>> my presidency will be a pro-life presidency. >> plant parenthood, going to get rid of that. >> a lot of reasons to elect me. >> i wish my wife were here for a lot of reasons i wish she were here. >> good afternoon. we will bring you more on that f-18 plane crash in virginia as we have developments. but we begin this good friday with president obama championing issues vital to women at a white house forum in a season when his political opponents seem to be having some female trouble. the president wasted no time in his remarks this morning, getting to the issue of an alleged war on women and saying that it does a disservice to more than half our population. >> women are not some monolithic block. women are not an interest group. you should not be treated that way. women are over half this country

and its work force. not to mention 80% of my household, if you count my mother-in-law. >> the president went on to highlight his administration's achievements with respect to women's equality and welfare with intensely personal remarks referencing his wife, daughters, sister, mother, and grandmother. nbc's mike viqueira joins us from the white house. in the interests of full disclosure, i should add that your lovely daughter ava was 9 years old recently. and i guess that even one as journalistically impartial as yourself must have been encouraged by the president's commitment to women. >> reporter: well, certainly, martin. and thank you for mentioning ava who turned 9 on the first day of spring. the white house schedule this event and they often schedule these events around the economy, on the first friday of every month. that's when the unemployment numbers come out for the previous month. and i think the white house wanted to have a little better news to bring on a double barreled attack against

republicans. because you know that the white house is working hard to press their advantage among women. the president won the women's vote across the country by 13% in 2008, over his opponent, john mccain. and now, 18 points is he ahead in the usa today gallup poll that came out yesterday over mitt romney in swing states that will determine the outcome of this election. he has spoken in very personal terms. he mentioned his grandmother who did not benefit from the gi bill even though she worked in a bomber factory in world war ii and that his grandfather did benefit as a gi who fought in europe. he mentioned his mother in very personal terms. for a moment there, it appeared the president would become visiting visibly emotional, talking about a single mother who raised him and worked to bring him up. and all the challenges she faced. and then talked about the present day. and attacked republicans for their plan, as he sees it, to go back to the past to repeal the affordable care act, the health

care act that would take mammograms and other vital health care services for young women in particular off the table. a plan as the president alleged to go back and defund planned parenthood. so pressing his advantage on the economy and pressing his advantage with obviously, a vital voting block of women in this country. >> but you may be aware that this event took place in the first days of a nascent general election campaign. and i wonder, was ann romney, invited, to take notes for her husband? >> reporter: i don't know. mitt romney is down for the holiday weekend so we're going to have to ask him next week. >> okay. mike viqueira at the white house, thank you so much. well, it was only moments after the president's remarks at the women's forum that the romney campaign realized they had better release a new video featuring mitt's de facto running mate, his wife ann. >> that's the gang. those are the five boys. i hate to say the but often, i

had more than five sons. i had six sons. and he would be as mischievous and naughty as the other boys. >> any old girlfriends here? oh! i have to be careful. ann is not here today. don't tell. >> oh, mitt, you mischief maker. let's bring in our panel now in washington. msnbc political analyst, former dnc communications director karen finney. now columnist for the hill. and political analyst michael eric dyson, from georgetown university. good afternoon. we may laugh at the idea of mitt making mischief. when he talks about things like doing away with planned parenthood, it is not that funny anymore, is it? >> no. it's absolutely not. you know, here's where i think the big disconnect is for these guys. this is not about sort of checking the box, politics, anymore. women are a substantial part of

the economy. we are in all sectors of our public life. but we still earn 77 cents on the dollar. there's still, as the president was talking about today, what he understands is that there are structural impediments for women in our society, access to capital, higher education. things that keep us from reaching our full potential and yet, here we are so important in the life of our families in this country. for many families, certainly over the last couple years, the women's income that has kept them in the middle class. what you see though on the right is, you know, more of this just belittling this whole idea of a war on women. which only is mysogynist and only serves to demean what we see as serious issues. it also says, look, none of us want to be about contraception. i would rather talk about these business issues. if you're going to take away my basic fundamental rights, then i have to worry about that and i can't go worry about moving forward on some of these other

