Transcripts For KNTV Meet The Press 20130722

Country, and he felt that he needed to respond in a way that i think took a lot of courage. For him to basically say that we have a situation where a young man is basically convicted of his own murder, that someone can hunt you down and then say, im afraid and kill you. He made it clear that Trayvon Martin had rights as well. And he made it clear as well that africanamerican men, for history, for a very long time, have had to deal with this problem. You know, as i talk to people inside the white house, there was a sense that he wanted to provide context for this debate. And i think its important for people who may have missed the comments to hear a little bit more from the president on friday, again, comparing himself to Trayvon Martin. I want to show a portion of that. When Trayvon Martin was first shot, i said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is, Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the Africanamerican Community, at least, theres a lot of pain around what happened here. I think its important to recognize that the Africanamerican Community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesnt go away. A history that doesnt go away. And yet tavis smiley, you were critical of the president. You said on twitter, his comments were as weak as presweetened koolaid. He took too long to show up and express outrage. I appreciate and applaud the fact that the president did finally show up. But this town has been spinning a story thats not altogether true. He did not walk to the podium for an impromptu address to the nation. He was pushed to that podium. A week of protests outside the white house, pressure building on him inside the white house pushed him to that podium. So im glad he finally arrived. But when he left the podium, he still had not answered the most important question, that keynesian question, where do we go from here . That question this morning remains unanswered, at least from the perspective of the president. And the bottom line is, this is not libya. This is america. On this issue, you cannot lead from behind. Whats lacking in this moment is moral leadership. The country is begging for it. Theyre craving it. And i disagree with the president respectfully that politicians, elected officials, cant occupy this space on race. Lincoln did, truman did, johnson did, president obama did. Hes the right person in the right place at the right time, but he has to step into his moment. I dont want him to be like bill clinton, when hes out of office, regretting that he didnt move on rwanda. I dont want the president to look back and realize he didnt do as much as he could have in this critical moment. To taviss point, professor, there has been criticism, its been building through the week. There was an article in the Washington Post that he had imposed himself in the silence about race. And she wrote this. During this period of selfimposed silence, we have watched our criminal laws become radicalized, our race criminalized. Blacks continue to be faced with punishing unfairness and inequalities. Soaring rates of unemployment, discriminatory drug laws, disproportionate prison sentences, unhealthy food, unfair stop and frisk policies and unarmed shootings of unarmed men by the police. These are treated with more indifference or contempt. Were told to stop complaining or no one cares. Tav taviss argument. I disagree with tavis in a profound way. President obama has been talking about race and doing things about race in for a long time. And the reality is that he walked to the podium. He wasnt pushed to the podium. He walked to the podium. Hes been trying to have this conversation. And this was the event in the criminal Justice System that pushed him over the level. What he said about trayvon is a continuation about what he said when he was shot. He said in 2012. I think he said his whole statement, he said lets have a conversation on race. Lets talk about we made some progress as a society, but we still have a long way to go. And i think that what he said and what he did and what he represents to us is a sense, people keep making him as if hes the black president. Hes the president who happens to be black. And he can do whatever he can do for all of us, but not simply focus on one community or one issue. David, what the president did is open the door to begin a conversation. One speech cant outline every single action step that needs to be taken. And i think the president agonized. Its not difficult to be a carry the burdens of history in a nation with so much history. But what he did, i think, is start the process and sort of sanction, if you will, the need for there to be a discussion and action steps. And i expect that there will be more because one thing is certain. The emotional court and the response, the vigils on yesterday, the civil rights continuation march on august 24th, the urban League Conference that will take place this week in philadelphia, this conversation at the grassroots level, at the community level, within boardrooms and suites also has just begun. And i think what i hope it leads to and what i hope we will see is not only a discussion that started and ends quickly, but a discussion that will lead to serious action steps by the nation. But thats the key piece, the discussion that starts and ends quickly. I harken back to the gun debate. And the president bootstraps the gun argument with his initial comments the day of the jury verdict. In a way that was disconnected. And if you look at the momentum behind that discussion coming off of sandy hook and the raw emotion from the American People saying we want something done here. Lets move on this. What happened . The discussion dissipated. And this was something that the president came in in the beginning and heralded but then let the steam fall out of it. My concern is its great to step to the podium. I agree with tavis. Its great to step to the podium to be in that moment, but then its not so much leading but continuing to inspire the conversation so that it doesnt die on the vine. That it does get life of its own because this is a conversation, quite honestly, folks, we