like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent. hi, everybody and good morning. great to you have with me today. i'm thomas roberts, and take a look at this. behind me, this is the nbc news battleground map that may determine which way the presidential election goes one year from now. today is election day 2011, super tuesday on msnbc. and there are several battles playing out acoss this country. this hour we look at all the issues that americans are voting on right now that could decide where the nation is headed come 2012. will the unions score big victory in ohio?

will reproductive rights get a setback in mississippi? and what about voter i.d. laws across the country? joaning my this entire hour to take us through the news of the day. and contributor columnist for the nation and tulane professor, you know her from soundoff segments. we have her the entire hour today to sound off for us. good to have you here. for the first time, a face to the herman cain sexual harassment scandal. sharon bialek acoukooccused cai groping her. this morning on the "today" show, bialek explained why she's only speaking about it now. >> when this happened, the first reaction is you're embarrassed. number two, i had a boyfriend at the time. we did discuss it briefly, although i didn't share the details with him. he said it's going to be one of those he said she said things. this was the late '90s.

we still weren't -- unfortunately still not where we should be in these types of cases. >> herman cain will respond at a press conference at 5:00 p.m. today. on saturday cain vowed not to address the scandals but said he has a new policy and said so last night on "jimmy kimmel live." take a look. >> when i made the statement that i'm done talking about this i was talking about the firestorm last week. >> i see. >> i wasn't talking about this new firestorm that we discovered today, but, no, we are going to talk about this one and i am going to talk about it at the press conference. >> and there are future firestorms, will you talk about them? >> i will talk about any and all future firestorms. >> all right. so we're going to talk about this now. this current fire storm. joining me, jen, former white house deputy communications director for president obama. also here, michael steele, former chairman of the rnc and msnbc political analyst joining us from washington and melissa on the set with us to talk more about this as well. all right. so i've got these great brains

all assembled at one time. let's talk about this. michael, how bad for herman cain and what does he need to say? promote the fact at 5:00 p.m. we will hear from him specifically about this latest accusation. >> right. what you didn't want to have happen. he's a week and a half short on this thing. this is the press conference he should have had the sunday after this story first broke, where he got out in front and explained exactly what was going on. why do you wait until you actually have a face out there that's now counterballancing yor voice and message on this? you're going to come off on the defensive, not very good position to be in right now. so i think that the campaign has got a lot of catching up to do here. they've got to put it out now. they've got to get to a level of specificity, because ms. bialek is giving specifics, and i think this is going to be something that is not going to be helpful for the campaign, nor to the larger field of candidates.

you're going into a debate tomorrow night with this hang over thid heads. and everybody's gob to ask, pointing fingers, they're the one whose started this. >> a big difference, you point out, michael, the name, face is showing up on everybody's tv sets and interviews around the country now. jen, this weekend seemed herman cain and the campaign was moving on from this. how much has that changed now that we do have a woman, a name and somebody that's out there publicly talking about this and in all venues? >> just like anything, any communications ish issues having a name, face and story crystallizes the situation. and obviously the forewe heard yesterday is deeply disturbing, and if i were a republican woman voting in a primary, which i am not, but i would be deeply disturbed by it and would be questioning not just the handling by the campaign, which anyone can argue is going to be a case stud anyhow not to handle crisis communications but also what is his character? what is behind this? what else don't we know?

and that's an area where i think people should, will be really concerned out there in primary states. >> michael, regard all of this, the new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll asked voters whether this scandal raises concerns about voting for herman cain and 54% say, not at all. do you think that the strategy he's gone with so far is working for him and that he is survive this? >> well, yeah. keep in mind that that poll was taken before ms. bialek's appearance on the stage. so when you had a somewhat one-sided conversation, just herman cain giving his side of the story without the face, without the other explanations, then people, particularly the base, was much more, you know, comfortable giving him the cover he needed by saying, it's the press, it's the left, all of that. that dynamic changes. you see in the poll there was slippage in his favorability that will translate into electability over the next few weeks i think. >> melissa, as we look at this,

