widening between him and the president. what do you make from this attack from team romney, that president obama's fault women are in the places they are been and the president's policies have been harmful to women? >> i think they give credit to women for being a little more sophisticated than this slugfest of wars on women and whatnot. when i would like to know is what's a woman's issue, what's a man's issue. every man i know is worried about education and health care, as are women, and worried about economy. i think we have to get over all this name calling and start talking about, you know, public policy and what it is -- what it means to american families. >> there was a notorious conference call with romney advisers wherein they were asked by sam steen of "the huffington post," does mitt romney endorse the fair pay act. it's a 15-second pause and then they say, we'll bet back to you.

how much does that hurt him? >> some staff other a call hardly getting any sleep, that's going to happen. what has the candidate said? he says he doesn't advocate for repeal of that law, stands by it, move on. >> so, move on, keep it moving. we, of course -- none of this is being let go by the fact there's a kerfuffal, which is used to describe as hillary clinton saying yesterday, talking about ann romney and saying, she's never worked a day in her life, took to switer saying, i made a choice to stay home, it was lots of work. hillary said this today earlier this morning. >> republicans are making a very effective strategic decision today to attack me instead of talking about the issues that have been raised over the last few days. >> look, i know what it's like to struggle. and if maybe i haven't struggled

as much financially as some people have, i can tell you and promise you that i've had struggles in my life. >> patricia, is this a gift to the romney election team? >> i don't know who they paid, i don't know what star they wished on. it could not have come at a better time. and this is when ann romney is the asset that everybody knows her to be. it's not when she's out there talking to women and coming back with her field notes to say, oh, this is what the electorate wants. it's when she taps into a struggle many women go through every day, even if a woman staying home, she wonders, should i be out working, could i be out working f a woman is working she's wondering do i need to be hope with my kids, what's the right decision. this is a struggle within every woman. not one group of women against another group of women. ann romney has tapped into that hilary rosen last night deeply offended every woman who has ever had this struggle going on saying she's never worked a day in her life. any woman who has a child, anybody with a child knows it's harder to raise a kid than show up for a job from 9 to 5.

strategically it's very smart for the romney campaign. also very smart for the obama campaign to come out and sigh, this was a mistake. she should apologize. >> also, we have nothing to do with her. howard, you're familiar with this question of women and how they balance the motherhood versus professional, you know, professional woman act and i know, you know, when your candidate hillary clinton was running in 2008 this was very much an issue and difficult waters to tread. >> there are difficult waters and sometimes people say things on live television they regret or wish they'd said differently. you're right, it is a gift to the romney campaign. romney, latest poll had him down 18 points with women. we've spent the last several months as you detailed at the beginning of the program, having a destructive conversation for the republican party around contraception and social issues that don't work well with republicans. all of a sudden the obama campaign, although they are distancing themselves, is what on the defensive now because of this attack on ann romney.

it's just generally not a good idea in politics to attack the spouse of the candidate. >> yeah. >> regardless. i've worked for spouses of candidates. i've worked for a fompler first lady. generally speaking, they really should be off limits. most people will give them the benefit of the doubt. ann romney is a sympathetic person. probably not a good idea to be attacking her. >> governor rendell, we have a quinnipiac poll out that shows -- when we're talking about the female vote, if you have hypotheticalic match-ups, hypothetical tickets with mitt romney and chris christie, seen as a superstar in the republican party against president obama and vice president biden, among all voters in new jersey, 49% go for obama/biden. 42% go for romney/christie. if you split that down to women, among women, obama and biden get 55%. romney and christie get 35%. massive spread. >> it's a real serious problem for the romney campaign, but i want to just say that howard is

the master of the understatement. >> never a good idea. >> probably one of the worst things that's been said in a campaign that's already been marked by its bizarreness. what was hilary rosen thinking? good, let's attack the most sympathetic person on the other side. great idea, great idea. howard was much more tactful -- >> that's why he's here, to balance the scales. >> almost anybody is more tactful -- >> a low bar. >> the standards are slipping. >> there's a reason for it. margaret is right, there's a lot to do with side issues and hilary rose not on other side, rush limbaugh, but i think margaret is wrong to say it's just about those issues. it's about substance, margaret. to say we saw mitt romney saying he wants to get rid of planned parenthood. 90% of what planned parenthood does has nothing to on do about

