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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  September 23, 2012 10:00pm-11:00pm PDT

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receptive to the idea that it doesn't make a point. in ten years if it's not something that is word of the public discussion, i think it's hopefully a good thing. i don't see it happening in the next ten years. >> i can't wait to watch it. it premiers monday, september 24th. big pleasure. >> thank you. the deadly attack on americans in libya. could it have been prevented. the obama administration comes under question. >> jesus. >> if jesus jokes are fair game, why in a free country is the proph proph prophet mohammad beyond approach. the power of religion. not the peaceful notion of it but the reality of why it turns
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deadly. a christian, a muslim and a jew walk into our studio for a conversation that's no joke. how booze helped shape the united states of america. >> this is the stuff your social studies teacher just didn't tell you. >> all that plus no talking points and the judgment free zone. > hello, everybody. i am don lemon. thk you for joining us. first headlines. a leading figure from the sunni world calls for a calm. he spoke with cnn and called for muslim followers to act more as a profit muhammad would. >> translator: i was one of the first to warn about the dangers of this film in a statement to the muslim world, i asked people to deal with the situation the way profit muhammad dealt with issues through patience and wisdom. >> a tragedy unfolding right now on one of the highest mountain peaks in the world, a avalanche has killed some and a dozen are missing now. this morning, a wall of snow
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crashed through several of the camps. and it's considered one of the most dangerous mountains to navigate. turkey is the most recent victim of spillover fighting from syria. and artillery rounds land in a small turkish town wounding a number of residents. rebels have been fighting for control of the syrian town. the latest viral video, and green day front man having an onstage meltdown. he was not too happy that he got the cue he had one minute to wrap up his set. just after that tirade, armstrong apologized and
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announced he is seeking treatment for substance abuse. immediately after the assault on the u.s. consulate in libya, one question was on everybody's mind. how could this happen in how can the most powerful nation on earth cannot protect it's own envoys in other countries? and earlier i talked with wall street journal intelligence correspondent who has been covering the story, if it was accurate when the security was woefully inadequate. >> the standard security was forearmed libyan guards and four unarmed libyan guards. on the day of the attack there were five or so armed diplomatic personnel. as we looked into it, security
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had not really changed, even though the threats there were escalating from april on, and they also lacked some pretty basic precautions at the consulate including basic firefighting equipment. >> and whether the consulate attack, controversy on whether it's was planned. >> i looked into the question of al qaeda involvement. it's quite possible that the al qaeda involvement came day of if it did at all because they've -- they've -- they are right now analyzing conversations held between al qaeda and sharias, which was involved in the attack.
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both sides could be correct that it did happen spontaneously, but there was some sort of consultation did occur. >> and what took place was ugly. >> translator: offending the holy profit is quite ugly. this has very little or nothing to do with freedom and freedom of speech. this is the weakness of -- and the abuse of freedom, and in many places it is a crime. >> there were protesters all over the middle east now threatening the staff of american embassies, threatening to kill them and behead them. do you think they should stop? >> translator: you see, i cannot determine what people should do, but i do think that extremism gives birth to following and subsequent extremism.
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perhaps if the politicians take a better position in the west visa vie offensive thoughts of what we hold holy, the conditions could improve. >> you can see the rest of that interview monday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. and next, a profit feared by many in the western world. why are so many so afraid of the mention of muhammad. and are muslims taking a "those people over there" attitude. that's tonight in "no talking point." .is only the beginning. ♪ ♪ introducing a stunning work of technology. ♪ introducing the entirely new lexus es. and the first ever es hybrid.
