daughter charlotte clinton mezvinsky. chelsea is well and glowing. mark is bursting with pride. that's is for us. i'm deborah feyerick in new york. "smerconish" starts now. i'm michael smerconish. thanks for joining me. isis propaganda. successful? looks like it. they're forcing western hostages to spout their party line. we'll get into it. racism on the decline. that's a good thing. but partyism is on the rise. what's that? it's discrimination based on party affiliation. a fascinating topic. and the politics of fear could sway the midterm elections. congress won't vote on going after isis, but with the launch of air strikes, candidates are using political ads to scare voters. let's get started.

isis has impressed people the world over, not only with its lightning fast military gains in iraq and syria, but also its use of social media to spread its propaganda mission. this week on twitter, it released a second video from british hostage john cantlay. the presentation opens with the title "lend me your ears" with cantlay introducing himself as a long-time prisoner of the islamic state who has been abandoned by his government. he proceeds to rail against the military campaign against isis. and isis through cantlay moves to support its argument using selected quotes from noted americans, including former new jersey governor, tom cain, who chaired the 9/11 commission. but he begins the video by quoting liberally from my first guest, michael shower, former head of the cia's bin laden desk. at this time, cnn is not comfortable showing this propaganda video because the network believes cantlay was filmed under duress.

but he said, so let's get straight to the point with a quote from former cia chief turned vigorous anti intervention campaigner michael sure. president obama does not have the slightest intention of defeating the islamic state which would require the easterly slaughter of the boots on the ground demolishing. he adds, 18 years into our war with the islamists, the u.s. government has given no public sign that it has the slightest awareness of what its enemies are fighting for. and cantlay ends the video with yet another quote from michael shoer who joins me now. michael, you ran the bin laden unit at the so-called alex station. i saw a tabulation in "time" magazine this week. they said that since 2007, you have been quoted in propaganda videos and the like from isis and other splinter groups from al qaeda no less than 16 times. why do they keep quoting you?

>> it appears, michael, i'm the only one in the west that's willing to take people who match words and deeds seriously. i'm not a rocket scientist, and my foes will tell you that. they rather think i'm an idiot. but we're fighting an enemy who tells us exactly what he's going to do, and then he does it. and he does it for the motivations that he describes. and yet we have -- the third american president now, mr. clinton, mr. bush and mr. obama, repeating the same sort of nonsense that they have talked about for the last 18 years. >> in other words, you believe there is a misperception. you think the american people -- you know i've read all of your books, so i've read this and heard it from you before. but you think to that to the ex it tent bev within told this about our lap dances or our lattes or our gap jeans or our, quote, freedoms, that's just not what drives the jihadists. >> that's a deliberate lie on the part of the ruling establishment in this country on the political elite.

because they don't want to face the fact that what motivates these people to attack us, maybe not to attack the israelis, or the saudis, but us, is our intervention in their world. and right now, isis could not ask for any greater gift than the one obama is giving them right at the moment. >> so when they quote michael soy er, your interpretation is i understand them, i understand them to be evil s.o.b.s but people who understand what they mean and transmit their intentions and their message has been mischaracterized by the american political leadership, both democrats and republicans. >> everyone, michael. there is not an honest man on capitol hill as far as i know in terms of this since ron paul left. this is a problem that is ours, and it will it keep growing and it will occur in this country until we come to grips with the fact that we have a choice. we keep our foreign policy constant, we fight this war forever. we change our foreign policy to

the extent we can, especially in regard to energy and support for the saudi police state and the israelis. we have a chance to split the unity of the and against us. >> he quotes you as having said obama doesn't have the slightest intention of defeating the is m islamic state. we're all looking at footage of air strikes now launched against that islamic state, both in iraq and now in it syria. >> michael, we watched it in iraq the first time in 2003. we've watched it for 14 years. in afghanistan. air power wins nothing, except with an atomic weapon aboard. and that's not going to happen. it is -- obama said yesterday, there is no military solution to this. and what that means is, he's ashamed as bush was, as clinton was, to apply american military power that the american people have paid for to protect their

