it. >>. >> and three years later the secret is out. we are just now learning that it took agents four days to realize the building had been hit seven times. that's only because a maid found broken glass and a chunk of fallen cement. >> i'm asking you why a housekeeper who doesn't spend 14 weeks in training, who doesn't have 18 weeks of training thereafter found glass and your agents did not? sdmroot housekeeper was able to locate fragments of glass on the truman balcony, which is not an area frequented by security personnel. >> the time of the shooting the president and first lady were on board the "uss carl vinson" but sasha was inside the white house with her grandmother and malia was due back at any moment. thankfully, no one was hurt. the bullets cost $97,000 to the

historic building. the second event that happened this month when an armed man jumped the security fence and made it into the white house. the first assailant ever to get inside. we were first led to believe gonzalez was apprehended just inside the white house front door but now the secret is out. thanks to washington post reporting, we have learned this incident was far more serious than the agency had initially let on. >> omar gonzalez jumped the fence, ran across the white house lawn, up the steps of the front portico and into the white house. he was arminged with a three-inch serrated knife. he entered through an unlocked door past the staircase to the presidential residence and into the east room of the white house. >> in addition to the failure of several layers of security, the front door was unlocked, the alarm box disabled. apparently some white house staffers complained that the

noise had bothered them. >> the concern was when these alarms were put into place in proximity to other activities within the white house, it could be an interference, such as tour lines or other public events. >> all these lapses coming from an agency that estimates president obama faces three times, three times the number of threats that his predecessors faced. >> it's very difficult for the secret service when these individuals come to our attenti attention, as many as 300 a year or a day are being evaluated by our office of protective intelligence. many are brought to attention for having unusual direction of interest or making a direct threat against our protectees. as of yesterday, they were directly overseeing 327 investigations. >> nbc's luke russert has been following the action on the hill all day. there's certainly been a lot to follow there. what did you learn from the hearings today?

>> it's interesting. usually when you have a hearing like this derived from a bombshell report, often you'll at least have some members of congress to try and help the member who's being before the committee. usually that's if the democrats have a democratic person in front they want to help them out, derived from the administration. this time it was open season on director pearson, from both the right and the left, getting at her about a systematic failure within the secret service. not only for the latest incident that happened a few weeks ago where we're learning new horrific details that this individual got through an unlocked door and came to the stairwell where the first family's residential quarters is and was tackled by an off-duty secret service agent. i thought the most interesting line of attack was the 2011 incident. just what you mentioned, four days, seven shots. no understanding of how that could have occurred. the simple answer is there is a flaw in the chain of command. people didn't know about it. when you get into this it's --

the hierarchy within this organization really is the problem. from agents we've heard of, they say, you can't speak out and say something is not working because of fear something bad will happen to you. that's what director pearson is trying to change. interesting enough, the crux of the important information will come out now within the closed door session of that hearing, the classified part. this is where she'll describe to the members the classified information regarding how the secret service particular specifically protects the president and next steps to make him and his family safer. she also mentioned the sequester cuts that happened to the secret service have been detrimental. they feel they are below the adequate funding level. she said about 550 people below optimal levels in terms of being able to exercise what they want to do as a force. that's an issue. i'll wrap up with this. i think when you hear how close that these two individuals came,

one with the high-powered rifle in 2011, this other gentleman a few weeks ago, it has to be disconcerting for the obama girls to understand they were so close to danger in a place that's supposed to be the safest house in the world. i think that's what's starting to get the anger of republicans and democrats is how can that happen in 2014 with the nation's first black president? we need answers. they're not satisfied with what they got today. >> absolutely, luke. thank you so much as always. let's turn to editor-at-large for "the week" who has written for years about the inner workings of the secret service agency. thanks for being with us. >> starting with the shooting incident that happened several years ago l years ago we're now just learning the details of, which are obviously incredibly troubling, from "the washington post" reporting they said that officer kerry johnson told several senior officers she thought the house had been hit but she did not challenge her superiors for fear of being

criticized. that's what she later told investigators. speak to the culture of an agency where the officers on the ground who heard shots, who smelled shots, who saw debris falling did not feel like they could challenge their superiors in this situation? if that is, indeed, true, if she felt particularly with regard to something that could have been an attempted assassination of the president, that she couldn't communicate that to supervisors or she felt she would somehow be retaliated against, if that, indeed, is the cull tufr have tour of the secret service, middle level management, particularly uniform division, it's unthinkable. and it does speak to a very significant problem. when you talk to superiors what they'll say is, well, no one comes to us. of course, we take those complaints seriously. why wouldn't we take a complaint?

