since its founding, the national action network has been without help and without hope. your organization is working to see this carried out. today's forum offers the opportunity for the challenges we face as a nation. we know that too many communities of color were living on the margin even before the recession hit. we will significantly increase the lives of many throughout our country. congratulations on today's events. sincerely, president barack obama. >> thank you, michael. let's get to work. >> live, this is the reverend al sharpton's special election network forum. >> i am the host and managing editor. >> i am tom joyner and i am thrilled to be here to set some goals to move our community forward. >> this is not a chat session. that indeed is obvious. we are with some of the top leaders, thinkers, politicians and activists for a two hour working session to discuss what needs to advance the black agenda as to how they will achieve goals over the next 12 months. >> this is not about [inaudible] it isn't about what the nation's first black president should be doing.

what is difference this time, the national action network wants everybody to set a goal for themselves and then the moderator and host, in this case, cnn contributor roland martin, they will check in every 90 days or so to see if people are keeping up with specific goals made here. joining us, two guests to talk some of the goals. first, we have dr. laura finali. one thing have you been working towards is to see how independent voters will be able to vote in party primaries, and it's usually not allowed in states. how do you hope to turn that around and empower people? >> my goal is to passover the next 12 months nonpartisan election reform in new york city, which does a way with party primaries that allowed the 1 million voters in the city who are registered as independents to vote in a first round. >> reporter: why do you think that you will be able to come close to achieving that? that's a tough barrier that you have to get across. >> most of the cities in the country have nonpartisan elections, and the majority of those young people, people locked out, independents, are people are

>> welcome back to the national action network for on. we are at the baptist church in harlem. >> shanna from chicago, i filled out by census form and mail it back. i am wondering how long it will be before i see some benefits in my neighborhood. we have a park with no lights. when will i see the benefits of the 2010 census? >> you have to organize and fight. that is why people joined the naacp. not on cissus they are voting day, that change happens every day. >> my parents formed a city's club in our neighborhood. it is not what they are going to do, it is what you are going to do in your neighborhood. >> everybody makes a commitment. what think you have to remember, this president was a community organizer. he knows the difference between fraud, talking loud and black is not going to do anything. you have to organize. half the people criticizing him have never organized. they are sitting high and looking at low. [applause] >> we talked about economic specifics. warren, i want to go to you. >> we are specifically calling on investment in

here to debate it all is reverend al sharpton, president and founder of the national action network who and joe arpaio, sheriff of maricopa county, arizona. he is known as america's toughest sheriff for his crackdowns on illegal immigration and petty crime. he supports the law. why, sheriff? why do you like this law? >> well, we've been enforcing the two other state laws and the federal laws. this is just another tool that law enforcement can use to detect those here illegally. it's now in this demeanor. they can be arrested and put in jail. and we have a big problem in this state and across our nation. something has to be done. the federal government needs help. and we're here to help. >> larry: sheriff, what is wrong with that? it's a crime. it's only misdemeanor. >> if it's a crime, there is nothing wrong with it. but if you're going to target people based on who they are, in this case mexican-american, but if it is anybody, that is racial profiling on its face. to say we're going to stop the incoming of people that are mexicans into america is to say that you're going to look for pe

. >> reverend al sharpton heads up the national action network. ming weekend they will hold the annual conference in new york focusing on a number of issues facing african-americans today. good to have you with me. >> thank you. >> do you think there's a slimmer margin for people like michael steele and president obama? >> i think most people understand we still have instructial inequality in this country based on race. you know what is interesting about the democratic chairman and republican chairman michael steele speaking at our conference this week, last year newt gingrich spoke and talked about how we still have racial inequality in the country. in answering the question, steele had to say, yes, there's a slimmer margin. i don't think he necessarily made the statement in the way people are playing it up. i think he answered the question and i think it's a fact. >> robert gibbs responded to that and said he shouldn't play the race cards. it's not about a race card, it's about a credit card. has it become if people explain or justify their actio

your national network conference. >> we're looking forward to having you. >> convention next week. >> we're looking forward to having you at national action network convention and i might add theemocratic and republican party have agreed to come. we're going to have a conversation and see where we are in this kcountry. wouldn't have it without you, ed. >> good to have you on tonight. >>> we want to update you on the breaking news. rescue teams are frantically trying to free trapped coal miners after a deadly mine explosion in raleigh county, west virginia. at least six people are confirmed dead. 21 miners are still trapped. we'll continue to update this story for you as it develops here on msnbc. >>> now let's turn to our panel for rapid fire response on these stories tonight. a new poll confirms tea partyers are conservatives who don't like the republican party. that could be good news for democrats in the midterms. >>> new details about the group that sent warning letters to all 50 u.s. governors? the fbi thinks it was a harmless publicity stunt, but investigators fear it could incite others to violence. >>> and liberal justice john paul stevens who celebrates his very young

