plus, why one writer warns, quote, he will never look suspicious because he's white. that writer will join us live. plus, the man believed to be responsible for killing seven people in france is fatally shot while jumping from his apartment after a 30-hour dramatic stand-off with police. now it is believed part of his alleged motive was revenge for the death of palestinian children. as someone who doesn't have my policy positions written on an etch a sketch, i carry this with me. >> but it is no laughing matter. day two of mitt romney's rivals going after his advisers' etch a sketch moment. why this is not an issue of child's play for mr. romney. >> the degree to which mr. romney lies all the time about all sorts of stuff and doesn't care when he gets caught is maybe the single most notable thing about his campaign. hi, everyone.

the "news nation" is following news right now in the trayvon martin shooting case. the city of sanford, florida just announced the city manager will hold a news conference at 3:30 this afternoon. there's no word on the topic yet but it comes less than 24 hours after the city commission gave a vote of no confidence to its police chief. the vote was 3-2. the city manager says he will be giving an update on the events surrounding the investigation. we'll bring you the latest developments. meanwhile a massive rally planned in sanford has been moved to another location because so many people are now expected to attend. those are pictures from atlanta right before dozens of churchgoers packed buses bound for sanford this morning. tonight's rally organized by the reverend al sharpton is expected to be so large. it was moved to nearby park. martin's parents along with the reverend al will meet with the

u.s. justice department officials hours before they rally. a short time ago high school students in miami, they walked out of class to protest the shooting. it's been 25 days since the killing. the grand jury will not convene until april 10th. nbc's ron allen joins me live from sanford. everything is moving fast. what we do know, the city manager was on with andrea mitchell less than an hour ago. he said there was a lot to think about. a lot to review. he was on last word with lawrence o'donnell saying the same thing last night and now we're an hour or so away from this news conference. any idea what he might say? >> reporter: i don't think he is necessarily going to say the police chief is resigning or being put on suspension. aid lengthy conversation with him as well. i think what he is trying to do is make himself available and try and be more informative about what he is doing and what he is thinking. if the police chief announces his resignation, it will be a big surprise. a lot of people hope that

happens. i'm not sure that's what's going to happen. he is back there now behind me talking to a number of reporters. the city manager is. and i think it is part of an offensive to try to get their side of the story out because they feel like they've been a bit behind on that. he also said in an interview that he is trying to figure out another way to try and investigate this whole process more quickly. as you pointed out, the grand jury is not going to convene until sometime next month. the department of justice is going to take a while. he is hinting at perhaps some sort of special adviser who might be able to help him sort out whether or not he should ask for the chief's resignation. at this point he says he's having discussions about that. and mind you, even if the chief leaves, people here still want an arrest themselves want george zimmerman behind bars. that is the only thing that i think will quell a lot of the frustration and anger here. >> let me play what the city manager norton bonapart said less than an hour ago.

>> i think it is important for the community to have respect for the police department but i think we need to not rush to judgment. a lot of high tensions here and we have to be sensitive to that. >> so ron, in the "miami herald," one of the commissioners on the city counsel who gave this no confidence vote said i never thought the chief was a racist or anything. more lack of experience and a lack of leadership. he was on the job ten months according to the herald. 102,000. he was brought in to clean up the department tainted by racial scandals. what did they mean by this vote of no confidence? beyond the words from that one commissioner? >> reporter: well, there are three commissioners out of the five who want him to resign. as simple as that but they don't have the legal authority to make that happen. the city manager is the only person who can do that and that's what a vote of no confidence is. a very loud statement that we don't think you're up to the job for whatever reason. and yes, there is a very bad history here that the, this chief was brought in ten months ago to try to clean up. but clearly this is all about

what that to trayvon martin and how the police have handled this investigation. there are a lot of aspects of what the police did that night and didn't do that are very troubling to a lot of people in the communicate who have heard about these things. beyond the fact that george zimmerman wasn't arrested immediately. that's why they feel this cannot go forward with any credibility as long as this chief is on the job. >> all right. thank you for the latest from sanford. and trayvon martin's parents have said they believe without a doubt their son was targeted because of his race. at a rally last night his mother said she knows it is a bigger issue. >> our son is your son. stand up for what's right. this is not about a black and white thing. this is about a right and wrong thing. >> joining me now is michael, editor-in-chief of global grind.com. michael, you wrote this piece. a lot of people have read it on

