, speakers drew comparisons between trayvon martin's death and the 1955 murder of chicago teen emmitt till in mississippi. in new york, trayvon martin's mother sybrina fulton, and brother jahvaris, appeared this afternoon. she had a message for the crowd gathered there. >> not only do i vow to you to do what i can for trayvon martin, i promise you i'm going

to work hard for your children as well because it's important. >> then in miami, trayvon's father, tracy martin, spoke about his son at a rally. >> my message this morning is simple. i'd like the world to know that trayvon was my son. he was a loved child. he did nothing wrong. and we're not going to let them persecute him the way that they have. >> let's take you to new york live. michelle franzen was there for the rally watching what's happening there. michelle, you also had an opportunity to speak to some of the people that were there at the rally. what did you hear? >> reporter: we heard a lot of different stories, a lot of personal accounts, and a lot of uplifting sort of messages that they wanted to be the ones that were also here to help, to show support for trayvon's mom, to show support for others who fought this battle and lost this

week in their verdict. they say this is a call for action that some certainly cannot end with some 100 cities where they're asking for justice for trayvon. as you mentioned, they're pushing for the justice department, asking them to file federal civil rights charges against george zimmerman, that in light of the verdict that many did not agree with this past week, turning their protests into dialogue. they're still here lingering in the square near the federal building here, talking with themselves, but earlier today we heard from the reverend al sharpton, as you mentioned, one of the organizers, main organizers for this, as well as a little bit of star power. jay-z and beyonce showing their support and solidarity here. they didn't speak. they didn't perform. they were quiet, but their presence here, many felt, spoke volumes. and so certainly showing their solidarity as well as you mentioned hearing from trayvon's mom and family members. >> michelle, obviously, you're talking about their reaction to trayvon martin, the george

zimmerman trial, and along with that, we have the comments that came from president obama. you and i talked about that last hour. did you learn anything else in terps of their reaction, their feelings about the president's message? >> reporter: we did. of course, the president making that surprise announcement when these rallies and vigils were already scheduled yesterday. many planning to come here to show their support for trayvon. some others felt they also wanted to come here after hearing the president give his very personal account. >> thank you so much. nbc's my franzen in new york. in chicago, more than 50 people lost their lives to gun violence during the five-week trial of george zimmerman. in fact, two people were killed and four others injured in gun violence just last night. huffington post said 31% of those killed were victims younger than 19 years of age. 7% 17% of them were

african-americans. the president expressed concern about this when speaking of the trayvon marvtin verdict. >> this isn't to say the american public is naive when it comes to saying african-american young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, they're disproportion e disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. it's not to make excuses for that fact although black folks did interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. >> congresswoman robin kelly is a member of the congressional black caucus and represents illinois' second district, which covers a part of chicago. congresswoman, when you were there, how did it go? >> it was fantastic. it was a great turnout, and what was really fantastic, there were all kinds of people there -- black, white, asian, hiss fpani straight, gay, old, young -- it

was really america that was at the rally. >> i also want to talk about this, the reaction to the president's comments on violence within the african-american community. what was your thought after you heard that 17 minutes from the president? >> well, it's true. there's too much violence in our community. i just think it's a result of a variety of things. it's a multi-facetted problem, and it's going to take multi-facetted solutions. it's a socioeconomic issue. we need jobs. we need training. we need good schools. we need afterschool programs. we need mentoring. it really is going to take a village to turn it around, and we need reasonable gun safety laws. >> last year almost 500 people died due to gun violence in chicago. the congressional black caucus holding an emergency summit next week to address that very issue. what do you think are the main reasons here behind the vines you're seeing in the city of chicago? >> as i said, i just think it's

multiple reasons -- access to guns, gun trafficking, straw purchases, no background checks, drugs play a role in it. not enough jobs, not enough training programs for people to get jobs, mentoring, afterschool programs, neighbors not knowing neighbors, neighbors being afraid. i think multiple reasons. and there is -- like we saw with trayvon, just civil rights and human rights and racially how two boys can commit a crime or maybe it's a misdemeanor, one white, one black, and more than likely the black young man will go to jail or be penalized more. >> chicago has tough gun control laws, as you know, but it also saw some 2,300 gun related incidents in 2012. we've been talking about gun control laws, talking about stand your ground as well, but what more can be done outside of

