Transcripts For MSNBCW Disrupt With Karen Finney 20130922

Speaks at that Memorial Service a little bit later on today. We cant rest until all of our children can go to school or walk down the street free from the fear that they will be struck down by a stray bullet. The problem is there werent enough good guys with guns. Weve got to get back up and go back at it. We need to expand those background checks. Im not going to go out there and just beat the drum for the sake of beating the drum. Weve got to work as hard as possible for the sake of our children. President obama has just arrived at the Marine Barracks where soon hell again face a heart wrenching task as he joins families of the 12 people who were gunned down at the navy yard in washington, d. C. , for a Memorial Service. Its a role thats become all too familiar with the president as consoler in chief. Which he talked about at last nights dinner for the Congressional Black Caucus. Ill be meeting and mourning with families in this city. Who now know the same unspeakable grief of families in newtown and aurora and tucson and chicago and new orleans and all across the country, people whose loved ones were torn from them without headlines sometimes or public outcry, but its happening every single day. In addition to the senseless violence here at home, president obama prepares to meet with World Leaders in new york this week at the United Nations General Assembly. The president will participate in a number of high stakes meetings on topics from the Global Economy to Irans Nuclear plans to the ongoing efforts to remove chemical weapons from syria. Even as those efforts continue, while chemical weapons may be on the way out, as we saw with new round of violence this weekend, conventional arms are still being used in the conflict. Also today, the president called president kenyatta of kenya to express condolences over the terrorists who committed a violent attack thats killed at least 59 people and reportedly injured several americans. You know what . All of that just eight days remain to reach an agreement with Congressional Republicans before the government shuts down. Joining me now, california congresswoman karen bass. You were at the cbc dinner last night with the president. Yes. She joins us now. I would love to start with the president s remarks last night. Because he covered a lot of ground. Just get your thoughts. I thought his speech was very pertinent. Especially to that audience where he referenced what happened in washington, d. C. But he also referenced what happened in chicago. And just pointed out the absurdity at the fact that we cant even pass legislation to extend background checks. And he also spoke, you know, a great deal about the Affordable Care act zblipted to ask you about that. The Affordable Care act was sort of the biggest, id say, applause line it seemed that he got. Obviously in the Africanamerican Community so many parts of the Affordable Care act are going to make a tremendous difference. Right. Exactly. Let me just point out, too, preexisting conditions and the cap on insurance. Both of those things literally save lives. I spent many years working in the emergency room at Los Angeles County hospital. And i know that peoples lives will be saved from those two provisions alone. You know, congresswoman, i want to play for you a Little Something that our old friend wayne la pierre had to say this morning in response to the violence this week. Sure. Theyre trafficking in 13yearold girls down the street. Theres all kinds of drugs. All kinds of guns. The priority of this town is, hey, do you think a hunter that sells a gun to a hunter in kansas ought to have to be under the thumb of the federal government . So whats i mean, what struck me about that, there were so many things that struck me about that. Exactly. There continues to be from the perspective of the nra leadership and wayne la pierre such a disconnect in what were talking about. Certainly the president really i thought eloquently laid it out last night in terms of the cycle of violence and what happens in places like chicago. And that, you know, within those communities, how we talk about and think about gun Safety Measures and gun control is very different than hunters and sportsmen. Most of whom actually agree with the idea of responsible gun ownership. Well, absolutely. And im beginning to worry about that guy. Because hes sounding crazier and crazier after each one of these incidents. Yes, he is. But youre exactly right. Background checks have nothing to do with hunters. We know that the guy that took those lives at the navy barracks, we know that he had a Mental Health history. And we also know that he bought a gun. And so if background checks had been in place, he had several brushes with the law. And he could have been stopped from buying the weapons that killed so many people just a few days ago. Obviously i know therell be some conversations coming in the week ahead about whether or not therell be efforts to renew gun safety. Although before we get to that, we have to deal with this shutdown showdown that is forthcoming. Right. Congressman moran had a comment earlier today. He said, im willing to shut down the got to get rid of the sequester. That certainly isnt the immediate interest of federal employees. This is about the longterm interest of the government and the country. This is not going to be a world class economy and Progressive Society if the government isnt able to play its