country and their families. and what they'll do is, they'll talk their way out of this war, will run again, and will be 0 for 3 against the muja huh dean which in the muslim world means they have beaten both super powers. >> the soviets in the '79 invasion in afghanistan is what you're referring to. >> that's correct. >> i'm going to ask for the michael scheuer solution in a moment. but first, square what you have offered in terms of what the real motivation of isis is with what we're seeing in those videos. here's what i mean by that, michael. they're beheading journalists as they are threatening the president against further incursion into the muslim world. surely they know that the reaction here in america is going to be for people to get fired up and be supportive of those bombing missions. so i guess my question for michael scheuer is, do they really want us to come over there, or do they really want us, as they say in the video, to stay home. >> they want us to come over there so we'll stay home,

michael. they want to beat us again. it's a lure. osama bin laden and other islamist leaders have explained very clearly that running operation across the atlantic ocean or the pacific into america is expensive and it is -- it will cause only minimal damage. if they can get an american field army on the ground, they have found twice now in iraq and afghanistan that they can defeat it. it costs us enormous amounts of money. many, many dead. lots of maimed kids hobbling around for the rest of their life. but most important, they defeat the greatest power of the world has of seen, as it's said, with arms from the korean war. they're certainly -- they know what war is about, sir. and we don't. >> so when they say, this is what you'll get more of, obama, if you continue, they are really saying, continue your quest on the so-called their words, not mine, arabian peninsula, so they can use it as a recruitment device. that's the world according to

michael scheuer. >> i think it's reality. at least that's the way i see reality, yes, according to scheuer, that's correct. the more we intervene, the more they win. >> give me the plan. so if michael scheuer would be dictating that which the united states should be doing it would be what? >> close the southern borders, so we don't end up fighting the u.s. military inside the united states. put together the xl pipeline, get us energy sufficient so we can dump those tyrants that are part of our coalition now. the saudi, the kuwaitis, the emirates. they're the people that should be getting killed in this, not americans. and finally, we need to separate ourselves from israel. it is an enormous drag on american -- it's a cancer on american foreign policy. >> you know that people will hear this and find those words objectionable and say their only friend in the middle east, only democracy, why would we turn our backs on the israelis.

>> i find it objectionable to send my college-age kids to fight and die so mrs. mohamed can vote in an afghan election. and after all those kids die to run away and leave the country and go back to the taliban. i'll take the abuse if people can explain what in the world this political elite is doing to our young people. >> michael scheuer, thank you as always for being here. >> pleasure, sir. >> a lot more ahead. up next, this question. where are you, jane fonda. where are you, susan saran dan and the thousands of others who protested wars in the past. america, is it war again. why are the streets silent this time? i'll talk with veteran activist tom haden. and the comes politics of isis. no one on capitol hill will authorize force against isis, but plenty of ads are using video of the terrorists to stoke fear this november. we'll talk about that. and gary hart never got to the white house.

nearly 30 years ago, he was caught in an affair with donna rice, ending his bid. a new book says what happened. and i pose this question. have we as a nation suffered because tabloid journalists now peer through the bushes when covering political candidates? i'll be right back. [ male announcer ] some come here to build something smarter. ♪ some come here to build something stronger. others come to build something faster... something safer... something greener. something the whole world can share. people come to boeing to do many different things. but it's always about the very thing we do best. ♪

welcome back. have you noticed what's been missing this week on the streets of america while u.s. and coalition jets began pounding isis and carson core san group targets in syria? where are the anti-war protests and celebrities who usually lead those protests? in the last decade there were demonstrations against the iraq war such as in 2007 led by jane fonda and susan saran dan. and, of course, military action abroad a familiar sight on the streets during the long vietnam war in the '60s and early '70s.

my next guest is a veteran of those protests. i'm joined by tom haden. good to have you. the issue is, with no draft, there's no skin in the game for so many people, right? i mean, the fact is, the burden is being borne by so few among us. >> well, there were big demonstrations against iraq, and there was no draft. there were 600,000, as you just showed on your screen ten seconds ago. there was a big anti-war -- >> but not in comparison to the '60s. >> well, we can make these comparisons. but look, we have to use our brains. it's obvious this war is rapidly developing. people have to think about it. if the president says there's no military solution and he also says it's going to be a war that lasts beyond his presidency, i can guarantee you, there will be a big anti-war movement. >> is part of the problem, problem meaning from a lack of protest standpoint, there is not access, say, in syria.