those two approaches, do you think? >> well, i mean, chicago has a lot of laws, but they can't control what goes on in the other states around them or even the other counties. that's an issue. that's why there needs to be federal law governing some of these things. i think that people really need to not only register to vote, they need to vote, they need to know who they're voting for. it's people they voted for who put stand your ground into place. >> as we talk about stand your ground, let's talk about the george zimmerman verdict, the congressional black caucus. the cbc is considering several bills here to address issues of racial profiling and stand your ground laws. where does that effort stand? tell us a little bit more about those efforts. >> all of us feel that those laws should be repealed, and we just had a meeting with the department of justice. there's a judiciary committee as a part of the cbc. so they were giving us -- you

know, the overall information of what was going on. of course, they're still investigating. so there's just so much they can say, but from what he shared with us, it doesn't sound like they're going to leave any stone unturned. i was glad to hear that. >> are you suggestiaddressing bt talk about racial profiling as well? >> definitely. racial profiling shouldn't be done now. there are states that have done that. in fact, the president, when he was a state senator, pushed a bill similar. >> so you are pushing forward a bill that addresses racial profiling specifically is what you're saying? >> i'm not a sponsor of a bill to do that, but i would be in support of a bill. >> thank you so much for coming by on a saturday. illinois congresswoman robin kelly spending a little time with us today. up next, new efforts to block detroit's bankruptcy filing. will the new move make a difference? we'll talk to a city council member. plus celebrity status?

the alleged boston bomber headlines "rolling stone" magazine just as an officer counters with pictures from a man hunt. did they go too far? also ahead. >> this is supposed to have been a very tightly kept secret. how did you begin to suspect something? >> well, listening to the news, and that's putting two and two together, and that's just about it. >> not astronauts but astrowives. the mercury program catapulted families into the public eye, becoming the first reality tv stars, if you will. now a new book revealing the tension and anxiety of being married to the space race. into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today

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getting to detroit, financial crisis there growing even more complicated. county judge on friday ordered

the city to withdraw its bankruptcy filing, saying it violates the state constitution. detroit wants the fourth largest city in the united states filed for bankruptcy protection thursday. detroit's population has fallen to around 700,000 people, the same as it was in 1910, its high around 2 million, as you saw there. unemployment just over 16%, and 78,000 homes have been abandoned, and many are being just taken down. let's bring in detroit city council member john watson, and council member, thanks for being here with us. a pretty bleak picture here. when we look at what the state is doing, what the courts are doing, what the mayor is doing, and what the council is doing, it doesn't look like everybody's on the same page here to try to make a difference and make it better. what's happening? >> the first thing you need to understand is there is a level of moral bankruptcy afoot in detroit that has to do even with

the case of this bankruptcy filing. people should know it was done by an unelected official appointed by this republican governor in the state of michigan, the same governor who went to work in december and put together an emergency manager law after the citizens, 2.3 million, repealed the emergency management law the same day we reelected president obama. this is about a right wing agenda to block unions and to block the constitution and voting rights of cities that are majority black all over the state of michigan. more than 50% of the majority of black cities are now under an emergency manager's rule in violation of the u.s. constitution and voting rights. >> so council member -- >> and the fact that, when this was filed in court, the governor's people asked the pension board to also keep filing the suit to block the bankruptcy filing. they asked for five minutes. so that we can get things in order. guess what they did in that five

minutes? they rushed ahead with the bankruptcy filing so quickly that they had to change the date in ink. >> council member, if bankruptcy's not the right step forward, what would be? >> the first thing, the state of michigan should pay its debt. they know what they owe. they admitted it and have been completely resistant to doing the right thing. we should also have a wonderful level of consortium of all of those persons -- corporate, private, public, and organized labor -- coming to the table in order to provide the right fit. the city of detroit has assets that right now people want to put their hands on. they want to do a grand heist on detroit's assets under the guise of bankruptcy. if detroit was going to file bankruptcy, it could have done that with the mayor and city council three years ago. why didn't the state move to have an emergency manager and add billions of dollars more to the deficit? and $17 million access to people who are supposed to be retruring the government.