important issues. that's why women are angry. >> that's a very well made point. professor dyson, and i hope you've cleared your throat. the broadcast yesterday featured your wife who is every bit as eloquent as yourself. but is it becoming clear that ann romney is not only mitt's better half, she might be the only chance for him to reclaim some of the female electorate. that's yes keeps sending her out. >> i agree with the reverend dyson. it is true that, you know, ann romney has proven to be a formidable force with mitt and as you say, by comparison, maybe even more attractive because it seems to me that her husband doesn't get the message. that is, that women hold up half the sky. that women live on this earth and do incredible services, as miss finney has indicated, that are not equally compensated, that do just as much work and don't get as much pay. not only that, they are demonized and stigmatized and so

many ways across our society that the last thing we need to do is to have our political leaders engaging in rhetoric that assaults the person hood and the female identity of women as a group. and it punishes them for being a group, for women as part of a group, and then it resents them when they band together to argue against their demonization. so they can't win either way. >> absolutely. rnc chair reince priebus dismisses this and says it is akin to a war on caterpillars. does he realize this week, senator lisa says it makes no sense to make this attack on women if you don't feel this is an attack, go home and talk to your wife and your daughters. does that mean with the greatest respect, that senator murkowski is a predicating insect?

>> i'm not going there. it is part of reince priebus talking about caterpillars. it is part of the strategic. they want to change the conversation. rather than changing the conversation to the things women care about, they're, by telling us we're crazy. we're crazy. you women are crazy if you think there's a war on women. that's like when they tell us the sky is purple and there are weapons of mass destruction. the same pattern we've seen over and over again. what i love is on the same day that priebus talks about caterpillars, his good buddy scott walker back in wisconsin tried to do away with equal pay for women in wisconsin. so you cannot say there's no war on women. >> the final question to you, professor dyson. how does someone like mitt romney on the one hand say he will defund and destroy planned parenthood and now as he pivots toward the general election, does he simply write all of that off as if he ever in said it and never meant it? >> this is what candidates often do. they close ranks with their

fellow republicans, the people who formerly went against them by the time newt gets the nomination. then they engage in a kind of amnesia. they forget all the bad things then and they forget all the horrible things they said against the various people that they victimize with their rhetoric. and women among others have been so strink enly demonized and severely assaulted that one wonders if women will be as easy to forgive or forget. i hope not in this case. and i hope that they remember that as a group of people, they continue to be subjected to the arbitrary forces of republicans, who don't even recognize them in the home, won't recognize them in the public, and certainly don't recognize them in the house or the senate. >> wow! >> i promise you, we won't forget. >> karen, i know you won't forget. karen finney prork if he issor michael eric dyson as well. we are now getting new information on the f-18 jet crash in virginia beach, in the virginia beach neighborhood. we just learned that four people

were hurt, including a police officer, but none of the injuries are life threatening. the fighter jet hit an apartment complex just after takeoff from the oceana navy base five miles away. the military spokesman tells nbc news, the pilot safely ejected and are okay. five apartment buildings were nearly decimated. rescue crews are still combing through the debris at this very moment. we know the jet was part of the 106th squad fighter squadron but we have not yet learned what caused the crash. we'll keep you updated. next, the president, a bully? bully to that, stay with us. >> i thank mika for helping moderate today and proving that on your show every morning, that women really are the better half. >> joe is not denying it. he is not denying it.

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after weeks of protest, the ground film bully now has a pg-13 rating allowing more people to see up close showing what happens to millions of children across this country. >> they strangle me, take things from me, sit on me. >> bully documents the behavior that leads to torment, violence, and even death for those most vulnerable. our children. so it's somewhat surprising to see the newest gop talking point, calling the president a bully. over these remarks, on the supreme court and health care.