why wouldn't we take a report someone had heard bullets falling and had seen debris falling? you have what officers say at lower levels and what upper management believes. there's the day-to-day field managers, lieutenants, deputy special agent in charge of certain details where there seems to be this disconnect between officers and agents below them feel about their ability to have voices heard in the organization and what actually happens. >> let me jump in. that makes sense. when you look at the management piece, they seem to be less than forthright when dealing directly with congressional oversight on these incidents. >> in that case, i think we have to just look at the context of the way these investigations generally play out. almost always the first reports, the first reporting in the

immediate aftermath of something like this. people tend to get the details wrong. i can think of a dozen incidents in the bush and obama administrations where various agency directors said something that turned out not to be true because the information-gathering process is so complex. there's no -- look, it's very easy for congress at this stage to accuse the director of misleading congress. she has absolutely no reason. in fact, it would be completely to her disadvantage to mislead congress because they'll find out eventually. i don't think that's an issue here. i think the issue here is truly about fostering a culture inside the secret service where employees feel empowered to speak out without fear of retributi retribution. where they feel they can be promoted without towing the party line particularly when it comes to sensitive security issues. >> that's part of it. i want to bring in former secret service agent to get at another part of this. as luke just referenced, part is

perhaps a resource issue, sequestration has led, as secret service director said today, as secret service having 500 fewer agents. in mark's piece, he said years of leaner budget have left the secret service, especially the uniform division, which guards the white house, under strength for years. the incident was only a matter of time. do you think that resource issue is part of the problem here, sir? >> yes. but you can't look at that in in a box. the resource issue, conveniently what the director didn't bring up is the fact that tons of resources, personnel, financial resources, are used to investigate financial crimes, which it pains me to say, because i loved that agency, the secret service doesn't need to do that. the fbi can do it. it seems to be a convenient backdrop, especially when they want to make a political football out of it. the secret service are cut back in a number of areas and allocate it more towards

protection. and they don't. they should be cautious, people of either party as accepting that as an excuse. >> i'm right with you on that. secret service has an annual budget of $1.6 billion. it's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that just with more resources, maybe they could have decided to lock the door, maybe they would have said those were actual gunshots we heard, but what we have here is a management problem it seemed like and poor judgment. this is not something about more resources. what needs to be done? >> if you were to talk to rank and file agents, the men and women that do the jobs. i worked with them for years. they are some of the finest people i have met. they could find you so many cost savings within the secret service, bloated management staffs, pampering of upper level management while they get their overtime cut. these are the kind of things

that start to hurt. it has an effect on morale, too. you want an organization that takes care of their men and women, rank and file first, and makes them feel wanted. i feel like the agency hasn't done that. they've taken care of themselves, the insulated upper management and anded the officers and agents, you know, to basically fend for themselves against the staff and everyone else out there. >> dan, very quickly, do you think we need a change at the top in order to change the agency? >> i think we do. i think we may need an outside director, not within the secret service. >> thank you both so much. up next, heavy rains not deterring those protests in hong kong at this hour. this is not going away. why the world should be watching. and head to the president's high-stakes meeting with israeli prime minister netanyahu, that is tomorrow. does the past hold the key to mid east peace in the future? "the cycle" rolls on for this last day in september. did someone say burn?

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cycling right now -- a tense calm on the streets of hong kong tonight, just hours from the 65th anniversary of the founding of modern communist china. the tear gas and riot police we saw this past weekend have now ended. pro democracy protesters, many young and disenfranchised have been allowed to continue their demonstrations. they continue to do so despite heavy rain. now, democracy may not be a ward you associate with china, but think of hong kong as a sort of subcountry of china. afforded many more freedoms than the rest of the country but these demonstrators are fighting for much more.

