Page 5 - Doesnt Address News Today

Well, obviously it happened. obviously cigarettes were linked to lung cancer, but people said the specific links couldnt be established. he is playing the same game here, obviously, he is the one with an arsenal of chemical weapons, obviously, that is very well known. and somebody, him, his people used chemical weapons to kill 1400 people. >> and he doesnt address, look, the area these came from came with rockets that we know that the rebels dont have access to this sort of delivery systems that...

1,400 people. >> and he doesnt address, look, the area these came from came with rockets that we know that the rebels dont have access to this sort of delivery systems that were used to launch the chemical weapons, because if they had, anderson, they would have toppled the assad regime by now. so it is sort of ridiculous. he doesnt address the evidence the administration released, the rate of fire after the chemical attacks was four times greater than any other period into the rebel areas, clear...

Brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics that show african-american boys are more violent. using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain. >> and the president also talked about his own experiences being racially profiled. alex, youll remember that the last time he really addressed race this was back in 2008. these remarks much more personal, extemporaneous in part because this is the second-term president. i think he feels a little bit freer to e...

Quite a bit but it was very powerful because of that. >> do you think, though, as i know youve scoured all the news headlines. im looking at this one from politico today where it says "obama weighs in on race reluctantly." that interpretation. do you see how politico reached that interpretation? do you think there was any reluctance? >> i think part of this has been the sort of standard trope about president obama that he has not discussed race enough. every time i hear that i always ask, as com...

Week ago tonight. >> yes. >> its only been a week and all thats happened since. kristen, do you get a sense there is something the white house thinks will be one of the defining moments of his presidency, that which the president spoke about yesterday? >> reporter: well, i think they think that today heading into this week, again, i dont think his advisers expected him or knew what he was going to do or whether he was going to speak about this to the nation. so i think there was a sense that las...

Past if he makes any mention of race. you remember the criticism he received when he said that if he had a son he would look like trayvon but it was wonderful to hear him speak from the heart, to talk about his own personal experience. and to mirror the fact that he knows that african-american boys, men go through this experience on a daily basis. and a lot of women, too. >> how important is it, representative bass, do you think for people to understand that perspective? how much do you think ma...

Offer on questions of diversity. it is not quite true that that -- when he said its true all across in all communities -- its not true in all communities but i do think what he is right about is this generation sees and understands and experiences race quite differently and that we in older generations must give space for them to experience their realities of race without constantly putting our narrative on it and saying, no. this is that. i think the other important point here and i felt this w...

Give me the reaction to the timing and tone of this message. >> it was deeply personal, remarkable how personal it was. as kristen said weve never heard him speak about these issues ever in this. he had only given a speech about race overall in 2008. he said last year my son can be trayvon, you know, and that was a very personal comment. this was much deeper when he talked about being followed when he was shopping. that was something he never said. i was just watching. i have covered him for six...

On the other side. but there was this sense of the recognition of this young mans life and of the president saying, that life has value because it is in part like my life. you guys elected me president. >> yeah. do you think the president had a choice, though? or do you think he felt compelled he had to speak out? >> i absolutely think he had a choice. particularly because i suspect as a matter of politics this was not a good way to go. certainly his base would have been quite irritated but this...

Some people are angry and some people are frustrated. you know what, its a really important point that sometimes it is a refusal to see the social and racial inequities in our society and we have to move beyond that. people have got to come to the table and become more connected to the experiences of those who have been racially profiled, connect to the experiences of unjust racial biases in the criminal justice system. that is the only way we can begin to eradicate some of those challenges. us ...