role. One of the dynamics, congresswoman, were seeing, obviously theres this pingpong with the republicans. Then also we have were seeing reports of some democrats raising concerns about voting for this without having without the opportunity to undo parts of the sequester. Well, right. Thats exactly right. If you just think about it, you know, the mantra of the republicans had been the deficit. Government spending. Government spending. Well, the deficit has been reduced over 800 billion. The fact of the matter is, is that the deficit would be reduced even further, employment would be better, and the economy would be doing even better if we didnt have the sequester. And so i think its right to say that we now have to look at that. We shouldnt just lock in the sequester into place. But i really think that the playbook is on the republican side. They are fixated now on the health care reform. They for whatever reason dont want to see all of the country be covered with health care. And so i think theyve painted themselves into a corner. All right. Thank you, congresswoman bass, for joining us this morning. This afternoon. Thanks for having me on. Lets go now to nbc White House Correspondent Kristen Welker and political reporter casey hunt. I want to start with you, lates. I know president obama spoke with president kenyatta from kenya. What can you tell us about that call . Reporter we know president obama did place that call earlier today to the president of kenya. Offered his condolences. Also offered the full support of the American People as kenya endures this tragedy that they are going through right now. We also know that the president reiterated that the u. S. Stands with apartner, as a partner with kenya in fighting terrorism. This all comes as were getting a little bit of news, karen. According to nbcs richard es powe see toe whos been talking to local and federal authorities, the fbi and its local joint Terrorism Task force are currently trying to track down leads about tweets that have been put out by the terrorists. Those tweets suggest that there may be americans among the attackers. Again, theyre trying to track down these leads. This is not confirmed right now. Those tweets suggest there could be as many as five americans among the attackers. Law enforcement officials working on that angle right now. In a separate statement by the state department which sort of reiterated what president obama said, that the u. S. Stands with kenya right now, wants to support kenya right now as it goes through this horrible tragedy, americans who are in nairobi have offered their assistance and whatever those kenyan authorities need right now to help them deal with this situation. And meanwhile while we have all of that going on, the president has just arrived, as i understand it, as the Marine Barracks at the navy yard in preparation for the memorial. Casey, what can you tell us . Its my understanding he will be meeting with the family members prior to the start of the service. Reporter good afternoon, karen. Yeah. The president is meeting with family members at the marine bar racks. The barracks are just up the street from where were standing here. Were right outside the gates to the navy yard where most of the activity that we saw on monday actually happened. After the president meets with the families, then theyll begin the service. Were going to hear from the mayor of washington, vincent gray. Were going to hear from the chief of Naval Operations who actually lives at the navy yard. So in the complex right behind me. Were going to hear from the secretary of the navy, from defense secretary chuck hagel, then, of course, from the president of the United States. Theyll also read all of the names of those victims. Karen, one thing i should note. This is actually a pretty tightknit neighborhood here. The Marine Barracks are just a little bit of a distance away from the navy yard. The marine corps is, of course, part of the the president of the navy. For people who live around here, seeing people in uniform, marines, sailors, is really not an uncommon experience. As weve been standing here waiting for this to begin, weve heard people walk by on the streets yelling, go navy. Wearing blue and yellow ribbons. The community is clearly remembering and honoring these victims today. It really has i mean, that whole area, i know many have talked about this. But that whole area really has sprung up with new restaurants and activity. The baseball stadium in large measure thanks to the activity there. Thanks to the navy and the marines. You see them out on the streets hanging out, eating, you know, so they are definitely a part of the community. And its obviously something i think that the whole city is has taken pretty hard. Reporter absolutely. And this area has become increasingly residential as you mentioned. They built the baseball stadium just a little bit away from here on the other side. So theres brandnew condos springing up. It slowed down a little bit during the recession. People are starting to really move in. Then you have townhouses and people whove been in the neighborhood for a longer period of time. So its not as though this is just while a lot of people do commute in from other areas in the metro, in the metro region, virginia and maryland, there is a lot theres a ground swell right here of community. Thank you, kasie hunt and Kristen Welker. Coming up, cloudy with a chance of shutdown . Your sunday forecast is next. Were not going to