it's the only reason. >> the return of wayne lapierre. the nra vice president offered a rebuttal to president obama's inaugural address, speaking from las vegas on the same day that a shooting in a texas college put the campus on lockdown and wounded three. in addition to attacking the president's proposal for universal background checks, incidentally supported by 9 out of 10 americans, lapierre took issue with this line out of the president's speech. >> for now, time is upon us and we cannot afford delay. we cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name calling as reasoned debate. >> a call for an end to ideological intransigence and refusals to compromise was in wayne lapierre's estranged distorted view on an attempt to deface the constitution. >> obama wants to turn the idea of absolutism into a dirty word, just another word for extremism. he wants you, all of you, and americans throughout all of this country, to accept the idea of principles as he sees fit. when absolutes are abandoned for

that would be fine with another star witness nra president wayne lapierre. mandatory background checks would be fine with him. patrick leahy of vermont ran that by him again. >> should we have mandatory checks at gun shows. >> if you're a dealer, that's already the law. >> that's not my question, please mr. la pierre, i'm not trying to play games, but if you could just answer my question. >> senator, i do not believe the way the law is working now unfortunately, that it does any good to extend the law to private sales between hobbiests and collectors. >> john: never mind the fact that they're all hobbyists and collectors until one of them shoots a lot of people. but what about sales where they don't care who buys their guns and certifiable deranged killers. could background checks work there? >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not be sitting here today if we had stronger background checks. >> john: that might have been true for another more recent gun violence victim. she marched as a majorette in the president's inaugural parade parade.

who is wayne lapierre speaking for? >> the gun manufacturers, of course. it's not the first time that we have had a big lobbying organization in washington that purports to represent a grassroots or a local membership, but is in fact doing the bidding of a very, very big interests. probably the most prominent example of that is the u.s. chamber of commerce, which purports to represent small businesses across the country, but in fact is the mouthpiece for global multinational huge corporations. so that's nothing new to anybody watching these hearings take place in washington. >> senator sheldon whitehouse, good to have you with us tonight on "the ed show." you know, if you want a good example of the cultural divide that we have in this country. they're raffling off 200 guns, including three ar-15 assault rifles. perfectly legal. it is their biggest fundraiser of the year. this is just another day at the office for how to raise money for youth sports in the middle of the country. now, we're a diverse country when it comes to religion, when it comes to race.

that would be fine with another star witness nra president wayne lapierre. mandatory background checks would be fine with him. patrick leahy of vermont ran that by him again. >> should we have mandatory checks at gun shows. >> if you're a dealer, that's already the law. >> that's not my question, please mr. la pierre i'm not trying to play games but if you could just answer my question. >> senator, i do not believe the way the law is working now unfortunately, that it does any good to extend the law to private sales between hobbiests and collectors. >> john: never mind the fact that they're all hobbyists and collectors until one of them shoots a lot of people. but what about sales where they don't care who buys their guns and certifiable deranged killers. could background checks work there? >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not be sitting here today if we had stronger background checks. >> john: that might have been true for another more recent gun violence victim. she marched as a majorette in the president's inaugural parade parade. s

who is wayne lapierre speaking for? >> the gun manufacturers, of course. it's not the first time that we have had a big lobbying organization in washington that purports to represent a grassroots or a local membership, but is in fact doing the bidding of a very, very big interests. probably the most prominent example of that is the u.s. chamber of commerce, which purports to represent small businesses across the country, but in fact is the mouthpiece for global multinational huge corporations. so that's nothing new to anybody watching these hearings take place in washington. >> senator sheldon whitehouse, good to have you with us tonight on "the ed show." thank you so much for your time. >> good to be with you, ed. >> you bet. you know, if you want a good example of the cultural divide that we have in this country. this isn't just north dakota, it's all down through the middle of the country there is a youth hockey organization in west fargo, north dakota. this was picked up by "huffington post" and some other media. they're raffling off 200 guns, includin

also testifying the nra's wayne lapierre. the nra reached out to its members urging them to attend this senate committee hearing. in an e-mail and online in a posting the gun lobby group says "you can bet the anti-gunners will be trying to mobilize their supporters to pack the hearing room and we need to make sure that the room is filled with second amendment supporters!" dana bash is on capitol hill this morning and finding out all sorts of stuff this morning for example there was a move to bring guns into the senate committee hearing, is that going to happen? >> reporter: it's not and it was a move by two of the republican senators on the committee, two of the chief supports of gun rights, lindsey graham and ted cruz. i'm told by a spokesman for graham they're not going to do this because of lots of red tape and bureaucracy in order to allow them to do this. first and foremost assault weapons are not legal in the district of columbia so they gave up and lindsey graham is going to have pictures and posters of these weapons a

