yesterday to free prisoners and the release will come in stages linked to progress in the talks. nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker joins us now. how promising are these talks as they have 20 years behind them? >> reporter: it is only a first step in a very difficult process. it comes after a fairly significant concession on the part of the israelis on sunday. the prime minister benjamin netanyahu said they would lea release prisoners. they are freedom fighters so that was a huge olive branch and what allowed these talks to move forward. these talks also coming after secretary of state john kerry visited the region six separate times sort of underscoring the fact that diplomacy still works but there are huge challenges to actually moving forward in terms

of peace negotiations. one of the major sticking points palestinians are calling for israelis so halt for new construction in some areas particularly the west bank and they want negotiation to start based on the 1967 borders that is something that israelis have balked out in the past. so really significant challenges moving forward. richard, still an important first step and secretary of state john kerry will be hosting the negotiators at a dinner this evening at the state department. >> we are watching those live pictures at the state department for our viewers as they are watching the screen just moments ago. any moment right now, we expect the secretary of state to be coming to the microphones. are the possible outcomes here, are thee similar to what we saw with ariel sharon in 2006? what does the white house expect this time around from these talks? >> reporter: i think they would like to see, obviously, more progress. this is something that the white house, multiple administrations have worked on for the better part of the past two decade. you mentioned the fact that

secretary of state john contrkes about to announce that martin endeck is about to oversee the negotiations. he served as a former ambassador to israel and heads the department in brookings, institute. he really has been steeped in this. by the way, he was a part of the failed talks back in 2000 so he is no strange to how these talks work and how they can also fall apart. so i think the white house certainly hoping that these latest round of talks will yield some fruit, but, again, as i mapped out, there are a lot of hurdles to that happening. >> martin endike bringing that experience to this. anatomy challenge for the u.s. and prrp in the middle east, egypt. more than 70 people as we both have been watching were killed in clashes between egyptian security forces and supporters of the deposed president there, mohammed morsi. what is the strategy that you're

hearing now? >> reporter: look. over the weekend we know that secretary of state john kerry, defense secretary chuck hagel, were in contact with top officials in egypt. and really issued statements of concern. the secretary of state calling on leaders in egypt to bring that country back from the brink, calling on egyptians to hold free and fair elections as soon as possible. and, of course, richard, there is this issue of u.s. aid to egypt. 1.5 billion dollars that the united states gives to egypt every year. the obama administration has not yet said it would withdraw that aid but can i tell you that there are a lot of lawmakers who are calling on them to do. at this point in time, the administration is dangling that aid over the head of egypt, hoping they will in the words of the secretary of state, come back from the brink. >> kristen welker, thank you so much. we will be monitoring that news conference with secretary kerry and bring you any news

that comes out of it once it gets started. we will be listening for you. two coasts and three scandal plagued politicians and growing course for each to exit the political limelight. on the west coast building pressure for the mayor of san diego to resign. in the east two talk about there. bob macdonald facing more questions about cash and spending and anthony weiner now minus one campaign manager. weiner says he is staying in the rice even after his top guy resigned. his campaign manager's exit follows new questions about whether weiner paid a private eye to investigate the leak of his racy photos two years ago. here are some of the people calling for weiner to drop out. >> at this point, it's absurd. he is not going to be the next mayor of new york. he is wasting time and space. and you asked at the beginning, you know, americans believe in second chances but not third chances. >> why did he get in? he knew what the history was.

