Transcripts For MSNBC Melissa Harris-Perry 20131013

With substance over style. What if your hinges are all rusting what if, in fact, youre just disgusting . Razzledazzle them and theyll never catch wise well, this weeks poll numbers left no doubt that the rusty hinges of the gop and its tea party fringe are showing. And that americans are disgusted with what they see. Just 24 approval. But try telling that to the bedazzled audience at this weeks 2013 values voters summit, where the religious right raised the curtain on its very own version of a broadway spectacle. The annual conservative conference sponsored by the Family Research counsel kickeded off on thursday in washington, d. C. And it featured a whos who of the right wings biggest stars, doing their very best billy flynn, and pulling out all the stops to keep their audience enthralled. Some of the senates Biggest Tea Party showmen, ted cruz, rand paul, marco rubio, mike lee, all soft shoed their way through the nights very own version of traditional American Values. And of course, they tap danced all around the truth, because who needs facts when youve got flair . You know the routine, speaking in a very loud voice, wild and emphatic jazz hand gesticulat n gesticulations and youve got to have props. Why dont we let master of the old flimflam, Michele Bachmann, shows how its done. We said, come on, lets go up, lets take this hill. 600 americans took the Lincoln Memorial on saturday this is the Police Lineup tape this is our consolation prize yes, courageous Michele Bachmann declaring a victory over the tyranny of park service employees, who, thanks to the shutdown caused by her party, were working without pay to guard the Lincoln Memorial. Brave michelle tearing down that wall, freeing americans to enter the memorial, her own party closed. Now, as entertained as the values voters audience was by her heroic tale, the summit isnt just a threering circus for conservatives. Its also a freak show for progressives, who, lets be honest, yall, gleefully hate watch rightwing wackiness to revel in the absolute absurdity. I would like to share my personal favorite. Obama care is really, i think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. That was worldrenowned dr. Ben carson, once known as a brilliant neurosurgeon, who pioneered the surgical separation of conjoined twins. Now known as the guy who cant tell the difference between an economic plan built on the ownership of people and an economic plan built to get people Affordable Health care coverage. Now, the values voters crowd isnt all doom and gloom. Theyre solving problems too. For instance, if youre gay or lesbian, conservative talk show host sandy rios thinks shes got the cure for what ails you. Anybody know an exgay . You know what . They are everywhere. And the reason you dont hear about them is because they are maligned and threatened. Or maybe we dont hear about them because the standardbearer for the socalled h eed exgay movement, exodus, apologize to the Lbgt Community and shut down after nearly four decades in business. But, surely, well find some morsel of sanity in alan wests plans to End Gun Violence in american cities. The United States of america is number three in the world in murders. But if you take away four cities from the United States of america, were fourth from the bottom for murders. If you take away chicago, if you take away detroit, you take away new orleans, and you take away washington, d. C. Or not. I mean, why bottom to do the difficult work of tackling the social economic, social inequities that make these cities fertile the ground for violence, we can just get rid of the cities altogether. And according to e. W. Jackson, or as i like to call him, eww, america doesnt need to change, because its a place whose perfection comes secondly only to the messiah himself. I love this country i believe in it its been the greatest blessing given to mankind, other than jesus himself. The values voter summit team, a razzledazzle rockets, certainly gave their audience their moneys worth, but they werent the only ones who got caught up in the act. Because we all just spent the last week watching as that whacky fringe of the Republican Party hijacked the country, shut down the u. S. Government. So, somehow, while we were all bedazzled by the spectacle, the side show managed to become the main event. With me in the studio this morning, reverend paul raushenbush, Senior Religion editor at the huffington post, alan jenkins, bill snyder, whose distinguished senior fellow and resident collar at third way, and allison kill kenny, cohost of citizen radio and a reporter for the nation. Thanks for you all to being here. Thanks. Paul, can you respond . I know you were watching very closely the values voter summit. What did you see . I saw something i used to fear and really saw it as a threat. And i saw it as a little bit pathetic this year. I thought, okay, theyre really hitting us on gay marriage, which theyre losing. Theyre hitting us on, you know, with ted cruz, who just is 14 negativity ratings. That was their star. Michele bachmann, who just went out there saying, the end times are coming because obama is funding terrorists. These are their ateam. This is not and the entire country is desperate for an end to the shutdown. And from this group, theyre hearing this horrible rhetoric, that is divisive and exactly what the American People dont want to hear. And yet, so im with you, and my producers and i were sitting there and watching this and this is part of how we come up, oh, this is so nuts and a side show. And as much as they even frame themselves as the persecuted minority, the level of empowerment, the fact that ted cruz, whatever his positivity or negativity ratings are, has been the architect of a shutdown thats having a real impact on peoples lives. Its clear they cant be overtly racist anymore, that doesnt stop a lot of them, but they try to talk in code now. So instead of attacking minorities or attacking poor people of color, they attack programs that benefit those people. So they talk about reforming Social Security, they talk about reforming pension plans. And when you stop to think about it, its like, who does that effect, though . It tends to be poor people of o colo color. I mentioned this idea that there are sort of socially acceptable ways to frame what our values are, relative to our politics. And ana, i know this is really the work that yall do at the opportunity agenda. Because as much as on the left its easy to sit there and say, what are they talking about, the fact is theyve been very effective in using the language of American Values to frame what their policies are. They have, but i think theyve really gob off the rails this time. When you think about, what values are they actually conv conveying over the last couple of days . Number one, youre on your own. So you cant get Health Insurance through the private market because youve got a preexisting condition . Too bad, you shouldnt have gotten sick. Big banks, financial industry screwed you out of your mortgage, well, you should have been more wily about it, right . Thats the first one. Second one is only a very narrow slice of americans in their vision are actually part of the american family. One religious belief, one ideological belief, one type of family, quite literally, otherwise, youre an outsider. Its completely disconnected not only with where our nation is going from a demographic standpoint, but the values that people are coalescing around, the idea that were all in it together. This is interesting to me, bill. The language that you just used, being altogether or sort of having to go it alone, president obama tried to use this framing in part as a way to think about what his 2012 message was. I want to listen to president obama back in march of 2012 on the runup to the election, using that very similar language. Their philosophy is simple. Youre on your own. If youre out of a job, touch luck. Figure it out on your own. If you dont have health care, too bad. Youre on your own. So, bill, it seems to me like that part of the president s rhetorical genius, initially, was an attempt to reframe this question of values. Do you think that the left at this point or the Obama Administration, particularly, has been effective at retaking the language of values . Yes, because what hes fighting back against is the idea of limited government, which is what united the right. Youve got two whacky fringe movements. In a way theyre competitive, the religious right and the tea party. They overlap. About half of the tea party considers themselves religious right. But we saw at this convention, the value voters convention, which is the religious right meeting, that theyve really been kind of eclipsed by the tea party. The tea partys emphasis is on economics. And they want limited government involved in the economy. The religious rights emphasis is on religious values, abortion, gay rights, samesex marriage. Where they think the federal government has been too aggressive on those issues and violated their religious liberties. They both believe in limited government, but the tea party doesnt like to talk about abortion and gay rights. The religious right, thats their main agenda. So is that in a lot of ways, the sort of emergence of the moral majority itself was always a challenge to the reagan version of small government conservatism, that was the core of the Republican Party. Are we seeing a fracturing that can no longer hold . I spent some time with people in the religious right, even back in the 1980s, when reagan was first formulating the idea. They considered Big Government government controlled by liberals. They call them secular humanists, who use the power of Big Government to violate their personal religious liberties. They believe, correctly in many cases, that most of the issues that the religious right talks about was put on the agenda by aggressive federal judges, like Manning School prayer, mandating the teaching of evolution, giving abortion constitutionally protected status as a right, gay rights. They think these things were put on the agenda by aggressive federal judges. Thats their main complaint. Stay right with us, but before we take a break, i want to take a listen as we go out to one of the most reasonable voices we heard on capitol hill this week. It was actually the senate chaplain, barry black. O, god, and save us from the madness. May the tirades of majorities or minorities be equally impotent to sway our lawmakers from doing what is best for america. [ male announcer ] maybe youve already heard what theyre saying about the nissan altima. And we have to admit, that its all true. But dont just take their word for it, check it out for yourself. The awardwinning nissan altima. Nissan. Innovation that excites. Now get a 179 per month lease on a 2013 nissan altima. Im a fashion blogger, so style is my thing. And im not gonna let my period get in the way of what i want to wear [ female announcer ] tampax radiant protects 30 better and comes with a resealable wrapper for discreet disposal. Mix and match your protection with the whole radiant collection. Mix and match your protection [ mthat if you wear a partial,w youre almost twice as likely to lose your supporting teeth . Try poligrip for partials. Poligrip helps minimize stress which may damage supporting teeth by stabilizing your partial. Care for your partial. Help protect your natural teeth. Okay, who helps you focus on your recovery . Y yo, yo. Aflac. Wow. [ under his breath ] that was horrible. Pays you cash when youre sick or hurt . [ japanese accent ] aflac. Love it. [ under his breath ] hate it. Helps you focus on getting back to normal . [ as a Southern Belle ] aflac. [ as a cowboy ] aflac. [ sassily ] aflac. Uh huh. [ under his breath ] i am so fired. Youre on in 5, duck. [ male announcer ] when youre sick or hurt, aflac pays you cash. Find out more at aflac. Com. Im going to take you back to july 1863. The union army just repelled Confederate Forces in get tysb g gettysburg. More than 50,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. The governor of pennsylvania set aside the land as a burial site and monument to those who had given their lives. And on november 18th, 1963, that land was dedicated. The keynote speaker for the event was Edward Everett and everett spoke for more than two hours and then he was followed by president abraham lincoln, who spoke for only two minutes. Lincolns gettysburg address remains the most forceful argument of the key values that binds all americans. Of course, the president said, fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought fourth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. Acknowledging the ultimate sacrifice of the slain soldiers, lincoln went on to charge, it is rather for us to be here, dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here had to resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation, under god, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth. As i watched the rambling, divisive spectacle of the values voter summit, i kept thinking of plainspoken lincoln, warning that our most important value is preservation of the union. Alan, i really i expect us to disagree as americans, but i am disturbed by our willingness to rend the country apart, given the sacrifices that we have already made to keep ourselves together. Right. The gettysburgs address are a reminder that diversity is one of the nations strength. Its actually a longstanding american value, even though we have never fully acknowledge ordinary achieved it. That, you know, this notion of e pluribus unum, right, out of many, one, thats both about rancorous states coming together to form one country, but its also about different people from different traditions all being part of the american family. Just like most of our real families, we fight, we disagree, right, but we love each other and we know were all part of a common endeavor and a common good. Thats what that speech is about. Thats what more and more americans are embracing, but what this values summit has really departed from it, a pretty challenging way. Bill, so weigh in for me here. Well, i teach a class, like you do, and a student once asked me, is this the most divided weve ever been as a country . This is exactly what i wanted to ask you, right . And i thought about it and i said, well, you know, son, we did once have a civil war. Three quarters of a million americans were killed in that civil war, but i think, and many historians believe that this is the most divided weve been since the terrible civil war of the 1860s. This is a case where americans are tearing each other apart. One of the key trends that weve seen in the past 30 years is increasing political segregation. People tend to live among other people who vote the same way. Texas does not have a single elected statewide democrat. Hasnt since 1994. California and new york dont have a single elected statewide republican. Thats not gerrymandering. Not states. But those states have become far more uniform. Thats division. And im so grateful that you took us there, because i keep trying to decide whether an acknowledgement of the civil war and of that moment should make us nervous or feel better, like make us feel as though were not at our lowest point. Im actually okay with arguing. In some cases, i wish we had a little more argument. But im worried about consensus on certain issues. Like consensus on privatization, consensus on reform of pensions. Im very concerned about consensus on our education policy. So in some cases, i wish there was a more vibrant debate, actually. Im a little worried that people like ted cruz or Michele Bachmann arent really considered the radical outsiders we all consider them to be in d. C. Actually, in d. C. , youre radical if youre antireform, antiprivatization. So let me ask you, because you covered so carefully for the nation, the occupy movement. And this was a moment when there was an attempt to reconfigure, at least the discursive space about what americans value. How successful do you think occupy actually was in changing what the inside the beltway conversation was, about what constitutes americans . They were able to get the president of the United States, president obama, to talk about class. That in itself is a huge achievement, to have the president talk about that. Wealth division is the defining issue of tour time, i think he said, and that was a direct cause of the occupy movement. However, it was clear how far to the right we had strayed that the tea party was so much better able to capitalize on their movement than the occupy wall Street Movement was. That was also different in motives, but it was just interesting that the tea party was able to slip into government rather easily, whereas the occupy wall Street Movement was painted as radicals from getgo. Quick comment, the occupy Movement Made one enduring contribution. It is two words, 1 . Everyone knows what 1 is. In a way, that is as powerful as everything the tea party did. It destroyed mitt romney. Because when romney then says 47 , it actually ends up reflecting that 1 narrative, that becomes to the fore as a result of it changed the conversation. Let me ask about changing the conversation. Because, paul, for some folks who watches the value voters summit and others, they say, you know what, this is a problem of values language or religious language in particular, being in the public sphere, as part of political arguments at all. So the answer is to purge religion and to purge sort of values narratives, as part of how we should even be talking about policy positions. Is this are we in the space where we need to purge it or shift it, or particularly as a person of faith, how do you respond . The first thing i would say is that, why dont we try lifting up that scripture, sorry, im going to preach here for a moment. Do it. Its sunday morning. Its not just loving those who we love, its also about loving your enemies. And we have to remember that there was a reason that jesus talked about this. Because he saw how people could be rent apart. And it doesnt just hurt the nation, it hurts us as individuals. We need to be preaching more about that, that we need to be reaching out. But i also think that we need to be prophetic in our language of faith, and not say, its all about me. It is not all about me. And the gospel is not all about me. That is very important to remember. It is not an individualistic or a privatized gospel. The gospel is about lifting everybody up. It is about loving your neighbor as yourself. And if youre willing to let someone go by without health care and without a s. N. A. P. Benefits, 40 billion taken away from s. N. A. P. Benefits, voted by republican largely people of faith, youre not talking about the gospel. So i dont think its language of faith. Its how we use language of faith to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Yeah, its a different reading of sort of what happens on that hillside when jesus feeds the multitudes with very little, versus being like, well, these are my fish, this is my bread, im going to just keep this over here. Up next, how some wealthy people are trying to preserve the union by spending a lot of money to help us elect few. dad just feather it out. Thats right. son ok. Feather it out. dad all right. Thats ok. dad put it in second, put it in second. dad slow it down. Put the clutch in, break it, break it. dad just like i showed you. Dad, you didnt show me, you showed him. Dad, hes gonna wreck the car dad hes not gonna wreck the car. dad no fighting in the road, please. dad put your blinker on. son you didnt even give me a chance dad ok. mom vo we got the new subaru because nothing could break our old one. dad ok. son what the heck . Let go of my seat mom vo i hope the same goes for my husband. dad you guys are doing a great job. Seriously. announcer love a car that lasts. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Whoa sweet mother of softness. Paws off pal. Just one squeeze . Just enjoy it with your eyes. [ female announcer ] new charmin ultra soft is so soft, you dont even have to squeeze it to believe it. For the first time, you can actually see the softness with our new comfort cushions. New charmin ultra soft is still so much softer and more absorbent, you can use up to four times less. I believe it, but i still gotta squeeze it. [ female announcer ] used by more plumbers, charmin is now clogfree or its free. [ female announcer ] used by more plumbers, and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. Humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohns disease. In clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. Blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening Heart Failure have occurred. Before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. Ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. Tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. You should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira today. Remission is possible. Cashback concierge, here. What is a cashback concierge . Well theres lots of ways you can get cash back. Im here to help you get the most out of your cash rewards. Its personalized, and its free. I want that. We have a concierge at discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Get the it card with cashback concierge. [ male announcer ] campbells homestyle soup with farm grown veggies. Just like yours. Huh. [ male announcer ] and roasted white meat chicken. Just like yours. [ male announcer ] youll think its homemade. I love this show. [ male announcer ] try campbells homestyle soup. With the government frozen for 13 days, wealthy donors are now doing the governing. Heres what i mean. Theres billionaires laura and john arnold, who personally provided the money needed to reopen seven head start programs in six states. The texasbased insurance company, usaa ponied up the funds for last saturdays Football Game between air force and navy. And North Carolinabased food lion made a 500,000 donation to regional food banks across the state to fill the gap in Food Assistance caused by the shutdown. Now, these are worthy acts. They reflect important values of the donors. But government of, by, and for the people is not reducible to the pet projects of the few. How does the left and the Obama Administration in particular fail to make a clear valuesbased argument for why government is good and could they now, with the shutdown . Well, absolutely, i think the baffling thing is that the president is quite good at making that case in the election cycle. And then he forgets to do it in between. I think its incumbent upon all of us. The thing about the shutdown, it blows up the conservative narrative, that government does nothing for us. You can believe its like, the fish doesnt know hes in water until hes flipping around on the dock, right . So once you stop getting veterans benefits, once we close the National Parks and the like, people start to remember, oh, thats what our government is for. Thats how we come together to solve things and to address problems. That, then, makes it very difficult for this conservative argument that