elections in 2014. and, as the "l.a. times" reports to push one of the long time goals, a national reciprocity law that would allow gun owners to carry licensed weapons across state lines. efforts to pass such a law have failed in the past. from the sounds of it, they're pretty comfortable they can get that done. an nra spokesman says, quote, everyone thinks our strength comes from money, it doesn't. our strength is truly in our membership. we have a savvy and loyal voting block and show up election after election after election. so what can be done when you're going up against one of the most powerful lobbying forces in america whose goal is literally guns everywhere? joining me now from indianapolis is shannon watts, founder of moms demand action for gun sense in america. i will put that question to you. how do you fight an organization like the nra which has been so successful that in georgia they've literally just passed a state version of what they want to do nationwide. a bill that will put guns literally everywhere. >> you know, the reality is that in many ways, the nra is a paper tiger. and i'm really talking to be clear about the nra leadership. because more than 70% of nra members actually support common sense gun reforms like background checks. so this is really about the extremist leadership of the nra and going into states like georgia and trying to pass a guns everywhere bill. you know, that bill, the reality is, it could have been much worse than it was. and we are actually having huge wins all across the country. we've closed the background check loophole in many, many states, and we are -- we were just recently had the governors of both wisconsin and washington sign bills that will keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. you know, we are having huge wins across the country, and we are now able to go toe-to-toe with the gun lobby because we have moms in chapters in every single state of the country. and so we're pushing back against bad laws in state houses and supporting good bills. >> and shannon, of course, you founded moms demand action. but you have combined with other groups under -- and with the funding of michael bloomberg in your group every town has a new add out and it's actually using the words as you mentioned of gun right supporters. i'm going to have us listen to the ad and get your response on the other side. >> gun control supporters have the blood of little children on their hands. >> the presence of a firearm makes us all safer. >> there's no victory until we get guns in school to protect ourselves. >> we'll buy more guns than ever. >> and shannon, who is that ad aimed at? >> it's really aimed at americans. to say this is an important issue to vote on. this issue of gun violence affects every american because it's through suicides, it's through child access prevention, through domestic violence. it's through stand your ground. all these different ways that gun violence affects average americans. right now, everyone agrees that something should be done. but they're not voting on it. and that's why we are forming this grass roots coalition that is going to get at least 1 million americans to vote on this issue in the midterms because it is so important, and it is something that we can make a difference if we go to the polls and vote the right way. >> your ad, you saw heidi pe pendleton's parents in the ad. so you have a lot of people that can testify, but your opponents are focusing on one person, former mayor michael bloomberg. and chris cox, the chief lobbyist for the nra is doing just that, attacking michael bloomberg, one of your funders. let's take a look. >> mr. bloomberg, you're an arrogant hypocrite. $31 billion does not entitle you to tell us how to live our lives. stay out of our homes, stay out of our refrigerators, and stay the hell out of our gun cabinets, because this freedom is not for sale. >> so in rural states and red states where michael bloomberg's name may be an anathema, are your first person testimonies from people -- is that a match for people's distaste of a former governor coming down to mississippi, let's say, and telling them what to do on guns? >> mayor bloomberg isn't telling anybody what to do. he's investing $50 million to save people's lives. unlike gun manufacturers who invest that to make profit. and the face of this movement is moms. people like me. average americans. people who have been affected by gun violence. those are the people going out in the field and will use this money to go out there and increase our membership and get people to vote with gun sense. and that's how you change this issue. and, you know, it's interesting because wayne lapierre himself supported gun checks a couple years ago, but decided that was not the profitable way to move forward on guns. it's still the right way. data still shows that people's lives are saved when background checks are in place and we will continue to fight for that as the caretakers of our country's children. >> and, you know, obviously your group now going head to head with the nra. i want to read something about your own group every town for gun