allow anyone to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people just to make an ideological point. And those folks are going to get some health care in this country. Weve been waiting 50 years for it. Howdy partner. Youre not linda. Im filling in for officer owens. She used double miles from her capital one venture card to take an early vacation. Buckle up. Lets go do cop stuff. [ siren chirps ] license and venture card, maam. Was i going too fast . Oh, youd be going twice as fast if you had double miles. [ male announcer ] get away fast with unlimited double miles from the capital one venture card. Freeze dont touch the face can i drive . Absolutely not. Whats in your wallet . [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. Others are designed to leave them behind. The allnew 2014 lexus is. Its your move. This is an interesting thing to ponder. If your top agenda is making sure 20 Million People dont have health insurance. And youd be willing to shut down the government and potentially default for the first time in United States history. Thats the president addressing the Congressional Black Caucus last night. Not backing down as the Government Shutdown showdown moves from John Boehners house to ted cruzs senate this week. This morning cruz put the onus on his fellow republicans to keep up the heck of a job John Boehners been doing. Senate republicans, its now our turn to unify, to stand together with house republicans. And in the next step, look, this may end up going back to the house. And i hope and fully believe the house will continue the fight. That first step doesnt seem to be going so well for mr. Cruz. As republican senator rand paul told reporters on saturday, quote, im acknowledging we cant probably defeat or get rid of obama care. But by starting with our position of not funding it, maybe we get to a position where we make it less bad. Okay. That doesnt sound like the winning spirit mr. Cruz was hoping for. All that comes as World Leaders fwath er gather in new york city this week for the u. N. General assembly meeting. President obama will need all of his intelligence and charm to distract those leaders from the crazy caucus going on in washington. Joining me now to discuss is former state Department Spokesperson p. C. Crowley and msnbc contributor maria teresa c kumar. I want to start with you. What strikes me is we know the sort of crazy caucus were going to have this sort of pingpong back and forth this week with the continuing resolution, its going to go to the senate, itll come back to the house. At the same time, october 1st is coming. And plans are moving forward. Theres a reason why the president is hitting all these key battleground states right now. Hes realizing theres so much noise right now happening in congress, hes going directly to the people and explaining health care. The fact that all the sudden as a young woman you dont have to pay for contraception at all . Thats a big deal. Thats about a 1,700 cost savings for young people. Go down the list. Hes realized he has to get out of washington. Talk directly to folks. Hes about to spend about i thipg its over 1 billion tlrs just in ads to try to get people to pay attention. Actually theres a whole host of activities. President obama and president clinton are going to speak this week at the cgi meeting. Youve got the Vice President going to do a call with nurses. Michelle obama talking with mothers and veterans to get their families enrolled. We also see a lot of activity, as you know, millions and millions of ads spent on the other side. Attacking obama care. Kind of a different approach this week. I want to play a Little Something for you. Well talk about it. Is this necessary . Well try to make this quick. Okay. Lets have a look. I mean, it is so offensive. I actually think im going to put this to you, too, p. J. I feel like that ad is actually working in our favor because people saw that and were so disgusted by it. That i dont think it had the effect they were intending. I think if anything its reminiscent of why the republicans lost so badly among women this past election. Because they went after a womans right to choose. The idea of having that conversation between her and her doctor. This is all the sudden if you look at that ad without any without any background you actually think thats what theyre talking about. I think this unfortunately is going to be something thats not only going to hurt them. Yes, people are talking about it. Not in the way they were hoping for. P. J. , weve got ads like that running as the u. N. General assembly starts. Weve also in all seriousness against the backdrop obviously the president has quite a few items on the list of meetings to talk about. One of the most important, obviously, is moving forward with regard to syria. How do we think those talks are going to unfold this week . Well, obviously behind the scenes therell be a lot of politicking to try to tee up a u. N. Security Council Resolution that codifies the agreement that russia and the United States reached in geneva. Regarding chemical weapons. The real bone of contention is what kind of enforcement mechanism, if any, will be in that resolution . With having the leaders of the United States, russia, china, britain and france there, im sure therell be a lot of discussions. Well see what happens either during the General Assembly or more likely in the days after, whether they can overcome the existing obstacles and reach an effective