Transcripts For MSNBCW The Cycle 20140930

Historic building. The second event that happened this month when an armed man jumped the security fence and made it into the white house. The first assailant ever to get inside. We were first led to believe gonzalez was apprehended just inside the white house front door but now the secret is out. Thanks to Washington Post reporting, we have learned this incident was far more serious than the agency had initially let on. Omar gonzalez jumped the fence, ran across the white house lawn, up the steps of the front portico and into the white house. He was arminged with a threeinch serrated knife. He entered through an unlocked door past the staircase to the president ial residence and into the east room of the white house. In addition to the failure of several layers of security, the front door was unlocked, the alarm box disabled. Apparently some white house staffers complained that the noise had bothered them. The concern was when these alarms were put into place in proximity to other activities within the white house, it could be an interference, such as tour lines or other public events. All these lapses coming from an agency that estimates president obama faces three times, three times the number of threats that his predecessors faced. Its very difficult for the secret service when these individuals come to our attenti attention, as many as 300 a year or a day are being evaluated by our office of protective intelligence. Many are brought to attention for having unusual direction of interest or making a direct threat against our protectees. As of yesterday, they were directly overseeing 327 investigations. Nbcs luke russert has been following the action on the hill all day. Theres certainly been a lot to follow there. What did you learn from the hearings today . Its interesting. Usually when you have a hearing like this derived from a bombshell report, often youll at least have some members of congress to try and help the member whos being before the committee. Usually thats if the democrats have a democratic person in front they want to help them out, derived from the administration. This time it was open season on director pearson, from both the right and the left, getting at her about a systematic failure within the secret service. Not only for the latest incident that happened a few weeks ago where were learning new horrific details that this individual got through an unlocked door and came to the stairwell where the first familys residential quarters is and was tackled by an offduty secret Service Agent. I thought the most interesting line of attack was the 2011 incident. Just what you mentioned, four days, seven shots. No understanding of how that could have occurred. The simple answer is there is a flaw in the chain of command. People didnt know about it. When you get into this its the hierarchy within this organization really is the problem. From agents weve heard of, they say, you cant speak out and Say Something is not working because of fear something bad will happen to you. Thats what director pearson is trying to change. Interesting enough, the crux of the Important Information will come out now within the closed door session of that hearing, the classified part. This is where shell describe to the members the classified information regarding how the secret service particular specifically protects the president and next steps to make him and his family safer. She also mentioned the sequester cuts that happened to the secret service have been detrimental. They feel they are below the Adequate Funding level. She said about 550 people below optimal levels in terms of being able to exercise what they want to do as a force. Thats an issue. Ill wrap up with this. I think when you hear how close that these two individuals came, one with the highpowered rifle in 2011, this other gentleman a few weeks ago, it has to be disconcerting for the obama girls to understand they were so close to danger in a place thats supposed to be the safest house in the world. I think thats whats starting to get the anger of republicans and democrats is how can that happen in 2014 with the nations first black president . We need answers. Theyre not satisfied with what they got today. Absolutely, luke. Thank you so much as always. Lets turn to editoratlarge for the week who has written for years about the inner workings of the secret service agency. Thanks for being with us. Starting with the shooting incident that happened several years ago l years ago were now just learning the details of, which are obviously incredibly troubling, from the Washington Post reporting they said that officer Kerry Johnson told several Senior Officers she thought the house had been hit but she did not challenge her superiors for fear of being criticized. Thats what she later told investigators. Speak to the culture of an agency where the officers on the ground who heard shots, who smelled shots, who saw debris falling did not feel like they could challenge their superiors in this situation . If that is, indeed, true, if she felt particularly with regard to something that could have been an attempted assassination of the president , that she couldnt communicate that to supervisors or she felt she would somehow be retaliated against, if that, indeed, is the cull tufr have tour of the secret service, middle Level Management, particularly uniform division, its unthinkable. And it does speak to a very significant problem. When you talk to superiors what theyll say is, well, no one comes to us. Of course, we take those complaints seriously. Why wouldnt we take a complaint . Why wouldnt we take a report someone had heard bullets falling and had seen debris falling . You have what officers