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tonight, a discussion about the profit muhammad. a discussion that most likely will make a lot of you very uncomfortable. but why should it? i am here in the united states which prides itself on freedom, especially the freedom of expression, yet through the technology of television, a lot of people can see it including radical islamic, who in the last few days attacked and murdered people in the name of muhammad, and our motivation is to educate, and not to incite or instigate. and the new iphone, can you take pictures and shoot videos and then when you are done, there are buttons that allow you to tweet it or facebook it or to youtube for the entire world to see. anywhere anywhere at any second
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is capable of broadcasting something insulting. so my point is you cannot stop the march of time. and i wonder in what century are the protesters living, and then i read an article, internet videos will insult your religion, ignore them and get over it. welcome william. thank you for joining us. it's not just democracy or the u.s. and it's technology, and no matter your religious beliefs you cannot stop progress. >> no, and you just made the point you don't need a broadcast to broadcast hateful speech all around the world, all you need is a video camera and internet connection and literally two people were responsible for creating and disseminating this movie about the islam world. >> most of them, william, never even seen the video. they are being manipulated in
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more ways than one here. >> the manipulators are on both sides. we have our crazies that want to inflame passions in the muslim world, and then there are those in the muslim world happy to collaborate with this. >> listen to this. >> since our founder, the united states has been a nation that respects of all faiths. >> let me state very clearly, and i hope it is obvious that the united states government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. >> so that was part of the psa, the u.s. government spent $70,000 of ad time to run on tv
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in pakistan. not once did it mention free speech. so here is a question. by being so sensitive and not telling so of these people, as you say, just to get over it, as the u.s. become enablers prolonging the inevitable that these handful of protesters are ultimately fighting a losing battle? >> i wouldn't be so hard on the administration. they may not have used the words free speech, but they are conveying something complicated. we are they beginning of a international conversation with the muslim world and what we are trying to convey is just because we try to convey something to be broadcast and to be put on the internet does not mean we support it. we are trying to convey where people in countries does that have that kind of thinking allowed.
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>> the bloodshed will not stop until you stop taking the bait. so in writing that, william, in america, we take these words and interpret them as tough love. do you worry that what you have written will incite radical islamist to be more violent? >> no, we can't stop somebody with an internet connection from disseminating it. the place where we can stop it is the people who are the targets of this, and they are trying to offend with the anti-muslim stuff to ignore it, simply ignore it. nobody came to watch this movie when it was put in the theater in the united states. nobody. why can't the muslim world treat it the same way? >> we thk you very much, and thank you for joining us. another hands off topic. the power of religion. not the peaceful notion of it, but the reality of why it so often turns deadly.
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a christian, a muslim and jew walk into our studio for a conversation that is no joke. the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.
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we're having a conversation tonight about faith and technology and the violence that erupted overseas in response to the anti-islam video that was posted on youtube. more than 20 countries saw protests and the violence in libya costs the u.s. ambassador his life. all of this because of a video depiction of the profit muhammad. why? i asked a fellow at the institute. >> i think the people who often speak about islam and on behalf of islam and people who push themselves as experts are not generally familiar with islam
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and are not able to communicate who muhammad is to muslims. we don't have a conversation about islam that we deserve and you get extremists voices from both sides leaving the vast majority of muslims and americans in the dark. >> no matter how a civilized conversation we have here tonight or on television, it won't stop what happened. it's not stopped the protests. >> we have to be fair when we look at the protests what is happening. the grassroots to the leader and religious leader and political leaders condemned the violence and protests. if you look at the people who are protesting and even a smaller percentage of them are protesting violently, and while there are definitely extremist opinions pushing the protests, the protests are not about the profit muhammad, it's more to do with the politics and foreign policy and the feelings of humiliation and basically not being treated with dignity and
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being politically able to participate. this movie is an excuse for people to come on the streets and vent the feelings and these gestures are pushed by leaders in order to push their own cause forward. >> i hear what you are saying, and as most of us around the world especially in the western culture we don't see many coming forward who are maybe secular muslims or people who are in the middle for a lack of a better term, not radical islamist, who come forward to denounce these sorts of activities, and we hear your words that it's a handful and not a lot of people and most people don't believe it, we don't see the other side, we don't see a counter wave that is as big or that can counter those protesters. >> i think it's there and we are
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not paying attention. that they feed into a narrative of what we expect the muslim word to be. 10,000 or 20,000 people on the treat is not a huge number of people. and at the same time there are massive protests, 30, 40,000 people, which is a huge percentage of a tiny country like libya, and they are protesting against the murder of stevens, and against radicalism, and across the board they condemned violent protest and condemned the extreme radicalism, and we tend to focus on the things that produce the best images on tv. >> i want to read something from the "new york times." the muslim world cannot have it both ways. it cannot place islam at the center of political life and in extreme cases political violence while at the same time declaring that the religion is off limits to contestation and ridicule. is there a belief in the muslim
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world that you can have it both ways, that the profit muhammad cannot in any way be depicted at all is it a sense that the muslim world wants it both ways? >> i don't think he is being fair or accurate. most of the major divisions in islam between sunnis and shias have to do with the muhammad legacy. it's not about meaningful criticism and debate and it's about mockery and humiliation, and i have to underline a small percentage of muslims, that is not separable from the kind of countries they receive. is it really about the profit muhammad or what they perceive foreign policy to be. those are questions we have not separated out in our heads.