safety. released a report called "not your grandparents' nra" which highlights the fact that the nra created after the civil war that supported common sense gun laws no longer exists. today's nra would be unrecognizable to the founding members of the organization, your report says. is part of your goal to get people to re-think the nra itself and to think more negatively about it so they won't have so much power and currency particularly among lawmakers? >> we're simply telling the truth. and you know the nra's extremism goes beyond background checks. they have fought to put guns in places like bars. gag ordered pediatricians to keep them from talking to their patients about the risks of having a gun in your home. they've blocked military commanders from talking to at risk servicemen who could be at risk of suicide. so they are going out of their way to be extremists in order to protect their own profit. we are going out of our way to educate other americans to tell them the truth about the importance of gun reforms. and again, we are not anti-gun, we are not against the second amendment. we know with rights come non responsibilities. there's full-timely another voice that will oppose the gun lobby. and you're going to see that at the midterms. >> yep, and i think there are millions of americans wishing you the best of luck, indeed. shannon watts, the new gun organization trying to go up against the nra, thank you very much. >> thank you. and coming up, cliven bundy speaks again, and once again, it's equal parts rambling and offensive. lots of folks on the right are rushing to distance themselves from the shambolic rancher. you just can't run from cliven bundy. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for, because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your future? we'll help you get there. if i say "black boy" or "slave, " i'm not -- if those people cannot take those kind of words and not be offensive, then martin luther king hasn't got his job done yet. they should be able -- i should be able to say those things and shouldn't offend anybody. >> uh, that is just the latest in a string of bizarre, really incoherent and now frequently racist comments from cliven bundy. the far right folk hero, his conservative conservatives are trying to run away from. he's a welfare cowboy in the hole to the feds for approximately $1 million because he's refused for decades to pay the same grazing fees every other nevada cattle rancher pays. but who could've guessed that a guy talking like a member of the sovereign citizens movement surrounding himself with a militia and claims not to recognize the existence of the federal government exactly like other militant anti-tax movements of the late 1960s through the 1980s and whose m.o. has long included arcane racial views. who would've thought that guy would be a racist? >> he seemed to think i said that they were better off as slaves. i didn't say that. i said i was wondering -- i'm still wondering. >> i mean, who kouch anticipated that? left his friends wondering whether they could continue hanging around the ranch. it's left a bunch of conservative media types, republican elected officials and candidates scrambling to put as much distance between themselves and cliven bundy and how they came to support a guy this obviously nutty in the first place. and no one is more exposed on that front than sean hannity, up until yesterday, cliven's cheerleader in chief. the guy who spent night after night after night promoting bundy and his fight with the feds. here's hannity back pedaling on his radio show on thursday. >> we wanted to see the situation be defused, calmed down because it was getting very volatile, very dangerous. yeah, people with guns. >> a political journalist in nevada and host on knnv. we were tweeting about this last night, glad you could be here. the idea saying, we were worried because there were people out there with guns. is that what was going on? why he was having cliven bundy on the show every night? >> well, of course it was exactly the opposite. and as i said to you last night, he was enabling them as a lot of the right-wing talkers and politicians who embraced him were. i mean, hannity was asking questions about, what are you going to do if the federal government comes in there? he was all but inciting violence on his program. now, he suddenly discovered that cliven bundy is a racist, it's just not credible. and they created this guy, they made him into a national figure. and, unfortunately, every time a tv camera is turned on, i'm afraid we're going to hear what he's wondering about. and that scares me, joy. >> and you know what, john, as a person in the media as i am and someone who is very familiar, obviously, with talk radio, with tv. when cliven bundy started saying things like i'm a sovereign citizen of nevada, that kind of reminded me, i remember the -- the language seemed familiar. you get on the google and figure it out. do you think was an error of research? that perhaps those on the right with bundy, those words didn't trigger them to start thinking about the sovereign citizens movement, his