government is useless. I also, just, im a little frustrated by this narrative that the billionaires are coming to save us. The media is like largely complicit in that and it reinforces conservatives message. But for example, john arnold, this story drives me insane, this man is also working to privatize pensions. It was nowhere in the stories about him being so generous and giving so much money to head start, you know, can we also consider that that is potentially, yes, maybe he has goodness in his heart, but it also serves as a pr cover for him. Then he can go and work to privatize pensions and everyone will say, oh, this man is so, you know, so generous, saved our children. And he just wants to help with pensions. Isnt it is, in fact, the longterm strategy of the koch brothers, right . They are both these incredibly generous donors to educational and artistic and medical practices. And, working with art pope to buy the state of North Carolina and restrict voting and change and resegregate Public Schools in the state. Both of those are true at the same time. Which is part of why you need democratically elected government that is accountable to the people. Because you cant vote koch out of office, right . Hes a private theyre private individuals. Right. And now we know that money equals free speech, right . So thats another thing, where its sort of like, if we can have billionaires who can literally buy whatever they want, whether thats privatizing, you know, Social Security, privatizing pension plans, then its like, well, why do we vote at all . Why does it matter . Also, you can this is a perfect argument, but we dont need government. This and you hear this over and over again, in conservative churches. The government shouldnt be helping the poor. We should do that in the churches. Not realizing that its just a small sliver of what it takes to actually keep people out of poverty the churches ever give. It is the government that is the only one that is equipped to help people on a massive level. Theres this way that government has become this thing thats out there, that is somehow not us. And for people who lived through and are on the other side of katrina, we recognize the deep power of charity and the ways in which good people, conservative, liberal, white, black, northern, southern rushed in with charitable acts postkatrina. But charity is not justice. And without Government Intervention to fundamentally rebuild the city, to change sort of the practices, all the charity in the world, no matter how goodhearted, is simply insufficient. This country was founded on the idea of limited government. The first constitution we wrote had to be thrown out the window, the articles of confederation, because it provided a government that was almost powerless. People came here seeking Economic Freedom and religious freedom, the puritans and many others. They didnt like government, they didnt like established churches. We have a its in our genes. We have a history of belief in limited government. Now, whats happening with conservatives right now is they see a sinister agenda in the idea of government. They believe that what democrats are trying to do is use integration reform and the Health Care Plan to create more dependency on government, because then people who benefit from those programs, the immigrant who is become legalized and people who get health care will favor more and bigger government, and that will create a bigger Democratic Party. Thats what they believe is the agenda. And yet, as much as its true that we were founded on that sort of belief in the limitations of government, in part because were pushing back against a monarch, weve also expanded it over time. The realities of a post world war ii america require that we rethink the relationship of government. And it was always expanded pragmatically to solve specific problems. Thats the important thing. Americans are pragmatists. Pragmatists believe that whatever works is right. Ideologues believe if something is wrong, it cant work, even if it does work. Yeah, yeah. Thank you all for being here. Paul, youre heading out, but i appreciate you being here. Everybody else is sticking around. And up next, were going to talk about what Monica Lewinsky teaches us about ted cruz. No, i promise it has nothing to do with this. [ male announcer ] riley is always there to give a hand with the groceries. Thats real love. And so is giving him real tasty food. Introducing new woof delights from iams. Some wet food has gluten and artificial flavors. Iams has real meat and eggs in our tasty chunks. Now thats real love and so is giving a hand with the dishes. Keep love strong with new iams woof delights. [ male announcer ] may your lights always be green. [ tires screech ] [ beeping ] may you never be stuck behind a stinky truck. [ beeping ] may things always go your way. But its good to be prepared. Just in case they dont. Toyota. Lets go places, safely. What do you think American Voters pay more attention to, spectacle or substance . I ask because the ascendency of senator ted cruz has been one of spectacle. His 21hour talkathon on the senate floor, his reported confrontation with president obama at the white house on friday, the welcome he received at the values voters summit this weekend. Thank you so very, very much. Thank you thank you if god is for you, who can be against you . Thank you. I received that blessing. Now, the texas senator is being talked about as a real contender in the 2016 president ial primary. But i like to argue that americans deep down care much more about substance than spectacle. To help me make that point, i turn now to Monica Lewinsky. Bear with me for a moment, i have a point, i promise. Lets go back to january 1998, when news first broke of president clintons sexual encounters with lewinsky when she was a white house intern. The story dominated the nightly news for days and you may remember the yearlong media circus that followed. It was spectacle, to be sure. Americans were bombarded with imagines of lewinsky, juicy details of their tryst, and video of president clinton denying having sexual relations with that woman, basically played on a loop. Heres a clip from a onehour special that nbc news did on the president in crisis. A week ago, she was an unknown former white house intern. Today, Monica Lewinsky is fast becoming as well known as the man whose career her testimony could threaten. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, miss lewinsky. Despite the pointed denial by president clinton, the sex scandal has become the number one topic in this country. So, what did those American Voters think of the whole spectacle . Did it change their general support for the president . Well, spoiler alert, not really. Clintons Approval Ratings took a dive in those first two days, dropping from an average 60 to 53 . But then a funny thing happened. His poll numbers bounced right back, and they climbed even higher than his prelewinsky numbers, to a whopping 72 , 11 days after the scandal first broke. In other words, despite the tawdry news, the media spectacle that had engulfed the presidency, Americans Still approved of how the president was doing his job. Now, one political scientist wanted to know why. John zoler, who is sort of the king of Public Opinion studies in the nerdy world of Political Science took a closer look. And zoler argued that clinton didnt dim in americas eyes, because the substance of his presidency, in early 1998, was so strong. The economy was booming, crime was down, the country was at peace. And clinton had become quite the moderate, slashing welfare and championing Social Security at the same time. So, zoler concluded that American Voters care less about political spectacle and more about political substance. What does all that mean for ted cruz . It means, perhaps, that American Voters, republican voters, even, can see right through his shiny facade to the lack of substance underneath, as the latest polls tell us, people hate the Government Shutdown. They know its hurting the country. And they know Congressional Republicans are to blame. And they dont really like senator cruz himself all that much either. In the latest nbc news poll, twice as many people thought negatively as cruz as positively. I mean, just look at the big speech that shot him into the spotlight. The substance of that speech was, well, not all that substantial. I do not like them, sam i, am, i do not like green eggs and ham. So heres the question. Will americans vote for the wizard of cruz or will they, instead, see the man behind the curtain . Well be back. [ male announcer ] when it comes to doing what you love, more is better. Thats why we designed the allnew nissan versa note, with more technology, to get you into, and out of, tight spots. And more space so that you always have your favorite stuff. And, just for good measure, an incredibly efficient 40 mpg highway. So that when youre doing more, youre spending less. The allnew nissan versa note. Your door to more. Now get a 139 per month lease on a 2014 nissan versa note. Hey glad yall made it. Sorry were late. Did you run into traffic . No, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. You stopped by the house . Uhhuh. Yeah. Alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. You leave the house in good shape . Yeah. Yeah, of course. [ sportscaster talking on tv ] lastsecond field go yeah, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at t digital life. Personalized Home Security and automation. With limited availability in select markets. This recent days, ted cruz has been called a lot of things. The leader of the Republican Party, a hero, democrats biggest 2014 weapon, democrats new bogeyman, and miley cyrus of the senate. But who is he really . Hes a canadian born american who opposes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Hes a tea partier, who opposes expanding Health Coverage through the Affordable Care act and reportedly gets his own coverage through his wifes job at goldman sachs. Hes an antielitist who attended princeton and graduated meghna cum laude from harvard law school, where he was editor of the law review. Who is ted cruz and more importantly, what does his rise mean for the Republican Party . Joining the panel is jalani cobb. Thanks for you all being here again. Bill, who is how can we place ted cruz in the understanding of the modern Republican Party . Well, first of all, remember, hes a freshman senator. Freshman as opposed to to the senior, even hillary clinton, who took a very low profile. But hes been the most outspoken republican in the senate. And notice what happened if he got he won the tea party the value voters senate straw poll. Yes. Hes not really a values voter. That is, he doesnt give that much prominence to social issues. Hes a tea party republican. The tea party has taken over the values voters. They see the tea party as doing what they wish they could do, taking the lead on confronting president obama. Right. This guy is, as you point out, a freshman senator, but allison, the quinnipiac poll for the 2016 Republican Party shows him polling up there with the top folks. Youve got rand paul and Chris Christie at the top of it, but theres ted cruz coming in right over there with paul ryan, who is a much more household name. He won the value voters straw poll with our friend, carson coming in second. So the guy is, winning at the moment, right . What concerns me, its super fun to hate ted cruz. It feels really good to have a twominute hate. Yes. But, the thing is, hes not hes radical, but hes not treated like the social p pariah he all