not working for people, but it is to craft an alternative. >> this all happening as republicans look to keep control of the house and seize the senate during the midterm elections this fall. nbc's casey hunt is joining me from washington, d.c. we have the house republicans here, they have unveiled an immigration blueprint as of yesterday. they have several broad principles in it here. what kinds of things are we talking about? >> this is a pretty significant step for the house gop. they've laid out a blueprint for how they might move forward. they've put border security at the top of that list. that's deliberate. they want to make sure voters know that's their first priority, but they've also laid out a way for potentially adults to have legal status here in the united states, they've laid out a path to citizenship for those who were brought here as young adults. it's unclear whether or not undocumented immigrants would be able to apply for green cards under this blueprint, but it's something they are working out

now. >> just want to read a couple of things from an article. these persons could live legally and without fear in the u.s. but only willing to admit their culpability, pay back taxes, develop proficiency in english and american civics and be able to support themselves and their families without access to public benefits, so that's the blueprint. what's next? >> so at this point, republicans have to sort of have it out amongst themselves. there are clearly house speaker john boehner has been a proponent of these principles, paul ryan has come out saying these principles are potentially a good path forward, but there's resistance. there have been several prominent conservatives who have said this isn't something the gop should be doing right now, right before the midterm elections, so in addition to the fight over what to do, i think you're going to see a debate about timing. is this something they want to do before they have to go to the

polls? you have some conservative groups saying this would essentially demoralize the gop base in a year they need turnout to be high in an attempt to take out the senate and maintain majority in the house. >> how much, though, of this reputation is being a party of no, how much is that playing into this decision to throw weight behind this particular issue? i'm even going to quote john boehner who said it's important we show the american people we're not just the opposition party, we're the alternative party. >> it's clearly part of the overall strategy. americans are really frustrated with washington right now, and they are particularly frustrated with congress, and that's a sentiment that applies to both parties, but republicans in particular are struggling with, you know, how they are viewed. so this is part of an attempt to offer alternatives. you're seeing similar moves on health care. the house is planning to vote on a alternative to the president's health care law, which is a different strategy than constant repeal votes and there are three

gop senators who have introduced a similar plan. on the other hand, though, this is something they realize is important for the long-term growth of the republican party. i mean, this was laid out in their autopsy after the 2012 election after mitt romney lost and reaching out to latinos is a key part for, not just the next election cycle or election cycle after that, but for the next decade and how well the republican party can withstand the demographic changes going on right now in the whole country. >> okay, casey hunt in washington, thank you. joining me now, luis gutierrez. congressman, what indications do you have congress is more committed to working with democrats on immigration reform this time around, why not? >> let's put it to you this way, a year ago they were for sb-1070 in arizona, saying we should have that in 49 more states. they said, oh, you know how you take care of 11 million undocumented workers?

self deport, they should pack their bags and leave and romney said he would veto the dream act. i've laid the principles they've laid out. when it comes to youth, they say give them a green card and direct pathway to citizenship, so there is an important seed change here. of course, we need to see more specifics. we need to see the legislative language, but this is a step in the right direction, but, you know, hey, look, democrats, we haven't worked very closely with republicans. we know where their position has been in the past. we're going to be cautious as we move forward, but it's a step in the right direction. i look forward to seeing the legislative language so that we can't reach an agreement. the senate has done a great job in passing legislation. i think the house is ready to act, and i as a democrat am saying, look, republican party, thank you for your principles, won't you make me a partner as we begin to put some specificity

and put some meat on those bones. >> interesting word that kasie hunt utah, there was an autopsy done post 2012 and as they look at what happened there, is the timing of this, though, certainly, it's not a coincidence, right, it's 2014. we have an election in ten months. >> i don't know how house republicans benefit in their totality, but what i'd like to say is, it seems to me that last october that was the seed change, right, the shut down the government over the debt ceiling and the budget and they didn't come out too well. fortunately for them, the rollout of obamacare gave them lots of cover. but i think they came back, and here's what i saw happen, i saw senator murray representing the democrat and democratic majority in the senate and democrats altogether and ryan representing the republican majority in the house kind of huddle for about six, seven weeks, and they came