>> you ask them to reform. good to see all losing power. >> tonight in hong kong those protesters are stockpiling supplies, constructing makeshift barricades. law enforcement will move back in with a vengeance when the sun rises once again. ian williams filed this report a short time ago. >> reporter: on the eve of china's national day, this is one powerful message from hong kong. tens of thousands of people on the street here tonight demanding real democracy. demanding the right to choose their own leader. now, the atmosphere is festive. the only thing they've had to do with umbrellas is fend off a heavy rain storm. the police appear to have just melted away. the violence of the weekend very much on people's mind. no sign of the riot police today.

instead, we have a festive atmosphere. people bringing supplies in for the students, support for the students. we have water being handed out. we have the students organizing teams to pick up and collect and take away the rubbish. now, tomorrow, national day, this is expected to develop and to turn into a very, very big protest. what's more difficult to say is whether china's communist leaders are, of course, willing or able to listen. a yam williams, hong kong. >> thanks so much. let's bring in brian walsh, senior editor for "time" who's overseeing all their coverage of this crisis. as we've been talking about on the break, over in hong kong and in china, you see protests come up every once in a while. what has surprised me about this is just the size. the crowds we have seen on the streets. often with uprisings there's frustration with government and also frustration with the economy. when it comes to hong kong, the economy is just fine. is this a situation you think is sustainable or do you see it

dying out? >> the economy is somewhat of an issue. levels of inequality are very high there. you see university and high school students concerned about their future job opportunities. you're absolutely right. i think no one expected these protests would achieve this kind of size. they had been bubbling for a while. but it was really the police overreaction, the tear gas, the forceful reaction over the weekend that caused a lot of people to come out and hong kong to rally around these protesters. >> that's the initial response. the larger game china seems to be playing is to incrementally promise certain reforms. you'll get a popular vote, a democracy, a 017 election. when you look at the details after they splay and push it along, no, it turns out everything will be screened through beijing and you've had a lot of the educated class in hong kong try to call them out on that. is this working as a way to deal with a sort of delayed repression from china? >> i mean, this is really built into the relationship between

hong kong and main lang china. one land, two systems. hong kong has its systems of law. free speech, preright to protest. china still maintains overall political control. at some point there's going to be a conflict. maybe we finally reached that point. 2017 was to be the sim when hong kongers were to elect their chief executive but china is playing games with exactly what that is. you can vote for candidates but we get to pick who they are. >> they're holding the strings. >> you lived there for five years. part of what happened is when an yishl level 6 protests came out, the police came out so hard against them that that made people respond more forcefully. they mark tianmen square. they said, we have to protest

more forcefully. >> that memory is very strong in hong kong. they they do a vigil every june 4th. as it disappears in china, so there's a lot of fear on the part of people there. there's concern, will the police come out in a stronger way. would you even see chinese troops come out? that's certainly not going to happen but that's definitely in people's mind and there's fear, once -- you have the holiday tomorrow and the next day, no one knows what's going to happen on friday or the day to follow that. >> and hong kong is a major financial center, third after new york and london. business community getting nervous there? >> the business community is already nervous. they're not in favor of these actions. they want hong kong to be a good place to do business. the more chinese hong kong bction, i mean more mainland chinese becomes, that actually takes away from hong kong's, i think, success as an international place to do business. the fact you have a system of law so you don't have a mainland china is big selling point.

on one hand, they don't want to see this disruption or see china where beijing is cracking down hard on hong kong. >> the united states is smartly staying out of it. >> thank you for being here with us. we appreciate it. some breaking news out of louisville, kentucky. police are hunting for a school shooter. at least one student is hurt with now life-threatening injuries. fern creek high school has been evacuated as officers search the surrounding neighborhoods. police call this an isolated incident but won't know for certain until the suspect is caught. they won't say if the gunman is a student at that school. we'll continue to monitor the story and let you know if anything develops. uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach.