is. But the community hes choosing to target are like traditionally targets of the gop. Poor people, disenfranchised people, marginalized people. So for democrats, like, i know it feels good, but im also concerned, because a lot of these ideas are being mainstreamed. Even amongst moderate democrats, like, as i said before, privatizing pensions, privatizing Social Security. These started at extreme rightwing ideas and now very serious democrats are saying, well, we need some kind of reform, right . Its worth pointing out, the thing we are fighting to reopen the government to do is to fund at sequester levels, right . The thing that was supposed to be so awful that no one would go for it is our new baseline. Jowani, this morning, apparently, there was a bit of an attempt to retake the world war ii memorial by veterans. So senator cruz showed up. And i want to listen to senator cruzs understanding of the shutdown and then have you respond to it. Two weeks ago, the house of representatives passed legislation to open every memorial in every federal park in this country. Two weeks ago, the president of the United States signed a written veto threat. He said, if you open the memorial, i will veto it. [ booing ] make him do it well, you know, we should make him do it, but right now that bill sits on harry reids desk and harry reid will not even allow the senate to vote. So, what . I think its a great speech. I wish they had not photoshopped out the pitchforks. But i think the thing thats interesting about this and what ted cruz represents, and i mean, i say this ill be glib, admittedly, that one of the things people noticed about ted cruz is that he looks a lot like justice mccarthy. And its hard to not kind of feel that way about him, standing in front of this crowd, waiting for him to say, i have 205 communists who work for the state Department List in his hand. And what i think is instructive in some ways, that what he represents is a very visible, highly agitated group that ultimately does the Republican Party more damage than it does good. In the same way that Joseph Mccarthy became a headache for the Republican Party as well. Im not convinced of that. I know thats what those polls show, right. But if we look at the polls, they will tell us americans are blaming the republicans and well look at the polls and it says, you know, americans dont have a very strong opinion of ted cruz. But i am not i still think its a kind of democratic, progressive, lefty view that says, oh, this is tearing the Republican Party apart. I agree, yeah. I think a lot of this depends on the poverty rates. And who people decide is at fault for them not being able to find a job. So i think it has less to do, you know, the media circus that you were talking about before, and more like, who is actually trying to create jobs . Whos actually at fault for and a lot of that is subjective. Who do you blame for the Government Shutdown . Like, if youre a republican, you can twist things and blame the democrats. But apparently its president obamas fault that you cant go to the memorials, not the fault of Congressional Republicans. Hold for me for a moment. When we come back, i want to send a very pointed question to my guest, bill, an issue that he touched on earlier. Because there is a tale of two firstterm senators. Is ted cruz trying to be the next barack obama . When we come back. Ready to run your lines . Okay, who helps you focus on your recovery . Yo, yo, yo. Aflac. Wow. [ under his breath ] that was horrible. Pays you cash when youre sick or hurt . [ japanese accent ] aflac. Love it. [ under his breath ] hate it. Helps you focus on getting back to normal . [ as a Southern Belle ] aflac. [ as a cowboy ] aflac. [ sassily ] aflac. Uh huh. [ under his breath ] i am so fired. Youre on in 5, duck. [ male announcer ] when youre sick or hurt, aflac pays you cash. Find out more at aflac. Com. [ male announcer ] when youre sick or hurt, aflac pays you cash. Pcentury link provides reliable yit Services Like multilayered Security Solution to keep your Information Safe secure. Century link. Your link with whats next. You may be muddling through allergies. Try zyrtecd®. Powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms all in one pill. Zyrtecd®. At the pharmacy counter. A brandnew senator with president ial potential. Does ted cruz remind you of anyone . The comparison is certainly not lost on president obama. You know, if you recall, when i came into the senate, my attitude was, i should just keep a pretty low profile in the senate and just do the work. The media certainly didnt let you do that. The media may not have, but i didnt go around courting the media and i certainly didnt go around trying to shut down the government. Of course, our dear friend, senator cruz, had a response earlier this week, speaking on the Fox News Channel with megan kelly. I wish he hadnt been following his own advice in the last month. I mean, the president has kept such a low profile. He has been awol. He has not been part of the negotiations. So you made this point earlier, bill, you know, they have a lot of similarities, law School Review editor at harvard. Harvard. You know, both of them, you know, as freshman senators, with a lot of eyes on them. But president obama was like, look, i was trying to do my work, keep my head down, and obviously, ted cruz is courting the spectacle. And making quite a flash. Remember howard dean during the passions of the antiiraq war movement. He vaulted to the top of the democratic list in 2007. Everyone knew he was going to get the nomination. And a few weeks later, he just fell apart in iowa. Ted cruz could be the same kind of candidate, who stirs a lot of passion, but then when republicans take a look at him and think about it carefully, they say, you know, it would be tough to elect this guy. Remember, the last two elections, they nominated john mccain and they nominated mitt romney. Neither one of them was a favorite of conservatives. Conservatives had to swallow hard. What lesson do they take from that . Do they say, you know, we have to nominate someone who has broader appeal, or do they say, weve gone to the center twice. We lost both times. Now we want the real thing. The real thing is ted cruz. Interesting, yeah. I think, also, melissa, that a big difference, one of the many differences between obama and cruz, obama was looking to the nation as a whole. He was articulating a vision, we remember hope and change. It was about the future of the country. Cruz is taking a very cynical, selfserving path to what he believes is the nomination, to the Tea Party Folks who control the primary process in the Republican Party. But its not about the nation as a whole. And i think its a miscalculation. You know, you mentioned pathway to citizenship for undocumented folks. Twothirds of the country believe there should be a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. And that includes a majority of republicans, but not the tea party. And yet, cruz, when you ask him about it, he believes that he is taking this you know, in his statement, this is on saturday night, right . So at this point, were 12 days into the shutdown. And on saturday night he says that the people want jobs and strong Economic Growth back, and that obama care is a major impediment to both. He writes, as long as we keep listening to the people and fighting for jobs and prosperity, republicans will win this debate. So hes framing it in the big and thats smart, you know . Itll work. Especially if theres a high unemployment rate. My concern, you know, is that a lot of undecided voters, and lets remember, the republicans dont have to win by a large margin, especially if they disenfranchise millions of voters. So they have to get close enough and then win the election. And if he capitalizes on that message, its hard to prove a negative, but i will do a better job creating jobs than any democratic candidate can. He just has to get close enough. And if theres enough cynicism, you know, cynicism is a powerful thing. They could win an election. And they only need to get those disenfranchised voters in a few key states, right . Because of the nature of the electoral college. So when we see whats happening in North Carolina and sort of the ways in which this very purple state is being shifted to the red, then, in fact, youve seen an electoral strategy that maybe isnt longterm, right, for the gop. But in the shortterm, could benefit a cruz. Listen, theres 71 of latinos voted for barack obama in 2012. Thats a significant obstacle. If were looking at the demographics of the Republican Party getting four years older than they were in the last election cycle, that is a very big obstacle for them to get over. But this man, is a senator from texas. Like, i feel like as much as weve talked about how this shutdown has been made possible in part by gerrymandering, and so the idea that the tea party i mean, republicans in the house arent accountable, this man is the senator from texas. This is not a small little marginal state. Hes won statewide and had to win with latino votes and has his own sort of narrative of a postcuban past to be able to talk about. I dont think that necessarily plays nationally. I think one of the other things thats interesting, when this 150th anniversary of the civil war that weve been talking about now, and if we looked a t it in a different sense, what we have actually is a kind of districtbydistrict version of sectionalism. Where people are more defined by their region than by their political party. Thats what the Republican Party is really dealing with. Its just not geographic. Its just kind of district by district. And thats why its so hard and intractable for them to figure out where theyre going to go with it. Stay with us, i want to go to exactly some of the points youre talking about here and what we can learn from a history, particularly, a history of race and sectionalism that helps us to understand the shutdown. I do want to point out, though, that ted cruz in a times interview, that he said he gave to christmas to his staff, the David Plouffe book, the audacity to win, because he was so inspired by what freshman senator obama did in terms of becoming president. Itll be fun to watch these two fight it out. Coming up next, the role of race in the shutdown and why this moment has been a long time coming. Plus, twerk alert. The queen of bounce, big freida is here. More nerdland at the top of the hour. Mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971. Afghanistan in 2009. On the u. S. S. Saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once its earned, usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an Auto Insurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. I get out a lot. Except when its too cold. Like the last three weekends. Asthma doesnt affect my job. You missed the meeting again last week it doesnt affect my family. Your coughing woke me up again. I wish youd take me to the park. I dont use my rescue inhaler a lot. Depends on what you mean by a lot. Coping with asthma isnt controlling it. Test your level of control at asthma. Com, then talk to your doctor. There may be more you could do for your asthma. The end. Lovely read susan. But isnt it time to turn the page on your cup of joe . Gevalia, or a cup of johan, is like losing yourself in a great book. May i read something . Yes, please. Of course. A rich, never bitter taste cup after cup. Net weight 340 grams. [ sighs ] [ chuckles ] [ announcer ] always rich, never bitter. Gevalia. Welcome back. Im melissa harrisperry. We are now in the 13th day of Government