back with a two-year budget, a blueprint, which was passed by large margins both in the senate and in the house. i think they said to themselves, you know, we cannot just be the party of no, which i think is what speaker boehner. i think they want to be a party of yes. i think the tea party sector of their party is really the party of no. we're not going to cooperate with republicans, we came here to do nothing, we came here to dismantle government. i think they want to be the party of yes and see an opportunity with immigration, given the gains we've made in the senate, to really get something done. >> yeah, if not the party of yes necessarily, at least an alternative party. >> they want to be a party that's the alternative party, and listen, look, from a demographic point of view, okay, from a demographic point of view, look, every four years, about 2, 2.5 million more latinos vote. if you take 2000, 2004, 2008,

2012, what do you see? more and more. and 75% for democrats and an increasing population, i mean, look, they either want to be parties of regions of certain states, county, municipalities, or they want to be a national party. they cannot be a national party until they take this issue off the table. >> how about this, though, in d.c., ted cruz was blasting any type of gop-backed plan that might support amnesty. is that going to be an obstacle right out of the starting gate for any kind of bipartisan agreement or talks at least? >> look, i was on right wing talk show, radio talk show this morning, and it was pretty ugly. and it was -- they are still back in romney land prior to the november shellacking of 2012. democrats have always been the party of immigrants, and i think

democrats also have an ability, as we have shouldered in the past, to get something done. barack obama has 2 million deportations under his belt. that's not exactly something to be proud of. on the other hand, the democrats have always forged forward on this immigration issue. isn't it a great time? let's forget about for one moment what's motivating people, and let's just think, we can't protect our women in the armed forces, what do we say to the millions of undocumented women that are exploited every day? people dying in the deserts, families being destroyed. you know what, if they want to join us in a quest to make a better life for immigrants, latino immigrants, asian immigrants, both even higher in terms of percentages for democrats, do they want to make end roads there? welcome. we welcome you to this debate so that we can debate other things while immigrants don't suffer. >> sounds to me like you're making a big umbrella there. >> i'd love to work with the

republicans on this issue. >> congressman luis gutierrez, thanks so much. that brings us to today's big question, can republicans share their image as a party of no? still ahead, leading to prisoners across this country to being released. why the government thinks certain people have served their time and then some. also ahead, this -- >> we're still on the journey to the truth and it may be the fact that we don't ever really know what happened that night. >> the family of murder victim meredith kercher speaking out one day after amanda knox was convicted again in her murder. what knox is saying about this new verdict coming up. you need a bunch of those to clean this mess. then i'll use a bunch of them. then how is that a bargain? [ sighs ] no, that's too many -- it's not gonna fit! whoa! cascade kitchen and math counselor. here's a solution. one pac of cascade complete cleans tough food

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the chief of the navy cyber unit to be the next head of the national security agency. mike rogers has served in the military for more than 30 years. confirmation hearings can begin as early as next month. thousands of prisoners could soon be set free throughout this country, but it's not what you might think. the justice department is asking the justice department to ask some workers to apply for clemency. there are more low-level non-vinyl drug offenders who remain in prison and would have received a lower sentence if convicted of the same sentence today. ari melber has reported on this, welcome to you. >> thank you. >> so this new action is an extension of the president's communication of these eight people in december who have been sentenced under the old federal guidelines. give me your reaction to this. >> this is significant. we don't usually see prosecutors who are overseeing all of these charges that put people away. we usually don't see prosecutors

