down a lot of low-hanging fruit. they just formed the romney campaign and rnc just formed their joint fund-raising committee. they have a lot of low hanging fruit they were able to pull down this month. we've had our joint fund-raising committee for the past year. that came in this month. we're on track to have the resources we need. but it's important to point out, have you to look at the super pac money that's truly disturbing. if you look at wisconsin where the super pac money that came in for scott walker, you know, eight to one outspending republicans to democrats. so, that's what's going to be troubling, is that you have a handful of billionaires, thomas, that are gearing up to try to buy the white house. that's what we're up against. our average contribution is about $50. we're running a truly grassroots campaign and that's going to carry barack obama back to the

white house. >> as we talk more about wisconsin and zoom in on what took place there, and as we led in we talked about your fell flow floridian jeb bush and mentioned you by name when talking about certain takeaways from wisconsin. listen to this. >> sure. >> it's a spanking because they made it that way. they raised the stakes. they made this a national campaign. all of the leadership, debbie wasserman schultz and the democratic party and the union leaders, all said this was -- all roads lead through madison, basically, as it relates to the national campaign. now they can't reverse that. this was a national statement. >> jeb bush calling it a spanking. you've been quoted as calling wisconsin a dry run for the national race. if that's the case, what's your biggest takeaway between what can be done between now and november to ensure wisconsin falls in your place, falls democratically? >> well, jeb bush is trying to rearrange what we said.

we specifically said that this was a -- as did tom barrett and the democrats in wisconsin, that this was a wisconsin-based grassroots campaign and we certainly got involved and helped and pulled together the grassroots resources from the obama campaign and democratic party came in with financial resources as well. but the firepower nationally, and who made this a national focus, was the romney campaign and the republicans. in spite. of all the effort, four or five governors, you know, outspending the democrats eight to one, really nationalizing this race while we kept it very wisconsin-based. in the exit polls and in the -- 19 of the last 20 polls, including recall voters, president obama is still ahead for the november election of mitt romney by nine points. so, recall voters, whether they voted for our against scott walker, support barack obama.

we are going to win the state of wisconsin. wisconsin will come down for barack obama because they understand that he's been moving in this country in the right direction and he's fighting for the middle class and working families. >> there's been in back and forth about whether or not which side made this into a national race, and rnc chair has accused national democrats of not showing up in wisconsin. >> you can't have it both ways. they can't -- they can't say we nationalized it but we didn't pay attention to it. i mean --. >> take a listen to what your counterpart had to say. >> i've talked to quite a few people in wisconsin over the last few days. some democrats as well. that we're really disappointed in this president for not coming into wisconsin. he was in chicago, he was in minnesota. i mean, he really didn't lift a finger for them and neither did really the democratic party. so, they feel pretty put off. >> all right, so just to be accurate here, you did go to wisconsin in the final days. >> i did. >> the president, vice president did not. however, president clinton did

go in as a national figure to a rally -- >> as did governor martin o'malley. but, thomas, you know, with all due respect to mr. priebus i'm quite sure there aren't droves of democrats in wisconsin giving ryan priebus their opinion. in fact, i'm looking forward to going to wisconsin tomorrow, key noting the convention. we're going to gear up, use that convention to hunker down, redouble our efforts, use the lessons we learned from tuesday's election, the opportunity that we had to build our grassroots operation, take the state senate back, which is now in democratic hands when it was controlled by republicans. that's what the recall resulted in. while we didn't remove governor walker, we did stop him from being able to continue to rain down his extremist policies on workers and working families. because he can no longer get what he wants out of the state legislature as a result of those recall efforts.

