yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! this morning my question, what will 1 billion people be doing on valentine's day? plus president obama tells congress it's with or without you. and finding the funk. the film maker nelson george. but first, what did he know and when did he know it?

good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. we begin this morning with the new development in the traffic scandal engulfing new jersey governor chris christie's administration. as "the new york times" first reported and nbc news reported in the afternoon, the port authority official who oversaw the closures at the george washington bridge which tied up traffic for several days claims that governor christie knew about the lane closings while they were happening. now, let's back up for a second. this former port authority official is david wildstein. wildstein was the director of interstate capital projects at the port authority. and he is the one who personally oversaw the lane closures from what was initially said to be part of a traffic study. wildstein resigned in early december. in early january, evidence surfaced that governor christie's chief of staff sent an e-mail saying, quote, time for some traffic problems in

fort lee. wildstein responded, got it. on january 9th during a two-hour-long process conference, christie announced he had fired kelly and apologized for the closures. but he denied he had anything to do with them. and on the same day, wildstein appeared before the transportation committee and he pleaded the fifth. >> on the advice of my counsel, i assert my right to remain silent under the united states and new jersey constitutions. on the advice of counsel, i again assert my right to remain silent. same answer. same answer, sir. same answer, sir. it's the same answer, sir. >> now, wildstein did turn over to the committee e-mails and texts that showed a link between christ christie's administration and the lane closures. such as the time for traffic problems exchange. parts of the documents were redacted. his attorney has told reporters that wildstein would not say anything about what happened or reveal the complete documents

unless he was offered immunity for his role in the closures. that is the man who is now claiming tl claiming through a letter from his lawyer that governor christie knew about the closures while they were happening. and wildstein's attorney says there is proof. in a letter sent yesterday requesting that the port authority pay wildstein's legal fees, his attorney wrote, quote, evidence exists tying mr. kristi to having knowledge of the lane closures during the period when the lanes were closed contrary to what the governor stated publicly he gave immediately before mr. wildstein was scheduled to appear before the transportation committee. mr. wildstein contests the accuracy of the statements the governor made about him. at this point they are just that, claims. we have not seen the evidence that wildstein's attorney reports exists. and in his press conference on the ninth, governor christie vehemently denied knowing about the lane closures.

>> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning, or its execution. i knew nothing about this. until it started to be reported in the papers about the closure. but even then i was told this was a traffic study. i had no knowledge of this, of the planning, the execution, or anything about it. and then i first found out about it after it was over. and even then what i was told was that it was a traffic study. >> yesterday after wildstein's letter was made public, governor christie's office put out a statement. quote, mr. wildstein's lawyer confirms what the governor has said all along. he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened. whatever mr. wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with. as the governor said in the december 13th press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press. as he said in his january 9th conference, had no indication

this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of january 8th. the governor denies mr. wildstein's lawyers other assertions. joining me now is steve kornacki, robert tranam, bob herbert, and ari melburg. steve, i want to start with you on this news by reading you actually the latest statement that came after the one i just discussed from governor christie. this one came in last night from the governor's spokesman collin reed saying just to clear up any lingering confusion, governor christie has said each time when he first knew about the closings of the lane, after the instance was over. that seems to be what we have here. this idea that the timeline is murky. is that what's happening? >> yes. after it was reported, that

takes you to september 13th. the closure went into effect september 9th. they're saying after the reports came in the press, the inquiries came in on september 12th. it was very confusing yesterday when the original christie statement came out. wildstein had said -- what wildstein's lawyer said was that evidence existed that christie knew while the closures were taking place. and the initial christie statement said christie has never said he knew beforehand. those are two very different things. we were just talking about this on the show before this. it also raises the question of, okay. if christie became aware of this in any way while it was playing out, to take four months basically to go from an awareness and being told, maybe originally this is a traffic study, to going to the press reports to never showing any curiosity to get to the bottom of this, i think that's why people are still stuck on that

press conference on january 9th. there was common sense missing from his explanation. everything that has come out since then says there's something else going. >> and yet, ari, we try as we are looking at this and trying to part all of this, we don't have an attorney on the team, but you're an attorney. part of what i wanted to get from you is while you're looking at the documents and the way they have particular language, evidence exists. right? and more than anything, the fact that this is part of a claim on costs to be paid that are legal costs. i think there's -- on the one hand there's this feeling of it's not right whatever we're not hearing from the governor. but it also feels yucky what we're hearing from the wildstein team. >> you're thinking there's one thing here that there's accusations of the abuse of power yet built on complex situations. what we call the kornacki stuff. which is all these details you

have to get your arms around. well, if that sounded technical, wait until we get into the bylaws of the port authority. that's what this letter is about. the bylaws state if you are in legal trouble for acting within the scope of deployment, you will have your defense and your legal fees basically probably covered even if you're a former employee. but then they have this other piece. this is whae the fight is about. it also says that to get that lawyer fee covered, you'd have to have the full cooperation of the person in this case wildstein in the defense of the action at issue. well, we know that well behind this letter on the phone and in whatever discussions they're having, that goes to the heart of this. is this someone who's actually going to turn and not defend whatever it was that occurred or didn't occur, act or omission is the way they talk about it in the law. that is the predicate for this dispute. what we are seeing here even if you didn't understand that or don't care about the bylaws,

what we're seeing is a guy who has tried every way to get his fees covered and hasn't gotten them covered. and saying it seems he is getting more legal support. he's throwing down the gauntlet saying it's going to get worse. and he may have every right to do that. what he's also looking for is immunity. so that is a conflict that undergirds this back and forth. the biggest thing in the letter to me was not so much the statements he's eluded to before, but rather he claims to evidence. we need to know what that is. >> so, steve, given that part of the politics of this maybe not so much the law of this, the politics has to do with the credibility of these men. you worked with wildstein. how credible do you think he is on this notion that there is evidence that exists? >> the thing we were just talking about with brian murphy in the last show who also worked for wildstein, wildstein is a long-term strategic thinker. he prepares for contingencies. i can't imagine that david wildstein ever thought he'd be in the exact position, but i can

imagine that he's the kind of person that thought he might be in a position where he is going -- a position like this. this is the kind of guy who saves documents, who saves e-mails. the thing i remind people of is think about his role in new jersey politics. when i knew him and people in new jersey knew him, he was the anonymous editor of the premiere state source for state political news. he cultivated sources, high-level sources on both sides of the aisle. he was very good at doing that anonymously. he has 15 years of e-mails from people way up the ranks in new jersey politics who were spilling their souls to him. i'm sure he could take my e-mails alone and humiliate me with them. that's the kind of stuff he has. >> all right. stick with us. we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, i want to talk more about fresh reporting steve did this morning on another political impact on chris christie in new jersey. going to get into that next. ♪

