job growth. today governor romney tried a similar strategy saying he'd put out a tax plan that can't even be analyzed not by any group ever. so the romney campaign made a tax plan that can't be analyzed yet the tax policy center scored it. they bent over backwards to analyze the romney plan in a very favorable fashion to mitt romney and it still didn't add up. president obama's new line of attack on romney's tax plan continued today on the campaign trail in orlando, florida. >> he's asking you to pay more so that people like him can pay less. so that people like me pay less. first they said there's a liberal organization. despite the fact it's headed by an economist who worked for george bush. then they said that the study failed to fully take into

account the massive economic boom that would come from cutting taxes on the wealthiest americans and the biggest corporations. because we all know how well that worked out the last time we tried it. >> the obama campaign also revealed a digital tool to calculate the effect of the romney tax plan. >> just enter some simple information to see how much you'll save thanks to president obama and you'll also see how much extra you would pay under mitt romney. >> now, let me get this straight. in the course of 24 hours since the release of this independent analysis, president obama is hammering mitt romney on the stump, the obama campaign has a new ad out and there's a tax calculator comparing the obama plan to the romney plan. but the romney camp didn't make this and they certainly didn't take it lying down. today they rolled out a presidential accountability score card on president obama. here's mitt romney's presentation of the presidential accountability score card in his

speech in colorado today. >> i'm going the start off with a bit of a report card. some of you've been handed a little piece of paper here. if you haven't gotten that, you will. i see some people opening these up. you don't need to open it up yet. i've got a report card here. and it shows his report card. if you look at the arrows, it says jobs on the far left the obama record. it has a downward arrow, a red arrow. we have fewer jobs under president obama. then there's underemployed that's in red. >> kind of corny and cute huh? which by the way is not true. it's a tough economy, but it has gotten better under president obama despite mitt romney's report card. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, which one is the joke? mitt romney's tax plan or independent analysis of romney's tax plan? text a for mitt's tax plan. text b for the analysis to

622639. or go to our blog at ed@msnbc.com. i'm joined by patrick gaspard and karen finney. it's a dnc kind of night tonight. i want to return to mitt romney on cnbc a few months ago. let's listen. >> i haven't laid out the details how we'll deal with each of the exemptions. i think it's funny for them to score it because it can't be scored. those details will have to be worked out with congress and we have a wide array of options. >> is that comment coming back to bite him in the saddle of the horse he claims not to own? >> good to be on, michael. a that comment is absolutely

ludicrous and comical if not for the stakes we're contending with. mitt romney has laid out a plan that clearly raises taxes by an average of $2,000 per family on folks making less than $200,000 a year in order to pay for his tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires who aren't even asking for the benefits. an independent analysis has demonstrated this. as the president noted, the center that released that is headed by someone on the george bush council. and romney's campaign a few months ago called the institute's reports level and competent. mitt romney continues to try to run for president by not being transparent, not releasing the details of his plans to the american people by hiding his taxes, by doing all that he can to misrepresent this president's record who has done a tremendous

amount to pull us out of the great recession that he inherited. >> so karen, in light of that shredding and deconstructing he delivered there, how big a problem is this for mitt romney? in the past 24 hours, the obama campaign employing this report seems to have the romney campaign on the defensive and dare we say on the ropes. >> yeah. here we have yet again team romney not prepared. the fact that they thought they were going to get through this campaign without having to give any real details. as you pointed out in the opening, the tax policy themselves tried to bend over backwards to make the numbers work out and the numbers still didn't add up. this is part of the problem they're having when it comes to his own tax records and for policy after policy. he's giving us rhetoric and platitudes without filling in the details. in the context of a campaign, it's naive of his team to think that the rest of us aren't even going to at least figure it out

