here in america, we've never guaranteed success. that's not what we do. more than some other countries, we expect people to be self-reliant. nobody is going to do something for you. we've tolerated a little more inequality for the sake of a more dynamic, more adaptable economy. that's all for the good. but that idea has always been combined with a commitment to equality of opportunity, to upward mobility, the idea that no matter how poor you started, if you're willing to work hard and discipline yourself and defer gratification, you can make it too. that's the american idea. [ applause ] unfortunately, opportunities for upward mobility in america have gotten harder to find over the

past 30 years. and that's a betrayal of the american idea. that's why we have to do a lot more to give every american the chance to work their way into the middle class. the best defense against all of these forces, global competition, economic polarizati polarization, is the strength of the community. we need a new push to rebuild run-down neighborhoods. we need new partnerships with some of the hardest-hit towns in america to get them back on their feet. and because no one who works full time in america should have to live in poverty, i'm going to keep making the case that we need to raise the minimum wage because it's lower right now than it was when ronald reagan took office. it's time for the minimum wage to go up. [ applause ]

we're not a people who allow chance of birth to decide life's biggest winners or losers. after years in which we've seen how easy it can be for any of us to fall on hard times, folks in gaelsburg, folks in the quad cities, you know they're good people who work hard. sometimes they get a bad break. plant leaves, somebody gets sick, somebody loses a home. we've seen it in our family and friends and neighbors. we've seen it happen. that means we cannot turn our back when bad breaks hit any of our fellow citizens. so good jobs, a better bargain for the middle class, and the folks who are working to get into the middle class.

an economy that grows from the middle out, not the top down. that's where i will focus my energies. [ applause ] that's where i'll focus my energies. not just for the next few months but for the remainder of my presidency. these are the plans i'll lay out across this country. but i won't be able to do it alone. so i'm going to be calling on all of us to take up this cause. we'll need our businesses, who are some of the best in the world, to pressure congress to invest in our future. i'll be asking our businesses to set an example by providing decent wages and salaries to their own employees. and i'm going to highlight the ones that do just that. they're companies like costco, which pays good wages and offers good benefits.

companies like -- you know, there are companies like the container store that prides itself on training its employees and on employee satisfaction because these companies prove that it's not just good for the employees, it's good for their businesses to treat workers well. it's good for america. so i'm going to be calling on the private sector to step up. i will be saying to democrats, we've got to question some of our old assumptions. we've got to be willing to redesign or get rid of programs that don't work as well as they should. we've got to be willing to -- we've got to embrace changes to cherished priorities so that they work better in this new age. we can't just -- democrats can't just stand pat and defend

whatever government is doing. if we believe that government can give the middle class a fair shot in this new century, and i believe that, we've got an obligation to prove it. that means we've got to be open to new ways of doing things. and we'll need republicans in congress to set aside short-term politics and work with me to find common ground. [ applause ] it's interesting. in the run up to this speech, a lot of reporters say that, well, you know, mr. president, these are all good ideas, but some of them you have said before, some of them sound great, but you can't get those through congress. republicans won't agree with

you. i say, look, the fact is there are republicans in congress right now who privately agree with me on a lot of the ideas i'll be proposing. i know it because they've said so. but they worry they'll face swift political retaliation for cooperating with me. now, there are others who will dismiss every idea i put forward either because they're playing to their most strident supporters or in some cases because sincerely they have a fundamentally different vision for america. one that says inequality is both inevitable and just. one that says an unfettered free market without any restraints inevitably produces the best outcomes regardless of the pain and uncertainty imposed on ordinary families and we should just shrink the problem as small as we can.