>> for years, what we've heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint. that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. well, a good example. >> what is amazing is what a bully president obama has suddenly become. here was a man that came in with hope and change. and now he's bullying his way. he is bullying the supreme court saying they won't reverse this. they won't go against us on this. that's not how things work. >> this is a bad way to start off looking like you're a political thug at the white house, threatening the supreme court. >> well, senators jim demint and mitch mcconnell have all come on board with the language. wait. was not it the gop, another

president who complained of activist judges? >> unfortunately, some judges give in to the temptation and make laws instead of interpreting them. some judicial lawlessness is a threat to our democracy and it needs to stop. >> yes, was not there a presidential candidate who suggested rounding up and arresting judges who made decisions that he disagreed with? >> would you send the capitol police down to arrest them? >> if you had to. or you would instruct the justice department to send the u.s. marshal. >> yes. how interesting. back with us now is karen finney, and professor michael eric dyson. and i want to bring in the senior political writer for the salon.com. steve, does it really make sense to transpose such a serious matter as bullying, and we know children have actually killed themselves as a result, and transposed that on to an accusation that they throw at the president?

>> i would say it isn't surprising at all. you have the clip there of obama this week. as you can see, that was a very benign, subdued, almost lethargic statement hoist part. if you want to see a president who bullied the supreme court, who bullied the federal judiciary, go back and look at fdr in the 1930s when he had his court scheme. the fire side chats. that's a president trying to bully the court. this is par for the course for what the right has done during the obama presidency. they are running against, and they are sort of campaigning against what they want the president to be. they want the president to be a caricature of unhinged left i. and they refuse to grapple with when wla the president actually is. what he actually is is a guy who gives a very subdued statement of gee, i hope the court upholds this. i think the court should uphold this. and they turned it into he's a bully. >> so i'm a simple person. are you saying they're up the fabrication and it is a lie? is that what you're saying? >> this is the same party that

took the most insurance friendly health care package and took it a government takeover of health care. >> brilliant. >> i recall george bush condemning activist judges. newt gingrich said they should be arrested by marshals. the moment this president offers a mild defense of what was at kraik decision in the congress for health care reform. he is now a bully and a thug, according to one karl rove. >> coming from karl rove, the ultimate in thug politics, i cannot -- i don't want to even go there. a couple things. this is also the president that people said wasn't getting angry enough. why did not he get angry enough, right? and steve is exactly right. this was a very professorial discussion he was having. and he didn't say anything, any different than what others have already said. he said it all together in a few sentences. with some of the activity that we've seen on the right wing blogs, i wish they would just come out and say what they really mean which feel like what they really want to say is, that

he's upitty. that he doesn't know his place. maybe part of it is a character strategy. but perhaps they don't understand for folks like me, for a lot of people of color in this circus you hear that double standard language against this president and it sounds like what they're saying is, this guy is getting out. he doesn't know his place. he shouldn't be like. that he is a little too up itty. >> do you agree with her analysis? >> absolutely right. i think these are code words, wolf whistles, dog whistles. this is all the kind of rhetoric of the right wing assault upon the character and integrity of a man who is as mild mannered a black man as you're going to find. if you can't accept barack obama in the presidency as an intelligent, articulate african-american man going about trying to negotiate between competing claim and rival arguments about what is right and wrong, then you can't accept anybody. he is as mile mannered as considerate, as thoughtful of a

man might be. and on top of that, i think miss finney is a point we need to reinforce. there is a kind of resentment of the right wing. that this man has lost his moorings because he doesn't know where he belongs, which is underneath them. subordinate to their particular practices, to easily call him a thug and to call him a person who is a bully is also coded to make him look like the other again. like he is outside the pale of our normal american practices and he has to be treated suspiciously. >> you're almost suggesting that they're happy for him to have been involved in using his labor to build the white house but for him to win an election and live in the white house, that's just not acceptable. >> you're a great speech writer and a great, you know -- >> okay, steve, let me put this to you. isn't this another case, as you say, of creating and fabric it aing the image? we've had mitt romney making up stories about the president allegedly being the great apologizer in chief. and now we have him as this kind