Shutdown. How did we get here . Now, we were driven here by texas senator ted cruz, who engineered the obama care defunding hostage strategy. Weve stayed here because Speaker John Boehner is unable to tame the tea party and unwilling to work with democrats to pass a clean continuing resolution that would reopen government. Some might even argue president obama shares blame, because he wont negotiate piecemeal deals hastily offered by republicans, panicked by plummeting poll numbers. But in an essay published last week for think progress, reporter zach beech beauchamps offered an alternative explanation. Racism caused the shutdown. He said, this isnt an article about how republicans shut down the government because they hate that the president is black. This is an historic piece connecting key political moments from the turn of the 20th century to today. After the depression, southerners became a minority in congress for the first time. In response, they innovated a minority obstruction strategy, the southern veto, to thwart progressive racial policy. Those dixie dixaccurates and cot hold. Dix dixiecrats succeeded and they embraced the southern strategy as a way to win national elections. What does all of this have to do with the shutdown . Beauchamps argues that the Republican Party has inherited this radically and racially conservative fringe who like their dixiecrat predecessors are building barricades to meaningful governing. This isnt about the president being black, this is about how decades of legislative racism taught republicans the strategies of rigid ideological obstruction. Joining me now is president and executive director of the applied research center, publisher of colorblinds. Com, and author of the accidental american. Also, alan jenkins, executive director of the opportunity agenda. Bill schneider, distinguished senior fellow and resident scholar at third way, who when i said we would be joined by big freida, he said who, and jelani cobb, thanks to all of you for being here. Jelani, i thought zachs piece was so insightful in terms of helping us to understand, as he writes it, the ways in which race and racism form the scaffolding and structures of american politics. Well, i think this is important. Historians and political historians have been noticing this for a minute, which is the stunning degree of alignment that you see between the tea party and the Dixiecrat Party and what happens is the Dixiecrat Party comes about as a result from the Democratic Party realizing that their democratic future laid with these northern black voters. And their agenda in 1949, they never thought they could win the 1948 president ial election. But they could broker for more outsized influence. And when you look at the Republican Party, the tea Party Faction is, among other things, primarily a response to people recognizing that the democratic future of this country is black and brown. Particularly in the Republican Party. Theyre caught between this rock and a hard place, pleasing their center base kind of core constituency, and appealing to the people who they know theyre going to need to win future elections. That is the same thing that franklin roosevelt, that harry truman, that Lyndon Johnson and that all of them were trying to figure out in the 1930 through the 1960s. And and whats so amazing about this analysis is that it moves us away from thinking of racism as like holding the sign that says, you know, president obama is a muslim immigrant. I mean, okay. Whatever, right . Because though people werent going to vote for the president , you know, anyway and they werent going to support ft. s policies, because thats just sort of an oldfashioned version of racism. But this notion that race has structured who we are is more complicated to come to terms with. And i think more complicated for us to therefore generate new structures around. Yeah, i think, you know, what i found interesting in zachs article was the notion of white flight from the Democratic Party. I think that makes a lot of sense. And i actually think that the gop has become really, really good over that 50 years at generating disdain for government by focusing on negative stereotypes of people of color. I had this experience once in 1999, on new years eve, at dawn of the new millennium. I was in a Grocery Store in california. And i overheard this white woman in her 50s talking to a white man about a union that had been decertified in that same Grocery Store. They were really mad about the union being gone. And i poked my nose in and said, oh, i couldnt help overhearing, i work a lot on labor issues, i was just curious what union it was. And the woman skipped a beat, looked at me, but spoke to her friend and said, but the blacks and the latinos, now, they can get all the welfare they want. And dawn of the new millennium, the year of 2000. And after a decade in california, where we had passed ballot measures, cutting undocumented immigrants off from public services, including kids from Public Schools, destroying affirmative action in the state, passing the three strikes youre out law, so those kinds of that kind of imagery gets baked into our policy making, into the collective decisions we make as an institution. So there are a bunch of things about that story that i really love, that i want to ask you to respond to a little bit. Because one, its kind of the generational piece that you point out, when you say say, sort of, shes over 50, but also this idea of labor and race, and the interconnections and the ways in which sometimes white labor will position itself over and against people of color and their concerns, even though, in fact, they would benefit from similar policies. I want to read for you, allan, senator bailey in 1938, democrat from North Carolina. This is in his opposition to antilynching legislation. And he says, just as when the republicans in the 1860s undertook to impose the national will upon us with respect to the negro, we resented it and hated that party with a hatred that has outlasted generations. We hated it beyond measure. We hated it more than was right for us and more than was just. We hated it because of what it had done to us before the wrong it undertook to put upon us. And just as the same spols destroyed the hope of the Republican Party in the south, the same policy adopted by the Democratic Party will destroy the Democratic Party in the south. This is a conservative dixiecrat in 1968. There is no way that this is gone. Saying that we hated you since lincoln, because of imposing freedom on the south. Right. The persistence of this idea of federal government, and especially a strong federal government, equals forced equal opportunity, in a way that some constituencies dont like, is very, very lasting. And theres something that else that goes along with it. You have now conservative republican gerrymandering of districts, including house districts, on top of residential segregation. But it flows from jim crowe, white flight and the like. Which means in a very diverse america, very different america than at that time, you can still have these districts in which the people they send to congress dont feel responsible to all americans. And thats a remarkable accomplishment, and a terrible accomplishment, that those districts can still and obviously, zach starts in sort of the mid20th century. But the very fact that we have a senate where wyoming and california both have the same number of votes, right, has everything to do with the realities of slavery and having to try to manage a union that was both stick with us, im brigging bill snyder . On this as soon as we come back. There is more on this question of whether or not racism caused the shutdown. Im beth. And im michelle. And we own the paper cottage. Its a stationery and gifts store. Anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. So you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the Game Changing app from ink. We didnt get into business to spend time managing receipts, thats why we have ink. We like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. So you have time to focus on the things you love. Ink from chase. So you can. [ male announcer ] may your lights always be green. [ tires screech ] [ beeping ] may you never be stuck behind a stinky truck. [ beeping ] may things always go your way. But its good to be prepared. Just in case they dont. Toyota. Lets go places, safely. But its good to be prepared. Just in case they dont. Make my mark i wawith pride. Ork. Create moments of value. Build character through quality. And earn the right to be called a classic. The lands end no iron dress shirt. Starting at 49 dollars. Be careful babe. [ doorbell rings ] lets see whats cookin. Look at this. Thats a swiffer. I dont have to climb up. Did you notice how clean it looks . Morty are you listening . Morty . [ morty ] im listening i want you to know. So when coverage really counts, count on nationwide insurance. Because whats precious to you is precious to us. Love, love is strange just another way we put members first. Because we dont have shareholders. Join the nation. Baby. Nationwide is on your side their cause must be our cause too. Because its not just negroes, but really, its all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome. That was president Lyndon Johnson in march of 1965, as he pressed for passage of the Voting Rights act. It was a stunning moment that unreconstructed texas accent in an american president openly acknowledging the countrys history of racism and its corrosive effect on our national promise. I think its a lesson we still have not fully learned. So i wanted to come to that moment, in part because we have i mean, we have made progress. Its something about zachs piece does make it feel as though theres an unbroken line, but the line isnt unbroken. Theres been sort of an unstudy progress, forward and backwards. Of course. Look, republicans define themselves by hatred of the federal government. Africanamericans are the only constituency in the United States that doesnt viscerally hate the federal government. They have causes for resentment. The federal government rescued africanamericans from intolerable situations on two occasions. The 1860s from slavery, the 1960s from segregation. So when republicans talk about how terrible the federal government is, that doesnt resonate with africanamericans, because they have a very different experience. Yeah, its always so forth worth noting that we get an africanamerican president before we have a meaningful number of africanamerican statewide elected officials, right . You would think that it would take sort of a reservoir of senators and governors before, but, in fact, thats not what happens, because in part, what happens in localities and states is often not good for people of color. Thats right. And dont forget, Richard Nixon had something to do with this as well. Richard nixon adopted the southern strategy. That was a deliberate strategy to reach out to southern white voters. Let me give you a statistic. In 1968, Richard Nixons worst state, when he ran when he first ran for president , was mississippi. He got about 17 of the vote, because George Wallace got about twothirds of the vote in mississippi. Thats right. In 1972, Richard Nixons best state was mississippi. You had together the wallace vote and the nixon vote and you get the republican vote of 1972 and beyond. That captures exactly what happened. And for that to happen, right, theres a thing that happens in the Democratic Party, right . The Democratic Party breaks apart, dixiecrats become republicans. I wonder, jelani, as we la