possible. it's too late to stop the wealthy's hold on politics from growing ever stronger. our democracy is the titanic heading for an iceberg called the end of campaign finance limits. and if we don't turn soon we'll plunge into the icy waters of oligaarchy and sink. time for "now with alex wagner." the u.s. has now officially regained all the private sector jobs that were lost in the great rescission. but what does that mean for the men and women still out of work? it is friday, april 4th. this is "now with alex wagner" now live from los angeles. we are currently awaiting a press conference from the commander at fort hood regarding wednesday's deadly shooting. while we wait let us turn to today's jobs report where we learned that half a million americans started looking for work last month, and most of them actually found jobs. it is one of the bright spots in

today's report according to the labor department in march the u.s. economy created a total of 192,000 jobs. but the jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.7%. the boost in the labor force participation rate after years of steady decline has some economists feeling hopeful. and more than six years after the great recession began, private employers have finally regained t regained 9 million jobs they lost. the bad behavior continues on capitol hill where republican resistance to extending unemployment assistance since december has left 2.2 million jobless americans without one of the only lifelines they have left. the senate is expected to vote on monday to extend that assistance, but the house, surprise, will not necessarily be following suit. joining me now is the economic reporter for the "new york times," andy lowery, and manager editor of the "washington post" politics section and author of

of course the fix, chris seliza. annie, how did you read these numbers that came out today? >> i think these numbers were a confirmation of a lot that we already knew. the recovery is here. it's very persist at the present time. it's very durable and it's not great. that means a lot of people are looking for jobs and can't find them. and it's just a continuation of these same trends. it's not that there's any real bad news in the report, it's just not very good news, either. doesn't seem like the recovery is really speeding up very much. >> chris, politically speaking, politico has a piece ought today said that democrats are praying for an economic spring, and even at this point to avoid a shellacking in november, a second shellacking if you will, even a single good jobs number won't be enough. i guess i'm a little skeptical that the american public is hanging on these jobs numbers and will vote on them for the mid terms, given all the other stuff in the ether. >> i think you're right to be skeptical that the american

public is hanging on these job numbers. i think the american public hangs on things like the results of dancing with the stars or the final four. as much as i would love if they did because it would be great for people like annie and myself and you, i think that they don't hang on every jot and tittle of political and economic news that comes out. i think what typically happens there's a perception. things are getting better, things are staying the same, things are getting worse. three or four straight months of good jobs reports, the coverage of the jobs reports winds up being sort of this is moving in the right direction, i think takes away the nightmare scenario for democrats in the 2014 mid-terms, which is the bottom totally falls out, president obama is not at all popular, obamacare is not at all popular, and people's perceptions that the economy is bad you're looking at a really bad situation for democrats. i think if you continue to see what annie pointed out, which is sort of a solid if not

spectacular recovery, that third prong that people feel terribly about the economy probably isn't there. >> let me ask you as a follow, chris. republicans and conservatives waste little time championing or even saying anything positive about this jobs report. tams there is a bipartisan effort in the senate to extend assistance for the long-term unemployed and it is being held up in large part by republicans in the house. we know seven house republicans have signed a letter to john boehner asking him to bring that legislation to the floor. can republicans -- they have in so many previous cases had their cake and eat it, too. but can they sort of malign the economic recovery we're seeing at the same time that they are roadblocking assistance for the unemploye unemployed? >> yes. i think it is uniquely possible that house republicans either won't bring up this deal that we expect to pass the house on

monday, or if they do bring it up it won't get the votes. my guess is they won't bring it up, frankly, in its current state. and again, alex, this goes back to the first point which is if we had an american public that was watching every house and senate vote extremely closely and helping that shape what they think about which party is to blame, it might be different. but we've learned over and over again in politics, this is the cynical part of me coming out, they don't watch it very closely. they're not watching c-span. they're not -- and i don't know who these people are -- they're not watching msnbc and you and us talking. they're not focused on this stuff. so i think as a result what happens day in and day out in congress doesn't have the sort of reverberations nationally that some people expect. >> and one could argue, annie, that the republicans feel like they can operate with impunity as it regards the long-term unemployed.