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i do agree there needs to be more of a conversation about religion and a honest conversation, and we will see that happen as we said it spread across the world, and maybe this is the first stage of that happening. >> as a muslim do you think the prophet muhammad should be depicted in any way? >> i believe in freedom of speech. it's fair game. people should be allowed to make the points they want to make. muslims find negative depictions of religious figures to be offensive, but i find it offensive and that doesn't mean i will go out into the streets or write a letter to the editor, and i am mature enough to say we're going to agree to disagree. i think we're just looking at a radical fringe unfortunately. >> do you think muslims worldwide think it's okay to
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depict the profit muhammad? >> i don't think they agree with the ability to depict him, but a lot of shia muslims, for example, don't have the same taboo around depicting muhammad images. and i think this is a lot more to do with political grievances, and opening up a political process for the first time and really these are societies where people are beginning to see their chance to really influence society so it's going to be messy along the way. this is unfortunately a bump along the road, some more democratic and sophisticated conversations. >> we heard from the muslim. next, it's the christian and the jew's turn. then if you had a question you didn't ask because you were worried about being judged, this next segment is for you. "no talking points" is next. smart comes with 8irbags, ma3
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parody of the prophet muhammad has led to deadly up rising throughout the muslim world and how is it that images of jesusan be made to parodies without violent confrontations but not the prophet muhammad. two men have something to say on this. i spoke to them both, and let me here from the rabbi first. >> muslims need to understand in any free and open society everything is going to be fair game. what they really need to understand is nobody can insult islam except muslims themselves. it's the behavior on the part of the religious people that profess a certain faith that will determine how that faith is depicted. if a catholic priest is being found doing something illegitimate with a child, then
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he has maligned his faith, and those that go out and burn embassies and do so in the name of the profit muhammad, they are the blasphemers, and not some idiot with a camera with b list actors and up loading it up on youtube, and so it's we who need to be judged. and we need to tell them forthright and lovingly, you run the risk of allowing the world to see your religion as violent by not coming out and condemning the violence. >> the discussion that we had this week as we were putting the show together and that i had earlier and we will have a little later on. before i let you respond, bishop, and this week the idea that jesus may have had a wife and it didn't take long for the late night shows to go to town and have a little bit of fun. check it out. >> wouldn't that be something if jesus was married?