resolution. Obviously then carry out the inspection and ultimately the elimination of these weapons. Right. Im going to put this question to both of you. Start with you, maria teresa. It strikes me also, though, weve got very serious issues, domestic and on the foreign front. Were talking about potentially shutting down the government. Theres this talk of defaulting on our debt which would have incredible consequences for the Global Economy. How does the president reassure members of the sort of Global Community that, you know, hey, dont worry about it. Nothing to see here. Well, that if you remember thats precisely why the s p downgraded our aaa rating last time. It wasnt that we were actually about to close down the government. It was because of the dysfunction in washington. That had repercussions if folks recall in china, europe, all over the place. Unfortunately thats exactly whats going to happen here. Unless we get our house in order, youre going to have large investments saying, you know, we dont believe in the stability of your government because you guys are kind of playing mickey mouse. P. J. , do we expect World Leaders, some of the leaders to raise this issue with president obama this week in terms of trying to gauge how serious the possibility is that we would default on our debt . Obviously anything that happens within the political sphere here has potential and Significant International economic ramifications. So whatever if the United States were to default, you know, were leaping into the economic unknown. So obviously, you know, leaders will be watching carefully this debate in the coming days. Theyll probably be listening to the president and wishing him good luck to resolve this. Obviously it does have, you know, domestic challenges, political challenges at home do have impact abroad. If the president s able to successfully defend one of the signature diplomatic achievement or do mes you can political achievements of his administration that has ripple effects abroad. Likewise if hes unable to defend his a cornerstone of his policy, that will obviously have some ripple effects in terms of perception of his remaining power in office. Right. I just cant imagine that is a good backdrop against which to go sit down with putin and try to duke it out once again. P. J. , before i let you go, one question, you know, there has been talk that the president may actually meet with the new president of iran. You remember back in 2007 when the issue came up during one of the debates, and the president the president actually then senator said he would actually have direct talks. Weve now learned theres been some communication via letters. My suspicion just having worked in the white house is we wont know what happens until after the fact. But what do you expect could come out of that this week . Well, i wouldnt say i expect a meeting. I mean, obviously any anyone that has these kinds of stakes, a lot of preparation would be required. None of that preparation has really started yet. The real issue here would be will there be some sort of encounter . Which has huge potential significance. In past, u. N. General assemblies, both iran and the United States, they go to Great Lengths to make sure there is not any kind of encounter. Certainly the president of the United States didnt want anything to do with president ahmadinejad, the former leader of iran. This is a very interesting dynamic. I think if there is some sort of a hi, how are you, a handshake, some encounter in a hallway somewhere, that would suggest that both sides are arer nest li interested in breaking the ice. That has meaning. Obviously when this discussion narrow about Nuclear Weapons or broader about the issues between United States and iran starts, we shouldnt underestimate the significance or overestimate it. Very complex relationship. Frozen relations for 35 years. Lots of obstacles. And as weve been talking about politics, lots of hard liners on both sides who would not want that negotiation to succeed. Lots of careful navigation of the halls for that sort of hi, how are you, to either happen or not happen. Thanks to Maria Teresa Kumar and p. J. Crowley. Dont go anywhere. We have got much more disrupt ahead. You can disrupt the conversation all week long. Find us on facebook or tweet us msnbcdisrupt. Well be right back. [ male announcer ] progressos so passionate about its new tomato florentine soup, it took a little time to get it just right. [ ding ] but finally, it happened. Perfection. At progresso, weve got a passion for quality, because youve got a passion for taste. Ive got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. Its time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that wont relieve all your symptoms. New alka seltzer plusd relieves more sinus symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. Oh, what a relief it is. As we await president obamas remarks at the memorial for the Navy Yard Shooting victims, one area of gun reform has been Mental Health. Yesterday i had the opportunity to interview former rhode island congressman Patrick Kennedy whos been a champion of the cause. He makes the point Mental Health problems are a matter of chemistry, not character. Take a look. All of us will have family members who suffer from a brain related illness. Whether its their parent with alzheimers, their child with addiction, their brother or sister with ms. Well, what do they look like . They look like theyre different. Theyre acting strange. But