on our own. we're not just going to take his answer as the only answer. we're going to say wait a second. let's see how the numbers might work out. what we're seeing is the devil's in the details. his tax records, he doesn't want to give them up because he says there's stuff people will go through and pick through. he doesn't want to give us the details of his economic plan because guess what? it's going to give a tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires and gouge the middle class with an additional $2,000 tax increase. >> he can't hide this in the sand and think we're not going to look. we've got google and a thinking cap. his refusal to release more tax returns as karen eluded to and now they're connecting that to his tax plan to paint a picture of a candidate incapable of connecting to the middle class. do you think the narrative is taking a toll on the romney

campai campaign? >> i think we have seen from their reactions to this how they're concerned that it is clear their candidate is radically out of touch and their campaign can't come forward with policies that benefit middle class voters in any real way. if you look at how they explain how they're going to pay for their tax cuts, they say that they're going to reduce tax expenditures. well, what are tax expenditures? the american people need to understand by the reduction of tax expenditures he means benefits for families that rely on the earned income tax. eliminate for the interest on their ohm mortgages. eliminate benefits for folks who rely on these tax breaks to provide for their health care as well and for their child care. so when you dig a little deeper, it becomes clear they're trying to hide the facts and mitt romney becomes the slight of hand artist at the carnival

while he's trying to reach into your pocket to take your cash. they're trying to run from that record. >> karen , let me ask you there. didn't know patrick was a fan of magic. after hearry reid has been told mitt romney didn't play taxes for years, romney said this to sean hannity. take a look. >> it's time for harry to put up or shut up. harry's going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because that's totally and completely wrong. it's untrue, dishonest, and inaccurate. it's wrong. >> now, who's got to put up or shut up here? doesn't mitt romney have to shut up so everybody else can? >> it's time for mitt romney to put up or shut up. there's another issue here. we've got patrick, i'm going to give him this advice. think about the specter of what we've seen in the last several days. you've had democrats and our president fighting for a tax cut for the middle class while republicans blocked that.

and while the republican nominee for president is pushing a plan that will raise taxes on the middle class, that is the contrast in this election. we have to take that to the people. i want every candidate -- i want candidates to explain how they can dare defend something like that. that's the put up or shut up. make mitt romney explain how it is by raising taxes on the middle class or raising tax it is by taking away those win credits that is a burgeoning industry in america, that that's going to help our economy. >> all right. let's listen to president obama more today. let's listen to president obama. let's take a listen. >> they have tried to sell us this trickle down tax cut fairy dust before. and guess what? it didn't work then. it will not work now. it's not a plan to create jobs, it is not a plan to reduce the deficit. it is not a plan to build our middle class. it is not a plan to move our

economy forward. >> slight of hand, fairy dust, you guys are getting deep into the arts here. president obama is attacking trickle down economics and painting romney as the same old things on steroids. does this resonate or do people get fooled into believing romney is offering something new? >> i think voters always realize the elections are more about the future an the past. they know that this president inherited a terrible mess. and they know he's pushing us towards a future where our children are going to have a chance to outcompete and outinnovate their competitors overseas. and romney is only going to help the wealthiest folks who aren't looking for the break he's forwarding. mike, if i could, i want to touch on the put up or shut up moment. mitt romney says we need to, this is a man who refuses to release his tax returns to the american public. a man who misrepresented in private equity where he said he created hundreds of thousands of jobs but we know he outsourced

instead. somebody who hid the hard drives from his tenure as governor of massachusetts. and we've now discovered that he was hiding his resources under mattresses in bermuda and the cayman islands. so he's the one who needs to put up immediately if he intends to be the chief executive of this land. >> karen, briefly, do you want to respond? >> i want to poind out that think progress put out a great piece today that showed -- i think it's important we remind people and most remember that the longitudinal data shows us does not work. wages tend to stagnate. investment isn't better. the economy grows a little bit slower. again, don't you even have to take it from president obama or the democrats. the numbers actually tell the story. what they're pushing is snake oil and it doesn't work and hasn't worked for this country. >> fairy dust, slight of hand, snake oil. great stuff. thank you so much for your time tonight. >> thanks. >> thank you, michael. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the