say at lower levels and what upper management believes. Theres the daytoday field managers, lieutenants, deputy special agent in charge of certain details where there seems to be this disconnect between officers and agents below them feel about their ability to have voices heard in the organization and what actually happens. Let me jump in. That makes sense. When you look at the management piece, they seem to be less than forthright when dealing directly with congressional oversight on these incidents. In that case, i think we have to just look at the context of the way these investigations generally play out. Almost always the first reports, the first reporting in the immediate aftermath of Something Like this. People tend to get the details wrong. I can think of a dozen incidents in the bush and Obama Administrations where various Agency Directors said something that turned out not to be true because the informationgathering process is so complex. Theres no look, its very easy for congress at this stage to accuse the director of misleading congress. She has absolutely no reason. In fact, it would be completely to her disadvantage to Mislead Congress because theyll find out eventually. I dont think thats an issue here. I think the issue here is truly about fostering a culture inside the secret service where employees feel empowered to speak out without fear of retributi retribution. Where they feel they can be promoted without towing the party line particularly when it comes to sensitive security issues. Thats part of it. I want to bring in former secret Service Agent to get at another part of this. As luke just referenced, part is perhaps a resource issue, sequestration has led, as secret Service Director said today, as secret service having 500 fewer agents. In marks piece, he said years of leaner budget have left the secret service, especially the uniform division, which guards the white house, under strength for years. The incident was only a matter of time. Do you think that resource issue is part of the problem here, sir . Yes. But you cant look at that in in a box. The resource issue, conveniently what the director didnt bring up is the fact that tons of resources, personnel, financial resources, are used to investigate financial crimes, which it pains me to say, because i loved that agency, the secret service doesnt need to do that. The fbi can do it. It seems to be a convenient backdrop, especially when they want to make a political football out of it. The secret service are cut back in a number of areas and allocate it more towards protection. And they dont. They should be cautious, people of either party as accepting that as an excuse. Im right with you on that. Secret service has an annual budget of 1. 6 billion. Its hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that just with more resources, maybe they could have decided to lock the door, maybe they would have said those were actual gunshots we heard, but what we have here is a management problem it seemed like and poor judgment. This is not something about more resources. What needs to be done . If you were to talk to rank and file agents, the men and women that do the jobs. I worked with them for years. They are some of the finest people i have met. They could find you so many cost savings within the secret service, bloated management staffs, pampering of upper Level Management while they get their overtime cut. These are the kind of things that start to hurt. It has an effect on morale, too. You want an organization that takes care of their men and women, rank and file first, and makes them feel wanted. I feel like the agency hasnt done that. Theyve taken care of themselves, the insulated upper management and anded the officers and agents, you know, to basically fend for themselves against the staff and everyone else out there. Dan, very quickly, do you think we need a change at the top in order to change the agency . I think we do. I think we may need an outside director, not within the secret service. Thank you both so much. Up next, heavy rains not deterring those protests in hong kong at this hour. This is not going away. Why the world should be watching. And head to the president s highstakes meeting with israeli Prime Minister netanyahu, that is tomorrow. Does the past hold the key to mid east peace in the future . The cycle rolls on for this last day in september. Did someone say burn . Try alka seltzer reliefchews. 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Now, democracy may not be a ward you associate with china, but think of hong kong as a sort of subcountry of china. Afforded many more freedoms than the rest of the country but these demonstrators are fighting for much more. You ask them to reform. Good to see all losing power. Tonight in hong kong those protesters are stockpiling supplies, constructing makeshift barricades. Law enforcement will move back in with a vengeance when the sun rises once again. Ian williams filed this report a short time ago. Reporter on the eve of chinas national day, this is one powerful message from hong kong. Tens of thousands of people on the street here tonight demanding real democracy. Demanding the right to choose their own leader. Now, the atmosphere is festive. The only thing theyve had to do with umbrellas is fend off a heavy rain storm. The police appear to have just melted away. The violence of the weekend very much on peoples mind. No sign of the riot police today. Instead, we have a festive atmosphere. People bringing supplies in for the students, support for the students. We have water being handed out. We have the students organizing teams to pick up and collect and take away the rubbish. Now, tomorrow, national day, this is expected to develop and