he knew what he would be visiting on new york. it all seems to me quite mad. >> now to san diego. that city's mayor is taking time off for, quote, intensify therapy. dianne feinstein among those saying he should step down. >> this kind of absence of a moral campus and subject to recall, i suspect there will be recalls. >> you should think he should make it easier on himself and resign? >> i do. >> bob macdonald has been trying to quell questions about gifts and loans from a campaign donor. this latest headline is not helping. "the washington post" reporting his wife spent thousands of dollars of cash from her husband's superpac and shops of choice, nordstrom and saks fifth

avenue. >> you ask the question is it time for governor mcdonnell to step aside. honestly we haved this drip, drip, drip of embarrassing allegations. >> joining me now is amy davidson and craig gustaffson. we have been hearing comparisons to bill and hillary clinton and now the new york city post citing an interview with a friend and aide saying bill and hillary are live individual to weiner's es ska paye paeds. >> isn't this the last thing the clintons want to deal with right now? >> weiner's wife has been very close to hillary clinton for years. she has worked closely with her

and still works clolvsely with her. one of the few assets that anthony weiner has left is that set of connections. his wife is putting that at risk. you receiver the weekend democratic figure after democratic figure saying we love huma but this has to stop. weiner shows no inclination to leave the race. he sort of moved to this exhi t exhibitionist stage of campaigning. only the clintons probably the only ones to convince him to get out of the race. >> a new york voter got into a heated confrontation with weiner. >> i conducted myself in a manner in which you conducted yours, my job would have been gone and in the privacy of my home. >> amy, your magazine cover has gotten a lot of attention too. we were mentioning that earlier. what are you hearing at the moment? are we seeing an implosion going

slowly? or is this sort of a major reboot with the campaign manager stepping away? >> i don't think is there any positive way to look at his campaign manager leaving. it kind of tells us that maybe the campaign manager didn't understand what he was getting into and new yorkers certainly have -- don't feel that he was being honest about was we were getting -- >> how crucial was that campaign manager to his campaign there? >> he had trouble at first finding and his staff -- he is short staffed and it's not a big organization. he doesn't have the same organization that a lot of the other candidates do now. who is he going to find? >> craig, to you now. the san diego mayor. your article yesterday boiling down the fallout mayor is saying, quote, his fiancee dumped him several top democratic leaders turned their backs on him and super majority of the security council want him to design and two-thirds of people from san diego want to to step down and he has been

accused of being alone with a woman on city property. after the intense therapy he is going through, will he have enough goodwill to govern and stay in politics there? >> that is the real question. pretty much everybody has turned their back on him except a very small corps of supporters. like you just listed all of the people that have turned on him, including the democratic party and dianne feinstein and it's difficult for him to govern going forward given this atmosphere around him. yes, he is going to leave and do intensify therapy and supposedly still maintain authority over city hall. but, i mean, every day there is a new allegations or somebody dropping their -- they are backing up him and every day there is a drip, drip, drip, of bad news for him and it doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon. >> you mentioned feinstein and other prominent lawmakers coming out of california asking him to step down. are they concerned about what he is doing to california politics and what is his effect on california politics? >> it's more of good -- here in san diego. he was the first democratic

mayor in 20 years in san diego and only the second in the last 40 years. he came in with a lot of promise to bring his progressive politics into city hall and shake things up and it's a huge disappointment for people less than eight months into his term he is engulfed in a major scandal with really no way to implement his agenda. >> larry, let's get you to virginia now. "the washington post" uncovered questionable spending on so-called travel and event expenses by governor bob mcdonnell's wife maureen. the first lady reportedly spent $603,000 in five retails and even more. the pac leader confirmed this was for event clothing for a total of $9,800 you see on the screen. it does not have a sexual nature to it. we want to be clear. on the heels of the governor's mea culpa in the loans and gifts

from a former campaign donor, there are calls here for him to step down. should these scandals cost him his job in the end? >> richard, this is a very depressing segment. look. i would simply say this to you. i think, because mcdonnell only has six months to go in his term, he'll probably tough it out. you can do a lot of stonewalling and get through the six months. but if you're asking me whether privately there are loathes of people, including many republicans who would like for him to go, the answer is yes. he is hurting the party in a gubernatorial election year. but mainly i'll tell you why people are upset. this is not the virginia way. this is not the way business is done in virginia. and it's pretty shocking and shocking to learn we have had a governor and first lady with their hands out, palms up. that's what has been going on. >> the optics are not good