need to have first in the black community before you start putting it so much on the president. But look. It is the president must lead, but the president needs cohorts. He needs assistance. He needs help. Wait a minute. Tavis, tavis, let me make my point because my point is is that in order to move a piece of legislation, in order to move action steps, the president can, in fact, lead. And the president is also in an environment of continuing obstruction, that you know well, that you report on. Respectfully, marc, nobody has argued that he has been up against a headwind. The obstructionism is real. But with all due respect to charles ogletree, the professor is wrong. I would ask you, lay on the table right now the evidence of how the president has been trying, tree, to have a conversation about race no action. Im talking to professor ogletree. Let me finish my point. Thats just a conversation. I dont think that we have a litany here of things, of moments, where hes tried to have the conversation. To the contrary, respectfully, hes tried to avoid the conversation, number one. Number two, when he says a politician cant have an impact, so yes, he gives a wonderful spe speech, but he basically kicks it back to community leaders, business leaders, celebrities and athletes, and thats real, but the president cant absolve himself of it. And number three, i dont believe the president doesnt believe that he can have a role in leading us in a moral conversation. This is not a political issue. This is a moral issue. I dont know how he cant lead us in a conversation on this, but he can on gay marriage . He can on a litany of other he can on israel and palestine and not rice . Okay, but what is this in particular . I mean, the president spoke about ringing bias from our lives. These are infinite conversations between plaques and whites that are very difficult to have in a big public setting. But i think when you start boiling it down, it is the question i thought he was asking which is what is the this . There is no federal program that can deal with this. So how does he lead and on what does he lead . There is no federal program on this. When he gave the state of the Union Address this past year, he talked about the idea that we have to do something about guns. He talked candidly about that. He talked about gabby giffords, about all of the victims. He said we simply want a vote. That was him saying i want this to happen. There was a vote. And it failed, right . So hes been pushing that issue on and on again. In terms of what hes done for the community, its obvious when you look at the things that make a big difference. Hes been pushing a jobs plan from the beginning, without success. He believes in that. And i think the reality is that we are expecting all of these things from barack obama as if hes the man who can do it. Theres a congressional role. Theres a judicial role. We agree on that, charles. Its not just him. Theres more that needs to be done. Professor, let me see if i can help put some of this in context. You look at whats happened in 2013. Weve got obviously Trayvon Martin that everybodys talking about. This is happening to black boys across this country every day. You look at the fact that we have a Supreme Court that just gutted the Voting Rights act. You look at and im trying to do the same thing with affirmative action. You look at a house of representatives who just last week took food stamps out of the farm bill. You look at this past week where they have decided to block grant title one. We are being attacked from so many sides. That you have to at some point decide where you can have the most impact. Now, i think that the president said what he believed. He tried to make people understand that this is not just about some kid with a hoodie. But i think also we have to look at the fact that there is a broader discussion that we need to have. Yes, we need to have a discussion on race, but we also need to have a discussion on how we are treating poor and minority people in this country. How about the particular issue of the law that seemed to loom so large over this situation . And that is the stand your ground law. In florida, 21 other states that really redefine the concepts of what we consider to be selfdefense. The attorney general was in florida this week. And he spoke about it in a way that the president echoed later. Heres what the attorney general said. Its time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of selfdefense and so dangerous in our neighborhoods. These laws tried to fix something that was never broken. There has always been a Legal Defense for using deadly force if and the if is important if no safe retreat is available. Now, michael steele, some republicans have immediately politicized this into the gun debate and said when i say politicized, im not making a judgment, but they are putting this into the gun argument about the ability to defend oneself. In this particular case, you have the Police Officers who told George Zimmerman, dont pursue this young man. Right. Dont do that. He gets back into his car. He says he feels threatened. And he follows him. Anyway. Thats what the attorney general, what the president s talking about. And thats what the facts thats what the facts tell us. But the question now becomes, is this a proper role for the federal government to go in versus the states to go into all 21 states now and tell them how to rechange or change their laws or to remake their laws . No. This is something thats going to have to get worked out state by state. You have 21 states, other states out there as well. Its not just florida. So when we start this conversation, you have people talking about, well, im going to boycott florida. Im not going to perform there. Im not going to go there. Well, youre not going to go to 21 other states . Theres got to be some level of consistency, number one. Number two, on the political side of it, again, the facts of the Trayvon Martin case, this was not brought into it. This was not the underlying argument that was made. The defense backed off of that, as a defense. However, however can i ask you, professor, there was a jury instruction, and people