the no. 1 state for solving this riddle that this country has become from being the no. 1 public education nation to one in the bottom half. we know the things -- at risk kids are coming from difficult neighborhoods and often broken families, they need a longer school day. that is nothing new there. there's another way to do that without spending a bunch of money. you can get your teachers union to agree to stagger the school day. some teachers come in early and you have study hall, some come in later and you have sports after school. there is a bunch of ways to address education. great teachers more than parent involvement or anything, you put a great teacher in front of a kid, they work miracles. i think our goal is to say that we're going to fix education. we're working statewide to begin to implement. we do not want them filling out multiple choice tests but you ve to measure the effectiveness of a teacher. our goal is sitting down with the union and having them at the table to say, how do you help us figure out, i was a geologist. i thought i would be a great geologist. i got laid off. i wou

middle class is shrinking more and more each day thanks in part to the collapse of this nation's public education system what can be done to maintain the quality of education at our nation's public schools and to protect their label as america's great social equalizer i'll tell you in tonight's deleted. the worst you're going to think. the white house to give a. radio guy minutes. away. because you've never seen anything like this unfold. oh so there's a disconnect about what's officially reported what actually happened that we can't accept the stuff that's handed down. and economic news across the pond policymakers in the u.k. continue to ignore reality is by watching austerity ravage the british economy and force that nation into a double dippers. session the conservative government there announced last week that it plans to extend the austerity regime for an extra year to twenty eighteen as we've seen in other nations that have embraced austerity like greece and spain cutting and cutting spending in particular only makes the economy worse by sucking money out of working people's pockets and su

education. his district includes silicon valley, the birthplace of technology. mike has dedicated his life to public service and is lauded for his work on education, civil- rights nationalvice, immigration, transportation, the environment, and high-tech issues. >> he is also the greatest karaoke sing their -- singer and all of congress. -- in all of congress. [applause] >> he just told me i had five minutes. what do you think of this program? [applause] it is about time. i want to thank francis and fong. i think this is the very first statewide heritage month held with the mayor of san francisco. let me say something about heritage month in san francisco and your mayor. in the old days, you remember san francisco was known for passing all of these anti- chinese ordinances to limit the movement, the productivity of chinese in the city. we know two things. change happens. maybe the state of california is the state of golden opportunities, where we have a chinese-american mayor of san francisco. 35 years ago, congress members passed similar resolutions in both house and the senate to formally recognize the first 10 days of may as asian-pacific heritage week. one year later

there's cuts to public education, which the national school board association say could have profound potential cuts to social services. more than 12% of rock island's population lives below the poverty line. and of course, there are tax hikes. at theo's coffee shop, people have a lot to say about washington, d.c. and the fiscal cliff. james cheeks says he is counting on congress to prevent his taxes from going up. >> scary. you know, it's scary. where is that money going to come from, you know, how am i going to pay that extra tax hike. >> reporter: one booth over, ted and gus say they don't think congress can avoid the cliff. >> i hope so, but i don't see it yet. >> if we're going to have standoffs, have that do nothing congress, it is going to be awfully toug to get anything done. >> reporter: potential effects of the fiscal cliff in rock island, illinois aren't necessarily any better or worse than in other cities around the country. the bottom line is if congress fails to act, repercussions will be felt across the country. wolf? >> ted rowlands in rock island, illinois. >>> imagin

jeff steer he is a senior fellow at the national center for public policy research and donica moore she's a woman's health expert an advocate physician educator and a media commentator on cross talk rules and effect folks that means you can jump in anytime you want me i probably should lose a few pounds because of the food i eat so should that food that i eat be taxed to teach me to eat wetter better and to be have better health.

jeff steer he is a senior fellow at the national center for public policy research and donica moore she's a woman's health expert an advocate physician educatorand a media commentator on cross talk rules and effect folks that means you can jump in anytime you want me i probably should lose a few pounds because of the food i eat so should that food that i eat be taxed to teach me to eat wetter better and to be have a better health. well studies show if we increase costs or put about a twenty percent tax on certain foods that you will see a reduction in consumption i can't imagine someone trying to float a twenty percent tax on anything right now i see it more than a syntax or punitive i see.