abortions. it's about women's health, protecting women from getting pregnant and you can make a strong case that planned parenthood by what it does prevents abortions. and women feel very deeply about their own health and they should. getting rid of planned parent had is a disaster and that's the kind of substantive mistakes republicans are making which accounts for this huge gap. >> miening is he clarified and said he wanted to eliminate federal funding for planned parenthood. >> it's the same. >> no, it's not necessarily the same. there are lots of states and private supporters that -- >> but why would hement to get rid of federal funding for an organization that helps women's health? >> this is all subject changing around the big elephant in the dining room which is the economy and jobs. >> fair enough, margaret. but, you know, even if mitt romney wants to get the question of women's health off the table, at the state level there are numerous bills being debated or even passed in state legislators across the country by republicans. they are keeping this stuff

alive in the news media. it's not just talk. i mean, this is policy. knees are laws they're trying to put in place. in places like mississippi, alabama, arizona, throughout the country. >> and i think we'll watch mitt romney and see how he -- you know, how he reacts and responds to that. we've had long debates about federal funding for, you know, needle exchange and planned parenthood and contraception and abstinence overseas and in the federal program, state department programs. i mean, this is standard fare. >> i think the romney campaign wants this to be about the economy. they want this to be for women to look at their own economic issues, look at the increase in unemployment, look at the deficit and make their decision based solely on the obama record. however, mitt romney is going to play into this because he's the alternative. so, what i think is going to be so interesting as romney now becomes the nominee, as he becomes the face of the republican party, what are those state legislators going to do? does the romney campaign have the power and the authority and the stature really within these

base republicans to go in and say, stop it. give me a break. let me talk about the economy. i got to win this with women. >> although, when mitt romney you say people are going to watch what romney-m does, when mitt romney's had the opportunity to push back on some of these very extreme -- >> like limbaugh. >> he didn't do it. so, he had plenty of opportunities to say, this is wrong, this is extreme, and he blinked. >> he frittered them away. >> he frittered them all away. >> will he learn? >> i hate to cut everybody off but i have to cut everybody off, governor. >> it's even more than that. it's about a woman's economy. you take away federal funding for planned parenthood, for women's health care, that will hurt her in the pocketbook. >> breaking news. police are investigating a suspicious package at two world financial center in lower manhattan. the building was evacuated as a precaution. we'll have more on that and we'll be following the story closely. we'll be back with more. this is an rc robotic claw.

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we are going to update you on some breaking news right now. police say there is a suspicious package at two world financial center in lower manhattan. they say the building was evacuated as a precaution. howard wolfson, do you have any intel to share with us? >> police are investigating a suspicious package at two world financial center. the building has been evacuated. it's an ongoing situation. that's what i can tell you now. >> in terms of new york city and the remarkable job the mayor has done and ray kelly has been very aggressive in fighting terror, like new yorkers -- i think i'm the only new yorker on this panel. is there concern -- i mean, there is concern -- well, sorry. beyond you, beyond you, obviously, the bug dies, what are you talking about, alex?

howard, there is a sense we get lulled into a sense of false security and moments like this are notable in regards to the outcome, it's a reminder, in fact -- >> i will tell you police here never get lulled into a false sense of security. i was over actually at police this morning for a meeting, was in a room with banks of tvs and monitors all over the city. this is a police department that is extremely well trained, responsive. these kind of incidents, we know new york is a top terror threat. not saying that's what this is but we know there are threats new york faces. we obviously have a crime situation that we face as well. new york city is a very, very safe city. but we work really hard to keep it that way and we have a lot of law enforcement dedicated to dealing with these kind of threats on an ongoing basis and they do an extraordinary job. >> do you think because new york city has been so effective thus far holding off any sort of significant terror threat, that

sort of the networks have gotten more sophisticated? anecdotally, anything you can share with us? >> i'm sure, federal faces this challenge significantly. terrorist are always improceed v proceed proceed vicing, watching what we do. ray kelley will say, we're always changing our tactics and response to new threats or the kind of things we're seeing in internet chat rooms or abroad. there are thousands of police officers in this in city alone dealing with terror threats. not saying that's what this is but you asked me the question. and we take it very seriously. and it is an ongoing struggle to keep up with the kind of threats we face. new york is one of those places that will always be under threat. the nypd has stopped 14 different terror plots since 9/11. we've been the victim twice, 9/11 and then in 1993.