talk about the fact we have a white woman accusing an african-american presidential candidate of this type of harassment. how does that change things moving forward especially in the atmosphere we live in today? we have an african-american for president. doesn't even need 20 to be talk about? >> at the moment, doesn't seem to be racialized. there's plenty of time for that to turn into that. in order for this to be racialized, they would need to see that as an effective strategy and make use of it in that way. i don't think any think that is an effective way to go after cain. i do think as jen pointed out that what cain has at this point benefitted from is what many sort of newcomers to the scene benefit from. simply that people don't have any opinions about them as all yet. as long as it's just their voice, as michael said, who's speaking, then they can form their own sort of image of who they are. but now suddenly as the learning curve starts to move up and as

people start to learn an herman cain, i mean, race will undoubtedly be part of it but the smallest part. the biggest question will be, did he lie about this? is this not just sexual harassment but assault, if he grabbed this woman? these are the big character confers. >> as woman's advocate is she getting a fair shake? >> not so far. at the moment people are listening. unless there are convictions, we tend to disbelief women. and that sort of standard of this belief, you hear cain going after her, someone with financial problems, as though this would somehow are lucrative for her. that's clearly going to be their line. this woman is someone we cannot believe. >> let's talk about that, because, jen, there is a release from the cain campaign saying opponents have convinced a woman with a long history of severe financial difficulties including personal bankruptcy to falsely accused republican front-runner. also hearing from our michael isikoff that cain will try to go after the democratic ties of her lawyer gloria allred.

is this a good strategy? discredit her? >> starting to look like desperati desperation. the real issue, this has taken the eye off the policies issues that this campaign should be about, and my favorite example is last week mitt romney gave a speech focused on how he wanted to gut and radically change entitlements and it has completely been swept under the rug, because everybody's talking about herman cain. so that should be concerning to republican primary voters as well. >> all right. i want to thank you all of you. jen, michael, melissa, ask you to 12ik stick around. peeve got you for the hour. that herman cain accuser will be my guest along hi we are attorney gloria allred this hour on msnbc. find out how she reacts to herman cain's press conference today at 5:00. a heated battle over 350,000 union workers tops the ballot today in ohio. whether to repeal a law pushed by republican governor john

kasich. the law cuts state costs collective bargains rights for teachers, firefighters and police officers. support for the repeal of this law has green steadily since march with 56% of voters now in favor. former arkansas governor mike huckabee is encouraging deception as a way to suppress the vote. listen to this. >> make a list of ten family member, ten friends, ten neighbor, ten folks you work with or have worked with in the part and call them and ask them, are you going to vote on issue 2 and are you going to vote for 2? if they say, no, well, you just make sure that they don't go vote. [ laughter ] let the air out of their tires on election day. they them the election has been moved to a different date. >> all right. so i'm joined now by former governor of ohio ted strickland and joined by larry handily, president of the amalgamated

transit unit and melissa is sticking around as welling. governor, what's your reaction to this voter suppression talk from mike huckabee? seems to be joking getting a laugh from the crowned. what kind of message does that send it people in your state? >> well, the fact is the republican leadership in ohio has been trying to suppress the vote. they've put forth a very negative voter reform bill that will limit the ability of people, older people, poor people, to actually exercise their constitutional right to cast the ballot and we're pushing back on that as well. but i think it's a sign of desperation. we're having a good day in ohio. it's beautiful here. the voter turnout is high, and we're expecting a good victory for middle-class ohioans this afternoon and into the evening. >> sunny days mean good things at the polls for people to get out and vote and be a part of the process. larry, you've faced this on a smaller scale at the atu over

motor coach accidents, driver fatigue, all based on overtime pay. the ntsb is saying, the proposal is nothing more than an attempt to make an end run around the collective bargains process governors employee pay. no evidence to tie exemption from the overtime requirements to accidents in the industry. a lot of acronym. what's your response and what does it mean? >> willful blindness or the part of the ntsb and we're disappointed they would take that position. the in the tb h"new york times f fatalities are involving buses are driver fatigue, bad equipment or driver health issues all connected to the fact that the federal government has turned a blind eye on the fact that drivers are working hours that are intolerable, that they're working beyond their physical abilities and the ntsb knows this. we've met with them and continue