to turn into a very, very big protest. Whats more difficult to say is whether chinas communist leaders are, of course, willing or able to listen. A yam williams, hong kong. Thanks so much. Lets bring in brian walsh, Senior Editor for time whos overseeing all their coverage of this crisis. As weve been talking about on the break, over in hong kong and in china, you see protests come up every once in a while. What has surprised me about this is just the size. The crowds we have seen on the streets. Often with uprisings theres frustration with government and also frustration with the economy. When it comes to hong kong, the economy is just fine. Is this a situation you think is sustainable or do you see it dying out . The economy is somewhat of an issue. Levels of inequality are very high there. You see university and High School Students concerned about their future job opportunities. Youre absolutely right. I think no one expected these protests would achieve this kind of size. They had been bubbling for a while. But it was really the police overreaction, the tear gas, the forceful reaction over the weekend that caused a lot of people to come out and hong kong to rally around these protesters. Thats the initial response. The larger game china seems to be playing is to incrementally promise certain reforms. Youll get a popular vote, a democracy, a 017 election. When you look at the details after they splay and push it along, no, it turns out everything will be screened through beijing and youve had a lot of the educated class in hong kong try to call them out on that. Is this working as a way to deal with a sort of delayed repression from china . I mean, this is really built into the relationship between hong kong and main lang china. One land, two systems. Hong kong has its systems of law. Free speech, preright to protest. China still maintains overall political control. At some point theres going to be a conflict. Maybe we finally reached that point. 2017 was to be the sim when hong kongers were to elect their chief executive but china is playing games with exactly what that is. You can vote for candidates but we get to pick who they are. Theyre holding the strings. You lived there for five years. Part of what happened is when an yishl level 6 protests came out, the police came out so hard against them that that made people respond more forcefully. They mark tianmen square. They said, we have to protest more forcefully. That memory is very strong in hong kong. They they do a vigil every june 4th. As it disappears in china, so theres a lot of fear on the part of people there. Theres concern, will the police come out in a stronger way. Would you even see chinese troops come out . Thats certainly not going to happen but thats definitely in peoples mind and theres fear, once you have the holiday tomorrow and the next day, no one knows whats going to happen on friday or the day to follow that. And hong kong is a major financial center, third after new york and london. Business Community Getting nervous there . The Business Community is already nervous. Theyre not in favor of these actions. They want hong kong to be a good place to do business. The more chinese hong kong bction, i mean more mainland chinese becomes, that actually takes away from hong kongs, i think, success as an International Place to do business. The fact you have a system of law so you dont have a Mainland China is big selling point. On one hand, they dont want to see this disruption or see china where beijing is cracking down hard on hong kong. The United States is smartly staying out of it. Thank you for being here with us. We appreciate it. Some breaking news out of louisville, kentucky. Police are hunting for a school shooter. At least one student is hurt with now lifethreatening injuries. Fern Creek High School has been evacuated as officers search the surrounding neighborhoods. Police call this an isolated incident but wont know for certain until the suspect is caught. They wont say if the gunman is a student at that school. Well continue to monitor the story and let you know if anything develops. Uhhh. No, that cant happen. Thats the thing, you dont know how long it has to last. Everyone has retirement questions. So ameriprise created the exclusive. Confident retirement approach. Now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. Well, knowing gives you confidence. Start building your confident retirement today. Then boom. What happened . Stress, fun, bad habits kids, now what . Lets build a new, smarter bed using the dualair chambers to sense your movement, heartbeat, breathing. Introducing the sleep number bed with sleep iq™ technology. It tracks your sleep and tells you how to adjust for a good, better and an awesome night. The difference . Try adjusting up or down. Youll know cuz sleep iq™ tells you. Only at a sleep number store, mattresses with sleepiq start at just 999. 