MICHAELA PEREIRA (11/15/2013): President Obama set to make his pick for the next Surgeon General, the White House announcing he intends to nominate Dr. Vivek Murthy for the job. BILL HEMMER (3/19/2014): The first Indian-American Surgeon General. KRYSTAL BALL (3/22/2014): A Harvard Medical School instructor and tech entrepreneur.

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER, R-TN (2/4/2014): The second concern I have, along the same line, is about your comments about guns.

Someone said the word "gun", which of course means it's time for our new segment, American Stands Its Ground. So what were Dr. Murthy's comments about guns?



SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER, R-TN (2/4/2014): In your tweets of October 16, 2012, "tired of politicians who are scared of the NRA". Those are some of the words. And I would hope you would know that Americans have a First Amendment right to advocate the Second Amendment.

Not to mention that in addition to that tweet, Murthy also supports majority-popular ideas like background checks and an assault weapons ban. In other words, stop him!!



CHRIS HAYES (3/17/2014): The NRA and Rand Paul have managed to whip up quite a frenzy over Murthy. SEN. JOHN BARRASSO, R-WY (3/10/2014): The Surgeon General of the United States ought to be focused on the major health issues of our country — heart disease, cancer, stroke. Those are the killers. SEN. RAND PAUL, R-KY (2/27/2014): Being against smoking. Being against obesity. Things that are bad for your health.

You know bullets... (audience laughter) are not generally considered superfoods. They are, as we have learned, low on omega-3 fatty acids and relatively high in lead.

But even if Murthy was anti-gun, he's just the Surgeon General. He's the nation's official scold. The worst thing he could do is put a warning label on bullets. That's not gonna do anything.

(audience laughter)

And you know what? It doesn't matter anyway, Republicans. The new Senate rules say you can't filibuster nominees anymore. All the President needs is a simple majority, and he's got more than enough Democrats to do that.



CHRIS HAYES (3/17/2014): According to the New York Times, "opposition from the [NRA] has grown so intense, it has placed Democrats from conservative states, several of whom are up for re-election this year, in a difficult spot. ... As many as 10 Dems are believed to be considering a vote against Dr. Murthy" on those grounds.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (3/5/2014): A fifth grader in Ohio is suspended from school for three days after pointing his finger like a gun. ... The principal says there is a zero tolerance policy, and students have been warned about pretend gun play multiple times this year.

(audience laughter and applause)

It's just a regular old finger gun! It's not an assault finger gun. (Either I'm hungry, or those look a lot like stacked donuts.)

So let me get this straight. Real weapons are OK, great, completely imaginary weapons are intolerable. What about something in between there?



JOSH ELLIOTT, GMA (3/24/2014): A big toy manufacturer, making weapons now for girls.

Oh I see, oh OK, well, that makes more sense. Tell me about these gentler, more feminine weapons.



MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO, GMA (3/24/2014): This is 8-year-old Grace Maher's favorite toy. ... The Nerf Rebelle heartbreaker, a pink and sparkly bow and arrow. ... But some wonder if teaching little girls to play war games could be sending the wrong message, not promoting empowerment, but violence.

(wild audience laughter)

She totally nailed that dude! And you know what? I'm actually OK with that. I got kids, and I can tell you something. That kid had it coming. (audience laughter) I don't know what he did, but he knows. We'll be right back.