to meet not only with them, but with members ever the senate and congress to press think issue. >> do you agree with voters, the support to repeal this? >> to repeal which? the law? >> yeah. >> absolutely. this whole thing is a grand deception. what huckabee is doing, what the governor here, governor kasich is doing is a grand deception. nair trying to deceive the people of ohio and the people of america to convince us that somehow by stripping middle-class people of their pensions and wages and their health care we're going to build a better society. that's nonsense we reject it and are working hard to defeat governor kasich. >> let's talk about this. he's become one of the most unpopular in the country now. is this not the conversation or at least the example of the conversation that the larger republican party doesn't wan to have come 2012? >> absolutely. look, ohio is the bellwether state. this is, as this vote goes, so likely will go at least the

initial conversation going into 2012. you know, in these kind of off-ye elections after the presidential election in '08, many republican governors took over in states sort of around this language of, we're going to do what we can to get the economy back on track and instead what's happened has been an attack on working people in places like wisconsin, in ohio, where laborers, where teachers have found that they are

staying with me. be hour to catch "the ed show" tonight on msnbc. host ed schultz broadcasting live from ohio like last night. mississippi votes on the so-called personhood amendment today. this is a big one defining life as beginning at conception, but there's concern about this law and it's in locations for family planning. plus, history could be made in san francisco in either one of two ways. you're watching super tuesday coverage on msnbc, the place for politics. ♪ ♪ mama said there'd be days like this ♪ ♪ "there'll be days like this," mama said ♪ [ male announcer ] the toughest job on the planet just got a little easier. with one touch technology and even an air scrubber. the nissan quest. innovation for family. innovation for all.

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were back, everybody, to our super tuesday coverage.

the stakes are huge in mississippi where a new anti-abortion movement seemed poised to win its first electoral victory. voters will design whether to designate a fertilized egg as a person. if it gets the okay, the first personhood amendment would not only criminalize abortion as murder, limit invert troe fein vitro fertilization a some forms of birth control. sir, nice you have back on as we talk about this conversation today. doctor, this issue has the potential, honestly, to revive the abortion donebate on the martial level. how do you this issue will play out in your state? >> i think if you'd asked me a month or two ago my fear would have been that this proposal would carry by and overwhelming margin. it's been really interesting in the last few weeks, there's been

a tremendous awareness among people of the am boo gut ambig unintended consequences on things line infertility treatment, birth control, a number of other issues, and i think the latest information indicates that it's now very close race. one that's too close to call. >> when we talk about the support for this it's mainly coming from people who would like to prevent abortion with the state. it doesn't have much access to begin with to clinics with the state. 99% of women have to go across state lines. what are the greater consequences of something like this going through? >> let me be clear. this will not prevent abortion, it will criminalize abortion. people will continue to seem abortions when in situations where they feel very fraught and where they feel they have no choice and now you're making it a situation where doing so makes people criminals.

i want to be really clir about that. the other thing, this has both a political and a medical consequence. the political one here is to provoke a constitutional question. it's to take this to the supreme court in order to revisit the entire question of whether or not women and doctors have a right to make reproductive choices, and then the medical one, and this is what i really would like to ask the doctor a question about here is, we've heard potentially ibf could be impacted because you have to actually freeze fertilized eggs which could mean that freezing these eggs would be cruel and unusual punishment to these persons? we've also heard this may mean doctors when doing implantations for in vitro fertilization would not be able to selectively reduce for their patients who for example are carrying more than three or four fertilized eggs. as an ibf specialist, doctor, what does this mean for your relationship with your patients? >> well, first let me say that

the days of selectively reducing pregnancies are well behind us, because we are able to use techniques like freezing embryos for later use so that when it comes time to pick embryos to transfer to the uterus, we're able to select a small number. one or two of those to put in, to give patients a good chance for success and to minimize their risk for having a multiple pr pregnancy. so freezing embryos and saving these layers is very important apart from the safe and effective use of ibf treatment. so it's precisely that issue. our ability to freeze embryos that has been identified by the personhood group as an area of concern for them and while, you know, the rhetoric is that this

would not ban ibf, that's true, but if we were not able to freeze embryos, it would severely limit our ability to use in vitro fertilization effectively. not only could we not freeze embryos, it would put us in a position sometimes to transfer too many and putting patients at risk for multiple pregnancy or force us to limit the number ever eggs that we fertilize, and that would greatly reduce a patient's chance for success with treatment and force many patients to undergo additional repeated cycles of therapy. >> historically -- freezing -- i'm sorry, doctor. go ahead? >> just that it's -- freezing the embryos, you know, is very important for us, and i also think it's important to say that the majority of patients who have embryos that are frozen, they come back and use them.