we give those words crazy. Psycho. Nuts. And those are terribly prejortive terms. No wonder anybody wants to go get, quote, Mental Health treatments. Its assumed these are character issues opposed to chemistry issues. You can go to our Facebook Page for the full interview with Patrick Kennedy. Next, can president obama and rand paul find Common Ground . Coming up, thats the issue that has liberals and libertarians coming together for positive change. [ male announcer ] when it comes to doing what you love, more is better. Thats why we designed the allnew nissan versa note, with more technology, to get you into, and out of, tight spots. And more space so that you always have your favorite stuff. And just for good measure, an incredibly efficient 40 mpg highway. So that when youre doing more, youre spending less. The allnew nissan versa note. Your door to more. You really love, what would you do . [ woman ] id be a writer. [ man ] id be a baker. [ woman ] i wanna be a pie maker. [ man ] i wanna be a pilot. [ woman ] id be an architect. What if i told you someone could pay you and what if that person were you . When you think about it, isnt that what retirement should be, paying ourselves to do what we love . We all understand we have to be vigilant against any attack. Whether that means tearing down barriers put up by those who seek to restrict the right to vote, or making sure our criminal Justice System works equally well for everybody, not just for some. That was president obama at last nights Congressional Black Caucus awards dinner talking about the impact systemic inequalities in our criminal Justice System have on communities of color. Over the past 30 years the United States prison population has more than quadrupled from 500,000 to 2. 4 million. Its estimated that 1 in every 100 adults is currently behind bars. The failed war on drugs, mand moir minimum sentences and three strikes laws that were originally marketed as efforts to get tough on crime have resulted in discrimination as poor people and minorities are disproportionately being given longer sentences than white defendants. For example, the naacp reports that five times as many whites are using drugs as africanamericans. Yet blacks are sent to prison for drug offenses at ten times the rate of whites. The pathway into the prison system starts early. Studies show that young black and brown children are more likely to receive harsh punishments than their white counterparts. One result in the school to prison pipeline means young black and brown kids are labeled as difficult or a problem early in their school careers. Theyre unfairly suspended, expelled, and sometimes arrested for harmless offenses. According to to safe quality schools. Org students have been arrested for things as innocuous has scribbling on their desk and using a tv show theme song as their ring tone. While sentencing reform is typically thought to be a liberal fight, increasingly libertarians are joining the cause. Among them, kentucky senator rand paul who raised the issue during a recent Senate Judiciary hearing. Senator paul tells the story of a 19yearold africanamerican, a young man on his way to college, who ended up on the receiving end of a tenyear prison sentence. Federal judge Timothy Lewis recalls a case where he had to send a 19yearold to prison for conspiracy. What was the conspiracy . The young man was in a car where drugs were found. I dont know about you, this is judge lewis, but im pretty sure one of us might have been in a car in our youth at one point in time where there might have been drugs in the car. Joining us now, my colleague, ari, cohost of the cycle. Looking at this and a range of issues in the criminal system through presumed guilty. Thank you for coming in. Thank you. I wanted to talk about this. A, i thought the series has been fantastic. Also, this idea with all the dysfunction thats been going on in the last couple weeks the idea that maybe theres a Common Ground here between liberals and libertarians that could actually have a real change. Yeah. I think you hit it on the head. There are a lot of big stories here that are about dysfunction, and thats true. But when you see eric holder come out and say that consistent with president obamas leadership, they want to go at the war on drugs in a different way and reduce the overreliance on prison as the solution to everything when people have nonviolent offenses or as you mentioned school to prison pipeline, thats great. Thats one piece of the puzzle. Then when you see rand paul and an increasing number of libertarian voices who have more power in this party joining and supporting that and then this week going and testifying and pushing the safety valve act in the senate, which is leahy and paul, thats real. Thats not just talk anymore. Weve got some sound from a couple of libertarians actually supporting the cause. Lets go ahead and play that. Even if you think a drug law shouldnt be on the books at all, the sentences are far too harsh. So this is something where libertarians can agree with progressives that the sentences need to be reduced quickly. Now, ari, heres the thing that why now . We know overcrowding in prisons has become a very serious problem in a number of states like california comes to mind as one of them. But why now are we seeing this confluence of people coming together to say, hey, lets do something about this . I think its been a long time coming. I think what were finally seeing is a breaking point in the