that is a sector of the jobless market, if you will, that we rarely talk about but poses a very significant risk to our economy. i think in this latest crop of jobs numbers from the labor department, 3.7 million americans have been unemployed for over six months. that's 38% of the total unemployed. you have done a lot of reporting on the long-term unemployed. once you are unemployed for that long a period of time, it becomes very difficult if not impossible to find a job again, does it not? >> it becomes extremely difficult. there's a really recent and very good new study that shows if you are an unemployed person, a long-term unemployed person in any given month between i think it was 2008 and 2012, the chance that you would have a full-time job a year later was about 1 in 10. which is horrible. it's really awful. some people are part-time jobs or gigs, that kind of thing, consulting, but it's a really bleak outlook. i think the political calculus,

republicans i think they actually honestly feel like even when we have these really long jobless benefits it wasn't actually helping these people find work. and it wasn't that all of a sudden a ton of people were getting jobs because of that program. i think that they kind of feel like we're in the recovery and we have to move past these crisis policies. and if you look at like eric cantor's office put out a statement this morning talking about the recovery remains kind of crumby and the jobs market remains hard. i think he would say there are policies that they want but not these policies that they've tried and failed. i don't think they feel any political pressure really to extend these benefits even though a lot of their constituents would really like them. >> annie, one of the things republicans love talking about is cutting the deficit. we are now cutting the deficit -- i think it is falling at the fastest rate in 60 years. economists are saying hey, we're cutting it too fast. part of the area that has felt that slashing the most are government jobs.

private sector is coming back to a certain degree, but people who were once employed by the federal government no longer have positions to go to. there doesn't seem to be any kind of reconciliation that hey, these numbers could be better if perhaps we weren't slashing and burning at quite the rate that we are. >> yeah. and i think the economy's kind of a rorschach. if you look at the levels of just the current state of the economy, it's not great. it's not growing very fast. unemployment is really high. but if you look at the trend, it's getting better. and it's been getting better for a long time now. the recession was at this point five years ago. both of those things are true. it really allows you to make these kind of wildly disparate political arguments when you're looking at the same set of facts. >> chris, to that point, it's not only politically convenient to not have to move on extending long-term unemployment assistance, but it also goes to the core of this republican notion of the hammock of government dependency and failed social welfare programs.

there is an ideological sort of i guess we could call steel rod that undergirds the inaction in congress, which makes me think that we are as far apart as we have been on economic policy to deal with joblessness. it really goes to the core of each party at this point. >> absolutely. i think annie put it really well, i think. that republicans if you ask them will say, it's time for the government to get out of the way would essentially i think be the answer on these long term unemployed insurance benefits extension. because they say there's no proof of fact that it does in fact help people go and get jobs. this isn't necessary -- it's the government's role to play in a crisis situation. we are no longer in a crisis. well, that goes right back to the sort of fundamental difference between the two parties, alex, of what role government should play. republicans generally think government should be smaller and play less of a role, democrats think it should be bigger, and

probably not as big as republicans would say but bigger. and play more of an active role. rand paul has made this point. he has said, look, i think people staying on long-term unemployment insurance benefits makes it harder for them to get jobs. we need to get them off it and force them to get jobs and go into the workforce. obviously that assumes they're not trying to do that which i think the facts don't bear out. but i would say it gets fundamentally to who the two parties are, what they view the right role of government to be in sort of normal circumstances. and as you make the point, alex, that's not changing. >> annie lowery from the "new york times" and chris teliza from the "washington post." thank you both for your time. >> thank you. just ahead, we are still awaiting a live news conference. it looks like it is beginning at fort hood. the post's commander, lieutenant general mark milley, is going to speak to reporters shortly just in a matter of minutes, seconds.

we will have his live remarks in just a moment. we're going to take a quick break. and we'll be back in just a moment. this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. a news conference on the fort hood shooting is just beginning. lieutenant general mark milley is speaking. let's listen in. >> an update on the incident and the investigation that happened last wednesday.