you know, these are not embryos that are frozen and then not used. the vast majority if these embryos are useed by patients in the future to have another attempt at pregnancy and so it's a very important issue for us, and one i think that has really caught the attention of our patients and many other women and couples who have faced infertility problems or known someone who has. >> doctor, thank you for your time. i need to get to breaking flus to pass along to everybody. this just from from the u.s. appeals court in washington, upholds president obama health care law as constitutional. the lower court dismissed this saying the requirement for americans to buy health insurance was constitutional. now, the requirement has been the subject of several lawsuits with mixed outcomes. likely moving on to the supreme court next which is expected to decide whether to accept other

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plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups. all right. so coming up today at 5:00 p.m., herman cain will address new allegations of sexual harassment. sharon bialek broke the news monday saying cain inappropriately touched her and suggested complies would lead to a job. >> i want you, mr. cain, to come clean, just admit what you did. admit you were inappropriate to people. >> last night on "jimmy kimmel live" cain joked about these recent charges. >> all things considered, i'm still alive. it was -- it got off to somewhat of a rough start. we had a little surprise to show up on tv. >> yeah, yeah. did you watch that? were you wamping?

>> yeah, we watched it, because we didn't even know that this whole thing about "woman number four" was going to even come out. >> and be sure to tune into this hour tomorrow. sharon bialek will be on as my guest along with her attorney gloria allred all talking in respond to herman cain's press conference today. up next, the battleground map for 2012 is drastically different from the last election. we'll break it down. plus the occupy wall street movement resonates with the american people. what our brand new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll reveals about the wealth gap. [ mom ] alright guys, play with your toys after dner. looks beautiful, honey. [ rattling ] jason... really buddy, wow. samantha jane. ♪ guys, christmas dinner and you're bringing toys to the table? ♪ that, that's not a toy...

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tuesday breakdown on that. what a difference four years can make a. big difference. unlike last election, 2012 could be more brutal in some states and very close in other. today nbc's political unit pointing to 11 states as toss-ups right now. which way they will go? fuf tough sow say now. colorado, florida, iowa, michigan, nevada, new mexico, north carolina, ohio and pennsylvania as well as wisconsin. now, they represent 147 electoral votes, and both sides need a big chnk of this to win in 2012. history may help us understand the future. in 2008 they all went obama. all of these states, with some really close votes, as you can see here. these are the popular vote totals from the last election. north carolina, look at that. just 1% margin. a "usa today"/gallup poll showed

a group of these swing states in a dead heat today. colorado first. the president visited not too long ago and nominated there in 2008, but romney leads the president in fund-raising in this state. a trend found in our swing states as well. then florida. tight for obama in 2008. the hispanic vote as we both well know here, tohomas, could e a challenge. florida overall, 10.6%. a whopping number of votes and virginia is interesting. in 2008, went democrat for the first time since 1964. its state senate, with today's vote, could flip control to the gop. we'll see if that happens, and a popular republican gather and a factor of these three, if they get two, could take the white house. out of these 11 toss-up states, nine have republican governors

right now today. big influence on the election ground gained in their states. take you back to 2008. look at that change. it was the opposite. nine were led by democrats. 8,700 hour, thomas, to go until the election, but as it stands, 2012 could be a squeaker. >> we need a countdown clock. >> i'll count for you. >> richard, thanks. appreciate it. our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll finds americans convinced the country's economic structure is out of balance and favors the rich more than three quarters of those surveyed think that meantime our poll shows voters angry and disaffected. 74% think president obama has fallon short to improve banks and wall street and 56% identify with ith irthe tea part other occupy wall street movements and 54% see the economic troubles as the start of a long-term national decline. not a tough period the u.s. will get through. joining me now, "washington