jeff steer he is a senior fellow at the national center for public policy research and donica moore she's a women's health expert an advocate physician educator and a media commentator on cross talk rules and effect folks that means you can jump in anytime you want me i probably should lose a few pounds because of the food i eat so should that food that i eat be taxed to teach me to eat whether better and to be better health well studies show if we increase costs or put about a twenty percent tax on certain foods that you will see a reduction in consumption i can imagine someone trying to float a twenty percent tax on anything right now i see it more than a sin tax or punitive i see it more as if a company if their production results in a waste of pollution then that company is responsible for those externalities i see it very much like that it's pogo view and if you make a person who says yeah but that decision imposes a cost on others then yeah we should tax that that's the case with obesity it's based on our personal choices our lifestyle the costs associated with that are not wholly owned by that person and we as a society are picking up

i think america is becoming more aware and more educated about the facts and circumstances that have led to this, frankly, national publiclth crisis here and the gun violence we're experiencing across this great nation. >> we earlier, tom, had a debate here. we heard from a congressman who wants tighter gun restrictions and another individual says the more guns out there, the safer all of us will be. this debate has been going on for a long time. all of our viewers know for a long time. i expect it will intensify. tom, what should be done in the short term to deal with this problem? >> in the short term, we need to talk about it. we need to get our congress to talk about, the president to pursue it, state legislatures to actually pursue it and not treat this like it's the third rail of politics and nobody can bring it up because they won't be elected. frankly, you know, the congressman that have just got elected to the next term are already planning their re-election for two years from now. so, there's a fear among them to take this issue on and end their political careers by trying to take on the powerful gun lobby or s

>>reporter: education secretary arne duncan, in his first public remarks since the shooting, said the nation'soverall gun policy needs change. >> one disturbed young man was mad at the world. and i can't help but wonder what he might had done, how this might have been different if he didn't have access to those guns. >>reporter: president obama observed his own moment of silence at the white house -- days after his call for a cross-agency panel to address gun policy -- hoping no community has to endure newtown's heartbreak, again. in washington, i'm karin caifa kron4 news. >> jacqueline: we have been dealing with what weather and more showers. details, coming up. >> pam: the a's apparently staying put in oakland for now. despite a recent push to get the team moved to san jose. kron4's sports' jason appelbaum will be here to break it down. later. >> tonight. now for today's market update. as anticipated. stocks took a nose dive after house republicans called off a vote on raising taxes on the wealthy last night.on wall street. the dow closed the day down 120 points. it had lost as much as 189 a

according to the national education association michigan ranks ninth in the country with the average salary for a public teacher being $63,940. here's how one teacher summed up the bill. >> wages will go down. benefits will go down and it is going to hurt small business. it is going to hurt local business. it is just going to hurt michigan. >> jennifer: she's right. lots of pain with this bill. and joining me now is one of the teachers who left her classroom to join the battle to stop the bill. monroe high school history teacher sara ziegler is joining us from michigan. thanks for coming. >> thank you for having me, governor. >> jennifer: you bet. so let's just dial back for a second and explain to people how is it that unions help teachers in the classroom? >> well, in addition to bargaining our wages and our benefits, we're also able to bargain our class size, we're able to bargain supplies. all of the things that we need to do a good job and teach the youth of tomorrow. >> jennifer: you mention to bargain your wages. talk about what it will mean when -- as this is signed for you to be able to collect

nation doesn't stand for deportation. and an education, it doesn't stand for lessening the funding of public education. when it comes to voter suppression, it doesn't stand for denying people the right to vote. they should have that opportunity. they should be able to exercise it. they should not have to stand in long lines and republican officials across the country made it hard for people to vote, but god bless the people, especially here in florida, piers, they were willing to stand in line even after the results of the election were known. they still stayed in line and wanted to cast their ballot. >> it was pretty extraordinary to watch that and a great tribute to americans and their believe in the voting system and the power of their own individual vote. newt gingrich says if hillary clinton runs in 2016, there's no gop candidate whose name has been mentioned who could possibly beat here. would you agree with that? >> she would be extremely formidable. secretary clinton has done an extraordinary job as secretary of state. she served very admirably in the united states senate. the state of new york

she says for many students at public school, it is their only normalcy. like educators across the nationey do it despite the disrespect from parents and the public. they do it in the face of disdain from politicos who claim they're policing taxpayer money. they do it even as they're called union thugs. educators are god's workers. no other reason to think a person would endure so much to receive so little. christ-like, really? >> is huckabee's point god killed those kids because he felt he wasn't being mentioned stuff in school? is that your point? >> what exactly -- >> stephanie: how is that not politicizing a tragedy. i have to read a tiny bit more. by kimberly burkett. perhaps your efforts would be better spent not trying to bring your particular brand of religion into a classroom but instead supporting public schools and the work he does through them. education budgets have been slashed nationwide. students learn in overcrowded classrooms with outdated technology. our teachers are being pushed out of the profession by unrealistic accountability systems and to change classroom into te