language didn't trigger it? or was it more just a passion to get involved in anything that seemed like antithe federal government? >> well, you may know more than i do, joy, but i'm unaware that sean hannity having a research staff unless it's the republican national committee. i'm not sure that their visceral reaction to this guy was based on anything. but, look, he fights against the federal government, he represents rural america, that's what we're all about. it's hard to forget the guy is obviously a completely ignorant man who doesn't understand anything about race or history or anything else. he was flawed from the start. this was a guy who hasn't paid his bills for 20 years, who the federal government has tried to negotiate with repeatedly, and whatever mistakes that blm made going in to do this round-up pale by comparison to the fact this guy was elevated to folk hero status when he is nothing more than, as you said, a welfare cowboy. all the rest of this is noise. very unpleasant noise, i acknowledge. but that's all it is. >> speaking of unpleasant noise in history. i have to play you the latest stylings of cliven bundy. and this is him talking about, not rosa parks, but rosa park on cnn. let's take a listen. >> thought about rosa park, taking her seat at the front of the bus. now, reverend martin luther king did not -- did not want her to take her seat in the front of the bus. that wasn't what he was talking about. he did not say go to the front of the bus and that's where your seat was. what reverend king wanted was that she could sit anywhere in the bus and nobody would say anything about it. and you and i can sit by her anywhere in the bus. that's what he wanted and that's what i want. >> okay. i don't know what that means. i'm going to leave it to you to sort of explain. do you think the tone deafness here on race specifically was anticipatable? or was this a storm that was going to blow and hit the conservative movement just because of the make-up of this guy? >> yeah, you know, it's hard to say. i know you and others have said you're not surprised at this stuff. and i guess we shouldn't be that surprised. but the utter ignorance and what he said. the incoherence of it. you know what i've been thinking about a lot, this guy has 14 kids and 50 odd grandchildren. is he passing this nonsense on down to them? are they actually learning what really happened, who rosa parks and martin luther king really are? and the fact he would talk about them in the same breath with anything going on at his ranch? i mean, yes, some of it could be anticipated. but the depth of it, the utter ignorance of it is to me still breathtaking. >> yeah, and just to go to the broader issue for a minute, you still do have a lot of republicans, a lot of people on the right saying, okay, cliven bundy, we don't want to deal with him anymore. we want to pretend we've never heard of him. but the issue between the federal government and the states is still a live issue. you still had people like rick perry saying that they want to keep the issue. is there any way for the right to salvage the issue they wanted to talk about? or has cliven bundy made that impossible? >> well, there were so issues that they originally wanted to talk about. all of them, they think, wedge issues, rural america versus the elites in urban america, the real bedrock of this country, the cowboys versus everybody else. i think the only legitimate issue here, it is a legitimate issue. for instance, in nevada, the federal government owns 81% of the land. what would happen if the state took possession of that land? i don't think it's as clear as a lot of the states rights folks think. for instance, does anyone think that cliven bundy would've paid his fees if the state owned that land instead of the federal government? it's still public land. he still would've had to pay grazing fees on the state land. that is a legitimate policy issue. but for anyone to think that any of what went on with sean hannity and dean heller and the rest of them had anything to do with policy. dean heller called these folks up there patriots. i wonder how he feels today, joy. >> yeah, indeed, and not to mention the heavy subsidization -- all of those militia types that were hanging around the bundy ranch, are they still there? or are they even starting to waver in terms of wanting to hang out with this guy and protect him with their guns? >> i haven't been up there, but the reporters who have been say there's quite a few of them up there. and if you saw any of the -- i watched the entire 19-minute press conference that bundy had. a lot of them are up there supporting him saying that the media's spinning this, making him out to be prejudice. so i think the certain corps of these folks who are up there supporting bundy or whatever movement they happen to be a part of, joy. so there's certainly still a presence there. and i think while there is a presence there and while there is -- some of them are armed, i don't think the federal government, the state government, local law enforcement's going to go through with what they obviously have to go through with at some