post" and others, 47% think the economy will stay about the same in the next several months. 25% believe it's going to get better. 28% are thinking it's going to get worse. so what might that mean for president obama and his republican challengers? >> you know, polls are a little bit like scripture, and you can interpret them in a variety of different ways, and i looked at this poll. on the one hand you're right that obama clearly has some trouble here. he's at 44% approval. there's disappointment on various economic fronts you pointed out bought couple other interesting things in this poll that point the other way. one is, my conservative friends love to say we are a center-right country, but on economics we are more like center-left, if left is americans thinking that a playing field is unfair and tilted in favor of the rich.

on a number of these specific questions, like understanding average people, and knowledge of foreign policy, other things, obama has a significant lead on mitt romney. the number that really struck me, the white working class voters are split even between romney and obama. the last time obama lost the white working class, if the republicans are going to win they're going to have to do better among white working class voters than they're doing in this poll. >> if we look at the confidence the american public has in the obama presidency, the bad news for president obama, 73% now say the country is on the wrong track. not much change over the past three months and a margin of 40% to 50% disapprove of the handling of the economy. that hasn't changed over the past months. on the plus side for the president in our poll, 43% saying it wouldn't help economic conditions if a republican sn elected president next year bp how are you supposed to read the tea leaves on that one? >> i agree with e.j., you can

interpret poll numbers in a variety of ways. the reason president obama should be worried about the numbers you just hit on, three quarters ever the country think the country is going into the wrong direction, or this economy stinks or will stink worse come next year, that's bad news when you're the man in charge. and president obama is in charge and he will pay a price. no doubt history has shown you pay a price when people are grumpy and feel their economic situation is bad and don't think there's a prospect for improves. i'm not surprised he still does okay in matchups because the republican primary has been so dirty and messy lately. the question, between two people can a republican mike the claim they're better at creating jobs than president obama? that's why mitt romney scares the white house the most, because he's probably the most credible of this bunch to go toe-to-tow when fighting

independent voters to talk about stewardship of the economy. that's the most likely matchup, if you look what's happening playing on the republican side and the one that democrats probably fear the most. >> it shows in the polls because it finds president obama widening his lead between the two republican front-runners, mitt romney and herman cain, obama beats romney six points and herman cain by 16 points. is that something romney can get closer as jim is pointing out, but the one the white house fears the most. >> i agree with jim on that and that the president would be foolish if he looked at these numbers and said i'm in great shape. no. the economy is in bad shape. if it got worse, he would be in even worse trouble. i think there is something we keep repeating, which is, this will be a close election. we don't even know that yet. the numbers are relatively close now. if the bottom fell out of the economy, the president could have a big problem. the way jimmy carter did.

a close election until the end and ronald reagan won by ten points. looking at underlying numbers, the country is mad at the way the economy is working, but they are not at all convinced that the republican answers are the right ones. and that is the president's opening. you know, when you look how bad things are to have them ahead in matchups is remarkable. >> "washington post" columnist and political editor, both of you, thank you so much. a reminder, the republican presidential candidates face-off in a debate tomorrow night hosted by our sister cable network cnbc the republican presidential debate live wednesday, 8 p.m. eastern on cnbc. and mr. clinton appeared e "morning joe." he supported the idea of

presidents serving longer. >> shouldn't a president be able to serve two terms, take some time off, and then run again? shouldn't americans have that choice? >> i've always thought that should be the rule. not to affect me or anyone who served but going forward. >> joining me now, "washington post" white house reporter ann kornblue. do you this this would ever happen? >> oh, you just have to love bill clinton. wishing for a third term there. it's hard to see it happening anytime soon, but, you know, who knows. if the economy gets worse and the electorate remains rett i s anything could happen. >> bill clinton says the jobs bill is the right thing to do for obama. outlines an economic professor. should lawmakers ta make take h seriously? >> i'm sure they are. he's an important voice in the democratic paertd. we've paid attention of the dinss in the book between president clinton and president obama. in broad sweep, the book is a