no restructuring has been going on, only restructuring citizens out of their constitutional rights and voting rights. >> councillor, i want you to listen a little bit to what the emergency manager kevin orr said yesterday. >> as far as things are concerned for the provision of services and the conduct of city business, it is business in the ordinary course. services will remain open. paychecks will be made. bills will be paid. nothing changes from the standpoint of the ordinary citizens' perspective. >> so kevin orr saying there that basically the bankruptcy, if it goes forward, will be invisible to detroiters. is that your view? >> first of all, there's no historical precedent for a bankruptcy being filed by someone who was unelected in a municipality like detroit, and he is unelected. secondly, there is no business as usual when the citizens have voted for people to be in positions whose rights have been set aside. the governor and the right wing republicans in michigan have set

aside the citizens, officials, and voting rights in order to push through deals that will give them access to our assets, and that's what this is all about, and also eliminating organized labor. >> what are you hearing from detroiters, your constituents? >> detroiters are saying they don't want this. michigan citizens across the state, 2.3 million, said no to an emergency manager. what did governor snyder do? went right to work the next month and put together this bill to have a new law of an emergency manager. i believe this bankruptcy was part of a plan. i believe it was malice aforethought. >> well, as a former detroit region resident myself, i know the spirit is strong there. i hope all of you can get it done and that detroit moves forward. i thank you very much for your time. council member joann watson today giving us her perspective. the wait continues across the pond. when will william and kate welcome their new baby?

no major announcements yet, but a royal baby fakeout had the media in an uproar. a couple of duke and duchess lookalikes caused a frenzy friday when they showed up at the hospital where kate is to give birth. they pulled up in a land rover, rushed to the hospital, accompanied by body guards, but the game was up once they revealed t-shirts plugging "the sun," a uk tabloid. quite the royal ruse, wouldn't you say? ? just you. you called me. ok, that checks out. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with payment flexibility. every day we're working to and to keep our commitments. and we've made a big commitment to america. bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u.s. than any other place in the world. in fact, we've invested over $55 billion here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor.

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astrowives who could have had their own reality show, if you think about it, decades before reality tv even existed. our next guest wrote a book titled "the astronaut wives club." betty joins us to talk about the glamorous gals whose husbands were in the space program. were these the first housewives in the space race? >> the astronauts were picked on april 5th, 1969, and even nasa was surprised how much attention was focused on them but also on their wives. everyone wantsed to know, not why you volunteered, but what does your wife think about you being catapulted into space? >> they are the window into why the astronaut was selected. a quote, "each woman would have to prepare for the day when she'd have to face the television cameras, when the world would be scrutinizing her hair, her complexion, her outfit, her parenting skills,

her diction." while her husband was strapped atop what was essentially the largest stick of dynamite. were america watching it like that? were they on the edge of their seat? were they able to understand what the wives were going through? >> they were looking to the wives to see what felt like that visceral experience. i think the wives themselves felt like they were on their own launchpad. the wives talk about having their own personal countdown, but the deal was they really couldn't express their true fears, their true personalities, because there was such a credo within nasa to be the perfect american housewife and hold up that arm of the cold war, beaming the perfect american family image to the rest of the world. >> so the perfect image on the outside, perfect couples, perfect families, but give us the reality. what was happening between the wives or with the wives and husbands? >> it was an incredibly competitive environment, and all the wives felt they couldn't make one false step or else their husband might not go into space, he might not get to the moon, and they felt they

couldn't really reveal, like our reality stars do today, their human foibles. >> give us an example. >> their motto ended up becoming happy, proud, and thrilled. and whenever the press put the microphone in the woman's face and asked how do you feel? she thought, wow, if i say what i really feel, my husband would never get another space flight, so keep calm and carry on 1960s style. >> so does that mean when tragedy did strike, they did not react at all? what was happening when tragedy did strike, perhaps a divorce or relationship not going well? >> the credo in nasa was if you don't have a happy marriage, you're not going to have a space flight. the divorce didn't happen until 1969. it was a huge deal in the tabloids. it was called the first space divorce because it was that dramatic. >> talk about the astronaut wives, the cape cookies, and those are the women who may have had a philandering relationship