98 know better sleep with sleep number. Were learning more this after about a dui charge against olympic legend michael phelps. According to cops, he was going 84 in a 45mileanhour zone. Cops thought he was drunk and he failed a field sobriety test. This is his second dui arrest. He faced a similar charge also in maryland back in 2004. Ari . Thanks, toure. Well turn to politics. This is what the texas republican chair told the new yorker rand paul is being ontively one of the three most likely people to get the partys president ial nomination. Objective or not, the rising libertarian star just got his profile treatment in a lengthy new yorker piece, about how he tapped his fathers ideology and supporters to beat the gop establishment in his state and is now chartering his own course with a bit more pragmatism than his dad ever displayed. Well spin on it right here. The comparison to his father was interesting because it went so deep. You got the sense memory of ron paul. He was tons of fun, iconic, and completely broke with the party. And that reduce ths any ability affect it. This charges how rantdz is pragmatic not how so many have realized because so many of his positions are extreme but his approach to politics is pragmat pragmatic. The Republican Partys approach to black voters. They quote a black pastor talking about two approaches historically. One, team up with black conservatives, like alan keys. Doesnt work. Two, go to black neighborhoods, go to the naacp, make some show of appeal, but dont change your policies at all. Just say, hey, free market politics will work for you. Didnt work. And what rand paul is doing, whether you like it or not or ernest or not, is different. Treat the black voting community, this is what the article charts, like they have a policy agenda. Relates to the overcriminalization of conduct, rates to Voting Rights actually do something. This article points out something weve talked about on the show before which is rand pauls cosponsoring a bill with harry reid to restore Voting Rights. Theres an actual policy agenda there. People say, maybe its just for votes, for president ial campaigns. This article points out, maybe its a good thing. The point of the article, when you treat black people in terms of policy, like a special Interest Group that has special needs, thats really valuable. Just saying, if it gets better, it will get better for black people. That doesnt work out. Or heres what we think you should want. Let me tell you what we think would be good for you. And i appreciate rand pauls overt outreach to black people. The article starts with him doing a speech at the urban league. Of course, we all remember the howard speech, touches on that. So, hes doing this overt outreach which is unusual within the gop, so i find that very interesting. Its rooted in his antigovernment libertarian rights. You get restoring Voting Rights to nonviolent felons, get government out of your life especially after you paid your debt to society. But i think black people understand the federal government has been helping us with our biggest problems throughout American History from ending slavery to discrimination to seg garegation to poverty. Thats the piece that i think is going to be hard for him to maintain going into a president ial campaign. Its fine to go to berkeley or howard or the urban league and sell, you know, this part of my message i think youll like and not touch on the other stuff i think youll be less comfortable with. When youre running a president ial campaign, you cant effectively segregate your positions in that way. One of the things that i think has been a real challenge for him recently in a different area is dealing with his nonintervention foreign policy. Hes had a real struggle with what to do to combat the threat of isis. Hes come down on the side of not arming the rebels in syria but we should intervene. Listen to the case he made on the floor of the senate in favor of intervening. Take a listen. Interventionist disjointed and incoherent rhetoric among gloom that sees enemies behind every friend and friends behind every enemy, the only consistent theme is war. These barnacled enablers have never met a war they didnt like. They beat their chest in rhythmic ode to failed policy. Their drums beat to policies that display their outrage but fail to find a cure. Unintended consequences drown and smother the possibility of good intentions. There he is railing against the ills of intervention in a speech when hes making the case to intervene. As hes tried to be more pragmatic, it has become more confusing and more complicated for him to keep his world view and also appeal to a broad audience. I think this is a situation where you see him differ from his dad. You mentioned ron paul. I spent a few months in New Hampshire during the 012 primaries. They have this fan base. And ron paul wasnt about winning. Im an isolationist and im not going to change. I found this article understanding because it made me understand hes not just a minimummy me of his father. Hes very smart. He didnt graduate college but got into Duke Medical School based on his mcat score. He obviously has a mind of his own. And strategic enough to actually think about winning. If i want to get to the next level of politics and even on the National Stage to be taken more seriously than my dad, have i to change my tune on some things. I agree with what you said on foreign policy. I think thats going to be his greatest challenge. I saw this poll today, it came out over the weekend and it shows where republicans are right now when it comes to foreign policy. Are you a dove or a hawk . About seven in ten, so 69 of republicans say theyre hawks. Just 25 are dove. Even if he does evolve on a relationship with israel or his feelings toward isis, then people start seeing that as inauthentic. We saw that with mitt romney i think youre right. Hes his own man and moved away from his father to a certain extent. We believe into his 40s he didnt care about politics. He never would have become senator without his fathers Organization Able to come and i dont think i was saying that. No, you werent. I think hes trying to differentiate himself in order to win. Hes a very strategic guy. Gives him more slack because of who his dad is. Absolutely. Explanations they have to do. Well see if theres another paul campaign, it wont be your daddys paul campaign. What you talking about willis . One more time. What you talking about, willis . Thats the phrase of the day on the cycle. Ahead of netanyahus visit to the white house, which is tomorrow, well look at a reminder when mideast peace was possible. We have a look back on the 13 fateful days in september. Later on the show, well stop being polite. Well start when are we polite . Get impolite and talk to people why we should be embracing the most taboo topics, meaning sex, politics were not going to talk about that. On this show . Too far. Get out of here. The cycle keeps rolling on until the wheels fall off. Love the real scratch made taste of warm nestle toll house cookies . Well with new nestle toll house frozen cookie dough, you can bake as few or as many as you please. 