there. we started our discussion saying not a very uplifting segment. with you the three together. new york, san diego and virginia. is there a common thread here that you see? >> sure. arrogance and huberus. i think it's a certain minority of public officials believe there are two sets of rule and that a special set of rules apply to them because they work so hard and because everyone loves them. well, it just isn't so. >> thank you all so much. power lunch. still ahead. bill clinton and hillary clinton to break bread the next hour. what is on the agenda there? pope francis signals openness to gay priests. nbc news anne thompson will join us live from rome on that. leads to today's big question. do you think the pope's remarks signal a sea change for the

catholic church? weigh in on that at our facebook page. i don'without goingcisions to angie's list first. with angie's list, i know who to call, and i know the results will be fantastic! find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

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in just about 40 minutes, former secretary of state hillary clinton scheduled to join president obama for a private lunch at the white house. they will eat in the president's private dining room. it will be the third time the two have met since mrs. clinton stepped down as secretary of state in february. and while tles here's no word oe agenda this has a lot of tongues wagging about talk about hillary and 2016. jackie, good monday to you. what do you think? what will be on the menu beds the food obviously? >> we have all been speculating about this. she will not declare for 2016 for quite a while and i'm sure they will joke about that but it could run so many different

ways. president obama has a ton of things on his plate including but not limit to the middle east, immigration, the economy and could be any one of those things. but not to get too deep into this too quickly, sometimes a lunch is just a lunch. >> and nothing more. just getting together. >> we will see. but we will be talking about it no matter what. >> of course, we will. let's talk about 2016. hillary clinton so much talk about that. do you think that that has to be brought up? isn't that the elephant in the room there? >> my gosh. we hope so, right? then it will give us even more to talk about. she has definitely kept the media interested -- since she left secretary of state. she has a book coming out and done all of these different speaking engagements. this latest thing is for us to read the tea leaves and see what

happens. >> our andrea mitchell saying they will talk about middle east peace and developments we were watching at the state department. you got the issue of syria and egypt. might be that be some of the topics on hand based on her long experience? >> i think that might be more likely than them moving the pieces around for 2016 because, as you said, of her prior experience. but on the campaign side, you have seen several obama campaign staffers move over to the ready for hillary effort which is kind of a premade campaign should she decide to run. there is a reason for us to speculate. most likely they will have discussions about middle east. >> let's talk about what you were talking there a second ago. nbc putting out the four episode miniseize. >> oh, yeah. >> going back to 1998 in the monica lewinsky situation.

with the details possibly coming out during that miniseries does that help or hurt her run? >> it creates interests so in that way it creates interest. i'm sure the clintons don't nt to relive that portion of their live any more than they have to. >> thank you, jackie. a major sting operation over the weekend involving sex trafficking and over 100 children in 60 cities. we will have details on that coming up. plus a story that sounds like the plot of an oceans eleven movie. millions in jewels stolen from a hotel in the south of france. what investigators know so far about this brazen heist. the postal service is critical to our economy. delivering mail, medicine and packages, yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service and want to layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year

from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it.

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phone. pete, how did they find these kids? >> reporter: use a lot of it is knowing where to work and intelligence that prepared them for this operation. they looked at internet sites and certain truck stops and casinos and hotels and some on the streets. the last 72 hours in 76 cities nationwide the fbi and local law enforcement arrested over 150 people who are charged with commercial exploitation of children and they have recover 105 children age 13 to 16 and one child 13 but say the 13 to 16 range is when these children are the most vulnerable. as to where they come from, the fbi and the national center for missing and exploited children say they come from foster homes and run-aways throw away children who are especially vulnerable to enticements to these people. they could be 15 -- over the

life of these -- receive ten life sentences for these operations but they say this one is the largest to date with the most number of children recovered and the most people arrested. richard? >> nbc's pete williams. good news. 150 children there saved from the situation, just a portion what is estimated to be over 240,000 american children at risk of being exploited sexually. thank you. still ahead is the kkkk trying to recruit people for a neighborhood watch? we will talk about what has been happening in one missouri neighborhood. also ahead, this. >> i don't think i could imagine anyone doing that, let alone to find out it was, you know, my own flesh and blood, my father. >> the son of the cleveland kidnapper breaks his silence. what he said about the deal that will put his father behind bars for the rest of his life. ay, a?? b.