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he can turn water into wine but can't take out of garbage. maybe jesus was not his name and that's just what his wife yelled when he came home late so it stuck. >> jesus -- >> thank you. >> will, do, jesus. >> jesus was married! that was some pure uncut sitcom bait. you can raise the dead but heaven help him when he for gets to put down the toilet seat. yes, kevin james is jesus in "the king of kings." so rabbi to your point it was all over the networks, but no up risings or burn effigies of stewart or kimball. there's something to be said about letting words just be
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words as the rabbi said. >> when i see those i can't help but laugh because those guys are hysterically funny. when i watch any betrayal of jesus, "south park," a lot -- "family guy," those guys are "r" rated. >> but to the rabbi's point, if you laugh at it, you laugh the at it -- >> for me personally they are not talking about the jesus i know. they are skwering an image that people have about jesus, and it's attacking organized religion more than the actual jesus. >> are you offended by that at all? >> no, because i know who jesus is. and in some settings where i am, i know christians don't like when you are sort of in the setting when you say all the
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faiths are accepted and embraced because there's a great feeling among evangelicals that anybody that is not a christian, they are not going to heaven and they are going to hell, and my feeling is in all due respect, jesus is a big boy, and you bring him to the party he can take care of himself and if i do believe he is the king of kings and lord of lords, it's a nonissue. >> as i was saying, you can't stop the march of time, because you can upload this on to anything and if you want to live in a free and democratic society, and then again we are looking at it in a western way. >> when you deal with islam, you are dealing with national identity. you are not just talking about religion. you are talking about this is what we would call a muslim country. it's the same thing.
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it's like somebody insulting your mother or your family or school or whatever except when it comes to religion, it's the mysteries of god. >> rabbi you heard the jokes and we laughed at them and there were no burning effigies, and so what gives here? >> the book of mormon playing a couple blocks from where i am saying right now, it's utterly blasphemies to the mormons. >> forget about criticizing the profit muhammad, if they spoke out against their own leaders they would be beheaded. try speaking out against king abdullah. so there has been a suppression of freedom of speech. there are no perfect people, and nobody is infallible. everybody is subject to criticism. >> thank you to the rabbi and also the bishop. time now for "no talking points."
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the most mystifying thing about the anti-islam film is not the violence we have seen but perception for some americans that a religion would condone the killing of a blasphemer. >> the point i was trying to make, most muslims at least half of them around the world think it's okay to kill somebody if they insult the prophet, and that is a big problem. that is a clash of civilizations. >> he has been writing about this on cnn. he is with us, and a comedian and political commentator and a muslim. we sparked a conversation going crazy on social media so we talked about this. those were strong words from
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bill maher, but he is saying civilized people don't act this way. >> i know he is saying that. as i said last night, i disagree with the number. 50% is an irresponsible number. i would love to see polls to see that. but you are right it's about perception. a lot of fellow americans don't think muslims are coming out and denouncing. i denounce violence in the name of islam or any faith for that matter. go ahead -- >> but -- >> we have to fight that. >> you do. you do. we will talk more about that. do you belief it's okay to depict the prophet muhammad in any way, favorable or unfavorable? >> to me, as an american and i have to say frankly i'm an american first, i believe in freedom of expression. it's paramount. even if you hate what people say, i will defend your right to say it. >> you think it's okay? >> i think it's acceptable in our society, and i think it's
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offending certain people clearly, but most of america is not reacting the same way extremist are in other countries. >> do you think it's okay? >> i can't quantify the number, but by the faith you are not supposed to depict muhammad, because they don't want idolatry. >> i get offended about jokes. it's how you respond to it. a civil protest is fine. we have to defend civil protests and that's freedom of speech, too. >> i texted you and said i hope you are watching bill maher and you and i went back and forth and you said you were angry about some of my responses and some of what you were seeing. you said to me, those people don't represent me. they don't represent muslims. to a nonmuslim, you know what that sounds like? it sounds like a "those people
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over there" attitude. >> american muslims are not protesting this way violently. it's a teeny number. for me to ask my fellow americans, tweet me and tell me what you would like us to do. i am sincere and not mocking, i want to know. we are fighting perception. i am frustrated because i don't know what more to do and we are trying our best. people are denouncing muslim groups in america and leaders in the muslim world are denouncing that thankfully, and they are going to the street -- >> remember last night, and i want to make sure i get it in. pakistani government leader acting on his own offered $100,000 for the head of the filmmaker, encouraging somebody to kill him. he said i am a muslim first and then a government representative. that seems to reinforce what americans believe to be a truth