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coming up, mitt romney's tax plan doesn't add up for the middle class. dean baker weighs in next. a young man in arkansas dies after he's detained by police. now his family is searching for answers. we'll have dedales. and mitt romney hit the campaign trail in colorado where the wounds of last month's shooting are still healing. i'll ask the reverend jesse jackson if either candidate will work on gun control. we'll be right back.

the romney camp called the report on the candidate's tax plan a joke. but when you look at the tax policy center's analysis, it's clear why the romney campaign ain't laughing. we already know the plan would raise income for people making more than 200,000 bucks a year while cutting income for those making less. but as the washington post's ezra klein points out, the plan is not workable. keep in mind the center gave romney the benefit of the doubt when testing the plan. accounting for implausibly large cuts. under that scenario, mitt romney said it would work because rich people would pay the same now or

more. >> for middle income families, the deductibility of home mortgage interest, those things will continue. but for high income folks, we're going to cut back on that. so we make sure that the top 1% keeps paying the current share they're paying or more. >> yeah, but ain't that the problem? the top 1% paying what they're paying more. can't they pay more? here are some tax expenditures from the tax code in order to lower rates across the board. employer provided health insurance, social security benefits, moving expenses, education related tax credits, medical expense deductions, state and local taxes, mortgage interest, charitable contributions and many others. not only is it implausible to cut most of those credits, there aren't enough of them to make up for the size of the tax cut for the rich. so what else could romney do? cut spending. cutting spending would make the plan more regress i have because government spending tends to benefit low and middle income

households. and if romney did cut spending, we already know it wouldn't come out of the military. >> i will reverse president obama's massive defense cuts. time and again. we've seen the attempts to balance the budget by weakening our military only lead to a far higher price in the future. >> no cuts on the military but they sure will raid your pockets. for a guy running his businessman in chief, his tax plan isn't across the board done. let's turn to dean baker author of the book "is the end of loser lip ralism." thanks for joining me. >> thanks. they must know because they don't put it on the tail. the tax policy center, they're calling them partisan. these are people who have worked in both democratic and

republican administrations. their model is open. it's not a secret. mitt romney himself had praised the tax policy center during the primaries when they modeled rick perry's plan and said how much money it would cost the government. if he thinks they've done it incricketly, he has economists on their team. say we're not getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction, we'll get the money somewhere else and tell them where it is. i've looked at what the tax policy center did. i think you'd be hard pressed if you're a mitt romney supporter saying this is a way better for the middle class. hard to see what they would do. >> yeah. if they got a better way, tell us. spill the beans or keep talking. romney was not across the board tax cut until he felt some pressure in the primary. he he is in february. >> there are a couple things i'd like to announce today. i'm going to lower the rate

across the board for all americans by 20%. >> dean, doesn't that mean if romney had his druthers, would he have stayed away from a tax plan like this? doesn't seem to favor what his ideas are. >> well, it is very hard to tell. obviously the republicans got into a bidding war with the bigger tax plan and cuts. we know when he was governor in massachusetts, romney was a relative moderate. so what does he really think? i couldn't say. so, what he would try to do if he were president, that's something for people to guess at. we have to look at what he's saying now. what he's saying now is tax cuts for the wealthy. if he's saying it's going to be paid for the only way we could see is taking away the mortgage interest deductions which are big things for middle income people. >> how can the romney camp but any spin on this to make it sound good for anyone but the wealthy? i don't get it.

>> i think their whole effort thus far is to be vague and say we're not going to do this or that and try to get away with numbers that don't add up and hope he's not called on. that's why it's great that the tax policy center took the lead and did this. they do have a well respected model. it's not just out of the blue. they've been used for years and years. they're respected across the political spectrum. again, they put the cards on the table. and i think it's reay incumbent of the romney campaign to say if it's wrong, here's why. >> do you expect romney will fill in the blanks for us or is this all we'll get? >> my guess is he will try to be evasive. i don't see any good blanks. again, i'm willing to be charitable to him. if i thought the tax policy center missed something, they did it wrong, i would say that. i'm not on the obama campaign. they're not paying me. i would say it. i don't see it. i don't see any way to interpret

his plan and be more generous to the middle class. unless you say he's just going to give people a tax cut and not pay for it. that's not what he's saying. >> he ain't saying much. dean baker, thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks. coming up, a 21-year-old man is picked up by police. minutes later he's dead. what happened to chavis carter? we'll have the latest. michele bachmann is trying to save america from the muslim brotherhood. we weigh in. stay tuned. you're watching the ed show on msnbc.