saying prison populations are out of control than any other nation on earth, and we need to do something about it. this particular action, as you mentioned, does stem from something that the president had done, which is to say people who are stuck in jail on laws that we've already changed shouldn't have to stay there in these old laws. this deals with this by trying to say, okay, let's have a process where people can appeal, if i was caught on the same thing today, i wouldn't have got this sentence. >> as you know, the "new york times" reported, they've sent a letter to your new good buddy, eric holder, our a.g., with concerns about the bill saying mandatory minimum sentences are a tool in persuading law enforcement to dismantle large thug organizations and violent gangs. to they do make a good case for mandatory minimums in some cases, certainly. >> it's interesting, i'm glad you read that part of the letter, because that is their defense, right, and it's not a

statement mandatory minimums are just or work when applied, it's a statement they work as a threat to get people to cop a plea. that may be true. if you threaten someone with a death penalty for a shoplifting charge, they may be more likely to admit to shoplifting, whether they did it or not. that's human psychology, that's what you see in a law and order episode where they get someone up against the wall. the attorney general are making a different argument, which is when we apply these mandatory minimums, when we have this many people in jail for nonviolent offenses, it doesn't work, it creates a cycle of recidivism. when you look at that prison population, largest in the world, one out of seven of these prisoners are in on crack charges, one out of seven. we're not talking about violent crime, we're not talking about big financial embezzlement that effects a lot of people, we're not talking about assaulting a police officer or federal officer, things that many of us consider very serious and meriting jail time. one out of seven in on

nonviolent crack offenses. >> interesting. the president was asked about the recent statement that pot was bad but not necessarily like drinking. he's a bigger worry here. let's listen to that. >> okay. >> my concern is, when you end up having very heavy criminal penalties for individual users that have been applied unevenly and in some cases with a racial disparity. >> so where do the pot laws fall into all this? >> well, i think what the president is referring to is the rates of usage are similar across our entire population, but african-americans are not double, not triple, but four times as likely to end up in jail for a pot charge. when i was working in the public defender's office as an intern, i remember you'd go in and see all the people who were arrested the night before who couldn't afford a lawyer, right, people with no money. overwhelmingly young

african-american men, and overwhelmingly drug charges, marijuana, in addition to other drug charges, and i remember looking at that being young, coming in and looking at that going, huh, i've met a lot of white people that smoke pot, too. i don't see any in here. the data bears that out, president bears that out. we can have a theoretical discussion whether pot is dangerous, do we want to encourage it, no, a lot of people say smoking too much pot is a bad idea, then we need a factual conversation about how the laws are applied and if they are not fair, how to fix them. this is all a part of that piece. >> okay, sure we'll have that conversation on "the cycle," no doubt. >> one thing we cover, justice. >> appreciate that, ari melber. as another plug, you can check out the series on msnbc.com, also you can watch him on "the cycle" week somedays at 3:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. we have developing news from washington, d.c., capital police announcing they'll not pursue

charges on michael grimm, following the state of the union, congressman grimm has apologized. still ahead this hour, amanda knox convicted again of murder, but she's vowing to never step foot in an italian jail again, is that possible? and developing news from washington, the president is expected to make remarks on the long-term unemployed in this country as he meets with ceos. those comments live, but the agenda panel weighs in. stay with us. it's time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. kelly khalil started her company loverly in 2012 with one mission, to make wedding planning easier through her bridal search engine. with retail partners approaching daily and content increasing, she hit a nerve and her company is growing. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be

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i took medicine but i still have symptoms. [ sneeze ] [ male announcer ] truth is not all flu products treat all your symptoms. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus severe cold and flu speeds relief to these eight symptoms. [ breath of relief ] thanks. [ male announcer ] you're welcome. ready? go. amanda knox is speaking out today after an italian appeals court found her and her ex-boyfriend, raffaele sollecito guilty again. she is vowing to fight her new 28-year sentence. sollecito was briefly detained in italy this morning, where he lives, but was released a few hours ago. here's what amanda knox had to say about her former boyfriend today. >> i know he feels supported and