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Coverage options for just 9. 95 a month, less than 35 cents a day. Act now and your rate will be locked in for life. It will never increase, guaranteed. This is lifelong coverage that can never be cancelled as long as you pay your premiums, guaranteed. And your acceptance is guaranteed, with no health questions. You cannot be turned down because of your health. Call for your information kit and read about this rate lock for yourself. Youll also get a free gift with great information if youre retired or will be soon. Both are free, with no obligation, so dont miss out. Call for information, then decide. Read about the 30 day, 100 percent money back guarantee. Dont wait, call this number now. The fight against militant islam is indivisible. When militant islam succeeds anywhere, its emboldened everywhere. Thats why israels fight against hamas is not just our fight, its your fight. Expect israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take that message to the white house when he meets with president obama tomorrow. It will be their first meeting since war broke out between israel and hamas this summer. A fragile truce does remain in effect with Palestinian Leader muhammad abecau mahmoud abbas. Its not Like Netanyahu and the president have been exactly seeing eye to eye on this issue either. A new book called thirteen days in september describes an eriely similar situation. Thy managed to find a way forward. In september 1978 jimmy carter defied all odds by bringing israel and egypt to camp david to broker unprecedented peace. To discuss the parallels, lawrence wright, whos new work chronicles those historychanging days. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2006 book the looming tower which i read and loved and found incredible. This new book comes at a wonderful time because it does provide that reminder, that potential peace between arabs and israelis can be potential and can be lasting. Talk to us about those negotiations. What did jimmy carter do right there . I think he started off it was really rosalynn carters idea. It was their idea to bring them to camp david. Jimmy had the idea of doing an International Summit in geneva. No one wanted to go. Rosalynn said, when they went to camp david, why not bring them here . Get them alone . It was a brilliant idea except that he carter had the idea if he could just get these two guys, they would come to know each other, like each other, find their way to peace. By the end of the second day, he had to physically separate them. They couldnt stand each other. Rosalynn said you could hear them screaming at the top of their lungs. It was essential to pull them aside. And nobody thought it was going to last 13 days. Carter thought three or four. 13 days. Imagine that. Lets talk about anwar sadat. You say he saw himself as a grand strategic thinker blazing like a comet through the skies of history. You also quote kissinger saying sadats negotiating tactic. Your report on Something Interesting that at the beginning sadat put out a list of demands that carter and others said, this isnt possible. I need to show the arab leaders im strong, but he had a secret list of demands that only carter saw. Sadats staff didnt even get to see them. These concessions i will agree to as we go along. I mean, part of it is about the men who are at the table. So what was sadats part in getting to the end . Carter and sadat had a very close relationship. Jimmy carter said he loved anwar sadat. You dont normally hear that but they had a kinship. Sadat hoped they could get the relationship between egypt and u. S. To resemble that relationship and maybe shove israel aside a little bit. Even if he didnt get peace at camp david, he thought he could enhance his relationship with the United States. For both sadat and bagan, their relationship was put in jeptd at camp david. Thats something neither one really expected. You talk about how tense tense it was at camp david and you talk about throwing the papers around because he was upset by some proposals. This was not just leveraging a position. This was deeply health beliefs. Talk about the role he played with people who remember him as a peacemaker and he won a noble for these peace agreements but he came out of the militant prerevolutionary force in israel and founded. Likud party but wouldnt they say thats netanyahu, right wing, settlements. How was he the one to start peace for israel . Holocaust survivor, lost his family in the holocaust. His whole political career was about enlarging the lan d of israel and providing a safe haven for jews around the world. Nobody in his delegation thought he was going to comp to camp david and sign it away. It was completely against everything in his nature. Land he felt israel won only when defending the strategic that started that war. And yet . And yet he finally began to see that there was peace was going to be worth it. It was hard to persuade him. Everybody in the israeli delegate wanted peace more than he did. One of the generals who was there had ariel sharon call and tell bagan it was okay to surrender sinai. Even then he wouldnt