and at the end i'll allow again your opportunity to ask a few questions. i had an opportunity this morning to visit some of the wounded again. and i just want all of you and all the community to know that we all are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers, both the fallen and the wounded, and their families as they go through this grieving process and in this difficult time and that fort hood and all of our leadership will be there with them throughout. we have completed the next of kin notification on the three fallen soldiers. and i can now confirm publicly their identities. two of the soldiers from the 49th transportation battalion and one of the killed victims is from the first medical brig grade. sergeant first class daniel michael ferguson, age 39 from

mullberry, florida, entered active service in july 1993 as a transportation management coordinator. he was assigned to the 49th transportation battalion. of the fourth sustained brigade of the 13th sustained command. he was a transportation supervisor. his deployments include kuwait, iraq and afghanistan. staff sergeant carlos rozini rodriguez 38 from puerto rico, entered active duty service in february 1995 as a unit supply specialist. he was assigned to the 21st combat support hospital of the first medical brigade in february 2012 where he served as a unit supply sergeant. he deployed to kuwait and also to iraq. sergeant timothy wayne owens,

37, of eppingham, illinois. entered active duty service in july july 2004. he was assigned to the 49th transportation battalion, fourth sustainment brigade, 13th sustainment command where he served as a heavy vehicle driver. he deployed to iraq and to kuwa kuwait. their releasable service records will be available to you at the fort hood press center.com later on this evening. we will memorialize all three of these fallen soldiers next wednesday and our public affairs office will publish the details in the coming days. they'll be available to all of you. also available later this evening we are putting together a map for you, a simple map and diagram of the incident site to include a basic sequence of events as we understand them

now. they'll be very basic, not to the level of detail of an investigation that is still ongoing, but very basic to help you orient on where this event occurred. in regards to the injured soldiers that we visited this morning, i've had the opportunity both yesterday and today to visit all of the injured soldiers at darnell and scott and white. and currently we still have three remaining soldiers at scott and white and three at darnell here on fort hood. they're all strong. each of them is resilient. their families are resilient. and i had an opportunity to meet with some of their families. and they're dealing very well with a difficult situation. and we all look forward and pray for their full recovery. ten soldiers of the original 16 have now been released from hospital and are returned to duty. and i as a commander, as a soldier, am incredibly impressed

by the medical professionals at scott and white, darnell, and the entire response of the fort hood emergency responders in the community at large. as you know, there's a lot more details beyond what i've given you in the last couple of days. and there's much of those details are not releasable to the public at this time because we do have an ongoing investigation. however, i do want to clarify two points specific to specialist lopez's medical condition. first, we are digging into his combat experience in iraq. and so far, we have not discovered any specific traumatic event, wounds received in action, contact with the enemy, or anything else specific that he may have been exposed to while deployed. but we are continuing to examine this line of inquiry. secondly, his underlying medical conditions, we do not believe,

are the direct precipitating factor to the incident. his underlying medical conditions are not a direct precipitating factor. we believe that the immediate precipitating factor was more likely an escalating argument in his unit area. but we are still conducting that detailed investigation, and we will address every single one of the causal and contributing factors that resulted in this horrible tragedy. as you know, the investigation team here is robust, and it's multiagency. right now we have almost 80 fbi agents working with us and forensic specialists. over 20 texas rangers are contributing to the investigation. and almost 50 usa army cid agents and of course our fort hood mpi military police investigation teams and our local law enforcement detectives from killeen and harker heights. additionally we have specialists

in medical investigations on hand to assist. and all together we have over 150 professionally trained investigators from federal, state and local agencies. i will leave all the further details of ongoing medical and criminal investigations to the law enforcement agencies and health care professionals. and at this point i would like to introduce colonel mike galata, the commander of the 6th military police group, cid, who is based at joint base lewis mcchord in washington state and mr. chris gray from cid. they will briefly now review the status of the investigation. after their comments we will entertain questions. chris? be. >> thank you, general. good afternoon. my name is chris gray. i am the spokesperson for the u.s. army criminal investigation command based out of quantico,

virginia, and the multiagency law enforcement task force led by army cid here at fort hood into the tragic shootings of the incident that took place on wednesday. i'm here today to provide you with an update with an investigative update on regard to the ongoing criminal investigation. unfortunately, and as you know, we lost four soldiers on wednesday to include the shooter was one of those soldiers. that number includes 16 others who were wounded. on behalf of all law enforcement working this case, both civilian and military, let me begin by expressing my sincerest condolences to the loved ones, the families, the soldiers, and the friends of the wounded and killed during this tragic incident. i will be providing as much releasable information as possible today, but please keep in mind this is an ongoing criminal investigation, and we are only releasing facts at this point that we feel confident will not jeopardize the ongoing case. as you know, the fort hood