in either case, i say to these members of congress, i'm laying out my ideas to give the middle class a better shot. so now it's time for you to lay out your ideas. you can't just be against something. you got to be for something. [ applause ] even if you think i've done everything wrong, the trends i just talked about were happening well before i took office. so it's not enough for you to ever oppose me. you got to be for something. what are your ideas? if you're willing to work with me to strengthen american manufacturing and rebuild this country's infrastructure, let's

go. if you've got better ideas to bring down the cost of college for work and families, let's hear them. if you think you ever have a better plan for making sure every american has the security of quality affordable health care, then stop taking meaningless repeal votes and share your concrete ideas with the country. [ applause ] >> repealing obamacare and cutting spending is not an

economic plan. it's not. if you're serious about a balanced, long-term fiscal plan that replaces the mindless cuts currently in place, or if you're interested in tax reform that closes corporate loopholes and gives working families a better deal, i'm ready to work. but you should know that i will not accept deals that don't meet the basic test of strengthening the prospects of hard working families. this is the agenda we have to be working on. [ applause ] we've come a long way since i first took office. you know, as a country we're

older and wiser. i don't know if i'm wiser, but i'm certainly older. and, you know, as long as congress doesn't manufacture another crisis, as long as we don't shut down the government just because i'm for keeping it open, as long as we don't risk a u.s. default over paying bills that we've already racked up, something that we've never done, we can probably muddle along without taking bold action. if we stand pat and we don't do any of the things i talked about, our economy will grow, although slower than it should. new businesses will form. the unemployment rate will probably tick down a little bit. just by virtue of our size and our natural resources and most of all because the talent of our

people, america will remain a world power, and the majority of us will figure out how to get by. but, you know, that's our choice. if we just stand by and do nothing in the face of immense change, understand that the part of our character will be lost. our founding precept about wide open opportunity, each generation doing better than the last, that'll be a myth, not reality. the position of the middle class will erode further. inequality will continue to increase. money's power will distort our politics even more. social tensions will rise as various groups fight to hold on to what they have or start

blaming somebody else for why their position isn't improving. the fundamental optimism that's always propelled us forward will give way to cynicism or nostalgia. that's not the vigts i have for this country. it's not the vision you have for this country. it's not the america we know. that's not the vision we should be settling for. that's not a vision we should be passing on to our children. i have now run my last campaign. i do not intend to wait until the next campaign or the next president before tackling the issues that matter. i care about one thing and one thing only. and that's how to use every minute -- the only thing i care about is how to use every minute of the remaining 1,276 days of

my term to make this country work for working americans again. [ cheers and applause ] that's all i care about. i don't have another election. i'll tell you, gaelsburg, that's where i believe america needs to go. i believe that's where the american people want to go. it may seem hard today, but if we're willing to take a few bold steps, if washington will just shake off its complacency and set aside the kind of slash and burn partisanship that we've just seen for way too long, if we just make some common sense

decisions, our economy will be stronger a year from now. it'll be stronger five years from now. it'll be stronger ten years from now. if we focus on what matters, then more americans will know the pride of that first paycheck. more americans will have the satisfaction of flipping the sign to open on their own business. more americans will have the joy of, you know, scratching the height of their kid on that door of their brand new home. and in the end, isn't that what makes us special? it's not the ability to generate incredible wealth for the few. it's our ability to give everybody a chance to pursue their own true measure of happiness. we haven't just wanted success for ourselves. we want it for our neighbors too. that's why --

[ applause ] when we think about our own communities, we're not a mean people. we're not a selfish people. we're not a people that just looks out for number one. why should our politics reflect those kinds of values? that's why we don't call it john's dream or suzie's dream or barack's dream. that's what makes this country special. the idea that no matter where you come from or what you look like or who you love, you can make it if you try. that's what we're fighting for. so, yes, congress is tough right now, but that's not going to stop me. we're going to do everything we

can wherever we can with or without congress to make things happen. we're going to take -- go on the road and talk to you and you'll have ideas. we want to see which ones we can implement. but we're going to focus on this thing that matters. one of america's greatest writers, carl sandberg, born right here in gaelsburg over a century ago -- [ applause ] he saw the railroads bring the world to the prairie and then the prairie send out its bounty to the world. he saw the advent of new industries, new technologies, and he watched populations shift. he saw fortunes made and lost. and he saw how change could be painful, how a new age could unsettle. long-held customs and ways of

