NYC Mayor on the pink ribbon outrage

>>> bloomberg offered to use his personal wealth to help planned parenthood . he said that politics have no place in health care . joining us now, new york mayor mike bloomberg . thanks for coming in.

>> thanks for having me.

>> the twitterverse lit up after your comment. why did you come out so quickly in support of planned parenthood in the controversy?

>> health care is at the top of the list of things that we have to worry about, i do not think that politics should enter into it. i don't know what got the komen foundation to make the decision, i'm glad they reversed it. but the bottom line is that planned parenthood is an organization that was providing a great service, in terms of screening for breast cancer and they do other things as well, the basic purpose is planned parenthood and how you make sure that kids that don't want to get pregnant don't get pregnant and what to do if it does happen. and i thought, both the things that they work on should be supported. i've been a supporter of both planned parenthood and the susan g. komen foundation and here was a chance to make another investment in the future of the people that live in the country and in the world.

>> you know social media is so important now, in the twittervers, sample tweets, wow, a politician takes a stand, and puts his money where his mouth is. and most of it just to completely over the top praising you.

>> that is nice to hear.

>> that is not why you do things, but would you continue doe that itting a d donating and what do you say to a lot of men and women who tell us that they are having second thought thoughts?

>> i think you support both organizations. my challenge grant still stands, i got a great call this morning from the head of the teacher's union in new york city who is contributing $125,000, a friend of mine yesterday, e-mailed me that he was contributing $100,000. there's a lot of people that are out there understanding and this is just maybe a refresher to all of us that organizations like planned parenthood and the susan g. komen foundation do great work and it really important that the private sector kicks in and allows them to prevent disease and if, god forbid , something happens to find treatment and a cure for people that are sick.

>> live strong is putting up a $100,000 grant in answer to your challenge.

>> another organization, live strong that i support, so nice to hear.

>> one final thought on this, about the political campaign ahead as we have seen the house republicans in particular going after planned parenthood and making the abortion issue the issue, whereas they say cecil richards had said that they segregate their work and that breast health and completely apart from whatever controversy that exist about abortion services. so, do you think it's possible to separate the cancer and screening initiatives from the other initiatives in this campaign?

>> i think it is, but i believe it's woman's right to chose and i'm in favor of abortion, and i think it should be up to the woman and government should not get involved. i have no idea why the susan g. komen foundation did what they did or reversed it, i'm glad in the end that they came to the right decision, they'll continue to fund broplanned parenthood and i'll continue to support both organizations. and i encourage others to do it.

>> there's a football game going on in i understandianapolis this weekend , you and the mayor from boston has teamed up and there's an organization called mayors against illegal guns and i guess you have purchased this ad, this is your ad for the super bowl .

>> giants, patriots, ely, brady, we to not agree on much.

>> we both support the second amendment and believe that americans must do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

>> go to mayors against illegal guns .org, it the patriotic thing to do.

>> you can make a giant difference in our country.

>> i like the giant difference. what are you trying to accomplish here?

>> number one, give tom an opportunity to show everyone he is a great mayor. in all fairness, tom was the spark behind the coalition of mayors. he started the whole thing and i've been lucky enough to work with him. what i think it really says is look, sports are fun, sports are something that entertains us, but guns kill people. we have a second amendment you have a right to have a gun, i support that. and states have the right to set their own laws that should apply within their states, but the bottom line is there are too many loopholes and federal laws that let people buy guns when federal law says you should not. unfortunately the gun background check system has flaws in it. too many people sell guns privately and while they are not supposed to sell to those who could not pass a background check , they are not required to do one, and it would be easy to have gun dealers do that background check for them. we had a congress woman shot nine months ago, there about, gabby giffords , she is on her way to recovery but has a long way to go. if that does not make congress realize, everyone, even congress people are vulnerable here i don't know what will. 80% of all gun owners think we should have restrictions. i do not think that the founding fathers wanted people walking around with assault rifles in their hands. i don't think that the founding fathers meant for those on the no-fly list should be able to buy a gun. it does not make sense, since 1968 when martin luther king , jr., 4,000 americans have been killed with illegal guns -- more guns than people in america. it's only america that has this problem. a couple of third world countries you go around the world and they say, what are you people thinking, you can sit on a door step and get shot. a kid that doesn't know how to handle a weapon and does not know why to value life goes and shoots a weapon. we had officers that were killed, a few woeeks ago i this to tell parents that their child was of dead and i went to the hospital, and luckily the bullet that entered the cop's head did not hit his skull, it could have. looks like he will okay, thank god. i have thought, if congress had to go to the hospitals and look the parents or the siblings or the children in the eye and say, your loved one is not going to ever come back again, maybe they would look at it differently. gun owners and the public, 80% plus say let put in real checks and make sure that the database that holds the information to say whether or not you have a criminal record or a mental problem is up to date, make sure everyone obeys the law and does what law requires of having a background check before you sell them a gun, we would be safer off and the second is amendment would not be violated one bit.

>> mayor mike bloomberg , a powerful statement and thank you very much. and a powerful commercial for the super bowl and we will all be watching you, i'm sure, as the giants proceed.

>> if you pardon me, go giants.

>> i know you were born in boston, so i'll not remind people of it. we will demer of chris christie saying that they have something to do with new jersey.

>> chris christie will root for the giants just as i am.