androgel 1.62%. >>> wayne lapierre is speaking live in nevada. we're going to go to that now. >> yesterday, in his second inaugural address, president barack obama quoted the declaration of independence. and he talked about unalienable rights. i would argue that his words make a mockery of both. i would like to talk to you about one line near the end of president obama's speech. where he said "we cannot mistake absolutism for principle." let me quote the president again. we cannot mistake absolutism for principle. so what is this absolutism attacks and what are the so-called principles that he wants us to settle for instead? obama wants to turn the idea of absolutism into a dirty word. just another word for extremism. he wants you, all of you and americans throughout all of this country to accept the idea of principles as he sees fit. it is a way of redefining words so that common sense is turned upside down, and that nobody knows the difference. think about it for just a minute. as families, when we're broke, and all of our credit cards are maxe

lapierre closely, i would think this is pretty much on track. >> this is on track, but wayne lapierre has made a calculated decision to try to co-op the decision and change the debate. the nra has an absolutist interpretation of the second amendment, something i used, something "the washington post" used, that is what most would consider an extreme interpretation, an interpretation that says the citizens have the full right as the police force. that is the right of "the wall street journal" editorial page. >> and you maintain it is for the right of individuals to be able to match law enforcement and even military in fire power. >> the driving force of the nra is that they believe they want to have the legal right to be heavily armed to fight a future tyrannical government. but if you listen to other second amendment activists, such as neo-nazi organizations, they called it a zionist type government. so the nra occupies a far right of the spectrum, the real message is they have an absolutist agenda, it is what most people would call an extremist agenda. and rather than be called out on

who is wayne lapierre speaking for? >> the gun manufacturer, of course. it's not the first time that we have had a big lobbying organization in washington that purports to represent a grassroots or a local membership, but is in fact doing the bidding of a very, very big interests, probably the most prominent example of that is the u.s. chamber of commerce, which purports to represent small businesses across the country, but in fact is the mouthpiece for global multinational huge corporations. so that's nothing new to anybody watching these hearings take place in washington. >> senator sheldon whitehouse, good to have you with us tonight on "the ed show." thank you so much for your time. >> good to be with you, ed. >> you bet. you know, if you want a good example of the cultural divide that we have in this country. >> clear. good to be with you. >> 23 you want a clear example of the cultural divide in the country, i need to tell you about this story right in the middle of the country. this isn't just north dakota, it's all down through the middle of the co

disagreed with wayne lapierre on the second amendment, coming up. e ne prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone is ready with the know-how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪ get coricidin hbp. the number one pharmacist recommended cold brand designed for people with high blood pressure. and the only one i use to relieve my cold symptoms without raising my blood pressure. coricidin hbp. [ construction sounds ] ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ >>> coming up, john boehner's miracle. he actually made the debt ceiling disappear today. ezra klein will explain it all next. and in the rewrite tonight, why wayne lapierre's attack on president obama last night was a crime against history. that i

>>> good morning, we want to get you back to the senate judiciary committee, where wayne lapierre is testifying. >> sons and daughters -- >> please step forward. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it's an honor to be here on the behalf of more than 4.5 million moms and dads and sons and daughters in every state across our nation who make up the national rifle association of america. there are 4.5 million active members of the nra and they are joined by tens of millions much supporters throughout the country. it's on behalf of those millions of decent hard working law-abiding citizens that i'm here today to give voice to their concerns. the title of today's hearings is what should america do about gun violence? we believe the answer to that question is to be honest about what works and honest about what doesn't work. teaching safe and responsible gun ownership works and nra has a long and proud history of doing exactly that. our child safety program told 25 million young children if they see a gun they should do four things, stop, don't touch it, leave the area and call an adult. as a result

what planet is wayne lapierre on? >> well, he's clearly representing the gun lobby and the leadership of the gun lobby, which is many respects out of sync and out of membership of the nra. the polling we've done and the mayor have done shows members of the nra, rank and file members, gun owners, parents, support many of the reasonable checks that people are talking about, the gun show loophole closure, for instance and so many others. wayne lapierre, he's a washington lobbyist, and he speaks very well on behalf of his colleagues in washington at the nra headquarters, but they do not speak for all of the nra members, and they certainly do not speak for the vast bulk of the american people. >> the nra is essentially a kind of place where gop operatives, hacks, lobbyists, go to do their doings. you know, as said, wayne lapierre is out of step. republican pollster frank lunds shows a majority, 78% of nra members, want universal background checks. the problem is, they still have -- they can do fearmongering. they can put f