look this very uncomfortable coalition in the Republican Party, the inability of boehner to keep his caucus together, is there any possibility that well that sort of the right fringe of the Republican Party will find some other place to go . Thats exactly what will happen. I mean they are in the same position the Democratic Party was in for those 30 years. Were trying to placate two irreconcilable demographics. And its an incredible thing. Probably the story of 20th century politics is not that these dynamics are going on, was that the democrat party, the genius of these leaders, was that they managed to hold the whole thing together for so long. Right. And in addition to this, one of the things that we see, when you saw that clip from lbj, that Lyndon Johnson was influenced by seeing what the new deal did in texas. He always goes back, and talking about what an influence that was, and seeing that government actually could help a regular, common person. And the political lubricant that allowed this to happen was the white working class, that the presumption that the beneficiaries would be white people. Which makes haroldici harold an like him heroic. Demanding that plaqblack people cut in. He says, can we expand this now. Thats what lbj is saying. He says, can we expand this. This language of government step in and being able to help people fundamentally and be inclusive of black people and its disastrous for southern democrats. Theres a moment in the 1995, when my senator in louisiana, mary landrieu, a louisiana democrat, introduces a bill that is an apology on the part of the senate, an apology to the American People and to africanamericans in particular for having never passed antilynching legislation, right . So that southern veto that we were talking about was often used by southern democrats to keep the antilynching legislation from occurring. And in 2005, just two months before katrina, a louisiana democrat introduces this apology that the senate then takes up. I felt such hope at that moment, alan, and of course, right after that, two months after that katrina happens, the sort of race story of katrina emerges. And yet just a few years after that, the election of president obama. I have to say, i got a little racially giddy about potentially where we were going. And then the past seven years have been difficult and culminating in this shutdown, which now feels like this thing from the 1930s. Right. But i think that the shutdown, one of the reasons that the shutdown blows up the conservative narrative in a lot of ways and why you see this erosion of the tea party support, republican support in the public, during the shutdown, is because it reminds people what government actually does and what the federal government actually does. So like the new deal, and lbj, people say, right, im actually benefiting from mortgage security. Im actually benefiting from the ability to go to the state parks and the like. Its not just people of color, but its all of us. And it includes peel of color, thanks to lbj. So i think it becomes more and more difficult, even though they want to shut down the government, for them to tell their story when they have. Yeah. Hold for just a moment. Because before we move on this morning, i do want to pause, to show all of our viewers, but especially our viewers here in the new york area, this poster. This is a missing person poster for avonte kindo. He is a 14yearold boy with autism who does not communicate verbally. Hes been missing since october 4th. Avontes family, volunteers, and new York City Police have been engaged in a massive search for the young man who is said to be particularly fond of trains. Now, i want to add to the voices, asking that anyone with information regarding avonte, please contact authorities. Call 1800577tips. There is a reward for his safe return. After the break, were keeping our eye on the ongoing Government Shutdown and the one city bearing an unusual brunt of the stress of the shutdown, that major u. S. City that is about to go broke is next. Get paid to do something you really love, what would you do . [ woman ] id be a writer. [ man ] id be a baker. [ woman ] i wanna be a pie maker. [ man ] i wanna be a pilot. [ woman ] id be an architect. What if i told you someone could pay you and what if that person were you . When you think about it, isnt that what retirement should be, paying ourselves to do what we love . Le le store and essentially they just get sold something. We provide the exact individualization that your body needs. Before you invest in a mattress, discover the bed clinically proven to improve sleep quality. When we actually lower the sleep number setting to get the sleep number bed to conform to them, its amazing the transition that you see with people. Oh, that feels really good. Its hugging my body. They just look at you like you cured all the problems theyve ever had. We hear it all the time i didnt know a bed could feel like this. Oh yeah. You can have comfort and you can be in the same bed. I can adjust mine to my liking and she can do the same. The sleep number bed is more than just a mattress. You sleep on it, youll understand. During the sleep number columbus day event, save 500 to 700 on the final closeout of our Performance Series mattress sets. But hurryends soon only at one of our 425 sleep Number Stores nationwide, where queen mattresses start at just 699. 99. Sleep number. Comfort individualized. Verizon innovators are combining a network of underwater sensors and artificial reefs that actually make our water cleaner. Giving sea life new life. Because the worlds Biggest Challenges deserve even bigger solutions. Powerful answers. Verizon. Talking about money there is a 143yearold law that actually mandates a Government Shutdown. And it may be the reason that washington, d. C. , the city, may screech to a halt this week. The antideficiency act passed by congress in 1870 prohibits the government from incurring any monetary obligation for which congress has not appropriated funds. One of those obligations, the entire District Of Columbia. Now, remember, d. C. Is a city without a state. The district has been spending 20 million a day from its Contingency Fund to keep running during the shutdown. But that fund could tap out as soon as today. And thanks to the antideficiency act, the District Of Columbia is barred by pent alty of law by accessin the 1. 5 billion of its own locally raised taxes it has stashed away in a rainy day fund. Mayor vincent gray on wednesday crashed a Senate Press Conference to bring attention to d. C. s plight. It earned him a bit of a scolding from Senate Majority leader harry reid. Im on your side, dont screw it up. Im on your side. Joining me now is washington, d. C. Mayor vincent gray. Thanks for being here. What did you think senator reid meant when he said, im on your side, dont screw it up . I have absolutely no idea. Those who are on our side at this stage, the easiest thing for them to do would be to approve the district being able to spend our own money. Its amazing how few people really understand that what were talking about is not an appropriation of federal money. Were talking about being given the authority to spend our own money. We raise the money through our property taxes, through our sales taxes, and through our income taxes. We have a budget of 10 billion. 6 billion of that we raise ourselves, each year, just like any other state, city, or county. And the federal money we get, we get it in the same way that every other state does. So all were asking for is the authority to spend our own money, not anybody elses money, its archaic and it needs to be changed. And i think youre right. That for most americans, they dont really understand that relationship that d. C. Has to the federal government. But tell folks just a little bit about the effects that the shutdown is having on d. C. Because yall are particularly vulnerable to the economic and social effects of it. Well, absolutely. First of all, you can see the effects, just by looking at the level of business being done in the District Of Columbia. You know, our restaurants, for example, our hospitality industry, all are affected by this. And then, we have made the decision to keep our government going. Were not going to close down our government, so were having to go into what reserves that we have to be able to make those payments. Our employees deserve to be paid, and weve chose ton pay them on their payday. We have a payday coming up on tuesday and then another one on the 29th at the end of the month. Those pay periods are almost 100 million by themselves. And right now, the only way we can make that payment is out of reserve funds, which are rapidly being depleted. What happens if the shutdown persists for another week if d. C. . Well, we would certainly be facing the prospect of being out of reserves. You know, we would have to ask, for example, those who provide services, some of our health care providers, some of our other nonprofits, to be able to continue to provide services and they will get paid later. What is really absolutely unconscionable about this is that we have the money. We spent time, you know, for months working on a budget that is completely balanced. Weve had 18 consecutive years of balanced budget. Our budget for this year again is balanced. All were asking for is the opportunity to spend our own money. Mayor, when you frame it that way, when you talk about the opportunity to spend your own money, is this the moment, despite all of the negative things that the shutdown is doing to the city, is this the moment where you can rearticulate, in a way that maybe people can hear, an argument for d. C. Statehood . I absolutely think so. Because many people just dont get it. They dont know that much about the District Of Columbia. Ive had, you know, all kinds of statements made, as you go further and further outside the beltway, about the District Of Columbia, that reflect people really dont understand. We are a city of 632,000 people. We actually have more People Living in the District Of Columbia than in the entire state of vermont, the entire state of wyoming. So were not small, were not inconsequential, and were not ask anybody for anything, other than the opportunity to be able to do what everybody else does. And that is to be able to manage and control their own money. Weve been talking a bit about the wyoming senatorial race here on the show, and you know, obviously spent some time finding out that there are about 500,000 people, far fewer than that in terms of voters. So obviously you have a claim at least on the population basis. Mayor gray, i certainly hope that the shutdown is resolved quickly for the good of your constituents. Thank you very much. And we certainly hope so too. Thank you. Mayor vincent gray, thank you for joining us. And alan and bill, thanks for spending a part of your morning with us. Up next is an update on a story that weve covered pretty extensively on this program, the walmart associate who protested his company can now says he was fired in retaliation. Stay with us. Hey guys. Hey glad yall made it. Sorry were late. Did you run into traffic . No, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. You stopped by the house . Uhhuh. Yeah. Alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. You leave the house in good shape . Yeah. Yeah, of course. [ sportscaster talking on tv ] lastsecond field go yeah, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at t digital life. Personalized Home Security and automation. With limited availability in select markets. With limited availability in