national security and education. speakers included former secretary of state condoleezza rice and former chancellor of new york city public-school, joel klein, hosted by the foundation for excellence and education. this is about an hour. >> welcome to this evening's bought test of morning joe. [laughter] the energy in this room is nice. how this issue of educational reform has ripened, the combination of need, the talent we see in this room. there is a sense that the moment has a ride. the other is jeb bush. i am a great believer that two things matter in life -- ideas and people. that is the driver of change in history. jeb is a perfect example of in what he is doing. he is the coming together of a person with real talent and drive. the fact that you are here is the greatest salute you could give. condie and that, the the national security background. we used to mess around with something called the rand bond calculated. it used to calculate the cep, t he circular error robert roe -- error probable. are today. we have travelled a considerable distance. when asked what the great -- the greatest national-security threat is, he di

public education they send their kids to the most elite private schools and ultimately billionaires standings could care less about the american economy and make most of their money overseas anyway in developing nations where they've outsourced what were once american jobs and american factories and they keep it stashed in offshore tax havens like the cayman islands it's the united states collapses billionaires stand will be just fine so if you look at the republican party from the perspective of the billionaire a standings there's nothing wrong with it all the republican toadies are doing all they can but for those of us who are left in the united states who are watching the billionaire standings take our wealth out of america job by job factory by factory commons by commons time we wake up to what's really happened to the republican party. their allegiance is no longer to the united states of america but now to the residence of billionaire a stand they become an insurgent party in a fringe want to pass so it's up to the only real political party left in america the democratic party to reclaim its real roots and launch an all out assault a billionaire a stand now in police with new wealth taxes seri

public affairs to education, active participation, and leadership development. >> civic engagement, leadership development, and community servthe theme of tonight's evens a celebration of the achievements and accomplishments of asian-americans in the state of california and our nation -- ok. i would like to introduce our host for this evening. very well known as the first asian-american mayor in san francisco history. mayor lee championed balancing the budget to keep san francisco safe, solvents, and successful. he reformed city pensions. his focus is on economic development, job creation, and building san francisco's future. a great job, especially for helping out families. we want to keep families here. i also wanted to mention a little bit of his past. he was born in 1952 in the beacon hill neighborhood of seattle, washington. his parents immigrated to the u.s. from china and the 1930's. his father fought in world war ii and worked as a cook. he passed away when the mayor was 15. his mother was a seamstress and a waitress. mayor lee has five siblings, he graduated from college in maine, he also went to uc- berkeley law school and finished in 1978. he and his wife have two daughters. i also want to mention, prior to becoming mayor, one of the key points in his co

national rief association breaking its silence after newtown. this will not nra's first official public comments since 26 students and educators were gunned down a connecticut. we are expecting to hear from the executive vice president and president any minutem

public art? that's terrible. >> that's another thing. andy said should these kids be singing songs like good christian men rejoice. why not? this is the menc, the music educators nationalrence. they grapple with these issues all the time. they are always dealing with whiners like yourself. they said in their guidelines they say is it possible to study communism? >> you said whiners. i heard jews. >> we'll get to that. it said is it possible to study communism instead of promoting the seeds of revolution, then yes it would be possible to study sacred music without the sectarian points of view. great for the music educators association. the problem is their guidelines are ignored by the schools. they are all trying to be secular for your suggestion. >> that's actually not my suggestion. i have absolutely no issue with teaching sacred music in music appreciation class. >> i believe you said why not just sing songs like frosty the snowman. >> at a concert, absolutely. two separate issues. >> at a concert aren't you showing what you have learned for the semester? in my high school we sang. we had to learn that chorus. >> my only point is, at a concert i don't think you shou

board of education which invalidated racial segregation in public schools split the nation in half. a high court ruling would similarly divide the nation in 2013 yet given how quickly public opinion is evolving within a decade or so, such a decision would be youthfully applauded. what justice would not be tempted to offer the opinion within a few short years would be known as the brown vs. board of education of the gay rights movement. [ applause ] that was from michael klahrman. >> helpful paragraphs. >> stephanie: mostly helpful. grasping at gay straws here. john roberts wore a sweater around his neck in fire island in 1973. [ ♪ dramatic ♪ ] >> '78? >> stephanie: something. >> that picture was later. >> it was the '80s. >> the collars were too narrows. if it was the 70s, they would have been out to here. >> stephanie: what good does that information do for anybody? we're all very tense. all right. i will talk to some actual legal experts as we -- you know who we should get? ted boutros. >> golly. >> stephanie: junior. who is ted olson's law partner. as far as we know has never wor