directorate of emergency services, the military police, army cid, and a host of other law enforcement professionals began responding to reports shots fired at approximately 4:16 p.m. on wednesday. numerous reports of gun fire and wounded personnel were received, and it continued at various locations which contributed to the chaos and confusion associated with the initial reports. the alleged shooter, specialist ivan lopez, initially opened fire with a smith and wes s wesson .45 caliber handgun over a two-city block area. we do have credible information he was involved in a verbal altercation with soldiers from his unit just prior to him allegedly opening fire. the subject then proceeded to travel to two other nearby buildings, entering those

locations and opening fire. in transit to those locations, while in his personal vehicle, he indiscriminately fired at other soldiers while moving from one location to another. at this time we are still gathering evidence and processing a very large crime scene so we will not be giving you a time step-by-step timeline of the activity for the investigation. the alleged shooter then encountered a responding military police officer and approached her. subsequently there was a verbal exchange between the two. the military police officer drew her assigned firearm and fired one round when the subject brandished his weapon. we do not believe the subject was struck, but we are currently confirming that fact with the armed forces medical examiner. based on witness statements and other testimonial evidence to date, the alleged shooter then placed his firearm to his own head and fired one round, killing himself. those actions by the alleged

subject and the military police officer are obviously part of the ongoing investigation. at this time we have the one alleged subject connected to these shootings and all evidence at this point in the investigation indicates that the subject acted alone in the actual shootings. we have no evidence thus far that contradicts that finding, but it is critical to point out that we are not ruling anything in or out at this early stage of the investigation, and we will continue to aggressively pursue any and all credible leads and information associated with this case. there were initial reports that there were possibly two shooters involved on wednesday, but that has been attributed to the chaotic nature of the situation and the alleged shooter's movement from location to location as i described earlier. additionally, we have not found any links to terrorism or any international or domestic or extremist groups at this time. but again, we have not completely ruled that out in order to conduct a complete and

thorough investigation. within the large crime scene i described, there are three significant crime scenes inside buildings, and three areas outdoors that we are focusing our case on. those scenes are currently being processed by highly trained cid special agents, texas rangers and members of the fbi's elite evidence response team. that processing includes evidence collection, crime scene recreation, triangulation of evidence, studying the flight of the bullets fired, and 3d scanning of the crime scene. to date, we have canvassed and interviewed more than 900 people during the course of this investigation. immediately following the shootings, cid along with the assistance from the military police and outside agencies took positive control and screened more than 1,000 potential witnesses and possibly suspects in the immediate vicinity before releasing them back to their unit. at this point in the

investigation we have well over 150 special agents from army cid, fbi and the atf as the general mentioned as well as the texas rangers. the weapon allegedly used in the commission of these crimes has been recovered as evidence and we will be processing that at the defense forensic science centers, u.s. army criminal investigation laboratory in atlanta, georgia. we will conduct firearms forensics and ballistics testing to confirm the shots fired during these crimes came from that specific weapon. we have also con filmed through our investigation that specialist lopez purchased the firearm recovered at the crime scene on march 1st from a local establishment outside fort hood but brought it onto fort hood in violation of d.o.d., army and fort hood regulations. we have not uncovered any history of criminal convictions or previous criminal activity by specialist lopez. at this time we have not established a concrete motive, but we will do everything in our

power to do so. given that the alleged shooter is deceased, the possibility does exist that we may never know exactly why the alleged shooter did what he did. but again, we are bringing the very latest technology and investigative methods to bear to attempt to find out. finally, since wednesday's incident we have received tremendous support from the fellow law enforcement professionals in the greater fort hood community both inside and outside the gate. army cid would like to thank the following agencies for their teamwork and professionalism during this very difficult time. the fbi, the atf, texas department of public savinfety texas drainingers, the director of merge services, killeen police department, the harker heights police department, coreal county sheriff's office and the temple police department. we'd also like to thank lieutenant general milley and his staff for their tremendous support and cooperation while we are conducting our investigation. let me assure you, we are fully