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what happened to chavis carter? police say a 21-year-old man killed himself in the back of a squad car. but carter's mother says that story doesn't add up. over the weekend carter was arrested in jonesboro, arkansas, for drug possession and a missed court date. >> searched a twice, handcuffed behind his back, and double locked. but police say shortly after placing him in the car, they heard a loud thumping noise. when they checked on carter, he was slumped over with a shot in the head and a small caliber nearby. >> every officer hads missed something on a search. be it guns, knives, razor blades. this instance happened to be a gun. >> police say carter committed suicide. but how does a person reach for a gun and shoot themselves in

the head while handcuffed? carter's mother said her son was left-handed yet he was shot in the right temple. >> what do you think happened to your son? >> i think they killed him. i mean, my son wasn't suicidal. >> police are still investigating the incident. jonesboro police chief michael yates admits the story is bizarre and defies logic and is now ordering and offering further details. >> we've reviewed the dash cam video, and as late as today managed to have some witnesses come forward that observed the incident from start to finish. their statements tend to support that whatever transpired in the back of that police car transpired in the back with the officers in a different location. >> yates met with local african-american leaders and reportedly told them that the fbi is also investigating. the community wants answers. >> the point is this is strange.

you know, and it's certainly demanding further investigation. it's not just a black thing. a human being died in the back of a police car while handcuffed. >> amen, reverend. chavis carter is dead and we don't know why. carter had just $10 worth of marijuana on him. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour on "the ed show." stay tuned. i think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous. >> michele bachmann has doubled down on her islam phobic remarks. i'll ask the panel. and why is gabby douglas gets flack about how she wears her hair? i'll explain.

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hey, congress woman, how are you? >> i can't talk right now. i'm on my way to a meeting. >> senator mccain was on the senator floor saying what you're doing after huma -- >> i can't do it right now. >> can you do an interview later? >> i can but i've got to get here. >> she's running away from the television camera. michele bachmann is determined to save this country from the muslim brotherhood. she won't answer questions about it, but she is determined to save this country from the muslim brotherhood. in june bachmann along with four other republicans sent letters to agencies suggesting certain u.s. officials included longtime aide to hillary clinton huma abedin are part of a muslim brotherhood plot to infiltrate the government. due to bachmann's baseless claims, she now receives extra protection from the fbi. several publicly chastised her tactics. including john boehner.

that hasn't stopped bachmann. she has now written telling americans she's protecting them from islamic extremists. i'm on the case because someone has to question obama administration's indulgence. it is my duty as a member of congress to ask why the obama administration has repeatedly undermined america's national security and vows to political correctness related to radical ids lamb. the safety and security of every person in my district is of imminent concern to me. wow. let's turn to mark simone and marcia dyson. let me ask you, mark, how big of a problem is this islam phobia for the republican party? is this as extreme as michele bachmann has made it out to be? >> let me be honest first.

i'm not the biggest michele bachmann fan. i don't know what she's up to. it's like harry reid shooting off his mouth yesterday. sometimes there's a legitimate concern but you get this hyperbole and it clouds the issue with nonsense. and huma abedin seems like a fine woman. is she trying to hurt her reputation by bringing up ties to the muslim brotherhood? she has ties to anthony weiner. what could be worse than that? i don't think bachmann is as crazy as she acts. i think they love that controversy and the attention it brings. it's the cheapest way to get attention, but they do it. >> marcia, since this controversy erupted, michele bachmann has raised a million bucks. what does that tell us about the republican party, about her kind of politics? >> well, it shows that it sells and paranoia is lucrative.