do it. There was i think i think he was scared. I mean, he was a very bold man. You know, obstinate, difficult figure. Imagine, put yourself in his place. He was being asked to do something to trust a piece of paper that could substitute for 130 miles of strategic barrier between the main egyptian force. And to break where golda mier had said, we trade peace for peace. What bonded these men together was family. They got emotional at one point where they said, what world do we want to pass down to to our kids and grand kids . When we look back 36 years later, you wonder how they would view the relationship. Its funny how history turns on some of those small things. Not small but meaningful. The last day, sunday, the 13th day, they had the agreement, carter thought, in hand and told the networks that the president was going to make an address. He was going to break into the emmys. They were setting up the table in the east room. Carter had written a side letter about jerusalem. Had no standing in the accords. And bagan got his hands on it and it restated american policy is East Jerusalem is occupied territory. He said, if you dont withdraw this, the signing is off. Carter said he couldnt do that. So bagan called it off, no peace, no accord. And carter went back to his cabin devastated. It was a fiasco. And he had had i saw you put the photograph of the three men. He had that photograph made up for bagans grandchildren. He had nine grandchildren. His secretary had called and gotten the names of those children. And carter had thoughtfully inscribed them. He hated to do it but he took them back to bagan and he started to look at the names and he burst into tears. Carter we want. That was the turning point. Its incredible. The book make this is historical event so immediate and so relevant. Lawrence wright, thank you. Its been a pleasure. Thank you. You know who i think would be into this conversation . My daughter, ella. My 6yearold is very into politics and she recently wanted to learn more about Michelle Obamas lets move campaign so she visited a loelg middle school and got a firsthand lesson in fitness from gym teacher mary. Lets participate in lets move. Its been proved that kids who are active do better in school. They get better test scores. If they get better test scores, they get better grades. If they get better grades, they can get in better middle schools, better high schools, better colleges and then theyll get better jobs. And otherwise they wont graduate. Absolutely. You can catch the full political playground video on our website thecycle. Msnbc. Com. Great rates for great rides. Geico motorcycle, see how much you could save. A man who doesnt stand still. But jim has afib, Atrial Fibrillation an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. That puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. For years, jims medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. But now, with onceaday xarelto®, jims on the move. Jims doctor recommended xarelto®. Like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afibrelated stroke risk. But xarelto® is the first and only onceaday prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesnt require regular blood monitoring. So jims not tied to that monitoring routine. Gps proceed to the designated route. Not today. For patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. Xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. Plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the Healthy Foods he likes. Dont stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, unless your doctor tells you to. While taking xarelto®, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious bleeding, and in rare cases, may be fatal. Get help right away if you develop unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Jim changed his routine. Ask your doctor about xarelto®. Onceaday xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring, no known dietary restrictions. For information and savings options, download the xarelto® Patient Center app, call 1888xarelto, or visit goxarelto. Com. Did i harry about Betty Rothberg . Cancer. I was talking to bettys daughter. She moved into the new neighborhood. Only six jewish families. But very wealthy. Are you in the card game, too . Six franchises. Where did you meet wendy again . Prone. Prison. There will always be awkward talk and prickly subjects, prison, disease, sex, race, religion, theyre hard to talk but we can have breakthroughs. Lets shake things up, coauthors of a new book impolite conversations. John, thank you for being here with us. Well start with you, john. Impolite topic, race. Some people thought the election of obama meant the end of a racial era, post race, some such thing. I didnt think that. You didnt think that. You say in this book it might be ushering in an era of white rage in an essay you say obama making whites white. I dont imagine how anyone like ari could get any whiter. Can you expound on what all that means . One of the thijs i think obama represents is progress. Part of what that means, and i think we need to be careful about how we understand it, is that obama allows us to represent weve come a long way. The positive spin on that, i think, for White America is it might mean a little less anxiety. I know we havent addressed Structural Racism and other questions but it could provide an opportunity for whites to be white in a way that isnt about racism necessarily or being part of a larger multiracial community. Thats the positive spin. The negative spin, which is what we hear more of in the media is the backlash about how obama represents a problem. The question is what kind of whiteness do we want in america . Do we want a larger multicolored