point because they can't let this guy just stand out there and have it out there as a precedent for every other rancher in america who might not want to pay his grazing fees. >> that's where it goes from funny to scary. i really appreciate you coming on today. political analyst jon rolston, thank you. >> you bet. >> resurrecting and expanding the irs witch hunt and now adding a new target, attorney general eric holder. desperate much? it's time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. mark fuller left his job as a disney imagineer to start a firm that makes interactive fountains. they can be seen everywhere from the bellagio in las vegas to a mall in dubai. for more, watch "your business" sunday morning at 7:30 on msnbc. >> brought to you by american express open. owner, it would be owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. 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. take the next step. talk to your doctor. this is humira at work. can help your kids' school get extra stuff. they're the only cereals with box tops for education. you can raise money for your kids' school. look for this logo. only on big g cereals. you can make a difference. every cereal box counts. coming up, on "reid between the lines" a battle right here in chicago involving money, civil rights, real estate and a little help from camelot. but first, it's time for we the tweople. today is world penguin day. which is why happy world penguin day is trending on twitter. many of you are sharing adorable images like this one. and penguin picks that certainly rival any kitten video. but, as we celebrate penguins today, experts warn they are also in danger. they're praised for their great quality like the loving treatment of their offspring. but penguins are sadly falling prey to human dangers like global warming and overfishing. something to think about today. now from penguins to people, mean people. the georgia teen who broke up with his girlfriend over instagram is trending. he posted these photos. one with his ex cropped out along with transformation tuesday. she responded on the post, is this your way of breaking up with me? both accounts have since been deleted. but the hashtag has been trending on twitter ever since with almost 44,000 tweets to date. some of you are sharing similar breakup photos like this one while others have bashed the young man for taking the cowardly route. it's better to break up in person. don't try this at home. and now, from something heartbreaking to heartwarming. you can't stop sharing this viral video clip of minor league hockey player jordan. it'll warm you heart as he comes off the ice. >> what's up, buddy? it's all yours. >> yeah! >> whoa! >> look how happy he is. really picked some winners today and we can't wait to see what you get into next week. and in the meantime, join the conversation on twitter, facebook, instagram and msnbc.com. and now this news, two popes will be cannonized on sunday. and here are three facts about the canonization of pope john paul ii. i've always had to keep my eye on her... but i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care, i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile, not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still gonna give me a heart attack. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. salesgets up to 795 highwayal is the passamiles per tank.sel salesperson #2: actually, we're throwing in a $1,000 fuel reward card. we've never done that. that's why there's never been a better time to buy a passat tdi clean diesel. husband: so it's like two deals in one? salesperson #2: exactly. avo: during the first ever volkswagen tdi clean diesel event, get a great deal on a passat tdi, that gets up to 795 highway miles per tank. and get a $1,000 fuel reward card. it's like two deals in one. hurry in and get a $1,000 fuel reward card and 0.9% apr for 60 months on tdi models. like a film franchise that keeps churning out bad sequels, darrell issa and his committee for witch hunts is back. today it's the irs and his focus, attorney general eric holder. issa who chairs the house oversight and government reform committee has fired off a letter to the doj accusing it of coordinating with the irs in what conservatives claim were political attacks on free speech in the last two election cycles. his proof, essentially a doj e-mail taken wildly out of context and plumped up with conservative conspiracy theorys. issa writes this e-mail makes clear that the justice department like the irs and security and exchange commission played in an effort to target free speech. wow, case closed, except not. because as think progress uncovered by a freedom of information act request this week, documents show if anything it was progressive groups who were targeted more for extra scrutiny by those beleaguered tax agents in cincinnati, not conservative groups. now, the cynical among us might say that politics has something to do with mr. issa's repeated attempts to prove a ground white house conspiracy or now the famous throat slashing gesture he used to cut off the mike of elijah cummings when he dare