there are very few african-american men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. that includes me. will are very few african-american men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. >> welcome to the "editorial report." that's president obama speaking in very personal term about risk in the wake of george zimmerman's acquittal in the murder of florida teen trayvon martin. it came as protests continued across the country and pressure grows some some corners to bring federal civil rights charges against zimmerman. jason riley joins me with more and reaction of the president. jason, that could have been trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. what's your reaction to that and his remarks? >> well, he's right. that could have been him. it could have been me 10, 15, 20 years ago. the question is, why is that? why have perceptions of black male criminality persisted for so many decades in this country? it can't be because we haven't made progress on race. he saying that as president. what's behind this perception? i would argue that it is hard statistical data showing young black males just like they did 35 years ago continue to commit a disproportionate number of crimes and that's what's feeding this perception. >> i thought he responded. you wrote a column making that point that was controversial in some quarters but got a lot of response. i thought the president was responding to you at one point in that speech where he said that doesn't mean the african-american community is naive. young black men are not. disproportionately and that was his words involved in the criminal justice system as victims and perpetrators. do you think he went far enough in that explanation? >> i think that needs to be the whole discussion. clearly i think president obama wanted to drag other ill-relevant factors into this. if we want to change the black male perception or perception of black males in this country young black men need to change their behavior. again, this is not just whites who have these perceptions. jesse jackson said when i'm in a dark alley i look behind me and see white people. i feel relieved. this is something that permeates both races, all races, and it is common sense. this is not an irrational response given the data on crimes. >> it is interesting. president talked to -- so did eric holder, earlier this week, to the naacp. he said basically i had been stopped in georgetown as a young prosecutor when i was late to a movie running to a movie. and -- they are both saying that this is why this case resonates so much with people in the african-american community. isn't that -- responding to that sense and -- becomes anger at some point, frustration certainly. isn't that -- an appropriate role for the president of the attorney general? >> well, i think -- the more responsible thing for them to do and the positions that they hold is to say that the black community needs to talk with black leaders and parents and children and ministers, teachers, what have you, but this is a conversation we need to have about black behavior but what i saw the president do in this conference call, i saw barack obama as community activist here. you have -- activists typically do not unite people. they divide people. here we have the president dragging race into a case and giving sort of comfort or justification to the black civil rights leaders and -- who have -- been trying to racialize this case from day one. i think that holder and obama's responsibility here was to cool down the temperature and, in fact, what they were saying, what they both have been saying, is that there is some ju justification from what we has been hearing from the al sharpton and jesse jacksons out here. >> he said will is no justification here for any kind of violence. >> that was an for concession there. it looks like justice has month case. they can't go after zimmerman on a hate crime which is what some of the civil rights community -- are hoping the justice department -- >> i think i heard the president say -- as i interpret it, i heard him say to his supporters, look, i don't think will is a case here. i don't think that we are going to be able to bring it. and, therefore, i'm siding with you, i'm going to show you, demonstrate to you, how much i -- i understand where you are coming from here. you think that was part of the political calculation? >> sure. >> but we also know that the political thanks, speaking of political calculations, that this president has not hesitated to use racial division to further his political agenda. i think this is a case where calling it a -- voter i.d. laws, lowbacks to jim crowe, saying the civil rights -- voting rights act of 1965, every as peck of it, is still relevant today. if you don't think so you are a racist. of continuing to -- racial preferences and high education. this president and house attorney general and this administration has not hesitated to drag race in the issues and divide the country along racial lines when it serves their political agenda. >> thanks very much. glad to have you here for this. when we come back, cincinnati strikes back. one of those rogue agents in the irs scandal testifies before congress. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. mmmhmmm...everybody knows that. well, did you know that old macdonald was a really bad speller? your word is...cow. cow. cow. c...o...w... ...e...i...e...i...o. 