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a scrutiny over a variety of stories in new jersey politics continues was reported this week that $6 million of sandy recovery money was spent on a politically connected senior center in belleville, new jersey. a town less affected by the storm than coastal areas of the state. steve kornacki has new reporting on the story. what have you found? >> this is $6 million in sandy funds that we just found out sandy funds paid for this senior citizen complex in bellville. not hit nearly as hard. this relatively speaking was not hit like the coast and hoboken. yet $6 million in sandy money is going to this senior complex. the story we wondered was why

did it take until the end of january 2014 for people to realize this was sandy money. there was a law put on the books in new jersey as all that federal money started coming in. it's basically the integrity monitor project of 2014. every project worth more than $5 million is involved is supposed to have an independent integrity monitor assigned to it. that monitor will do auditing and issue quarterly reports that are to be on file with the state legislature. alert immediately if there's any suspicion of any mall feasanasa going on. least see what was going on. there are no reports for quarter three or four. we call the administration, it takes a us a long time to get from the administration. what we finally get from the administration is they're telling us that this law that was passed in march of 2013 that has a note at the bottom that

goes into effect immediately, it's not until january, this month, that they say we are now in the process of assigning monitors. assigning monitors begins this month. we say are we understanding you correctly. you are not putting the monitors in place until january. we did not hear back when we wrote that then. but it's highly suspicious if for no other reason that it's january. twlst these contract that canceled, there's bellville, the hoboken story. and now the administration says, okay, we're putting this in place. >> robert, i want to ask you on part of the language we heard steve use. it is highly suspicious. so there's going to be continuing investigation. there's going to be potentially criminal or civil, whatever else. in the meantime there is politics. politics does not necessarily wait for juries and judges to make all of their decisions. for the republican party in particular that has christie at the head of the rga, how

problematic is this suspicion? how politically damaging is this? no matter what, the final outcome is. >> if you ask a lot of moderate republicans, they are still very much in support of christie. you look at rudy giuliani and others, they're in support. if you asked a rand paul, a mitch mcconnell. someone more on the tea party wing of the party or have a challenger, they've been quiet about christie. here's why. >> isn't that opportunistic. that's not about this. they were already critical. >> this is just icing on the cake. fast forward to 2016. running for president is a two-part process. it's the republican primary which are evangelicals that historically come out in higher numbers than the moderate republicans. can you see him running against him? >> i think it goes deeper than that. i agree with what you're saying, but it goes more than that.

the popular kid always have a glass jaw if he's just popular but not believed in. this is my point. the central argument here indeed the genesis of the alleged bullying in the first place is popularity, right? and electability. it is not i'm the most conservative on the national stage. it is not i'm the most libertarian. it isn't even i'm the guy who goes at obama the hardest which we know is what a lot of republicans have been selling lately. no. it's none of those anger points and passion points. it is a transference argument. i am popular here. i have new jersey coalition. i can appeal to democrats and women voters. which he did in the re-election. this is my point on the vulnerability. when that starts to fade, there isn't anything underneath it. >> that means we have to keep our eye on two things. both what happens when the popular kid is no longer popular and popularity was the thing that made him popular in terms of his ability to win votes. and then the second piece is

what is actually happening especially on these questions of whether or not there was corruption, knowledge, and whether or not the policies that were implemented harmed people who were trying to recover from a disaster. steve kornacki of up with steve kornacki which is aptly named. and it's like my show like that. thank you so much for sticking around with us this morning. up next, president obama tells congress he can go it alone. but can he really? ♪ ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] with five perfectly sweetened whole grains... you can't help but see the good. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews.

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to the elegant trim in each and every piece, ♪ kohler will make your reality a dream. this week president obama has been acting on the pledge he made to congress during tuesday night's state of the union. >> america does not stand still and neither will i. so wherever and whenever i can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more american families, that's what i'm going to do. >> after a year of failed attempts at seeking bipartisan

middle ground to advance his second term agenda, president obama is making an end run around the republican-controlled house of representatives by using the power of the executive order. but despite the president's big talk about going rogue, the scope of his power to change policy reflects a more modest reality. using executive action to advance his agenda is the best he can do with the divided government and the clock running down on his second term. but it is far from a panacea. president obama acknowledges as much with the limited scope of his proposals. like this. >> in the coming weeks, i will issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour. >> it's great. and the president's order will create meaningful changes. but it only applies to new workers. and it only applies to federal contract employees. and president obama's other proposals faced similar limitations. yesterday he brought the heads of major corporations to the

white house to pledge not to discriminate against the long-term unemployed. but a voluntary pledge is no replacement for policy. and while the long-term unemployed are waiting for a call back, they're also waiting on the unemployment aid that congress has failed to extend. then there's the biggest for those that push executive action. the possibility that the next person in the oval office could push those accomplishments right back. it's exactly what president obama did as soon as he took office in 2009. on his first day on the job, the president reversed two policies enacted by george w. bush. one involving requests made under the freedom of information act and one on former presidents and executive privilege. but an executive order backed by popular or political will is not quite so easy to undo. especially when it's the catalyst for sweeping transformative moments. that was the case when harry truman decided in 1948 to desegregate the armed forces.

and when president abraham lincoln declared in emancipation proclamation that slaves should henceforth be free. it is the same kind of definitive change president obama was able to make during his first term when he used an executive order to defer deportation of young undocumented immigrants. and to stop challenging the defense of marriage act. this is now. this is the second term and a midterm election year. that means the president is looking not only to set the 2014 election agenda, but also cement his long-term legacy. and to do that, he'll have to put in place policy changes that can't be swept away with the presidential pen. he'll have to use his own pen to add his name to legislation instead of exclusively executive orders. you can't do that unless congress gives him something to sign. joining the table is liz

winnstedt. what can the president do alone? >> the president without a doubt been dealt a tough hand. it's a tough hand in part because republicans have been so obstructionist. but also in part because of some missteps on the president's part. but i thought in his state of the union speech he sort of played that hand as well as anyone could have played it. the initiative where he's going to increase the wages of new federal contract employees to $10.10 an hour is significant. we don't know how many people will be affected. it will only apply to new hires going forward which by the way that was a big demos initiative. the first to point out that the federal government through its contractors hires more low wage workers than mcdonald's and pal mart combined. but i think one of the big important things about that initiative is that it puts the spotlight on the minimum wage going forward in general.

and that is something the president can push. he didn't do a lot by executive order. but i would just caution people. it's too early to count barack obama out. >> absolutely. >> this is a smart, politically savvy guy. he'll woo zeal hope how the handles. >> i read prerogative as p perjoritive. but here's in a wall street journal editorial saying of all the troubles aspects of the obama presidency, none is more dangerous than the president's persistent pattern of lawlessness. but if we were to look at the actual sort of set of policies over the years, he's way at the bottom of people actually using executive orders compared to

all -- like president obama's way down there with harry truman. >> grover cleveland. grover cleveland has never gotten any more press than he has this week. i think, you know, it's the thing that i find fascinating about it is this administration knows that saying i'm going to issue executive orders is going to get the, you know, the benghazi jihad crazy people to be again saying this lawless stuff. and so who was he to put on a speech to someone just watching the state of the union and seeing he prioritized saying you know what? i am going to sign pieces of legislation outside of the realm of this because these people aren't getting anything done. he knows the extreme right is going to go crazy. are people excited about this? did they calculate the decision to say this because it had some positive narrative to the base? >> is it a positive narrative to the base or is he just trolling the right to get them to

overreact? i haven't particularly thought about that, but you're right. there's no way the obama administration this far that if he's saying i'm going without you is going to create backlash. is that just what he needs for the 2014 midterms. go overboard. then suddenly i get my base to the polls. >> what the president is doing is no different than any other second term president. in your second term right about now you comp a little imp tept. just a little. the constitution describes presidential authority very broadly. george washington used it. i believe when i saw the president say what he said during the state of the union address, i said this is a fund raising effort. this is going to rally his base in the democratic party. it is projected they're going to lose the senate. they're definitely not going to take the house.

