watch from representative james clyburn on his support for gay marriage. and then farther down, how about this, the number of the day, 7.4 million. do you know what that is? that's the number of undergraduates seeing their student loan rates double in july. all those numbers, now it's time for you to tell us your analysis. one of the questions is what will happen to get to 270? you can play the what if game. hit that button right there. and then you can start telling us what if obama loses ohio and florida? you start the game and hit that there. you can say, okay, we'll give romney florida and also ohio. that gives him 244 electoral votes. what does that mean for president obama? let's say he takes nevada and ohio, as chuck todd says because of the hispanic vote. then he needs pennsylvania, democrats have won since 1992. that gives him 266. all he needs is virginia or north carolina and he gets the seal to become the president of the united states. then you can submit your idea, you can sending it to us. we may put it on air and share your thoughts on what

representative clyburn is joining us from north carolina. tell us why you believe the president does not go far enough in declaration saying that he personally supports gay marriage? >> thank you for having me, wolf, i don't disagree with the president, but what i said was and i genuinely feel, as a 70-year-old having grown up here in south carolina, i can remember when marriage between two people of different races was not allowed in south carolina. but it was allowed in other states. so i think that when you have something like this, you have to be very careful that you don't have an approach that could very well have people jumping across state lines, having people's conditions changing late in live and finding out that they're in the state where certain things may not be recognized and it could have very severe legal consequences going forward, so i just think we need to really look at this yurks study it very well and be very, very careful how we implement it. >> because i just want to make it clear, congressman, i just want to make it

but clyburn was talking about pay-day loan people who rip off low-income people around this country. was the heart and soul of the comment. then i think he rhetorically lost touch. >> sean: demonizing i. the president has the right, seanue know what, sean, judge him on it. he has a right to question mitt romney's claim that he can somehow make this economy work better. he's a businessman and barack obama is a bad businessman-- >>> barack obama -- >> barack obama's record? >> the first president in modern history with a net loss of jobs -- >> no. >> sean: we will have fewer people working over a million less people working, after he's been president -- >> you are judging from the day he took over -- [overlapping dialogue] >> before his economic policies were in place. you are judging him on the previous administration. >> i'm sorry, you know, juan... his numbers are right. this is the other thing that frustrates me and a lot of people. the administration and a lot of democrats, they use bogus numbers. if you look at the in fact facts, the numbers he is giving are exactly right. i am n

david axlerod used terms like reign of terror and clyburn saying raping companies.that the kind of language you want on the campaign trail? >> i don't know if i would use raping. by was the grim reaper. he remind me of tony soprano when he invested in the sporting goods shop. load it up with debt. sold everything of value then moved on and let the guy go bankrupt. we'll talk about his record at bain. we'll talk about the good and we'll talk about the bad. >> no you are not. shannon: christopher you know you are not going to talk about the good. >> obviously that another fraud. he's the grim reaper, leaving them dead. shannon: some technical problems. >> president obama tweeted on his twitter account that mitt romney wants to steal from the poor and give to the rich and that is the opposite of robin hood since chris is bringing up tony soprano. the gangster is the government. the gangster is the person who wants to confiscate all of your property from you. it's not mitt romney who is the opposite of robin hood. it's barack obama that is king john, the unjust governme

he pushed back on clyburn's comments. cory booker needs "a," private equity; "b," also the obama administration. he was on the fast track in the democratic party. he has to figure out where it's going. >> dana: i think that booker has strong future in politics but does anybody think the talking point on bain could make it through interview with skeptical questioner? is he in trouble? >> juan: not with people on wall street. and i don't think he's in that much trouble with the democratic party. he is a popular guy. he will do fine. you know he was wrong. this is legitimate and real argument to be had about romney's past. he says that's why he could be president. but also arguen't about the stewardship of the economy. what is wrong with that? bain is out there and on the table. i would rather have that discussion rather than wright. >> greg: he was comparing wright to bain. just no, he said they were extraneous to heart of the story. >> eric: why would bocker walk back the comments so quickly hours after it aired? >> juan:

