like lindsey graham and a lot of republicans and some democrats on capitol hill still doing wayne lapierre'st we have to keep raising. from the right and the left. because i think the target here is not wayne. the target here is those that give comfort to wayne and credibility to wayne because we all understand where he is. >> by the way, that's about money. >> well, of course it is. >> he ain't crazy. he likes money. >> he works for the manufacturers. >> the gun manufacturers are making lots of money. >> right. >> it sounds crazy, but it's very simple. he's trying to scare americans and appealing to their racist side. >> the boogey man is coming. the people in south carolina need to ask graham, why are you dealing with this? why are you giving credibility to this? why are you -- and those moderate democratic states. because the question is, if we have 92% of americans saying that clearly background checks is not controversial, clearly i don't think even the magazines of 100 rounds is not as controversial as they make it. i mean, we're not talking about -- you think you should have the right

i mean, this is the post-apocalyptic america wayne lapierre is selling right now. e, lapierre describes the inevitable invasion of latin american drug gangs and al qaeda of course will hit our shores. an america where police cease to exist because of the deficit under president obama. i guess we're not going to have cops anymore. and an america where lapierre says it's necessary to own a gun to protect yourself. you've just got to have one of these things. you know? this is wayne lapierre's america. and pretty much it does make sense because wayne lapierre and the nra, they're not lobbying for the rights for responsible gun owners the way they claim they are. wayne lapierre and the nra, they are bought and they are paid for, my friends. they are pushing a product. they are selling guns. here's the real america. 92% of americans support universal background checks. including 91% of americans in a household with a gun. you see, most supporters of the second amendment are supporters of common sense reform, but wayne lapierre, he won't tell you that. background checks a

and people like wayne lapierre and others just found these flames. they make a lot of money doing it. it supports them politically. >> why does it work? >> i think they are preying on fears and worries and anxieties. >> is he crazy like a sfox? >> i think he's crazy like millions of the other people. i don't know if he believes this stuff. >> i think he behaves like the people who are scared. that's what i think works. by the way, the class thing is so important here. if you can convince the average guy, usually a guy in pennsylvania who is a deer hunter who once a year goes out and shoots deer. i don't do it, but fine, you do it. they go out and do it. and you say it's the elite media types t. it's the people in hollywood that make all the money. they get their kicks some other way. you've got this one little hob bee. i think it's brilliantly evil. >> it is brilliantly evil, although it's not as brilliant anymore because i don't think it's working. david is right, it does work in riling up some pockets. but i think that's what he counted on with tha

last night, the head of the nra, wayne lapierre, delivered his own response to the president's call for action on guns. >> it's not about keepinging kids safe at school. that wasn't even mentioned in the president's speech. they only care about their decades long, decades old gun control agenda. the president has taken the art of public deception and manipulation to a whole new level. >> and now to the president's pick for defense secretary, chuck hagel is on hold for at least now. republicans successfully halted his nomination until after the recess. >> it's just unfortunate that this kind of politics intruds at a time when i'm when i need a secretary of defense to make sure that the americans are getting the strategy that they deserve. >> john mccain offered this in to the pushback that the nominee is getting from within the gop ranks itself. >> there's a lot of ill will towards senator hagel because when he was a republican, he attacked president bush mercilessly which anti-his own party and people. >> we don't have a secretary of defense in place and we're not going to because of a

wayne lapierre. watch him go to work. he just sent out a mass manifesto linking a lifeline from every spooked out crowd in the country from one to the other asking them all to arm themselves while there's still time, arm themselves. afraid of looting after a storm? get a gun. upset by illegal immigration? get a gun. don't like crime or drugs, get yourself a damn gun, man. that's the wayne lapierre message today. worried about the debt crisis? worried about the chaos coming afterwards -- you know the drill -- get a gun. arm yourself, america. it's not just a right, it's a duty. it's not just about uncle sam who is coming to get you in one of those black helicopters, it's that mob at the gate headed over the rio grande as we speak and right for your house up in idaho, right as we speak. lock and load. do it now. there's not much time. they're coming for you. you think this is crazy? well, this is wayne lapierre talking, the head of the nra, and what does that tell you? it tells you about a new division in america between th