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[ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'. the former commissioner, irs commissioner, miller, blamed all of this targeting on two rogue agents. >> correct. >> i would suspect that you would be one of those two rogue agents. >> inperfected i was one of them. >> is that true? >> month, it was not. i was following directions from management and they were aware of what i was doing. >> testimony this week from elizabeth. one of the rogue agents in the irs cincinnati office. initially blamed for the improper targeting of tea party groups. she and carter hall, veteran irs lawyer, testified before congress thursday, and confirmed that officials in washington, including an obama appointee had a direct handing in delaying the applications of conservative organizations. for more joined by "wall street journal" assistant james freeman. senior editorial page writer and all things irs, collin levy. editorial board member steve moore. collin, give us the summary here of what we learned at the hearing on thursday. >> right, paul. we learned that the hearing -- at the hearing thursday this scandal didn't end in cincinnati and went through the office of chief counsel williams and went through the office of lois lern lerner. what you heard from elizabeth there was very clear. she said she was getting her orders from management in washington and knew exactly what she was doing. now, her management in washington was carter hall. he was the irs attorney looking at these cases in washington. he said specifically that when he had a couple of test cases he was required to run them up the chain to miss lerner and miss lerner's office and office of chief counsel and unable to sign off on those cases without their permission. it is very clear this connects the dots. >> the general counsel's office's role is interesting. will's only two political appointees at the irs. general counsel, mr. wilkins, and the -- whoever is running the irs. this is significant. what's the irs saying about wilkins' role now that it -- his office has been linked to this? >> well, the irs has been at some pains to say mr. wilkins wasn't at a key meeting where his office was reviewing some of these applications. i think it is very interesting because one of the reasons that mr. wilkins was hired presumably when the white house hired him, they said specifically that they admired his expertise in dealing with non profit organizations so the idea that he wasn't in the loop on any of this and all of this was happening in his office is a little bit after stretch. >> he was involved, was he not, in the campaign in 2008, when jeremiah wright, the -- then senator obama's pastor, when he was investigated or his church was investigated for tax exempt issues, correct? >> right. that was a case where that -- where reverend wright's church was questioned, whether or not its involvement with president obama was jeopardizing 501 step. he was defending the church in that case. >> mr. wilkins did not testify this week. i assume he will be given that opportunity at some -- what do you make of this? >> well, i think that's the next place where this investigation has to go. what i make of it is what we are hearing this week is the exact opposite of the story that the government told us in may when this first came out that it was the rogue employees and it was low level and it was -- bureaucratic bungling. this is going right to the top and what with mr. hull made clear is that -- >> top of the irs. >> top of the irs. these reviews, additional scrutiny only of these -- tea party and conservative groups was unprecedented. had was -- has been in the irs for decades and never seen anything like it. and it is coming from the chief counsel's office and so -- i think mr. wilkins is the next one to get under oath if he lawyers up and pleads the fifth as miss lerner did, perhaps others in that office can tell us what happened. there's also a lot of document requests from the hill that may shed light on it. >> the tea party group states -- they are still not getting fair treatment by the irs. even now. >> they haven't. let me just say one thing about those hearings this week which was that amazing thing was that democrats and the way they roughed up the witnesseses and roughed up the inspector general, you know, this was -- almost unprecedented. the democrats originally said we want to get to the bottom of this. it became very clear that they -- they treat this as a partisan witch-hunt beating up the inspector general and want transparency and want to sweep it under the rug. the issue with the groups unfairly treated by the irs, they have gotten letters from the irs saying we will give you your tax exempt status but you are going to have to live under different rules than liberal groups do. i talked to a lot of the heads of the tea party organizations who said this is blatantly unfair and why we -- being held to a stricter standard than liberal groups. that's at the heart of what this gamble about. >> what about the argument we are hear from some democrats that -- the -- progressive groups, so-called liberal group groups,were treated like the tea party groups, singled out, does that have any factual basis? >> no. we haven't seen any factual base foyrs that yet, paul. what you are hearing are these claims that progressives are targeted equally and haven't seen any of the same kind of jute any, letters, et cetera, you heard from tea party groups. none is coming out progressive groups. russell george said of the 293 groups that were green for additional political activity, there were six that had the work progress or progressive in them and so -- they are going to look into that. he said his office will look into that further. will's just nothing there yet. >> russell george being the inspector general. >> july 29, investigators on the hill are expecting document prosecutors the executive branch on communications among the irs and executive office of the president related to the elections and tea party groups and here is another opportunity for the obama administration to be helpful here. let's see if they take. >> it if you want to follow the story, you have to follow it right here because the rest of the press corps seems to have gone into summer hibernation. >> wouldn't it be great if the justice department did? >> when we come back, walmart says lit pull the plug on at least three new stores in washington, d.c., after the city council there passes a so-called super minimum wage of $12.50 an hour. is it a victory or defeat for that city's workers? 