. >> i'll come back to his time as governor, but member of the house democratic leadership jim clyburncapital rapes companies. he can't support a company that rapes companies. >> the question is whether mitt romney has what it takes, has the preparation and experience and the empathy to serve as president of the united states. it's not about whether bain is good or bad. i have friends at bain. i have people who support it, who supported the other candidate in my own campaign, so i respect what bain does, and its role in the free market system, but we need somebody who understands that there are multiple bottom lines and that's what we have in president obama. >> you are a friend of the president of the united states. >> and enthusiastic support. >> and serve in the office once held by governor romney. odd place to be? >> sometimes. there are a number of people who have been encouraging me to get out there and you know, hammer away at my predecessor. he's always been a gentleman to me and i don't like that kind of politics, but i do think that his record in his one episode in public lif

. >> and joining me now democratic congressman james clyburn of south carolina, sir. thank you for your time. let me get your reaction to senator boxer saying this is a made up crisis here. >> sure, it is made up. it is all the manufacturing of crises that we have seen for two years now and the fact of the matter is we should be focusing on jobs and opportunities and we ought to stay away from these phantom issues like the debt ceiling. we ought to ask ourselves why do we have a debt ceiling in the first place? it does absolutely no good. how many countries have debt ceilings? this is a made-up issue. it is manufactured. the issue itself is phantom. we ought to be talking about jobs and creating opportunities and four our young people many of whom are coming out of school this week and next and going to be looking for opportunities to pursue their life's dreams and here we are talking about something that makes absolutely no sense. if we did not have a debt ceiling, what would we say then? this legislation doesn't have real meaning except that it is legislation that w

you heard the clyburn comments.ts about today's attacks on governor romney business experience? >> i have been surprised at how clumsy the roll-out of this attack has been. this was supposed to be the hammer of thor. there was a dress rehearsal for attacks and they were caught flat-footed. they learned quickly and they came out quickly. the first ad from the obama team. but right now obama team is explaining gaps away. hedging especially before the booker thing happened. they were hedging on the attack to make it much less strong and miscalculation. >> bret: booker thing, newark mayor corey booker on "meet the press" on sunday. he came out on msnbc last night saying what he said is being misconstrued. take a listen. >> i'm very upset i'm used by the g.o.p. this way. >> here they are plucking sound bites out of the interview to be, to manipulate them in a cynical manner and use them for their own purposes. if you look at the totality of the bain capital record they have done a lot to support businesses, to grow busin

we want you to ask you please with honoring clyburn -- james clyburn tomorrow night, one of the honorees involved and we are asking you please make sure you get your ticket for tomorrow's dinner. board members depart at 6:15 on kay street. i want to close out by saying how grateful i am to kay street board members. at the front door. i want to say how grateful we are to our congressman. they have made us, they have honored us today. and the truth of the matter is that for most of us, this national display of unity between the caucus and the conference, the national black churches, is not a pretext. because we live in our every day in the districts of this nation. most of us, our churches have had partnerships with our congressmen and they've been faithful to us, especially the members of the caucus. we want them to know we're proud. we've found great joy in the services you've made. you've made us proud and we've never once, never once, rejected the idea that we invested in you and you have always delivered on our part. i live in westchester, but this is my congressman. on behalf and let

it is a privilege to introduce now, commissioner clyburn. [applause] >> thank you so much mr.irman for being so kind. there is a lot that he left out. he still comes back for more so i appreciate that. good afternoon everyone. president morial and president powell, thank you for this invitation and for your willingness to host such a significant event. since 1910, the urban league has worked tirelessly to improve the conditions of african-americans and today it has continued to empower deserving individuals through job skills training, education, entrepreneurship training and broadband adoption. in some ways, as was advised, this is not too similar to what we are charged to do with the fcc. for rule 257 of the communications act, directs us to identify and eliminate through regulatory actions, market entry their ears for entrepreneurs and other small businesses and the provision and ownership of telecommunications and information services. under the chairman's leadership, we have acknowledged in our increasingly aware of the fact that many things we still -- at the fcc can be

i want to bring in congress james clyburn now. unemployment in your state down, still above the national average. there continue to be signs that the national economy is improving. but i want to start with you exactly where i left off with steve. if voters ultimately decide, especially in some of these swing states like pennsylvania and ohio, if they decide that mitt romney is better suited to handle the economy, can the president still win in november? >> well, thank you for having me, once again. it all depends, craig, on what that number is. the fact of the matter is, if you look at this as to where people are today and where they were four years ago, you might get one feeling. but ask them, are they better off today than they were two years ago, 2 1/2 years ago. the president has created 2.5 million jobs in the last two years. compare that with the job losses under the bush administration. so what we have to do is get people to compare apples to apples rather than apples to oranges. and when you do that, i think the president