life. but he had that frontier optimism. so he saw something more on the horizon. and he wrote, i speak of new cities and new people. the past is a bucket of ashes. yesterday is a wind gone down, a sun dropped in the west. there is only an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows. america, we've made it through the worst of yesterday's winds. we just have to have the courage to keep moving forward. we've got to set our eyes on the horizon. we will find an ocean of tomorrows. we will find a sky of tomorrows for the american people and for this great country that we love. so thank you. god bless you and god bless the united states of america. >> there you have it. president obama wrapping up a

major speech where he restated his vision for this country's still very recovering -- economy that is still recovering. he spoke at knox college in gaelsburg, illinois, selling a plan to help the middle class. he also highlighted the country's economic progress, ending on a poetic note. it's the return to his first major economic speech as a senator back in 2005. joining me now, white house correspondent kristen welker. let me start off with you, kristen. the president here reiterating a lot of things we've heard before. he actually anticipated that journalists and folks would say that, but he pointed again to work that can be done if both sides come together and eluded to the fact and actually flat-out said he has some republicans who are willing to get behind some of his ideas. the question is, what is the

next step here? >> reporter: well, tamron, i think the next step is that we are going to hear several more speeches sort of subsets of this speech. the idea here was to map out the president's vision moving forward. so we're expecting at least six more speeches. i think in those speeches you will hear some new policy ideas about how the president plans to invest in manufacturing, in new jobs, in education, in infrastructure, and some of those themes that he mapped out in this speech. i think more broadly, the president's goal was to really shift the conversation back to the economy. this is something that is safer politically for him. of course, washington has spent a lot of time talking about the scandals there. i also think his goal was to tee up some of the fiscal fights, quite frankly, that he will be facing with republicans. as you pointed out, he had some strong language for the republicans. he said if you don't like these ideas, what are your ideas? and also, specifically in reference to the debt ceiling, he said, quote, we can't afford to repeat that.

one more point that i'll make, tamron, is that i think that the president, this white house feels as if they haven't gotten a lot of credit for the economic recovery. so you heard the president talk about that as well. he said at the start of this speech, quote, today five years after the start of that great recession, america has fought its way back. so i think that those were sort of the three goals of this speech, tamron. i think moving it forward he heads to missouri next, he heads to florida tomorrow, we are going to continue to hear these themes as he does map out some new policies. >> all right, kristen. i know you've got to get on a charter following the president. let me bring in zachary. you heard kristen say the president has at least six more speeches with his plan to introduce new policy. but is it really about policy? the ideas have been out there. we know the president's ideas in investing in small businesses, for example. he's brought in some of these same ideas, the same structure. but we know the president said today and democrats have said it's the same obstruction he

faces. does it matter if he introduces new policies at 1,2. 6 d -- 1,276 days remaining. >> i don't even know what legislation follows from this speech. about a year ago we sat here. obama had done more than an hour-long campaign speech about the economy, which was much more diffuse and not that effective. of course, he went on to win the election. you were certainly struck by it, and i was as well, you know, 1,276 days left in the presidency. that's longer than the entire kennedy administration. yet, while these speeches have a useful function of reminding americans have there are challenges in the middle class. he talked about inequality, education reform, retirement, immigration reform. you know, major issues that need addressing. the policy implications of this are incredibly opaque and not clear. nothing is going to get through

this congress. obama is not going to become a different politician. so you're kind of left with these speeches, maybe uplifting, maybe important, but with very little consequence. >> in the president's speech, he noted the corner stones of a strong middle class. he says, more good jobs, endurable, growing industry, education, homeownership, health care. i mean, four corner stones that are not -- this is not a big reveal. these have been the four corner stones he has talked about. but let me play what the president said today rarting his economic plans. let's play another excerpt, guys. >> the country's that are passive in the face of a global economy, those countries will lose the competition for good jobs. they will lose the competition for high living standards. that's why america has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity. rebuilding our manufacturing base, educating our work force, upgrading our transportation

systems, upgrading our information networks. >> you know, we planned to talk about detroit and what happened in court today regarding the bankruptcy. i couldn't help but to think about these goals and these ideas as it relates to detroit, certainly the problems in that city did not start with this president. the problems in this economy did not start with this president, but here we are. >> yeah, and detroit is an absolute har ben jer or warning that if you let these things fester for too long, you're left with an intractable situation and you're bankrupt. things like investing in big data, in wireless networks, which has been an oddly difficult thing for america to do given that all this originated in silicon valley. he's totally right about that. students, education, you know, right about that, although congress is now undoing its own problem. rates wouldn't have doubled if it hadn't been for the bill. >> so they get an applause. >> for fixing their own problem.