she also talked about the republican party to try to talk about the political correctness of the democratic party and not going at the so-called terrorists at our country when they forget about the kill of osama bin laden. they have an i'm afraid of the muslims and don't give a damn about the other citizens. they don't care about gun regulation with the nra and the mass killings in our inner cities. they don't care about -- when you have the representative mike kelly from pennsylvania saying it was a terrorist act when an august the first, the affordable act was placed i think into motion, then i think they're totally off base. and michelle is playing to the right wing republicans in the party. the most crucial thing is that americans like women who want pro choice and catholics and gays and homeless and jobless

people and mormons are american citizens too. >> do you agree with kelly? >> yeah. but don't tie all reasons to it. she raised a million dollars. it's a fund raising gimmick. it's sometimes you're appealing to the worst element of the base. listen, we've got crazies on both sides of the aisle. >> eric cantor has come to her defense. is he one of the crazies she's appealed to? >> remember, these people all work together. if one of your colleagues here does something crazy kwb you've got to decide -- it depends what their relationship is. harry reid crazy with that statement yesterday. you know what it's like when you work with someone. you've got to defend them. >> i don't want to draw a parallel between what reid said and what bachmann has done. you were participating in civic engagement between israelis and palestinians. what does this do to the

argument between them and the possible peace pact? creating that kind of dissension has to be bad news. >> michele bachmann, a lot of the people here there is a lot of activity going on where you're getting the citizens of the countries of the middle east whether they're israelis or jewish or christians. they have that conversation so they can have their own piece. and what it signals on is you have possible people leading this country who are intolerant of the so-called other world. creates scares. about tim reed -- >> harry reid. >> harry reid he was attacking barack obama. but michele bachmann is attacking people in our society. and as an african-american woman, i take quite offense to that. and it is a form of witch hunt. she's doing it for dollars, then it's the wrong dollar bill. >> what about that?

the fact is many muslim people, people who follow islam have been loyal citizens to this country. have served in every echelon of this society and they're being witch hunted by michele bachmann. why doesn't the republican party stand up to that? >> i think half of them do and half don't. you're not wrong with about what you say. what i meant was it's the same stupid tactic. if you have a concern, bring it up. you don't have to use this hysteria to make your point. think about what harry reid is saying. an investor in bain told him that romney -- >> you keep coming back to this. this is not about harry reid. this is about michele bachmann. huma abedin is getting death threats as a result of this. let me ask you this. is mitt romney going to weigh in on this soon? when is he going to weigh in? >> if i was him i'd stay away. >> how would you if you're the lead of the republican party and

someone representing the republican standard is standing out in a way to besmirch the character. >> i think if he can deal we the situation of the conflict between christians, i'll say michele bachmann, and our middle east situation here stateside, he won't be able to do anything if he's the head of our foreign policy government. he has to speak to it because people are being vilified not about returning their taxes or having disclosure their financial records. we're talking about people threatened, targeted, and are being profiled in america. we're so ignorant sometimes in america people going after people. i take that to heart. >> you get this crazy stuff year in and year out. whether it was obama's birth certificate. i wouldn't respond to that. with bush it was leaving the national guard going awol with clinton it was who killed vince foster. if you're the candidate, you've got to stay away from that

nonsense. >> but you have to say this is not what represents us at our best. it's also about what the republican party's values are, isn't it? >> i think absolutely what their values are. you call terrorism about people who are coming from the middle east when you don't think about everyday life for individuals who won't get health care and things of that nature. >> all right. i'll have to end that conversation there. thank you so very much. thank you so kindly. coming up, she's an olympic champion and only 16. but that's not what people are talking. i'm cracking it open to look at the word priorities. stay tuned. yes, you do! don't! i've washed a few cupcake tins in my day... oh, so you're a tin expert now. is that... whoa nelly! hi, kitchen counselor here. he's actually right... with cascade complete. see cascade complete pacs work like thousands of micro-scrubbing brushes to help power away tough foods even in corners and edges.

so, i was right, right? i've gotta run. more households use cascade dishwashing detergent than any other brand. coming up, the twitter verse erupts over an american gymnast's hair. we'll look at the idea of priorities next in the dyson-ary. don't forget to go to facebook and like "the ed show." and vote on our facebook poll.

we want to know who you think is the greatest olympian of all time. remember, if you don't like "the ed show" on facebook, you have only yourself to blame. we'll be right back. and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better.