interject inopportune facts in a hearing. but ask mr. issa and he'll tell you, of course not. >> mr. chairman, how much of this is a political play for republicans in the election? >> none. not a shred of it. not a smidgen of it. not a smidgen of it. >> not a smidgen. and moments ago, we learned that eric cantor says next month the house will consider a contempt of congress resolution against former irs official lois lerner unless she testifies. we're starting to have to call this finney fridays. this is becoming a regular thing, girlfriend. >> i like it. it's a lot of fun. >> it's a lot of fun. what is not fun, i'm sure, for lois lerner to be repeatedly targeted. so now this new news a contempt of congress citation being considered against her, how do you respond to that? >> well, they had given us an inkling they were going to do that. they can't get to the president, can't get to holder. they're going to pick this lower level person. you know, and remember, they attacked her for invoking her fifth amendment rights earlier a couple -- just a couple weeks ago, frankly. you know, this is new fodder for darrell issa to be able to continue his reign of terror in these investigations that continuously lead nowhere and continuously, you know, he keeps back or holds back part of the information that tells the whole story as you just pointed out in your intro. >> and, you know, karen, it's -- i think one of the reasons obviously they continue to do this is it obviously works. it does trigger a certain part of the base, it is something the base cares about. >> sure. >> and it is nra day. i want to play you what wayne lapierre said today during a leadership forum that brings together all of the sort of the -- two of the things that most animate the conservative base. take a listen. >> the irs is now a weapon, a weapon to punish anyone who disagrees with him. and that means every one of you. >> oh. that means every one of you. >> guns and the irs together, just didn't get benghazi in there. >> he did earlier in his remarks, don't you worry. >> okay. >> is this what we're going to do now? it is 2014. there is a need to fire up the base on both sides of the political aisle. and republicans do so with irs, benghazi and guns. and it works. >> absolutely. we're going to hear to hear about the irs and benghazi over and over and over again. tried to use that as his pivot away from mr. bundy by talking about benghazi and the irs. it's ridiculous. but it's something we're going to have to live with. look, the irs, none of us love the irs, let's be honest. it really cranks up their base. the other thing is it creates a distraction, right, they're hoping for the white house and the administration while they're having to deal with document requests, they're not able takes away from time you can do your job. >> it's also the case, that the original strategy was obamacare. they were going to talk about obamacare nonstop. is it just me that as the affordable care act has solidified itself, you have started to see more of these other things sort of fill in the gap. you think we're going to see more irs, more benghazi, more of sort of the old playbook as the new playbook kind of wanes as a smart strategy? >> i think absolutely. if you take a look, for example, in some of the states where you have governors who refused to take the medicaid expansion money. their numbers are going down. and a number of republican members of congress, when they went home over this nice break they had, you know, they were confronting constituents who now have the affordable care act and they have, you know, access to health care and benefits that they like having. so, being, you know, it's not a good message to say to your constituents, well, you don't deserve that, i'm going to take it away from you. it's much better to say, you know, stick with us because the irs is coming after you. >> yeah. the other way this works, obviously, karen, is for darrell issa itself. taki take a look at the fund-raising totals. not doing too shabby in terms of his own political fund raising as he keeps his profile high on this issue. >> absolutely, and they know there's certain. both sides have it, right? there are certain words and phrases that just do very, very well on the democratic side. i would say it's the koch brothers and darrell issa. he knows those couple of words you've got to put in pretty much every other sentence in a fund raising e-mail to get the numbers up. >> i think that the difference is and i think that is true. both parties do use what works. but for the democrats, i think the one sort of saving grace for them if their hits include minimum wage, right. >> yes. >> include policy and marijuana legalization or incarceration. there's policy there. for the republicans, it really is more conspiracies at this point. >> it is and it's very negative. i think one of the questions we'll have to ask as this election season goes on is, you know, they keep saying they know that they need to do more than just be the party of no and they need to be more than just negative and yet we don't see that. and we don't hear that. so i guess the