so this is his way of rallying his base. >> i don't know if that's quite right. can i tell you -- >> for you to say this is more of a moment of impotence or loss masculinity, because it felt to me like this felt the most swaggerless that i've seen the president. and in the state of the union. and by swagger i mean him saying, that's right, i'm president. and being president means there are things ki do without -- >> but back in 2007 and 2008 the obama campaign staff, we're not doing executive orders. this is about change. this is going to be a transformation of a president. they're doing just exactly that. there is no other way they can get their agenda passed. but i remind everyone that the democrats controlled the house and the senate for the first two years. >> they got a lot done. they also got the most important -- >> passed a lot of bills. >> those two years under nancy pelosi's leadership and the president's first two years are the most active in legislation

and specifically the largest piece of domestic legislation. >> but doesn't the american people have the right to republican a republican congress which they have that said stop, talk to the hand. let's have a conversation. >> of course the american people not only have that right but they did it. but they also re-elected this president. like, he terms of -- of course the american people do not elect a congress. in each individual district, they elect their individual member of congress. and what we know is that gerrymandering meant the general will of the people were not reflected in the makeup of the 113th congress because there were many hundreds of thousands of additional votes for democrats. but because of the nature of how districts were drawn by republicans, it didn't turn into democratic seats in the house. the question of whether the will of people is in question. but not in the white house where they had a clear option to put in mitt romney or second term president obama. when we come back, i'll let ari

me melbe speak some words. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirecould last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

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during a state of the union address, the president demanded all of the nation's attention, but members of congress are also looking to steal some of the spotlight to pump up their natural profile or send challengers back home. that's why it also doubles as date night to craft political priorities by inviting a guest who puts a face and story on the issues. this year one guest needed to introduction as he was likely more familiar to most americans than the congressman who brought him. seated in the gallery was "duck dynasty" star willie robertson who was invited by louisiana representative vance mcallister. also in attendance was robertson's wife. robertson reportedly had many star struck lawmakers posing for pictures and asking for autographs and even received

what looked like a wave from the president himself. there was also another invited guest who got less attention in the state of the union but is a star here on mhp show. joining me is gates turner who is a guest of bob casey. tiana, how are you? >> hi, how are you today? >> it's great to see you. tell me, how did you end up as a guest on the state of the union? >> well, bob casey reached out to me and asked if i would like to go as his guest to the state of the union. i said yes. it was a great honor to see the speech up close and personal. >> for you, we've been talking about -- what were the moments that for you were the take homes from the state of the union? >> the one thing that stuck with me that really stuck with me was the speech dealing with humanity

and the values in which many americans have been brought up on. the other thing that stuck was the thing how all women need equal wage. and something that definitely needs to be talked about. of course my passion in stopping hunger is something that is important to me. >> you've talked about about the cuts in the s.n.a.p. program. you worked as a witness to hunger. you hoped you would get an invitation to address congress as they were considering these s.n.a.p. benefit reductions. so talk to me about what it meant for you to be there, you know to be listening instead of speaking. >> well, it was very nice for me

to be there. i would love to be able to be able to talk about my own struggles with s.n.a.p. benefits. it has been up on the floor this wednesday. and i was expecting a phone call. maybe that's later down the road. but it was still important for me to be part of history. it was important for me to be able to sit there and watch, you know, the dynamics of the room to really sit there and watch how the republicans who sat there stiff as robots on some issues but got riled up on others. en for me to sit there, and i was sitting next to another advocate -- she was from ohio. and on the other side of me i was sitting next to the senator's husband from louisiana. so it was a good experience for me to sit there and watch the dynamics of the room as the president spoke. >> i want to come out to my table for one moment. ari, i want to ask you about this probably most sustained moment of bipartisan applause

occurred at the end around one of the real people in the room. talk to me a bit about what the role of actual americans coping with real life is at a state of the union address. why it's important for tianna, for example, to be there. >> i appreciate what she was saying. really at the level of stage production which is easier for television to pick up the people. when you hear politicians tell this story i met this person, sometimes they will go further. we see real people on specifically the issue around s.n.a.p. there's a lot of people in washington patting themselves on the back for the bipartisanship that led to the cutting of these benefits. i don't happen to think that kind of bipartisanship is very impressive. i definitely don't think it's courageous which is a word we hear. you might say it's courageous

when you do something that involves you taking a hit or people affiliated with you taking a hit. and so the reason why having someone line tianna as part of the national conversation as well as you having her on the show and the senator having her there, it adds more people for us to have that back and forth. lord knows us in the media get to say a lot. it's different when you have the back and forth. the president also in part of this follow-up from the state of the union went yesterday and did this google plus event which is not about technology. it's about the fact that he believes it's important his administration to have unscreened interaction with americans. that's an important thing. >> tianna gaines turner in philadelphia, know you always have an open invitation to the table here in nerdland. i'm excited you had the opportunity to go to the state of the union. >> thank you so much for having me again on the show. and thank you so much for those sitting around the round table

who was engaging in this tough conversation in which we're having about s.n.a.p. and political and hunger and poverty. this is one of the many conversations we need to have and we need to have more many like this with both aisles to speak out about those suffering with s.n.a.p. and poverty and low wages. >> absolutely. thank you so much. up next, there is one of the president's administration that has proven it will act. the latest move out of the doj is next. ♪