have missed the fact that the jury instruction was cited by one of the jurors as the reason for the acquittal. So it was an issue in the case. And these stand your ground laws, whats striking about them is how they got on the books. They got on the books because of an effort by the nra in conjunction with the american with alec to introduce them and pass them in states across the nation. It is the role of the nations chief justice officer who is the attorney general. You know who views the stand your ground law the most in florida . Its africanamericans. But im just saying. The reality is that another group pushed stand your ground, but africanamericans have been using it around the country. Its also led the hypocrisy, marc mentioned the nra the hypocrisy of the nra is on full display here. We have not yet heard and i predict youll never hear the nra say that if Trayvon Martin had a gun, hed still be alive. They havent said it yet, tree. They havent said that. Lets put it out there. Right here. The most important thing is that the stand your ground law is one of the things that has incited and ignited i believe this Movement Across the nation which i think, david, is the beginning of a new civil rights movement, to challenge these issues. Because of what the congresswoman has said, the landscape has changed. The Voting Rights act decision by the Supreme Court which was striking in its superficiality. The Trayvon Martin incident and everything from the Police Officers not arresting George Zimmerman at the very beginning to the need for a special prosecutor to the fact that the special prosecute are himself did not participate in trying the case, to the composition of the jury, to the way in which the case was tried all the way to the verdict strikes people as just mountains of evidence let me ask this. Professor, the attorney general is looking at this as a potential civil rights violation against George Zimmerman. I heard the president , to me, sort of lower expectations. Exactly. On what basis . The reality is that this is not a federal issue. Its a state issue. And states have moved forward and talked about stand your ground and a lot of other issues as well. I think hes saying the federal government cant do anything. We can be behind that. Rodney king. It was the state that started and didnt do well. And then the federal government came in. In a lot of these cases, people being killed, being beaten, the federal government is there in response to that, but not the ones i think, david, thats what the protesters and i celebrate them. I applaud the efforts across these cities yesterday, but i think what they missed is what you astutely pointed out. The president basically said to us without saying to us, this aint going no further. You can march and protest and rally i dont think he said that. I didnt say he said it. Let me say this. The mistake that people make is to prejudge an investigation before it takes place. Well, the attorney general will decide. But the president we talk about legislation. I understand about the stand your ground laws. But there are some things we can do. We as a Congressional Black Caucus have put in place, at least drafted over the last couple weeks racial profiling. Thats what this was. I dont care what they say it was. That is what it was. If we start to do things from the congressional level, maybe that can help. Let me just say this. I dont care how many laws you put in place. You cannot legislate against prejudice or bias or racism. You cannot do it. And so all we can do is the best we can. But that goes toward the morality of the question. Can i put Something Else on the table that goes to the racial profiling debate that is provocative. It was from bill cohen in the Washington Post, his column on monday. Ill put it up and get your reaction to it. Richard cohen, excuse me. Where is the politician who will own up to the painful complexity of the problem and acknowledge the widespread fear of crime committed by young black males . This znlt mean that raw racism has disappeared and some products are the product of stereotyping. It does know that the public knows young black males commit a disproportionate amount of crime. In new york city blacks make up a quarter of the population, yet they represent 78 of all shooting suspects, almost all of them young men. And tavis, the president made a point of acknowledging that. He acknowledged that, number one. Number two, most blacks are killed by other blacks and most whites are killed by other whites. Im sick of having this debate. Thats how it works, number one. All im saying is this. This is not a kronos moment. The president , again, is the president is at the right place and the right time to do more. I am not a part of that anything is enough generation. I want the president to step in this moment, as coleman just pointed out, and lead us in a complex conversation about these very difficult issues. I dont want him to shrink from the calling of this moment historically. And we are going to regret this later on. Tavis, we found something we agree on. One of the reasons that africanamerican men tend to make up a disproportionate number is because of profiling. Youve got two kids on a street in new york, in particular, with their stop and frisk policy, theyre going to pick up the black kid. Not to say that the white kid wasnt committing a crime, but that kid gets in the system and never gets out. Or they decide, hes from a good family. Lets put him in the diversion program. But the black kid gets a record. Profiling has a lot to do with those numbers as well, and they are skewed based upon the perception that black kids but one thing thats going to have to be on the table is the economic opportunity. Absolutely. For there to be jobs and the obstructionism about summer jobs, jobs plans, jobs training thats taking place in this nation, after the recession when this Unemployment Rate is so high, it cant be done with a Law Enforcement approach alone. It has to be done with an economic opportunity. So i hope that this conversation is going to confront the very challenging issue of economic opportunity. Im struck, going back to the president s notable 2008 speech as a candidate, the extent to which he was saying in advance, i, as a black man, even if i become president , can only do so much. Because he talked about the country being stuck on race. This is what else he said back in 2008. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, i have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle. Or with a single candidate, particularly particularly as a candidacy as imperfect as my own. I want to wind this up, professor ogletree, by asking you, was that selfimposed sense of limitation appropriate, and did he go beyond it on friday . It was appropriate and i think hes gone beyond it. Trayvon martin will be with us in eternity. Thats what hes done. The president has moved Trayvon Martin up to be a symbol of racial profiling in america. And i think whether hes here or not, were going to be die baiting that and discussing that. And i think were going to have a real conversation about race moving forward. As long as he stands his ground and leads us into a moral conversation about this moment. Is this the wrong issue . Is it wrong to inject race into the martin case, michael steele, as some conservatives and others have argued, that this is the wrong moment . I think its not the wrong moment to inject it. Race is a part of it. Theres an underlying theme or feeling that particularly the Africanamerican Community takes away from that, and it has to be addressed. You just cant leave it on the table because you dont believe its there. I realize this scratches the surface, but it was still a good conversation. I appreciate you all being here very much. Marc morial, former mayor of new york city, youre going to stick around. Were going to talk about detroit. Excuse me. New orleans. New orleans. Were going to talk about detroit coming up. My apologies. Were going to talk about detroit in distress. The city becomes the latest and the largest to file for bankruptcy. Did the politicians fail the motor city . Im going to talk to the republican governor of michigan, rick snyder, also his predecessor, former democratic governor jennifer granholm. Shell weigh in on our roundtable. Is there something detroit can tell us about americas fiscal future . Thats coming up after this short commercial break. Announcer meet the press is brought we know why were here. To connect our forces to what they need, when they need it. To help troops see danger, before it sees them. To answer the call of the brave and bring them safely home. [ female announcer ] around the globe, the people of boeing are working together, to support and protect all who serve. Thats why were here. And i have a massive heart attack right in my driveway. The doctor put me on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Go talk to your doctor. Youre not indestructible anymore. Plays a key role throughout our lives. One a day womens 50 is a complete multivitamin designed for Womens Health concerns as we age. It has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. One a day 50 . Detroit goes broke. Is it a sign of things to come for other cashstrapped cities across the country . Coming up, our roundtable including jennifer granholm, david brooks of the New York Times and Nbcs Chuck Todd up next right after this brief break. Heres todays question. There is a pursuit we all share. A better life for your family, a better opportunity for your business, a better legacy to leave the world. We have always believed in this pursuit, striving to bring insight to every investment, and integrity to every plan. We are morgan stanley. 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Im jamie mcmurray, and my niece has autism. Learn more at autismspeaks. Org. signs our political roundtable is here. Ill talk to them in just a moment. But i want to begin with michigan governor rick snyder. Filing of bankruptcy by detroit is such a big story. I was immediately drawn to something you said back in june to 11. Ill put it up on the screen. The headline, bankruptcy not an option for cities. Governor snyder said that he wont let detroit or any other michigan cities declare bankruptcy. Detroits not going into bankruptcy. Snyder told reporters, were going to work hard to make sure that we dont need an emergency manager and bankruptcy shouldnt be on the table. So what happened . Well, we worked hard on the process. Again, thats something to be avoided. And its not something im happy to be in this situation. This was a very tough decision. But its the right decision. Because ultimately the issue we need to do is to get Better Services for the 700,000 people of detroit. The citizens of detroit deserve better than theyre getting today, in addition to dealing with this crushing debt question. We went through all the other processes we could. There were no other viable options. And once you go through every other option, then you should consider bankruptcy. Were at that point. I believe its the right thing to do now because the focus needs to be dealing with this debt question. But even more importantly, david, the citizens of detroit deserve Better Services. 58minute Response Times on police calls. Absolutely unacceptable. 58 minutes, average Response Time for highpriority calls. 50 of the park s closed since 2008. 40 of the streetlights dont work. How do politicians let the motor city down . Again, if you look, this is 60 years of decline. This has been kicking the can down the road for 6 of 0 years. And my perspective on it, enough is enough. I think there needs to be more accountability in government. And part of the issue here is lets stand up with and deal with this tragic situation and take care of the citizens. And thats what this is all about. This is drawing that line to say lets stop going downhill. Because if we hadnt declared bankruptcy, every continuing day, detroit would have gone farther downhill. This is an opportunity to stabilize detroit. And even more importantly, longer term, im very bullish about the Growth Opportunities of detroit. Theres many outstanding things going on in the city with the private sector, with young people moving in the city, its got great opportunity. The last major obstacle is the city