respected by many people in italy, but he is vulnerable, and i don't know -- i don't know what i would do if they imprisoned him, like, it's maddening. >> alex little is a former federal prosecutor with a background in international law. alex, welcome. you've heard amanda knox there, she sounded pretty shaken up there at the prospect of her former boyfriend being put back in jail. we know she's concerned about having to return to italy. let's listen to a little bit more. >> absolutely. >> we heard you say that you would not go willingly, amanda, that they'd have to catch you first and you'd go kicking and screaming. >> yeah. i'm -- i will never go willingly back to the place where i -- i'm going to fight this until the very end. >> alex, what is the likelihood that the u.s. extradites knox to italy and she has to serve this 28-year term? >> it is very hard to say at

this point. there are a number of steps that have to take place before then. the judge has issued a verdict, but we don't know the legal reasoning behind the verdict now. that will take about 90 days. there will be another 90 days for the appeals court, for them to file an appeal. there will be another appeal before the italian supreme court to reform this conviction or reverse it. there are a whole lot of steps to take place before italy will request extra diction. they didn't request to extradite the cia employees a few years back for an individual there in italy, so the government has to make that decision, and if they do, only then will the extradition process begin. >> alex, how much does this case weigh in on italian officials or government officials, what's been said in the press, the way it's so scrutinized really, can this sway governments? >> it will, i think, it will sway governments. the legal part of this is pretty

straightforward, she's been convicted of murder, if that conviction is affirmed, the law on this is going to be pretty clear. she would be eligible for extradition. the political piece is the most important in determining whether or not she is extradited. international law, the core is about politics and the italian government is going to take that into consideration and may be happy with affirmed conviction by the supreme court of italy if that were to happen and not actually make the request to the united states because they know the sort of media attention this case has gotten in italy and the united states and they may not want to take the chance the u.s. will say no. >> okay. i'd like to play a little bit about what raffaele sollecito had to say, he spoke with nbc this morning. let's take a listen. >> to me, all of this make no sense, so i will fight until the end, also because we proved that we showed in many ways that i have nothing to do with this murder. >> in addition to his pleading innocence and that he will

fight, as has amanda knox's family, amanda said that yourself. you gave that agenda 90 days here and there for trying to figure out exactly what the reasoning is for the guilty verdict, but then appeals, how long can this go on? >> it can go on for awhile. 90 days after the judge issues his actual reasons behind it, there will be an opportunity for amanda knox's lawyers to file their appeal. that process could take months and months. one of the things i think is frustrating about this particular case to folks in the united states, we value finality. there's one trial, may be appeals, there's only one trial. in italy, this appellate process is much drawn out and we're seeing the benefits of the united states system. if you're amanda knox's family, meredith kercher's family, this roller coaster must be impossible. >> yeah, i can about imagine. actually, i can't, thank goodness. alex little, many thanks for your insight, appreciate it. and we'll be right back.

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we have developing news this hour here on msnbc as we give you live pictures from the white house. any minute now, we're going to hear from the president who's meeting today with the ceos of several different companies, and together they are going to make an announcement about a plan to help the long-term unemployed in this country. we're going to take you live for those remarks when they happen. i'd like to bring in today's agenda panel, we're going to talk more about this. viviana, the founder of the wise latinos club. and serena maxwell. a big welcome to all three of you. viviana, i'm going to begin with you. as the president is wrapping up his post-state of the union push with this event, the white house says it's gotten about 300 businesses to agree with the new hiring policies and here's the president in an interview just released this morning. let's listen. >> we've done, gathered together 300 companies just to start with, including some of the top

50 companies in the country, companies like walmart, apple, ford and others, to say let's establish best practices. do not screen people out of the hiring process just because they've been out of work for a long time. >> viviana, many ceos have no idea they are hiring managers or even doing that. is there something else the white house is missing with this initiative? >> i think one thing that's interesting about this, you have, for example, whole hiring practices that even begin before the human level with the computer analytics that are dinging applications before they even get to a hiring manager, and this is why it's so urgent, alex, and so crucial, 39% of the employed are considered long-term unemployed, but research shows that the longer you've been out of work, particularly six months or longer, your job prospects diminish by 15%. so if you think about it, this kind of initiative is what i like to call a country best