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pope francis today offered some of the most conciliatory comments. speaking with journalist on the plane back to rome after his week long trip to brazil he said gay priests should not be judged or marginalized. anne thompson was one of the journalists on that plane. he was open with the discussion he had with you and other journalist. there remark would indicate a landmark shift for the church here. what do we know what was behind that stamted and what it might mean? >> reporter: well, first let me put in some context for you, richard. this was part of an hour and 20-minute press conference. the pope came back and gave to reporters who traveled with him to rio. and his answer was in response to a question about the so-called ga lobby that allegedly exists inside the vatican walls and the pope told reporters, he said, look. i have never met anybody with a

business card that says gay on it. and then he went on to say if someone is gay and he is seeking the lord, who am i to judge? and beyond that, he said that gays should not be marginalized, they should not be treated different in society, they should be incorporated into society. and when it comes to lobbies, he says he doesn't like any kind of lobbies. it is a remarkable statement, given the antigay attitude, if you will, of the catholic church over the last several years but this is a pope whose message is of mercy. it is that he wants to create a church that embraces all people, at least that is what he says and we certainly saw that in brazil as he embraced the poor, he embraced drug addicts. he went out of his way to bridge divides, the divides between

rich and poor, old and young and, of course, the church and his people but it was a remarkable comment. >> anne, were those comments made specifically about priests and/or people in general? >> reporter: the first comment about if someone is gay and seeking the lord, who am i to judge, that appeared to be in the context of the gay lobby. so we took it to mean he was referring to gay priests. but then when he went further and said that gays should not be marginalized, that seemed to expand out to all society. >> anne thompson, thank you so much, with the very latest on that. today's big question. do you think the pope's remarks indicate a sea change for the catholic church. move to the politics and economy. president obama pushinging his economic face in scary new

numbers on the economy. two feud over the definition of social responsibility. those are today's topics for our agenda panel. legi i want to get into the data you've seen. the associated press in this new report and study they have done found 4 out of 5 adults struggle with joblessness and near poverty or rely on welfare. 67% experience unemployment at some point in their working lives and 54% rely on food stamps or have incomes below 150% of the poverty level and 45% use welfare. you pick any one of those. those are pretty staggering pieces of data for us. how does the president go up against that in his economic message? how does he deal with that? >> on issues such as food stamps, these are areas where the democrats where the

president has been trying to push chronic to make moves to try to better people's lives. the idea that sort of nobody is affected or that, you know, that poverty isn't a real issue facing real americans, at some point in their lives, which is an important point that at any time, you know, somebody could turn to rely on the safety net. this is, i think, where the president is really focused. i think health care comes into this and trying to get people to understand that health care can ease the burden for a lot of people. this is a moment where the president has an opportunity to set the agenda just as congress goes out to august recess. >> it can cut both ways, can't it? >> i think so. i think when you have members of congress like senator marco rubio sort of suggesting that, you know, the government could be shut down over health care just at a time when i think the president and others are seeing that health care has big impact on the economy is a moment for us. >> you are reading my notes! i'm going over to lee on this. republicans as she was saying there, continuing the drive to

defund obama care in the next government spending bill and threatening a possible shutdown here. who blinks first in this, lee? >> well, if republicans go forward with this plan to defund obama care by shutting down the government, their own words might come back to haunt them. i have a recent piece in the nation showing that the leading republicans in congress, they have been quietly writing letters to the administration asking for health reform grants for their constituents. senator john thune, one of the leaders of the pro shutdown the government movement, he is one of these lawmakers who have written a letter in his case asking for obama care and money for community health center in south dakota. it's going to be very difficult for these republicans to credibly argue it's worth shutting down the government when they have admitted in writing the law has many benefits. >> that is not stopping some of them as you know, though, lee. president obama spoke with "the new york times" last week saying he was worried about the affects of income inequality.