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caused by harsh drug laws. on thursday deputy attorney general james cole asked defense attorneys around the country for help in seeking out non-violent, low-level drug offenders whose crimes might carry a shorter sentence today. cole announced that doj has requested those attorneys to help offenders petition the president for early release. the move comes just a month after president obama commuted this sentence of eight people who were serving long terms for offenses related to crack cocaine. bob, this has been -- you have been reporting and working on the question of the disparities in drug sentencing and the impact in urban communities especially communities of color. how big a difference could these policies make? >> these new policies could make a big difference. and it's almost like the initiative on the low wage contract workers. it's the first step on a big issue that needs to be followed through on. and once again, this is another initiative that -- you know, people have been critical of the

president and i've been one of them over a period of years. but this is an important issue, and when he does something where you're supposed to give him a bit of applause, time to stand up and do it. i think that this is a big deal. >> especially given that in this case he's taking the go alone. he's say, yes, there may be some congressional action coming, but until there is, this department of justice is willing to move forward. doj has been pretty aggressive over the past month. >> i would say very much so. what you have last year was an executive action, reprioritizing how they look at individual marijuana users in addition to a change on mandatory minimum sentences which is one of the most racially disparate types in this country. the president and eric holder have spoken about that. so has rand paul and other libertarians. and i think the credit goes widely on that. and then when you say what's happening this week, yes. this vote on the smarter sentencing act, this was not a

close vote. this was 13-5. to fundamentally change the way we approach the war on drugs. and as you know and some folks in the audience know, i got to sit down with eric holder a week ago thursday to talk about some of these smart on crime reforms. >> yeah. i was throwing things at the tv. no, i'm just kidding. >> we were at a veterans court. what is a veterans court? it is a new initiative. there are two federal courts and ericholder is saying we need more of them. they use the drug court model to take the people we were just talking about to come home and serve for us. afghanistan or iraq veterans usually have some form of ptsd. our vets population. these are some of e the numbers i was looking president we were in a veterans court where those veterans were given an opportunity to go into a rehab program, to use the drug court

model. that's another piece of this that might not be in the middle of the state of the union, but that's part of what the holder agenda is. >> let me take that and do a worst case political scenario. part of the reason you've had such sort of slow movement towards beginning to reform the criminal justice system is because of the lessons learned in the late 1980s from the racialization and the politics around crime. so if, in fact, you end up with clemency for some low-level drug offenders and even one of them ends up on the back end of clemency having some violent crime, then this becomes the president obama let the criminals out -- like, president obama is this guy who lets the criminals out. how politically risky is this? >> it's risky. and that's going to happen. somebody's going to come out of prison and commit a serious crime, a terrible crime. that sort of thing happens. you're talking about large numbers of people. this is where leadership is really important. if you have the president of the united states and you have the

attorney general and they begin to establish an agenda and then you follow through on it, you can change the mind-set of law enforcement in this country. just like it was changed as you said in the late '80s, you can change it slowly back again. but you have to make the start. >> i want to stick on exactly this topic and let the other two folks on. >> the point also is we don't do it anecdotally. >> but not in a political campaign you don't. right? so i agree. the problem is that willie horton shows up, it's not about whether or not -- so i agree. >> that's why -- that also is why the 13-5 vote is important. look. senator mike lee is wrong about certain things. people have a certain tea party association with him. he is right on this. he and holder had a good exchange. this is a piece of bipartisanship. they can stand together on the reform and the results. >> that's what i want to come back with is a question of how the libertarian aspects allow this to be a space that is bipartisan when we come back. hey guys! sorry we're late.

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we're back. we're continuing to talk about the fact the president in the state of the union said he was going to take some action on this own. now the doj working with to change sentencing. it does feel part of the space that's made here is from the libertarian tea party aspect that says less government and particularly less government in these ways, is this the thing that allows this aspect of the republican party to fall in line or to be supportive of this move? >> absolutely. at the end of the day whether it's libertarianism or conservatism, no one wants the government in your life in that context. when you look at -- >> just want it in your life about the pregnancy. >> but that's different because there's a life involved. for some people. but having said that, when you look at rand paul -- we can talk about that on another show.

>> actually at 11:00 we'll talk about it. >> when you look at rand paul and cory booker. two differences have come together i think it was a twitter conversation about reforming marijuana laws. there's something to be said about that. from a philosophical standpoint, you have two people saying we disagree on everything else, but when it comes to reforming our mandatory drug laws, something needs to be done. that's a good thing. >> it does strike me as a good thing. it's also as i think about the strange bedfellows made by this policy, i don't typically like states right arguments. but it does feel like opening up in the laboratory of the states for sort of more libertarian set of drug laws is part of what's allowing space now for the federal laws to change. >> i mean, for me when i look at it and not knowing a whole lobt about it, so we start out of court and then the judge said no. and then there's all of a sudden not enough judges on courts. as you move your way up in looking at how these laws play

out, like, is it going to be like that's a great idea until we need to start filling some of these court spaces on another level and then what kind of -- which president is going to get to fill those spaces. and you have to appeal if something has happened to you that's not there. >> that's why minimums were so problematic. it doesn't matter who the judge was. you had judges saying speaking out saying i'm being forced to apply this five-year sentence to a 17-year-old kid who was in the car. they didn't find anything on him. he didn't do anything, but these are the way the triggers kick in. to the conversation we were having before the break, yes. there is a political undertone here. it's been here since 1968, vote like your life depended on it. and dukakis in other elections. but both for that prosecution, both parties came through. me reagan mandatory -- the first

one in the reagan era in the '80s passed in the senate. we started this war on drugs as a bipartisan matter and we're going to have to end it in a bipartisan matter. we're going to have to have people stand together to bob's point which is true as a matter of statistics there will be a case out there that can make it an attack ad. but it's an ad that would work equally against mike lee and dick durbin and barack obama. when we say we are not going to live in the shadow of the politics of fear because we can see the statistics rates out that we are a safer country. this is what james cole said in a speech this week. we're a safer country when we come up with solutions. >> thank you so much for being here. good luck tomorrow with your seattle seahawks in the big game. >> from the seahawks to m

macklemore, big week for seattle. >> we're going to hang around and talk about the tiny government on the end of the transvaginal ultrasound when we come back. and i'm going to look at how our political leaders are talking to women. want to hone in on the differences between presenting the policy to create a personal imperative. more at the top of the hour. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! but there are some places even mr. clean doesn't want to lug a whole bunch of cleaning supplies. that's why he created the magic eraser extra power. just one eraser's versatile enough to clean all kinds of different surfaces and three times more grime per swipe. so instead of fussing with rags and buckets,

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or mix vegetables with all white meat chicken and homemade gravy. but marie callender's does. just sit down and savor. marie callender's. it's time to savor. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. welcome back. i'm melissa harris-perry. it has been well documented that a few members of the republican party have had some challenges when it comes to talking to or about or in the general vicinity of women. the national republican congressional committee and aides to speaker of the house even held meetings on how members should talk about women on the campaign trail and constituents. as john boehner put it, some of

our members just aren't as sensitive as they ought to be. perhaps that is one of the reasons president obama relished the reason tuesday night to talk about some of the issues facing women. >> women deserve equal pay for equal work. she deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. a mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or a sick parent without running into hardship. and you know what? a father does too. it is time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a "mad men" episode. >> republican leadership chose congresswoman cathy mcmorris rodgers to give the official response to the speech. she is the highest ranking republican woman l in the house. but noting that she would give the response, speaker boehner made it clear there were other reasons for her selection too. tweeting, as chair of house gop and most importantly a mom,

cathy mcmorris rodgers set to deliver gop address. she included details of her own life story. here she is talking about the vision for equal opportunity. >> it's a vision that is fair and offers the promise of a better future for every american. if you would have told me as a little girl that i would one day put my hand on the bible and be sworn in as the 200th woman to serve in the house of representatives, i wouldn't have thought it possible. i grew up working on my family's orchard and fruit stand in kettle falls in east washington. getting up before dawn with my brother to pick apples. my dad drove a school bus and my mom worked as a part-time bookkeeper. >> state of the union rebuttals generally are light. but there's a difference represented in tuesday night's speeches. that comes to policy versus personal. president obama spoke about

