With you. I have gotten to know many of you during the course of some very difficult weeks, and your courage and love for each other and your communities shines through every single day and we could not be more blessed and grateful for your loved ones who gave everything they had on behalf of our kids. As we await the president , lets go to our panel. Mark glaze is director of mayors against illegal guns and karen finney is former dn C Communications director and also an msnbc political analyst. Good day to you both. Mark, i want to talk about some of the points that the president is expected to make in a moment, but first lets talk about that rebuttal by the great Wayne Lapierre. Whats most amazing is that it did not at all mirror his barely concealed nativism which was on display in an editorial release that day. Hurricanes tornadoes, riots, terrorists, gangs, lone criminals, these are perils we are sure to face, not just maybe. Its not paranoia to buy a gun. Its survival. Its responsible behavior, and its time we encourage lawabiding americans to do just that. What do you think would have been the reaction, mark, if he had actually said that on camera . Well, it might have been similar to the reaction that he got when they had that press conference after the newtown shooting which was sort of disbelief at how disconnected and extreme the nras washington lobbyists are when most of us know nra members are ordinary folks who take guns and take shooting classes from the nra and think everybody should get a background check. The interesting thing here is not just how extreme Wayne Lapierre has become but how different the leadership has become from the members of this organization. But, mark, hes describing apocalypse now in america, isnt he . Yeah. He is. He claims to be describing an area called south brooklyn. I go to brooklyn regularly. I have never been confronted at any time of day or night by the kind of marauding thugs he says were roaming the streets immediately following hurricane sandy. Well, there were no such maur rauding thugs. He also talks about all kinds of activity at the southwest border, coded language i assume that does not really exist. If hes concerned about the problem, then one would think that he would be in favor of law that is would keep guns out of the wrong hands like bangs of various kinds, but he will refuse to do anything that might reduce the number of guns that fall into those hands like a background check. Again, everybody is like 90 of the public thinks everybody should get a background check. You cant get 90 of the public to agree the earth is round. Its amazing. That is true. We are expecting the president in a moment. Our cameras are focused on the podium. Karen, can you explain to our viewers why the nra keeps putting Wayne Lapierre out there . Because other than the truth about gun violence, hes got to be the best asset for gun Safety Advocates weve ever had. Well, because if you read the last third of the piece that you mentioned that was in the daily caller its very clear the goal is to raise money for the organization, to try to stoke paranoia to increase gun sales because, dont forget, the nra has lots of partnership with gun and ammo dealers so they actually make money when guns and ammunition are sold, and he names a couple of gun sellers in that piece, and then he also has a call for people to join the nra. Clearly he knows the majority of his current members dont actually agree with him. So hes trying to get more members who will actually back this sort of more radical out of touch agenda. I think we need to be clear, he is crazy like a fox this man. He is not its very easy to read some of this language and dismiss it as crazy, and it is, but its also very calculating and i think we need to be very clear about that and call that out its pretty hateful as well, karen. Yes. It is very hateful, but part of the goal of that is to stoke fear to create this us versus them attitude as a way to continue to motivate certain groups of people to, you know, fight this fight with him. Well, we have our correspondent john yang who is actually at the school at the event where the president is expected to speak. John, what can you tell us about what the president is expected to say particularly in relation to guns and gun safety . Reporter well, i think hes going to talk about it. Hes going to touch on it. Certainly in this neighborhood, which has been very hard hit by gun violence, i think he will the focus of the speech that the white house wanted to present here is talking about ladders to the middle class. And theyre going to try to make that connection between the gun violence, between the violence thats affecting communities like this area here in the south side of chicago, and reaching the middle class. That if you can raise people up, raise communities up into the middle class, provide what they call ladders of opportunity, that you can address that issue, that you can bring down the violence, you can take away the causes and some of the reasons for it. Theyll make that connection. In this audience here today sorry, go ahead. And in the audience i may have anticipated what you were going to say, john, so forgive me, but the parents ofh of Hadiya Pendleton who had performed at the president s inauguration and then her life was taken randomly in a park where she was playing with her friends. Reporter thats exactly right. I think thats the challenge that were confronting here. He is meeting now behind closed doors in a private meeting. They arent allowing any still photographers or even a spray of this meeting. Hes meeting with 16 students at this school, Hyde Park Academy, 16 students who take part in an antiviolence program, who talk about mentoring, who talk about helping youth at risk. These are students who have some are in this by choice, some have been urged to join this group by school leaders, School Teachers and administrators. The school described this conversation as a hearttoheart talk between the president , who does know these streets, knows