with the husbands. >> these guys are like rock stars. they were being followed around like the beatles, and the women had the equally hard job by having to maintain the happy, proud, and thrilled facade back at home and also knowing that their husband was perhaps having a little too much fun unwinding with these cape cookies. >> and they let them do that? >> well, it was basically, you have your fun at the cape. that's sort of the guys' playground, and just make sure nothing gets home to the bubble world, the space burbs by nasa. >> what was the most unbelievable thing you dug up when putting together this book? >> i think it was just the crucial environment these families were in, all the astronaut families supporting each other through triumph and tragedy. the apollo i fire, betty gris m grissom, we just saw a clip with her. she became a widow after that fire. i think it was these moments that forced the women into becoming their own people. you wouldn't look at the astronaut wives and think, wow,

those are examples of liberated women, but it was those moments of intense stress that really show why they had the right stuff, like their husbands, and they end up becoming modern women by the end of the story. >> what did it mean for the kids, though? >> well, i think for the kids it was a perfect -- it was almost a slice of the american dream, but it was very hard having a father who was also sort of an absentee parent during the week. >> did they have to also follow that motto you were talking about? did they have to be happy and all that have? >> i think their parents prepped them, but kids will be kids. the press -- it was hard living under constant media scrutiny. during apollo xi, which, of course, it's the 44th anniversary today, two reporters showed up at the door of pat collins, whose husband mike was flying neil and buzz to the moon, and shoved a stuffed panda bear into the kids' faces. it was supposed to be a gift, but really there was a microphone inside. >> i want to finish with this.

former congresswoman gabby giffords and mark kelly, a very compelling couple in the national forum here. how does today differ from back then? how is gabby giffords clearly different than the astrowives of the past? >> i think that we're able to see a bit more personalities than back then. back then it was a slice of apple pie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. that's what it meant to be an astronaut wife. i think we're getting some more texture today. people want to see a full personality, and you have astronaut husbands as well. >> don't forget that. it works the other way around too. the astronaut wives club, a true story, a book from lily koppel. thanks so much for coming by today. social media crusaders, the avalanche of outrage that stopped a zimmerman juror from publishing a book about the case. who's behind that effort and why have they become so powerful? one year later, remembering the aurora movie theater shooting as the couple puts new meaning on today's date. i found our colors.

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a day of remembrance today in aurora, colorado. the one-year anniversary of the tragic shooting at the movie theater that left 12 people dead and 16 others injured. today they're honoring dead and wounded, including an early morning memorial service. today people are also participating in volunteering, music, arts, events, even meditation. all of the events are planned to promote healing. in one particularly special event, two people who survived the shooting are tying the knot. eugene hahn and kirsten davis were in the theater when james holmes opened fire during a midnight showing of "the dark knight rises." hahn was shot in the knee and hip and sustained minor injuries. fast forward exactly one year, and they're set to get married later this afternoon. the couple says they're planning on saying a prayer at the wedding for the families who lost a loved one during that shooting. congratulations to the two of them. you're looking at live pictures now from a demonstration in

oakland, california. more than 100 justice for trayvon rallies are being held in cities across the country. they want the justice department to investigate if george zimmerman violated trayvon martin's civil rights. those live pictures from oakland. from rallies around the nation to candid remarks by the president, the acquittal of george zimmerman has been a new movement for activism, a movement increasingly popular online. and black social media may have torpedoed a potential book by juror 37 amid anger she told msnbc she was justified in killing trayvon martin. >> he had a right to defend himself. if he felt his life was going to be taken away from him or he was going to feel bodily harm, he had a right. >> joining me now, alexis, who wrote about this issue. when you look at this, it was only a matter of days before

juror b-37 had a literary agent, and then all of a sudden, we all watched this, she did not have that, and social media certainly a part of the campaign against her doing it. >> definitely. what basically happened is many people think that a large group of black tweeters, which people call black twitter, it's really a funny little way of talking about thousands of african-americans who tend to come together to tweet about politics, social media, television shows. basically, when they learned that this juror had gotten a book deal -- not a book deal, but a book agent -- within hours of delivering this verdict, people went completely ballistic. one tweeter in particular, jeannie lauren, started a change.org petition, tweeting it to her followers, and set up an avalanche of responses, and she createded another tweet with the information of this agent, and they convinced this agent to drop this book deal as quickly as possible. >> they twitter bombed him? >> they did the twitter backlash, which is what a lot of people are calling it.