of iron fisted tyrannical ruler. everyone of these caricatures is bogus and false. and yet as karen and professor dyson make the case, it is detrimental to the electorate because some people might actually believe it. >> right. and i think that's the thing. there is a risk here. i can sound like i'm being an polygist for obama and here come the republicans again going after him. is not that so unfair. i am that trying to say there is not plenty of room in what obama has done as president. what he has said as president for criticism, skepticism and cynicism. what the republicans decided to do, they decided they wouldn't grapple with who he actually is and what he actually represents as president, which is really a pragmatic incrementalist. they decided to treat him as every worst nightmare in the white house. it gets awfully frustrating to liberty to. >> i'm sure, a measured and moderate man, but according to

some, a lunatic. thank you all for joining us. have a great weekend. next, more positive signs of an economy on the rebound. >> we welcome today's news that our businesses created another 121,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate ticked down. ohhh my head, ohhh. [ speaking in japanese ]

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will we soon see the real mitt romney unzipped? here they are. the week's top lines. >> when we put together this council on women and girls, this is personal. >> my wife reports tow me regularly the issue women care about most is the economy. >> women don't care about contraception. >> we do suffer from pms.

patriar patriarchy, mysogyny and assessism. i wish ann were here for a lot of reasons. >> sometimes he appears stiff. >> i guess we'd better unzip. >> unzipping the stiffness of romney. karen, you've got to help me. >> good morning, lois. this is mitt romney calling. have you ever heard of me? >> no, you have the wrong number. i suspect you need more practice working your telephone machine. >> it seems he is the nominee. are you happy with that? >> there can still be a bit of a shake-up. >> who is ready to charge out for a strong second half? >> we need this win, you know. we've got a lot of losses. >> that's what we're here for, guys. to win. >> we've jufd receive a missing persons alert described as truculent, slow moving, and was last seen heading toward the republican party's convention. >> he said that he is very supportive of this new budget. he even called it marvelous which is a word you don't often hear when it comes to describing the budget. it's a word you don't often hear

generally. >> i think governor romney is a little out of touch. >> years of flying around air force one with an adoring staff. >> the president does live in an awfully big house. he has butlers. he never drives his own car. he might just be as out of touch, as say, mitt romney. >> what is wrong with mitt romney? >> this is going to look really bad on the evening news. >> it certainly does. let's get right to our panel. political commentator abby huntsman, strategist julian epstein. good afternoon to all of you. if i can start with you, rich. mitt romney spent much of the week saying the president was out of touch but edged it with new questions about when or if he will release more of his own tax returns. why wouldn't willard mitt man of the people romney come in, clean house and release the lot. what is the problem? >> well, there is a small issue about how little tax he's paid. you know, they say that he's done everything that is required

of him and it's true. what is required of a presidential candidate is almost nothing. he could actually follow his father's model here. his father did set the standard in terms of releasing previous years. and it is interesting, watching this first engagement between the two campaigns. head to head here. because the romney campaign's effort is to say this is all a side show. it is really not a side show when you have been so difficult to pries this information out before. taxes are not a small issue. not personally, not in term of the budget or the deficit. they have to come one a better excuse than to say the other side is worse somehow. >> this is clearly part of a strategy that they've had all along. willard, the recently converted conservative now transforming into mitt the every man moderate. a nail spitting blue jeans wearing, muscle cars loving joe the financier, i guess. it will work? >> well, i think they're trying to do etch a sketch with the

gordon gecko image. the problem, i think, for the romney campaign. they try to go to the center. if we look at the check news this morning, even though 100,000 isn't exactly what we wanted. we still in the first quarter of this year had the best quarter of economic growth than we've had in the last six years. you have to ask, even if romney now tries to go to the center. what does he go to the center with? if his message is taxes and less regulation, the reality is that most americans are paying lower taxes than they've ever paid. in fact, while we don't have time to go into this, there's been more deregulation under this president than almost anybody recognizes. and really, in a kind of unprecedented level. so it's hard to see both on a political level where romney goes as he goes to the center and from an economic sense, it is hard to see what he goes with. what he's left with is something that sounds a little like the bush administration. fewer taxes, less regulation. even though that's not really