journalists today need to be rightfully concerned they would be beheaded if they were on the front lines of this conflict. so perhaps americans at home are not seeing it the way it's playing out. >> that's a big problem. i know a lot about the james foley case. but i do think you can start an anti war movement without television. and it will be -- when people adjust to the madness that seems to be going on and start to ask questions, how long will it last, what will it cost, is there really a strategy if the president says there's no military solution. i think it will take until a little past the election, and you'll start to see a lot of action. >> i get the sense you're painting your sign, and you're getting ready. tom haden. >> thanks a lot. i am. >> let me take a quick break. up next, i'm fascinated by this topic. would you be upset if your son said he was dating a republican or maybe your daughter said i'm dating a democrat.

discrimination based on party affiliation. and when should crimes be classified as hate crimes? should they ever? i'll talk with a district attorney who is dealing with an explosive case close to my home that many are calling gay bashing. but the suspects have not been charged with a hate crime. stick with me. ♪ i thought it'd be bigger. ♪ ♪ (dad) there's nothing i can't reach in my subaru. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru,a subaru.

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parents disapproved of their children marrying someone of a different race, ethnicity, maybe religion. but new research just published suggests that nowadays, party prejudice, meaning political party prejudice, even exceeds racial prejudice. cass sunstein wrote about it under the review partyism now trumps racism. the actual research was done by academics at stanford and princeton university. look at the numbers. the article states that in 1960, only 5% of republicans and 4% of democrats said they would not like their children to marry outside of their political party. but by 2010, those numbers jumped to 49%, and 33%. quite a distressing sign of the times. but perhaps not so surprising to my next guest. i'm joined by liliana mason, a visiting scholar at rutgers university's political science department. what do you make of that data? >> it's actually not that surprising to me. i think that -- i think that saying that partyism and racism

are different things is actually a little bit misleading. i think what we're seeing is that the two political parties are divided on race. so that we have a racial division between republicans and democrats. we also have a religious division between republicans and democrats. we also have a cultural division. we watch different tv shows. we live in different places. north and south and also urban and rural. so we're becoming these sort of mega teams, the democrats and republicans. and it's becoming easier and easier to dehumanize the people who are our political opponents. >> do you think -- you've just given me a thought that maybe we're able publicly to criticize the other party. we hope we would never criticize the other race. is this all cover? in other words, instead today of somehow acknowledging to a pollster you're a racist, you're not going to do that, instead you lay it off on the democrats, you lay it off on the republicans. >> you could. and part of it is that. but then there are these other

identities that you could also put in there, right? if you're biased against a religious group, you could put that in under party, too. if you're biased against southerners, you could put that in a political party too. so the difference between racism and partyism is that we've got this one prejudice that it's totally okay to talk about. and racism, which is really, you know, publicly we're not supposed to be talking about. and we all know that. and that's the rule. >> maybe a solution is to ostracize partyism, if that's the proper word, in the same way we have ostracized those who are bigots. >> that would be a wonderful thing to do. but that's actually not happening at all. partisans from both sides seem to be acceptable to call each other names like stupid or liars. >> we reward them in the media. we reward them by writing checks, we reward them by allowing them to get nominate indeed hyper partisan districts. >> if they were to say those same things about a racial group, they would disappear from the public scene in an instant. >> makes sense to me the way you

have explained it. liliana, thank you for joining me. >> thank you. joining me now, a couple who joined outside their political party. john avalon, editor in chief of the daily beast. margaret hoover, cnn political commentator and republican consultant. all right, margaret, when you brought him home and they found out that he was an independent, all be it one who worked for mayor guiliani, what was their reaction? >> they were duly warned he also worked for bill clinton and we had plenty of sessions over it. they were prepared. but again, to your point, there was preparation necessary. it's true. i mean, in the case of my family, i've got to give them credit. they came by their biases really innocently. if your great grandfather is herbert hoover you can understand why they would have i have a bias against democrats. john is not a democrat, he's an independent. it didn't change the content of the toasts at our wedding. i think that was probably the

