0 "essence" magazine, the premiere magazine for african-american women has been hosting this festival in new orleans for almost 20 years. and it regularly attracts hundreds of thousands of people. this weekend is a celebration of african-american music, beyonce, hey, girl, and culture. we have an incredible amount to get to this morning. but first, we want to bring you the latest on the important international news, still developing out of egypt. for that, let me bring in from cairo, nbc's ian mohedan. what's happening there? >> reporter: the situation remains tense across the country, especially here in cairo, where officials say the death toll between those who supported morsi and those who oppose him have now reached 30. there was intense fighting not only in cairo, but in the city of alexander as well. and in between these two rival camps now is building tension. now, at the core of this debate, to bring it back to this incredible festival in new orleans. it is a celebration of black culture and music, and part of what is really great about the essence festival is that it gives us kind of this amazing space to discuss the challenges facing african-american communities. and especially african-american women. and the big question for women of color right now is how to make the most of the political power that they wielded in the 2012 presidential election. because make no mistake, women of color won the election for president obama. that's right, 96% of black women and three quarters of latinas voted for president obama. they are the source of the famous gender gap, making up for white women who actually voted for mitt romney by an eight-point margin. and it is those women, the women who are here today, at the essence festival who are needed to stop the radical conservative agenda and the all-out assault on women's bodies. but how do we translate our voting power into real change? whether it's through defunding planned parenthood, whether it's through transvaginal ultrasounds, there's an ongoing battle that has dramatic repercussions for women, but really, especially women of color. >> i always want to sort of remind focuses that the kinds of policies that we're seeing right now, if you have a private ob/gyn and you have private health insurance, you just go to your physician and can have a first trimester abortion with very little trouble. when they shut down clinics, what that does is to impact poor women, teenagers, you know, women of color who may not have access to health insurance. and thea, black women are turning out at 70%, in the 2012 election, black women turned out 70% of us, turned out to vote. is there any possibility that in 2014, we can return people to polls at that level? >> well, swlult. if you figure out that now, let's take texas for an example. you go from 45 abortion clinics to like 5 across the state. that's like 800 miles along at one point. lifestyle magazine, but the issues that affect women of color are so frequently wrought in the political sphere, how -- an information source like "essence," what role does it play in moving women to the polls? >> i think that "essence" is absolutely critical to being part of the conversation. raising these issues about what's going on in our community, making sure that people have the information to make the right decisions at the polls, that they have complete information. that's part of what we do, provide, is that resource. and you know, because we speak to such a broad swath of african-american women, black caribbean women, african women, you know, we don't take that responsibility lightly, at all. >> which is a reminder that immigration reform is also a woman's issue, right? we talk about abortion and health care, which can, but we don't always remember that immigration is not just a latino woman's issue, it's a black women's issue. >> in a recent issue, we spoke to a woman, black, undocumented immigrant, and talked to her about being seen and kind of unseen. but not being a part of that conversation. the conversation is always around border patrols. it's always around, you know, english as a second language. what we forget is that there is a huge, huge population that is contributing to this country, black, caribbean, and african, that are investing in this country, that they're paying taxes in this country. and yet, we haven't invested in them. >> we don't even think of the issue that way. karen, it is one thing to get voters out. when i say 70% of black women showed up at the polls in 2012. but the other piece of this, if we're going to beat these kind of restrictions, is that women have to run. so as head of the democratic party here in a red state, how do we get more women, especially women in red states, to put their name in the hat? >> you're absolutely right, melissa. it's really embarrassing i serve in the louisiana state senator and there are only four women out of 39 in the senate, right? and then we wonder why the essence festival here in new orleans. and after nine years of working at walmart, i know savings. and right now we've got everything you need for a great summer. this 5-piece dining set on clearance, save over $49! marco! polo! this metal frame pool on rollback, you save $80! woo! fire up the savings. this 4 burner grill on rollback, you save $11. how bout all these bikes on rollback? like this mongoose adult bike, you save over $20! get more summer for your money at walmart's super summer savings event going on right now at your local walmart.