. >> and, in fact, the highest ranking african-american in the house, congressman james clyburn todayually said he wants to see the president get more liberal on this issue saying is he disappointed that the president said this a states rights issue. congressman clyburn says the president should go further and create some federal policy in shining same sex marriage. this cuts both way. >> shepard: the president says he does indeed support gay marriage. the state of rhode island officially recognizes same sex marriages performed out of state. they have independent governor there lincoln chafey. he signed executive order called it important step toward legalizing gay marriage. right now rhode island allows only civil unions and now gay couples that get married elsewhere will have the same rights as straight couples. that effects things like health and life insurance benefits plus property transfers and it will allow both parents' names to go on their children's birth certificates. the president's campaign is out with a new ad today as well, trying to use mitt romney's business experienc

clyburn said today, "i hope the president will not get roped into this foolishness." boehner took the same stance in last summer's protracted battle over the debt ceiling. a last-minute deal averted national default. and white house press secretary jay carney said the president warned lawmakers tay against letting history repeat itself. >> we're not going to recreate debt ceiling debacle of last august. it is simply not acceptable to hold the american and global economy hostage to one party's political ideology. >> woodruff: mr. obama did not mention the debt issue during an event promoting his economic to- do list. >> we want to sustain momentum and one of the ways that we can sustain momentum is for congress to take some actions right now, even though it's election season, even though there' gridlock, even though there's partisanship, take some actions right now that would really make a difference. >> woodruff: but, like speaker boehner, republican presidential candidate mitt romney raised the debt issue yesterday. he returned to it today, in st. petersburg, florida

i salute the bipartisan and thoughtful considerations that commissioner clyburn and commissioner mcdowell. and -- but obviously we have a long way to go, we all know that. but one thing i just want to put on the table in my comments is a warning that i'm worried that some people -- i don't want to see this important entity get by on the partisan cross errors in congress. some are suggesting a weakened or inactive fcc minute much better. and, you know, i think that we have to be really careful of winding up with an unregulated communications behemuose group out there. i hope -- we need to have this discussion about where we're going post '92 and '96. it's entirely appropriate for us to be doing this, but i think we need to be careful as we go forward, mr. chairman. >> okay, thank you, senator kerry, senator demint? >> thank you mr. chairman, i think you made the bests point starting out is our jobs is to make sure that consumers are protected and we know the best way to do that is through lots of -- i think that's what we're all about. and i hope that's the way we look at it. my concern as

. >> reporter: meanwhile james clyburn is suggesting the president move further to the left telling msnbc he wants a national policy legalizing same sex marriage and is disappointed the president is heaving it up to the states. hitting newsstands monday, a controversial news er showing president obama with a rainbow halo calling him the first gay president. american university professor lenny steinhorn says it reminds him of when tony morrison called bill clinton the first black president indicating he understood the pain, hopes and desires of black americans. >> i think that's what can be said about barack obama in this case with gay americans, that this may be the ultimate aspiration to be seen as equal normalized american and i think by endorsing gay marriage that's what he is articulating. >> we have never gone wrong when we expanded rights and responsibilities to everybody. that doesn't weaken familiars. that strengthens families -- families, that strengthens families. >> and the obama campus hoping what they are calling positive feedback including the news week cover will pay divide

we can only meet one-on-one so it's the three of us, myself, german genachowski and commissioner clyburn, the meetings we now have two more, we have four meetings so that does increase the meeting time. we hope someday i think the rest of us are on the record of supporting the reform of the fact that it would allow us to meet in private everything we do ultimately is public and appealable to the courts and rationales written out. we think about it converse to be behind closed doors and supreme court can be behind closed doors we can have meetings and a lot of different contexts. my brother was a mayor and tells me the council of california can be behind closed doors and we don't want secrecy in government but we want to be able to share thoughts and the public and explain them in public. >> in your testimony you talked about opportunities for further fcc reforms would that be number one on your fcc reform last? >> what, yes and a whole bunch of others. >> joining on the committed ziz john thune make, assistant managing editor of communications daily. >> thanks for having me. while we are