question becomes if they really make this pivot to focusing on the irs and benghazi every other word, where is that positive message going to come? i don't think we're going to hear it. >> yeah, definitely not in an election year, not in 2014. thank you very much, karen finney. >> thanks, joy. >> and be sure to watch "disrupt" every saturday and sunday at 4:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. and next, president obama is overseas today promoting immigration reform. and he may have just picked up an unlikely ally here at home. john boehner. are the president and speaker about to have a bromance over immigration? i'll drink to that. all stations come over to mission a for a final go. this is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. myso i asked her how i isaved fifteen percent on car insurance in just fifteen minutes. (laughter) "idk?" what does that mean? "i don't know." and i'm the one who's out of touch. lol. fifteen minutes for a quote is out of touch. with esurance, seven and a half minutes could save you on car insurance. welcome to the modern world. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call. [ woman ] i will embrace change... everything life throws my way. except for frown lines. those i'm throwing back. [ female announcer ] olay total effects. nourishing vitamins, and seven beautiful benefits in one. for younger-looking skin. so while your life may be ever-changing... ♪ ...your beautiful skin will stay beautiful. total effects from olay. your best beautiful. in the coming days, msnbc will be covering specific stories and events related to our growing hope and initiative. stories you tell us you care about. immigration reform is one of those issues. and it's something lawmakers in washington talk a lot about, but unfortunately don't do a whole lot about. today, president obama reiterated his push for reform at a naturalization ceremony in south korea. >> the value of our immigrants to our way of life. it is central to who we are. it's in our dna, it's part of our creed. that means moving forward, we've got to fix our broken immigration system and pass common sense immigration reform. that's why i'm going to keep on pushing to get this done this year. >> now, it's no secret that house speaker john boehner has no intention of taking up the senate's bipartisan immigration bill. he said repeatedly that the senate bill is dead on arrival in the house and he prefers a piecemeal approach. last week, the president was clear about what he thinks is holding things up. >> there is bipartisan support for comprehensive immigration reform. right now, what's holding us back is house republican leadership not willing to go ahead and let the process move forward. >> the president went on to say he knows it's, quote, hard politics for republicans because there are some in their base that are very opposed to this issue. hard politics. well, speaker boehner has thoughts on that. and while on capitol hill, he keeps to the hard line. the house bill is dead, piecemeal approach and blames the president for the hold-up on immigration. here's what boehner had to say yesterday about his own party's unwillingness to tackle reform. here's the attitude. oh, don't make me do this. oh, this is too hard. that was my -- boehner also told the rotarians, we get elected to make hard choices, solve problems, and it's remarkable to me how many of my colleagues just don't want to. they'll take the path of least resistance. i've had every brick and bat and arrow shot at me over this issue just because i wanted to deal with it. and that, my friends, is john boehner unplugged telling a very important truth about immigration reform and why it's not happening. meanwhile, a group of 22 republican senators just sent a letter to president obama expressing their grave concerns over the administration's plan to consider changing its deportation policy. and accusing the president of astonishing disregard for the constitution, the rule of law and the rights of american citizens and legal residence. and immigration reform groups also pressing the white house to reduce deportation. the president is clearly between a rock and a hard place. "the daily beast" sums it up this way, it's a tough line to straddle. anything is seen as a big middle finger by the other. and it seems to me we now know thanks to those mocking comments at an ohio rotary club that john boehner is in the same boat. joining me now to sort out this immigration conundrum is my colleague and pal alex wagner who is at texas southern university in houston with lots of fans. she's there hosting her show. this is nice. look at that. >> we're growing! >> and, of course, you can watch live at 4:00 p.m. with that crowd. >> yeah, we just need to bring all these people to ohio. you guys need to come to ohio! >> i love it. >> it's a great -- it is awesome. it is awesome. and as you pointed out, you know, immigration and immigration reform is a huge priority for not only the msnbc audience but america. and i think a lot of us heard that john boehner said those things today. and my first thought was why can't that john boehner