numerous outlets have attributed this to being instrumental in bringing the book deal down. >> it's also helped to catapult some african-american interests to support an idea. >> definitely. twitter is very powerful, and black twitter has done numerous things. a lot of people have cited this group as being instrumental to the taking down of paula deen. a lot of very funny tweets were tweeted in response to what people saw as a racially negative situation. the humor with which black twitter spoke about it helped people see the irony of the situation but also how serious it is to african-americans. >> and other notes in doing research for the segment, the number of twitter users that are african-american, and pew research coming up just months ago saying some 26% of african-american internet users are on twitter, more than whites or hispanics. thank you so much, alexis. appreciate your time today. let's get right to the brain

trust. perry bacon jr. dana milbank a columnist for the "the washington post." the issue of race and the george zimmerman case moved to the top of the agenda yesterday. president obama made an unannounced visit to the white house press room. here's a bit of that. >> 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. >> perry, how important was it for the president to come out and speak so candidly and really starkly personal. this is not what we have commonly seen the president, in terms of the way he's expressed his ideas. >> one of the most memorable speeches he's given as president. he had a lot of great speeches in the campaign, but as president, it will go down as one of those we remember forever in some ways for him, speaking personally, speaking in only the way an african-american could,

looking back, talking about how he was shopping, people thinking he might steal something from a store. those were the things only he could say. he wanted to spend some time thinking about this, and it probably took him a day too long, but that said, there was a clamor for him to speak. there was a lot of people who wanted to hear from him, and he really hit the right notes. not only were african-americans energized, but not much criticism on the other side either. >> trayvon martin's parents whorb, who have been so calm in the aftermath of the verdict, in a statement saying they were honored and moved by the president's remarks, saying, "trayvon's life was cut short, but we hope his legacy will make our communities a better place for generations to come. we applaud the president's call to action to bring communities together to encourage an open and difficult dialogue." dana, how difficult will it be to bring about change in racial attitudes in this country, and how might the president's statements affect that? >> well, look, i know that people have been talking about

this for 150 years, so i think it was just four or five years ago when we were asking if they were in a post-racial america. i think we all quickly learned the answer to that question. i think certainly you can't say that however well and lyrically the president spoke yesterday, that anything substantial is necessarily going to follow from that. he was very clear in his remarks, that he does not see a real federal role in getting involved in what was going on down in florida. he just wants the sort of conversation, which is terrific and exactly what we should be doing, but that doesn't mean the instant changing of hearts and minds. >> you know, not everybody was necessarily happy with the timing or that which was said. tavis smiley here, amy. he said this, "took potus almost a week to show up and express mild outrage, and still it was as weak as pre-sweetened

kool-aid." amy, was it the president coming out to the microphone in his own time, that he was doing this as much for the nation as really for himself? >> i would say that. i would agree with that assessment, and i thought the president's remarks were measured, they were temperate, and i actually appreciate that. i understand some people perhaps wanted to hear a more fiery speech, but to dana's point, it was also very modest in what he said, as president, what he could do to change racial attitudes. i would have liked to have seen a bit more in his remarks about some of the causes of urban violence, gang violence, a lot of euphemism about gun violence surrounding this issue, and it's gang violence. we're talking about public school and the education system and how it has failed the minority community and social welfare programs that for generations have been destroying the black family, which was something the president touched upon, but if we're to have an honest conversation about it, i think we need to address those issues as well. >> one of the milestones for the president, when talking about race in america that we heard

from him yesterday, the cover of current edition of "rolling stone" featuring a picture of boston bombing suspect dzhokhar tsarnaev was widely criticized. does a picture give a terror suspect celebrity status? the new boyfriend. lamb to the slaughter. that's right brent. mom's baked cookies but he'll be lucky to make it inside. and here's the play. oh dad did not see this coming. [ crowd cheering ] now if kevin can just seize the opportunity. it's looking good, herbie. he's seen it. it's all over. nothing but daylight. yes i'd love a cookie. [ male announcer ] make a powerful first impression. the all-new nissan sentra. ♪ folks have suffered from frequent heartburn. but getting heartburn and then treating day after day is a thing of the past. block the acid with prilosec otc, and don't get heartburn in the first place. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

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back with our brain trust this 3:00 hour. perry bacon still with us, dana milbank also here, amy holmes too. let's talk about that cover of "rolling stone." features a picture of boston bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev. some people saying it made tsarnaev look more like a rock star than a suspected terrorist, but they also had charles manson on the cover of "rolling stone." what do you think about this? >> they're trying to make a case this is a person a few years ago watching "game of thrones" and a regular teenager who turned into something radical. i'm sure the cover was put out for buzz and those kinds of reasons. >> gee, you think so?