government. Youve got 18 billion in debt. A friend of mine i talked to said, you know, is this america . Look whats happened. How do you recover . Youve got some 20,000 retirees there who rely upon pension checks which is grossly underfunded. How do you find a way back . How does a city like this turn itself around . Well, you get honest about it to start with. Again, thats about accountability and putting the fangts on the table. Thats been a big part of this exercise is in many cases for the on years, weve ignored the facts. And the retirees, i empathize with them. Can you possibly make good on all those commitments, major retirees . Let me put it in perspective for you. One of the things that bankruptcy does allow is a positive in the sense that we were talking with a lot of creditors. But one of the issues that werent being represented well enough were the retirees. So proactively in the bankruptcy petition, one thing that were asking for is the judge, right up front, to appoint someone to represent the retirees. They need to be at the table. They need to have a voice. And the other thing i want to really speak to the retirees themselves now is to the degree the Pension Plans are funded, that doesnt affect us at all. The bankruptcy is about the unfunded portion of the pension liability, which is still significant. I dont want to underestimate it, but the funded piece is safe. The real question is how do you address the unfunded piece. And if you go back in history, its an ugly history of how this pension fund was managed. As is the case in a lot of different cities. The role of federal government is an obvious question because the federal government has intervened when the Auto Companies needed a big bailout. You go back to the 1970s and that famous headline in the New York Daily News when new york was in trouble, ford to city drop dead. Here are some of the facts about the auto bailout and about the current debt detroit has. You had 80 plus billion dollars that flowed to the Auto Companies when they needed help. Now youve got a total debt in detroit of 18 billion. Is there not some money that should be available even from that initial bailout to the Auto Companies to help the city . Im not going to speak to the federal government. What i want to speak to is a solution, an idea of being a partner in solving problems. Tangible things were doing. This isnt about just writing checks. This is about improving detroit. One thing im proud of, were partnering with the federal government, the city and the state working together is blight removal. Were going to be starting to implement 100 Million Program to remove some of those 78,000 blighted structures in detroit hopefully within the next 30 days. Thats one of the positive steps. So we dont need to wait for all of bankruptcy to end. Were moving now to improving detroit and getting Better Services for those great people. Governor, well be watching. Thank you very much for your time here with us today. As im going to make my way over to our roundtable, we will hear from, among others, the former governor of michigan, democrat jennifer granholm. I want to consider and try to understand the way politicians speak about detroit. How theyve always done it. Consider this. From president obama from october of last year. We refuse to throw in the towel and do nothing. We refuse to let detroit go bankrupt. I bet on American Workers and American Ingenuity and three years later, that bet is paying off in a big way. And good morning to all of you. Governor granholm, when the president speaks about detroit, he doesnt mean the city of detroit. Right. He means the Auto Companies. They got better. Detroit did not. Right. And thats a really important distinction because people are assuming that when he said were not going to let detroit go bankrupt, that he meant detroit, the city. Its two different entities. But the city of detroit is the poster child for the deindustrialization of america, david. Since 1950, which was the heyday of detroits burgeoning auto industry, there were three almost 300,000 automotive or manufacturing jobs in the city. 300,000. Today, its 27,000. Thats a 90 decline in goodpaying manufacturing jobs. So the real question is, not just about tearing down blight. Its what are we going to do as a nation to create goodpaying, middleclass jobs in a country that has a policy of being completely hands off with the economy. We have to have a manufacturing policy, an advanced manufacturing policy, and give the ability for states to develop clusters that will help them compete. Some of the criticism, governor, from conservatives who say, look, youve had 50 years of democratic rule in the city of detroit. Youve had unions, not only in detroit, but in other cities who are pursuing pensions and retirement policies that are completely unsustainable. And that there has been some level of denial. Even you, in 2009, Time Magazine interviewed you. And the question was, will detroit ever really recover in your honest opinion . You said absolutely. We have great bones in the city and as a state, we have more engineers in this region than in all the other states plus canada and mexico combined. Were in a tough period because we have an auto crisis and a financial crisis so were hit harder than any other state in the country. Today youre saying its much bigger than the financial crisis that happened in this country. It is bigger. My whole point is that detroit does have great bones, but what we need is a strategy nationally, like other countries have, to keep and create goodpaying, middleclass jobs here. And we need a congress that would support that strategy. Let me just quickly say, david, you talked about the pensions. Cities across the couldnntry ha 2 million of unfended pensions. This is not just detroit. There are 50,000 communities across the country that have lost factories since the year 2000. This is not a democratic problem. This is a problem across the country. Chuck todd, who let detroit down . Which politicians let them down . I think there was poor governance in detroit for a very long time. This turned into a machine political town, if you followed that. In my 25 years of following