i'm looking forward to being in wisconsin tomorrow, firing up the troops there and plowing forward to election day when barack obama will win wisconsin once again. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. appreciate your time. we want to bring in thursday's political power post, karen finney and republican strategist chip saltzman. we have talked about the money and the wisconsin results. president obama is putting his foot on the gas when it comes to fund-raising. as we look back over what happened in may. $60 million raised in that month. this was after a disappointing april. now we see these big numbers coming from mitt romney. and the president doesn't have this big superpac support like mitt romney. do you think he's going to be living on the road between now and november trying to raise that campaign cash? >> well, to the extent that he can, sure. i think the romney numbers were, and they came out just a few minutes ago, were probably not a great surprise to them. but there you have it in black and white, raising more than they did.

yeah, he's been fund-raising a lot. he's been spending a lot of time in new york and on the west coast. that's where he is now. he's got to do it. there's no alternative. but it comes for risks. for one thing, he's the president and he has to do his day job which, of course, the white house can run without him and travels with mim on air force one. the impression he's spending all this time in new york, in hollywood, in san francisco, is not one he can sustain for a very long time, so he has to balance raising the money with -- continuing his rose garden strategy and being president. >> i want to get you in on this because we're one week into the new month, june shaping up to be a tough one for the democrats. one political blow after another. then the looming supreme court ruling that's coming down this month potentially another setback. are democrats in real trouble here? >> i think democrats need to take it all seriously. i disagree with some characterization. it's not surprising romney's numbers are good because this is the first month he's been able

to do the joint fund-raising with the rnc. number two, i don't agree with the characterization about what larry summers and bill clinton have said. i think it's ridiculous for democrats to take the bait and feed into the gop narrative and let them define for us, you know, what the message is when both men themselves have said they agree with the president. that being said, we had a tough jobs report last friday. we knew it was going to be a rough couple of weeks. i'd rather see what's happening right now happen now in june while we've got time to regroup for the fall. >> so, chip, i want you to take a look at this. president obama campaign in light of this, trying to pivot the conversation back to the economy, take a look and listen to in new ad. >> the president's jobs plan would put teachers, firefighters, police officers and construction workers back to work right now. and it's paid for by asking the wealthiest americans to pay a little more. but congress refuses to act. tell congress, we can't wait. >> chip, the onus being put back on congress, the congress labeled by this administration as the do nothing wrong.

is that the only president's out right now? >> well, i think he's had a real struggle the last couple of weeks finding who to attack. we've seen him attack mitt romney's time at bain capital. we've seen him attack, you know, his time at governor. now we're seeing him attack the congress. i think he's trying to find who to blame. he's been blaming george bush and now he figures out if we don't blame somebody else, and that will be his re-election strategy, blame somebody else. >> the fact this race is pretty much decided, the two men going for the presidency, jeb bush was a dream candidate for a lot of. he talked about his political future. >> have you made a decision that you do not want to be president? >> i've not made that decision. although i think this -- there's a window of opportunity in life for all sorts of reason. this was probably my time. although, i don't know, given -- given kind of what i believe and how i believe it, i'm not sure i would have been successful as a candidate either.

these are different times than just six years ago when i last ran. >> so, jeb bush also saying this morning there's no way he'd be romney's vice president. we heard him speak strongly for scott walker and through the years for senator rubio. why isn't he fired up more for mitt romney? i know it's early talking to charlie rose in the morning but why not fired up for the candidate. >> probably not had his second cup of coffee. he's excited about romney. jeb bush was a great governor of florida. he can be a national candidate whenever he wants to. he could run for the senate. there's so much he can do and so much he has to offer this party and i think you'll see a lot more jeb bush in the future regardless of what it is. >> karen, your take, how important for romney to have jeb bush, a strong presence? >> he's an important presence but i think like a lot of the romney surrogates, it's kind of a luke warm feeling that a lot of the republican party itself has for mitt romney. so, you know, everybody's going to try to get on board and

support the guy, but, you know, it's a little tepid. >> our power panel this morning, thank you. i appreciate your time. all eyes on federal reserve chairman ben bernanke now. as we speak, he is testifying at a congressional hearing about the state of the economy, the financial risks and the fed game plan. already bernanke has pointed to a fragile economy in europe and the snow ball effect it could have at home. >> the situation in europe poses significant ricks to the u.s. financial system and economy and must be monitored closely. as always, the federal reserve remains to take action as needed to protect the u.s. financial system and economy in the event of financial stresses if escalate. >> let's take a look at the markets as we see green arrows across the board responding nicely so far this morning. just one day after a blockbuster nearly 300-point game on the street.