>> totally right about that. i think it's the right diagnosis, except for manufacturing. we could invest a lot many manufacturing, have a lot of manufacturing output. we've talked about this. all that's the right vision. i mean, i come away with this thinking that never has the role of government seemingly been more limited. i say that -- on the democrat side, meaning it seems to be there's very little democrat is capable of doing. >> this all falls into this new nbc/wall street journal poll. thank you very much. the other people story are talking about, anthony weiner is back on the campaign trail in the race for new york city's mayor with two appearances actually scheduled for this afternoon. this morning outside his office, weiner addressed the growing number of voices calling for him to drop out of the race.

the new york daily news, "new york times," and "the wall street journal" are all calling on weaner er tweiner to bow ou. his opponents are also speaking out. >> there is a clear pattern here of difficulty with the truth. difficulty with the truth is not a good characteristic in a mayor. new yorkers need to know that their mayor is going to be honest and upfront with them. >> i refuse to be an enabler of the public redemption story. he's using all of us as props. he should be ashamed of himself. >> and yesterday's news conference with his wife by his side, the former congressman admitted to sending even more pictures and text messages to women more than a year after he resigned from congress. it was the first time his wife, though, ever discussed her husband's transgressions on camera. >> anthony's made some horrible

mistakes, both before he resigned from congress and after. but i do very strongly believe that is between us and our marriage. we discussed all of this before anthony decided he would run for mayor. >> while anthony weiner had been at or near the top of several mayoral polls, now it remains to be seen if this new turn of events will hurt his position with voters. joining me now, washington post political reporter nia malika henderso henderson and msnbc.com's national reporter, aaron carmone. thank you so much for joining. michael, let me start with you. i have this letter anthony weiner sent out to his supporters saying basically it's worth fighting for, being mayor of new york city. he actually goes on to say that he owed it to people to try and explain, reiterating basically what we heard there.

is this damage control working in your opinion? >> no, and i'm a big believer in compartmentalization. i'm a big believer that we've gone much too far in intruding in the private lives of those who want to be public servants. i worry about people who might have some baggage and stay on the sidelines and don't run for office where they could be good public servants. but having said all of that, this has a weirdness factor now that i think really calls into question his judgment. i read those lurid exchanges between he and the 22-year-old woman. i really think that they are so offputting that you got to question this guy's competence. with someone like elliott spitzer, there's a level of intellect there that i think makes up for whatever the personal deficiency might be. i don't psee that in weiner. >> nia malika, he wrote, with 47 days left to the primary, some

powerful voices are making it clear that they still don't want me to run. yesterday's news has given them fresh fodder. so he eludes to being the underdog, the fear of these ominous forces that want to keep him down. "the new york daily news" wrote this today. weiner's dishonest, impulse-driven psyche is once more stripped as naked as the images of his texted private parts. he's not fit to lead america's premier city. weiner must recognize his demons have no place in city hall. "the new york times," a similar thing. he was getting a one-two punch, if you will, and a third, from "the wall street journal" op-ed today. can he stay in this race? >> you know, i think the question is whether or not people, voters, actually have the same sort of sentiments. he's trying to set himself up as a sort of david versus goliath, saying he's got these enemies out there. he is his own worst enemy, as we've seen over these last few

days. i think people understand this race from anthony weiner's perspecti perspective. he seems to see it more as a palette cleanser, not a race he can actually win. even if he loses, he can still say, you know, he lost one of the highest offices in the land and therefore possibly make ab second comeback. the takeaway for me from that news conference was their sort of assessment that we've come this far so far, so why drop out now? but we'll just have to see. i think his surge that we've seen in the polls so far, 20% or so, i think he has nowhere to go at this point but down. >> michael, your impression of the role his wife has played in this. her role has been talked about almost more today than what he said. >> oh, tamron, i sent out a tweet yesterday after i watched her. i said the wrong spouse is running for mayor of new york