take a listen. >> there was a sense of not upward mobility in the abstract. it was part and parcel of who we were at americans. and that's what has been eroding over the last 20, 30 years. here we are having dealt with this massive crisis but those trends, those trends have continued and that is what people sense. that's why people are anxious. that's why people are frustrated. >> okay. more on the data here. there's a study showing 11% of working class whites live in poverty compared to 23% of nonwhites but the rate among whites that is growing faster than nonwhites. kelly, what does this say to you? >> well, it says that the president still has a lot of work to do on the economy, particularly in terms of his legacy. i mean, it would be a real tragedy if the first black president presided over one of the worst times in history to be a black american in this

country. the economic policy actually says that the numbers have been so bad for black americans while other groups have begun to recover flt recession this that they refer to it as a slow moving perpetual recession among black americans. you were mentioning the horrible numbers and one thing i think got left out and speaks to why he is unfortunate fg a tough time getting through congress i don't think the did ks have reframed the face of poverty in this country. i have people convinced everyone in poverty is not trying hard enough is not working hard enough and a free loader who doesn't want a job and the data out just last month shows the leading cause of bankruptcy is medical catastrophes. they can't get back on their feet. i think the president and the democrats need to do a better job talking about. >> working class vote. so important in this next election. something the president didn't do so well in 2012. i want to turn to a piece you

wrote. that has to do with the feud between two very famous people about social responsibility. >> right. i hate the term feud. >> how about disagreement? >> harry belafonte's legacy and impact on this country is far larger than jay z's will ever be. harry belafonte gave credit for beyonce and jay z and jay z used sarcasm and having rap lyrics i will not repeat on family programming. i was appalled by this as a lot of people. harry belafonte is the reason i can sit at this table for you today because he helped fight equality. he was the first black celebrity for a president. he helped support martin luther king's family financially. this is the impacts of a legends

like harry belafonte has had on this country and you look at jay z's philanthropic efforts. he gave $6 million to his own charity. >> he is worth about 500,000. i want you to listen to this. >> i would hope with all my heart that jay z would not take personally what was said because it was not said about him personally. it was a question asked by a leading question given by a member of the press in switzerland. having said that, i would like to take this opportunity to say to jay z and beyonce, i'm wide open. my heart is filled with nothing but hope and the promise that we can sit and have a one-on-one and let's understand each other. >> so some estimate their net worth jay z and benone say together 800 million. jay z says his focus is charity.

>> in some ways this is a little bit like the trayvon martin generation. this is a discussion that came right out of the zimmerman verdict and sort of who was out front and what kind of response could we get out of community out of celebrities out of leaders in this country who would kind of stand up and say something? and i think first you see people sending out supportive tweets. here you have somebody saying for people who are worth 800 million that may not be enough. >> not enough, right. >> we have to leave it there. lee, i owe you one next time. we goat a little bit short on time. thank you all three for your conversation today. can you find more from our panel on our website tv.msnbc.com and follow the link to thomas roberts. a look at the stories topping the news now. 136 million dollars worth of diamonds and other jewels stolen from a luxury hotel in the south of france. the hotel in cannes was hosting a temporary jewelry exhibit. police say a single robber

stuffed the goods into a suitcase and made a gquick get away. a bus crashed and ten people survived. the driver at the controls of a high speed train in spain now faces multiple counts of negligent homicide. 79 people died when the train jumped the tracks and according to spanish media, the driver admitted the train was traveling too fast. two bodies have been recovered after a boat accident on the hudson river in new york. investigators say a group of people were celebrating an upcoming wedding and among those killed the bride and the best man. exclusive new video aired on "usa today" -- on "today" show. >> nathan, what is the best thing about being home? >> to get to see my family. >> the son of accused cleveland

kidnapper aerial castro breaking his silence. he said this on "today" earlier about his father's plea deal. >> i think it's the best possible sentence. i think that if he really can't control his impulses and he really doesn't have any value for human life the way this case has shown, then behind bars is where he belongs to the rest of his life. >> one of three women held in castro's home made a surprise appearance in public over the weekend. amanda berry appeared on stage at a nellie concert and nelly introduced her to the crowd. is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap.