parity, or one that is able to understand its inclusion into a varying nation. That cultural conversation seems to dove tail with what the political markets are doing, where are the competitions. We were talking about rand pauls appeals to voters. You have an essay talking about why you could, in theory, be a black republican. What do you mean by that . Part of what we need is we need to have options. It should be clear to us that there isnt a party that seems intrinsically for or against the same kinds of members of the body politic all of the time. Part of what i want that essay to represent is the fact that america is stronger for a Republican Party that really is inclusive and that is compelling to people that might traditionally think of republicans as antiprograms and inclusions that mens are invested in. We need to look at how all of the parties represent themselves to the entire larger American Population and recognize that it is on them to make sure theyre bringing people to the table with ideas that are inclusive and that everyone can sign on. A better america, it would be reasonable if there was more africanamericans voting on those lights. Race, money, and sex can all be uncomfortable topics. Lets pray for sexually active daughters where you say forget the white dress, i will be praying my daughter has enjoyed an orgasm before her wedding night. Sex is part of a relationship, it connects you to your partner. I obviouslyly think its okay to have sex before marriage. Some folks disagree with that, but when you have sex with your partner it should be enjoyed by both parties and thats how you get that level of intimacy. Sometimes were so afraid to let our girls embrace sex it becomes such a taboo its not something they engage in with mind, body, spirit, and respect. And the problem is youll talk bt that wiabout that with feel the same way you do. Lets have these impolite conversations with people that mights did agree with us but that is hard to do in our society that is quite sensitive. How do we get past that and have real conversations about politics, sex, money, religion with people that disagree with us. Thats really important. Thank you very much. Congratulations on the book. Up next, speaking of inconvenient truths, crystal has a bone to pick with the president. I had these very burning, needlelike sensations. I knew i needed to see a doctor. My doctor said, lets try lyrica. Lyrica has helped relieve my pain. Its known that diabetes damages nerves lyrica is fdaapproved to treat diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is not for everyone. It may cause serious allergic reactions, or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Having less pain. Its a great feeling. Ask your doctor about lyrica today. Its specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. President obamas support is slipping in a surprising place, deep blue states. 39 of new york voters think the president is doing an excellent or good job. Thats the lowest level of his presidency. In california, just 45 of voters approve of how the president is doing his job. Its not so surprising that liberals would be disappointed after promises stand executive action on Immigration Reform the president got midterm jitters and postponed action indefinitely. Also, they are involving a major reengagement in the middle east. If that is not bad enough, it looks like the president may be set to disappoint a major part of the Democratic Coalition once again by delaying the exattention of minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. Theyre the folks that take care of the elderly and disabled in their home. Home care workers who are overwhelmingly women and disproportionately black and latino have been excluded from wage for examples for years. Ray sis southern democrats carved down majority applications. The president promised to change all of that and he called on his department to extand protections to home care workers as part of the we cant wait economic agen agenda. Nearly two years later, home care workers are till slipping through the cracks. Now it looks like their wait might get longer. They have been pushing off implementation of the new rule, and pro worker groups are alarmed that the Obama Administration may give in to that pressure. More than 40 worker advocacy groups signed a letter to tom perez. They said women that devote their working lives can ill afford to be denied their civil rights again. The department of labor admitted they are considering the requested of medicaid officials. They have been denied wage protections for 75 years. To make them wait longer. Thats wrong, its inexcusable. These men and women work their tails off and they dont complain. They deserve to be treated fairly and paid fairly for a service that many Older Americans could not live without. There is no Republican Congress standing in your way, do the right thing. We cant wait. For more watch krystal clear tomorrow. I will talk about lifting wages for home care workers. Now with alex wagner starts now. The secret service gets a scolding. Will it improve security . It is tuesday, september 30th, and this is now. Someone should be held accountable. The American People want to know if the president is safe. Youre protecting the most threatened american president have they been told to exercise restraint . Or told to exercise protection. Tough questions on capitol hill today for the head of the secret service. The feds failed. They didnt release the dogs. The front door was unlocked. The president and first lady are concerned about the safety of their children. I dont want the president to be worried about his safety. A 2011 incident a gunman fired shots at the white house. I find it worrisome that the