come back to washington? where is that guy? send the ohio version of that guy back to washington. or is that nancy pelosi in a john boehner mask? because everything he said i agreed with. there are hard choices to make. it is difficult work being in congress. but part of it is having a backbone, knowing that your moral compass points in the direction that is north. and making those hard choices. >> well you know what, it's interesting, alex. i have to admit that i have a bit of love for john boehner in a way because off the record, when he's not doing his official duty as leader of the house. when he's just being john boehner, on one of the late night shows and doing sort of this mocking thing at the rotary club, he really does keep it real. and boehner is in a terrible position. the things that we all assume he wants to do, that he says he wants to do, he cannot do because the people within his caucus won't let him do it. he's in a terrible position as speaker. but do you think there's a way that john boehner could actually change his own situation by being on the record the way he is off the record? >> well, i'll say two things. one, the thing that struck me about these comments and the other comments he made. and i know you remember this as i do a few months ago, that basically screw everything up for the rest of the caucus is the anger that lies right beneath this commentary. john boehner is clearly fed up. the way in which he mocks members of his own congress, you did a great, dramatic and comedic review of those words, joy. oh, it's too hard. there is not a lot of respect in all of that, right? he's clearly frustrated. what i don't understand as the tea party sort of readies an oust john boehner campaign for next year, a this guy looks toward his actual legacy, why not just do the right thing? it's good of us in the media and, you know, for progressives to think better of john boehner and look for deeper meaning in these words, but until this guy puts his money where his mouth is, these are just words and just the quiet frustrations of a man who's proven basically impotent to do anything meaningful in a year and in a moment where america needs action. >> absolutely. and he got the biggest gavel ever given to a speaker and he doesn't even have the ability to use it. alex, i have to ask you about the reason you are there with that very feisty crowd behind you that is very excited to be there with you. tell me -- >> it's hot, joy. >> ain't fair, girl. they love you. tell me about growing hope and what you're doing down through in texas. >> growing hope. this is our kickoff for our growing hope initiative on msnbc where we are connecting with the awesome men and women that watch our channel and finding out more about what they care about, passionate about, how we can harness all that energy for forward movement. it is a powerful time to be down here. it is also an incredibly hot time to be down here. but the good, cool people of texas have me with my head screwed on straight. it's a good day, doing more at 4:00 p.m. >> well, i like hot because here in chicago it is not hot. >> yes. >> i'm a little envious. >> awakening the country, my friend. you got the middle part of the country, i've got the south, now we need the west coast covered. >> we got it. tag me in any time on that warm part of the country. listen, tell me a bit what's on with alex today. what do you have coming up? >> well, i will be doing my very best john boehner impression, i'm sure will not stand a chance next to yours given your expertise with the script. we will also have mayor julien castro to talk about. we've got the lone star state's finest. an awesome hour of tv. >> i say, again, it ain't fair, they love you down there in texas as we do, as well. alex wagner. and, of course, you must watch alex every day here at 4:00 p.m. on msnbc. >> thank you. now to a debate brewing here in chicago. should president obama build his presidential library here where he worked as a community organizer and law professor or in his birthplace in hawaii? i put that question to herald lee rush. >> he really made himself in chicago. yes, he was born in hawaii, but this is where he's from, where he made his name. it's also where michelle is from. and that to me is important, too. but more so is the -- what it would mean to chicago, chicago history, to black people in chicago, and to the future. >> we'll have more of my interview with rush coming up on monday's show. and we'll talk with emile jones, the man president obama calls his political godfather, monday on "the reid report." cars are driven by people. they're why we innovate. they're who we protect. they're why we make life less complicated. it's about people. we are volvo of sweden. cadmium, mercury, lead. all on the periodic table. all inside these, too. now the last thing we want is for all that to mix with water. so recycle. you'll keep your planet clean, t-m-y-k. i'd like to end the show today with a little inspiration i'll take with me from our couple of days here in chicago. when the residents of evergreen terrace in joliet, illinois, found out the city wanted to