family leave and equal pay, policy issues that affect women disproportionately. congresswoman mcmorris rodgers spoke about being, quote, a girl that worked at the mcdonald's drive-thru to pay for college. she's connecting on a personal level. when speaker boehner talks about reaching out to women, he talks about making his caucus more sensitive. when speakers of the republican national committee meeting talked about reclaiming the rhetoric of the women, they talked about the women who don't need things like guaranteed birth control. one thing appears certain. whether they are talking policy, sharing their stories or pandering, politicians of all kinds are intent on attracting voters. at the table is liz winstead, eve endsler, and kimberly

crenshaw. it's so nice to have everybody here. so i want to -- i just want to start with this sort of notion, kim, about starting with a kind of personal narrative. that the way to attract a woman to vote for you, to be part of your party is to tell a story about your life as a woman. how sort of effective do you think that is? >> well, obviously the republicans think that it's tremendously effective. i mean, it is true that women are more relational. they evaluate candidates based on what they think the candidates will do to them, for them, for their family. but one of the things that i think the republicans are actually showing here is that they really don't have policy. and if they don't have policy, go for the story. i mean, this is something we know and we've seen over and over again. i think the problem that the democrats will have is being able to respond not only to the idea that women as a whole

suffer, but to be able to talk about all of the ways that women across race and class actually suffer. so that the strategy that i think the republicans are trying to do which is divide women, break women, create the myth of the women who don't need any of these policies because they're getting married the way they should. they're having children the way they should. so they don't need any of these policies. it's all those other women. so the democrats need to have some kind of inoculation against this approach of trying to divide and conquer. if they're able to do that, then this telling a feel good story won't be as effective. >> this is an interesting point. it's not as if narrative isn't deployed on left and right. think about wendy davis who comes to prominence around a public policy. but once she starts to run for office, runs in part on her personal narrative, her experience. but what i really love that i hadn't thought so much about is kim's point that it's a difference between the good girl

versus a bad girl narrative. well, i did the right things and therefore i've had good outcomes. versus wendy davis who's like i made lots of mistakes and had lots of challenges. i'm trying to make sure you can make mistakes and have challenges but still be safe and okay. >> and what mistakes are judged as character flaws and what mistakes are not. and what i found so telling about mcmorris rodgers' rebuttal, no one disagrees it didn't have policy. it was a personal narrative. but when you know your party is having this incredible problem with the optics of how you view women, the opportunities for women, i would think that there would have been a conversation about her writer her speech within that saying let's make sure we empower this person with actually policy. so that when she's speak on our policy, she's really selling it. and instead she signed off on

that speech, the party signed off on that speech. and she didn't sell what they were trying to sell to women. and then to have two men offer up the heavy lifting part, it's a really bad optic that just piles onto the already bad optics. >> there's the optic piece. let me also talk about the audio piece. i want to play for you rand paul on "meet the press" last week talking about how there's at a war on women as he can see. >> this whole war on women thing, i'm scratching my head. if there was a war on women, i think they won. you know, the women in my family are incredibly successful. i have a niece at cornell vet school and 85% of the young people there are women. my younger sister is an obgyn with six kids and doing great. i see women rising up and doing great things. in fact, i worry about our young men sometimes because i think the women really are out-competing the men in our

world. >> so, you know, i get like -- if i'm being as charitable and i can and say i get it. that is the women are not victims. women are powerful. women are empowered. right? let me tell you all the good things. women are equal. i read that. but then in my less charitable reading of it, it sounds like, i'm sorry, do you not know that there is a feminine poverty gap? do you not know that there is a wage gap? do you not know that there really are serious challenges that women are having in accesses reproductive health care? it feels out of touch for him to say, well, the women in my family are fine. sure. you know, are wealthy women fine? sure. but that's not what we're talking about here. >> let me say as the only man at the table, i'm going to tread very, very lightly. but having said that, though, look. as a conservative, as a libertarian, it makes me a little uneasy talking about this topic. i feel it should be the individual's responsibility. however, my faith and my overall

philosophical thinking tells me that a life is a life. and thus in the process we don't have the right to take that life. however, i understand -- i can't relate, but i understand what women are going through. and the reason why i say that is because i have women in my family that are living paycheck to paycheck. i have women in my family saying something's not right that when i call in sick, when i come back my boss chastised to me. opposed to when you, robert, call in sick and everything is okay. and thank you, melissa, for saying this in the beginning. some republicans, not all, some are saying these asinine statements that are not rooted in reality. >> so we're going to come back an exactly this topic. on this question on part of because i think the libertarian question around abortion is a real challenge. like i think it is perfectly okay for people to have a strong set of very personal pro-life beliefs and that that could be

completely consistent with a libertarian argument around not making policy that impacts other people's belief. that's precisely what libertarianism is meant to do. to leave space in the law. when we come back, plenty more. honestly, i'm a little old fashioned. i love chalk and erasers. but change is coming. all my students have the brand new surface. it has the new windows and comes with office, has a real keyboard, so they can do real work. they can use bing smartsearch to find anything in the world... or last night's assignment. and the battery lasts and lasts, so after school they can skype, play games, and my favorite...do homework. change is looking pretty good after all. ♪ i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights

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we've talked about personal. let's talk about policy. here's eric cantor speaking at march for life earlier this month on the no taxpayer funding for abortion act. >> i can make you this promise. the people's house will stand for life. >> the bill would make permanent

the hyde amendment which prohibits health care subsidies from the affordable care act from covering abortion services and bars medicaid funding of abortion in washington, d.c. true to his word, he brought the bill up for a vote this past tuesday. it passed in a vote of 227-188. the bill has a chance of passage in the senate and the president has promised to veto it saying the bill would, quote, intrude on reproductive freedom and access to health care. they took out a provision of the bill that would have eliminated medical tax reduction. critics point out that the provision would have ultimately made the irs responsible for auditing victims of rape and incest. eve? >> yes. >> would you like to respond to mr. cantor? >> well, i just think we're at a state where our relationship to women's bodies is so punitive

and so invasive and so ancient. you know, having traveled the world, i'm looking at some of these policies that are so far backwards compared to other countries around the world. and i think the idea that we don't see abortion as something women have a right to be supported and paid for is absurd in this century. but also all these measures now, rape isn't included. this idea of rape insurance that women will have to pay more on top ahead of time so they're preplanning their rapes. they're actually knowing rape will happen, so they'll put that into their budgets. it's mind blowing. and i think -- you know, one of the things i've been thinking about policy in general. nothing is ever pro-women. we always start behind. we don't start out of the gate going how do we serve women? all women across the board. women of color, poor women, middle class women. what are the policies that allow women to live their lives because they're on the front

lines of all the work that matters in society whether it's nursing or teaching or legal work or whatever it is. instead what we're doing is pushing women, making it impossible for them to live lives and these are our bodies. >> and so what i'm imagining as i'm listening to you, i'm thinking to myself i don't have a conservative woman at the table. but if i did, i might hear her say you're talking about women. i'm a woman. i don't agree with you and you are writing me out of womanhood. so, kim, your work has been around this idea that when you say woman, there's not just one thing that can come to our mind. what do we say to women who don't agree with this? >> one of the things it tells us is not all women experience gender the same way. however, there are common risks that women face. and in fact, being of a higher class, being of a majority race might in some ways inoculate you or make you less likely to suffer from certain things.