committed to this investigation. that concludes my update today. we are not releasing any further details. i appreciate your patience and understanding during this very difficult time. thank you. >> we'll take just a few questions. and then we're not going to do a press conference tomorrow, saturday, nor sunday. we will do one again on monday. >> that was the commanding general at fort hood, lieutenant general mark milley and army spokesman chris gray. they spoke about the three soldiers who were killed by presumed gunman ivan lopez, 37-year-old sergeant timothy owens from illinois, a counselor and ten-year army veteran. he was the father of two teenagers. 39-year-old sergeant first class danny ferguson from mulberry, florida who had returned from afghanistan. his wife said fergson was trying to hold a door closed to prevent the shooter from entering a room

full of people. and 38-year-old carlos lozane from puerto rico who joined the army 20 years ago and was set to retire at the end of this year. lieutenant general milley also spoke about the suspected gunman, ivan lopez, saying his underlying medical conditions were not a direct precipitating factor. we will have more on that story as it develops. just ahead, a nation is preparing for historic elections but the biggest threat to democracy isn't money in politics, it is just making it out of the voting booth alive. i will speak with someone about afghanistan's vote this weekend. 

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outrage. in this effort, the party seems to have settled on the koch brothers, the industrial mag mates currently tied for fourth op forbes list of richest americans. in 2012 the koch brothers political network raised $400 million to support conservative causes, funneling their wealth into a maze of different groups that not coincidentally hide the identities of major donors. this cycle, the koch's 501 c 4 group, americans for prosperity, has spent well over $30 million, more than any category of outside groups, including superpacs. leaving the democratic charge against the koch brothers, senate majority leader harry reid. >> republicans, madam president, are addicted to koch. >> the koch brothers are willing to do anything, even exploit americans suffering from cancer to advance their campaign of

distortion. the koch brothers are trying to use their immense wealth to buy their way around the laws and regulations of this nation. i've helped make them more infamous or famous and i'm glad i've done that. these two men are a pair of shadow billionaires spending millions of dollars to rig our political system. and who does it help? them. >> paul ryan's budget this week, a koch budget. >> it's a blueprint for a modern koch how would we say this, kochtopia. that's it. k-o-c-h-t-o-p-i-a. in fact, call it whatever you want. we might as well call it the koch budget. >> kochtopia. k-o-c-h-t-o-p-i-a. but while democrats launch a full frontal assault republicans have stood up to defend these party patriots. >> harry reid should get back to work and stop picking on great americans who are creating great

things in our country. >> i think the koch brothers are two of the most patriotic americans. >> god bless the koch brothers. they are fighting for our freedom. >> yesterday brother charles koch took to the editorial pages of the "wall street journal" to defend himself from quote collectivists who strive to discredit and intimidate opponents and engage in character assassination. his op ed was promptly read word for word on the senate floor by the head of the gop senate campaign committee, kansas senator jerry moran. republicans point to a poll last week that found 52% of americans had never heard of the koch brothers, citing that as evidence of a doomed democratic strategy. but chuck schumer, senator chuck schumer, saw things differently. quote when i read the numbers that 48% of americans knew who the koch brothers are, people said that's not great, that's fabulous. that's incredible. joining me now from washington, soon-to-be senior editor at the new republic, brian boitler.

congrats on the upcoming new gig. we've gone from kochtopia to polling on whether or not americans note koch brothers. do you think this is a good strategy? this seems to be definitely a page from the bane capital play book of the 2012 election which seemed to work pretty well for democrats. >> that's exactly right. i know that so far we know it's beenraising and democratic message discipline. i think we'll need to wait awhile to see if it will be a firewall to prevent the republicans from taking over the senate. that's the idea to make sure that voters in the state, republicans who are trying to unseat democrats, understand the republican agenda is what it is and that it's heavily influenced by whether you want to call them outside interests or ideological wealthy extremists or however you want to characterize it that they are operating from sort of

the same play book. and it's harder to do that if you don't have wealthy interests to kind of characterize the republicans as following just like you did with bane capital in 2012. >> that's a two-fold strategy. not just a great narrative foil for democrats to fire up the base, it's also a very tool. if you believe in transparency and you see funds pumped inshady groups that win elections -- i believe dave waggle quotes e-mail solicitations that didn't mention the koch brothers averaged $2500 while ones that mentioned them averaged $6500. >> yeah. that makes perfect sense to me. that doesn't shock me at all. i think that it's already