city. i thought she comported herself very well. she looked like a rock. nia is so spot on. this is about him taking a bit of a she lacking so that the next time this is finally out of his system and people will say, yeah, but he did suffer because he ran for mayor. then he can resurrect himself. it's not going to be this campaign. >> that's an intriguing theory he would run thinking he could get the dust off. i don't know. let me bring in erin here. this is an interesting time for many reasons, obviously. harper's did an article on her. she doesn't like calling attention to herself. she says, for years i've spent my professional life at the back of the room and she chose to come to the front of the room. speaking yesterday, saying this is a personal matter with she

and her husband, but when you look at anthony weiner's campaign, he made this -- his bad behavior, if you want to call it that, a part of his redemption story. he didn't want to say i want to run for mayor. let's not talk about what i did. he made it part of, look, i'm a better person, thus this will make me a good or great mayor. >> i think the problem here is the timeline. he's learned absolutely nothing from the past. people who make mistakes, you want to see they've redeemed themselves in some way, that they've learned something. the fact this happened a year ago means that he's learned absolutely nothing. as for the content of these sexts, i think what's most offputting is how this is about his political ego. i have yet to see a reason for anthony weiner's campaign besides the ego. why is he running? why does new york city need him? this is not about his personal redemption. what political and what policy -- what political solution, what kinds of policies is he actually offering besides

a weird side show? >> all right, erin. thank you so much. we certainly have an abbreviated show to talk about the president and the economy, the most important thing to most people. we'll keep focused on that. still ahead, more republicans lining up to distance themselves from congressman steve king's stunning comments about children brought to the country illegally by their parents. >> they aren't all valedictorians. they weren't all brought in for r by their parents. for everyone who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds and calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling marijuana. >> king is still standing by his comments. we'll take a look at the impact this could have on the entire party. plus -- ♪ a major change in the pope's

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pope francis delivered his first mass outside of italy today amid growing concerns over his security during his week-long visit to brazil. tens of thousands greeted the pope when he arrived at the basilica in a small town just outside of rio. it is the same place where a homemade pipe bomb was found earlier this week. the pope travelled to and from the basilica in a wide-open pope mobile escorted by new security detail. this morning, brazil's top security agencies announced the military police had taken over responsibility of the pope's movements. at one point, the pope kissed a young toddler that was handed to him from the crowd, though it appears this was a controlled event. this is a stark contrast to monday when the pope's motorcade was mobbed after taking a wrong

turn. jo obviously, much has been discussed regarding pope's security. now it's changed into hands of the military police. tell me a little bit more about this event today. it was amazing to see that many people there to witness and hear the pope. >> reporter: well, tamron, this is the first real day of winter here in brazil. it's raining. it's cold. yet, 200,000 people, as you said, turned out to see the real outing of the pope. there were no scenes like monday, no crowd, no mobbing by the crowd. it was all very neat. everybody was very happy. the pope was kissing babies. of course, the pope chose this place for a couple reasons. first of all, that is the place dedicated to the so-called black virgin mary. it's a 15-inchal statue found by

local fishermen. it also bears significance to the pope. that's where in 2007 he drafted along with other cardinals a document where he set guidelines to reinvigorate the church in south america. that was great, but we are looking forward to the main event, which is tomorrow. it's going to take place right behind me on the beach where the pope is expected to greet and be greeted by almost 1 million young pilgrims. >> all right. thank you very the live report from rio on the first day of winter. well, britain's newborn prince has a name. kensington palace, home to the duke and duchess of cambridge, announced within the last hour by e-mail that the newborn prince's name is george alexander louis. he's named for his great, great grandfather george vi. louis comes from prince charles' favorite uncle. the baby will be known as his

royal highness prince george of cambridge. and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, congressional approval hits a new low in our new nbc news poll with nearly 60% of you saying if given the chance, you would replace every single member of congress. we'll break down more of those numbers with mark murray. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?