relevant to the economic problems that we're facing today and it doesn't seem like it will light a fire under anyone's feet. >> how careful does romney have to tread with regard to this issue of women, particularly? because he keeps talking about himself as a man who gets his understanding of women only and solely through his wife. and yet we know that there have been something like 1,100 in the last 18 months, attempts at legislation throughout the country that would undermine choice for women. so what is romney's predicament with women? >> i don't think it is necessarily a predicament with women. i think he is in a very tough position. a normal candidate would be able to pivot to this middle ground. to be able to attract a message for women and for the minority groups, for the latinos. he is not able to do. that he's been framed so long as a film flopper. he is in a position where people are not taking him seriously. he needs to do you mean with a message beyond women that is about big and bold ideas. something that can attract women beyond just the issues of the day going on right now. i think it is bigger than.

that i think it is more about his message and something that he sounds like a leader. where he can go against obama and say, i can unite this country. i can lead this country. i think that's more attractive to women than anything else. >> but romney would say back to you, that he is released his 59-point plan for the economy. what's wrong with that? >> i think it is beyond. that i think he needs to show that he really doesn't have much of a vision for the country. he has not pointed that out yet. instead, he is attacking the president day in and day out saying he is too much like harvard. and he is using his own attacks that people are putting on him. hig biggest weaknesses, he is putting on the president and that is coming back to bite him. he needs to say this is my vision for the country. i won't be petty. i'm not going to attack the president. i will find ways to bring people into the republican party. we need more of the minority groups to be attracted to the party and right now it's not like that. >> maybe he can do that in 2016. the gop race isn't exactly over. programs included among this month's unemployed is one night leroy gingrich.

he has lost his job at fox news. his campaign is going through credit like, well, i guess insert a tiffany's joke if you like. could there be a financial necessity for the newtster to actually get out? >> well, i think his business model has always been great marketing around, he has these degrees that you can get online and by attending various events that he holds. so it has become part of the brand fulfillment package that is part of just going out there on tv and making appearances and selling books. this is no longer a serious presidential run, if it ever was. of course, there were about seven days when he said, and he thought he would be the nominee. that is a long time ago now. it is not even as if he can go to the convention with all two dozen of his delegates and say i really represent a wing of the party. i do think this is about the next phase, the next think tank, the next online degree that he

will give to some suckers out there. >> that's a fairly eviscerating analysis. speaking of unemployment, eric canner may not want to join their ranks. listen to him undercut mitt romney's 2012 strategy just on thursday. listen to this. >> the president said today that he has always believed that it is the private sector that is the job generator in this country. i agree with him. i think most americans agree with him. >> julian, having watched that man for the last three years, we've seen a kind of kinder and gentler eric cantor these days. does he know something about 2012 that many of his republican cronies are perhaps unaware of? >> well, i think what we spoke of the other day, i think the piece in "the new york times" about eric cantor being the real guy that brought down the debt ceiling negotiations last year has stung him. i think a lot of republicans are not betting on the republican brand in 2012. you talk to a lot of republicans off camera. they now think what was a sure

victory is a more likely loss mostly because of the way the primary has played off. i think eric cantor, you can read between the lines and see he is there. the reluctance of many vp candidates and signing up and saying that they want to be a vp, i think, indicates a little bit of a lack of confidence in romney. and as for newt gingrich, you know, we're close to easter. newt has clearly given up dignity for lent. he is like the guy at the bar at 2:30 in the morning has had too much to drink. he doesn't want to go home because he thinks he will get lucky. he is not going to get lucky. and i think the brand even in republican circles for newt gingrich is sinking really, really fast. >> i must remind you, if he has given up his dignity, his wife did give up her opinion for lent. thank you for joining us on this friday afternoon. stay with us. >> we have a president who i think is a nice guy but he spent too much time at harvard,