and the terrorists only have to be right once. we have to be right all the time. >> it's interesting, alex. the best defense, as great as the new york police department has become, best defense is citizen awareness because they can't be have where. citizens have to report to the authorities suspicious things they see. if we don't see that, we'll get caught some day. as great as the new york city police department is, we can't be everywhere. >> evan coleman joins us on the phone. thanks for joining us. >> no problem. >> give us a little of your analysis of the situation, any information you may have. >> i think right now the evacuation seems to be out of abundance of caution. i would be careful about ascribing this to any kind of organized terrorist act or organization because, frankly, most of the organizations we're dealing with, groups like al qaeda, hezbollah, et cetera, they would be probably more sophisticated sending a grenade in a package. unfortunately, there are other people out there and there's

homegrown extremists out there who would like to make a statement and what better way to make a statement than to send something to the world financial center. we know after 9/11 terrorist attacks, this is an area that's under a tremendous amount of security. there's a tremendous amount of scrutiny. it's a great way of making a headli headline. looking at least at what the facts are right now, even if it is, quote/unquote, a grenade in this package that's been discovered, it doesn't seem to be the work of an organized terrorist group. more groups like al qaeda are more sophisticated than this. you can look to recent events. the last major attempt by al qaeda to trike the u.s. with an explosive device involved very sophisticated device that was hidden inside of mail packages sent from yemen. these were very, very sophisticated devices. this was not just a grenade. like i said, unfortunately, you know, there are homegrown extremists out there. people that just want to make a headline. certainly if possible, that's

what this is. >> howard, you know, certainly when you talk about terrorism and terrorist tactics in the 21st century post-9/11, the idea of the lone wolf is something that's bandied about and preventing a lone wolf from acting is like catching a needle in a haystack to some degree. >> that's certainly the case. in a case like this, property managers and nypd are right to act out of an abundance of caution. if a grenade or what appears to be a green aid is sent into a world, the appropriate thing to do is evacuate the building and make sure there aren't other threats that folks there working are facing. >> join us on the phone is wnbc chief investigative reporter jonathan deintz. do you have any information you could share with us? we're hearing there may be a grenade or grenade-like object in a package at two world financial center. the building has been evacuated.

anything else? >> we've told a partial evacuation of the building there. it was a package that appears to be mailed to this building that houses some of the wall street banks down near ground zero. across the street, world financial center, and appears based on initial screening of this package that there is a grenade-like device inside. it is unclear if it's inert or real, but after emergency service cops took a look, called in the bomb squad so now the nypd bomb squad is on scene, carefully going over this package to see whether it's a real device. they also have the fbi jttf mechanics on scene to help. a cautionary note, we know there's lots of inert grenades out there and we've seen cases like this in the city before where a fake grenade or inert grenade has been sent as a hoax or threat, on that is always a possibility. but as a precaution there is a

partial evacuation of the building there as a result of this package with what appears to be a grenade-like device inside. again, unclear if it's real or inert. nypd bomb squad on scene. >> jonathan, thanks for the intel and information, sir. we'll be following this story very closely in the minutes and hours to come. we'll take a break. ouncer ] if u believe the mayan calendar, on december 21st polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd, and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? ♪ spread a little love my way ♪ ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪

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bullet proof teleprompters. >> there are things that haven't been hammered at because rick and mitt have been going after each other. now they trained their barrels on president obama, i hope his teleprompters are bullet proof. >> what do you think of -- >> i think it's despicable and irresponsible, specifically when we have incidents like we just had that are for real. to make light of this sort of thing is irresponsible, honestly. >> we talk about the rhetoric around politics these days. certainly, during the time of the gabby gifford shooting there was reassessment as to whether this is the kind of stuff we should be talking about and whether we should be talking about this stuff in the way we're talking about this stuff. is there not enough billionaire who could fund republican campaigns? is this worth it? is this really worth it? foster freeze has a talent of making inappropriate jokes about the most sensitive subjects at the most sensitive time and the most offensive way to offend the