. >> wayne lapierre accused president obama of using newtown as basically political leverage. do you agree with his belief here in. >> i do get disappointed when the president marches out children and uses children in this situation. i don't want to scare -- look, i have six grandchildren. i'm not going to scare my grandchildren by talking about this topic. i don't think that this is the right thing to do. those children are not at an age where they can understand the full -- >> how is the president scaring people by having children and using children, as you're saying, that are already involved in this very tragedy that we're talking about? >> the president did a press conference. he did a meeting with children right after this incident, which really very much turned me off. i would not have wanted my grandchildren to be in that room where we were talking about guns. you know, maybe because i'm 62 years old and i have grandchildren, i feel like i want to talk to the grandchildren about issues that they can understand, about safety. and there are some safety measures that you

and wayne lapierre has a valentine's card for the american people. grab a gun because the end is near. isn't that romantic? >> wayne lapierre is expanding his argument now. >> background checks will never be universal because criminals will never submit to them. >> after hurricane sandy, we saw the hellish world. >> come out to play. >> looters ran wild in south brooklyn. really? >> and if you wanted to walk several miles to get supplies, you better get back before dark or you might not get home at all. >> this is so laced with racial overtones. the republican party, if they were smart, their leaders today with condemn it, but they're not smart. >> the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. ♪ >>> a busy valentine's day, indeed, with the president traveling to georgia just as senate republicans back in washington threatened to derail and deny his nomination of chuck hagel. we're looking live at the senate where moments from now they're going to take a vote that's likely to delay the confirmation of a much-needed secretary

wayne lapierre of the national rifle association. you ever wonder why everything he says seems increasingly inflammatory? it's not that he is dumb. it's not that he doesn't know what is going to upset you when you listen to a speech or a sound bite from him. the national rifle association exists to bug you. the national rifle association exists to make you think of him, to make you pay attention to him and to the nra instead of to the industry that pays the nra to be their heat shield. nobody knows the names of the ceos of the manufacturing companies in this country that make guns. nobody knows who runs the various gun companies and the accessories companies who makes those extended magazines anyway. nobody knows who those guys are. but everybody knows who wayne lapierre is. he wants you to hate him. that's his job. and i think that wayne lapierre and the nra are not even in this to win elections, which is why they stay in business despite a winning record of 1%. wayne lapierre exist to make you think of anything other than the maker

i know wayne lapierre. he has always been extremely pleasant to me. we have a good relationship. so i am not here to demean the organization. >> not there to demean the organization. he has been a benefactor of campaign contributions from them. the nra spending in 2012, just to show everybody, $1 million in direct contributions to elected leaders, $25 million in outside spending, $6 million in federal lobbying, a total of $32 million. is harry reid one of the bigger obstacles in getting this to the floor on the senate? >> i wouldn't say he's the biggest obstacle. i think harry reid is a difficult position. he wants obviously something to move forward that helps address part of the problem and i think if you look at 2014 and you look at the midterm elections, look at key states where democrats have to defend, red states, alaska, west virginia is an open seat, arkansas, these are rural states where the democrats have a different perspective on gun rights and have a better relationship, if you will, with the nra. that being said, i think everyone has come to terms that something nee

this is why wayne lapierre is just wrong. senator durbin had a hearing on the second amendment this week and he made or one of his witnesses made the point when you talk about cracking down on purchasers, that's a document issue. this is not about the second amendment, not taking away anyone's guns. it's just if you sign a document saying i'm the purchaser of the gun, it's just like any document you sign for a loan. if you are offense or straw purchaser, if you lie or a criminal, you're going to face a penalty. he's wrong. it's not always about second amendment. there's nothing obama has said that would make you think you're going to lose a gun. >> in that room there are people nodding their head yes. what can be said at this point to persuade those folks this is not a secret agenda or what wayne lapierre referred to as deception or manipulation? >> to be honest, i'm not sure blah can be said. the premise of his argument is false. if there's been a decade-long war perpetrated against the second amendment, i must have been sle

and i want to talk to you about the op-ed that wayne lapierre.s case for owning a gun, his reasons why. i want you to take a listen to joe read that piece. >> if the country is broke, there likely won't be enough money to pay for police protection and the american people know it. hurricanes, tornadoes, riots, terrorists, gangs, lone criminals, these are the perils we are sure to face, not just maybe. >> so joe went on to say this op-ed was laced with racist undertones and you had taken a mom who lost her son to the state of the union address as your plus one. how do you think your republican colleagues can stand behind the voice of the nra continually when they seem to be on the fringe of the argument and the debate itself? >> well, joe scarborough had it exactly right this morning. what the nra is doing is once again engaging in the scare tactics and trying to avoid focusing on the actual proposals that we've put before the congress. i took carol price to the state of the union. she lost her son in a tragic accidental gun shooting a few years ag

wayne lapierre. chris: i have not seen a republican stand up and say i disagree with wayne lapierre in the media. >> there are two issues here. we will not get a sweeping gun control bill because politics are such we're not. but the question of can wayne lapierre help republicans build a big collision across issues. there i agree with mia i don't that i will happen. i think that's older america. really -- chris: you're smart but could it be short road strategy? everyone know there's a small window because of what happened in connecticut, maybe few months. if he can jam the next couple months with fear and spread that around, win the next couple months or won the battle. this is the time for gun control or never. it works. >> i'm not sure this strategy helps him anymore above what he's already got politically. chris: every gun guy of the gun sort, real gun fanatics all voted against obama. >> this is the problem. have you people saying barack obama is elected by a flike and have you people saying bara