facebook. i think you had over 100,000 likes on it. white people, you will never look suspicious. what do you mean by that? >> well, on sunday afternoon here in new york i wore a black who haddy, a pair of tennis shoes, the same outfit that trayvon martin was wearing when he got killed. no one called 911. >> but you're in new york city. is that a fair comparison? new york city, that's probably a uniform for people around the city. >> i can go anywhere in this country. i can walk into a restaurant. no one will ask me to pay the check before i eat. i can walk into a restaurant and no one will grab their purse. no one will profile me because of my skin color. we know that he called 911 and said we look suspicious. why does he look suspicious but i don't? because skin color. >> we're showing this picture of the hollister t-shirt. there is an article on the daily beast that points out, innocence, you could not have picked a more perfect child for people to rally around in that

clean cut. for people who don't know, hollister, there is not a mall in america that does not have a hollister store. that is where middle class kids go to get their -- the levis of their time. his picture skiing. i'm going to keep it real here. there are people that don't even believe black people ski. he is on a middle class vacation with his family skiing here but we're still about how he, according to some people, could be the emmett teal of his time. for whites watching this, we can't generalize. we're not monolithic here. what are people saying to you about the race of it? when they say you cannot be suspicious. >> as a white man, right? we got choices to make. i'm privileged. i'm american, i'm a man and i'm white. i have the privilege of never looking suspicious. with that privilege comes choices. the choices that i'll make is not be quiet. three weeks ago when the movement happened, every person

was running and screaming and about it. when trayvon marine, a 17-year-old black country in our child was murdered, we were quiet. white america was quiet. this past weekend, every black commentator about it but no white commentators are talking about it. i wrote this blog, as white people, we can't be quiet. >> i went on a news wlog and i won't name it. they had stories slamming president obama. stories that normally talk about black teens shooting and all that. trayvon martin's story was not on the front page of this heavily trafficked so-called news website. that is run by a white writer. with that that, why does it have to be white and black? why can't it be, let's look at the facts. as trayvon's mother said, it is about right and wrong. >> you know like i know, i won't come back and talk about a young white kid who was shot. black young men are being targeted in this country and they're being killed in record numbers. if white america does not stand up and say this is our issue, too, as trayvon's mother so

beautifully said last night. this is not about black. it is about right and wrong. these are our kids as well. then it will happen again if we don't say anything. if we stay quiet, another black kid will get shot tomorrow. i go to funeral after funeral after funeral for young black men. it has to stop. until we get involved in the conversation -- >> when you say -- white. >> myself. me. a white american man. i'm talking about me. i'm talking to my white friends, my white colleagues and my white family. we have to be a part of pushing this country forward. >> with global grind.com. thank you for your time. joining me now, a nationally syndicated talk show host and contributor michael smerconish. you're an smern, you're a dad. i know that you have written recently about this stand your ground law. i have a map of 21 states have stand your ground laws. you've looked at the legality of this. where is your attention right now? >> the question, the legal

question is whether zimmerman was in imminent danger. did he have a reasonable fear for his safety that would justify him using deadly force? and some say, well, how are you ever going to prosecute him for that? trayvon martin is not here to give his side of the story. i have a different take. my take is that voice analysis of two of those 911 tapes might provide enough of a justification to arrest zimmerman. i want to know two things. i want to know, did zimmerman utter that racial sure that i'm convinced i'm hearing when i boost the volume on his own 911 call. and the second question that i want to know that ought to be answered by voice analysis from the fbi, who was crying for help? it sounds like a young person's voice that is crying for help on the neighbor's 911 call. and if it's tray martin's voice that is calling for help, i don't see how zimmerman can cloak himself in the stand your ground law and hole off criminal

charges. >> we know, as with the casey anthony case, another obviously high profile case in florida, there was even dna evidence that was debated. she ended up beeing found not guilty in the murder of her child. i believe you can find experts on one side or the other depending if you're the prosecution or the defense. the "miami herald" has a list of other questions that i want your thought on including the initial police report never mentioned that zimmerman had a bloody nose or a wet shird that indicated some sort of struggle. he reportedly had grass on his back. attorneys are now saying for the family, they believe that information was add in a second report to justify the lack of an arrest. also, police said witness statements supported zimmerman's account but we now know several witnesses expressed surprise, telling the "miami herald" that they reported hearing someone crying for help just before the shot ended the cries. those things, michael, also present a very strong case that may go beyond audio experts to