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we're learning more this after about a dui charge against olympic legend michael phelps. according to cops, he was going 84 in a 45-mile-an-hour zone.

cops thought he was drunk and he failed a field sobriety test. this is his second dui arrest. he faced a similar charge also in maryland back in 2004. ari? >> thanks, toure. we'll turn to politics. this is what the texas republican chair told "the new yorker" rand paul is being ontively one of the three most likely people to get the party's presidential nomination. objective or not, the rising libertarian star just got his profile treatment in a lengthy "new yorker" piece, about how he tapped his father's ideology and supporters to beat the gop establishment in his state and is now chartering his own course with a bit more pragmatism than his dad ever displayed. we'll spin on it right here. the comparison to his father was interesting because it went so deep. you got the sense memory of ron paul. he was tons of fun, iconic, and

completely broke with the party. and that reduce ths any ability affect it. this charges how rantdz is pragmatic not how so many have realized because so many of his positions are extreme but his approach to politics is pragmat pragmatic. the republican party's approach to black voters. they quote a black pastor talking about two approaches historically. one, team up with black conservatives, like alan keys. doesn't work. two, go to black neighborhoods, go to the naacp, make some show of appeal, but don't change your policies at all. just say, hey, free market politics will work for you. didn't work. and what rand paul is doing, whether you like it or not or ernest or not, is different. treat the black voting community, this is what the article charts, like they have a policy agenda. relates to the overcriminalization of conduct, rates to voting rights --

>> actually do something. >> this article points out something we've talked about on the show before which is rand paul's co-sponsoring a bill with harry reid to restore voting rights. there's an actual policy agenda there. people say, maybe it's just for votes, for presidential campaigns. this article points out, maybe it's a good thing. >> the point of the article, when you treat black people in terms of policy, like a special interest group that has special needs, that's really valuable. just saying, if it gets better, it will get better for black people. that doesn't work out. >> or here's what we think you should want. let me tell you what we think would be good for you. >> and i appreciate rand paul's overt outreach to black people. the article starts with him doing a speech at the urban league. of course, we all remember the howard speech, touches on that. so, he's doing this overt outreach which is unusual within the gop, so i find that very interesting. it's rooted in his anti-government libertarian rights. you get restoring voting rights

to nonviolent felons, get government out of your life especially after you paid your debt to society. but i think black people understand the federal government has been helping us with our biggest problems throughout american history from ending slavery to discrimination to seg garegation to poverty. >> that's the piece that i think is going to be hard for him to maintain going into a presidential campaign. it's fine to go to berkeley or howard or the urban league and sell, you know, this part of my message i think you'll like and not touch on the other stuff i think you'll be less comfortable with. when you're running a presidential campaign, you can't effectively segregate your positions in that way. one of the things that i think has been a real challenge for him recently in a different area is dealing with his nonintervention foreign policy.

he's had a real struggle with what to do to combat the threat of isis. he's come down on the side of not arming the rebels in syria but we should intervene. listen to the case he made on the floor of the senate in favor of intervening. take a listen. >> interventionist disjointed and incoherent rhetoric among gloom that sees enemies behind every friend and friends behind every enemy, the only consistent theme is war. these barnacled enablers have never met a war they didn't like. they beat their chest in rhythmic ode to failed policy. their drums beat to policies that display their outrage but fail to find a cure. unintended consequences drown and smother the possibility of good intentions. >> there he is railing against the ills of intervention in a speech when he's making the case to intervene.

as he's tried to be more pragmatic, it has become more confusing and more complicated for him to keep his world view and also appeal to a broad audience. >> i think this is a situation where you see him differ from his dad. you mentioned ron paul. i spent a few months in new hampshire during the 012 primaries. they have this fan base. and ron paul wasn't about winning. i'm an isolationist and i'm not going to change. i found this article understanding because it made me understand he's not just a minimummy me of his father. he's very smart. he didn't graduate college but got into duke medical school based on his mcat score. he obviously has a mind of his own. and strategic enough to actually think about winning. if i want to get to the next level of politics and even on the national stage to be taken more seriously than my dad, have i to change my tune on some things. i agree with what you said on foreign policy. i think that's going to be his greatest challenge. i saw this poll today, it came out over the weekend and it