bearing out that this koch strategy is helping democrats raise money. so they can be used to sort of spend back at the koch brothers and other republican donors spending within outside groups. but back in 2012, democrats kind of learned that when they tried to convince voters that mitt romney's agenda, his campaign platform was what it was, voucherized medicare cutting, the top tax rate, a lot of voters didn't quite get it or believe it. they didn't really think anybody would be so silly as to run for president on such an unpopular platform. but it all clicked when they brought bane in, when they made it clear that mitt romney was sort of a plutocrat and had ideas that came out of this world of sort of creative destructive capitalism. the koch brothers are supposed to serve the same purpose. voters might not buy the republicans don't want to raise the minimum wage or don't

believe in the minimum wage as all. but when you say they are beholden to these outside interests, wealthy idealogs the public starts to understand it. >> it puts republicans in this weird position of defending the koch brothers at a time when the party is trying to break from this stereotype of being the party of the 1%, the party that looks upon the 47% with disgust and mistrust. and then you have chris christie out there talking about how the kochs are great americans. you have vitter saying they are two of the most patriotic americans in the history of the earth. and i feel like it actually -- republicans are painted into a corner. these guys are their patrons. they kiss their rings. that is all sort of a tacit understanding. but now they have to go out in public and say long live the koch brothers which doesn't seem to be a great strategy. >> i would say i'm surprised at how sort of unashamed they are

of doing this. if you were trying to create the strategy where these billionaires sort of secretly and quietly give a lot of of money to conservative causes but then if it comes out that's what they are doing, if you're the koch brothers and you're interested in getting your agenda pushed forward, you don't really care if republicans ignore you or push back on you or say some of your ideas are bad or criticize you. and you kind of get that's all in the game. it kind of surprises me that republicans are going out there and sort of loudly, proudly defending the koch brothers. because it really does play into both the fundraising and sort of the base mobilization side of the democratic strategy. if they could stop doing that i think they would eat into what republicans are trying to accomplish that in a big way. they're doing it. i guess kudos for them being honest. >> they're defending the oligarch who in the panges of te "wall street journal" refers to op timmists.

brian, thanks for your time, my friend. coming up next, as the u.s. prepares to move out, afghanistan tries to move on. i will preview the war-torn country's last election. that is coming up next. [ male announcer ] they say he was born to help people clean. 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, you can get back to the great outdoors, which can be pretty great. that's why when it comes to clean, there's only one mr. [ bird screeches ] (music)

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as afghans prepare to go to the polls tomorrow, we are getting another tragic reminder of the incredible danger surrounding the country's landmark elections. veteran a.p. photographer and pulitzer prize winner any anya neteringhaus was shot dead today and her reporter wounded when afghan police opened fire

on their vehicle. the two were reporting in eastern afghanistan, waiting in a convoy of election workers delivering ballots when the unit commander reportedly shouted allahakbar and began firing on them. it is not clear what motivated the shooter who surrendered and as been arrested. it's part of shocking assaults on journalists covering the elections and on the officials working that carry them out. on wednesday, a taliban suicide bombing at the entrance to the ministry of the interior killed at least six officers. it is one of the most heavily for thefied spo fortified spots in kabul. they attacked the campaign headquarters in -- ahead of what is poised to be a pivotal moment in afghanistan. with president hamid karzai now banned from seeking re-election due to term limits, the election tomorrow represents a milestone, the first time afghans will see

one elected president hand over power to another. but as tens of thousands of ballots are prepared for delivery, the "new york times" reports that about 10% of the country's 7500 total voting sites have been shut down because they are deemed too dangerous to protect. in the run-up to the vote tomorrow, afghan's choice of candidates may be taking a backseat to deliberation of whether to vote at all. the new yorker says "these elections will take place in a barely functioning state. the taliban insurgency still rages in roughly half the country where it often wields de facto authority. in these areas, casting a vote amounts to a death wish because the taliban view that exercise as traitorous. joining me now is cofounder or vice media, sarush albi. i'm sorry not to be there in person with you to talk about a very important event that is happening tomorrow. not just for the people of afghanistan but the men and

women of the united states who have seen a war unfold there involving u.s. troops for a decade. as someone who's been to the region and sort of knows the dynamics there well, what is your level of optimism ahead of the vote this weekend? >> well, i think it's obviously as you just reported it's a milestone. it's a very big deal. my level of optimism? i think i was just there a week ago, and i saw the kind of determination that people have to get out and vote and people living up and women lining up to register to vote. and also afghanistan has election fever right now. and you feel it all over the country. so i think that's all very positive, the political process that exists there and that people are take it seriously and also what the future has in store for the country. now, with the taliban's presence, they're doing their best to destabilize things.