most number of people. especially in -- this kind of rhetoric, as the secretary said, this is so deeply offensive to people. nobody thinks it's funny. nobody wants to talk about it. after gabrielle giffords, all the rhetoric that led up to, it it was-t wasn't intentional but the entire result around the country, why would you go back there? it just doesn't make any sense. and these are all different impressions that lay across the voters' minds. we'll hear something from ann romney, robert -- you know, all of this will filter out but it's devastating to the republican party. >> and we're talking about it. >> why are we talking about it? >> giving it more credence. >> that's the real problem. the real problem is because we have so much news to fill because of the 24/7 cycle that didn't exist 20 years ago that we give play to comments like this. and how often have you seen, alex, a serious debate about gun policy in this country. we just don't have it. >> we'll have a serious discussion about gun laws after

the break with the head of the provt law center and -- >> ask and we put on a jerk like foster freeze saying -- >> and hilary rosen. >> right. instead of having -- let's ask mitt romney what he intends to do to curb gun violence. >> these are spokes people for the parties or for each side. i mean, these are people who are asked to go out and say things and they're saying them. so, in that way, they're -- there's an opportunity to respond. >> this is a guy -- >> they're put forward by their parties or campaign. >> you know, 10 or 20 million bucks to go on television and say offensive things. >> or given the opportunity to say things. >> and hilary, and i have respect for some of the work she's done in the past but she's not a spokesperson for the president. >> this is not someone on the street corner taping on youtube. >> given citizens united decision they wield an enormous amount of influence in the race.

vis-a-vis hilary on a conference call earlier, kelly, a designated surrogate for the romney campaign, referred to as an obama adviser which is pat t patently false. when you talk about fairness and -- >> she's on television a lot as a leading democrat. >> she's not for romney, is she? >> there are literally hundreds of people on television now representing the republican party and the democratic party. and mitt romney and barack obama don't take ownership of most of them. good lord, contact president obama and say, do you take ownership of all the things ed rendell says? >> it is worth noting the dnc has walked back her affiliation with the democratic committee since making those comments. >> they disavowed the comments immediately. they understood it was a very unwise thing to have said. >> it's not quite fair to hilary rosen. she's an informal adviser to many democrats. she's a player in washington and democratic circles, no doubt

about it. is she getting paid to do it? i don't think so. >> some democrats would think she's paid by the republican party, the dust up that's resulted. coming this afternoon, george zimmerman is due to face in court facing second degree murder charges in the trayvon martin shooting system? [ female announcer ] e-trade was founded on the simple belief that bringing you better technology helps make you a better investor. with our revolutionary new e-trade 360 dashboard

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in just 10 minutes. now you've seen it. experience it for yourself. [ female announcer ] olay regenerist. i hope that miss corey did what she's supposed to do. i think she did, which is look at the case as the prosecutor charged the highest crime she thinks she can. >> finally the person that shot and killed our son was going to be held accountable for what he has done. >> that was george zimmerman's lawyer and trayvon martin's mother speaking this morning. zimmerman now faces charges of second-degree murder after being taken into custody yesterday. six weeks after the incident took place. richard cohen, president of the southern law center and joins us

from montgomery, alabama. thanks for joining the program, richard. >> good to have you. good to be here, alex. >> richard, i want to ask you if you look sort of -- if we do appear aerial overview, do you think we've reached a turning point in items of possible discrimination within the system? >> frankly, i doubt it. a few years ago there was a case in louisiana that focused the country's attention. reverend sharpton led a march of 20,000 people there. that was a case where these youth were wildly overcharged for a crime and people talked about that as a turning point. i'm not sure that we have the fortitude quite yet to really look at the problems and really make a big difference. >> i want to bring in the panel a little bit here. i remember this moment from the earlier in the campaign cycle when ron paul was on stage at a debate and got booed for saying,

true racism in this country is in the judicial system. blacks are imprisoned way disproportionately. they get the death penalty way disproportionately. we talk about partisan and nonpartisan issues. it always surprises me when here have you someone like ron paul who says this to an audience and gets booed. >> i think, you know, a lot of that is going on. i think a lot of state governors are dealing with these issues, florida, i think is a bit of an outliar with their stand your ground law. main theme of this campaign is going to be federal role versus senate role, on education, headlight care, gun control, immigration, on and on. i think that's the people peowh ought to be paying attention to, who ought to be deciding this, death penalty stuff. all of this is rife for state

