dr. murthy. >> well, i think there's no question that dr. s very well qualified to be surgeon general, he -- but i think that we need to be concerned about gun violence as a public health problem. when we have 300 million guns in our country, and we have 30,000-plus people killed each year related to gun violence, more than 140 injured each day and seen in our emergency room, i do think we have a public health problem. >> you know, that position -- i'm sorry to interrupt you because i want to just note that that position, that this is a public health issue, that has not been necessarily a radical position to take. c. everett koop, the legendary surgeon general under president ronald reagan said, "no society including ours need be permeated by firearm homicide. regarding violence in our society as purely a sociologic matter or one of law enforcement has led to unmitigated failure. it's time to test further whether violence can be amenable to medical/public health interventions." >> well, you know, i think we all would agree with what dr. koop

dr. murthy. their complaint in this letter. e letter, murthy encourages congress to adopt popular gun safety measures like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks. these methods are broadly popular with the public and noncontroversial within the public health industry. with gun violence being the leading cause of death in the country, it's a fact that gun safety is a public health issue. murthy's confirmation passed a committee. but the nra's opposition has put his full confirmation in doubt. rb senators have jumped on the nra train. joining me now, msnbc contributor and former democratic governor of montana. john stanton, washington bureau chief of buzzfeed.com. and emily suszman. thank you for being here. dr. lil llis, i wanted to start with you. you know dr. murphy personally. you have been twisting arms on capitol hill to find out what is going on here. did i get the story basically right? what is the latest going on on the hill? >> the latest going on on the hill in the wake of the vote for the department of

dr. murthy to make wild accusations about politicians being scared of nra. is nobody in america able to take a common sense approach to drugs -- guns? >> a fifth grader in ohio is suspended for three days after pointing his finger like a gun. the principal said students were warned about pretend gun play multiple times this year. [ laughter ] >> jon: i said common sense. come on, that's obviously a self defense finger gun. [ laughter ] not like he has one of them high capacity magazine finger guns. it's a regular old finger gun. why -- it's not an assault finger gun. [cheers and applause] [laughter] either i'm hungry or those look a lot like stacked doughnuts. real weapons are okay, great. completely imagery weapons weape intolerable. what about something in between there. >> a big toy manufacturer making weapons for girls. >> jon: toy weapons for girls. must have taken a long time to figure out how to take a boys weapon and adopt it for a girl. i see. okay, that makes more sense. tell me about the gentler more feminine weapons. this is grace's favorite toy

dr. vivek murthy. an advocate for stronger gun laws in america.r reading, he would use the office of surgeon general to further his campaign against gun ownership. earlier i spoke with chris cox, the director for legislation, and i wrote and asked him why they are so concerned about this doctor. >> mr. murthy is not just a gun control supporter, but an advocate. his agenda is to treat the gun like a disease. that is not something that the nra will sit by and watch happen. we'll engage tens of thousands of supporters and make sure that everybody knows the truth. >> he was head of the group, doctors for america, which used to be doctors for obama, designed to get the president elected. he has sent out tweets and made comments that seem to be in favor of gun limits. tired of politicians playing politics with guns putting lives at risk because they're scared at nra. guns are a health care issue. and then he went on in december after the newtown tragedy saying that the nra conference predictable, blame everything in the world except guns for the newtow

dr. vivek murthy, has called gun violence a public health crisis and has pushed for strict gun control.ame out against him, jeopardizing his chances of confirmation in the senate, but the white house is not giving up. i recently spoke about it with chris cox, who's an executive director of the nra. after our last meeting when you came on last week and said you're going to score this vote and in particular these democrats in these sort of red-leaning states were going to hear from the nra and your millions of members, we heard many of them were balking and pushing back on the white house saying this has got no upside for us. choose somebody different or do somebody different. now the first news is that the white house is considering delay or withdrawal. your thoughts on that? >> well, recalibrating means can you add to 51. look, megyn, the united states senate rejected president obama's nominee to head the civil rights division at the justice department because he represented a notorious cop-killer. he was out of touch with american people, out of step with american people, and so is thi

dr. murthy that. are you available in the new york times this morning. -- that. o.tory available in the new york times this morning. it is going to bring people back from overseas. host: would you think about expanding overtime? caller: yes, i truly believe in that. you've got a make more money. host: rochester, new hampshire. this is our independent line. get so frustrated once in a while listening to some of allers. i'm a small business person. i'm the one that works 60-70 hours a week. i'm good to my employees and they do get paid time and a half if they are working. most of the time, these are young women who have children. i give them the time off to be with their children. to go see games or if they're sick or whatever and i fill in their hours. these people who call in and knock small business people come i get so frustrated with them because they don't see what goes on behind the lines once in a while. i get so irritated because they don't realize when these wages go up, we have to pay higher wages on workman to, unemployment, social security, medicare. we m

dr. vivek murthy, he believes doctors should collect information about gun owners which goes on record. everything is computerized. all your gun information would potentially be on line. >> and he's the president and founders of doctors for america which was an offshoot of the doctors for obama organization that was started in 2008. he was also part of an organization that successfully fought a florida law that would have prevented doctors from including in a person's medical file whether they're a gun owner or not. so he's advocated the notion that a doctor should document whether you own a gun or not. >> right. >> at the intersection of medicine and politics again go too far. let's hear what he had to say. >> my concerns with regard to issues like gun violence have to do with my experience as a physician, seeing patients in emergency rooms, who have come in with acute injuries, but also seeing many patients over the years who are dealing with spinal cord injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and other chronic complications from gun violence. >> is he coming out against skateboards.

that is among the oligarchy says fighting feverish late to block president obama's nomination of dr vivek murthy to be surgeon general with help from current senators including democrats the n.r.a. has launched a campaign against the arguing that his positions on gun violence as a significant public health threat means that he's hostile toward the sargon about rights of american citizens over the past forty years billionaire oligarchy have slowly but surely taken over just about every aspect of life in america but enough is enough it's time to end america's olive gonna me by rolling back the reagan tax cuts and forcing the sherman antitrust act so the corporations can't continue to grow out of control and billionaires can't continue to amass endless piles of money as for washington's ruling oligarchy we need to roll back citizens united and say loudly and clearly that money is not speech but to move to amend out or get help kick bialik parents out of washington and that's the way it is tonight monday march seventeenth two thousand and fourteen and don't forget them are pretty begins with you get