and things there are very bad right now. and depending on who wins this election, if it's going to be karzai's chosen candidate, rasul, or one of the other candidates, all the progress that's been made over the last ten years, seven years, what's going to happen in the short term and long term for afghanistan. >> you know, saroosh, i think one thing a lot of americans don't know the majority of afghans are under 25. they have come at age with a military presence in their country. i'm really curious of your thoughts what their thoughts of the west are before we withdraw our troops from the country. >> there are -- there's been so much change there for the youth.

they have entertainment there now. they have the soccer league that launched recently. and the type of content that's making its way into afghanistan from turkey and neighboring countries is having a change for these people. they again, despite the taliban's intimidation tactics and fear mongering these young people are determined to vote. and for afghanistan also to perhaps get someone in office who doesn't have a link to america like karzai. >> you know, saroosh, you talk about the stakes are high, obviously. and the outcome of the election and who is put into office will have dramatic effects on the afghan population. but really especially on the women of afghanistan. and we know that there are a record 300 women running for provincial council seats, a woman is running for the vice president on the leading

national ticket. i think a lot of us are confused given how extreme some of the attitudes are especially held by the taliban regarding women that they would be such a presence in the afghan elections. and i guess i wonder how likely do you think it is that there will be women elected to higher office this weekend? >> well, it was a very, very pleasant surprise for me to be there and to see these billboards all over the country and women running for provincial seats. i was not expecting that. and i think that's a testament to what ahghanis are actually like. they're not all necessarily hard core conservative islamists who have an affinity towards the taliban. that women can have a certain role in afghani society. you saw that in afghanistan in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

you go through the airports in afghanistan, there are women who are working there doing the security at the airports. and again, it was a very pleasant surprise to see women run for office. i don't know if they're going to get voted in or not. i hope they do so they can have a more kind of permanent role entrenched in the government. >> indeed. especially here in the u.s. where there are not 300 women running for provincial council seats in an election like this. it's really a testament to the tenacity and the fundamental i think belief in democracy over in afghanistan. that certainly is a story worth telling in the broader tale of the country's development. >> absolutely. >> vice media saroosh albi my friend, thanks for your time and thoughts. for more check out vicenews.com and catch new episode of vice's fancy and fantastic hbo series on fridays at 11:00 p.m. eastern. coming up, a group of

conservative women in the u.s. offer some sage advice for the ladies. go out there and get that mrs degree. anna cox joins me coming up next. i'm on expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for, because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your future? we'll help you get there.

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...and a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for... ...all day relief. hmm. [bell ring] "roll sound!" "action!" when folks in the lower 48 think athey think salmon and energy.a, but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. thousands of people here in alaska are working to safely produce more energy. but that's just the start. to produce more from existing wells, we need advanced technology. that means hi-tech jobs in california and colorado. the oil moves through one of the world's largest pipelines. maintaining it means manufacturing jobs in the midwest. then we transport it with 4 state-of-the-art, double-hull tankers. some of the safest, most advanced ships in the world: built in san diego with a $1 billion investment. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. and no energy company invests more in the u.s. than bp. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work.

that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. a roaring audience last night enjoying hill rir clinton and christine lagarde's high five of the kickoff of the women in the world summit. it comes on the heels of another female centered con fab held at washington's heritage foundation earlier this week to mark the end of women's history month. the key take away from that con fab, everybody go out right now, go get married.