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oh...no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just a click away with our free mobile app. our new nbc news wall street journal poll shows as congress struggles with fights african-american grags from immigration to student loans, 83% of americans now disapprove of congress. that's the highest ever for our poll. only 29% of americans now say the country is headed in the right direction. that's the lowest it's been in 19 months. and just 32% of americans believe that their own representative should be

re-elected. 57% think it's time to send someone else to represent them. joining me now live, nbc news senior political editor mark murray. mark, i think the thing that struck many people, usually folks don't like members of congress, but they like their own representative. this time around they want everybody out of that town. except for you. >> yeah, there is so much frustration right now at america's political system. what is interesting is it comes at a time when there has been some positive economic news. you could argue the economy isn't moving fast enough, but almost all the economic data has been in the right direction. yet, people are so down on the process. it's also noteworthy, too, that there hasn't been kind of a seminole moment a la hurricane katrina or the financial crisis, which has really brought people down and made them angry at washington, d.c. it seems these cumulative fights, like student loans or the farm bill or on immigration or the budget.

>> it's interesting. when you factor in the news of the day with the president's big speech on the economy, he's rolling out the ideas, but in between each of the ideas in a sense the president points out that congress is at a deadlock. they're at a point where it's like traffic and you cannot see the end of the tunnel because all of the cars are backed up. with that said, with the lack of popularity and other occasions, mark, we believe this would move congress to make some decisions. we've seen people exhausted in the past. we go back to this same point of a stalemate, a gridlock. >> well, the stalemate and gridlock could be described. our poll has a good answer. you end up with independents and democrats saying that the biggest part of washington's dysfunction right now is the gridlock on capitol hill, all of the partisanship that's coming from congress, but republicans say that the biggest problem is president obama. when you have those two ideas, you understand why there is gridlock. >> i don't know if people really

understand why that is. i think, mark, it's evident in these numbers that folks believe that some kind of compromise is possible. you may not get that from people who are on the edges treem of either side, but it's some kind of indication that people believe if there are new faces, new voices, that something can be done. whether that is a reality or just perception. >> well, there is a sense, though, however that the republican base that they have needs and desires that seem to be fundamentally at odds with the rest of the populous. but tamron, i think you hit on a point where the context of president obama's remarks today was almost addressing this really sour environment at washington, d.c. who can actually best speak to americans' goals, speak about the middle class, speak about economic growth? i think you saw the president try to step up to that. we're going to see how republicans respond in the days and weeks ahead. this is all leading up to -- we're talking about all these fights, the big fight is going to come this fall over the budget again and the debt ceiling. >> and the president alluded to

the republican response. he presented his ideas. what do they have in response? mark, thank you. despite growing criticism from fellow republicans, iowa congressman steve king is refusing to back down federal insin dare comments about children brought to the u.s. illegally by their parents. in a new interview with conservative website news max that actually was posted last week, king compared dreamers to drug mules. >> they aren't all valedictorians. they weren't all brought in by their parents. for every one who's a valedictorian, there's another hundred out there that they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. >> speaker john boehner and majority leader eric cantor quickly condemned the comments with cantor calling them inexcusabl inexcusable. boehner say, what he said is

wrong. there can be disagreements without being hateful. king is saying his description comes from the border patrol. >> that comes from being down on the border, spending days and nights down there and multiple trips and time with the border patrol. that description essentially came from them. it's not something that i'm making up. this is real. >> joining me now, nbc news latino contributor raul reyes. king saying this came from the border patrol really reminds me of michele bachman when she was talking about the vaccination for the hpv where she said some random mom came to her and told her this. she didn't get her team to research any of this. she rejurch tated it on the "today" show and the mom was never found. steve king is saying some random border patrol person said this to him and he presented it as fact. >> right. and the crazy thing here, aside from the fact that these comments are highly offensive to

latinos, to immigrants -- >> boehner called them hateful, hate speech. >> he's right. but the bigger problem is, you know, it is good that speaker boehner and eric cantor have denounced these remarks. what makes the headlines? it's these remarks. right now the gop's problem, we've heard a lot about their latino problem. their problem, in a sense, is steve king is becoming their face on immigration while the house is trying to work on immigration reform. they are attempting to do something behind the scenes. the loudest voice, the most prominent voice is someone like steve king. that is not good for the party. >> so what should the party do? is the onus on speaker boehner, who has recently been criticized for being passive, in some words, with immigration and the policy and being on the forefront? what more do they need to do rather than this statement or at least saying it's inexcusable? what's the next strong move? >> to be fair, i'm not sure the onus is on speaker boehner. he has condemned these marks.