politics, you know, it was a city and i remember the first Reform Movement of detroit, when Dennis Archer got elected mayor, sort of when they replaced in the coal man young era, it was that first attempt. And there was a lot of cities that did that. You saw here in washington, d. C. , and you saw these attempts. You know, one mayor couldnt change things because you had 30 years of cronyism. It was a machine. But if i told you im sorry, if i told you that a city on the border of americas largest trading partner couldnt figure out how to diversify its economy, you have to sit there and say it was not just poor city government, poor business leadership, poor governance it is sort of remarkable that detroit, where its located, it ended up in this position. You know, the bigger issue here because this detroit and what the governor has mentioned, and other communities and other urban cities is the result also of Public Policies at the National Level when it comes to trade, when it comes to the Fair Investment and manufacturing to watch all of our jobs go abroad and not have a response. The second thing that grates many, many people is that we could bail out the Automobile Companies at a very hefty price. We could bail out the banks at a very hefty price. But when it comes to urban communities, where the poor are, when it comes to the deteriorating construction of urban communities, we have excuses. We have an effort to simply say, well, the problems are in city hall. Get your government straight, and then well help you. What i hope this means is that theres going to be a renewed interest in american urban communities. And for the National Government to recognize we need a concerted effort if were going to compete with china and india to bring back goodpaying jobs. Is that a fair comparison, though . I made it with Governor Snyder about the bailout and detroit. Listen, weve got two narratives. The one is deindustrialization. The other is institutional failure. Deindustrialization didnt only happen in detroit. It happened in San Francisco and most other places. Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, really, probably the best parallel because they had economic diversity. They had education. And they did not have institutional failure. Detroit, to me, is decline 101. Whether its the roman empire, british empire, spanish empire, entrenched interests. Theyre together forever and forever. They get a culture of mediocrity, cronyism and collapse. You think about major institutions, whether washington is broken, schools, cities. George packer, we discussed the book hes written called the unwinding and inner history of the new america. And he writes this, in part. No one can say when the unwinding began, when the coil that held americans together in its secure and sometimes stifling grip first gave way. Like any great change, the unwinding began countless times, countless ways and at some moment the country always the same country crossed a lane and became different. If you were born around 1960 or afterward, you would spend your adult life in the vertigo of that unwinding. You watched structures that had been in place before your birth collapse like pillars of salt across the vast visible landscape. You think a lot about this concept of whether this is american decline or if this is something much more temporary and narrow. These are its not american decline. Its class. Weve had a lot of discussion about race on the show today. To me the class divide is bigger than the race divide. If youre in the educated class, collegeeducated communities, youre not seeing decline. Youve got family structures, rising incomes, youre doing fine. If youre in the less educated, whether youre africanamerican, latino, white, asian, youre seeing collapsing social skrurkts. 70 africanamerican kids born out of wedlock. So what youre seeing is this collapse of order on the bottom. If youre born into a certain class, there are certain railroad tracks, you just go along the tracks. You know what, david . Thats inconsistent with what the 20th century was about. Because what the 20th century was about was the rise of the middle class. And the opening of doors of economic opportunity. And i think that the class divide combined with the race divide is americas greatest 21st century challenge because whats changed is the world in which we live. The world in which we live with new competitors all across the globe. And were in the changing dem graph demographics of america. Weve had substantial progress in the 20th century when it came to closing the class divide. Weve departed from that. And what im concerned is that we, in many, many polite circles, do not think that that class divide is a challenge to americans economic competitiveness. And governor, my mother, born in detroit, grew up at a time when a middleclass job in detroit was possible, that you could really think about sustaining a family on. Well, thats the whole point. Is what is if we Want Congress to act on anything, it is on a strategy to keep and create middleclass jobs in america. Youre right. But we are seeing the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and that large scope of poor, the group is getting larger. So how do we create, in a global economy, middleclass jobs in america . Other countries are doing this. We have not. We can learn from germany. We think that because we are exceptional as a nation, that we ought not be borrowing best practices from other countries. But in fact, the other countries have figured out how to crack the code, to create advanced manufacturing jobs in their nation. Why cant we . Its because we have gridlock in congress that refuses to have any hands on when it comes to the economy. Let me get a break break in here and come back. I want to get to the president and his comments on race. Where hes choosing to really make an impact in his second term with a im the next american success story. Working for a company where over seventyfive percent of store management started as hourly associates. Theres opportunity here. I can use walmarts education benefits to get a degree, maybe work in it, or be an engineer, helping walmart conserve energy. Even