solve this. those are solid questions there. >> if you listen only to zimmerman's 911 call, i think there is a heck of a lot there that suggests he was the aggressor. not the least of which, we discussed this before, is him getting out of his vehicle after being told, or at the time he is being told by law enforcement, we don't need you to do that. that muttering of the line, these ahs, they always get away. you put the totality of it together. this is a guy who i could very easily see a scenario. a wannabe cop. he wants to be on the front line. he wants to mix it up with trey martin. and nothing that even a 911 operator can say to him will stop him from having the confrontation. how can he then turn around and say, wait a minute. i have a right to stand my ground. if on the tape that voice, and tamron, i think there will be you about formt among the experts as to who is crying for help. if it is trey marine, the cuffs

need to be on this guy. >> one of the witnesses who heard the crying said she called detectives repeatedly according to the herald but said they were not interested because her account differed from zimmerman's. thank you for your time. i'll see you very soon and i love your insight on these things. coming up, i'll talk to attorney john burriss who argued sques successfull successfully. i'll ask him about the growing call for the feds to take over sanford police department. but first -- >> as someone who doesn't have my policy positions written on an etch a sketch, i carry -- >> it is the second day in a row of mitt romney's rivals whipping out etch a sketches to mock the candidate. why this is not child's play. 32-hour stand-off between french police and the suspect in a

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i can tell you as someone who doesn't have my policy positions written on an etch a sketch, i carry -- >> rick santorum taking aim at mitt romney after the gaffe by a romney aide. the aide indicated romney could change his positions after the primaries for the fall campaign. his comment, that romney can shake it up like an etch a sketch and start all over again is shaking up the republican

presidential race. let's bring in our "news nation" political panel. radio talk show host, and erin back with us for real clear politics. steve, i'll start off with you here. it's youngedy young jokes. i want to play with rachel maddow said last night about mitt romney and how this plays into what we all know some of his critics say about him. let me play it. >> this is hard to talk about in the day to day news context. there are such low expectations for politicians being truthful and because the word lie is underused and overused to the point where everybody is a little touchy about it. the degree to which mr. romney lies all the time about all sorts of stuff and cut care when he gets caught is maybe the most notable thing about his campaign. >> do you agree with rachel? you're the conservative republican on this panel. is she being hard of romney or

spot on? >> i want the folk on msnbc and around america to mark the tape. because something momentous is about to happen. >> i agree with rachel maddow. i may never say that ever again. ever. literally. unless she says go blue, i may never say that again in my life. but this time she is correct. 100% right on. let me say this. this time i'm not going to bury willard. i'm going on praise him. we keep hearing of this entire election is all about jobs. i saw a tweet from your very own chuck todd before we came on this afternoon that said that the stock price for the company that makes etch a sketch has soared over 200% since yesterday. think of the amount of new jobs that will create now in the american economy. so i guess maybe mitt romney after all does know how to create jobs. >> you hit him hard. you see what rachel said. in her show she outlined this laundry list of things that critics of mitt romney point to.

not just as flip-flop but in her words, out and out lies here. and you've got his top aide saying this guy can just shake it up and change. that could be call a flip-flop or it could be something more. >> it was an inartful comment. that's for sure. what that campaign aide was trying to say is, the fall campaign is not going to be prosecuted in terms of the margins with conservative republicans. it's the nut of the issues will be different because it 22 very different ideological positions that the president and that likely mitt romney is the general election republican nominee will be about. but yes, it was a problem. the bigger thing i would tell you is, we were just getting to a point where mitt romney was starting to seal up the nomination and here comes another gaffe. every time mitt romney has had a big primary state victory, there is been another gaffe. whether mitt romney makes it