but the fact you don't suffer from those things personally doesn't mean there aren't structural, cultural disadvantages that attach themselves to women. as we were saying in the break, you know, women can say well, i didn't happen to be raped. and that doesn't mean rape isn't something that happens to women. what we're trying to do in all of our work is make it clear that there are certain vulnerabilities that women experience as a group. and those vulnerabilities are often exacerbated by other factors. such as race, class, sexual assault. these are the kinds of inner sectional awarenesses, the kind of consciousness that politics needs to take up. >> in fact, i'm going to talk about one of he intersections i care about which is the intersection of my hometown. we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, i want to get into the story of yet another state that is going to put in these strict regulations that could effectively shut down clinics right in my hometown. when we get back. welcome back. how is everything?

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in november with no notice or public hearing, the health and hospitals passed emergency regulations affecting the state's abortion clinics. the regulations would impose space requirements on providers but not one of the state's existing five clinics would be able to meet. the rules would also make it easier for the state to shut down clinics and harder for clinics to appeal. and the regulation would require women to have had certain blood work at least 30 days before having an abortion. imposing a waiting period that would force providers to perform abortions later in the pregnancy making the procedure more costly and potentially more dangerous. it could also push women past louisiana's 20-week deadline for portions. this week dhh said the space requirements are only for new facilities and will rescind the portion of the rule. but there's been no notion that is the case.

reproductive rights supporters get their chance to weigh in on the rules next week. joining us now from new orleans to tell us more about that is ellie schilling, an attorney. nice to have you. >> thank you very manager me uc having me on your show. >> tell me what supporters will be hearing in baton rouge coming um up? >> we're encouraging people to attend the hearing with us to make their voices heard. and also people to come and protest outside of the department of health and hospitals. the hearing is on tuesday at 1:00 in baton rouge. in addition to that we're encouraging people both in planz and nationwide to submit public comments. we've been amazingly lucky in e in past couple of weeks to garner a lot of support from both grass roots organizations and on the national level. i have to tell you when i first read these regulations, i was so disheartened and so depressed.

not just as a lawyer, but as a woman and as a citizen. but through the work of organizations on the ground such as the new orleans abortion fund, the students for reproductive justice, the med students for choice, the legislative agenda for women, and then louisiana women have also reached out to national organizations like the center for reproductive rights, the national womens law center, the national partnership for women and families. and if people would like to submit public comments, they can go to this is personal.org. which is a project of the national womens law center. and they're gathering comments for us that they're going to send to new orleans and we're going to deliver to baton rouge. >> let me come out for a moment and ask liz about this. i love this language of this is personal. you've been going around the country trying not only in states like louisiana but in countries having these trap laws and other impositions. what has been the work of

advocacy that you've been up to? >> i think it's the justice aspect of access to health care can't be stressed enough. it's areas where you go to -- you look at texas and there is not a clinic within the rio grande valley. you look at -- people a lot of sometimes look at these clinics as places that they used to go to and then they've moved on. and that's a real privileged situation that is really awful. and sometimes these places are the only health care that a low income woman will have. and it really feels like what we are saying as the bigger narrative of this is you should not experience joy. sex is part of joy. sex is two people have it and then sometimes you get pregnant. what are we doing to make sure that every woman and especially women who are in the world having sex are having a safe

place to get reproductive access, reproductive health care, information. >> so i want to follow up on this a little bit. in part because these laws -- they don't come out of the vacuum. louisiana had a lot of extremely conservative laws. 24-hour waiting period, requirements clinic prove there's sufficient need tr services. but talk to me, ellie. now with these potentially new laws on the books, just how bad can this make it in the state of louisiana in terms of access determination services, ellie? >> sure. essentially the way the regulations are set up, they will make it virtually impossible for any new facilities to open. and they will make it very, very easy for the state to shut down all existing facilities. and they do that in a number of ways. one is that it will be virtually impossible for a new clinic to get through the license application process. because as you mentioned, these really large facility size

requirements that are medically unnecessary and prohibitively expensive and then the need you have to come ply with in order to be a new facility. beyond that, they've set up mechanisms where existing facilities where their licenses will be invalidated and they will have to then go through that very onerous application process. that can happen in a variety of ways. for example, if you clinic moves, if it moves across the street. if you change your ownership structure at all. if you are cited with any deficiencies at your licensing survey, and just to back up, then what we've seen during the jindal administration is that they're citing clinics for every conceivable clerical error, doumgts issue as a deficiency. so under these new regulations, if you're cited with even a single deficiency, the state can either invalidate your license or in their sole discretion, they can grant you a provisional license. there's no appeal of that coground grade your license to a

provisional license. once that is in place, that provisional license expires in six months. and if any other deficient is is found during those six months or if everything hasn't been rectified that they allegedly found before, then your license is invalidated and you have to go through the onerous application processes. >> i think we get a sense of what is happening here. ellie schilling in new orleans, thank you for being here. liz, thank you. robert i want you to come back at some point. we always talk respectfully across differences. i want to talk about what it means to have a set of values about life and then at the same time to set up policies that would make it a 30 more days. because i really want to take seriously the life argument but then to take it seriously, i want to think about policy. i hope you'll come back and do that conversation. >> yes. very quickly, i was just thinking about this. what's wrong with maybe a clinic have been both options available to the mom to be or the woman?