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right now just four days from the opening statements in the jerry sandusky sexual abuse trial. at least eight of the panelists have links to the university. some of them actually showing up in court wearing clothing with penn state logos.

joining me live analyst michael izakoff and michael mccann. good to have you here. michael, i want to start with you as we talk about the situation there with the jurors. eight jurors with ties to penn state. some observers say this was impossible to avoid. even sew, what does this say to people concerned about impartiality in this case, not coming in with preconceived notions about what's going on and which is going to benefit either side? >> well, it says the judge and lawyers -- >> i think many were surprised that this -- michael, i want to start with you. real fast, let's have michael start real fast from the scene. >> two michaels. lawyers and the judge clearly decided that penn stay ties were inevitable in this community where the university looms so large. secondly, not a barrier to the

evidence. you talk to lawyers following this case, they say this can cut two ways. first of all, you have a lot of people in the penn state community who are angry at jerry sandusky for besmerching the good name of the school through this scandal and joe paterno, the legendary coach who died earlier this year. on the other hand, all the defense needs is one juror who associates jerry sandusky with joe paterno, who associates jerry sandusky with the great days of the penn state football program and that may be all they need to prevent a conviction here. so, it's really a crap shoot as to how this is going to play out. i think a lot of people were surprised jury selection went so quickly and that we have so many ties to penn state in this trial. >> mr. mccann, four days away from opening statements. give us the insights to the key players in this trial.

you say the judge, no stranger to cases involving child victims. what is his being on the bench tell you? >> well, thomas, he's well qualified to handle a case like this. the judge was involved as an investigator in the cash for kids scandal where a judge in pennsylvania had taken money from a private prison and sent juvenile defendants there. so, he certainly is qualified to look at cases involving child abuse. but i agree with michael's comments, it's surprising the jury has so many persons affiliated with penn state. part relates to the fact that they're in a part of the country where penn state is the number one economic driver. it's the number one employer. is probably would have been difficult to pick a jury with no ties or a few ties to penn state. >> sure cast a huge shadow. observers say yesterday that sandusky looked happy as this jury was picked. he even turned to this pool and

said, what did you do to deserve me? how did you get stuck with this? how did that play out? >> i don't know if he looked happy but he hasn't shown any sign of the stress you would imagine he would be under. he's appeared if not cocky, certainly self-confident. he's been playing an active role in jury selection. the first day at one point his lawyer wanted to strike one of the jurors, one of the potential jurors. sandusky overruled him and said, i think she could be fair. i think this is a guy who despite all the speculation about a plea and continued speculation he's not going to want to go through this, he might plea bargain, he hasn't shown any sign of that. and seems to be forging right ahead to trial, which begins on monday. >> michael, the juror he thought could be fair, this woman, isn't

she the one that has ties to mike mcqueary's father and the medical practice he has there? >> exactly. very interesting ties. her husband is in the same physician's group as the father of mike mcqueary, who is one of the key witnesses in this case. he's the one in the famous shower incident said he saw a young boy being abused by jerry sandusky and then reported it to the late joe paterno. >> gentlemen, thanks so much. my two michaels this morning. appreciate it. a rock star reception for president obama from the lbgt community and straight allies for so-called first gay president. he's not going to be going home empty handed. hands fill with cash. mitt romney's military record or lack of it. coming under new scrutiny as he claims the president's handling of the president's war. we'll dig deeper into his