since its founding, the national action network have been without help and without hope. our organization is working to see this carried out. at today's forum, offers the opportunity for the challenges we face as a nation. we know that too many communities of color were living on the market even before -- before the recession hit. we will significantly increase the lives of many throughout our country. congratulations on today's events. sincerely, president barack obama. >> thank you, michael. let's get to work. >> live, this is the reverend al sharpton special election network forum. >> i have the host and managing editor. >> i am tom joyner and i am thrilled to be here to set some goals to move our community forward. >> this is not a chat session. that indeed is obvious. we are with some of the top leaders, thinkers called politicians and activists for a two hour working session to discuss what needs to advance the black agenda as to how they will achieve goals over the next 12 months. >> this is not about [inaudible] is about what the nation's first black president shou

here with us now along with mark halperin and willie geist, me and joe, president of the national action networktivist reverend al sharpton. >> good morning. >> good morning, reverend al. >> you feeling good? >> back in 1971. >> it's his kind of music. >> your kind of music. and mark halperin's here. i've got to say, reverend al, you are now on the side of joe scarborough and tom tancredo. >> don't depress him. >> and be a bit nervous about a bill that allows people to be pulled over by police because of how they look. >> i think you and him are on the side of the angels. as a minister, we welcome converts. >> okay. very good. we're agreeing on a lot of things these days. educational reform. >> education. >> by the way, look what they're doing in illinois. >> it's a game changer. >> it's a game changer. look at illinois. there's a story in "the times" today, i think, about illinois is now aggressively going after school choice just like you're leading the charge up in harlem in the south bronx. >> i think that it's very clear that what has been happening in the past hasn't worked. and you've got

the white house to your house and my house. >> reverend al sharpton introducing a panel discussion on black leadership in his national action networker the weekend. here at msnbc we devoted time to debate the black agenda yesterday with a special on the network talking about what the agenda should be and whether we should be one of the first to step forward and talk more about it. in tonight's "playbook" i want to continue the discussion, first let me give you a few statistics. 50% of african-american students fail to graduate high school on time. 16.5% of african-americans are unemployed and 24.7% live in poverty. 24.7% live in poverty. furthermore, blacks are six times more likely to be incarcerated than whites. meanwhile a recent now "the new york times"/cbs poll found 25% of tea partyers say the administration favors blacks over whites, just 11% of the general public thinks so. the fact is we're quick to throw money at wall street and tax dollars at tax breaks at corporations but for some reason we are reluctant to make specific targeted gains for the black youth of america. i think president obama can have a profound impact on

service day is an education campaign led by youth service america with the national youth leadership council and the global youth action network. it emphasizes the importance of public service. it highlights the valuable contribution that young people make to their communities all year long. in the words of gauppedy, quote, the best way to -- gandhi, quote, the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service to others. that is a simple truth that animates global youth service day. by mobilizing young people around the world to identify and address the needs of their neighbors, by supporting their community service and by civic engagement efforts, we not only help our communities to thrive, we help the next generation to find themselves through service and commitment to a greater good. this past weekend, young people all around the world designed and carried out community service projects in areas ranging from literacy and mentoring to the environment and energy conservation to hunger and homelessness. this year saw 2,631 projects and 87 countries and all 50 states. we often say that service is its own reward, but

the fast most extensive wireless networks of any nation access for every first responder to a nationwide interoperable broadband public safety network. in addition to these and other bulls the pleas of the most sensible and efficient actionlan for achieving them. it proposes a once in a generation transformation of the universal service fund from yesterday's technology to tomorrow. it proposes recovering and unleashing a license and on license spectrum's we can lead the world and mobile. it proposes ways to cut red tape, were the cost of private investment and exarate deployment of lawyer and wireless networks. it proposes initiatives to foster a migrant and content of markets and in power consumers and proposes a road map to tackle high level inclusion challenges so that everyone everywhere can enjoy the benefits of broadband and propose ways of which brought and can be deployed to solve many of the nation's major challenges including education, health care, energy and public safety. public safety designed to finally deliver on the recommendations of the 9/11 commission that reason are operable, indications for first responders and i am pleased the chair and vice chair of the 9/11 commission as well as of the bipartisan