practice. you've got government coming together with industry, with nonprofits. they are working together because america needs to get back to work. >> bill, i'm going to give you a stat here, in addition to what viviana says, this from the white house, they call eight months for unemployment are 45% lower compared to those folks unemployed for just a month. so can you put me into perspective on how hard it is to get the long-term unemployed back in the workplace? >> it's extraordinarily hard. the easiest thing to do was hire the workers directly, but that requires money and the republicans aren't going to open up those pursestrings. the republicans have been mocking the president for years as a community organizer. they didn't expect him to be a ceo community organizer and that's a strategy that's worked in the past, whether passing obamacare or tax cuts. it's exposing the fact that republicans have held up aid to the job list, saying it's a disincentive to get people jobs. who's trying to get the jobs to the people now? it's the president, not the

republicans. it's exposing the lack of jobs agenda that's going to show they are not just callus to what's going on in the real economy. >> how do you interpret what's happening, the signed pledges from all these companies, what's that going to do on a practical level? >> i think it will open space for companies to jump onboard and put pressure, particularly in terms of public relations here, and i think bill is exactly right, this puts the appropriate amount of pressure on republicans to look like they are also doing something. i think that we're acting a lot like the president doing things on his own is new, but really they call this year the year of action, but in 2011, they were calling it "we can't wait," and i think that the white house really is focusing in on republicans ran on jobs in 2010, and haven't done anything, and so focusing on the long-term unemployed here shows a direct contrast of what the republicans have not done and what the president is trying to do by any

means necessary. >> viviana, do you think there needs to be a cultural shift to change the way we value people in the workplace? i'm talking about everybody, but also the older people in the workplace, those that have so much experience that bring, you know, a breath of years under their years, they may cost a little more, though. >> yeah, and you know what's really interesting about it is, the value they can bring. i'm a big fan, for example, this cultural shift that i was talking about a little bit earlier on the call, specifically if you think about, for example, matching the so-called invincibles, the millennials and how resourceful they can be, and the experience they bring with them. i have friends who are hiring managers and told me, i have been with candidates in their 20s and if they just seemed a little more interested, i would probably hire them. i'd like to think of another thing, the concept of diversity as a best practice. if you look at this really cool study by the urban institute that drilled down at who the

long-term unemployed is, it's people who are of color, people who are older, disabled. i think it will be interesting, as well, for companies to think how it is they could be doing not just outreach for these kind of candidates, recruiting them, developing them, retaining them, then promoting them. this is what's going to cause real long-term solutions for our families and strengthen our economy. >> you know, bill, december 28th last year was a pretty dark day for so many. in fact, the white house says that 1.6 million people have lost their long-term benefits since that date, another 5 million could see their payments stop this year. is there a chance that the benefits will be extended any time soon? >> well, i think there is a chance. there is some talk about a deal, but it might not be for the full year. might only be for a short period of time, only about three months, and this is, obviously, hard on the job lists, but again also on the republicans. they are the ones holding it up. i do think it's going to bring

some hope for the minimum wage increase, but the republicans can't just be in denial mode all the way through to election day, and historically, when democrats ramp up the pressure on minimum wage, republicans usually cave, so i have hope on the minimum wage and jobless benefit, but probably not for the full year, unless republicans have a change of heart. >> the president said he's willing to do in the state of the union speech tuesday night, if he has to go around congress, what else does he have to get his jobs goals accomplished? >> certainly, he's taken a lot of initiative in terms of executive action. that's not new. this is something the white house has been ramping up since 2011 because they've seen that republicans don't want to pass legislation that benefits the american people. i think bill, again, is right about putting pressure on congress to raise the minimum wage, and using that as a framework to say, we actually care as democrats about women, because the largest amount of