he put to wayne lapierre a question and a thought. take a listen to this response. >> senator, there is not a law-abiding firearms owner across this united states that wasn't torn to pieces by what happened in sandy hook. they just don't believe that their constitutional right to own a firearm and the fact they can protect their family with a firearm resulted in the problem. >> stephen, i wanted to give you a chance to respond to that. >> i mean, it's frankly no surprise to me that wayne lapierre wouldn't commit to taking this promise that is devoted to finding common sense solutions to violence in our society. i mean, there's a big difference between, you know, the people that wayne lapierre was talking about. the rank and file members of the nra and him and his gun lobby buddies. that was fully on display this afternoon during the hearing. >> julian, what do you make of that? this notion has been discussed at length. the constituency that we talked about in the open that the nra claims to represent and what stephen is talking about.

i will show you tonight why wayne lapierre was absolutely wrong about that supreme court justice and why he is absolutely wrong about the second amendment. and dear friend of the show here tonight to talk about what the president's inaugural address meant to him. and anything else george wants to talk about it whenever he wants to talk about it. [ mom ] a new game? that'll save the day. so will bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller powerful sheet. look! one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with bounty select-a-size. than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. so, i'm working on a cistern intake valve, and the guy hands me a locknut wrench. no way! i'm like, what is this, a drainpipe slipknot? wherever your business takes you, nobody keeps you on the road like progressive commercial auto. [ flo speaking japanese ] [ shouting in japanese ] we work wherever you work. now, that's progressive. call or click today. looks like you're in a pickle. yeah. can you get me out of it ? just so happens i k

and wayne lapierre says hell know. so why doesn't he listen to the overwhelming number of his members. >> he listens to the board of directors who are elected by the membership. like any democratic organization, there may be times when you differ from the membership, but the membership can change the leadership. just like the most important poll that the congress of the united states should be paying at attention to is the one coming on the first tuesday after the first monday 22 months from now. that's the only poll that really matters. >> cenk: all right. richard, i want you to stay with us if you can. and i want to bring in in the next segment someone who writ the nra in disgust, and i want to talk to both of you about what should be the legislation, and both of you guys care a lot about guns. that's why i want to have that conversation when we come back from the break. and very proud of that. >>beltway politics from inside the loop. >>we tackle the big issues here in our nation's capital, around the country and aro

and wayne lapierre says hell know. so why doesn't he listen to the overwhelming number of his members. >> he listens to the board of directors who are elected by the membership. like any democratic organization, there may be times when you differ from the membership, but the membership can change the leadership. just like the most important poll that the congress of the united states should be paying at attention to is the one coming on the first tuesday after the first monday 22 months from now. that's the only poll that really matters. >> cenk: all right. richard, i want you to stay with us if you can. and i want to bring in in the next segment someone who writ the nra in disgust, and i want to talk to both of you about what should be the legislation, and both of you guys care a lot about guns. that's why i want to havavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavavav [ piano plays ] troy polamalu's going deeper. ♪ ♪ and so is head & shoulders deep clean. [ male announcer ] with 7 benefits it goes deep to r

wayne lapierre, chief executive officer of the nra and mark kelly, married to former congresswoman gabby giffords and leading the fight for gun control. we learned that gabby giffords will testify. i want to bring in managing editor of the grio. gabby dif fords tweeted, heading to senate for hearing on gun violence, thanks to senator leahy and chuck grassley for starting this conversation. i'm wondering if you think the voice of gabby gifford, she has an emotional story and she knows these folks. how influential can she be in this? >> she has tremendous moral authority on this issue as did the families from newtown. i think having people like her being a part of this conversation, it only adds to the pressure on republicans to give something. i think the only outcome that seems impossible is that absolutely nothing would be done. because you have a con fluance of events. you add the outrage of it happening to children, so i can't imagine that nothing would be done. >> we see wayne lapierre in that group of people. i think as i was giving this some thought this morning, because we've talk

i think what happened in 1999, was that wayne lapierre was under pressure. and i think the nra was concerned that a law was going to be passed that they -- opposed. so they made a law in favor of background checks. i think there was a back lash that said you never should make a tactical decision, you should stand for principles, and i think it explains his apparent flip-flopping between '99 and today. and the other thing to remember is that wayne lapierre is not the leader, per se, of the national rifle association. he leads at the behest of the board. and i think right now there is a great deal of turmoil, for reasons that krystal discussed, because of the pressure that we've seen for gun control in this country. >> let's listen to a point that dick durbin made. >> we need the fire power and the ability to protect -- ourselves from our government, from the police if they knock on our doors and we need to fight back, do you agree with that point of view? >> if you look at why the founding fathers put it there, they lived under the tyranny, and didn't want to