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go long. is the ku klux klan trying to retreat people in missouri for neighborhood watch. some people found a plastic bag in their yards and that contained a rock and a flyer offering help in setting up a program. our nbc affiliate says a representative has told them that the kkk is trying to get people to join or form klan sponsored watch groups.

one neighbor says he is shocked and disgusted. >> simple knock at the door. i could say i'm not interested. they could go on. but instead they have to come through the middle of the night and drop a rock in your front yard? no. that is coward. >> joining me is hilary shelton senior vice president for policy and efficient ca for the naacp. does this surprise you? >> it does. that the kkk would raise this sd discriminatory and asking for people to join a watch group particularly with the background of trayvon martin to help them carry out their old time agenda of racial tolerance and violence so it's sad to see in this day and age. >> do you think it was in response to the outcome of the george zimmerman trial, the quit

-- acquittal? >> we know in the case of george zimmerman we have someone involved in a community watch group applying racial profiling tactics and getting away literally with murder. we have a town 10% african-american and then dropping leaflets in the name of the ku klux klan and calling for community watch groups is disturbing. >> i don't know you what know about the town. race conflict there in springfield goes back over a hundred years. two men, for instance, were lynched, two black men were lynched in 1901 and that left springfield's thriving black community of doctors and lawyers and left the town there. what is the town like today? >> it's a small thriving town outside of st. louis, missouri. it's struggling with the increased diversity and one that could grow into the kind of ideal town for a diversity in our society but instead we have the klan moving in the way it is to interject its venom.

it's sorry to see this happening. >> a representative told our affiliate there that these programs that we have been discussing are not about race. they are saying if a member saw a white guy up to no good they would alert police just as well. what they are telling our affiliate. what is your perception of their intentions based on what they told our affiliate? >> if you read the flyer, the flyer talks about libertialism and so far but we know the klan is anyone who fought for freedom and justice for everyone. we look at it in this context. it is disturbing in context. they have always played the same ideological game and same messaging game where it sounds clear and clean but we know of its ugly history and backdropping which these new programs are being offered today. >> thank you. we have new pictures out of philadelphia to show you. that is a building collapsed in south philly. according to our affiliate two

victims being taken to the hospital. also according to that station, witnesses heard an explosion before that house collapsed. looks like there is almost nothing left there. we will keep monitoring the pictures and information coming out of south philly to let you know what is happening. fast food workers taking to the streets in major cities today protesting low wages. coming up we will break down their beef over the minimum wage and whether they can force the fast food giants to fork out more cash. first, tracy mitchell. hunter mahan walked off the course holding a two stroke lead at the canadian open and left behind a potential million dollar prize? why? he wanted to be with his wife for the birth of his child. zoe olivia mahan was born overtight. he thanked his fans and said both mom and baby are doing great. thanks for all of my fans for

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we asked and answered -- pope's remarks on gays. does it signal a sea change for the catholic church? "there will only be a sea change when various clerics guilty of sexual abuse and outright rape are brought to justice." rusty -- it is a step in the right direction but it will take a long time for the catholic church to evolve and embrace he oot quality and love that everyone deserves. mary -- finally a rational thinking pope. keep those comments coming on twitter or facebook. developing up in fast food workers protest rs early this morning in new york city, walking off the job. minutes from now another round will strike the city as the lunch rush begins. it was the first wave of strikes set to hit an unprecedented