himself or the campaign does. now, i spoke to a nevada congressman yesterday who was one of mitt romney's co-chairs for that state and he was saying how frustrating it is because he needs to represent mitt romney in his state in nevada and each time they're getting ready to close up the nomination, they have to go and defend on these gaffes again and it's a problem. >> which is why i think it is wrong to say it is inartful. i think the repercussions go past maybe a goofy thing said about this or that. the lava lamp comment. inartful is i think putting it mildly when it can come back to hahn your candidate if he gets that nomination. >> well, tamron, the problem with mitt romney, again, i'm, rachel is correct. we have such a low standard for politicians across the aisle any way. in general. he lies about stuff. most politicians will lie about whether it is partly cloudy or mostly sunny. stuff that maybe there are shades of gray in that

disagreement. but romney lies about things that can be easily disproven. my father marched with martin luther king jr. i'm a lifelong member of the nra. my first name is not willard. i mean, he lies about things that are objectively proven to be incorrect. and we just saw the democrats run somebody who had a flip-flop problem in john kerry and the way that was labeled in 2004. and it was used against him to his detriment in the general election. and this etch a sketch thing will hound romney all the way through the primary. if he is the nominee, it is a branding thing that i think you will see the democrat machine hang like a noose around his neck. >> that's right. if i can just add to that. and i would agree actually. i've spoken to a number of republicans on the hill and who are lobbyists here in washington. and they are starting to ask me because i've been covering mitt romney for such a long time in this primary. and they're saying do you think mitt romney stands a chance of

beating president obama in the fall? if people in your own party who work in politics for a living are asking that, you know they have a major perception problem they have to deal. with i think the campaign is aware of that and 7-1/2 months before the election this fall is a lifetime in politics so they can. they have a long way to go until he is ready to face president obama. that's for sure. >> a long way to go and a lot of what you call inartful things to be that. you can clean it up or mess it up. president obama is headed to columbus, ohio. it is the last stop on his two-day tour defending his energy policies in four key swing states as he faces criticism over surging gas prices. earlier today in oklahoma, the president announced he is fast construction of the southern segment of that key stone pipeline from cushing, oklahoma. he also took aim at congress for turning the pipeline into a political issue. this is what the president said. >> our exports said we needed a

certain am of time to review the project. unfortunately, congress decided they wanted their own time line. today we're making this new pipeline from cushing to the gulf a priority. so the southern leg we're making a priority and we'll get that done. the northern portion of it, we're going to have to review properly to make sure that the health and safety of the american people are protected. >> president obama's health care laws about to take center stage with the supreme court set to say whether it is unconstitutional. they will hear six hours of oral arguments over three days next week. and what i've been intrigued by, of course, gas prices is the hot button topeck but we know what this health care decision means. there are a lot of headlines. particularly on progressive blogs that are really teeing up for this big one. >> oh, yeah. and i think there are democrats going on the offensive as well. house democrats are actually expense a lot of time this week going on the offensive about it.

i would also point out that while we're not hearing very much from the administration on health care right now, we are again like i said, hearing from house democrats but also from the democratic national committee. because they're using contraception issue and we will's issues, reproductive rights to push why the health care law is important themselves just put out a web out on monday which was important because they were saying, without the health care law going into effect in full force in 2014, women will still pay about 50% more than men for their health care. so they're still pushing on this and we'll hear a lot more from the democratic campaigns on this. >> and i think to your point, erin and steve, erin brought up we have seven more months to go. one of the things on the long list of things you don't like about mitt romney, his health care law that he signed while the governor of massachusetts in the seven months, as erin pointed out, anything can happen. we know one thing is for sure. the gop rivals and the democrats will hit mitt romney over this

as it inches toward the supreme court. the hot seat may seniorly be that of the president. if the nominee is mitt romney, we know he shares in that hot coal. >> you're illustrating a point. we have a lot of grassroots elected defying obama care and now we'll send them out to defend obama care. i think gas prices is the most dangerous issue for president obama. let me explain why. there's really, if romney is the nominee, there aren't too many issues that romney can contrast himself with legitimately to lead some kind of a middle class populist uprising against the president. he is an elitist. he has been to the left of the president sometime in his early political career so he needs issues to draw a contrast. he's been really running on a contrast other than i'm not barack obama. high gas prices can sort of galvanize and become their own