exhaustion of incarceration as the solution. At the state level where we often see things happen first, in georgia and tennessee, republican controlled legislatures have already put some of this into place. Were seeing more pressure against mandatory minimums in ohio and to some degree in california. This stuff is very expensive. So in a time where people at the state level and federal are talking about budgets, theres sort of a ridiculous version of that thats just meant to beat up on the president. Weve covered that. But then there is also real concern about, well, what are we spending our money on . This is an area where you can cut and get the libertarian wing of the Republican Party and progressives onboard. I to think its significant. Even for folks who watch and say, well, i dont trust rand paul. There are a lot of reasons not to trust rand paul. But if hes echoing a progressive claim that weve made for years, not only that this is too expensive, but that its racially unjust, thats how you win in politics. You get the other side to come around. Do we think that for rand paul and the libertarians its the Racial Injustice or its the expense issue . As sort of the president was talking about last night, as i was talking about in the intro, when we look at where this starts, this really starts very young. When kids are, you know, black and brown children, singled out early on, youre a problem, you get suspended, you get in trouble, you are far more likely to then sort of fall into that system than necessarily be seen as the a student, you know, going to college. We know it starts early. We know the prejudice and bias starts early. I dont necessarily hear that piece of the equation from these guys. But i suppose ill take their support one way or the other. But is there sort of a fundamental understanding of where this really starts . I dont think in the Republican Party the majority of the concern here goes to that sort of systemic understanding that youre outlining. Although i think theres room for overlap. I think for the political piece of it, look, there are some people who are libertarians because its not cool to say republican anymore. Its become like the more acceptable version of conservative. Then there are some like tim flynn that we showed up there who works at kato which is funded by the koch brothers. A lot of deregulatory policies we disagree with. But tim, whos been a lawyer and written books about this, has said for years this is bad policy to lock people up over nonviolent offenses and lock them up for years. To some degree to the point you made about youth to take people out of school. The case rand paul was mentioning was a student who was going to be the first africanamerican student in his family to ever go to college. And tim lewis, who is an africanamerican judge, who was appointed actually by a republican president , was saying this shows how pervasively racist the policy is. Because you dont see it applied for mandatory minimums to the same degree to white defendants. Now, im a political person. You know that. Im going to be just a little bit cynical here. Youre right. For some republicans being libertarian is because being republican is not so cool anymore. We know the Republican Party has a big problem when it comes to the Africanamerican Community. It strikes me, and we were sort of looking at some of the numbers of incarceration rates, blacks in kentucky, for example, this could be a way for libertarians to build a bridge. Lets say youre running for president in 2016. Ill just throw that out there. A way to build a bridge to the black community. I think thats right. I mean, one of my big problems with rand paul historically was that his view of a libertarian government went so severe that he said he was against actually applying the civil rights act. Exactly. So there are a lot of concerns where if he wants to be a national figure, hes got that problem. Eric cantor, whos made some interesting gestures, although theyre only gestures at this point, about the Voting Rights act, has about a 20 africanamerican district there in virginia. He sounds, i guess i wouldnt say good. I would say less offensive than some of the other members of republican leadership. There may be a bit of political economy in play as well. You know what, ill take it. Thank you, ari. Coming up, the president speaks at the navy yard memorial in washington, d. C. Stay with us. In the world. Its delicious. So now weve turned her toffee into a business. My goal was to take an idea and make it happen. Im janet long and i formed my Toffee Company through legalzoom. I never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. Go to legalzoom. Com today and make your business dream a reality. At legalzoom. Com we put the law on your side. His day of coaching begins with knee pain, when. [ man ] hey, brad, want to trade the allday relief of two aleve for six tylenol . Whats the catch . Theres no catch. You want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol . No. For my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. [ male announcer ] the allnew 2014 lexus is. This is your move. Mmm this is delicious katie. Its not bad for canned soup, right . Pfft [ laughs ] you nearly had us there. Canned soup. [ male announcer ] they just might think its homemade. Try campbells homestyle soup. Now to fyi. A few news items you may have missed this week. First to connecticut where a shockingly horrific field trip resulted in parents registering