seven cities across the country today with workers from mcdonald's, burger king, wendy's and kfc participating. with me today, from the national employment law projects. when we look at this, protesters are calling here for a higher wage. i think numbers here we are looking at is $15 which is about double what it currently is, $7.25. why does doubling make sense here? >> i think the workers striking are responding to this explosion in low-wage jobs that's happening in our economy right now these are the jobs like fast food, like retail, that are disproportionately fueling job growth. a fast food worker makes on average less than $9 an hour. these are not entry level teen jobs. median age for a fast food worker is 29 years old and contrary to what the industry

says, these are not jobs where -- >> 29 years old is much different when i managed a fast food restaurant aeons ago. the average age was probably 19. >> the the low-wage work force in general has been shifting to be older and better educated than ever before. 80% of workers that make $10 an hour across our economy are over the age of 20. these strikes are responding to this change in our labor market and the need to raise pay for millions of workers in our economy. >> depending how many kids they could be at the poverty line even at these wages. i've got more information. according to the "new york times" and an economic policy institute study, of the 28 million workers in this country, 1 in 5 earn less than $9.89 an hour. steve greenhouse in the "new york times" saying this, "their anger has been stoked by what they see as a glaring disconnect. their wages have flatlined while median pay for chief executives at the nation's top corporations

jumped 16% year arching $15.1 million. this isn't the first time we have seen protests, demonstrations. what makes it different today? is. >> i think today we are in a situation where wages across occupations are actually declining in real value, in real wages and for low wage workers in particular they are seeing significant declines in their wages but at the same time worker productivity is actually going up. and at the same time, the corporations that they are working for are enjoying record profits in some cases higher than before the recession and ceo pay is going up and so workers are fed up and they have about backs against the wall, they are struggling to make ends meet. >> in recessions we see higher productivity but some are saying maybe there is too much productivity? some will say you raise wages,

then you hire fewer people. >> this is the opponents' argument in good economic times and bad economic times. the truth of the matter is if you talk to economists across the political spectrum, they agree lack of consumer demand is one of the principle reasons job growth has been so sluggish and one reason consumer demand has been so slack is because workers' wages are falling especially for low wage workers. they are falling in real terms. if we want to make sure workers have money to spend and help contribute to our economic recovery then we have got to raise the wage for it. it is too low. >> fast food workers now demonstrating across the country. these are pictures we just got in. the former secretary of state hillary clinton going to have lunch with the president today. it is going to be their third meeting. we'll be watching that for you. that wraps it up for me. thomas roberts. i'll be back tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. "now" with alex wagner is next. >> hey, richard.

temper tantrums and party pooping. we will talk ultimatums and republican schisms with the gop's deputy whip congressman tom cole. plus we will discuss president obama's left turn on the economy and the country's problem win come inequality and social mobility. and it is the trial of the decade that almost nobody is talking about. we'll talk about salon's david ceroda and an artist and activist witnessing the secret bradley manning proceeding from the inside. all that when "now" starts right after this.

[ metal rattling ] ♪ hello? boo! i am the ghost of meals past. when you don't use pam, this is what you get. residue? i prefer food-based phantasm, food-tasm. poultry-geist works too if you used chicken. [ laughs ] resi-doodle-doo. [ female announcer ] bargain brand cooking spray can leave annoying residue. but pam leaves up to 99% less residue. pam helps you keep it off. the temper tantrum has become official legislative strategy in the united states congress. it's monday, july 29th, and this is "now."

over the past week, it's been called a failed strategy, shenanigans, the dumbest idea i've ever heard of, and a plan destined to fail. and yet the strategy to shut down the government over obama care still seems like a good idea to certain members of the gop. so far the plan has mostly succeeded in exposing faultlines within the party. moderates versus wacko birds. last week appearing on fox news, deputy majority whip tom cole offered perhaps the sharpest criticism of the hostage plan yet. >> seems to me there is appropriate ways to change the law but shutting down the government to get your way over an unrelated piece of legislation is a political equivalent of throwing a temper tantrum. >> cole was not alone in his criticism. senators john mccain, john cornyn, roy blunt and ron johnson have all come forward to oppose the take-no-prisoners approach warning that it amounts to political suicide. according to senator tom