legislators and gubernatorial debates and the president of the united states. >> and what margaret says is correct. if we're going to are these acts like this become turning points, we have to do something concrete. and i give credit to the mayor of new york who i think is just incredibly strong effective and courageous leader who went down to washington yesterday and said, what i said the night of the trayvon martin happened, we've got to take a look at these stand your ground laws. i vetoed one in pennsylvania in my last four months as governor. unfortunately, after i let left, they reenacted it and the new governor sign it. >> florida is not an anomaly around the country. there are 24 other states that have these stand your ground laws. they have all seen a very large increase in justifiable homicides since the laws were passed. mayor bloomberg was count in washington yesterday with a broad coalition of civil rights groups trying to get states that have passed them to repeal them, trying to make sure other states don't pass them. these are not laws that promote

safety. they're laws that promote vigilanteism. we in new york, we know about the violence that's been caused by guns. we want to make sure that doesn't happen here or in other places. >> let's listen to our police and prosecutors who are dead set against this. >> richard, i want -- what do you make of what's going on at the state level? >> well, it's a dangerous situation. like your other panelist said. the nra has tremendous power. they rolled over the police voices in florida. they've rolled over them in alabama. they rolled over them in over 20 states. and, you know, it's -- people aren't listening to reason. politicians are scared. you know, kind of the power of alec, you know, against them. and, you know, it's a very -- i admire governor rendell for vetoing the law but it's not surprised the legislature turned around and passed them again. >> here's the thing we have to be mindful of. at the moment we have a prosecutor on the job in florida and that process is going to

work its way through. i mean, she's charged the guy with, you know, criminal homicide -- >> only because there was an extraordinary national outcry. i mean, if there had not been this national focus, this would have gone on the way it was and there would have been no charge and no one would have heard about it. >> keep in mind, it's six weeks after the shooting first took place. i want to draw your attention on a washington post/abc news poll that asks, do you think the trayvon martin shooting was justified. justified, 1% blacks, 5% whites. huge racial divide on that question. >> absolutely. black and white people experience reality different in our country. white people are not routinely racially profiled. white people are not looked at with suspicion. you listen to the 911 tape. first trayvon is a suspicious character and then zimmerman says, they always get away.

he's gone as looking at trayvon as suspicious to someone who's guilty, who's done something wrong. you know, you hear that kind of thing not just from black people but white people. jesse jackson had that famous saying where he said, it's a sad commentary when i hear foot steps, i turn around and i'm relieved it's a white person. so, these negative images kind of about african-american males, you know, are per races ive in our society. they reflect a long history of discrimination, a long history of degradation, and we are just bombarded by negative images. that's kind of the ultimate problem. that's going to take a long time, a lot of effort, not just in the -- by governments but by people and their churches, people in their schools, people in their homes, all of that to kind of turn the tide in that respect.

>> whoa talk about leadership and the mayor in new york has been a leader on gun control concerns but the city of new york is now going to be examining potential wrongful convictions, a new -- >> state of new york. >> sorry. you know, i guess it's -- if you have more political capital in your city or state, you can pass this kind of stuate. as the governor says, even the best efforts are rewarded with punishment. years later, days later, months later. >> well, i think tomorrow is going to be so interesting because the nra is having a major convention and all of the major presidential candidates will be speaking to the nra. it will be fascinating to see how this plays through and to the question of do white people think this is justified or unjustified, i have not spoken to a single person who is not deeply, deeply disturbed by this, a young man, a kid, going to get skittles and iced tea. i have not talk to one person, black, white, hispanic, who says this is one of the worst things i've heard of. it's deeply, deeply disturbing.

i think the special prosecutor's performance yesterday was very impressive. you know, she was sort of a steel magnolia. talking about his sweet parents and bringing the toughest charges that can be brought in a case like this. so, i think i am happy to see this on a path towards i think what will be a chance for both sides to get all the facts out. we still don't know what's going on. >> i think that poll was a little misleading because only 5% of whites said it was justified. most whites say, i don't know. i don't know enough facts about the case. so, it's not that they're saying it was justified. it's that they're saying they don't know. only 5% of white respondents said it was justified. >> we will certainly be examining these issues in greater detail for some time to come given where we are as a country on gun control issues in the criminal justice system. thank you to southern poverty law center richard cohen for joining us. here is a live look at vice president biden speaking in new hampshire where he's promoting the white house's buffett rule