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about islam? >> that guy is an idiot. he is defining people who are the same color or faith. this man is a radical, and he is an extremist and should not be allowed in the government. the government should make it a case and a point clearly to throw him out of the government. nobody should be allowed in the government if you are going to be a civil democratic society. pakistan wants to be that and aspires to be and they have to throw this man out. >> and as a comedian you know it's often easier for people to learn through humor, and why is muhammad off limits to you? why won't you make jokes about him? comedians make fun of jesus all the time? >> i do political comedy and make fun of people in power every night and do jokes about islam phobia or homophobia, and everything about double standards i will fight against. >> saying something is off
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limits gives more power -- >> i am not saying it's off limits. it's not something i want to talk about because it's not part of my dna as a comic. if a comic wants to do jokes making fun of all the prophets, i will support them to do it. >> you know we are dealing with time issues, and not a lot of people are dealing with this, and this is going on for a long time, and last night i read this quote and you didn't have a chance to respond because we are out of time. it's from roger cohen in the "new york times" saying but the failure indonesia, and libya and egypt to control violent mobs of salafis enraged by mockery in
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america, and the rule here -- your turn here. >> well, i think the point he is making, it's already dated. libya, just last night, libyans rose up and got rid of the militants who were in the benghazi area, the ones responsible for killing our ambassador -- >> it took a while. >> it took a couple days. they denounced the attack on the ambassador, and many wrote condolences letters, and i think it could be a tipping point in the right direction. it's not overnight. i am being honest, if you go to twitter and facebook, you see the comments i am getting, never seen muslims from other countries, indonesia and pakistan and the middle east denouncing this. to me we are at a point where perhaps we are about to take a
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big step. that's what i am hopeful about. >> thanks, i appreciate having the conversation, too. our conversation about this topic struck a cord on social media last nig. some of you called me bias, and others said the same for dean. i can't speak for dean, but dean and i are glad we can speak honestly and openly on any other subject. as for me, am i biassed? maybe i am. i think more of us should, at the very least, admit that we might have a bias or prejudice because if you don't allow the possibility it doesn't allow you to grow and learn. how can any of us learn anything if we start with the belief that something does not exist? and that's tonight's "no talking points." [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief.
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a wall of snow has claimed the lives of at least 11 people on the world's highest mountain, one of the world's highest mountains, more than a dozen climbers still missing after an avalanche swept through camp sites. crews evacuated the injured and more than 200 people were climbing the mountain when the avalanche struck. it's the latest viral video. green day front man having an onstage meltdown, not too happy when he got the cue that he had one minute to wrap up his set.
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just after that tirade, armstrong apologized and announced he is seeking treatment for substance abuse. the political thriller homeland is cleaning up at the emmy awards. damian lewis won best lead actor beating out jon hamm of "mad men." "homeland" also won best writing in a drama series. >> we want viewers to stay connected to cnn. go to cnn.com/tv. if you are on a desktop or laptop you can watch cnn live. r] introducing crest pro-health clinical rinse. it actually keeps your teeth 91% clean of plaque even at 2 months after a dental visit. new crest pro-health clinical rinse.
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let's take a look at the big stories we had from the white house to wall street. we begin tonight with the president's plans for the week. >> i am jessica yellin at the white house. president obama will speak to the u.n. general assembly, and among the stoppages the instability in the middle east, and he will address clinton's global initiative, and he will visit the battleground state of ohio. and i am paul steinhauser at the political desk.
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it's off to ohio for a two-day bus tour through the battleground state. romney picks up in the buckeye state where paul ryan leaves off. i am poppy harlow, and looking ahead to wall street we'll find out how much the u.s. economy grew in the second quarter this year with the final gdp readings set to be released on thursday. we will also get the latest new home sales data and also a look at consumer confidence. any economic news these days plays into the election. meantime, nike and blackberry researcher maker in motion looks at earnings reporting this week. we will track it all for you on cnn money. i am a.j. hammer, and we are catching up with tv legends, carol burnett and vicky lawrence. we will talk about how "the carol burnett show" changed
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television forever. the first lady, michelle obama speaking out about voters' rights and talked about voter id laws, something my next guest says in a world is racism. you hr the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] zyrtec®. love the air. join zyrtec® rewards. save up to $7 on zyrtec® products.
