challenge ourselves to the conversation on race. this is supposed to be a season of good feelings and goodwill. and how can our heart be in the right place and in the spirit of the season if we re making all this about one skin color or another? on friday, kelly offered no real apology for her comments. in typical fox news fashion, the knee-jerk response is to point fingers by blaming political correctness. and playing the victim. joining me now on our rapid response panel, the grio contributor, zerlina maxwell and josh marshal, founder and editor of talking points memo. great to have you with us. well, i guess there has to be a judgment here, made, by all of us individually or anybody watching. as to whether it was a joke or not. zerlina? i mean, watching t it definitely wasn t a scripted moment. it was an offhand comment. i don t know that i think that it was a joke. but i think that the larger conversation is really what s important. it is important that we talk
immigration reform. joining me now is political editor for the grio, berry bacon, jr. i m listening to the comments. do you think the budget deal waves the way for crucial issues? i don t. i appreciate the enthusiasm. i watched the interviews and thought it was good they were working together. the two parties are divided. one reason why this deal was reached is they took away into the major issues. ryan and murray decided not to go for anything big. no tax increases. no social security. no medicare. if you take down the big issues they are divided on, yes, you can reach an agreement. it leaves the big issues still unresolved. they are putting their feelings out there. as you are aware there are a growing number of republicans in the senate coming out against the deal. here is what democratic senator dick durbin said about getting enough republican votes.
for all this, gun control advocates outspend groups nearly 7-1 this past year. here s all you need to know about where the conversation stands in the country today. when we asked people about two of the faces of the gun control debate in 2013, michael bloomberg and the nra s rating, it was 20 points higher than the outgoing mayor of new york city. let me bring in the gaggle for friday. the editor for the associated press and the grio. robert costa is the contribute who will be starting with the washington post. good morning to all of you. since you necessary charge of america s news wire, the gun issue is exactly where all the conventional wisdom and people in washington said it was going to be at the time when emotions were running high and here we are a year later and basically the gun debate is at the same
as fast as we could because those $640,000 people are out here working every day, making a living and supporting their family, but they get up each day and roll the dice and hope and pray they don t get sick because they know they re one bad diagnosis away from bankruptcy. no one deserves to live like that. sir, thanks for your time, i appreciate it. president obama s speech at the center for american progress getting buzz today and for several reasons. the washington post says, quote, it s the best speech obama has given on the economy and it s a provocative speech on race and politico says it is his most substantive on the intersection of race and politics, and this is our topic for the agenda panel today. we have serena maxwell, condition contributor to the grio, and sabrina is from the huffington post. the president has not spoken much about race in his speeches and that s why so many ears
mates. bill clinton so identified with him and what he accomplished. he was a hero for people of clinton s age and my age and hillary clinton as much as white people as well. people of all color. he represented the good that could come out of struggles. let s go to the grio. joy, how impactful will nelson mandela be in american life moving forward? you know, ed, i think truly is one of the greatest citizens. stretching back to the 60s and 70s and into the 80s, the civil rights movement, the vietnam war and the antiwar movement and mandela movement on campuses and american kid who is had never been to the continent of africa, but identified with the suffering of 85% of that population who had no rights.