>> that's what magazines do, but i also think the cover was not exploitative because there was an intention to tell the story, and the cover helps tell the story. >> the cover calls him a monster. what part of monster did people find particularly flattering towards this terrorist? i think it was a completely legitimate question that they were asking, how does this seemingly normal person, the terrorist next door. it's a perfectly legitimate story. >> it might have called him a monster, but we know a picture says a thousand words. that picture is very glamorous, idealized photo of this young man, and frankly, sexualizing him. if you look at the other cover lines. willie nelson, jay-z, robin thicke, and a guitarist, and this young man with a dreamy picture alongside these guys. i think it was exploitative, and the editors knew exactly what they were doing when they put that particular photo of dzhokhar on the cover of "rolling stone." i want to move on to this, and that's detroit. we look at detroit going to bankruptcy. hang on a second, maybe not.

amy, is this political? we were talking about one of the council members this past hour, and she said this is political. >> i don't think it is political. a city manager was put in charge to try to get that city's finances in order. as he said, this has been a slow moving train wreck for many decades, and we have detroit that's $8 billion in the hole because of these pensions. >> she said it's a republican governor. >> certainly, governor rick snyder, he's a republican and put this man in charge to sort it all out. the city manager is trying to do what's best for detroit. unfortunately, the people who are going to feel the brunt of it are pensioners, who had planned their entire retirements on these pension plans that are going to be ripped apart. if i were over the age of 65 in detroit, i would be very nervous. >> i used to live in the area of detroit. we've seen this coming down the railroad tracks, shall we say. is this really a dysfunctional government? i was talking about earlier you have the state, the mayor, the council, the courts -- none of them see eye to eye on this, and you figure they want to do something about this. >> it's also a broader story of

what's happening in detroit. people are moving, the economy has collapsed. the pensioners are really the people who have trouble. people have built their lives around these pensions, and they may not get the money at all. there's talk about massive cuts in the pensions. whoever to blame it is, there's going to be real impacts for actual people who live in detroit and wanted to stay there and retire there. >> dana, you probably have seen this here. there was a future detroit program put forth by mayor bing, as efforts here to basically shrink what's 140 square miles into 70 square miles. he wanted people to move into one area to make it more efficient. are these some of the solutions that need to be discussed? >> they've gotten to a point where something radical obviously has to occur. this is our own little bit of greece right here in the united states of america. for people to say it's politics, who cares if it's politics? this is the situation that's been developing over a period of decades. radical solutions have been necessary for a long time.

that's one proposal. it's not going to be -- there's no magic solution here. it's going to be a lot of pain for a lot of people to reverse decades of mismanagement and misfortune. >> here's the mayor, what he said yesterday. take a listen. >> one of the things i want to say to our citizens is, as tough as this is, i really didn't want to go in this direction, but now that we are here, we have to make the best of it. >> amy, maybing the best of it, another one of the ideas that were put out there, you've probably seen the documentary detroitopia. another idea was let's bring entrepreneurs, let's bring the brains from university of michigan, 30 minutes away, a lot of talented folks there, put them downtown and create a mini silicon valley. it's an idea we've heard before. >> basically, they're trying to throw anything they can at detroit. the statistics are so grim. unemployment is double the national rate. you have crime. you have 78,000 abandoned

buildings in detroit. not an entrepreneur, i don't have this mindset. might look at this as an opportunity, cheap land. perhaps there's infrastructure although that's also been in decay. when you have a crime rate as high as it is in detroit, you don't want to move there to do business and risk your capital in a city like that. anything that can work may be a silver lining. another example of orange county in the mid-'90s had to file for bankruptcy. that's a republican county, by the way. they turned around and are a very thriving community now. i'm not optimistic about detroit, but you've got to be if you want the city to move forward. >> i am optimistic. >> quickly, perry, should the federal government get involved in this? >> they're not. whether they should or be, that's a different question. republican congressmen have moved beyond that. they're not looking to bail out detroit. >> it wasn't a republican congressman. it was the president who bragged about it in october that he saved detroit. >> the republicans are opposed to new intervention of money. >> go ahead, dana.