people who have minimum wage drops are women, so that indirectly impacts families, as well, so we're helping women, we're helping families, and republicans are not, they are blocking all of that progress, so i think that contrast could not be more clear here. >> yeah. i want to let all of you know we're being given a warning now, my director, if we can, will go back to the white house, and we're awaiting him to take the podium. again, the event here is called "opportunity for all ready to work." the president is going to be introduced by a man who's an apprentice electrician at pacific gas and electric company. that is the gentleman right there. as we wait for this to start officially with the president, we'll listen in our control booth, another minute and a half or so until they take to the president. viviana, to you, with regard to what the president can do with these 300 companies that have signed on with the long-term getting these people back to work, the long-term unemployed, how confident are you this can

happen quickly? >> well, i think the real question is how urgent it is, because there are so many millions of americans that really need it to work really quickly. you know, i think one thing that's really important, and zarlina was pointing it out, there has been an executive action since 2011, but we cannot underestimate the power the president has, despite an obstructionist republican congress, and that is the power of the bully pulpit and the white house was clear they were going to use the pen and the power of his phone to push this forward, and so we can all -- these millions of americans that are hopeless and desperate and really need this to work, we're hoping that it works, not just with these 300 companies, but that number keeps mushrooming. >> absolutely. the president has said what they are trying to do in conjunction with these 300 ceos today, it will prohibit human resource departments from screening

against workers who have been unemployed for more than six months. it is, you know, unfathomable that a lot of these ceos have no idea this was part of the practices of their companies. bill, can you hold them responsible at all, or do you think going forward now, okay, let's get this done the right way? >> look, i've been in the position where i'm looking through a stack of resumes. you make snap judgments. all of your internal biases you're not aware you have come into play in a manner of seconds. it's easy to be unaware you do it, so that's why it makes a lot of sense, if he doesn't have the money, president obama is trying to change the culture of hiring by spotlighting the issue and making people aware. i'm not going to wag my finger at these ceos, especially since they are coming together to highlight the problem and solve the problem. >> zarlina, i will apologize in advance if i need to interrupt you should the president take the podium, but about 4 million people have been out of work for six months, this is three times

the pre-recession average. who do you hold responsible if -- actually, he's being introduced. you will hold that thought and we'll listen to the president. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you, everybody. everybody, please, have a seat. well, first of all, let me just thank eric for being here, for sharing his story, for his service to our country. i hope that listening to eric here, everybody recognizes what a great success story this is, but also the notion that somebody with this kind of skill and talent was having difficulty

finding a job. in the case, the challenge that we face. and i want to thank all of you, business leaders and philanthropists, elected officials, all levels and members of my cabinet and the administration, not only for coming, but for committing to more success stories for people like eric. making sure that everybody in this country who wants to work, has a chance to get ahead and not just get a paycheck, but also the dignity and the structure that a job provides people. you know, on tuesday, i delivered my state of the union address, and i said while the economy is getting stronger and businesses like yours have created more than 8 million new jobs over the past four years, our unemployment rate is lower than it's been in over five years, we all know we've still got a lot more to do to build an economy where everybody who is willing to work hard and take responsibility can get ahead.

we've got to do more to restore opportunity for every american. and the opportunity agenda i laid out begins with doing everything we can to create new jobs here in america, jobs in construction and manufacturing, jobs in american innovation and american energy. there are steps we can take to streamline our tax code to incentivize companies to invest here, there are things we can do to make sure we are continuing to lead the world in innovation and basic research. we've got a whole lot of infrastructure we can build that would put people to work right away. we've got couple trillion dollars worth of deferred maintenance in america, and the ramifications of us taking that on would be significant. so, we've got to grow faster and put more shoulders behind the wheel of expanding economic growth.