portative of president obama and he's done a lot of of the things in the time it took the president, former president to write the book in its publication, president obama actually did a few suggestions in the book. >> does it give insights into the relationship they have today, especially after '08? >> fair to say, armchair quarterbacking going up but he tries hard to be basically supportive of president obama, but you can see the former president second guessing the current one and talking at least thinking allowed about what he'd be doing differently at this point. >> and ann, great to see you. thanks again. states with strict voter i.d. laws more than tripled since the last election. why are these new laws causing one lawmaker to lose sleep? we'll look at that. plus, how the ipad could change the voting process as we know it today. that and much more as we continue our special coverage of super tuesday right here on msnbc.

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hi, everybody. welcome back. mi mississippi getting a lot of attention. you can't go to the ballot box empty-handed. 30 states require some form of i.d. before casting a vote. wr breaking it down state by state. where several states stand right now. look at map and start wit simplest state requirements. the 16 states you see right here have non-photo i.d. requirements. that means if you live in arizona, virginia or any of these states, you'll have to bring something with your name on it. whether it's a utility bill or a bank statement. now, for the next level, these states. all right. photo i.d. requirements in these seven states. florida, michigan and the president's home state of hawaii, included in this category you're asked to show

some form of picture i.d. if you don't have it, check with offices running the polls. you may meet other criteria, signing an affidavit or having someone else vouch for you. the strict voter i.d. states. the toughest. south carolina, texas, swing states like wisconsin in this group and it's mandatory here you have to show a picture i.d. most of the laws in these states haven't taken effect yet, but will most likely be on the books before the 2012 election. now, mississippi is joining in this mix. nearly 1,000 voter i.d. bills have been introduced in 46 states since 2001. proponents of these bills say it prevents voter fraud in the country. critics claim they are aimed at preventing minority and elderly voters from casting ballots. right now, take to you president obama speaking live in the swing state of pennsylvania talking a about reform at the headstart.

>> -- the teach, and staff that are here wouldn't be doing this for the money. they're doing it out of love of children. all of you do it because you know that when it comes to learning and when it comes to growing, this is an absolutely critical period in a child's life. we know that 3 and 4-year-olds who go to high-quality preschools, including our best headstart programs, are less likely to repeat a grade. they're less likely to need special education. they're more likely to graduate from high school than the peers who did not get these services. and so this makes early education one of our best investments in america's future. one of the best.

right out of the gate, it helps prepare our kids for a competition that's never been tougher. a competition for good, middle-class, well-paying jobs and we're competing now with countries like china and south korea and europe, all of which are serious about educating their children. so the time when a company is able to move anywhere they want in the world, and a lot of times will make the decision based on where they can find the most highly skilled workforce it is impavt pairti imparentive we we've got the best. that is the priority. this is not and should not be a democratic priority or a republican priority. this is an american priority.

it's an economic imperative. our future depends on it. and people understand this outside of washington, which is why we've been able to work with democratic and republican governors on our efforts to strengthen education. from cradle to career. not only with more money. money's important, but also with reforms that challenge schools to develop higher standards and the best practices for teaching and for learning. now, unfortunately, in congress right now, it's a different story. the republicans in washington had been trying to gut our investments in education. earlier this year nearly every republican in the house voted for a budget has would have cut hundreds of thousands of children from headstart. they've tried to cut pell grants

for college students. they just voted against a jobs bill that would put 400,000 teachers back in the classroom. their argument is that we don't have the money. and what i've said is, we can make these in our children without adding to the deficit simply by asking people who make more than a million dollars a year to pay a little more in taxes. not right now, but starting in 2013. it's the right thing to do for our kids. it's the right thing to do for our country, but so far, they've said no. it's not just on issues by the way that cost money. so far congress has failed to move on fixing no child left behind. despite the fact that we've shown them bipartisan reforms that are working in states right now, reforms that are praised not only by democrats but also by republicans.