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the jobs numbers were not spectacular, but nor were they terrible. 120,000 jobs added in march. we've seen about 4 million added in as many years. for more we turn to bill cohen. thanks for joining us. should we worry about these numbers? i have to be straight with the audience and straight back to you. you've been warning me for the last six months that this was not going to be a permanently upward trajectory. there would be bumps and spluters along the road. >> potholes as one economist described it today in the "wall street journal." this is a bit of a pothole. a lot of people are wringing

their hands. one month to another doesn't really tell the story. the last three months we've created an average of 212,000 jobs a month. which is pretty darn good. and the overall rate of unemployment has come to about 8.2. some people have said that's because people have stopped looking for jobs. i think we're on a very solid trend now. 4 million new jobs in four years. that's something to be pretty proud of. and it is not going to be easy and we haven't solved all the problems in the economy. and i think this jobs act, frankly, is a cynical piece of legislation as opposed to something that i think will create new jobs. by and large, i think the president and the president's policies are on to a very positive track right now. >> in light of what you've just said, how does this compare? in this country and this president's approach to spain where unemployment is at 23.6%. in greece where unemployment is 20%. in ireland where unemployment is 20%. in the u.k., it is over 9%. these are nations which have

embraced austerity. >> anybody who wants a job who cannot find a job in any economy, in any nation, my heart goes out tom person. but i would, i think what we're seeing as we've talked about many times. we have the petry dish of austerity versus the petrie dish of trying to sterilize as best we can. ask a moderate stimulus. >> some people would say a lot more. i think it is clear that that policy is working far better than the austerity policy. i wouldn't want to be living in the euro zone right now. not even by a long shot. it is nice to be in france. who wouldn't want to be in france all things considered. let's face it. the economy is stronger here and likely to deem, to create more jobs here than in the euro zone. >> so when you, an expert in this field, look at something like paul ryan's budget which contains slash after slash from

pell grants to medicare to every element that might be used in some way to stimulate the economy, what is your reaction to that? >> martin, i'm sorry to say this but i think once again just like last year, paul ryan's budget is the most cynical piece of legislation. to come down the pike in the last two years. once again, he is trying to cut back to fiscal responsibility. that's just not the way it will work. you cannot cut programs that are part of our social fabric. that is not what is going to get people back to having good jobs, higher unemployment, spending money. it is all about demand. demand in the economy. if you've cut these quote/unquote entitlements for people, they won't want to spend money. if they don't want to spend money, we all know we'll end up looking like the you'ro zone and that is not where we want to be. i'm no phaneuf paul ryan's budget. not this year or last year. >> both as bad as each other in. >> one as bad as each other and here we are again. >> indeed. william cohen, thanks for

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the family of george zimmerman is launching a new website to help with his loving expenses and to raise funds for his legal defense. zimmerman is the self-pointed neighborhood watchman who shot and killed the unarmed florida teenager and as of today, has neither been arrested nor charged. and a new poll from usa today reveals that race plays a major role in how americans see this case. 73% of blacks say if trayvon had been white, zimmerman would have been arrested. only 33% of whites agree. joy-ann reid is the editor of the grio.com. she joins us live from greo.com. live from sanford where she's done great reporting.

good afternoon, joanne. >> hi, martin, how are you? >> i'm great. zimmerman's family is launching a website to raise money for his living expenses and his defense. which is curious since he's yet to be arrested or charged. are they assuming that's just a matter of time now? >> well, there is no word coming to us from the zimmerman camp. a lot of this has been through leaks or interviews they've done with other stations, particularly a local station here. but you do see the beginnings of a preparation for a potential defense. adding on counsel who actually has experience trying criminal cases as opposed to the original lawyer who didn't. we had the former media adviser to the family joe oliver said to me that it was just in case they wanted to make sure they added a lawyer that had experience dealing with the media. and now you have this legal defense apparently website. so, yeah, i do think you're seeing the beginnings of them preparing for the possibility of an arrest.