>> well, i think they do. >> we'll have that conversation. >> yes. we'll do that when you come back. but up next, the one thing aiming to bring together a billion people on valentine's day. we're going to have the conversation on the break and then on tv soon. but those things are amazing. once i saw what they did, i actually started to relax. don't touch my things. those little guys clean, brighten and fight stains. so now i can focus on more pressing matters. like your containers. isn't it beautiful? your sweet peppers aren't next to your hot peppers. [ gasps ] [ sarah ] that's my tide. what's yours? this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. ♪

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[ male announcer ] introducing the bold, all-new nissan rogue with intuitive all-wheel drive. because winter needs a hero. ♪ one in three women in the world will either be raped or beaten during their lifetime. one in three. that amounts to more than 1 billion women. last year on february 14th, rather than passively accept this horrifying reality, 1 billion women and men came together in 207 countries and territories to say no more. organizers say it was the biggest mass action in human history where people marched and danced and called for an end to violence against women and girls. on february 14th of this year, organizers of v-day's 1 billion rising for justice campaign hope to repeat and surpass the efforts of last year with 169

nations already on board. because what better way to celebrate a day known for love than to show its power to stop violence. at the table eve ensler the founder of v-day. and kimberly crenshaw who is also a board member at v-day. nice to have you guys here to talk about this. so what exactly is v-day? so for folks who weren't part of it last year who don't know, what does it mean? what's going to has been on the 14th? >> v-day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls that's been around for 16 years. it grew out of my play, "the vagina monologues" which people nicely and wonderfully wanted to perform around the entire world. when they performed it in their communities which they brought to their communities and brought into their cultures and communities only the way they could, i gave the play to them so they could not only break taboos and begin to have

dialogues around sexual assauit pleasure, and violence. they kept the money in those communities. after 15 years we realized we'd changed laws, broken taboos, brought women together, created wonderful theatrical productions which changed the culture. but we hadn't ended violence against women. and i spent a lot of time in the congo because with the women of congo who we built this amazing place called the city of joy which they owned, direct, lead, and really are healing and building leaders. i was with them when they were dancing one day. and women in congo dance like -- they just dance the world up. and i thought, oh, my god. what if 1 billion women and all the men who love them danced on the same day and called up this energy of the world and invigorated our movement and brought our movements together. and so last year we put out an invitation. it was just an invitation.

and women across the planet in self-directed autonomous groups, small groups, grassroots around the planet said i want to dance. >> so talk to me about the global aspect for a second. it also always makes me feel like we operate as a nation state. once we start talking about policy, what is happening in an arab spring doesn't change the public policies domestically, for example, of an american context vis-a-vis the women here. so how do you take a global initiative that is demonstrative and that is local in its own aspects. why should president obama care that women in congo dance? >> he should care about the women dancing in this country. they're dancing in all 50 states in colleges, town halls, courthouses. and this year the initiative has moved to 1 billion rising for justice. why he should care is because

all across the world, like last year, the wind of 1 billion rising pushed the reauthorization through. and if you look at a place like guatemala. as a result of 1 billion rising, a law which was about women giving birth at 14, their perpetrators are not going to jail because of 1 billion rising. when we brought our organizers together from around the world, they said we want to go deeper and go into policy and rise for justice. and that is really about -- and i'm really happy that our amazing board member and my sister kim has taught me so much action intersectionalty. >> that's where i want to go. at the same moment you are all working to pull together 1 billion women and men and their allies around the world, there's a bit of a tempest in more than a teapot brewing around feminism right here in social media in the u.s. as people are having a lot of --

>> pretty much everywhere. >> yeah. a lot of angst about what does it mean to be in a global women's movement if they're not the kind of women i'm with and they don't understand or get me and my issues and concerns as a woman are different. how do we pull together that capacity for collective action while also respecting the realities of the intersectional differences? >> this is one of the reasons i'm excited to be part of it. one of the beautiful things about the idea behind 1 billion rising is that women are encouraged to go to this site where they don't feel safe or where they don't feel they have justice. in encouraging women and facilitating their choice where they're able to go, they're able -- to if you look at women in the philippines. where they're going to dance, some of the things they're going to do bring attention to the intersection of gender and

militarism. if you look here in the united states, some of the places where formerly incarcerated women are going to dance will bring attention to the intersections of race, of class, of gender and leading to incarceration. so the idea behind 1 billion rising is it facilitates these kinds of things. but it's up to the women to choose where they want to demonstrate. when you put bodies in motion. that's one of the things we learned from the civil rights movement. it's not a top down kind of strategy. it's a bottom up, we create the facilitation for women to put their issues and their bodies where oppression is and where they're seeking justice. >> that's strong people don't need strong leaders. >> and get out of the way. >> thank you so much. there's so much more, but i know folks are going to go and find out more about 1 billion rising because there is still time. >> absolutely. you can do it in your own community. go on. people are going everywhere from

the baptist church where they're rising for rights or congo where they're rising to end war. rise at the site you need to rise at. >> i love it. finding the funk here in nerdland is next. [ coughs, sneezes ] i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪ we are one, under the sun ♪ under the sun... [ female announcer ] fiber and protein. together as one. introducing new fiber one protein cereal.

a 3d white smile. with crest 3d white toothpaste. it removes up to 90% of surface stains in just 5 days. unleash your smile with crest 3d white toothpaste. life opens up with a whiter smile. undoubtedly what we know as hip hop today was fathered by the funk. where did funk music anthem for so many children of the '70s come from? the new documentary asks that very question. >> funk for me is a life. funk for me is the word that was spoke and this is what funk is. >> we know it comes from the congo. which means bad body odor. what i love some about the black

musical terms like jazz. they're curse words derived from other languages applied to black culture. and what we do, funk is like sonic chit lins. we work out all the nastiness in the grease and we take it and process it and make something out of it. into something beautiful. >> joining me now is the director of "finding the funk" airing tuesday, february 4th as one of the vh1 rock docs franchise. >> good to be here. >> i loved it. my older city is visiting me and i was like this segment is for you. because this is where i first heard funk music was in her bedroom sitting cross legged. they would play it over and over again. >> that was the official music. it's funny because everyone knows about soul music. there's a motown broadway show. >> right. >> hip hop is ubiquitous in the culture. but funk has gotten lost in the

sauce, so to speak. we have all people talking about the samples, the aesthetic about repetition. these ideas about how to use rhythm. the rhythm become the dominant element over harmony to some degree. it all comes out of funk. yet funk for a number of reasons has been the obscured lost cause of music. >> why do you think it's been lost? there was a time -- there's a moment in the film where they talk about the track "flash light" and that no track had been hot like that. that you may play it in the club then play two songs and then play it again. how could that get lost? >> two things about it. one was it's the '70s itself was a segregated era in terms of american radio. so rock stations did not play parliament funkadelic. basically only black artists got a rock pass was hendrix.

because funk was very influenced by rock. yet they didn't get on rock stations. it was basically a black station. if you went to earth wind and fire, they sold out the garden every time and all over the country. but they didn't have the crossover. ironically that hip hop would have later. there were also eight guys on stage in crazy outfits. >> in crazy outpfits. >> i think that's hard for some people to digest. white people to digest, and some black people too. >> look k back at the images, it was that's right right. there was a guy in a diaper and all this outrageous -- and yet there's a certain sonically there was something about the music that's very close. so talk to me about -- >> it's very arranged. >> yeah. >> if you see earth wind & fire, they were a tightly arranged band. p-funk was looser.