most common point reiterated over and over again, that i was marrying outside of the republican party. >> john, was she a hard sell on the home front initially because of her party affiliation? >> oh, god no. not at all. the exact opposite. i mean, my dad was thrilled. >> but your dad is republican. full disclosure. your father is a republican. >> he's very conservative and long standing. it was not an issue in my family at all. and i think the point margaret is making her family comes by it honestly. they may be a leading indicator of the kind of personal hurt feelings that drive partisanship today. i mean, you know, again, it wasn't that i was a democrat. it was that i wasn't a republican and it really was like marrying outside your faith to some extent. there was education involved. there was explaining positions. and, you know, i love that, you know, margaret and i, you know -- i think try to set an example of how you can disagree agreeably and that people who come from things from different perspectives don't always end up in a totally different place. but the fact that poll shows the

huge cultural shift, michael, from 1960, when it's 4 to 5% to a ten-fold increase today, that's an area which we have deeply regressed. it is shocking. it should be shocking. it's a really, really sad sign of the times. >> margaret, what's troubling to me is not only that figure but also the practical impact of this. i read the data myself. and in one episode, one experiment, i should say, a thousand people were shown resumes. resumes that tipped the hand as to whether you were looking at a republican or a democrat. and even when the candidates were opposing parties had better credentials, they didn't get the job. >> right. >> so it scares me to think people are acting this way around us. your thoughts, margaret. >> look, i agree with you. i think, you know -- i am -- i'm going to disagree a little bit about how we're framing partisansh partisanship. and just beg for a characterization, a little definition on this. hyper partisanship, the kind you're talking about, i think is debilitating and bad for our democracy. but there is a kind of healthy

partisanship that is part of our tradition going back to madison and jefferson. this is going back to the founding fathers. you know, we can search for this elusive consensus. and you know where we're going to find it. we're going to find it in authoritarian russia in lennonist china, the middle east of isis. so, you know, hyper partisanship is awful. but a robust, healthy and wonderful debate in our culture, about our policies, is part of the democratic tradition of this country. and so i think striking that balance is important. >> john, go sort this one out over dinner tonight, okay? john avalon. margaret hoover. married, but now you see why we've got them in separate studios. when i come back, the affair that brought down gary hart's presidential ambitions nearly 30 years ago. a new book sets some of the record straight. i think the reporting on that story tainted american journalism and had a negative impact on american politics and i will explain why.

on monday, a new book comes out written by matt bye, who now writes for yahoo! news and political correspondent for "new york times" magazine. the book is called "the truth is out: the week that politics went tabloid." and the focus is gary hart's withdrawal from the 1988 race for the white house which came after it was discovered that he was having an affair with donna rice. bye argues the event was an important milestone in journalistic changes taking place wins watergate.

where the surest path to media success had been to gain the trust of politicians and infiltrate their world. now it was to take down a public servant through scandal. and do you remember the photograph of donna rice sitting on hart's lap? chances are you think the photo was the smoking gun that killed this political career. actually, the picture didn't come to light until nearly three weeks laugh after he had suspended his candidacy. in the ensuing 30 years, there has been no such thing as out of bounds when it comes to media interest in candidates for high office. and not just big media outlets. take a look at what happened this week in kansas. paul davis, democratic gubernatorial candidate, has been locked in a tight race against republican incumbent sam brown back. one week ago today, a twice-weekly local newspaper with no website called the "coffeeville journal" revealed that in 1998, a then unmarried 26-year-old paul davis was in a strip club getting a lap dance when the place was raided as part of a drug sting.