i got a big laugh out of wayne lapierre. he actually trotted out the survivalist argument. >> i know. i saw it. we're going to show it. >> we might have a hurricane, and then it's going to be like stephen king, zombies. you know, you get three shots into a zombie, seriously. did anybody read "the road"? did anybody read "the road"? has nobody seen "the book of eli"? has nobody seen "the book of eli," really? that gary oldman character, he's scary. and if you just have a glock -- >> okay. >> you won't see a bible. >> no, you are cooked. a street sweeper. >> i need my bushmaster because the zombies are coming after me. there's going to be a tornado. the power grid's going down. locusts are going to descend from heaven. is glenn beck still selling survival seats, willie geist? >> i didn't get the subscription when he went to the new network. he did have those ads on fox but i haven't seen them lately. >> i need survival seats now. >> i'm going to get you some for your birthday. >> i think with every bushmaster that is sold, the

i think what happened in 1999, was that wayne lapierre was under pressure. and i think the nra was concerned that a law was going to be passed that theo y -- opposed. so they made a law in favor of background checks. i think there was a back lash that said you never should make a tactical decision, you should stand for principles, and i think it explains his apparent flip-flopping between '99 and today. and the other thing to remember is that wayne lapierre is not the leader, per se, of the national rifle association. he leads at the behest of the board. and i think right now there is a great deal of turmoil, for reasons that krystal discussed, because of the pressure that we've seen for gun control in this country. >> let's listen to a point that dick durbin made. >> we need the fire power and the ability to protect -- ourselves from our government, from the police if they knock on our doors and we need to fight back, do you agree with that point of view? >> if you look at why the founding fathers put it there, they lived under the tyranny, and didn't want

we've been watching the testimony of wayne lapierre, the ceo of the nra, one of the many called to the hill to testify on the senate judiciary full committee val situation of what should america do by violence. gabry elle giffords coming in and testifying very powerful to lead out this morning's hearing. i want to welcome connecticut senator blumenthal, your immediate reaction to wayne lapierre, he referenced what took place in newtown, connecticut and heartbreaking loss of children, saying there's nothing more precious than our children and also basically saying that the idea of more gun laws is not the action that needs to be taken but it's more of the evaluation of instituting an enforcing the gun laws we already have. >> i think that mr. lapierre ignores what really was enormously powerful, even riveting testimony from gabby giffords and her instruction to our committee, the judiciary committee and congress itself, to be bold, to be courageous, because america is counting on you. and the call to action that came from newtown is for better enforcement of existing laws but also new l

and again, wayne lapierre has a hard time explaining. he was really back on his heels in this hearing several times. why he does not favor better enforcement of existing laws when that's been their mantra for so long. >> that is -- i'm glad you put it that way. that's exactly what the fight ended up being about today, and from today on what it's going to be. it's not about who is allowed or disallowed to have a gun. those laws stay the same. what changes is whether or not we agree to catch people who are already legally prohibited from having guns, but we have no way of catching them before they get them now. i feel like both stylistically and in terms of the nra's ability to hold up their side of the argument,that's changed. do you think that's going to manifest adds republican senators coming to your side of this issue? >> i think it will. i think that it will have a profoundly important effect, partly because the law enforcement community as you saw from chief johnson's testimony, and he was speaking on behalf of many, many law enforc

look at wayne lapierre yesterday. no emotion or logic. that's ridiculous the background check criminals aren't going to do that. that's the point you moron. >> that's why they can't get a gun -- >> lapierre made an ass of himself yesterday. >> i can't believe they still think he is a good spokesman for him. i know right? >> stephanie: and then they played the audio clip of him saying the exact opposite in '99. >> yeah. >> stephanie: rush limbaugh. >> hispanic immigrants are made to order conservatives. they think they are invested in hard work and using the cuban exile model, they are exactly right. but the hispanic population has shifted and the cuban exile model is no longer the model. the mexican immigrant model -- >> oh! >> and they arrive with an entirely different view of america. >> he called mexican immigrants lazy. [ bell chimes ] [ applause ] >> his so-called cuban exile model, who do you think won the cuban vote last time around? >> obama. >> exactly. >> stephanie: hispanics are not behaving properly. >> rush limbaugh is not be