today, when our store does well, i earn quarterly bonuses. When people look at me, i hope they see someone working their way up. Vo opportunity, thats the real walmart. announcer at scottrade, our cexactly how they want. T with scottrades online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts with one login. To easily move my money when i need to. Plus, when i call my local scottrade office, i can talk to someone who knows how i trade. Because i dont trade like everybody. I trade like me. Im with scottrade. announcer scottrade. Awarded fivestars from smartmoney magazine. In our remaining time i want to spend a few minutes of president ial leadership. The president talking about race. David brooks, i wanted your perspective. David who wrote a biography of the president writes this morning that his sense and im paraphrasing here that once the president reached the white house, now quoting, it appears his intense interest in the subject of race diminished, he would be judged by the content of his presidency, not the color of his skin. Race seemingly became unimportant, if not irrelevant, to the first black president of the united states. He rarely spoke about it. This, a big departure. Yeah. It seemed superficially unimportant, but its important to remember race is his first subject, as it would be if you had a black father and a white mother. He brings to all the other issues, the way he framed race and the way he started thinking about race, his tendency to do on the one hand, on the other, his desire to reconcile opposites, his ability to see different points of view, all the stuff weve seen him come to apply to every other issue, it started with race. I thought this speech was one of the highlights, i thought it was a symphony of indignation, professionalism, executive responsibility, personal feeling. It had all these Different Things woven together. I thought beautifully. But its important to remember, race is how he started. Again, i come back because i want to make sure to represent that other side as well. Some conservatives have said, look, this was the wrong moment to inject race into the trial, their view, and for the president to speak out in this way. Yeah. I guess i would disagree with him. I think if the young man had been a white kid and the older guy had been a black guy, it would be a different story. And the president said that. And i think that happens to be true. I think this was the president speaking as a witness to white people. It was really a conversation to explain to white people why there was so much angst in the Africanamerican Community about this. And the reason why this was an important moment is because we have not arrived. And those in the conservative community that would say that this was not about race need to understand that the moment they can say that i would trade places with an africanamerican person and feel like ive not lost any of my benefits or privileges, thats the point we will have arrived. But we havent gotten there yet. I will say this. This is a moment for the obama presidency. And barack obama, the person. Because i believe that he addressed something that i know was that had been deep in his consciousness for the first five years of his presidency. I think what he may have thought is that actions speak louder than words. That in fact, if you confront Health Care Disparities through the health care law, predatory lending through dodd frank, that if you, in fact, enforce the civil rights law, that would be enough. But i think what this may be a recognition of is that the power of the presidency is the bully pulpit. The power of shape hearts, minds and ideas. The power to lead the nation ist important to look at Barack Obamas presidency as a transformative presidency in terms of what the nation will become in the 21st century. Weve got to see this moment as a nation. And i think barack obama opened the door. And my prayer and hope is that its going to be a conversation thats going to lead to concrete steps and action, not just by the president , but that its going to spur others. And chuck, but if you look at other areas, how does the president use his second term . Where does he intervene on some of these key issues . We see how hes done it here. And as the mayor points out, well see where he goes with that, whether its immigration or the implementation of health care. He also is now starting to use that bully pulpit. What was interesting about that conversation at the beginning of the show and the debate particularly with tavis, too much caution. Yeah. That actually that in many ways, that description of president obama on many issues is too cautious. He waits too long to speak out and use the bully pulpit. One other observation that i wanted to give on the speech that he made on friday, that was also the son of an anthropologist. People always forget that. His mother was an anthropologist, a, an observer of communities, interacting. She did it obviously overseas in indonesia. And you see that as always been the sort of intellectual way he looks at this, it bit him politically, cling to their guns and bible, again that was obama the anthropologist. And a law professor. Charles ogletree said before the program, he poses the uncomfortable question and lets people grapple with that. And enhe backs away. When he was thinking about running for president , one of the greatest assets of him winning the president. He could be a total failure. Winning the presidency meant he was going to have cracked a ceiling, broken a ceiling for young africanamerican men. He knew that just the action, not the words, the simple action was going to make him a role model and say you know what . This is no longer africanamerican young africanamerican men have you know, its not just about getting out of poverty, athletics or through entertainment. There are other ways that he was going to be a role model. Gene robinson said, no caption necessary. Remember, hes pushing immigration reform, among americans under 5 years old, whites are a minority. And were going to have a very different conversation in a few years when its much more multiethnic, latinos, asians and all these other groups, id