clyburn. loids, the keystone excel pipeline is a logical place to include in our final agreement. after all this a jobs and infrastructure program and the keystone pipeline is the ultimate in infrastructure project. keystone excel has undergone extensive environment review. state department worked with over ten other federal agencies for more than three years and concluded that construction and operation of the pipeline would have limited adverse environmental impacts. in fact, construction at keystone excel was preferred over not building the pipeline at all. that's because pipelines are the safest way to transport oil and gas. and they're safer than ever thanks to new pipeline safety requirements that many of us worked together to see enacted earlier this year. transcanada is working with the state of nebraska to develop al new route that avoids environmentally sensitive areas, and just last week the company resubmitted its application for the cross-border permit approval. the time for delay is over. this is a $7 billion privately funded infrastructure project that will create a

so when it's the three of us, myself, chairman genachowski and commissioner clyburn, we only had to. now have two more. we each have four meeting so it does increase the meeting time. we hope that someday, i can't speak to the two newest but for the rest of us on the record are supporting a reform for the sunshine government act that would allow us to meet in private everything we do ultimately is public and a peelable to courts and rationale written out in order, sunshine government act in this regard can be cumbersome but if you think about, congress can meet behind closed doors. the supreme court to meet behind closed doors. you can have substantive meetings in a larger context. by brother was a mayor. he tells us the city council can be behind closed doors. we don't want secrecy in government but we want to be able to lease share thoughts and then we will explained in public. >> host: in your testimony, you talked about opportunities for further fcc reform. would that be number one on your fcc reform list? >> guest: it would, yes. and a whole bunch of other stuff. we don't have e

like this on tuesday from democratic congressman james clyburn. >> and there's something about raping companies and leaving them in debt. >> reporter: clyburn's use of the word rape to describe romney's business experience was condemned by the obama campaign, but the campaign continues to question romney's readiness to be president, which is a line of attacks mr. obama saw firsthand in the 2008 election. then first-term senator obama came under fire for his experience as a community organizer, a law professor and a former illinois state senator. even the president's democratic opponent, hillary clinton, used the attack against him. >> senator mccain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign. i will bring a lifetime of experience. and senator obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002. >> reporter: now the romney campaign is out with a new web ad this morning, making a point this is all a distraction. this election isn't about bain capital, but president obama's failed economic policy. they'll be highlighting romney's time as massachusetts governor, his work turning aroun

because that's essentially james clyburn saying the president's a hypocrite.w that, maybe not, i don't know. we're in a comparative election. they're going to raise money wherever they can raise money. the question is whether governor romney tries to make an issue of that. campaign finance, where you get your money, unless there's a scandal or illegality, doesn't usually sway votes. >> here's my question, when mitt romney's been asked about bain capital, he seems to be deflecting and starts talking about the message on the economy instead of really taking bain capital sort of head on saying actually we helped this company, that company, this company, that company. do you think they're going to start taking it on more directly? they've been attacked on this since the '90s. >> they wrestle this with every day and every one of his campaigns. ted kennedy did this in the campaign. i just talked to rick perry moments ago for my show, he did this just a couple months back in the republican -- >> vulture capitalism. >> he said, well, it won't work. they go through thi

james clyburn added his support for same-sex marriage as a civil right which he believes should be supports week. [ applause ] >> stephanie: are we ready to rock n' roll? i always thought i would never be able to say good morning, dan rather. >> good morning! >> stephanie: sorry dan we've been having technical issues this morning. what a thrill to talk to you. >> thank you very much for having me on. i appreciate it greatly. >> stephanie: i never thought i would get to say good morning dan rather and you have the same publisher as i do. your book is fabulous. rather outspoken my life in the news. we were saying while we were waiting to talk to you, you have to get into what happened to you at cbs because i grew up with you. you're an institution. and you know, you were reporting a story that was correct about george w. bush. take us inside what happened at cbs then. >> well, i will do that. it happened eight years ago i left cbs six years ago. i'm well past it but for anybody interested it is a relatively small part of the book. there was no joy in doing it. it was unpleasant but when we g