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now, that's progressive! call or click today. no mas pantalones! 16-year-old gabrielle douglas has achieved more than most people can dream of. douglas and her fellow gymnasts dominated the olympic competition winning the first gold in that since 1996. tonight she is one of two competing for the gold again. this time in the individual all around final. americans have taken to twitter throughout the olympics to show their support for team usa and to respond to the games in realtime. well, in tonight's dyson-ary, i'll tell you what the word priority means to the critics on twitter. first the actual definition. priority, noun. something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives. by that definition, you would think that people would be focusing on gabby's

accomplishments, her team's big win, the fact she has the potential to be the first african-american to win the all around gold medal in gymnastics. and she's done this at an age most girls are dreaming of getting their driver's license. instead most people in the african-american community have taken to twitter to insult her hair. let's look at some of the low lights. gabby douglas you made history with your talent and hideous hair. we've got to fix her hair. congrats to gabby douglas on her gold metal. wish i could say about that hair. oh, my god. horrible. gabby douglas shouldn't be the standout in those commercials until she gets her hair done. and it goes on and on. she's an olympic champion. she's being recognized on the world stage for her ability to outperform her competition in a sport. and to get there she had to

break a sweat just like everyone else. that should be the focus. let's check the dyson-ary. priority. according to the twitterverse, noun. petty, shallow, self-hating, disgraceful. let's turn it back to the text poll survey i asked you at the beginning of the show. in the spirit of the olympic games we're going to issue a spoiler alert for those of you who wait until the re-air po learn of the resolutions. mute your televisions now. tonight's survey question was based on the romney campaign's thought that the tax plan analysis is a joke. we asked which is a joke. 94% say mitt's tax plan. 6% say it's the analysis. coming up, mitt romney signed an assault weapons ban in massachusetts. now he's running away from those

issues thanks to tea party radicals. up next reverend jesse jackson will weigh in. stay tuned. hey america, even though they don't need one, wes, clay and demarcus tried on the new depend real fit briefs for charity to prove how great the fit is even while playing pro football. the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear. get a free sample and try one on for yourself. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge.

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the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. welcome back to "the ed show." mitt romney was campaigning in the swing state of colorado today. he took time to meet with the victim of last month's shooting in aurora. no doubt about it, it was a great thing for governor romney to do. president obama also visited shooting victims and their

families in colorado on july 22nd. just a few days later he gave a speech to the national urban league in new orleans. the president said gun ownership was part of our national heritage, but went on to say common sense steps should be taken to reduce gun violence. >> i also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that ak-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals. i believe the majoty of gun owners would agree we should do everything to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons. that we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun seller. that any mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily. these steps should be common sense. >> unfortunately president obama hasn't called for a single piece of legislation furthering sensible gun regulations since he's been in office. meanwhile, mitt romney signed an assault weapons ban when he was governor of massachusetts. but now that he's going for tea

party officials, he's pulling away. let's welcome reverend jesse jackson. >> good to be part of the dyson family reality show tonight. >> what's it going to take for somebody to work on gun control in this country? >> the issue is not only about gun control. it's about automatic, semiautomatic weapons. guns for protecting your house, guns for hunting. in a different zone. an ak-47 shot in the house. the same weapons that was used to kill people in aurora, colorado, could be used to bring down airplanes. this is a matter of national

security. you do not hunt deer or elk or rabbits with these guns. they only kill people. and they should be banned. >> reverend jackson, governor romney signed a ban in massachusetts but he said this only a day after the deadly colorado shooting. >> i don't happen to believe that america needs new gun laws. a lot of what this young man did was clearly against the law. but the fact it was a against the law did not prevent it from happening. >> doesn't this muddy the situation here? this feeling exacerbates or escalates the problem? >> because it's assumed that vice president dan gore lost the election based on a gun position is a kind of fear. that's why police chiefs around the country are now rallying. a police chief in philadelphia and detroit, police chiefs are