shows where republicans are right now when it comes to foreign policy. are you a dove or a hawk? about seven in ten, so 69% of republicans say they're hawks. just 25% are dove. even if he does evolve on a relationship with israel or his feelings toward isis, then people start seeing that as inauthentic. we saw that with mitt romney -- >> i think you're right. he's his own man and moved away from his father to a certain extent. we believe into his 40s he didn't care about politics. he never would have become senator without his father's organization able to come and -- >> i don't think i was saying that. >> no, you weren't. >> i think he's trying to differentiate himself in order to win. he's a very strategic guy. >> gives him more slack because of who his dad is. >> absolutely. >> explanations they have to do. we'll see if there's another paul campaign, it won't be your

daddy's paul campaign. >> what you talking about willis? >> one more time. what you talking about, willis? that's the phrase of the day on "the cycle." ahead of netanyahu's visit to the white house, which is tomorrow, we'll look at a reminder when mideast peace was possible. we have a look back on the 13 fateful days in september. later on the show, we'll stop being polite. we'll start -- >> when are we polite? >> -- get impolite and talk to people why we should be embracing the most taboo topics, meaning sex, politics -- >> we're not going to talk about that. >> on this show? >> too far. >> get out of here. >> "the cycle" keeps rolling on until the wheels fall off. love the real scratch made taste

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fight, it's your fight. >> expect israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to take that message to the white house when he meets with president obama tomorrow. it will be their first meeting since war broke out between israel and hamas this summer. a fragile truce does remain in effect with palestinian leader muhammad abecau mahmoud abbas. it's not like netanyahu and the president have been exactly seeing eye to eye on this issue either. a new book called "thirteen days in september" describes an eriely similar situation. thy managed to find a way forward. in september 1978 jimmy carter defied all odds by bringing israel and egypt to camp david to broker unprecedented peace. to discuss the parallels, lawrence wright, who's new work

chronicles those history-changing days. he won the pulitzer prize for his 2006 book "the looming tower" which i read and loved and found incredible. this new book comes at a wonderful time because it does provide that reminder, that potential peace between arabs and israelis can be potential and can be lasting. talk to us about those negotiations. what did jimmy carter do right there? >> i think he started off -- it was really rosalynn carter's idea. it was their idea to bring them to camp david. jimmy had the idea of doing an international summit in geneva. no one wanted to go. rosalynn said, when they went to camp david, why not bring them here? get them alone? it was a brilliant idea except that he -- carter had the idea if he could just get these two guys, they would come to know each other, like each other, find their way to peace.

by the end of the second day, he had to physically separate them. they couldn't stand each other. rosalynn said you could hear them screaming at the top of their lungs. it was essential to pull them aside. and nobody thought it was going to last 13 days. carter thought three or four. 13 days. imagine that. >> let's talk about anwar sadat. you say he saw himself as a grand strategic thinker blazing like a comet through the skies of history. you also quote kissinger saying sadat's negotiating tactic. your report on something interesting that at the beginning sadat put out a list of demands that carter and others said, this isn't possible. i need to show the arab leaders i'm strong, but he had a secret list of demands that only carter saw.

sadat's staff didn't even get to see them. these concessions i will agree to as we go along. i mean, part of it is about the men who are at the table. so what was sadat's part in getting to the end? >> carter and sadat had a very close relationship. jimmy carter said he loved anwar sadat. you don't normally hear that but they had a kinship. sadat hoped they could get the relationship between egypt and u.s. to resemble that relationship and maybe shove israel aside a little bit. even if he didn't get peace at camp david, he thought he could enhance his relationship with the united states. for both sadat and bagan, their relationship was put in jeptd at camp david. that's something neither one really expected. >> you talk about how tense tense it was at camp david and you talk about throwing the papers around because he was

upset by some proposals. this was not just leveraging a position. this was deeply health beliefs. talk about the role he played with people who remember him as a peacemaker and he won a noble for these peace agreements but he came out of the militant prerevolutionary force in israel and founded. likud party but wouldn't they say that's netanyahu, right wing, settlements. how was he the one to start peace for israel? >> holocaust survivor, lost his family in the holocaust. his whole political career was about enlarging the lan d of israel and providing a safe haven for jews around the world. nobody in his delegation thought he was going to comp to camp david and -- >> sign it away. >> it was completely against everything in his nature. >> land he felt israel won only when defending -- >> the strategic -- >> that started that war.