this area. His home is only two miles away from this high school. To talk to these young men about what its like to grow up in an environment like this, in a tough neighborhood, in a tough city. And i think that that is exactly why hes not here right now. I think this conversation is going on longer than anticipated, and the white house really said this was his main focus while he was here at the school was to talk to these young men, martin. Okay. Thank you so much, john yang. Lets go back to mark glaze. Mark, i just want to make the point for our viewers that john yang was just making, and i want to mention a few reports of deaths attributable to gun violence in the last 24 hours. A man outside dallas was shot and killed early this morning. An arkansas woman was killed in her apartment hour later. And on valentines day a teenager in North Carolina was killed while playing around with a shotgun with her brother. It would be wrong of us just to look at today and think that chicago is unique in some way. This is a nationwide problem, isnt it . And the point that our mayors make all of the time is that the public pays a lot of attention when theres a mass shooting because its so unbelievably horrific but the truth is 33 americans are murdered in this country every day with guns. And its only now that theres been this Tipping Point that the public is starting to hear about the daily toll that inadequate regulation of guns takes and, by the way, 33 is only the number who are murdered with guns. Many more are killed through accidental death, injury, and suicide. Sure. Kar karen, the pressure thats being brought to bear by the president , yes, as mark says, there are these spectacularly horrendous massacres, but alongside that, just the daily routine of murder as a consequence of gun violence in this country, and the president appears to be trying to take hold of all of that, both the everyday if you like, and im apologizing for using the word routine violence sure. Alongside these horrendous massacres and pointing the public at the fact we need to do something about this. But thats part of what is so powerful and i think why this has been such a transformational experience for this president. As john yang was saying, he understands whats happening in chicago. Clearly he was very moved by the experience of newtown. He said that was the worst day of his presidency. Hes using the bully pulpit of president ial leadership to help keep this issue at the forefront of our national conversation. Every time the president goes out and does an event, it gets covered and he knows that. It will get local and National Media coverage. Im really proud of this president for doing his part to give choice to something that is an unfortunate reality for so Many Americans in our daily lives. And for so long we have had to talk about jobs and the economy and those things are important as well. But this is a National Crisis that as weve talked about has been going on for far too long, and with the president s added attention to it, its sort of giving voice to something we all already know is a problem but really havent taken the opportunity to focus on and say, hey, how are we going to deal with this problem . Im grateful to you for focusing with us. Please stay with us as we await the president at a Chicago High School moments ahead. Stay with us. They gave all they had for the most innocent and helpless among us. Thats what we honor today. The courageous heart, the selfless spirit, the Inspiring Actions of extraordinary americans, extraordinary citizens. Id like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios mom, are those my jeans . [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who dont. Multigrain cheerios bob will retire when hes 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. But hes not. Hes an architect with two kids and a mortgage. Luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. And with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. Its not rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. To volunteer to help those in need. When a twinge of back pain surprises him. Morning starts in high spirits, but theres a growing pain in his lower back. As lines grow longer, his pain continues to linger. But after a long day of helping others, he gets some helpful advice. Just two aleve have the strength to keep back pain away all day. Today, jason chose aleve. Just two pills for all day pain relief. Try aleve d for strong, all day long sinus and headache relief. Its just unfortunate that this kind of politics intrudes at a time when im still presiding over a war in afghanistan and i need a secretary of defense who is coordinating with our allies to make sure that our troops are getting the kind of strategy and mission that they deserve. We are awaiting the president. Hes expected to give a speech at a Chicago High School in a moment in which we expect him to address, among other things, gun violence. The president is also trying to guide through the confirmation of chuck hagel. And why doesnt the president have a secretary of defense . And why have republicans decided to prevent chuck hagel from leading the men and women of our armed forces . There is an answer, my friends, but you might find it a little bizarre. Take a listen. Theres a lot of ill will towards senator hagel because when he was a republican he attacked president bush mercilessly. At one point said he was the worst president since Herbert Hoover. Are we really to believe that senator john mccain, who once had a few objections of his own towards george w. Bush, is really upset because chuck hagel compared w. With Herbert Hoover . You are republicans trying to subvert the Foreign Policy of the United States over an old and bitter grudge . Lets bring in ari melber and democrat strategist julian ep sto epstein. What is senator mccains problem . Is he trying to defend a mode okur president bush or is he trying to defend a failed war in iraq . I think its more iraq where we know senator mccain has long