and the "full court press" brought to you today by the national education association the good men and women of the nea, creating publicrica. you bet. under president dennis van roekel. you can find out more about their good work at nea.org. nea.org. bob cusack still with us here as a "friend of bill." managing editor for "the hill." bob, i want to switch to -- not that we've exhausted the fiscal cliff. we'll come back to that. but another big issue congress -- justice antonin scalia got in a little hot water this week. >> you mean noni? >> bill: that's his nickname. antonin scalia. he was at princeton and somebody said you know, justice in the past you've equated homosexuality with beastality. is that really fair and he said basically his own style hey get with it! i mean if you can't have moral feelings about homosexuality can you have moral feelings about murder. puts the two in the same sentence. so the question becomes now you have same sex before the supreme court. can he fairly and evenly and openly rule in that case? hasn't he already made up his mind? the question is raised. george takei was asked about this y

. >> 29,000 public school teachers and support staff have gone on strike after union leaders failed to reach an agreement with the nation's third largest school district over education reforms sought by chicago mayor rahm emanuel. >> we will walk the picket lines, we will talk to parents, clergy, we will demand a fair contract today. we demand a fair contract now. >> the protests in yemen and egypt on the tuesday night's storming of the u.s. consulate in benghazi. u.s. ambassador christopher stevens and three other staff members were killed in the attack. >> there are 47% of people who are with the president, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe they are entitled to health care, food, housing. in titled, that the government should give it to them. >> welcome to a taste of the run the economy. that is a message on the banner that greets you here at this tent city where we are broadcasting from, two hours west of chicago in between wisconsin and iowa, two swing states. this in canton was set up by workers who are faced with losing their livelihoods when the factory across the street from us closes

national news and scice programs. yesrday, e at wnith education secretary arne duncan for the special. it was the former chicago public school superintendent's first interview since the killings. here's part of their conversation. >> secretary duncan where does the responsibility lie for action here? >> it lies on all of us. all of us as parents, as community leaders, as religious leaders, as political leaders. no one gets to pass on this. and this is to the a time to point fingers or lay blame. often these things, there are lots of inclinations to do that but this is complex and anyone who wants to say there is a simple answer here i think does a great disservice to the complexity and urgency of fundamentally trying to make our country a safer place for our children. >> ifill: the president has asked the committee that you will be on, that vice president biden is going to spearhead to come up with solution or approaches within a month, before the state of the union speech. do you worry that the outrage is going to fade before that happens? i don'torry about the outrage fading. i worry about our collective courage to

out that money, education have little to do with how good you feel about your life and, for example, bhutan in south asia makes public policy based on what they call the gross national happiness index. this story will make you smile especially if you're from latin america. it's up on our facebook page at facebook/jansingco. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. >>> vice president joe biden will meet with law enforcement officers from around the country today to try to find ways to tighten gun laws in the wake of newtown, connecticut. the vice president is leading a new task force to develop ideas to reduce gun violence by no later than next month. president obama announced the initiative at the white house yesterday. >> the fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing. the fact that we can't prevent every act of violence does not mean we can't steadily reduce the violence and prevent the very worst violence. >> joining me now msnbc political analyst and former rnc chairman michael steele and nbc political analyst former democr

security and improving education, particularly k-12 education which the american public in this poll said is fundamentally important for a competitive nation and for the success of our next generation. they want solutions. they are very hopeful, but they want solutions. they want, therefore, leaders to compromise. in this poll, as in all of our polls, a majority of both parties said their leaders should compromise with the opposition and get more done even if it means accepting some policies they don't agree with, and that means even some policies around which they decided to vote for the presidential candidate of their, of their choice. so consistent with what everything we've been hearing and reading, they do rank debt and the deficit very highly as a priority for elected officials to get done, to compromise and get to work. but they also made it very clear what they have made clear in every one of our previous 14 polls, and that is they want the debate to be connected to their real life and to things that they need to survive and thrive in this economy. the kitchen table discussion, if you will, is very important to them. so those prior

security, improving education, particularly k-12 education, which the american public in this poll said is fundamentally important for a competitive nation and for the success of our next generation. they want solutions. they're very hopeful, but they want solutions. they want leaders to compromise. in this poll, as in all, a majority of both parties said their leadership should compromise with the opposition even if it means they accept the policies they do not agree with and if that means some policies around which they decided to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice. consistent with what everything we have been hearing and reading, they do rank debt and the deficit very highly as a priority for elected officials to get done, to compromise, and get to work. they also made it very clear what they have made clear in every one of our previous 14 polls, and they want the debate be connected to their real life and to things they needed to survive in the economy. the kitchen table discussion is important to them, so those priorities are poured to their mind, and they want good jobs, they want effective schools, affordable heal