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republican lawmakers pushed voter id laws across the country and democrats are crying foul.
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we started our conversation with the remarks by first lady, michelle obama, at saturday night's caucus. >> we all get a say in our democracy, no matter who we are or where we are from or what we look like or who we love. so we cannot let any one discourage us from casting our ballots and we cannot let anybody make us feel unwelcome in the voting booth. >> she says feel unwelcome in the voting booth. is it -- are people really -- is there really a strategy to make people feel unwelcome in the voting booth? the former president bill -- >> no. >> he said he never has seen it so blatant of not letting people vote. >> look, people feel strongly about this, so i will put it strong to you. it's the biggest bag of nothing designed to inflame voters, specifically minority voters
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into turning out this election. if you want to equate showing your id which if you don't have the government will provide you for free, and you can still cast a provisional ballot, if that's the equivalent of a literacy test on african-americans in this country you are asking us to stretch logic to the furthest absurdity. >> i am trying not to go off on my friend, will, here. i will try to keep my emotions intact here. i am just going to say it's racist. i am not going to dance around it. it's driven by racism. the fact that will can't see it, it's fine. everybody doesn't have to see the same story. this is driven by race. i was at the speech last night. i was at that dinner last night
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and i will tell you i did not leave there thinking i need to vote for obama because he is black. i left there thinking as an american citizen we should all be offended these tactics are being used to curtail our rights, the rights that black and whites died for. you don't have to go all the way back to slavery. jesse helms, hello, he used very aggressive tactics to scare blacks into going back to the polls. >> not like this. >> let me finish. i allowed you to finish. same things like if you go to the polls and you don't have x, y and z documents, you will go to jail. that was not a long time ago. you and i, will, were in college. if you think this is a rouse, than what you are saying is i am a little bit out of touch when they are addressing minorities, and i need my friend lz to tell me about them. >> not a dull moment. up next -- >> how booze helped shape the
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united states of america. >> look, this is the stuff your social studies teacher just didn't tell you. look, i don't play 'bout my facial hair. if i grow this out a little bit, i look too much like an english country gent... naaah. a little this way and i feel like i'm from outer space. this and i feel like a viking... [ roars ] not my style, man. [ male announcer ] master your style... even trimming, a close shave, and accurate edging... with the gillette fusion proglide styler. use with gillette's most advanced blades. ♪
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best known as the host of "dirty jobs" on the discovery network. how booze built america. he says it played a big role in the settle rrs just getting to the country. >> they stopped because they ran out of beer, and back in those days beer was everything you drank. once they got into new england, or what became new england, they started to build taverns every
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few miles. there was no facebook. taverns were the social network, and beer is what held everybody together. >> the one portion i watched that i was amazed by was the "national anthem," and it's based on a english drinking song? >> yeah, it was a poem that was around for years and years and years. francis key was a lawyer hired to defend an american and gave british soldiers a quarter, and bombs bursting in air and the whole thing goes on when key writes the "star-spangled banner." this is all set to an english drinking song. >> what is your favorite story about the influence of alcohol and the founding of the country?
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>> you could look, for instance, at lincoln's assassination. everybody knows the story, right? ford's theater, and star saloon, and john wilkes booth is in the saloon for a full half hour before he shoots the president. he is sitting there drinking. liquid courage, and he gets his courage up and leaves the room to shoot my favorite president. people know that. what they don't know in the same room, a guy in a pinkerton uniform dressed as a cop, that's john parker, and that's lincoln's bodyguard. everybody is drinking. when you think about how did booze take america on a different course, would booth have pulled the trigger if he had not had a few in him. it helped bring the north and south together faster. it hastened the reconciliation, us