and yet? >> and yet he finally began to see that there was -- peace was going to be worth it. it was hard to persuade him. everybody in the israeli delegate wanted peace more than he did. one of the generals who was there had ariel sharon call and tell bagan it was okay to surrender sinai. even then he wouldn't do it. there was -- i think -- i think he was scared. i mean, he was a very bold man. you know, obstinate, difficult figure. imagine, put yourself in his place. he was being asked to do something to trust a piece of paper that could substitute for 130 miles of strategic barrier between the main egyptian force. >> and to break where golda mier had said, we trade peace for peace. >> what bonded these men together was family. they got emotional at one point

where they said, what world do we want to pass down to to our kids and grand kids? when we look back 36 years later, you wonder how they would view the relationship. >> it's funny how history turns on some of those small things. not small but meaningful. the last day, sunday, the 13th day, they had the agreement, carter thought, in hand and told the networks that the president was going to make an address. he was going to break into the emmys. they were setting up the table in the east room. carter had written a side letter about jerusalem. had no standing in the accords. and bagan got his hands on it and it restated american policy is east jerusalem is occupied territory. he said, if you don't withdraw this, the signing is off. carter said he couldn't do that. so bagan called it off, no peace, no accord. and carter went back to his cabin devastated. it was a fiasco.

and he had had -- i saw you put the photograph of the three men. he had that photograph made up for bagan's grandchildren. he had nine grandchildren. his secretary had called and gotten the names of those children. and carter had thoughtfully inscribed them. he hated to do it but he took them back to bagan and he started to look at the names and he burst into tears. carter we want. that was the turning point. >> it's incredible. the book make this is historical event so immediate and so relevant. lawrence wright, thank you. >> it's been a pleasure. thank you. >> you know who i think would be into this conversation? my daughter, ella. my 6-year-old is very into politics and she recently wanted to learn more about michelle obama's let's move campaign so she visited a loelg middle school and got a firsthand lesson in fitness from gym teacher mary. >> let's participate in let's

move. >> it's been proved that kids who are active do better in school. they get better test scores. if they get better test scores, they get better grades. if they get better grades, they can get in better middle schools, better high schools, better colleges and then they'll get better jobs. >> and otherwise they won't graduate. >> absolutely. >> you can catch the full political playground video on our website thecycle.msnbc.com. ♪ ♪ ♪ great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle, see how much you could save.

a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto®, jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto®. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require regular blood monitoring. so jim's not tied to that monitoring routine. gps: proceed to the designated route. not today. for patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the healthy foods he likes. don't stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban,

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did i harry about betty rothberg? >> cancer. >> i was talking to betty's daughter. she moved into the new neighborhood. only six jewish families. but very wealthy. >> are you in the card game, too? >> six franchises. >> where did you meet wendy again? >> prone. >> prison. >> there will always be awkward talk and prickly subjects, prison, disease, sex, race, religion, they're hard to talk but we can have breakthroughs. let's shake things up, co-authors of a new book "impolite conversations." john, thank you for being here with us. we'll start with you, john.

impolite topic, race. some people thought the election of obama meant the end of a racial era, post race, some such thing. i didn't think that. you didn't think that. you say in this book it might be ushering in an era of white rage in an essay you say obama making whites white. i don't imagine how anyone like ari could get any whiter. can you expound on what all that means? >> one of the thijs i think obama represents is progress. part of what that means, and i think we need to be careful about how we understand it, is that obama allows us to represent we've come a long way. the positive spin on that, i think, for white america is it might mean a little less anxiety. i know we haven't addressed structural racism and other questions but it could provide an opportunity for whites to be white in a way that isn't about racism necessarily or being part