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ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. greatness in a people, i believe, is measured by the extent to which they'll give themselves to something bigger than themselves, so sacrifice for a cause of significance. >> that was mitt romney speaking about military service to a group of veterans on memorial day, but the sacrifice he spoke of there is one that he never made. while he was a student at stanford university in the late 1960s, romney was a supporter of the vietnam war. you see him there holding that placard. despite his public support, the ap has uncovered selective service records, which show the presumptive gop nominee got four draft deferments. glenn johnson, politics editor for bostonglobe.com. it's great to have you with us

this morning. let's talk about this. presidential candidate romney has been a supporter of veterans and the military, while also being critical of president obama's foreign policy. that seems to fly in the face of his record of service or lack thereof. what do we know about his record and those four consecutive deferments? >> he went to college at the height of the vietnam war. he entered in 1965, september, october time frame, at stanford university. received his first student deferment in october of 1965. and then after he finished that academic year, he went off to do his mormon missionary work so he was out for 30 months, out of college. however, he shifted his deferment from one as a student to mormon mission, so he got three more deferments over the next three years for his missionary and religious work. then he came back in 1969, february 1969. got two more -- did not really

have any activity late in '69 and '70, and then when he finally did pick a draft lottery number, he was 300 out of 365 at a time when nobody over 195 had been called. >> so a high draft number. when we talk about, though, the relationship that the mormon church had, though, with the war, they were very supportive of the vietnam war, correct? >> right, right. so was not only mitt romney but mitt romney's father. i mean, in large measure, in some part, lost his 196 presidential bid because he had gone over in the mid-'60s, strongly supported the war, and later became a war opponent and said it was because of the brain washing he had been subjected to by generals over in vietnam. mitt romney went through a similar shift himself. >> when we talk about, though, any military service within the romney family, what are the ties his dad has to military service or any of his five sons to military service? >> that's been a knock on the family.

i mean, his father who was coming of age during world war ii era didn't serve. mitt romney was coming of age right at the height of the vietnam war. i mean, you saw john kerry and george bush go through their respective decisions in the 2004 election. and now, i remember four years ago i was with mitt romney in bettendorf, iowa, and he got a lot of criticism. there was a woman that stood up at a public forum and asked him why none of his five sons had served. he said they were serving the country by helping with his campaign. that caused flap and he had to step back and said he didn't mean to equate campaign work by military work in iraq and afghanistan. there was criticism of his family's record at that time, too. >> since his sons are maybe again-xers they would have been eligible for the gulf war.

gallup poll found mitt romney with vets. neither of the two candidates, barack obama, who was too young to serve in the vietnam war, and mitt romney, really impact the way this story is covered? it's not apples to apples, especially when we look at how things compared with john kerry and george bush's records in '04. >> true, thomas. you know, romney and well among veterans but that's an older voting bloc, typically more conservative, typically republican voting bloc. the president has done well with younger people, many of whom are already out of iraq sxh ready to get out of afghanistan as well. cuts both ways. you know, frankly, we had this discussion four years ago. john kerry went over and faced live fire in vietnam. george bush was in the national guard in texas, alabama and flying over the gulf of mexico. george bush won that election at the height of a war. so, sometimes it's -- you know, the record is something debated during presidential campaign but then people look to other factors. i think romney's hoping they'll look at the economy.

and obama is, too, saying he doesn't want to go back to bush policies. often it just becomes a wash especially this far out from the war. >> i just want to make a clarification. when i referenced the gulf war, i didn't say draft, i said sons were eligible, of age to serve. it's really interesting as we look at the family and their military connections. glenn johnson from "the boston globe," thank you. a new scout law, the boy scouts' policy that bans gay leaders potentially may change. plus, the first lady is busy promoting her let's move campaign but moving might not make much of a difference for teen black girls. wait until you hear this one. and a huge security breach for more than 7 million people trying to make a business or a love connection. if you're online, you need to see this, too. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy...