select markets. With an innovative showerhead plus wireless speaker, kohler is the proud sponsor of singing in the shower. Bigger, tougher messes was better leverage, he created a magic eraser with an attachable handy grip. It gives you the leverage you need to tackle tough kitchen messes and big bathroom grime, too. Mr. Cleans new magic eraser handy grip. If you felt last years black friday protests against walmart were big, according to organizers, you aint seen nothing yet. The protests last year resulted in more than 400 workers walking out of Walmart Stores across the country. This year, organizers predict protests will be widespread and massive. But while workers continue to struggle against the retail giant, it does not come without a cost. Several striking workers claim that they have experienced retaliation and unjust firings. Joining me now from dallas is kolbe harris, a former walmart associate, who as recently as september 5th, participated in a protest outside of a dallas walmart. Two day after that protest, colby appeared on that program, talking about what demonstrators have called walmarts unfair labor and wages. Colby was fired on september 30th and he claims it was in retaliation for protesting against the company. We reached o out to walmart for comment, but the company has not yet responded. Thank you for joining us again. Thank you for having me on. When were you fireded a eand was the reason . I was fired on september 30th and the reason they gave me is that i had an excess of absences and tardies. The reality is that the absences and tardies came from all the days i was taking legally protected strikes and one of the days they said they fired me for was a day where i was hospitalized with pneumonia and actually brought an excused doctors note to them and they told me that it was excused, but they ended up firing me for that day as well as the days i protested. Part of whats interesting to me here, colby, i read a little bit about your story when you talk about producers, and not only were you fired, but you say that since you were fired, you went, for example, to retrieve your check and retreated not just like someone who no longer works there, but like someone who is no longer even welcomed on the premises. Actually, just last week they filed an injunction on our organization, stating that at my store in lancaster, texas, i am not allowed or any other people from the organization are allowed to step on their premises for two weeks. And they just filed that last week against us. So let me ask you this. Will you continue to be involved in protests despite the fact that youre not longer employed by walmart . Oh, most definitely i will, and they know that, and that is the reason they fired me, they thought they could somehow slow me down or slow our organization down. But what they did is created an avenue where i can have more opportunities to speak about whats actually going on with this company and going on with more stores. So they gave me hand up. Let me ask you a question. What difference would it have made if you were a unionized employee, at the moment, at which you were fired . Or at least what difference do you believe it would have made if you were in a union . Well, thats actually not what were seeking, but i think the difference would have been is, is there would have been a fair due process. And they wouldnt have just fired me off days that i know im legally protected to strike. I think i would have been at least given the right process. They would have given me my check. I had to go up there two days after i was fired, to give me my check and the paper stating the reason why i was fired. Which i have here in my hand. Obviously, we dont yet have a statement from walmart, but undoubtedly theyre going to take a different position on this. Theyre going to say that you were not present and that you had absenteeism. But part of this is also because texas is an atwill employment state. So what did that mean for you. In other words, when walmart decided to let you go, how much of a reason, how much evidence did they have to give you . Little to none. The day i was fired, they brought me into the office ten minutes before my shift ended, two commanders got me, read me into the office, stating the two dates that i was absent, which is one day where i was hospitalized and the other day where i was in jail for a protest. I didnt sign any documentation, and they escorted me out of the building with all the managers. And ied that no documentation. Colby, have you found new employment yet . Oh, i have not yet at the exact moment. Ive actually been still going inside stores and trying to organize the associates, but i will have to file for unemployment. Im still currently seeking another job as well. How worried are you that this firing is going to affect your ability to find other employment . Im not worried at all, because i know what i was doing was right. Every day that i was absent and taking those strikes, they were legally protected and walmart simply didnt adhere to our federal laws and decided to break the law by firing me. So i know i can still go to another job and be employed because what i was doing was right and protected legally. Colby harris, we appreciate your courage. I said before when you were here in nerdland that i believe you were being courageous, now, obviously, you believe that youve been fired as a result of this it and yet you continue to speak out, and that for me counts as real courage. Thank you. Thank you, i appreciate it. Up next, there is someone very special coming to nerdland. If you dont know who big freida is, you need to know who big freida is, and if you dont know, youre about to find out who big freida is because big freedia is in nerdland, next. Peace of mind is important when youre running a successful business. So we provide it services you can rely on. With centurylink as your trusted it partner, youll experience reliable uptime for the network and services you depend on. Multilayered Security Solutions keep your Information Safe, and secure. And responsive dedicated support meets your needs, and eases your mind. Centurylink. Your link to whats next. Humans. Even when we cross our ts and dot our is, we still run into problems. Namely, other humans. Which is why at Liberty Mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. See what else comes standard at libertymutual. Com. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . When ouwe got a subaru. S born, its where she said her first word. little girl no saw her first day of school. little girl bye bye made a best friend forever. The back seat of my subaru is where she grew up. What . announcer the twothousandfourteen subaru forester. girl what . announcer built to be there for your family. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. With my united mileageplus explorer card. Ive saved 75 in checked bag fees. [ delavane ] priority boarding is really important to us. You can just get on the plane and relax. [ julian ] having a card that doesnt charge you foreign transaction fees saves me a ton of money. [ delavane ] we can go to any country and spend money the way we would in the u. S. When i spend money on this card, i can see brazil in my future. [ anthony ] i use the explorer card to earn miles in order to go visit my family, which means a lot to me. [ ding ] losing your chex mix too easily . Time to deploy the boringpopcorn decoy bucket. Then no one will want to steal the deliciousness. With a variety of tastes and textures only chex mix is a bag of interesting. Big freedia might not be a household name in your house yet, but where i live, it is. And shes taking dance music to new highs with a reality show on fuse tv. Comes from gospel move, singing in church choirs, directing church choirs. Thats my background. My mom loved when i was singing church. Where you originally started, in the church. Oh, my god. He can make them work it. And the diva is making it work and im pleased to welcome to nerdland, the one and only big freedia. Thank you fg being here. Im excited to be here. I wanted you hear for all kinds of reasons, but talk to me about why youre doing a reality show. What is the reality youre trying to teach people about . Definitely to open doors for bounce music to become mainstream. Thats the main focus, but to give people involved in big freedia and in my world and in my movement. Bounce music and the culture from new orleans is very exciting that the Production Company put this together and fuse picked it up, even though the network that the reality show is airing on. So im excited that this is happening for new orleans, for our culture, and for bounce music as a whole. When you say our culture, i feel like people like to think about sort of this imagine time in new orleans, when it was always jazz music. So people want to talk just about, like, jazz is our culture, and a lot of folks dont really know about our current what we actually listen to on a daytoday basis. So tell people, what is bounce . Bounce music is an up tempo, heavy response type music, definitely born and raised out of new orleans. Its been around for over two decades. Its time for the world to know about it and see. It has been captivated so long in norris, but we have that as well as the mardi gras indiand jazz and so much good talent that comes from new orleans, now its time for the world to be able to see more than the lil waynes and bee gees and juveniles. They get to see it on the another level. Not that im mad about wayne. Not at all, im very supportive. Thats repping new orleans and repping our city, so im excited about all of that. Its funny, we are such a place. There are some places where you can wake up and be in any city, but its not true for us, right . One of the things, we will bounce remix everything. Everything. Everything that comes out. Thats the way we learn it. We dont learn it the normal way, we learn it on the bounce beat. In fact, right after the tragic death of Whitney Houston, all of the radio play was Whitney Houston remixed in bounce. Definitely was. They had a whole segment of whitney and every song was flipped with a bounce beat. So what does that mean . For us, i always think of bounce in part bridging divides, bridging together black and white, uptown, midcity, everybody. All walks of life. Thats what you come to see a big freedia show. You get a chance to express yourself through dance music and feel comfortable about it. Talk to me about that expression through dance. Because, obviously, twerking has gotten to be kind of a phenomenon, but twerking isnt new, its just part of the big bounce culture. Right. What happens if people can start putting twerking into context, in all of what bounce is . Well, like you said, it is the overall of bounce music. Twerking is one of those words in the vocabulary of bounce. And its just exciting to be able to teach people about this, you know, and about new orleans and where it comes from and the origins of it. Its been around for a long time. People have been twerking. And for it to be coming to the mainstream and for miley to open that door, im excited about it. Let me ask you this. I know that, undoubtedly, folks watching right now, and who may even watch the fuse reality show, who are going to say, professor perry, you have somebody on whos talking about twerking and bounce music and hip hop, and those are negative representations, particularly negative representations in blackness. And i always feel like, no, this is who we are, good, bad, all of it, but how would you respond to that idea that this is bad or negative . I basically