self-sustaining catalyst for a middle class uprising. a populist uprising against an incumbent president. if i were running the president's machine, i would get out in front of this right now. this is the sort of issue where i don't control my own destiny. >> here's the reason he is on that tour. the person that you've endorsed, newt gingrich, the best he can come up with is that he can drop gas prices by $2, $2.50 a gallon. maybe tapping into the reserves, maybe not. we know he hasn't shown anything that can move his number. folks aren't buying what he is selling. >> simply because newt has -- go ahead. >> if i can add to this though. we're talking a lot about gas prices as we get into spring and summer but this happens every election year. and once the public at large really tunes in to the presidential campaign which will happen in october, sometimes in september, after labor day, gas

prices fall again. and this issue will come off the table, i believe, by october. >> and we know that when george bush -- >> i don't think it's that simple. >> george bush-the president said, the republicans said the president had no control over the gas prices. to turn it and say four years later this president does, i think people might not see it as being genuine, steve. i'm out of time. i greatly appreciate it. see you soon, steve, for sure. coming up, what tom hanks is saying about a video that surfaced from 2004 showing him on stage at a fundraise we are a man in black face. we'll tell you why this is going on. ♪ there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats.

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manhunt in decades is finally over after a two-day stand-off between police and the suspect accused of killing seven people including children. details on the dramatic ending. we get a live report next. oh dear... oh dear! ohh dear... i'm not sure exactly what happened here last night. i was out helping people save money on their car insurance. 2 more! you're doing it! aren't they doing great?! hiiiiiii!!

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i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices,

cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service. developing now, the 32-hour stand-off between police and the french terror suspect came to a dramatic end this morning with the suspect jumping through a window amid a hail of gun fire. officials say the self-proclaimed al qaeda militant fired at police 30 times. he was killed in the exchange. the 23-year-old had boasted about bringing france, quote, to its knees with the shooting spree that left seven people including three children dead. nbc's jim maceda joins me. all of this playing out in dramatic form. i know the investigation is still going on. jim, what else can you tell us? >> reporter: you can imagine the

disconnect that reporters like myself felt in this quiet part of toulouse this morning. standing there and hearing those sounds that you just showed. it was a front line experience happening right next to you. probably seven or eight minutes of that kind of firefight went on between the gunman and members of the s.w.a.t. team. some members of that team, by the way, that afterwards, and they've been doing this a long time but they had never experienced so much violence and resistance from one individual. remember, there was no contact with this person since last night. they thought he might have been dead. but he was clearly very much alive when they moved in. what happened was he had been hiding in his bathroom for hours. until the police came in around 11:30 our time with a video probe. a small camera which went under the bathroom door. then he burst out of the bathroom with guns blazing. the police fired back in self-defense. then merah, turned, jumped

through that second floor window still firing at police. and it hit the ground. he was pronounced dead moments later. actually killed by a bullet to the head. he had prepared militarily because he wore a flak jacket under his coat. and he wanted clearly to take out as many police as he could. what happened was, there were three minor casualties amongst the police. after the attack we saw forensic experts just rush in around the house and start combing the area for clues, now of course for accomplices and any other cells that might have been working with this individual, 23-year-old mohammed merah. >> an incredible story out of toulouse. thank you so much. now back to the news here in the states. trayvon martin case. we're about an hour away from sanford's city manager holding a news conference. he is expected to give an update on the investigation and to the teenager's death. meanwhile, many including the

naacp are calling for a federal takeover of the sanford police department. joining me live, his attorney, john burriss. john specializes in police discrimination and abuse cases and helped win federal court monitoring of the oakland california police department. and that legendary case of the riders in that police department. let me get your reaction to at least how things are playing out. you have the city manager coming on the andrea mitchell show a little more than an hour ago saying he had a lot to look at. he has the power to fire or ask the police chief to resign. we don't know what he is going to say but what is your gut telling you here? >> my gut tells me that an investigation took place at the outset. he is responsible for that. and therefore gave sort of cover to mr. zimmerman. and as a consequence, i don't know that you can trust the police department. having been involved in these cases, it is important that someone else take a look at this. whether an outside agency or a