so after trying for months to work with congress on education, we decided to take matters into our own hands. because our future is at stake. our children deserve action. and we can't wait for congress any longer. we can't wait to make sure that our schools give every child's chance to compete with young people from around the world. so in september, i announced that if states exceed the high standards set by no child left behind, then they've got the flexibility to build on the pereforms they've already made. we can't wait to help more young people get to college. >> listening to president obama speaking at the yeadon regional head start program in pennsylvania. the president criticizing republicans who -- in congress for not improving the work situation for the nation's educators. basically telling all of the people in the audience there at this head start location that they've been keeping teachers out of the classroom, slashing pell grants, refusing to fix the

problem with no child left behind. before we went to the president's remarks there, we were talking about the mississippi voter i.d. law. we want to jump back to that because our guests on set are joining us now. mellissa harris perry has been with me the entire hour. mark, great to have you here. i want to get back to the mississippi voter i.d. law. this is really important. explain why this is such a pivotal issue for the state of mississippi and what it means on the larger scale. >> it's a pivotal issue because it could lead to the desenfranchisement, an untold number of voters. what it is is mississippi pretending as though it's fighting the windmill of nonexistent fraud. it's important to understand the rationale for this is fake, it's phone eit's f phony, it's fictitious. the real hope behind this is to disenfranchise people. mississippi is a state with many, many great people.

it's a state stepping back in american history, maybe all the way to the 1800s with this which is none other than a new form of a grandfather tax or poll tax which makes it difficult for people of color, low-income individuals, senior citizens and students to be able to exercise that democratic right, the right to vote which is so precious and is a foundation of this nation. >> as we talk about this, a lot of people have been tweeting and writing in saying you need an i.d. to rent a car or rent a movie or to get around. but that's business as opposed to democracy. so is there a difference that people aren't understanding about what this means? >> yeah, two critical differences. you do not have a right to consume any item. certainly it's a sort of confusion about what it means to be an american if you think that your primary right, the thing that most identifies who you are is your ability to rent a car or drive a car or any of these things. the second thing is in the -- in the world of commerce there is a great deal of fraud.

i mean, the problem of credit card fraud is a serious problem. the reason they've gone to creating, you know, images on credit cards or showing your i.d. or signing it is because people pretty regularly use other people's credit cards to fraudulentry purchase things. as mark was just telling us, that is not true in voting. voter fraud is not a regular problem. in fact, quite the opposite. voter suppression has historically and today far more impact on our elections than voter fraud has ever imagined itself to have. >> isn't the catch-22 here for the people that may vote yet today will not be able to potentially come back for the general election because they didn't have to show i.d. today. >> no question about that. many people do not have a government-issued identification card. many senior citizens do not drive. disabled citizens do not drive. a student may not have a car, therefore, not need a driver's license. the important thing is, i fought the voter i.d. law in louisiana back in the 1990s.

it wasn't necessary then. these i.d. laws are not necessary now. for a long period of time, there was no need anywhere in america for anyone to show any i.d. at the voting polls. a photo i.d. at the voting polls. so we're going to highlight this issue i think all across the nation and say to the states that are considering this legislation but haven't passed it, don't do it. you don't need to do it. don't take a step against democracy. >> marc, thanks for being here. and make sure you logon and read the special look at how mississippi's voter i.d. law could set the clock back on african-american voters. and also a special thanks to melissa harris-perry for spending some time with us. the whole hour. we want to get your quick takeaway on this election day. so tell us, what do you think are the major ones to watch. it really is mississippi with the personhood amendment? >> mississippi is posed to do two things.

move its state back into the 18th century on voting and to assert a religious law to as a matter of faith determine that people exist as fertilized eggs. and so those two things would be huge in this down the see that. and the second is ohio. whether or not voters and workers have a right to organize on their own behalf. >> we've had a great hour today. thanks to both of you. that's going to wrap it up for me. i'll see you back at 4:00 p.m. i'm filling in for dylan ratigan. also i'll be back here at 11:00 a.m. eastern. you can always tweet m me @thomasaroberts. who wants some holiday tunage? ew, i do! ew, i do! let's see what they pull up here. oh, this is a good one. ♪ grandma got run over by a reindeer ♪ really? ken? ♪ walking home from our house christmas eve ♪

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