davis was charged with no crime. this week he said he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. davis was traveling with a partner at the law firm where he worked. the firm represented the club. and nothing in the police records suggests that either man violated the law. but you know that's not going to stop the story circulation so close to election day. i worry not only about those who have entered the arena and now have their behavior placed under a microscope but also those watching from the sidelines, maybe contemplating a willingness to serve but seeing the treatment of others at the hands of the media they decide that the scrutiny is just not worth it. this drains the pool of potential public servants, and in many cases, unnecessarily destroys the lives of those who submit to the 24/7 gaunt let. four years ago, i interviewed gary hart about a book he was then releasing. and i asked him, where reporters and observers should draw the line today on covering politicians' personal lives. here's what he told me. he said the standard that got changed i think 20 or 25 years ago was that a public person's

private life was of importance, only if it affected their ability to do their job. i think that was a pretty good standard, and it permitted some people who are flawed human beings, as we all are, to continue to serve their country. well, i think he's right. and he also correctly pointed out that if today's wrecking ball standard had been applied in decades past, the country would have been denied the service of fdr, dwight eisenhower and jfk, among others. it wasn't for us to condemn hart. that was a job for his wife. and how ironic that while we rejected him, lee hart has stayed with him for more than 50 years. at least that's how i see it. but let me get another opinion from tom feedler who today is dean of the college of communication of boston university and 30 years ago a reporter for the "miami herald." in fact, april 27, 1987 at 8:00 at night, his phone rang with the tip that would eventually sink gary hart.

hey, tom feedler, thank you so much for being here. was there any discussion at the herald about whether this was a path the herald should pursue or whether this should remain out of bounds because it was his private life? >> there was extensive discussion about it, michael. what really drove that story was the tip, which turned out to be verifiable and turned out to be accurate. is that senator hart at a time while he was running for president and by the way while he also publicly was denying that he was engaged in what was quaintly called womanizing back then. he was actually running around in a place, turn berry isle in miami, which if they had done a reality tv show about "miami vice" it would have been filmed probably in turnberry isle. so the question for us is, first of all, what is a presidential candidate doing running around in a place known to be awash in drugs, fast boats, fast girls

and so forth, and also at a time when he was denying that this was a problem for him. and by the way, as much as i admire matt bye and what he did, the fact that ejd quote became iconic, gary hart had said many times before the interview words to those very same effect. so when you say that there was a myth that he had set his own trap, that's really not correct. i wouldn't use the word trap. but senator hart himself raised that issue as really a measure of who he was. of his own authenticity. >> but the herald wasn't responding to the that challenge. you got a tip at 8:00 on that april night. >> absolutely not. >> but to have four reporters staked out literally in an alley, yourself included, trying to catch someone for infidelity who was a presidential candidate, that was unprecedented.

that's the point that i've tried to make. you get the quick final word. >> what we were doing there was verifying the tip that he was going to spend the weekend with donna rice. which we verified. and you can only do that by actually being there. so you know, you somehow make it sound like what we were doing was out of the bounds of journalism. very much inbounds of what journalists do. >> right. the tip, however, was about infidelity. you make it sound like you could track down any tip. it was about infidelity. >> no, no, the tip was about lying. the tip was about lying. he had lied to everyone, the public included, that he was -- he claimed he was not engaged in this kind of behavior. that was the tip. that he was indeed engaged in that behavior, and we checked out the tip. we felt that it's important that voters be able to consider when they're looking at a person's fitness for office, they should be able to take into account

what his character included and it included lying about, as it happened, infidelity. >> thank you so much for being here. >> really, lying is the heart of the issue. >> after the break, scaring the public into the voting booth. let's call it for what it is. the politics of fear. we'll examine how politicians are using acts of terror and the air strikes against isis to influence voters. we're back in a moment. locked up. case closed? you don't know "aarp." because the aarp fraud watch network means everyone can protect themselves and their families from scams and identity theft. with local alerts, tips from law enforcement, and the inside scoop from former con artists. real possibilities to stay ahead of the bad guys. if you don't think beat con men at their own game, when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp". find more surprising possibilities and get to know us at aarp.org/possibilities.

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the midterm elections are on the horizon, and now that the u.s. has launched air strikes against isis, one top republican pollster tells cnn security is now a top tier issue that no one saw coming. so how will the candidates' campaign on the change? here's one extreme example in the new mexico senate race, republican challenger, allen way has been trailing behind tom u dahl. he is showing scary terrorists and burning buildings and, oh, yes, a president who likes to golf. here it is. >> you give me this office, and in turn, my fears, doubts, insecurities, foibles, need for sleep, vacations, leisure, is gone.