>> i think we have to assume the same with the number of people they put on the record for interviews. not least the lawyer, the pr man as you say and the brother of george zimmerman. >> yeah, absolutely, martin. i talked to an attorney out of miami that's a criminal defense attorney. we talked about this, and the idea here is that you do see a lot of elements of trying to publicly shape the defense of george zimmerman just in case there is a trial. they've really put a lot of information out there. it is, of course, hearsay, but if it is an attempt to get his side of the story out without george zimmerman himself having to appear. from the standpoint of trying to build up a defense, it's not a bad idea to get their narrative out there for potential jurors. >> right. zimmerman's family has sent a letter to the chapter of the naacp in which they issue a warning. if something happens to george as a result of the race furor stirred up by this mischaracterization of george, there will be blood on your hands as well as the rest of the

racists that have rushed to judgment. you need to call off the dogs. period. publicly and swiftly. this may seem like a silly question, but that letter appears to focus exclusively on the race issue, which the zimmerman family has previously said has nothing to do with what happened. >> yeah, it's interesting. that letter, it took a very aggressive tone. first of all, there are a lot of strange things about it. we don't know for certain if it came from a family member of the zimmerman family. we don't know that. but the orlando sentinel is running with it saying that robert zimmerman, the brother, has talked about this letter and the supposed flyer distributed in the black community. first of all, martin, it focuses exclusively on black people. and blaming black people -- in the words of the letter -- for saying racist, calling george zimmerman a racist. saying there will be blood on

black people's hands if anything happens to him. saying he's in fear of his life because of threats from black people. it takes a racial tone for a letter purporting to say stop the racial tone in this case. it was not sent to the naacp, neither the national naacp's whose address is on nor the chapter whose the person's name was on it ever received this letter. the person who received it was the sister of a gentleman named wear who was beaten up a little over a year ago by a sanford police officer and that officer was not arrested. it created a furor and addressed to his sister. a lot of strange things about this letter. >> just to be clear, joy-ann, this letter we haven't been able to confirm was sent by any member of the zimmerman family. >> it came to her address, to her address, they knew her address, to her by name. however, it was from an unmarked address. there was no return address on

it. it was signed by the zimmerman family, the one to her, and then the letter attached to it to the naacp was a concerned member of the zimmerman family, but, again, neither of the attorneys for george zimmerman has confirmed that they are, in fact, the letter in fact came from a member of the zimmerman family. it's just addressed that way. >> indeed, joy-ann reid, thank you for your act rate and detailed reporting on this story. and we'll be right back. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪ ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ]

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that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. it's time now to clear the air. and today christians around the world are marking the meaning of good friday. the day on which christ was crucified. churches are likely to be fuller than usual and there'll be plenty of sermons from ministers worked hard at crafting a word for the modern world. but today, i'd like just for a moment to reflect upon a sermon delivered in 1630 when a group

of puritans arrived in the bay colony aboard the arebella. the puritans' leader and was entitled a model of christian charity. winthrop told his shipmates it was their responsibility to create a city upon a hill that would light up and be the envy of the world. but how to light a city like that? would it be the shiny stardom of celebrity or the blinding light of ostentatious wealth? no, this is what john winthrop said that such a community would need to do in order to become a city upon a hill. we must love one another. we must bear one another's burdens. make others conditions our own. we must rejoice together, mourn together, labor together, suffer together. always having before our eyes a

community where we are all members of the same body. on this good friday, and in a modern culture that seems fragmented and disconnected, that's a sermon that every one of us can live by. thank you so much for watching. dylan ratigan's here to take you forward for the next hour. dylan? >> thank you so much, martin. i hope you have an enjoyable holiday weekend. >> thank you, sir. not a holiday, just two day -- >> it is a festive season. it's a season of renewal. it's a season of contemplation. >> it is, indeed. >> you offered a whole sermon yourself there on that whole thing. >> i was quoting a great sermon delivered in 1630. >> but we needn't diminish then the consequence of the glorious regeneration of life that is before us at this moment. >> i am not going to do that and neither should you. but your show, it starts right now. >> that's right, that's right.