state agency or the feds. from my way of thinking this looks like a case that should have federal prosecution associated with it and that means that there is a race component to the actual shooting that i the racial slurs that was used in the other statement that's were made and the racial profiling, walking while black, et cetera. in that case, it is a case the feds can easily take over. the police department, the feds would need to know that there is other conduct that is taking place. a pattern and practice that exists in material of discriminatory law enforcement. with that agency. if they do that, then they in fact could, having been involved in a case like that, i understand you can take it over. you must have a pattern and practice. this may or may not be an isolated incident but it can be for the feds to prosecute this individual. >> in this situation, the "miami herald" is reporting the police chief was brought in ten months ago because of discrimination or alleged discrimination and

racial problems within that department. so we saw that town hall meeting where so many people turned up, citing instances where they believe there were cases of discrimination and issues with that police department. would that be enough to forward a larger intervention here? >> certainly, the feds could. or a private law firm can such as what we did. if there is a pattern and practice, on this particular case, what you have is not directly the police involve in the actual shooting, the killing of this person. what you have is their failure to conduct a proper investigation. the argument is that because the individual is black, and that there's a history in the department of not investigating and not taking care of it and a discriminatory form of law enforcement. you could in fact do that. it would be a challenge for the department. if there is sufficient facts on other cases where you can demonstrate that the department has not investigated cases involving black victims on the

same levels, then the feds would have something to talk about. >> all right. thank you very much. we'll be with you more. we'll see what the city manager says. and what happens next. thank you, john. trayvon martin's story is bringing to light the scary reality for many black families in this country. mothers, fathers, worried about their sons being targeted. say they're forced to give their kids rules to live by in order to keep them alive. our reporter talked with one family. >> it makes me angry and very frightened. >> my mama always told me go with what the cop says. never argue with them. every time i'm out at a public event or an officer sees me, he asks me, where are you supposed to be, boy? >> joining me from cambridge, massachusetts. the msnbc contributor. i know you know this story. you heard the young man said, i have a brother who has also experienced this same kind of thing in texas. john burris walked while block.

we know it as driving while black. the larger conversation, is this a surprise to anyone that this is happening? or that young black men and their families feel this way? >> the tragic part of the story is that no, it's been a surprise. we can name many national incidents that echo this one. we can name many incidents that we know in our personal lives, our families that echo this one. so many families in america have that birds and the bees talk about sex with their kids. black families in america have another talk with their black boys as they come into young manhood telling them, there are little things that you have to do that you could, that could save your life. we're not here saying that trayvon in particular did anything wrong. important oscar grant did anything wrong or any of these other people did anything wrong. we have to arm our children with that little bit of extra knowledge that somebody might look at you and put their anxieties and insecurities on top of you. and i'm referencing a james baldwin quote from decades ago. we're still dealing with that.

the anxieties and insecurities that other people would put on us. we hear in the 911 tape the way with george zimmerman applied all these ideas, all these prejudices and stereo types on to trayvon martin. just seeing a black boy in the distance. right? talking on the phone. he is up to no good. he is on drugs. all these other things. we have to tell our boys that there are things you need to be aware of. you need to be aware that people are looking at you and you need to be aware there are things you might be able to do that could save your life. >> it's interesting. you bring that up. even the perception level. we've talked about the boys with the baggy pants. you've got these different cities who want to end this. and i told a friend, justin bieber had his saggy pants on during a concert. that is processed so differently than a boy from a black background of the same age. he may not have millions of dollars in record sales but they still have this same look. and just based on the clothing choice. it is processed as we know in so

many cases, so much more harshly with black boys. >> the clothes are a red herring. you're referring to that. we blame it on the hoodie. they blame it on the baggy jeans or what have you. the air jordans or what have you but that's not what they're really seeing. they're seeing the skin. you know the old joke, what is a black man in a suit? a black man with a phd. who is has already achieved something. you know the answer to that line. like we never escape that potential of being seen as violent and dangerous and fearsome. sometimes i'm in my suit and i'll see a woman grab her purse a little tighter and i'm like, i don't want anything in your purse. why are you grabbing your purse? just wearing a suit doesn't then isolate it from, well, you know, it's still a black person so that little twinge of nervousness. after one of my book events, a woman came to me and she said i'm racist. not me. she's about herself. >> she said you were racist. >> no, no, she was saying she