step two is making sure every american has the skills to fill those jobs. step three, we've got to guarantee every child access to a world-class education, from early childhood, to college, to a career. [ applause ] and step four, we've got to make sure hard work pays off, with money you can live on, savings you can retire on, health insurance that's there for you when you need it. today we're here to focus on that second point, connecting more ready-to-work americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs, so that folks that are out of work can apply the skills that they've already got. getting people back on the job faster is one of our top priorities, but i have to confess last month congress made that harder by letting unemployment insurance expire for more than 1 million people, and each week that congress fails to restore that insurance,

roughly 72,000 americans will join the ranks of the long-term unemployed who have also lost their economic lifeline. and for our fellow americans who have been laid off through no fault of their own, unemployment insurance is often the only source of income they've got to support their families while they look for a new job. so when eric was out of work, it's a lot harder to look for work if you can't put gas in the gas tank. if you're worried about whether there's food on the table for your kid. if mom isn't making the rent and paying her phone bill, it's a lot harder for her to follow up with a potential employer. unemployment insurance provides that extra bit of security so that losing your livelihood doesn't mean that you lose everything that you've worked so hard to build, and that's true if you've been out of work for one month or six months, but folks who have been unemployed the longest, often have the

toughest time getting back to work. it's a cruel catch-22. the longer you're unemployed, the more unemployable you may seem. now, this is an illusion, but it's one that, unfortunately, we know statistically is happening out there. according to one study, if you've been out of work eight months, you're likely to get called back for an interview only about half as often as if you've been out of work one month. even with the identical resume. so, we are here tonight to say that's not right. because we know there are folks like eric all across this country who have enormous skills, enormous talents, enormous capacity, but they need to change. you know, i invited misty to my speech tuesday night, a mother of two young boys. she had been steadily employed since a teenager, put herself

through college, had never collected unemployment benefits, never depended on the federal government, extraordinarily impressive young woman. when she lost her job to budget cuts, she couldn't find another. she turned to unemployment insurance to make sure she and her husband could keep the new home they had just spent their life savings to buy, and as i said on tuesday, she wrote to me in saying, i'm confident i'll find a job, i will pay my taxes, i will raise our kids in the home that we purchased in the community that we love. please, give us this chance. and i thought that spoke for so many americans out there, just give us this chance. they are neighbors, friends, young and old, black, white, men and women, ph.ds and geds. statistically, the long-term unemployed are oftentimes slightly better educated, some cases better qualified, than folks who just lost their job.

just because you've been out of work for a while does not mean you are not a hard worker. just means you had bad luck or you were in the wrong industry or you lived in a region of the country that's catching up a little slower than others in the recovery. and i've heard from too many of these folks who show up earlear they will outwork anybody. they fill out 100 applications, 200 resumes, they are sending out resumes still finding time to volunteer in the community or helping out a church. sometimes they have more experience, education, and skill than newly unemployed americans. they just need that chance. somebody will look past that stretch of unemployment, put it in the context of the fact that we went through the worst financial and economic crisis in our lifetimes, which created a group of folks who were unemployed longer than normal. they just need employers to

realize it doesn't reflect at all on their abilities or their value. it just means they've been dealing with the aftermath of this really tough job market. and all they need is a fair shot. and with that shot, an out of work young person can get the critical experience he needs to improve his employment prospects for the rest of his life. with that shot, someone with decades of experience could get back in the game and show a younger worker the ropes. we can give them that shot, and that's what today is all about. and we really don't have an alternati alternative, because giving up on the unemployed will create a drag in our economy that we cannot tolerate. giving up on any american is something america cannot do. and eric, i think, made an important point during his early remarks, oftentimes, folks, no matter how skilled you are, how confident you are, you get discouraged.

and that affects people's physical health, it affects their mental health, and over time, you can have a negative feedback where it becomes harder and harder for folks to get back in the game, because -- >> all right, the president there talking about what he plans to do to help the long-term unemployed, a very shocking statistic he relayed there, that if you've been unemployed for eight months or longer, you have a 45% less chance of even being granted an interview of someone who's been an employee for one month. something he's trying to change with ceos across this country that are joining forces, you know what, we're going to give a better look to the long-term unemployed. training and skills will be at the top of the list for what the white house plans to do. switching gears, voting rights have been cropping up this week, there could be problems with their i.d. under the state's new law which requires the name on the i.d. to match exactly with the name on