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mitt romney wants to take us down that same road again. let me state it plainly. the president and i are determined to do all in our power to make sure we never go down that road again. >> that was vice president joe biden speaking in new hampshire just moments ago. the vice president is continuing the white house's buffett blitz, telling voters mitt romney's policy will hurt the middle class. robert rice is author of the new ebook "beyond outrage." secretary, thank you for joining the program. >> hi, alex.

>> i want to touch on something that you wrote last week saying, american consumers in short are hitting a wall. they don't dare save much less because their jobs are so insecure. they can't borrow much more. home values are dropping and many are under water, more on their homes than homes are worth. secretary reich, i wonder what you make of the buffett rule. do you think it's going to help america's middle class? >> well, certainly it's going to help in term of making sure that we have enough money both to pay down long-term deficit and mick sure we have enough money to invest in education and infrastructure, alex. the buffett rule is a minimum. i hope democrats don't get trapped into making -- that should be the maximum. no, it's a minimum with regard to the very healthy ought to be paying at 30% tax rate, but if we went back to before the 1981 tax cut of ronald reagan, for 30 years, the richest people in this country paid a minimum of

70%. even after all of the deductions and tax credits, the tax rate on highest income earners was 55%, 60%, much higher than what anybody is talking about right now and yet the economy grew faster in that 30-year period than it has grown since. so there's no tradeoff between fairness and growth. if anything, fairness, it seems to me, is a prerequisite to growth. >> i want to open this up to the panel a little bit and sort of the buffett optic. as the secretary says, as the other secretary says, margaret, so many secretaries. >> so many secretaries at one table here. >> i like the president surround myself with secretaries. i wonder, you know, we talk about bipartisan support. there is, i think, everybody acknowledges our tax system is broken.

here's the sort of opportunity to try and fix it, but i think generally speaking, most folks understand that the republicans are -- sorry, the president doesn't have any kind of willing partner in any comprehensive tax reforms. do you think that's fair. >> i think this is a red herring, red meat, very political, stocking horse issue, absolutely, we need comprehensive tax reform. so to single this out to income inequality and tax warfare, i want to turn the pab cake over and talk about what is really at stake, the state of affairs of our schools. half the minority kids in this country are not getting out of high school on time. that's the beginning of income inequality. begins before that, with schools not worth a darn, and teachers misallocated on and on. let's get serious about education. >> i call your attention to what

arne duncan said. >> in a tough nick time like this with unemployment too high, we have over 2 million high skilled jobs in this country we can't fill because we're not producing knowledged workers employers need. >> everybody is nodding tir head and yet why is -- why is education becoming increasingly a political football? >> because we're not serious about it. it is a place where we have had bipartisanship historically. and i want to build on patricia's comment about, you know, the time is going to come, it's here now for mitt romney to stand up and say, i'm the leader. i'm calling -- i'm the quarterback. and i'm calling the plays here on some things that need to be bipartisanship, whether it's education or health care reform or tax reform or immigration reform and on and on. and i think that's -- that's the test. that's what people are going to look for. who can be the president in this time and place with an economy as it is and the statistics arne talked about.

>> i think the secretary spelling is absolutely right but i don't think inequality is a red herrin. we have not seen on much income and wealth going to the top 1% since 1928 in this country. when you have all that money going to the top, the vast middle class doesn't have enough purchasing power to keep the economy going. we don't have enough money to invest in our schools. this is not a red herring. this is a serious, huge problem. we have mitt romney last year, year before, earned $21 million and paid a tax rate of 13.9%. lower than most middle class people pay. how in the world are we going to invest in our schools or get the long-term deficit under control or do anything else we need in this country if people feel the dice are loaded, the game is rigged in favor of the very rich. >> i was surprised, alex, to hear secretary reich describe the buffett rule as deficit reduction measure when, in fact, it's really about $4 billion a year in new revenue. we have a deficit of over a