herself is racist and she has these thoughts that come into her mind and she knows they're wrong but she still can't help thinking them. that's part of what we're dealing with. >> what was your apply? what was your reapply? >> i went into associate yol gist mode. i wanted to know, how does your mind work? i want to know how you think so i can understand it. i felt like jane good y'all and finally i met a chimp. let's talk about you. i want to understand how your mind works. she talked about receiving the ideas from people older than her years ago and they've become reflexes and habits and i think that we see that a lot in america. there are these habits and ways of at us. and even in a world of obama and eric holder, and michelle obama, these things are being broken. >> all right. thank you so much will i know you're very busy there in massachusetts. i appreciate you time. be sure to catch politics nation tonight. reverend al sharpton will be anchoring his show tonight.

also talk with sanford's mayor. that's 6:00 p.m. eastern time. there is a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. tom hanks is responding to a controversial video that showed him on stage. unbeknownsted to him someone jumped on stage in black face. that clip is from 2004 when hanks was hosting a fund-raiser for a school his children attended. >> people are foaming over this guy. >> so the actor tom hanks released statement saying i was blind sided when one of the parents got up on stage in a costume that was hideously offensive then and is hideously offensive now. it was a night of food and drinks that was marred by an appalling few moments. some conservative groups are

calling on president obama to drop hanks as narrator for the documentary from the president. those are some things we thought you should know. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

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let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. coming up at the top of the hour, the etch a sketch gaffe. try as he might, mitt romney can't shake it. plus, the president wraps up his tour and there will be a press conference that we'll bring to you live in the trayvon case. sky high for what looks to be the movie industry's next big thing. the hunger game, a novel about teens killing each other for entertainment. goes from the book shelf to the big screen at midnight. it is already breaking records. according to movie ticket website, the movie has sold more advance tickets than any other nonsequel movie in history. i am terrified because i'm sure i've offended all of the hunger

games fans. that is not what that book is about. it is a series. i'm going to let you take it away because i'm going to get beat up on twitter for that line. if you've offended fans, you've offended a lot of them because there are a lot of people. i wouldn't worry about it. a lot of people are passionate about this film. it hasn't come out yet and it is a phenomenon. it comes from a successful book series. it has sole more than 26 million. this movie is pg-13 but obviously it has an adult crossover. they're saying a conservative guess is that this could bring in $80 million at the box office but a couple analysts are saying up to $145 million. if you haven't heard of the hunger game yet and you're seeing some shots of it yet, you will. it will be right up there with "twilight" and harry potter. this does depict, there are kids fighting each other to the death in this. >> it is a competition. they're placed in a competition for their survival. >> right. exactly. so you got it right there.

and so it is a little bit, it is he saidic, a little bit grisly for some people. so whether or not your kid is 12 or 13, i think you have to be the judge of whether or not they can handle this type of could be september. it will be huge. it was on the new york time best seller list for more than 100 weeks. adults are reading it too. >> it is interesting. the appeal, the "twilight" series, a lot of folk would go see it it was something you would see the girls really scream when they saw the cast. this has that harry potter appeal in that boys, girls, and even young adults and old adults will probably enjoy this, as i understand it. >> absolutely. this is a movie that is reaching out. social net has had everything to do with this success because kids are telling other kids. adults are saying what is this thing my kids are reading? it has this huge crossover appeal. girl like the story.

>> coming up, "news nation" gut check. we're still talking about the events playing out in florida and whether sanford's police chief needs to be fired. today, we stand against the tyranny of meager travel cards. battle speech right? may i? capital one is issuing a venture double miles challenge. show us how much you spent last year and we'll give you 2 miles for every dollar spent on your travel reward card. up to 100,000 miles! hawaii, here we come. claim your miles at capitalone.com today! what's in your wallet? can you play games on that? not on the runway. no.

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time for the "news nation" gult check. sanford police chief is being slammed for the shooting investigation last night. the city commission gave a vote of no confidence to the police chief. the measure passed 3-2. the naacp is calling for chief lee to be fired. they are just one of many who are asking for that. what does your gut tell you on this day? should the sanford police chief be fired? we also know, there is a news conference going up. tell us your thoughts on this through vote. and that does it for "news nation." karen finney is in for martin bashir and she is up next. n l.

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