now crying out because their men and women are less able to defend the public and themselves. if these semiautomatic weapons can get past the zone of the secret service and the police, they have no place in the civil society. what you're looking at is a pattern. and if al qaeda or taliban can come to america without an airplane, can buy 6,000 rounds of ammunition, can buy unstoppable semiautomatic weapons, this is a threat to national security. this is domestic terrorism. and domestic terrorism economic -- cannot coexist. let's go above laws on gun control to semiautomatic weapons and bullets out of control. >> pat quinn proposed an assault weapons ban earlier this week. it comes when they have seen a

31% increase compared to last year. what impact will this have on violent crime if it passes? >> well, it would have some impact. factor in criminal behavior today is in these areas, guns in, drugs in, and jobs out. we need such an urban policy within our own country. but you don't have guns sold within chicago, guns are sold and manufactured in the suburbs. the city is the target market for the guns and the target market for gun trafficking and drug trafficking. until we break that cycle of guns in and drugs and jobs out, we're going to be looking at an ugly dangerous bottomless pit. we deserve more and better security. >> yes, sir. ugly, dangerous, and bottomless pit. earlier in the show we spoke of

chavis carter. police say he shot himself in the back of a squad car. what do you make of these incidents that happen to young african-american or other people of color? >> over a hundred african-americans have been killed this year while in custody. or police or some security office. in arkansas, here's a young man who they've searched twice. who was handcuffed and they say shot himself in the right temple with his left hand. he was left-handed. that's houdini. it is incredible. the department of justice must act right now. this is more trayvon martin and worse. >> right. which swing gears and let me for the sake of full disclosure say jesse jackson jr. was my former student, your beloved son. we know that he has been battling a serious health concern. can you tell us the latest about the health of your son? 30 seconds here? >> well, the revelation by the

mayo is maybe connected to intestinal surgery. but that's not conclusive. all we can say is that he's under the best medical supervision. he's resting to regain his strength. and the prayers of the many are appreciated by our family and him and his family very much. >> our prayers go out to you and him as well. reverend jesse jackson, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> that's "the ed show." i'm michael dyson. "the rachel maddow show" show starts now. great to see you. the house of representatives is leaving now. bye-bye, congress. they are leaving. they are taking a big long recess and they are going home. they're going home without having done a whole bunch of stuff that congress basically always does. they have not, for example, done a farm bill. they did not make any decisions

on overall government spending levels. even though they said they would. and that sequester thing you hear about is looming if they don't. they just didn't make any decision on it. they have not done their post office bill. even though congress so screwed up the post office that as of yesterday the post office is defaulting on payments that congress says it is supposed to make. congress did not reauthorize the violence against women act which used to be the very definition of a noncontroversial bipartisan thing in congress. they did not do a russia trade bill they said they were going to do. they did not make their bush tax cuts decision. they just didn't do any of it. and they could have, i guess, save e stayed until they got it done. but instead they're leaving. they're gone for the rest of august and into september. jobs, jobs, jobs. when congress is in washington but they're not working on anything, what they do with your time there instead is something called messaging.

they do things that don't necessarily have any real policy impact, but they're supposed to have some sort of political impact. they're supposed to excite the base. they're supposed to at least make the folks back home in the home district happy. which is why, for example, there have been zero bills brought to the floor to fix this giant problem of the postal service which is a real problem created by congress that congress has to fix. there have been zero bills brought to the floor to fix that. but there have been 60 bills -- 6-0, 60 bills to give new names to post office buildings. see, when you're not working on real policy, congress does messaging instead. messaging and politics and making donors and home districts happy. and the republicans in the house have chosen for their messaging and politic stunts this week. well, yesterday it was a big anti-contraception rally at which one member of congress the congressman