respond to, its a new generation. People are being very bold about what they do and how they express themselves through music, through fashion, through different looks. And you know, people, we are being able to express ourselves this new generation, its not about being afraid to express your culture or who you are or where you come from. And were very bold in new orleans. We want to represent, we want to get, you know, we shake from zero to 99. And we represent and we let people know that this is our culture, and were not afraid to be who we are. And im just one of those representatives to let people know, be who you are. Dont be afraid. Express yourself through dance, through music, through fashion, through all of it. Speaking of shaking from zero to 99, you just won a guiness world book for the largest twerk. I want to take a look at the video. This was here in new york, in times square. And it really was zero from 99, all different races. People out there doing their best. Yes, they were. What kind of energy do you get from a moment like this . Its exciting, because you get to see people have fun, you know, in a rare form. You get to see all different walks of life gather together. And it was very exciting for me. It was like a big old concert, right in the middle of harris square. And i was excited that fuse put that together. It was kind of fun to watch that piece happening here. Stick with us for just a moment. Well bring some other folks to the table. Im giving up my footnote, which is when i normally stand up and pontificate about something, uh be i want big freedia to stay with us and bring some other folks to the table, because i want to discuss the complicated realities of images of race and gender in the media. There are some new studies from an essence study. Well talk about that when we come back. [ unr ass people like to pretend a flood [ female ane could never happen to them. And that their Homeowners Insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesnt. Stop pretending. Only Flood Insurance covers floods. Visit floodsmart. Gov pretend to learn your risk. I dont miss out. You sat out most of our game yesterday asthma doesnt affect my job. You were out sick last week. My asthma doesnt bother my family. You coughed all through our date night i hardly use my rescue inhaler at all. What did you say . How about every day . Coping with asthma isnt controlling it. Test your level of control at asthma. Com, then talk to your doctor. There may be more you could do for your asthma. Heres a quick test. Name five people that you think define positive representations of africanamerican women on television right now. Having trouble . Well, according to a new study by essence magazine, thats not a big are surprise. Pare participants in their study found that images of black women on tv mostly consisted of angry black women, baby mamas, and gold diggers. Those images arent only negative, but steep in stereotypes. Big freedia still at the table, je lanny co jelani cobb. Vanessa, talk to me about what the findings were from the essence study about media images of black women. We know that the power of media is profound, so we wanted to take a look at why there are so many more black women on media than ever before, we wondered if there was balance. So we asked 1,200 participants to keep visual diaries of what they were seeing on the internet, in magazines, on tv, and just kind of rank where they did they feel like they were being adequately represented. And what we found is that there is really a huge gulf between these extreme characterizations of, you know, theres either youve got the superstars like oprah or michelle obama, and on the other end, there are these other extreme characterizations, as you said, baby mamas, modern jezebels, gold diggers, angry black women. And theres this whole gulf in the middle thats not being represented. You know, people like you, people like our mothers, our sisters, our girlfriends, that were not seeing at all. So its interesting. I know yall called this the problem of the invisible middle. And ive been trying to kind of sort through this a little bit and thinking, okay, on the one hand, its the invisible middle, by which you mean sort of ordin black women working, making a life, building a world. I also wonder if theres an invisibility in, for example, the baby mama, or in these things that are socalled negative stereotypes that we actually cant see their humanity. I wanted to play just a moment from big fredas show. I love this moment. It was a thing that felt to me like an invisibility of us, but that im imagining people might respond to in very different ways. Lets listen. I want this time to be about quality time with my family. So today im putting together this big family crawfish boil. I support my whole family. A lot of pressure is on me. But family is all i have. Ill do any and everything for them. Right, so here you are having crawfish boil, which is, you know, ordinary life for us. Yes, definitely. But invisible for a lot of folks. Im thinking there are people who would look and say, these are poor people, these are black people. Yet, this is about family. This is you bringing out, in part, the invisible middle of the things we sometimes think of as negative stereotypes. Does that make sense . Most definitely. It absolutely does make sense. I guess what were trying to say in this study is if there were balance, if you saw more diversity, then there would be a truer picture of who we really are. You would see our complete humanity. What youre seeing is a scratch of the surface. Its predominantly, you know, just negative and sometimes feels mean spirited. I wonder what we might think the impacts of these images are. Well, i definitely think that they just have a really terrible effect on the selfesteem of black women. I also think that theres a connection between these images on television and the earlier discussion we were having about government, the role of government, the shutdown. So its one of the ways in which people who dont think of themselves as conservatives actually perpetuate these negative stereotypes that then drive things like tax revolts and a passion for starving government programs. I think that i dont really think its going to change, actually, until theres a really unified inside, outside strategy to shift the media so people inside the media working from there to develop reality shows like Michelle Barnwell does, for example, where you have the same sets of characters but the story telling is about the real experiences that those cast members have, about the things they really worry about and think about. Family, love, work, kids. So i think from the inside, that work has to happen. But also from the outside, consumers have to demand something different. Hollywood keeps giving us this because we watch it and the ratings are high. So they dont test very often what else we might like and what else we might watch. But when those shows go up, like the show that michelle did for b. E. T. , that was a really different kind of reality show. No hot tubs. No martini glasses flying. The highest rated show in b. E. T. History. Clearly audiences will respond to great content if its up there. And you know, part of what i always want to resist is this kind of respectability policy where we look at the negative images. Theyre appalling, but i dont to say, therefore, only put ph. D. Lightskinned black ladies on. First of all, thats not even the totality of who i am, much less who all black women are. I think the entirety is to be able to deal with peoples fundamental humanity. I think that given that there are 41 million black people in this country, theres 41 million different black realities. Well see more shows like images of an awkward black girl. Shows like that, you know, kind of show there are these different kinds of slices of black life people would be interested in seeing. I think we tend to look at it in a siloed way, though. Television deals with a lot of stereotypes. Lots of different types of characters. The things happening with white women on reality tv are not exactly positive. Right. Its kind of what they do is they sell these narrow slivers of who a person might be. The problem is that with africanamericans, those narrow slivers actually drive policy. I think thats why we become concerned about it. Right, because the stakes are just higher in that case. Part of whats interesting about balance is also the ways that it crosses lines of sexuality. So you know, i know you reject the notion of sissy bounce is a separate bounce movement produced by gay men. But i think about katy red and the ways in which shes a pioneer in bounce music but also a gay black man who cross dresses and yet is loved often by hyper masculine hiphop brothers. Like, theres this i think theres a way in which we see that, we can see that when we get to the real of who people are and sometimes to music and to art, theres ways to bridge those divides. Right. I definitely think that i, you know, help possess a power thats inside of me to help cross that over with connecting with a lot of males. You know, being able to be who i am and not be afraid to be who i am. When people see me, they respect me and respect my character. Fuse has took a chance on doing this reality show and letting people see another side to the world. Just like she said, different consumers, they just give us whatever we feed off of. If we demand more from them and start to open doors for new shows and new ideas and to see realness and family oriented shows, i think things will change. The world is changing on that level, in social media as well. Im going to give you the last round, but thank you so much for the work essence has done here. Theyve obviously pioneered images of black women for decades. I love that you all are continuing to keep an eye on who are we in this space. Thanks to everybody. That is our show for today. Thanks to all of you at home for watching. Ill see you next saturday, 10 00 a. M. Eastern. Right now its time for a preview of weekends with alex witt. Great discussion. Thanks so much. Day 13 of the Government Shutdown and just four days until the debt ceiling deadline. Several Key Developments to tell you about. A warning from one pilots union about its new terror fears. Is the concern a valid one . Ill ask an expert. Also, the mystery of lee harvey oswald. A new book examines what happens during his time in the soviet union and how it might have effects the killing of kennedy 50 years ago. And my conversation with elizabeth smart. She tells me somehow she got her kidnappers to return to the scene of the crime, which eventually led to her rescue. Dont go anywhere. Ill be right back. If you have the audacity to believe in straight talk, not doubletalk. If you have the nerve to believe that in a puzzling financial world, clarity is king. [ man ] if you believe nothing beats a sitdown for knowing where you stand. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do face time and think time make a difference. Join us. [ male announcer ] for 90 years, its how edward jones has made sense of investing. [ male announcer ] for 90 years, ito guard their manhood with trnew depend shields and guards. The discreet protection thats just for guys. Now, its your turn. Get my Training Tips at guardyourmanhood. Com ive got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. Its time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that wont relieve all your symptoms. New alka seltzer plusd relieves more sinus symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. Oh what a relief it is