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our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. so, the numbers out this morning show the obama campaign did have a big may in

fund-raising. $60 million. hoping for an even bigger june. after last night's sold out lbgt fund-raiser they may be on track to meet these goals. more than 600 cheered, gave the president a standing ovation last night. celebrities packing a sold out audience including cher, chaz, ellen degeneres and more. mike joins us now. >> reporter: four more years, a boisterous reception there. the lbgt leadership council in beverly hills at beverly wilshire hotel. part of a swing in california. he's estimated four fund-raisers, two in san francisco, two in los angeles, including the gala hosted by ellen degeneres. it's estimated they're going to bring in $15 million in this california swing. california, obviously, being safe territory, solidly blue for

the president and any democratic president for the last several election cycles. the president often going out there attending these fund-raisers. after the lbgt event it was to the home of ryan murphy, the creator of "glee" and other popular programs. and his partner david miller. there were speeches there as well. more of a private gathering, closed to cameras. the president on his way now to las vegas later today for a message event on student loans. but after those numbers came out late last night, $60 million for the obama campaign and all of the democratic committees as a total. that's a big amount, no question about it. you talked about it at the top of the hour. $76 million for obama. super pacs, people will be talking about those from now until election day. >> nbc white house correspondent mike vicara. boy scouts on offense amid

word it may reverse anti-gay policy. this comes on the heels of online signature asking it to reinstate former den mother who was recently ousted from the group for being gay. zach is an eagle scout and student at university of iowa and the author of "my two moms." zach, it's good to have you here today. you were scheduled to come on, break this news about the scouts reviewing this policy as well as news that they vote on it in 2013. the bsa good wind of it. came out in advance of the news. as we've seen, it looks like they're trying to drive the conversation, denying that this petition you delivered on behalf of jennifer terrell has any influence on this decision coming up. what is your reaction to that? >> yeah. well, we knew this was going to be their response as soon as we heard the story was breaking. i know this is obviously something the bsa has said before, however there are a lot of things much different today.

today i'm proud to announce we are launching a group called scouts for equality and launching this in coordination with a number of other eagle scouts. this group has three key purposes to assess support for the end of this policy within the scouting community, to mobilize that support and finally execute and actually end this policy that discriminates against homosexual people and leaders in the organization. >> zach, when we talk about the bsa and, again, they got out in front of this, i want to read a statement from scout spokesman darren smith will be decided by scouting's professional and volunteer leadership including the national executive committee. darren also spoke on the phone with our segment producer adding in regards to this subject that we're not close-minded individual. we simply believe our youth development program is not the proper place to introduce this topic. i want to ask you as an eagle scout how much was discussed growing up in the scouts about

heterosexual sex? >> exactly. the boy scouts of america, we don't talk about sex really at all. it's interesting that darren would say that. we've heard this line before, actually. we hear it frequently. what's important to note is when miss terrell was released from her son's cub scout pack, that's the first time this notion had ever been discussed with the pack. this is something we've seen over and over. it's not until leaders are forced to resign and those kids are wondering why their favorite leader has been forced to leave the troop. they then have to understand what this means. at the end of the day, the fact is kids don't struggle with this idea. they understand love is love, that commitment is commitment. now, when it comes to something like this, we're not talking about an alternative lifestyle or, you know, some kind of immoral behavior. what we're talking about, a real living, breathing human being, like my moms, who were involved with the scouting organization and like jennifer were revered as effective leaders and very momma grizzlies, if you will, in

their position as leaders in our cub scout pack. >> there you go, taking sarah palin's phrase. zach wahl, thank you for coming on to talk about this. keep us posted. you can read more on our website at msnbc.com. thanks again. a warning for users of the websites linkedin and eharmony, your password may have been leaked online and both companies are investigating. julia joins me live with the latest on this. >> do we have a number of online users were affected? >> 6.5 million linkedin and 1.5 million eharmony pass words. those were the numbers reported and sort of addressed by some security experts. the companies, those two companies, acknowledge that there were passwords that were hacked and recommending people change their passwords but not saying exactly how many. here's another thing to consider. we know there were some passwords posted online but no