the nation's conversation on race is as wacky and frankly hopeless as a new broadway play called clyburnuld also mention, the previous works of frank, that i found myself reading again today, in seeing the bush/cheney years come roaring back in the romney campaign, his book, "the greatest story ever sold," great to see you. >> great to see you, rachel. >> i keep my frank rich archive close at hand for moments like this. >> i'm impressed, thank you. >> you were writing about how we don't necessarily move on from either our good debates or our old debates. we tend to be stuck in some of the same ruts and we tend to talk ourselves into the idea that we are making progress when we are not. is the republican party in a position that they have moved on from the bush/cheney years, or are we about to re-live them? >> it's hard to believe that even most republicans want to relive them. in fact, this whole, you know, tact that romney's taking that you just described is really odd. i mean, i don't think -- the republican base, some of it's to the right of bush/cheney. they regard him almost as a le

i'll talk with james clyburn live.ent bill clinton taking on governor romney after romney used clinton's name in an attack on president obama. >> he said they ought to give him a promotion. he told the truth. >> we'll have more on what clinton had to say and the defense rests in the edwards trial without edwards, his daughter cate or his mistress rielle hunter taking the stand froo. >> from the controversy over contraception to the cover of "time" magazine, women are at the center of the political controversy today. the archbishop of washington, d.c. to prevent georgetown university from having hhs secretary kathleen sebelius as the school's commencement speaker because of her role in implementing the president's health komplg for contraception. joining me is gail lemon. first of all, this whole controversy over a au commencement speaker. the president of georgetown is standing birm. he also issued a very strong support of sandra fluke when that controversy emerged that kathleen sebelius should be the commencement spea

. >> the obama campaign is denouncing language congressman jim clyburn used on this program yesterdayre's something about that enterprise that i have a problem about. there's something about raping companies and leaving them in debt and setting up swiss bank accounts in corporate and businesses in the grand caymans. i have a real serious problem with that. >> in a statement, an obama campaign spokeswoman says, quote, we strongly disagree with the congressman's choice of words, they have no place in this conversation. but we do believe that mitt romney should come clean about his record as a corporate buyout specialist. >>> and senate democrats looking to jack up airline fees. the appropriations committee is moving a bill that increases the one-way free from $250 to five bucks. >>> and a vial of what's billed as president ronald reagan's blood is up for auction online. the president's family and his foundation and lots of other folks are outraged. the seller claims it got the blood from a lab after reagan was shot in 1981. politico's roger simon tweeted, quote, the only person sicker t

. >> here's what south carolina democratic congressman james clyburn had to say yesterday about firmse that i have a problem with. and there's something about raping companies and leaving them in debt and setting up swiss bank accounts and corporate businesses in the grand caymans. >> explain to us while the congressman there is talking about something that mitt romney does having a swiss bank account and obviously that's money that he may have made from bain or not. don't private equity-owned firms, they often collapse, they don't always make it, correct? >> if they make enough bad bets, they will collapse. even if you're betting a lot of the bank's money, you're still betting some of your own and if you don't do it right. but whether or not mr. romney has a swiss bank account is separate from whether private equity serves a useful purpose. i don't know that we want to outlaw it. i'm not surprised that most of the deals don't work out, if the other guest is correct, essentially most of the time, they're buying companies that are high risk in some way, not very well-managed and they n

. >> that of course is south carolina congressman jim clyburn adding his support.the house and one of the highest ranking african-american elected officials in this country. in a few hours, president obama will attend an lgbt fund-raiser hosted by openly gay entertainer ricky marine. it will be the first such event since endorsing marriage equal last week. tickets run for between $5,000 and $35,000. joining me now, washington correspondent for the new york times. again, another big event in the timing. couldn't be better for the president. >> a very significant gay fundraising communicate. the president's advisers are hoping that his announcement last week will not only appeal broadly to young voters in particular who according to the polls can be very supportive of garr marriage but the gay activists and gay donors tonight will be the first test of that. >> usa today gallup poll on women. morally acceptable regarding same sex marriage. 57%. legalized marriage equality, 56%. when you look at democrats as well. morally acceptable. 58%. so big numbers with independen