>> we'll bail out the corporations in detroit but not the actual people who live there. >> precisely. >> in one sentence, that's what dana milbank says. up next, we crown today's biggest brain. r? hello. mother. mother! traveling is easy with the venture card because you can fly any airline anytime. two words. double miles! this guy can act. wanna play dodge rock? oh, you guys! and with double miles you can actually use, you never miss the fun. beard growing contest and go! ♪ i win! what's in your wallet?

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we're back with our brain trust. we're going to name one of our regular brain trusts the biggest brain, the to havic of their choosing will be the topic of the segment. the winner is -- >> tension is thick. >> it is dana milbank. >> you are the biggest brain. >> i demand a recount. >> we have that great one liner to break. they were saying you definitely won. >> perry and i were in agreement. >> we were voting on this. you said obama's unscripted appearance in the briefing room was a haywire act and it could have gone as badly as his initial remarks on the skip gates arrest. this time he got it right. explaining his own brushes with racism without fanning the flames. how much consideration do you think the president gave in making these remarks?

it looked like didn't have any notes. he certainly didn't have a teleprompter. >> he had a little note card with a few things on it but i was talking to one of his top advisers who said the himself said, i'm going out there. no script. i want to talk about this stuff. and all his aides are hiding under their desks at that point. what can go wrong? unscripted remarks on race. >> exactly. >> he really seemed to have thought about this a lot. look, he was criticized on both sides for fanning the flames of hatred and for you know, not going far enough. i think he got just the right tone this time. there is no need for a beer summit. >> no beer summit. >> unnecessary. >> thank goodness. >> so we were talking about how he was so quiet. at some points, he could barely hear what he was saying. and he doesn't like talking about himself. this is not a president who likes to say, this is what did i today or this is what i feel about race. go back to that. >> i would disagree about his penchant for talking about

himself. after that initial debacle with skip gates, that the president really did pull back on publicly speaking about racial issues. unfortunately in terms of timing, i think the problem is timing. when his approval ratings are under water. when this is a president who has lost a lot of political capital since the first heavy days of his first inauguration back in 2009. we have the skip gates debacle. we have the attorney general calling as you nation of cowards on the issue of race. we have the doj that failed to prosecute when it came to the new black panthers. unfortunately no matter what the could not tent of his speech yesterday, i don't think it would have the power to be as unifying as it might have been if he had more of the public's trust. >> do you agree with all that was said by amy? >> probably not all of it, no. >> i disagree with much of what she said. what dana said i thought was really important. the white house people i talked to said he spent a lot of time thinking about this the last five days. talked to family, friends, trying to figure out the right way to say. this i wasn't surprised he did

not make a mistake but i was surprised -- they did not want this to be the prime time address. obama speaks about race. they wanted this to be, they didn't want a news countdown to his speech on race. they wanted it more off the cuff. they thought it would come off better if it seemed more of a surprise to us. i covered the white house. i was thinking the speech would be, it is jay carney's birthday. he came out smiling. maybe he is talking about detroit. we were all trans fixed and shocked. i think that added to the fact that this was a big moment. >> i think it worked. i think that approach tended to -- >> so far. dana milbank, 20 seconds to you. were you surprised? >> sure. the first line in the transcript is whoa! and nobody was in their seats because they were just figuring jay would be 30 minutes late again. but it was a surprise. that's why it was expectations were played down. and it was very personal.

hearing the doors lock as a car goes by. that's very impressive. >> thank you so much. as well as amy holmes. that does it for us. i'm in for craig melvin. we'll see you back here tomorrow starting at 3:00 p.m. first "disrupt with karen finney." discover card. i asked my husband to pay our bill, and he forgot. you have the it card and it's your first time missing a payment, so there's no late fee. really? yep! so is your husband off the hook? no. he went out for milk last week and came back with a puppy. hold it. hold it. hold it. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with late payment forgiveness.

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if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello? ally bank. your money needs an ally. thanks for joining us. i'm karen finney. the president's words yesterday about the death of trayvon martin are echoing today across