he's condemned similar remarks in the past. what should be done here is congressman king needs to grow up and be responsible about this issue. >> well, he's had the opportunity to -- >> right, he's doubling down. to put this in context, steve king in the past has compared undocumented immigrants to dogs, to livestock. he once called the illegal immigration problem, he compared it to the holocaust. this is someone who has a very extreme voice. if he's concerned at all about the future of his party, he should really moderate his stance and get in line with the facts. something he should be very cognizant about this week, and all republicans, just this week we learned that univision for the most watched network in america. that means that comments like steve king's, these irresponsible remarks about immigration, are being broadcast to millions of latino viewers. >> and it comes at a time when there was a report out that business is

businessed own ee eed eed -- bu owned by immigrants that are making this country a better pla place. and they're not drug mules, as they were described by him. >> right. so these comments are so irresponsible. and there is some positive republican messaging on immigration reform. but they're being drowned out so far. >> raul reyes, thank you so much. and a federal judge has just issued a critical ruling on detroit's bankruptcy filing. we'll have more on what this means for city retirees, including police and firefighters concerned about their pensions. and be sure to like the "news nation" on facebook. we're at facebook.com/newsnation.

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developing now in the past hour, a michigan judge ruled on whether to put a stop to

lawsuits seeking to hault detroit's bankruptcy. the judge said city retirees can't slow or stop the process by filing lawsuits in other courts. detroit is the largest u.s. city to file for bankruptcy protection. joining is me now from detroit is associate press reporter cory williams. thank you for your time. >> oh, you're welcome. not a problem. how are you? >> so this obviously is seen as a defeat for detroit employees, the unions especially. we talked with a firefighter who had been on the job 30 years. he's depending on his pension. now he says if he loses that $2200 a month, he doesn't know what he'll do. >> it's a scary time in detroit for the retirees and those who hold pensions as well. they just don't know what's going to happen as this bankruptcy goes forward, how much they'll get in the end, if anything. >> david orr has said at least in the next several months their pensions won't be affected, but in the long run, absolutely, his words, something has to be done.

>> well, kevin orr -- >> kevin, i'm sorry. >> that's right. kevin has been saying for the longest that some things have to be done. it's obvious that detroit doesn't have the revenue to pay its bills. there are going to have to be cuts an concessions somewhere. the retirees and pensioners don't want those cuts on their backs. >> when you look at the cuts that need to be made, there's this argument made that the pensions are not where they need to start. but on the other side, others have pointed to corruption within the pension system. so you have this back and forth there. >> well, there's always some back and forth in detroit, it seems. kevin says there's 3.5 billion in unfunded in the pension. the pensioners have said he hasn't given them the information, the data showing that. you never know exactly what is going on. it's probably somewhere in the middle. the point is detroit is in a financial emergency. things aren't getting any

better. >> that is the sad news in that story. does not look like it will get better any time soon there. thank you very much, cory. >> oh, you're welcome. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. "the cycle" is up next. ever ybody has different investment objectives, ever ideas, goals, appetite for risk. you can't say 'one size fits all'. it doesn't. that's crazy. we're all totally different. ishares core. etf building blocks for your personalized portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.

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highlights for you. >> today, five years after the start of that great recession, america has fought its way back. we fought our way back. i'm here to tell you today that we're not there yet. america has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity, rebuilding our manufacturing base, educating our work force, upgrading our transportation systems, upgrading our information networks. that's what we need to be talking about. that's what washington needs to be focused on. the only thing i care about is how to use every minute of the remaining 1,276 days of my term to make this country work for working americans again. >> all right. but could those very same plans lead us straight into a government shutdown? some republicans are again threatening a budget