the voter registration database. meantime, republicans in missouri are pushing legislation that would require a government-issued photo i.d. to cast a ballot. that would effect 200,000 voters there in the show-me state. joining me, zachary roth, zach has been writing about this issue. texas, so what kind of a problem could we see with this new law? i mean, when we're talking exact, are we meaning middle initials, everything has to be that specific? >> that's right. if there's any kind of mismatch between your name on the voter rolls and on the i.d. you present, you're going to have a problem. now, you can still vote by signing an affidavit, and that's thanks to wendy davis, by the way, who introduced an amendment that allowed for that, but you do have to sign that affidavit. in a low turnout election, i saw a number of women, mostly women -- >> changed their name, right, drop a maiden name to married name or use a maiden name for work.

>> i saw a number of them run into that problem. when you have a much higher turnout election, which we'll have in 2014 when wendy davis is running for governor, that's where you could at the polls. >> let's talk about missouri, what we do know is the supreme court struck down the state's 2006 photo i.d. law saying it's unconstitutional. can republicans push this back in and bring new legislation around this? >> they are trying to do that. pushing two bills at the same time. one would essentially put a constitutional amendment on the ballot for november and if voters approve that, that would essentially undue the supreme court decision you referred to. it will say you can have a voter i.d. law. then the second bill that would go into effect if that amendment is approved would be a voter i.d. bill. the twin measures together would essentially implement voter i.d. in missouri. >> legislation going to preserve election integrity, but can we

play a sound bite from eric holder, he did an interview with ari melber. >> come up with a remedy in search of a problem and it's being used in too many instances to depress the vote of particular groups of people who are not supportive of the party that is advancing these photo i.d. measures. >> this bill would require the state to provide free voter i.d. is there anything that seems fair about that. would that work? >> it's better than not providing it, but the problem is in order to get that i.d., you need to present documents, like your birth certificate and passport and a lot of people don't have those and there's a cost to getting those, sometimes 20 to $30 for a birth certificate and much more for a passport. the larger issue, there's a lot of people that aren't quite engaged enough to do that. that's a burden if you're working full-time. a lot of people aren't going to motivate to do it and they should still have the right to

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new numbers out on american's perceptions of concussions in football just ahead of the super bowl. a new poll found that 40% of americans would encourage their kids to play a sport other than football due to concussion concerns. your super bowl party could cost you a bit more this year. let's look at the result of the big game snack survey. guacamole will cost you 5 to 10% more. pizza the same, and beer 1 to 5% more. you know it's worth it, right. >> i'll see you back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern time. craig melvin picks things up after the break. you're watching msnbc. ♪ ♪

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rockefeller plaza and super bowl sunday tgif at that. just down the avenue a few blocks away, this is the scene as the minutes tick down to kickoff sunday evening. we've got you covered on the game time forecast and early look at the ads everyone is talking about, plus, we'll be joined by a former nfl player who's making a different play these days. we'll get to all of that in just a moment. we start this high noon with a busy day at the white house and the man on a mission, president obama, in between events right now pushing a pledge to help the long term unemployed. the president today wrapping up his busy state of the union week with a white house summit aimed at helping those who have been out of a job for six months or more. gathering ceos from the top companies the president urged employers to give the long term jobless an honest chance. >> all they need is a fair shot. with that shot an out of work

young people can get the critical experience he needs to improve employment prospects for the rest of his life. with that shot someone with decades of experience can get back in the game and show the younger worker the ropes. we can give them that shot and that's what today is all about. >> peter alexander taking his brief window between the president's event and the white house briefing to join us live. good to see you, sir. this is part of the president's state of the union push, taking action to help those 4 million folks who have been out of work for six months now. the private sector has to get on board for this thing to work. how is the white house going to go about doing that? >> this is another example of what the president indicated in the state of the union, he's going to use his pen and phone when necessary to get things down with or without congress. this is an example of effectively going around congress but there are limits to what he can do. what he's basically doing now is