trillion dollars. this is not about deficit reduction. it's a political strategy from the obama campaign. they think it's good politics. it may well be. i think it focuses attention on mitt romney's wealth. that may be good politics but certainly not about any sort of deficit. >> that's why the secretary -- >> that's exactly what -- but that's exactly why i said it has to be described as a minimum. i think actually it doesn't go nearly far enough. if i were advising the president on the buffett rule, i would have said start much higher than the buffett rule if you have to compromise. it has to be a credible contribution to both deficit reduction and allowing us to invest in education and infrastructure, absolutely. >> i want to -- i want to call attention to what -- we're talking about mitt romney and what his positions are as far as education and funding for schools and mitt romney has wrapped his arms around paul ryan's budget which would cut grants and education funding. robert, you wrote a story that

terrified me called "a romney fable." i wonder what you make of his comments, i guess it was a couple weeks ago when he told a student asking about student loan debts, he said, you should go to the cheaper college effectively and don't expect the government to forgive the debt you take on. >> well, you know, student debt is right now over a trillion dollars. that exceed credit card debt, exceeds auto debt. i know, i teach here at the university of california-berkeley. the tuition and fees have risen more than 20% over the last two years. a lot of middle class families cannot afford it. they're taking on huge debts. students are leaving here and they can't even find jobs. you know, we are not investing in our educational infrastructure in this country. and this is a huge, huge problem. we're disinvesting. disinvesting like mad. it's a problem not only for individuals and for students, it's a problem for the country because how can we be competitive if we're eating our

seed corn like this? >> student loan passed $1 trillion. robert reich, thank you for joining the program. >> thanks. coming up, he's been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate but now congressman alan west is under scrutiny. [ male announcer ] if your kid can recognize your sneeze from a crowd... you're probably muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you and your money deserve. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, that means taking a close look at you tdd# 1-800-345-2550 as well as your portfolio. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 we ask the right questions, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 then we actually listen to the answers

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welcome back. time for what now. comments by alan west could put him out of the running in the tea party running. who's a card-carrying marxist? west says, good question, 80% are part of the communist party. >> i have not been never have

been. >> very fast. >> what do you make of that? he has the backing of sarah palin, newt gingrich, nikki haley and herman cain. >> and alan west. look, this is why west is allen west. i've interviewed him several times. he has this way of being incredibly lieu sucid and then saying -- complete insanity -- >> there's a medical word for that. >> sounds a bit like newt actually. no. what i make of this is the head of the communist party said he was highly insulted. >> and sorry, what was that? >> the head -- i mean, their party said they were highly insulted -- >> right, the progressive -- >> i don't blame the guy, poor thing. >> the clarification from west communication director, the congressman was referring to the 76 members of the congressional progressive caucus. the communist party has referred to them as the allies.

>> i think he's happy we're sitting around talking about what allen west said. >> west loves talking about allen west's chance of being the vice presidential nominee. thank you to secretary spellings, governor rendell, patricia and howard. that's all for now. i'll see back here at noon when i'm joined by ron paul, campaign chair jesse benton, maggie hagerman, michael dyson. until then find us at facebook.com/nowwithalex. "andrea mitchell reports" is next. greetings to you. >> thank you. coming up now, breaking news. george zimmerman's first court appearness, we'll bring it to you lie. mcrogers and a mother of two young children joining me to react to the criticism of ann romney's decision to stay at home. james cameron is here. also to talk about remaybing his record-breaking film in 3d and

his deep sea dive all next on "andrea mitchell reports. what's really gross: used dishcloths. they can have a history that they drag around with them. try bounty extra soft. in this lab demo, one sheet of bounty extra soft leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth. the cleaner way to clean. bounty extra soft.

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food for your cat or dog. breaking right now on "andrea mitchell reports" we're live in sanford, florida, where minutes from now george zimmerman will make his first court appearance. after special prosecutor angela corey charged him with second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. >> i hope that miss corey did what she's supposed to do. i think she did, which is look at the case as a prosecutor, charge the the highest crime she thinks she can and did it proply. also women's work. as mitt romney tries to bridge the gender gap, a strategist causes a stir by saying this about ann romney. >> his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. she's never really dealt with the kind of economic issues that a majority of the