>> wayne lapierre's own words, no loopholes.ve universal background checks. 91% of americans, republican party in washington, d.c., support this. 91% of americans, and the question is, mika, are they going to continue to be run off the end of the cliff by extremists that make up the hard right of their party that destroys their opportunities to win national elections? this is very simple. by the way, people say oh, joe, he's a -- no, i'm not. i still believe what i've always believed ideologically. i just have always believed in winning. >> yeah. >> maybe it's because i go to university of alabama. we like to win at the university of alabama. we believe in winning. we believe you don't get the ball and run it into the other guy's end zone. you try to win games. this republican party is chasing the most extreme element in their own party through the primary processes, and that's why harry reid right now is running the senate. >> but there are -- i mean, you saw the front page of the business section of "the new york times" yester

we'll talk with wayne lapierre, head of the nra in a moment., first, mark kelly, retired astronaut, navy captain and husband of former congresswoman gabrielle giffords who was shot two years ago. he and his wife launched a new group, "americans for responsible solutions." captain, let's start with your wife's dramatic testimony before a senate committee this week. >> you must act. be bold. be courageous, americans are counting on you. >> chris: how is gabby doing? >> she's doing great, chris. you know, she enjoyed being there. in front of the senate. it was a little bit of having her former job back, in a sense. being on capitol hill. >> chris: let's get to this debate. because your wife's shooting raises some of the questions at the core of the gun control controversy. jared loughner had been suspended from college because of concerns that he posed a danger to others and yet he was able to go to a store in tucson, pass the background check and buy the gun he used to shoot your wife. so, the question is, what good does it do to make more people

your article details how wayne lapierre took the nra from a group that represented gun owners not oneand supportive of the gun industry. can you explain to the viewers the element of money that's in play here? >> well, the nra is a dark money group. it doesn't have to disclose its dono donors, but apparently it's good pr for a number of gun makers to be affiliated with the nra. that we know about that the nra has disclosed we know about millions. they have the golden ring of freedom and they have access to wayne lapierre and help shape policy. >> the yoshths has a wonderful piece on how a brilliant marketing campaign has made thea r-15 is best selling gun while slate recently estimated that assault rifles represent a half billion dollar industry. now, just to be clear, this isn't about children. this isn't about the second amendment for the nra. this is about corporate profits, isn't it? it's about making money for gun manufacturers. >> that's right. and i would commend tim's article to everyone. it's a superb piece. it's a very important piece. i think you put your finger on it. "the

so, e.j., wayne lapierre wrote a crazy op-ped piece yesterday somewhat in response to the president,there he is today. and it's clearly a -- he keeps repeating this line, buy more guns, buy more guns. it's almost more overtly than ever a gun industry shill of let's just run up the sales. >> well, you know, i thought long and hard about this, and i've decided that actually you are writing most of wayne lapierre's material, because it doesn't make sense in any other way. it creates awesome segments for your show. the people, the only people this can appeal to are "a" the gun manufacturers as you say because he keeps saying, buy more guns. "b" the most extreme right end of the republican party base. i miean you look at this piece e wrote in the "daily caller." he says when the next terrorist attack comes, not with, just when, a paragraph that begins hurricanes, tornadoes, riots, terrorists, gangs, alone, criminals. there's a craziness about the rhetoric. so the only other thing i can think of reading this other than the fact you might have written it all is it's about the competition am

. >> wayne lapierre received a standing ovation for gifting the annual western hunting and consearchation bunch of crazy conspiracy theories. we will talk wayne's world ahead on "now." ♪ ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement. visit a branch or call now for your personal retirement review. withyou'll find reviewsve time, on home repair to healthcareon. written by people just like you. you want to be sure the money you're about to spend is money well spent. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. that your mouth is under attack, from food particles and bacteria. try fixodent. it helps create a food seal defense for a clean mouth and kills bacteria for fresh breath. ♪ fixodent, and forget it. >> the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> wayne lapierre was sharing his survivalist re

should the republicans stick with the nra or tell wayne lapierre to get a real job? could a party built other the decades on the people who left the democrats abandon those issues that attracted the rule south and the west people and the miners and the ranchers and the gun owners. and the people furious about immigration. how do you ban those people and keep a party? tonight an expert, a passionate believer that politics can get better. my colleague joe scarborough. here's the question. how do you keep this huge tent the republican party has built in the last 30 or 40 years with people from the south, the west, the miners, the ranchers, the religious right, all those people that have decided the republican party is their natural home and yet you have people in the fringe costing you your image. >> well, you've got to stand up to people on the fringe. you know, when parties go extreme they get roundly defeated. it happened to democrats in 1984. it happened to the republican neocons on 2006. it happened in the off-year elections back in 2010. americans thought democrat