be fascinated to see how the race discussion will look. Its not just two things. And i was at the National Council yesterday, and the discussion is already changing about the dynamic of the nation. But the important thing is, we are at the beginning of this transformation. And weve got to seize the moment. David and i come from cities where this has already happened, miami and los angeles. Where it was blacks and whites. Its a complicated conversation. Let me get a break in here. We will do that. Well come back with more including a tribute to the pioneering journalist helen thomas who died yesterday at the pioneering journalist helen thomas who died yesterday at the age of ever pioneering journalist helen thomas who died yesterday at the age of ybody has different investment objectives, ever pioneering journalist helen thomas who died yesterday at the ideas, goals, appetite for risk. You cant say one size fits all. It doesnt. Thats crazy. Were all totally different. Ishares core. Etf Building Blocks for your personalized portfolio. Find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. Ishares by blackrock. Call 1800ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Read and consider it carefully before investing. Risk includes possible loss of principal. [ whirring ] [ dog barks ] i want to treat more dogs. Our Business Needs more cases. [ male announcer ] where do you want to take your business . I need help selling art. [ male announcer ] from broadband to web hosting to mobile apps, Small Business solutions from at t have the security you need to get you there. Call us. We can show you how at t solutions can help you do what you do. Even better. [ agent smith ] ive Found Software that intrigues me. It appears its an agent of good. [ agent smith ] ge software connects patients to nurses to the right machines while dramatically reducing waiting time. [ telephone ringing ] now a waiting room is just a room. [ static warbles ] thanks to all of you. Before we go, meet the press minute, as we remember a pier in in our business, legendary journalist helen thomas who passed away yesterday. In 1960 she became the first female reporter to cover the white house full time and quickly became known for keeping president s and their administrations on their toes. Helen. Who was to blame . Where did the buck stop . Reporter she made her mark from the very first time she was on meet the press back in 1976 with a pointed question that had a top adviser to president gerald fords reelection campaign, defending the president s image. You have said that president ford has an image portrayal problem. What is i have . You said that at your briefing at the white house. Or that there is some question about the image thats being portrayed to the president. Well, i said that i didnt think that he was being accurately portrayed. I think a great todo was made, for example, of tripping going down a set of stairs. And this seems to have triggered a whole lot of little phrases that i dont think accurately portray him. Reporter and in her last appearance here new years weekend, 1993, with a nod toward her tenure in the White House Press corps, she made it quite clear there would be no letting up on president george h. W. Bush even though he had only three weeks left in office. Joining us now is helen thomas, White House Correspondent for upi and someone who has covered every president since john f. Kennedy, is that fair . Right. President bush, postelection day funk, seems to be hitting his stride again. Helen, youve watched him a long time. What do you think . I think he is going out of office with all flags flying. Certainly his policy, and hes had some big successes. But on the other hand, hell come back tonight and on monday were going to ask him about the special prosecutor. Happy new year, helen. Tough all the way through. By the time i was in the white house covering president bush, she became a columnist, more opiniona opinionated, courted controversy as well. In a statement yesterday, president obama said, in part, that it wasnt just helens long tenure as a journalist that made her the dean of the White House Press corps but rather her, quote, fierce belief that our democracy works best when we ask tough questions and hold our leaders to account. Amen. Helen thomas was 92 years old. And that is all for today. Helen thomas was 92 years old. Every day were working toy. Be an Even Better Company and to keep our commitments. And weve made a big commitment to america. Bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. Through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u. S. Than any other place in the world. In fact, weve invested over 55 billion here in the last five years making bp americas Largest Energy investor. Our commitment has never been stronger. Her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain. And a choice. Take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. All aboard. All aboard. Diarrhea, gas, bloating . Yes one Phillips Colon Health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues. With three strains of good bacteria. [ Phillips Lady ] live the regular life. Phillips. [ Phillips Lady ] live the regular life. If we dont double the number of kids graduating from high school in the next 8 years, our country wont be able to compete globally. What uncle sam needs now are more good teachers. Are you up for it . You can help kids graduate. The more you know. Very good monday morning. The great kate wait is over. The princess is in the hospital with Prince William at her side as she goes through what might be the worlds most anticipated labor. Its news the world has been waiting nine months for. Palace officials announcing Kate Middleton has been admitted to st. Marys hospital and is in the early stages of labor. A royal baby is on the way. And we have it all coved for you right here. Were going to begin with annbelle roberts in london. Reporter richard, Kate Middleton went into hospital about six hours ago. She went with her husband Prince William. They drove to the hospital and entered via a back entrance, thus afraiding the scrum of photographers out front. Who can blame them for that