demolish the housing project they lived in order to make room for development, they decided to fight back. the city hoped to get ownership of the property through eminent domain by forcing the owners to sell due to blight. and the housing authority pushing to force out the 300 mostly african-american families who city officials reportedly described as rats and whores from chicago who need to moved. the tenants had the support of the department of housing and urban development. but they had major legal help which came from the shriver center who put together a team of attorneys who worked on the case for free. held the annual awards benefit, which i attended last night honoring one of those law firms along with the widow of southern christian conference co-founder and dr. martin luther king jr.'s closest associate. it was fitting those two were paired together. as it was when mrs. abernathy participated and protested in her native alabama, the work of civil rights requires a combination of activism and legal acumen, individual bravery and institutional knowledge. from the beginning of the civil rights movement, skilled attorneys worked alongside expertly planned public demonstrations to produce the fragile victories that spanned the heroic period during brown versus the board of education and the votes rights act. the shriver center, is still doing that work. and when the bravery of four plaintiffs from that group of 300 potentially displaced families in joliet met the legal expertise and commitment to civic justice that the center continues to embody in the tradition of its founder who was the driving force behind the peace corps under the administration of his brother-in-law jfk and the man lyndon johnson tasked with implementing the war on poverty through programs like headstart. it was an unstoppable force. those tenants won their fight with the city. they established their human right to not be cast aside and displaced. and they, like other heroes, whose stories move those of us in the room last night like evelyn winn dixon who overcame poverty and homelessness to become the mayor of riverdale and of course, mrs. abernathy. they're a reminder it's not history, it's ongoing. and that wraps things up for the "reid report" have a great weekend, i'll see you back here monday at 2:00 p.m. eastern and be sure to visit us online. "the cycle" is up next. hey, cyclists. >> hey, joy, big show coming up. going to talk about the double canonization coming up on sunday, two former popes will become saints, very exciting. we'll have a great author talking about that. we'll be talking politics, the grand ole opry, elizabeth warren's new book, which is a great political book, interesting memoir. politics and a lot about her dog otis. we learn a tremendous amount about otis. >> a dog lover. >> otis and the grand ole opry. you can't beat that. >> but really, joy, it was my vote that we talk about john boehner the whole show, nobody else wanted to go there. but we're going to do impressions of john boehner, oh no! it's so hard! it's going to be great. it's going to be great. >> it's going to be great. >> the whole show on that. >> i'm with toure, i think you should do that. the cycle comes up next. ♪ i know a thing about an ira ♪ and i got the tools ♪ to do it my way ♪ i got a lock on equities ♪ that's why i'm type e ♪ ♪ that's why i'm tyyyyype eeeee, ♪ ♪ i can do it all from my mobile phone ♪ ♪ that's why i'm tyyyyype eeeee, ♪ ♪ if i need some help i'm not alone ♪ ♪ we're all tyyyyype eeeee, ♪ ♪ we've got a place that we call home ♪ ♪ we're all type e ♪ sfx: car unlock beep. vo: david's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. it was a quick road to saint hood. there's no doubt about that. but one of the important elements in determining who is a saint is popular devotion, that people believe he's a saint. >> when we canonize somebody, the church recognizes is the holiness of someone, doesn't mean they're perfect and doesn't have flaws. >> these two men are obviously holy. >> history is about to be made in vatican city. the faithful are gathering in rome for sunday's unprecedented canonization of two beloved popes. for more than 1 billion catholics worldwide, the event is both holy and historic. but, as with anything impacting religion, this path to sainthood is somewhat controversial for some people. pope john paul ii who reigned from 1978 to 2005 and at his funeral, chanted sainthood. he is remembered for his huge role in ending communism and expanding the public role of hope traveling to 140 countries. also being elevated to sainthood. he sat in st. peters chair from 1958 to 1963. he's the pontiff who called the second vatican council that modernized the catholic church. right now, crowds are already gathering in vatican city. the current pontiff, pope francis says he hopes the two pope saints will continue to inspire the church mission. he will lead the historic mass. pope benedict, also expected to attend. 750 bishops, cardinals and priests will take part in the ceremonies, 1 million catholics are expected to be in rome in vatican city for the event. 18 giant screens will be setp