wayne lapierre and the nra for "hitler confiscated guns." written in a book by wayne lapierre years ago and still repeated today. this myth has long been discredited. the weimar republic had stricter gun laws and hitler actually relaxed them. neither wayne lapierre, the nra hitler or the right wing guys who repeat this meme here on so we accept this award on their behalf. we'll be right back. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> john: brilliant. beautiful. bold. barely coherent. jodi forest's speech at the golden globes last night was all that have. touching on topics as diverse as her sexuality, her privacy and her possibly retirement the peach was, for lack of a better term, a beautiful mess. >> so while i'm being all confessional, i have a sudden urge to say something that i've never really been able to air in public. i'm just going to put it out there lot and proud i'll need your support on this. i am single. but seriously. if you had been a public figure from the time you were a todd

wayne lapierre and the nra for "hitler confiscated guns." written in a book by wayne lapierre years ago and still repeated today. this myth has long been discredited. the weimar republic had stricter gun laws and hitler actually relaxed them. neither wayne lapierre, the nra hitler or the right wing guys who repeat this meme here destined to take them over. ♪ ♪ the sirius xm satellite radio in the 2013 ram 1500. engineered to move heaven and earth. guts. glory. ram. the new ram 1500. motor trend's 2013 truck of the year. >> john: brilliant. beautiful. bold. barely coherent. jodi forest's speech at the golden globes last night was all that have. touching on topics as diverse as her sexuality her privacy and her possibly retirement the peach was, for lack of a better term, a beautiful mess. >> so while i'm being all confessional, i have a sudden urge to say something that i've never really been able to air in public. i'm just going to put it out there lot and proud i'll need your support on this. i am single. but seriously. if you had been

wayne lapierre got in a heated exchange with senators durbin and leahy over background checks. and he made clear the nra would not give an inch on that issue. let's watch. >> we got to get in the real world on what works and what doesn't work. my problem with background checks is you're never going to get criminals to go through universal background checks. >> mr. lapierre, that's the point. the criminals won't go to purchase the guns because there'll be a background check. we'll stop them from the original purchase. you missed that point completely. i think it's basic. >> senator, i think you missed -- >> let there be order! >> i think you're missing it. >> please wait. as i said earlier, there will be order. >> and the chair of the judiciary committee patrick leahy also tried to pin down lapierre on the same issue. background checks. >> should we have mandatory background checks at gun shows? >> if you're a dealer, that's already the law. >> that's not my question. i'm not trying to play games here. but if you could, just answer my question. >> senator, i do not believe the w

and again, wayne lapierre has a hard time explaining. he was really back on his heels in this hearing several times. why he does not favor better enforcement of existing laws when that's been their mantra for so long. >> that is -- i'm glad you put it that way. that's exactly what the fight ended up being about today, and from today on what it's going to be. it's not about who is allowed or disallowed to have a gun. those laws stay the same. what changes is whether or not we agree to catch people who are already legally prohibited from having guns, but we have no way of catching them before they get them now. i feel like both stylistically and in terms of the nra's inability to hold up their side of the argument,that's changed. do you think that's going to manifest adds republican senators coming to your side of this issue? >> i think it will. i think that it will have a profoundly important effect, partly because the law enforcement community as you saw from chief johnson's testimony, and he was speaking on behalf of many, many law enfo

wayne lapierre, this comment sounds reasonable until you think about it. law abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of deranged criminals. a law abiding gun owner is responsible for what happened in newtown, connecticut. a law abiding mother was a gun owner, by all accounts, and that law abiding gun owner couldn't control her weapons, and those weapons were eventually used to kill her and to kill all of those children and those women educators in that school. so that is what one law abiding gun owner got us. >> that is a good point, lawrence. >> and that is what neil heslin was saying in his testimony, was that that woman should never have had those weapons in that home with -- you know, knowing the condition of her kid. and so the -- the ways in which wayne lapierre tries to shatter off the debate have more holes in them than he realizes when he is trying to advance this kind of testimony. >> you know i hope what happens, had he testifies in the committee tomorrow is that the nra presses him on the second amendment. does that mean that citi

but, charlie, with every misstep that wayne lapierre and the n.r.a. makes, they make the president and joe biden and michael bloomberg's dream of comprehensive gun control all that more possible. look at the polls that just came out this last week, the "washington post"/abc news poll now shows that an overwhelming number of americans and gun owners actually support universal background checks. gun registrations, registration files that the government can follow, the sales of guns is up to 65%, 70%. before newtown and even a week or two after newtown more americans were against banning assault weapons than were for banning assault weapons. now a month later you actually is that becoming a 60/40 issue. the numbers haven't looked like this in decades. they didn't look like this after columbine. they didn't look like this even after the '94 bill was passed. i think there's great opportunities politically now and the only question is whether my republican party, especially in the house of representatives is going to recognize the political reality before t