of a larger multiracial community. that's the positive spin. the negative spin, which is what we hear more of in the media is the backlash about how obama represents a problem. the question is what kind of whiteness do we want in america? do we want a larger multicolored parity, or one that is able to understand it's inclusion into a varying nation. >> that cultural conversation seems to dove tail with what the political markets are doing, where are the competitions. we were talking about rand paul's appeals to voters. you have an essay talking about why you could, in theory, be a black republican. what do you mean by that? >> part of what we need is we need to have options. it should be clear to us that there isn't a party that seems intrinsically for or against the same kinds of members of the body politic all of the time. part of what i want that essay to represent is the fact that

america is stronger for a republican party that really is inclusive and that is compelling to people that might traditionally think of republicans as anti-programs and inclusions that mens are invested in. we need to look at how all of the parties represent themselves to the entire larger american population and recognize that it is on them to make sure they're bringing people to the table with ideas that are inclusive and that everyone can sign on. a better america, it would be reasonable if there was more african-americans voting on those lights. >> race, money, and sex can all be uncomfortable topics. let's pray for sexually active daughters where you say forget the white dress, i will be praying my daughter has enjoyed

an orgasm before her wedding night. >> sex is part of a relationship, it connects you to your partner. i obviouslyly think it's okay to have sex before marriage. some folks disagree with that, but when you have sex with your partner it should be enjoyed by both parties and that's how you get that level of intimacy. sometimes we're so afraid to let our girls embrace sex it becomes such a taboo it's not something they engage in with mind, body, spirit, and respect. >> and the problem is you'll talk bt that wiabout that with feel the same way you do. let's have these impolite conversations with people that mights did agree with us but that is hard to do in our society that is quite sensitive. how do we get past that and have real conversations about politics, sex, money, religion

with people that disagree with us. >> that's really important. thank you very much. congratulations on the book. up next, speaking of inconvenient truths, crystal has a bone to pick with the president. i had these very burning, needle-like sensations. i knew i needed to see a doctor. my doctor said, "let's try lyrica." lyrica has helped relieve my pain. it's known that diabetes damages nerves lyrica is fda-approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions, or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you.

those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. having less pain... it's a great feeling. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain.

president obama's support is slipping in a surprising place, deep blue states. 39% of new york voters think the president is doing an excellent or good job. that's the lowest level of his presidency. in california, just 45% of voters approve of how the president is doing his job.

it's not so surprising that liberals would be disappointed after promises stand executive action on immigration reform the president got midterm jitters and postponed action indefinitely. also, they are involving a major reengagement in the middle east. if that is not bad enough, it looks like the president may be set to disappoint a major part of the democratic coalition once again by delaying the exattention of minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. they're the folks that take care of the elderly and disabled in their home. home care workers who are overwhelmingly women and disproportionately black and latino have been excluded from wage for examples for years.

ray sis southern democrats carved down majority applications. the president promised to change all of that and he called on his department to extand protections to home care workers as part of the "we can't wait" economic agen agenda. nearly two years later, home care workers are till slipping through the cracks. now it looks like their wait might get longer. they have been pushing off implementation of the new rule, and pro worker groups are alarmed that the obama administration may give in to that pressure. more than 40 worker advocacy groups signed a letter to tom perez. they said women that devote their working lives can ill afford to be denied their civil rights again. the department of labor admitted

they are considering the requested of medicaid officials. they have been denied wage protections for 75 years. to make them wait longer. >> that's wrong, it's inexcusable. these men and women work their tails off and they don't complain. they deserve to be treated fairly and paid fairly for a service that many older americans could not live without. there is no republican congress standing in your way, do the right thing. we can't wait. for more watch krystal clear tomorrow. i will talk about lifting wages for home care workers. "now with alex wagner" starts now. the secret service gets a

scolding. will it improve security? it is tuesday, september 30th, and this is "now." >> someone should be held accountable. >> the american people want to know if the president is safe. >> you're protecting the most threatened american president -- >> have they been told to exercise restraint? or told to exercise protection. >> tough questions on capitol hill today for the head of the secret service. >> the feds failed. >> they didn't release the dogs. the front door was unlocked. the president and first lady are concerned about the safety of their children. >> i don't want the president to be worried about his safety. >> a 2011 incident -- >> a gunman fired shots at the white house. >> i find it worrisome that the