log in or e-mail addresses posted with them so the hope is it will be tough for hackers to hack in. that said, it is a good idea for users of those two sites to change their password. >> what should users be doing in light of this news? >> i've spoken to the folks at linkedin and they say they always recommend users to change their passwords directly on the site, to be aware you could get a phishing request where someone who's trying to get you to go to a rogue site e-mails you and asks you to go to the site. go to the site directly, and change your password. linkedin says they recommend you change your password every couple of months. it's a hassle but could be worth it in the end. the other idea is if people use the same password on every single site, if one site gets hacked, you could be in trul. you should try to use different passwords on different sites. >> have to stay vigilant. thanks. a live look from capitol

hill where eric holder being grilled about the fast and furious gun program as well as the voter i.d. battle. plus, talk about a role reversal. would have thought bill clinton would be the republican's favorite democrat? i'll have a chance to talk with charlie rangel. has bill clinton become a liability for president obama? [ male announcer ] at scottrade,

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panel about the embarrassing fast and furious gun trafficking debacle that happened under his watch. the operation which allowed illegal gun sales on the southwest border in hopes of tracking down cartel leaders failed miserably. 1700 guns were misplaced, ended up at crime scenes in mexico and lawmakers now wants answers. >> have you and your attorneys produced internally the materials responsive to the subpoenas? >> we believe that we have responded to the subpoenas -- >> no, mr. attorney general, you're not a good quns. a good witness answers the question asked. isn't it true that you have not produced a log of materials withheld, even though our investigators have asked for it? >> i know that -- i'm not sure about that. i know that the -- >> okay, i'm sure you didn't, so let's move on. >> we're going to keep an eye on this and bring you more testimony throughout the day. also on capitol hill, house minority leader nancy pelosi

wants to put the brakes on another break for congress. pelosi sent a letter to speaker boehner saying there was too much work to be done to take another break. you're looking at the days back home for house members so far in the legislative session. she echoed that sentiment in the last hour. >> democrats have a simple request to our republican colleagues. don't run out the clock on the economy. we call on the speaker to cancel next week's recess. this is the ninth week-long recess of the year. and to stay in session to address america's top priorities. >> and more big fiscal issues are on the horizon. both parties have different ideas for extending the bush tax cuts but the democrats' platform of letting tax cuts expire from wealthiest americans were shaken by comments by bill clinton. charles rangel joins me. good to have you here. as we talk about what's taking place right now on the hill, this fiscal cliff is coming at

the end of the year. but there are the legislative problems, like the coming increase of the student loans, transportation bill, the clock running out there. is there really room to negotiate with house republicans who aren't prepared to accept bipartisan solutions from the senate? >> i don't think so. i think like nancy pelosi said, we should be optimistic. we should try to get the american people to understand that we're paid to do a job and not to be locked in concrete. but close to four years ago the republicans made up their minds that they were going to destroy the president and not to support any of his programs. now we're reaching the end of that. a lot of things are supposed to happen before we conclude our business. but you can bet your life the president -- the republicans are not going to do anything this president would do in providing jobs, equity tax reform and has to wait until after the election. they're just not going to do

anything accept to make america in worse shape than we are economically. and that is wrong. people don't want republicans and democrats. they want jobs and security for the future. >> sir, meanwhile you talk about republicans and being an object stakt to what the. the wants to do but their enjoying former president bill clinton and the remarks he's made, not being in lock step with the president's message. do you think he's taking away from the focus of the obama campaign and trying to attract voters this year? >> bill clinton is bigger than life. if people don't even understand him, they like him. and the fact that they like obama and like the president, one or two differences people may have, both of them being intellects, patriots, hasn't got a darn thing to do about the solidarity of thinking about what's good for america. it has to be taking care of our poor, kids, education, getting jobs, improving the economy.