that's right, sisters. struggle no more for equal pay, equal respect, greater political power. conservatives have found the key to your happiness and its name is husband. it's like cave woman thinking. women know because of the nature of their bodies, because they carry and raise children, that they need support and protection during that time. the happiest women find that protection. millions of women have taken feminist advice, she went on, and it's led to unparalleled misery" unparalleled misery. or it's led to equal rights, better education, fairer wages and a generally stronger sense of self worth. also known as unparalleled misery. to those women seeking to escape the hellfires of member nichl, -- feminism she offers a solution, put a ring on it. we should show concern for

everybody by extending the marriage franchise to everybody, proposed panelist molly hemingway, author of a 2011 article on being a submissive wife. if we truly want women to thrive, charen agreed, we have to revive the marriage norm. it is not lost on the conservatives that reviving the marriage norm would also help republicans thrive at the ballot box. the ballot box where single women went for president obama over mitt romney by 36 points. but married women favored romney by 7. as ms. hemingway put it, it is the decline of marriage that is the lodestar for why people's voting gap is what it is. we do not have a sex gap here in voting. we have a marriage gap. joining me from the university institution of politics, anna marie cox. i don't even need any question. just let her rip.

the marriage gap. it's like the party is trying to open the flaps, increase the number of people, and instead of actually opening the flaps they just want to turn everybody into a circus elephant. >> even as you were introducing this, they were celebrating the end of women's history month. >> exactly. but really just the end of -- hoping that it will never happen again. >> thank god it's over. thank god women's history month is over. i have many thoughts on this. some of them i can say in polite company, some i can't. one of them is this idea women need to somehow they are responsible for reviving the marriage norm. you know what's is also true? it takes two not to marry. what's also happening is that men aren't marrying strong women, right? i mean, i think that we could also encourage -- why encourage the women to be the ones who are submissive and find a husband that way? why do we encourage men to find some strong women out there? i think that's one thing.

and the other thing is, and maybe this is where you were going, to tell people that the solution to the republican problem with single women is for the single women to get married? that's a little bit like saying the solution to the republican gap among black voters is -- >> become white. >> -- it's totally true. just change your demographic, not we need a broader appeal. we need to ask people to get into different buckets. the other thing i would take issue with, i don't know how you felt about this, conservatives always point to the 2009 study, the paradox of declining female happiness. and it basically looks at a study from 1972 to 2006 where in women reporting they are very happy fell .15 percentage points. they use that as a cudgel to say feminism was a failure. it is as one of those panelists said, it led to unparalleled misery. by contention would be, life has

gotten more complicated for women especially. and saying you are plainly happy is a more complicated prospect in the 2000s than it was in the 1970s. >> and i for one would rather have a full life than i would rather have a happy life. i would like to fully experience all that life has to offer rather than to simply be happy. maybe that doesn't make cents to some people, but i think people who have full lives know what that means. >> yes. >> and also i want to point out that women when they said that they were happy, they were being taught a very specific version of what it means to be happy. they were taught that you really -- if you are married, if you have children, that means you should be happy. and i think women went around thinking well then i guess i must be happy. i have this stuff so i guess i'm happy? >> right. >> and feminism taught women to question whether or not that's what they really wanted. it taught them to question what really would make them happy. and for a lot of women, the things that they believe would really make them happy aren't as easily available to them as

they're available to men. >> the other thing that i find curious is this sort of reverse agro anti-feminism. sheryl sandberg has this movement called ban bossy. karen agnes part of the conservative network of enlightened women, a network whose name i will take issue with, said rather than try to ban word like bossy let's try to promote real leadership skills like developing a thick skin. this is also like there was a whole argument a couple of weeks ago about pay equity. and some women in that argument said women just need to stop whining and become better negotiators. it's like rather than help our fellow women, why not just slap them back and make them feel inadequate? >> right. anyone who thinks that women don't already have a thick skin obviously isn't a woman. if you're a woman in business or politics today, that thick skin part isn't the problem. that's for sure. >> well, it is an ongoing debate. there will be another women's history month as far as i can tell. anna marie cox, thank you as always for your time.

>> thank you. >> that is all for you. i will see you back in new york city monday at 4:00 p.m. eastern. you can catch me tonight when i appear on hbo's "real time with bill maher" live at 10:00 p.m. eastern. "the ed show" is up next. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" live from new york. let's get to work. >> we have to tell the american people what we're for. >> then you're thinking like a new republican. >> we've got to stop being the stupid party. >> oops. >> that's actually not right. >> immigrants are more fertile. >> this is a conservative idea. >> that's still not right. >> gentlemen, we can rebuild him. we have the technology. >> you're thinking like a new republican. >> and you understand me. >> show the american people we've got to better plan -- >> better, stronger, faster. >> you're thinking like a new republican, a new republican.