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>> you want to understand, paul, why major cities like detroit are going bankruptcy. just look at what's happening in washington, d.c. what happened was that the -- have you major developments, shopping centers, in low-income areas, washington, d.c., the city actually was trying to get walmart to build stores there. walmart agreed to build six. no good deed goes unpunished in politics. what happened was the city council -- in the middle of the construction of the stores said, by the way, we are going to require you to pay a $12.50 an hour minimum wage. now as just said the -- walmart is threatening to pull back and not open up the stores. >> but why? what's the nature of their opposition to these stores? why are they doing this? >> left always hated walmart mainly because walmart is nonunionized. what's indecreed bill clinton fair abo -- incredibly unfair about the law, only big box stores that don't have union. >> each store is supposed to bring -- estimated to bring in 300 jobs and a million dollars in tax receive knew for d.c. sounds like a win-win. >> it is a win-win. this is a classic example of democrats putting a special interest and labor unions ahead of their constituents. talking about a company in walmart that has a tradition, placing a majority of its stores in less affluent neighborhoods. that's what it does and prides itself on doing. low cost goods and services and jobs. and it is amazing because what -- what the democrats and the liberals who are anti-walmart are saying is we would rather these folks stay unemployed than work at walmart. >> so this same kind of fight occurred in chicago. it had a happier ending because richard daly, then the mayor, vetoed the bill. how did things turn out? >> well, it turned out fine. that battle waged for a long time. have you about eight walmart stores zbl stores. >> inside the city. >> yes. daley said something vicinitying. we never object to the stores opening in the suburbs why are we opposed to them opening in the city. that gets to jason's point about jobs and need for these jobs in the inner city and why is there that sort of thing? there's something else here interest being the minimum wage because you have a tacit acknowledgement the minimum wage drives business essay way. that's what these city council members are saying if we raise the minimum wage, businesses aren't going to want to come here. walmart will not want to do it. >> steve, there is an irony here that walmart, which is not above political sin si-- cynicism itself. i thought that -- in order to punish its competitors, might not be able to support it. so -- what's vincent gray, the mayor of d.c., going to do? >> well, with yby the way, you right. i want go back to the point jason made. one of the things is walmart provides low prices and makes things affordable for people. i believe that at the end of the day, the mayor is going to veto this bill because it is so contrary to jobs and opportunity in washington, d.c. if walmart pulls out entire shopping centers may fold as well. >> what do you think? is he going to do that? example of detroit, right, where there are 78,000 abandoned buildings, it is astonishing. shows you what happens when you get economic decline. >> it shows you poor peel can't catch break from the left. walmart is trying to give folks jobs. the left wants to give them food stamps. >> is that going to be an example for washington wash a? >> i hope so. >> what's that precedent? >> well -- chicago. >> detroit. >> this is one example. will are some other places. i believe new orleans was based with this. walmart eventually got in will. >> new york will not allow walmart into the city. it is amazing. >> that's true. particularly in the outer boroughs. >> we have to take one more break. hits and misses of the week. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. time now for hits and misses of the week. steve, your first stop? >> if you are wondering why gas prices are hitting $4 a gallon in many markets, look no further than your favorite subsidy. ethanol. practical government has been mandating the amount of ethanol that has put into gallon of gasoline and it is driving up the price of gasoline by as much as ten cents a gallon. it is a $14 billion a year eth moll. what this means is not only does ethanol drive up food prices, now it is driving up gas prices, too. only in washington. >> one of the great scams of all time. all right. >> this is a hit to the fourth circuit court of appeals which this week became the third federal court to invalidate president obama's nonrecessed recess appointments to the national labor relations board. a few -- little while ago, the president basically made those appointments by just ignoring the senate's role of advising consent and d.c. circuit and third circuit have said that was an overreach of presidential power. that case is going to go up to the supreme court. i'm happy to see the positive momentum. >> this is a hit to dean metropolis, private equity executive who this week brought back the great american institution, twinkie. hostess makes twinkies failed last november, heavy heavy union costs basically destroyed it. now leaner and meaner the twinkie is back. he also owns paps blue ribbon. >> you are glad he resurrected two of your favorite products. >> i'm a fan of domestic macro brews. metropolis, when trying to make the case for prif equity last year. >> remember, if you have your own hit or miss send it to us. be sure to follow us on twitter. jer@fnc. hope to see you right here next week. i don't like when race gets out in the media because i don't think the medias has pure heart. >> media come under attack polling the coverage of the zimmerman trial and verdict. accused of overplaying the race card and making the situation worse. >> some seem to think this law is about me. it is not. >> mr. obama tries again to convince us obama care is the real deal. and media continues to push his bill of goods. with the boston bombings still fresh in our minds rolling stone puts the accused on the magazine's cover. journalism? or a

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