>> democratic senator, tom udall, new mexico. >> i know as far as i feel, this diplomatic path that we're on right now is a good one. >> i'm giving myself to you. and the american people should have no patience for whatever is going through your head, because you've got a job to do. >> i know as far as i feel, this diplomatic path that we're on right now is a good one. >> you just got a freebie on us, right? scott brown, new hampshire republican, challenging senator gene shaheen, democrat, is running an ad claiming terrorists are threatening to collapse our country. in the midst of that hyperbole, brown fails to tell voters how he would vote to stop them. i want to bring in mark lamont hill, cnn political commentator and tara setmare co host of real

news and republican strategist. tara, will voters vote on this issue or will it still be the economy stupid? >> interestingly enough, this is mirroring what happened in 2002. the "atlantic" did a piece showing the parallels between 2002 when security moms were an important part of that election after 9/11. and not saying there is anything at the level of 911, but it's showing that polling, "wall street journal" showed in august a 14% of women favored obama's foreign policy. now it's shrunken to 2. women are doing focus grouping in iowa. that's an important place, where they show that security issues are now replacing the economy. and don't tell me that democrats aren't paying attention to that. they are. and republicans are too. that ad that we just saw in new mexico, that's a pretty powerful ad. the perception of however you feel obama is doing, whether you think it's the right thing or not to bomb syria and iraq, the perception is that republicans are stronger on national

security and democrats are doves. sdnchts that hold water, mark, where this president is launching air strikes against the islamic state. you can't kick sand in his face. >> i agree. everyone is looking at security issues right now. it's a big campaign issue to the extent that people need to say something about it. but the problem is, there is no clear war dove here. the president has waged strikes. republicans have uniformly said the last week, we like what the president is doing with regard to the scope and nature of the strikes. so it's hard to get mad at the president for that. and there are people who oppose arming rebels in syria. people who oppose arming kurds in the north. the problem is, it's not along partisan lines. there are people on the right saying wait a minute, we don't know who the moderates are. it's tough to make this a partisan issue. >> the reason why it's partisan is because it's perception. over time, people -- they associate tougher security with republicans. and that democrats, because the president has dithered about for so long, the strikes are way overdue. most people are talking about, especially in the military, this is not enough. so the idea of a terrorist

attack here happening in the united states, the idea that we're not safe, that perception is now burning into people's minds. >> what about we shouldn't intervene? are they considered tough on terrorism? >> no. the fact that the republicans -- we shouldn't intervene in syria or iraq? >> yeah. >> i don't know, i think what they're saying are -- >> some are saying -- >> that's not the overall issue here. >> eric holder is moving on. >> yes. >> what's his legacy, tara? >> his legacy of one of being a cycophant for the president, made a disgrace of the office of attorney general, overpoliticized it. he proudly claimed himself as an activist, didn't investigate fast and furious, held in contempt of congress, benghazi, the irs, race agitator. i say good riddance to eric holder, thank god. >> we were doing so well the last two minutes. i think eric holder's legacy is one of an unprecedented role for the attorney general.

you're -- >> unprecedented in a bad way. >> we can disagree whether it's bad or not. when you look at him going down to ferguson, for example, that's unprecedented for a sitting attorney general. we're going to try to create justice. we're not going to choose sides yet but look for i couldn't say 'tis. not departing particular people over others. cracking down on major national corporations, corporate agreed. these are good things. is he a cycophant for the president, is he politicizing the office? >> absolutely. >> i haven't met an attorney general yet who wasn't a cycophant for the president. >> that's not a good thing, trying to prosecute terrorists as criminals of the united states, that wasn't a good thing. >> due process for everybody. shudder the thought. >> that's what obama was for. >> thank you both so much for being here. let's pause for a break. when i come back, an explosive case in philadelphia. my hometown. alleged gay bashing. three suspects have been charged. but not with a hate crime. should they be? i'll talk with the philadelphia district attorney in just a moment. stick with me. ♪