complaints with the hardford school system. Sandra baker told the Hartford Courant her daughter and fellow students were, quote, terrorized when they took part in a slavery reenactment last year. At natures dasz room in massachusetts. The bakers who appeared on Melissa Harrisperry this morning say students were made to act like escaped slaves while others were crowded together as if they were on a slave ship. The instructors who were white allegedly acted like slave owners yelling threats and racial epithets. The bakers daughter said she was also told in the woods to, quote, not make eye contact with the white masters. The school and the Hartford School district arent commenting during their investigation. Theres a lengthy statement on the natures classroom website that says in part, natures classroom does not condone the use of the n word and the executive director told the huffington post, quote, we are not in the business of creating harm physically or emotionally but the legitimatesy of the activity needs to be judged by individual participants at all grade levels. I used to work in education, guys. Im sorry. Thats stupid trying to masker raid as educational. Next to california where Cassidy Campbell became a ground breaker when she was voted homecoming queen at Marina High School in huntington beach. Shes a transgender student. She bested a field of ten other girls to win. She told the l. A. Times earlier this month, quote, if i win it would mean the school recognizes me as the gender i always felt i was. With all the attention i realized its bigger than me. Im doing this for the kids who cant be themselves. I cant think of a better role model. Another student needed a note excusing her from class. So she went straight to the top. Thats right. Fiveyearold alana puyard attended a Wounded Warriors event with her father at the white house this week. To get out of school she got a note for her Kindergarten Teacher signed by none other that president bm barack obama. Cant think of beater souvenir. Our disrupter of the week. Pope francis this week stunned catholics and noncatholics worldwide he told the judgment magazine the church has grown, quote, obsessed with contraception, guy marriage aay abortion. We have to find a new balance. Otherwise the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards. Losing the freshness and fragrance of the gospel. This morning the pope criticized the Global Economy and called work, work, work in support of unemployed men and women across the globe. I couldnt have said it better myself. You know, im thinking lets fly the pope in and let him have a speech on capitol hill. He could probably teach a thing or two to those capitol hill republicans. That is your fyi for this week. Coming up, were going to go live to washington, d. C. Where president obama will be speaking at a Memorial Service for the victims of the Navy Yard Shooting. Stay with us. Help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. I can tell you safety is at the heart of everything we do. Weve added cuttingedge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a stateoftheart monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twentyfourseven. And were sharing what weve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. Our commitment has never been stronger. 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We also expect remarks from washington mayor vincent gray, navy sec ray may bus and secretary of defense chuck hagel. Im joined again now by nbc political reporter kasie hunt outside the navy ward in washington and Daniel Hernandez jr. , the former congressional intern who helped save congresswoman Gabby Giffords life two years ago in tucson. Hes now a member of the tucson area school board. Thanks to you both for joining me. Thanks so much for having us. I want to start with you, daniel. I know you were here in washington just this week participating in meetings to try to reinvigorate the conversation over gun safety. Tell me what was the reaction that you got . You know, we were getting a lot of the same kind of messages that weve been getting for a long time from people saying, dont turn this into something political. Lets wait. But the reality is, this is not something that is just happening every couple of months as it is happening with navy yard or tucson or aurora or elk creek. Theres this urgency those of us who are victims and family members of victims are trying to press that we cant keep waiting. This is a huge health and safety issue we need to start addressing right away. There was a story of some of the survivors talking about the need to be more graphic to try to get peoples attention because of waning sort of attention on this issue. And actually the mother of one of the victims was on with David Gregory earl wrier this morning. Were going to play that sound. We got our news in the middle of the night from the young man that was with my daughter who called me from inside the theater. 