that's all these -- the democrats and the american people are asking for. not sending us home to do nothing. there's a lot of work to be done now more than ever before the election. but they don't want to do it. so, we'll have another recess as former speaker pointed out. it is not right. and until america gets angry and tells us to get together and stop being partisan, they're going to continue to do this until the election. there's no question about it. >> real quickly, i want to get to what you are facing politically. as we talk about president clinton, in the past he has endorsed judiciary staying on the sidelines. there are a handful of democratic candidates trying to take your place in the primary election coming up later this month. are you confident you're going to carry this redrawn district in new york? >> no one can ever confident when you have an election. the people have the secrecy of the ballot but i'm just as confident as i've ever been, that i've done my job and the

people would want to send me back. so, being challenged in an election, i think that's the part of the process. that's what makes our country so exciting and so great. >> congressman charles rangel, sir, thanks for your time this morning. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back after this. on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org.

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athletes and spectators have 250 days left before the 2012 olympics are in full swing. going for the gold this season carlita jeter. she failed to qualify for the event in beijing. jeter is not only expected to make the olympic team, but to take home the gold as well. regular exercise equates a slimmer waistline, yet a new study finds this may not be the case for black girls and teens. the archives of pediatrics and adolescent medicine reported

that some invisible hurdles are discovered that black girls metabolize slower when they're resting. they burn less energy, and burn less fat as well. joining me to talk about this studio is ashley hicks t. co-creator of the group black girl run. here's the study. monitoring 12 to 14-year-old teens action and found for white girls exercise just plain works, about you for african-americans there's this minute pal impact. how do you think that young girls hearing about this new study who are weight-conscious, body-conscious because of our society, what it does to young girls, how it will be digested? >> no one wants to hear it's going to be harder for you to lose weight, but i also think it's an opportunity to really start talking about diet. the study talks a lot about exercise. i think our community needs to start having this larger conversation about diet, what we're eating and how we're

preparing our foods. that's also another challenge that's adding to the obesity epidemic. >> certainly michelle obama has gone flack for her campaign, she's a role model. as we look at 4 out of 5 black women are overweight or obese, black girls being 80% more likely to be obese than white girls. the new study concludes that the community should focus on diet and intakes verse exercise. it primarily more about food and your habits? >> it's definitely a coordinated effort, but, you know, whether you're black or white, if you want amazing abs, you work on that at the gym, but it's really at the kitchen table. >> they're elusive implts it will make a difference. >> real quickly, michelle obama her "let's move" initiative, do you think this study will undo

recent good works she's trying to do? >> no, definitely not. i think michelle, the work is so amazing, because it's educating kids on the impact the exercise on, on creating a healthy lifestyle, it's about quality of life, not just what the scale says i want ashley hicks, thanks for your time today. that will wrap things up for me. i'll see you back here tomorrow. congressman barney frank will join me. until then you can follow me. don't go anywhere, though. "now with alex wagner" is coming your way. hey, thomas, congressional dysfunction is alive and kicking. what sort of high jinks are in store as the next deadline looms. and which party will come out in top. in the horse race, the dash for cash is on. today's numbers show advantage romney, but the president may have bigger fish to fry, we are going to discuss a new "time" magazine story on the supreme

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that's the power of german engineering. and nobody is actually expecting a response. it's thursday, june 7th, and this is "now." article ir mel better will describe what the most means later. casey hunt of associated press, and sam stein of "the huffington post." it's a tale of two letters. nancy pelosi sent a her to house republicans calling for them to cancel the recess next week to

work on bills. here's nancy pelosi this morning. >> democrats have a simple request to our republican colleagues, don't run out the clock on the economy that's worked around the clock to create jobs, promote growth and restore prosperity for the middle class. >> meanwhile, speaking johns boehner and majority leader eric cantor sent a her to the president, calling to him to cancel a speech in las vegas today to discuss their version of the student loan bill. they wrote -- we cannot understand why you, without having responded to you are a latest offer, would schedule a campaign-style event in nevada tomorrow to discuss student loan rates. sam, how could he possibly schedule an event when all these efforts have been in earnest. well, have they been in earnest? >> it's such a show, and it's a frustrating one, obviously. we go there what is