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on september 11, a couple walking in center city, philadelphia, was allegedly accosted and beaten by members of a group of more than a dozen. and such were the injuries that one of the victims needed to have his jaw wired shut for healing. three individuals have now been charged in connection with that beating. two men, one woman, who happens to be the daughter of a local

police chief. the three have each been charged with two counts of aggravated and simple assault. two counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of criminal conspiracy. for some, those charges are not enough. see, the men who were beaten are gay. if they were beaten because they are gay, this would seem to be a textbook hate crime. only pennsylvania law does not give hate crime protection to the lgbt community. seth williams is the district attorney of philadelphia and joins me now. seth, why doesn't pennsylvania law where it protects other groups protect this group? >> you're actually right. how are you, michael? pennsylvania used to protect members of the lgbt community, sexual orientation was a part of the hate crime legislation. but the supreme court struck it down on a technicality on the manner in which it became a law. it was actually tied to an agricultural bill. and the state constitutionally doesn't allow it to become a law

unless it had gone through the judiciary committee. and so because of that technicality, it was struck down. and so currently in pennsylvania, people of that protected class of lgbt are not protected. and so that is why we are hoping to change that. so that people that are homosexual will not be targeted and beaten. >> seth, here's my issue. first of all, i believe that if there are hate crimes on the books, then the lgbt community should be provided that level of protection. but what occurs to me is that if my wife and i were on that same block and we were beaten, god forbid, the punishment that would be meeted out to those individuals would be less than if the individuals had attacked a gay couple. why should i be deserving of less protection under the law? >> that's an interesting question that many people pose. it's actually incorrect. if someone were to target you, michael, because they knew of

your ethnicity and they targeted you for that, they knew where your family came from in europe and they targeted you and they said derogatory slurs that were tied to that ethnicity, we could prosecute them and charge them with a hate crime under the ethnic and intimidation laws as they currently stand. and so we don't have that in this situation. it's unfortunate that it occurred. one case like this is too many. it doesn't happen as often as many people think, that people are targeted because of their sexual orientation. and i'm glad of that. but one case is too many. >> the situation you mentioned -- go ahead. >> doesn't every crime of violence involve some level of hatred? see i'm troubled by the idea that we're now going after you because of what's in your mind. >> i understand that. part of our democracy is to protect minority groups. for the majority to protect those that people often target. and so that is why there was a

need, people thought, to protect people if they were going after them because they were african-american or because they were korean, if you will. so i understand what you're saying. but you do not have the first amendment right to express yourself by beating someone because of their ethnicity. and hopefully not because of their sexual orientation. >> a final quick question. do you anticipate more arrests in this case, which is getting national attention? >> i think, and i'm very happy that the police did a very thorough investigation in collaboration with the district attorney's office. we got an outpouring of cooperation from the public who searched social media, saw what many of these people had put on facebook. they brought in the entire group of people, a large group, that was a witness and somewhat of a party to what happened. and i think the police got it right. but if we find additional information, if we find other people deserve to be charged, they will be. >> seth williams, philadelphia district attorney, thanks for being with us. >> thank you very much, michael. i'll be right back. ♪

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you're in the "cnn newsroom." hi, everyone. i'm deborah fare rick. we are tracking the beheading of an oklahoma woman, the search for a college student in virginia and the frantic manhunt for an accused cop killer in pennsylvania. we begin in oklahoma. the man accused of beheading a co-worker is awake and talking after being shot. police say alton nolan had been trying to convert his co-workers to islam. he had several skermishes with police in local years. and i spoke with a woman who says she wishes she had killed him five years ago. her emotional story minutes away. the man of kidnapping 18-year-old haug is now being held in isolation. jesse matthew bolted to a texas beach before police nabbed him. will he offer up any clues as to what happened to the 18-year-old college coed. and in pennsylvania,

officers are scouring remote areas for accused cop killer frein. you're going to hear what authorities found on frein's computer. first to oklahoma where we are tracking a dramatic and troubling story. a man is accused of beheading one of his co-workers isis-style, and severely injuring another. police say alton nolan will be charged with first degree murder and assault and battery with a deadly weapon and face charges of terrorism. we also learned today that nolan woke up from sedation friday afternoon after being shot by an off duty sheriff's deputy during the attack. cnn's nick valencia has more. >> reporter: police have released some details about the suspect in this week's beheading in moore, oklahoma. we're beginning to learn more about him from his facebook page. police say this is the facebook page of the man suspended of beheading a co-worker in moore, oklahoma. the images and messages on the page of alton nola