20 minutes after id been talking to my daughter. And told me with screaming going on in the background that my daughter was dead. And we later found out that she was shot six times. And her brains were blown out. And jesse laying on that cold theater floor. You know, daniel, is it going to take that kind of a graphic description and more graphic language in having these conversations to really wake people up . I think thats one of the things that unfortunately is going to have to happen. Because as were looking, there are so many Mass Shootings that are happening not more frequently, but theyre getting more attention than ever before. So sometimes i think people have become desensitized, unfortunately. We have to remind them this is not a sanitary version of something that happened. Tucson or oak creek or newtown. These are awfuls. Bodies being thrown apart by bullets. This is not the clean, sanitary version you see when you watch a movie. Thats very easy to kind of handle. This is a traumatic and awful experience where bodies are just mangled and destroyed by bullet wounds. Unfortunately, because we see so many cases of Mass Shootings and just shootings in general, people have become really desensitized. Thats very sad to me that were going to have to go even further. I think for a lot of victims its difficult to talk about all the details. When ive talked to people from newtown, they are horrified to have to go into the details. When theyre speaking with senators and representatives, unless they give those details, they cant impress upon them the feeling of never being able to say goodbye to your child because their body was destroyed by bullet wounds. Kasie, thats something that really surprised me this morning, actually. You had senator joe manchin on face the nation. Were going to play some sound from him in just a minute. Just in general it doesnt feel like there is the political will at this point on capitol hill to move forward with any kind of substantive, broad based gun safety legislation. Reporter at this point, there isnt political will. Theres a movement. Im not going to go out there and just beat the drum for the sake of beating the drum. There has been to be people willing to move off the position that was taken. Kasie, that was obviously senator joe manchin. Reporter there isnt any political will on capitol hill for this. Manchin was, of course, leading the charge last time around to try and get background check legislation through congress in the wake of the newtown shootings. Unfortunately some of what daniel was describing has become a reality. There were a lot of people who after newtown said if we dont respond in the wake of the deaths of these 20 children and the people who were teaching them, the country is never going to be willing to make a change. And that sort of sense after the Navy Yard Shooting was palpable. Nobody on the hill that i spoke with, and i spoke with a number of senators who were players in the last gun debate, nobody said that anything major is going to start to go through suddenly because of the Navy Yard Shooting. People are talking a little bit about dealing with the Mental Health piece of this legislation. That was a section of it when we first had this debate after newtown. It got some support from people on both sides of the aisle in congress. But theres argument even about that. Right. Reporter because the National Rifle association supports one version while gun control advocates are looking for something else. At this point its really a stalemate. You know, the thing that strikes me, daniel, about the conversation when we talk about the Mental Health element is that obviously is a very important piece of it. I think there is a broader conversation that our country needs to have, that access to Mental Health Care Services and to the stigma of Mental Health issues. At the same time, it strikes me when you look at all of these incidents that have occurred, Mental Health, thats only one part of the problem. There really needs to be broadbased reform. Thats the thing, karen. We are not looking at a single issue. This is a broad set of issues. Its going to take daniel, we see the president. Hes coming to he and the first lady are taking their seats at the navy yard. Okay. Go ahead, daniel. Continue. Sorry. This is going to be something thats going to take a lot of time. Mental health is just one component. What we need to remember is just since newtown, connecticut, there have been 9,000 People Killed because of gun homicides. What we need to do is start with something simple which is universal background checks. To make sure were all playing by the same rules. Because when people are buying weapons, there are cases where people who are prohibited buyers are buying them at gun shows and online who otherwise would not be able to pass a background check. We just want to make sure we do something small like background checks to start the real work that we need to do, start preventing people from being killed by gun violence. It looks as though the service is beginning. The president and the first lady are at their seats. We expect the program to begin promptly at 5 00. Kasie, what do you expect in the president s remarks today . Reporter well, karen, what you shouldnt and our viewers shouldnt expect to hear today from the president is any sort of political speech. You can expect this to sort of follow in the mode of other times when this president has had to address the families of victims in the wake of major gun violence incidents. Look at how he addressed the families of newtown when he went to connecticut. Many of those families are seated down front. The president met with them before hell end uptaking the podium in just a few minutes. All right. Thank you so kasie hunt and Daniel Hernandez. As ive said, were Just Moments Away from the Memorial Service for the victims of last weeks Navy Yard Shooting. 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They loved their country. They loved their