stood by our presence there and adding troops there, but bottom line if you take this as the mccain filibuster standard, then no one in any Democratic Administration ever gets a vote because, guess what . A lot of them have good faith and i think wellgrounded disagreements with george w. Bush. So this cannot be the standard. Its not defensible on its own terms and thats the problem. They are erecting a supermajority hurdle for all of this legislation and all of these nominees. This is an old problem from the way the republicans have been acting and it doesnt stand up because by this standard again you would not let anyone serve in government that you di agreed with. But its based on a grudge. Its based on a bitter grudge 4e held by senator mccain. What possible principle is he using to uphold the nomination of a defense secretary given that this nation is at war . I dont think its principled. I think it is unfortunate, and equally important it doesnt stand up because this is a senator here who wanted george w. Bush and republicans, of course, to get their team in, and now hes got this grudge. If you take a step back, im not the biggest chuck hagel fan in the world anyway. If republicans dont like it, when president obama appoints republicans, he wont even try to reach out. Its not a twosided problem in washington. The democrats have a role because harry reid didnt get through filibuster reform. He should have so they held onto the process but that had nothing to do with what happened yesterday . But they are not the abusers, they are the enablers and the abusers are john mccain and people who dont want it sounds like rhetoric, literally dont want the post filled at the pentagon because of their grudges. Julian, the senate will take up mr. Hagels nomination when it reconvenes in ten days atime but i want to bring in something from richard hass. Here he is with our own joe scarborough. Were hearing in the end most likely hes going to pass and be secretary of defense, so why hold him up over a recess when the pentagon desperately needs somebody at the helm . Because in a funny sort of way, joe, its exactly what mccain said. Its a way of getting their pound of flesh. Julian, pound of flesh. Is that really what this is all about . Given that our troops deserve a leader because they serve with every ounce of their bodies, they give their bodies. Well, i dont know that they will get a pound of flesh and it is a rizable reason. Politics is about picking good fights. This is a fight the republicans will lose and its a bad fight and you wonder why after whats happened to the Republican Party they continue to pick bad fights theyre going to lose. Theyre going to lose, one, because theres pressing security issues. Two, because theres no precedent for holding up a secretary of defense. And, three, you ask about mccains principles here. Mccain has uttered four different conflicting positions since february 4th about whether, in fact, he would filibuster the hagel nomination. Its i am possibmpossible to di his principle or reason is. He also started out saying they were going to hold it up because they wanted more information on benghazi. Now mccain says they have enough information. Now theyre taking the position theyre going to hold the nomination up until they can get more information about Financial Issues relating to organizations that hagel spoke to. Nobody has ever been through that kind of pretextual reason for holding up a nomination. As ari knows, when youre nominated for a position, the fbi does an extensive background check on you including financial information, so this is a bogus reason, its a canard. Then you have people like senator cruz who seems like hes from another planet suggesting theres an alignment between hagels position and irans position. And you have mccain fessing up yesterday and saying this is about a personal grudge and thats what this all comes down to. A personal grudge because incredible. Hagel took a position that the majority of the American People actually support, which is that the iran war was a mistake. Ari, you worked in the senate once. I want to quote from a tweet by ben white of politico who gives an anonymous snalt staffer saying this, senator hagel is going to be confirmed as soon as we demonstrate what a bunch of whack doodles we are. I mean, theres plenty of evidence that theyre whack doodles and in the case of ted cruz, the junior senator from texas, hes kind of ample evidence, isnt he, already . Yeah. Well senator cruz has clearly decided not to do the normal thing, which is to show some humility when you enter the body which is like entering a room. Theres conversations already going on and the tradition in the senate has generally been to listen before you scream. Hes not following that listen before you scream. This guy smears and slurs before he speaks. Hes made allegations about chuck hagel receiving monies from enemies of this country and has produced no evidence whatsoever. Thats correct. Under the Disclosure Requirements which we have no reason to believe the Obama Administration is not following any contact with Foreign Government are required under those rules and thats why even senator mccain, mr. Personal grudge, had to rebut senator cruz. It goes to something larger and something we have talked about on this show and we had some big disagreements. I had a big exchange with Jonathan Alter about susan rice n rices nomination. Mr. Alter was saying you have to move on sometime. Susan rice wasnt a battle worth fighting. What i said now and obviously im biased, but i think history has born out that i was right. What i said then was its not about the nominee. They are looking for certain fights and they will go at anyone, chuck hagel, a conservative red state republican to them is as objectionable and terrible and bengha benghazirelated as susan rice. The president should learn well from this experience. Should nominate fewer republicans, should pick the original picks whoever they may be, susan rice is still on the team. She can be picked later a