kool & the gang, they were very loose. there was a lot of jazz influence in what they did. it wasn't rock and roll. it was a much -- because it took from big band, from soul, from jazz and vocal harmony groups. so it was a mix of all of the best of black culture. >> you talk about the language of the sample. how important are the samples. how much hip hop are we listening to right now that are actually funk music? >> today when i hear things like dub step that young people are into, that's all funk. funk had bad marketing. i mean, i think that's one of the big problems. it was bad marketing. i want to hit one other point about funk. that's the connection to egyptology. there's a strong thought it's part of funk. it's in the pyramids that earth

wind & fire. >> when kanye talks about spaceship, if you know funk you know where that comes from. but it's gotten lost from the '70s to the late '90s. >> hip hop comes in and is very grounded street music. we lost some of the connecting to spiritual dimension that funk had. >> i love that head to the sky. nelson george, i love this. i hope everyone tunes in to watch the documentary. up next, our foot soldier of the week is the incredible janet mock. she's here. ♪ at any minute... ...you could be a victim of fraud. most people don't even know it. fraud could mean lower credit scores... ...and higher interest rates when you apply for a credit card. it's a problem waiting to happen. check your credit score, check your credit report,

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in 2013 defense of marriage act was turned down. legislators are in eight states ruled for marriage equality.

it has been the most visible item for gay, civil rights organizations. but it is a marginal issue for transcommunities. where discrimination and employment and housing and criminal justice and health take priority. according to the 2011 national transgender discrimination survey, 78% of those submitted harassment. 35% reported physical assault. and 12% were sexually assaulted. in the workplace, 26% reported losing a job because of their gender identities. and 50% were harassed. our foot soldier this week will not let the story go unheard. she claimed her identity as a trans-woman in a marie claire art pl janet mock has since her activism has taken shape in a lovely memoir. janet tells her story and empowers other women to also stand firmly in their truths.

joining me now is janet mock who finishing the book this morning made me cry because the humanity and the intellect engaged in this piece is really lovely. tell me how -- why a memoir . >> i think bringing words to explain my experiences and not only my personal experiences but also the political context was important to me. but i knew that young girls needed a personal story that reflected them. and i think that a lot of women will see will at least see themselves in the experiences that i describe in this story. and i think that for me i just wanted to create as alice walker said, create the story i didn't have growing up. as a way of grounding and understanding what you're up to here. you do zorniel had yourston and maya angelou, and in reading the

story i was like yes, me too, girl. all of the time. and me too. is there something about the literature, about the ways black women have written ourselves in fiction that help to give voice when our stories aren't being told in memoir or narrative firm? >> i lived in the library and so i remember sneaking -- i always talk about sneaking "waiting to exhale" home and i was too young to read it but had to take it home. and was just having women that reflected my image of self who would be navigating the world and the way i thought i would look growing up. and that was just the way for me to dream of a possibility of my life. and those women gave me so much. so for me, the least i could do was print their work in there just as much as i print pop culture so other girls can tap into that and say there is a well of knowledge and literary cannon, full of black women, full of women of color that had been writing their stories and speaking uncomfortable and unspoken truths. >> and pop culture does -- does make these important appearances.

there is this moment when you talk about being young and in school and being -- and everyone is being asked, what do you want to be when you grow up. and you say a secretary. but then -- and i love. this you were like, little did i know, what i actually wanted to be was claire hugs tabl. >> it's just that claire hug stable didn't exist yet but once she existed in pop culture, you could say, yeah, that's what i'm going for. >> and i have to quote barbara smith here. in the truth that never hurts. she says when we have stories that reflect us and show us life, it not only shows us how better to live, but how to dream. and for me, my reality looked nothing like i thought my life would look like. growing up, i wanted to be myself, i wanted to live in new york city and i wanted to be a writer. and redefining realness is the fruition of that dream being realized. and it still is mind-boggling to me that i'm sitting here talking to you about my book. >> right. which exists. there is a lot of love in your book. and two primary -- there's lots of love. but two relationships that really spoke to me. one is your intimate, romantic

love with aaron. and the other is your best girlfriend, who is a girlfriend who walks this journey along with you. tell us a little bit about the importance of those two relationships in finding your realness. >> well, for me, you know, my relationship with aaron, i anchored the book in self revelation in the beginning. and then also love at the end. and for me, it was a way for me to also point a nod towards zorniel hurston, when they hear and affirm us, that is transformative and love is transformative. and i had the same experience when i met wendy in the 7th grade as a 12-year-old and she clocked me and told me right away, i know who you are, stop pretending. and it forced me to be very audacious about my existence and to be bold and to be brave and because i had that friend and that mirror with phoebe and tea cake, i have that in my life. and no wonder my life is -- is so full. and i'm so blessed and grateful. >> and just in case don't know, the phoebe and tea cake references are two -- "their

eyes are watching god" which is part of what made the book speak to me, "eyes watching god" is also the literary books i used to frame my book, "sister citizen" so reading that frame here, i think everybody does need a tea cake and a phoebe. you need a best girlfriend who can see you, even when you sometimes can't see yourself. and you need a beloved, whether that beloved is the same-sex partner or that beloved is a cross gender binary. you need a beloved and a best friend who can see you. and luckily, i knew your story ended well. but the pain of it, like, when you make the self revelation, and i think, oh, god, you got to love her, you have to love janet. >> and that's the thing i wanted to show, we can be loveable. and we as transwomen, as marginalized women, period, of color, that we can exist in the daytime and live a very full life and write our stories. and that hopefully for that girl that feels isolated and she reads this book, she doesn't feel alone and that i can be her phoebe. >> and thank you for your courage. there is a lot of self

revelation here. we'll let people read it so they can feel it. but you're incredibly courageous, and it's also just beautifully written. janet mock, our foot soldier for telling her story. that is our show for today. thanks to you at home for watching. i'm going to see you tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern for an in-depth look at money, sex, drugs, masculinity and football. it's super bowl sunday. nerd land style. now it's time for a preview of "weekends with alex witt. ". >> we do have some new allegations about chris christie. what did he know and when did he know it? new questions today about those lane closures at the george washington bridge. school officials take away uneaten school lunches from almost 40 elementary school children and toss them in the trash. was it justified? from kindergarten to high school graduation, a documentary follows two middle class african-american students at one of the most exclusive private schools in this country. one of the students' fathers is also the film maker and joins me with the behind the scenes. amanda knocks found guilty

again in an overseas murder trial. will the u.s. government have to send her to italy? don't go anywhere. i'll be right back. today we're going to play a little game. which 4g lte map has the most coverage? this isn't real difficult. pretty obvious to me. i'm going to have to say verizon verizon. the choice is obvious. verizon is america's largest and most reliable 4g lte network, with data plans starting as low as $45 monthly access including unlimited talk and text. plus free world messaging unlimited for three months. that's powerful. verizon. act now and get a free droid mini, plus $100 to spend. so when my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis them. was also on display, i'd had it. i finally had a serious talk with my dermatologist. this time, he prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults

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to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. what did he know and when did he know it. new questions for new jersey governor chris christie about those lane closures at the george washington bridge. security scares. who might be behind a series of false alarms just days before the super bowl. a live report, ahead. a new report paves the way for the key stone pipeline, or does it? will president obama approve the controversial project? one congressman weighs in. the great chicken wing hunt. just in time for the big game, one film maker went to an incredible quest on his search for the ultimate finger food. yeah, i'm going to speak with him. hey there, everyone. we're approaching high noon. no, we just hit it here in the east. 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex