>> john: live from new york city, where if a mayoral candidate's poll goes down we no longer know if that's a double undawner or not. the biggest sex scandal with no actual sex, anthony weiner. the man didn't have sex. he's probably never going to have sex again. that's not him. guy's never going to have sex again and yet the media still keeps telling him to pull out. president obama and eric holder, that's them now plan to push back against the supreme court's gutting of the voting rights act but it may be hard since racism no longer exists according to a whole lot of white people. and north carolina no longer trusts women with their own uteruses but it now does trust drunks to bring guns into bars

because darwin was wrong. okay emmett till would have been 72 years old. today is the birthday of sonic youth's thurston moore and a big birthday of new york city mayoral candidate christine quinn. however, anthony weiner kind of sort of gave her biggest birthday present two days ago. this is "viewpoint." >> john: good evening i'm john fuglesang. this is "viewpoint." thank you so much for joining us tonight. okay. everything's bigger in texas right? and that includes their hutzpah. earlier this month texas passed strict voter i.d. laws immediately after the u.s. supreme court struck down section five of the voting rights act. that requires preclearance or federal approval for any new changes to voting laws.

but help may be on the way from eric holder. >> and today i am announcing that the justice department will ask a federal court in texas to subject the state of texas to a preclearance regime similar to the one required by section five of the voting rights act. we believe that the state of texas should be required to go through a preclearance process whenever it changes its voting laws and practices. >> john: just for you, texas because you're special! them's fighting words! the u.s. attorney general told the national urban league the justice department will support a motion filed by a minority rights group to place texas back under the rules that scotus scuttled and he didn't stop there. >> even if congress considers updates to the voting rights act in light of the court's ruling, we plan, in the meantime, to fully utilize the laws remaining section to make sure the voting

rights of all american citizens are protected. >> john: texas governor rick perry already tried to rain on holder's parade saying... and perry thought there was a third thing they did wrong but he could not remember. so, where does this leave our nation and its voting laws? it's pretty complicate and it is going to get ugly so let's ask john nichols who covers politics for the "nation" magazine as its washington correspondent. he's also the author of the essential book, dog ar okay ras ski is i. and katherine clinton is part of the advancement project. it is a pleasure to have you back. welcome to "viewpoint." >> great to have you back, john. katherine, it is your first time here. i'm going to ask you to help talk me off a ledge on this one. the supreme court struck down the rule for preclearance so let

me ask, how can attorney general holder come in and say texas you're going to need to go through preclearance. does he have that power as attorney general to somehow make this a reality? >> absolutely. he needs to prosecute under the voting rights act under section 3c of voting rights act which is a vital remedial measure. it is part of the voting rights act but has not been struck down by the supreme court thank goodness and basically, can be applied in the states in the south and southwest that used to be under section five of the voting rights act to make sure they need to submit voting changes so they're not discriminatory. states like texas who have the worst history and continue to discriminate are ideal candidates for being placed under section 3c. today, the department of justice filed a statement of interest in the federal court in the district of columbia and it needs to be litigated but section 3c remains a vital part of the voting rights act and a tool that can be used to continue to protect voting

rights at a time when they're truly under assault in our nation. very pleased with what the attorney general did today. >> john: john, let me know your thoughts. where does the process go from here for the attorney general and the backing? >> well, you were correct when you said that this is complicated stuff and even a little ugly. the fact of the matter is that we had a relatively clear law in this country. a law that was backed by both house of our congress, by democrats and republicans and seemed to be in place solidly for a good period of time. the supreme court threw that in flux. we are now in a zone where, to an extent, we've got to cobble things together. congress could step in and develop a new voting rights act. but it's unlikely that this congress which can't even pass a farm bill, is going to do that any time soon. so what attorney general holder is doing here is exactly what an attorney general is supposed to. he's asking the courts to step in and interpret and apply the

law. now, the problem with this is that this -- in a game of voting rights, it is called a bail-in and the translation on that is you're asking the courts to effectively opt a state into the preclearance process. that means that even if they get this in texas they won't necessarily get it in north carolina. maybe they get it in north carolina but they don't get it in some other place. it is a complicated difficult process and the fact that attorney general holder is doing this shows i think, the depth of his commitment and his seriousness about trying to sort this thing out. and my sense is he'll be quite successful but the measures of that success will be difficult because, as i said, it is going to go state by state region by region rather than having a relatively universal law. >> john: it's fascinating. katherine, we all know how deeply governor rick peri-cares about the constitution except for the 17th amendment and separation of church and state

and i could go on. this isn't a case of it would get a different ruling if rick perry fights back and this winds up at the supreme court again because they're the ones who struck it down. so what's the hope here in a judicial sense? >> i think there's quite a bit of hope for this case. section 3c of the voting rights act, the bail-in provision as john correctly called it, is not the least bit unconstitutional. it has been used 17 times in our nation's history since the 1955 voting rights act. it has been used to cover the state of arkansas, the state of new mexico. it has been used to cover smaller jurisdictions such as counties and so although it's something that's done on a case-by-case basis, if there's any case where it applies, it is the state of texas which has intentionally discriminated against black and latino voters over and over and over again. so i think the department of justice has a pretty good case. groups like mine, advancement project who do voting rights litigation can also do this type of litigation in other states.

and it is a heavier lift. it is a much heavier lift than under what the supreme court struck down in the shelby case. but it's a very vital tool and a very valid tool to protect voting rights today. and i think that, you know, the department of justice has a very good shot at winning this one especially with texas as the first case. texas, again has, you know, repeated history of intentional discrimination, that courts have found over and over again in recent years. and states like north carolina, that have, you know, one of the strictest voter i.d. laws to be considered right now and states like florida which have cut back early voting and done things that caused voters of color to wait 10, 12, 14, 19 hours in line. states like arizona which are always finding different ways to restrict the vote of rights of latino voters are all prime candidates. it is a heavy lift. it is much harder than what we lost in the shelby case but it is something that is -- it is an important tool that you know,

states should take up -- take notice of and make sure that they're in compliance with the law. >> john: you know, i remember when president bush upheld this himself and re-authorized it in 2006. i don't recall perry whining about bush's contempt for the constitution. john, you have written that the supreme court's decision revealed a major constitutional hold that must be addressed. what is that? >> yeah. well, to my mind, this gets much deeper than just the voting rights act debate that we have in this country because of course, the voting rights act as it still exists, despite what the court has done, applies to a certain set of states. it does not apply to the whole of the united states. and yet as i'm sure katherine would say, we have good examples of assaults on voting rights, assaults on the basic principle of how we would run a democracy. real voter suppression acts going on in states all over the country. not just in the south and not just in the southwest.

and so one of the things i believe and that a number of people are coming to is the sense that we need a national protection and that protection should be in our constitution. we should have a guaranteed right to vote and a right to have that vote counted. and congressman mark pocan of wisconsin and keith ellison of minnesota have introduced that amendment, it is in congress now, and i think it needs to be discussed. not as an alternative to what eric holder and others are doing, not as an alternative to trying to renew and expand the voting rights act at a legislative level but with an understanding that we shouldn't go on forever, debating, you know, state by state, place by place, whether people have a right to vote and to have that vote counted. that ought to be in our constitution and it ought to be clearly defined. >> john: exactly right. section one of their proposal says every citizen of the u.s. who is of the legal voting age will have the fundamental right

to vote in any election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizens resides which brings us to voter i.d. laws. catherine, let's state the problem. everybody should have a driver's license or passport but in a free society can that be compulsory and don't voter i.d. laws not just hurt black folks they also hurt college kids, poor people and seniors who might not have easy access to a state i.d. >> absolutely. the voter i.d. laws are voter restriction laws put into place to suppress the vote of certain people. i just came from the pennsylvania voter i.d. trial last week. the witnesses we brought their stories are heartbreaking elderly folks who don't drive any longer whose license expired, who have been voting all of their lives and can't get to the dmv or to the penndot to get the strict form of i.d. that the laws have been put into place to restrict the votes. so the other point that's really

important is there is no voter fraud in our country. they don't do anything to stop any case of voter fraud. we see them, you know, being resurrected again this year. last year, we won many cases in court against voter i.d. laws. section five was used against voter i.d. laws. texas has a very strict voter i.d. law. people have to get 200 miles to get their i.d. and have the underlying documents, they need a bit certificate. -- a birth certificate. other people are naturalized citizens. to replace their documents would be $345. it could go on and on. so it is basically something that isn't necessary at all in our country and has a very, very heavy impact on the poor, on black, latino, asian-american voters, on women who change our names or hyphenate or things along those lines and something that we need to fight back against through litigation of the type the department of justice is bringing right now.

also, you know, through a fundamental right to vote is absolutely needed in our country to have a specific fundamental right to vote in our constitution that guarantees our most precious right. so that people are treated equally at the ballot box. that's the most fundamental principle of democracy is that we have equal access to voting rights and if we need to straighten this out because there is a continued assaults on voting rights. our repeat performance of last year and the voter i.d. law is just one form of voter suppression that's going on in this country. >> john: as you point out there is no problem with voter fraud. there has been voter registration fraud and a lot of people have been duped into thinking that's the same thing. john, time and again gerrymandering has kept republicans in power in the house. democrat, are, of course, limited because they've lost power in state houses over the past few years. we're showing on the screen a map of texas's second congressional district. you can see it looks like salvador daally on tainted meth

designed the districts. what are they doing to counter all of this? >> this action by eric holder can be a part of this. because obviously if you're requiring preclearance, you can then start to look at gerrymandering, at least in some of the states in the south. but the fact of the matter is that gerrymandering is a crisis in america. more people in 2012 voted for democratic control of the u.s. house of representatives than vote for republican control. and yet the republicans are clearly in control of that chamber. that's a result of gerrymandering as well as some other factors that come into play in how we draw these lines. we've got to address it. there is a group called fair vote located in the washington, d.c. area but operating across the u.s. they really have been very, very active in putting out a lot of alternatives. we can address gerrymandering and we should be working very, very hard at it. but again, this goes to, perhaps, some constitutional actions. we talked about a guaranteed right to vote. if we guarantee the right to

vote and to have that vote counted, we should also be talking about guaranteeing that you have contests in which to vote. and gerrymandering ought to be struck down. i would wish that the courts would step in but if they don't we should look at constitutional remedies. >> john: my big idea for this, preclearance for all 50 states. seems like the fairest way to do it. if any state wants to change the law, we're not singling them out. that's my crazy idea. and no one will listen to me because i'm a professional clown but i thank the two of you for can classing up the joint. john nichols correspondent for the nation and katherine director of voter protection. what a pleasure. thank you both for calming me down on this and thanks for coming on "viewpoint." >> thank you. >> thank you john. >> john: thank you. up next, we take a good, hard look at anthony weiner's actual political record for a change.

we have a big, big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope.

the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv. >> john: since the carlos

danger scandal broke the focus on former congressman anthony weiner has kind of shifted south of where we should be looking as an electorate. the election isn't really about the adventures of carlos danger. it is about who's going to run the greatest city in the world and who can do it? and who should do it? so today we're going to look at mr. danger's alter ego, anthony weiner, former congressman and mayoral candidate. we're going to look at his record in congress, his voting record, the bills he introduced, the causes near and dear to his heart and how he works with others in the political process to get things done for constituents and i have a feeling you may find that carlos danger is the least of his problems. here now is the one and only esteemed juan cole, author of engaging the muslim world. it is a pleasure to welcome you professor. thank you so much for being here on "viewpoint." >> thanks for having me, john. >> john: of course. now, you wrote this article entitled the top ten things anthony carlos danger weiner has

said that is worst than sexting. you opened it with an interesting comparison. mahatma ghandi was once kicked out of a brothel in south africa but no one judges him by his lapses. while mr. weiner, on the other hand, is judged only by his peccadilloes and not his policies. >> right well i think there is a real change in the country especially among younger voters, i think this puritan hangup americans have with sex scandals is fading and you can see it in the case of congressman vitter and others and however it is kind of anachronistic that in the case of weiner, this kind of coverage has come to the fore. and i think it's really unfortunate that the coverage, you know, i can understand, you know, good journalism looks at people. but looking at the person in the context of the policies that they want to introduce is the way good journalism proceeds.

and there's been a lot of bad journalism about anthony weiner. >> john: from january '99 to june 2011, congressman weiner missed 472 of 8,368 roll call votes which is 5.5%. the median is 2.6% among the lifetime records of representatives. serving in june 2011. so professor just how bad an attendance record is that? >> well, it's not the worst by any means but it's not great. the reporting on him from "the new york times" and elsewhere suggests that you know, those missed votes were partly because he didn't want to stay in washington, d.c. too late. he wanted to get on a plane back to new york. in some instances, he was more interested in running for mayor of new york as in the middle of the last decade. and so, you know, it is not up there with michele bachmann or ron paul who ran for president and therefore missed quite a lot

of votes but it still shows a certain lack of interest in being there for the nitty-gritty. >> john: in 12 and a half years in congress, he was the lead sponsor on only one bill that made it to law. just one. what does that tell you about the congressman? >> well, he maintains to be fair, that he was a junior congressman from new york during the bush era when the opposite party was in control. and so he didn't have a lot of opportunity to get legislation through. but his colleagues also say that he had opportunities that he missed because he wasn't good at networking. he didn't play well with other children. he tended to speak too bluntly not to form long-term alliances. he didn't seem to have the long game. >> john: we've had at love his colleagues on this show, a lot of congressmen, including congressmen from new york.

none of them are endorsing him or supporting him. in july 2008, "the new york times" characterized congressman weiner as one of the most intense and demanding of bosses, yelling at staff throwing things in anger. is that a trempment for a mayor or didn't giuliani also have a short fuse. is a temper another strike or does he get a pass on that? >> personally, i think it's terrible to abuse your staff. there are successful politicians and you know, people in other walks of life, ceos and so forth who behave that way but i don't think it is effective. the people who do it maintain that they're instilling a sense of discipline. they're getting everything out of their staff they can. but i think it is unpleasant to work for someone who is abusive and people tend to move on. you don't have an institutional memory in your staff. you don't have a continuity. and he did suffer from those problems. >> john: my staff at

"viewpoint" feels the exact same way about my management style, sir. you wrote a very insightful piece about congressman weiner's extreme positions in statements regarding the palestinian people. what made you want to write about this guy on that topic. is he unique among politicians in the way he has regarded the palestinians? >> well, he's not unique but he really is an outliar. i mean, you know, americans are generally in favor of israel and i like israel, myself. but the degree of animus he seems to have against palestinians is way out there. i mean he denies that the west bank is temporarily occupied by by -- is militarily occupied by israel. in the clinton era still a terrorist organization, wants to stop palestinian diplomats from coming to new york. he just seems to have it in for them. >> john: let's go through what he's said.

he's alleged the plo is still listed by the u.s. as a terrorist organization though it hasn't been for decades. as you mention professor, he tried to bar the palestinian delegation to the u.n. from entering new york city. he alleged that mahmoud abbas president of the plo is not the head of the plo. clearly, he is. he wrote that mr. wein -- you wrote that mr. weiner has had a bias against israel. i would argue in many cases "the new york times" has, as well. i didn't know "the new york times" and amnesty were against israel. what do you make of the statements sir? >> well, you know, stephen colbert said that reality has a well-known liberal bias. i think that human rights has a bias against the occupation practices of israel. so when people of conscious look at this issue and including many israelis, it is a horrible thing the way the palestinians often are treated. i think it is a blind spot on

weiner's part. and it tells me that at the core, he has a little bit of trouble sympathizing with, empathizing with the downtrodden. you know, he has a history kind of race baiting in his first election in 1991 for new york city council. he tried to smear his opponents with association with african-americans so there's something smelly about this attitude that he has. >> john: also, he famously supported the iraq war although so did hillary clinton and new yorkers are sure going to forgive that in two years. one final question before we go. there are a lot of folks saying he is an islam ma phobe. he is married to a woman of pakistani dissent correct? >> yeah. her mother, huma abedin's mother is from pakistan. her father is originally from india. she grew up partially in saudi arabia. i don't think that anthony wiener is -- than noy weiner is

a islam phobe. it is not a religious thing with him but it does seem to have something to do with an extreme form of israel nationalism. >> john: good to know benjamin netanyahu will be voting for anthony weiner. professor juan cole, thank you for coming on the show tonight. it was a pleasure to meet you. >> thank you john. >> john: two words you probably hope you would never hear in the same sentence, my friends. john mccain and stripping. so that happened is up next.

(vo) later tonight current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> john: who says congress and the senate is out of touch with the plight of real americans struggling to make a dollar so they can pay the rent? senator john mccain, he of the seven houses, cares deeply about

the folks who are most exposed to the harsher effects of economic policy and here's the proof, you cynical libs. last month mccain and of some his fellow senators introduced the coin act to replace the dollar bill with dollar coins. that way the thinking goes, my friends, the treasury won't have to spend millions reprinting the dollar bills we americans spindle and mutilate beyond recognition with our carelessness. okay. it's got bipartisan sponsorship reduces government spending. nobody gets hurt, right? wrong! think about this. coins don't fit all of that easily into a gyrating garter belt. how are the nation's thousands of hard-working exotic dancers going to make a living with no more dollar bills and no worries, ladies and men. it seems the maverick has your back. pressed by the hill's in the know gossip law, the plight of strippers, the good senator smiled and suggested they'll now be collecting $5s $10s and $100 bills. senator mccain, we salute your

commitment to the hard working exotic dancers of america. this may be the best thing you've done for women since picking sarah palin for your running mate. she did save katie couric's career. unlike sarah palin a stripper can't quit halfway through a lap dance. coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> john: have you had enough of the anthony weiner scandal? good. because neither have we. we're committed to finding point of view the mainstream media isn't shoving down your throat. don't worry, there will be jokes. from the paul show which had been can be heard on itunes, it's the man the comedian, the artist who got paul mccartney to sit down for his podcast the one and only paul merckureio. >> actor activist and director of the documentary after koni, y'all know her from everything from the west wing to "the stephanie miller show," it is

the one and only melissa fitzgerald. welcome to the first time on the show. >> thank you. i'm so happy to be here. >> political comedian and creator of the dean's report.com, the man all over everything from cnn to the "daily beast." dean, i'm going to start with you. >> yes. >> john: i know you wrote an article for the "daily beast" all about -- on the different stance between how democrats and republicans handle scandal. you're of palestinian dissent. i know you heard juan cole speak earlier about anthony weiner's problems. >> obviously anthony weiner is a member be of congress, is one of the most -- greatest adamant supporters of israel. not just demonizing the palestinians. supporting israel and the right to exist helping them and demonizing palestinians. so i've had a problem with anthony weiner for a long time. one of the worst comments he's ever made is there's no military occupation of the west bank. i've been to the west bank. should i tell my cousins the checkpoints are mirages and

drive through them then when they get shot i'll call anthony weiner and see if he helps them out. >> john: is it willful to please a voter? >> i think it is partly willful. sick people denied the holocaust. i'm not saying they're the same. same people are denied -- legitimate suffering do it for for an agenda. that's the same mindset. >> john: i want to play two sound bytes for you guys. give me your take. here's the first one. >> more recently, i've experienced how none of us go through life without mistakes but in their wake, we can learn a lot about grace a god of second chances and be the better for it. >> when we faced this publicly two years ago, it was the beginning of a time in our marriage that was very difficult and it took us a very long time to get through it. our marriage, like many others, has hits ups and its downs.

it took a lot of work and a whole lot of therapy to get to a place where i could forgive anthony. >> john: so the guy who really had sex and misused taxpayer funds and lied to everyone talks about god. the guy who had no actual sex talks about therapy. i want to get both of your feelings on it. dean, what do you see there? >> i see the point i wrote in the "daily beast" article. they're playing to their base. republicans talk about god. i think they believe it on some level as well. david vitter, the louisiana republican senator who was with prostitutes and said you know, god and my wife have forgiven me. in his priority, scale god is first. his wife was second. his words were god and my wife. eliot spitzer, did not talk about god. they talk about therapy. i think in new york, more people believe in therapy than god. >> john: what do you think? what do you think when

constituents hear a guy like mark sanford who lied to them, misused their funds but he talks tabernacles, the god of second chances. is that genuine or do they just like him better than stephen colbert's sister? >> well, he won. but i don't know why. i actually think that he's speaking to his base and i agree with you. i think your article was great. i think some people do legitimately believe. and believe him. >> john: paul, if anthony weiner tried to say god let him off the hook, would new yorkers tolerate that? >> everybody can see through it. i don't think republicans and democrats are that far apart. they both say oh, god. one says it during sex and the other says it after the sex. >> john: you would agree religion seems to be a get out of hell free card from george w. bush who talked about forgiveness in his lost years when he was a confused youth at age 40. to president clinton's i have sinned speech. does this -- work across the board? would this work in a jewish

community, a muslim community a hindu community invoke a hire power and get votes? >> i think that at this point all of these people are grabbing on to whatever they can grab on to like a lifeboat to sort of make this thing float right? for the republicans, it is interesting that they invoke god because i imagine having a sex with a republican is not a religious experience on any level. >> john: they're angry paul. you don't know what you're missing. >> it doesn't surprise me. they're going to say and do on both sides of the fence whatever it is they need to do to get their second chance and it is ironic it is sad that, you know, ryan braun -- weiner is the ryan braun of politics right now. he had his shot. he had his opportunity and he squandered it. i don't understand why people are sort of tolerating him continuing to be in this race. >> john: before we go to break, i wanted to ask melissa your feelings on huma. did i wendy williams' show. they had no tolerance for huma. isn't she doing everything

society tells women to do? forgive your husband? stay together to help the kids? what has her sin been? why is the media hostile to her? >> i think it is unfair and completely inappropriate. i've been married once. and i think that marriage is really hard. and nobody should tell anybody else what they should do inside a marriage. i think it is completely wrong. and as a woman i find it a little bit offensive. it is her business. >> you don't think she's enabling it. >> that's not my business. it is her marriage and his marriage. >> they have made their marriage and their relationship our business. >> john: she said in her speech, she said on monday, i'm staying in this marriage for myself, for my child for my family. if you've got a 1-year-old and you want to make it work, maybe she really loves the guy. >> it is like swimming halfway across the english channel. she would have left him when the sexting scandal broke. >> call me dated. i see they're proteges of the clinton model. he saw clinton get out of the scandal. he sees this as his second

coming so to speak. no pun intended. you know what i mean. i really do believe he sees on the horizon another day for him like bill clinton had. >> john: i have to go to break. if he crashes and burns and she wants a career in politics, it will be the opposite of the clintons and she'll have to leave him to o have credibility with voters. up next, we explore the furious reaction because bill clinton didn't have a recidivism rate. he did it once. the furious reaction of congress over the nsa spying. i'm sorry, that was a typo. i meant the favorable it is all cool with congress over spying. stick around. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real,

gripping, current.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them right?

>> john: welcome back to "viewpoint." the house of representatives voted against a bill that would have blocked the national security agency from collecting vast amounts of phone records including yours. the vote was 217-205. much closer than anyone expected and it was not even close to being down party lines. interestingly enough. imagine a congress voting on principle. so, what's ahead for our government spying operations? let's bring back our most esteemed panel comedian paul merckureio and paul mccarty's new bff. i still can't believe you got him to do a podcast. >> he was in the hallway standing there all alone and i went up to him and i said maybe i shouldn't talk to him and i thought hey he's here alone. >> john: i did a show with him once in this very building.

director of the documentary after koni staging hope, star of the west wing, melissa fitzgerald. >> creator of the dean's report, anyone who watches this show knows the brilliant dean obeidallah. what did you guys make of today's vote in the congress and it seems people were really voting their hearts on this issue and not just the party line. dean, did you -- >> 94 republicans and 111 democrats voted together on a piece of legislation. liberal democrat, justin amash be, a tea party republican of palestinian heritage coming together. >> you guys really stick together! >> there's a guy in the moscow airport, transit area who feels much better about himself. he almost changed america law from leaking documents. snowden has to feel better. he almost changed it. >> i don't think it would have had any consequence. nsa is still going to do what the nsa wants to do.

anti-bullying ads the kid getting his head dunked in the toil set reading them. >> john: that's very funny. john conyer said this vote was only the beginning so where conceivably could it go from here? are they going to wait for awareness to rise? >> i think so. look, i think -- you do this in trenches. they're going to go back at it again and go back at it again. i think the nsa has to be -- and the entire intelligence community has to be on their best behavior. if there is one slip-up, the vote is going the other way. they'll get pulled back. >> john: melissa, you've worked in the white house. >> why, yes, i have. >> john: when it comes to keeping americans safe and spying on americans to keep americans safe, i'm asking you here, not president bartlett, how far is too far? >> that's a really good question. but i think the phone records that they're keeping of my -- logs of my calls is the least invasive part of my day. if i go to the bank, i'm on camera. grocery store, i'm on camera.

if i've driving i'm on camera. i'm conflicted about this. >> you don't tell your country look, protect me from terrorist attacks and then sort of handcuff them a bit. it is like calling the plumber and saying i got a leak but don't bring your tools, you'll be fine. i'm torn too. at certain moments i don't want them in there but other times if it makes you safe. >> john: somewhere in nsa there is an intern who read anthony weiner's sexting a year ago. >> it is a balance. we want our country to be the country that we envision romantically that it would be. and there's only -- has to be probable cause and fourth amendment for a reason. we have conservatives having no problem with this as if the fourth amendment doesn't matter. >> but if i could say to you there is a plot that they foiled because they were able to go into certain records and as a result, you live today all provable what i'm saying, would you be saying what you're

saying. i'm not sure -- i agree with you on some level. >> i think at some point there is probable cause. >> john: absolutely. >> it is not oh, my god look what we just found. >> john: maybe boasting what they had stopped. i do want to shift a bit because the nsa says they're doing this to protect us and protecting us is the same reason north carolina gave for passing a very interesting gun control law. state legislator approved a bill that would let gun owners with concealed carry permits bring their guns to playgrounds public recreation areas and bars. and i think drunks with guns keeps all of us safer and the same with the playground. how many times have you lost a game of dodgeball and wish you had a nine to get revenge on that punk. >> finally, a way to settle that age-old argument on the playground, who gets to slide first? now, we've got it done. the scary thing is there is a statistic estimated 40% of men and 30% of women who killed

someone while they were drinking at the time. so i think a lot of bar arguments in north carolina will end with no, you're right sir. >> john: they say that nearly half of all homicides are precede by a forget -- proceed by a fight and often a drunken fight. what can go wrong when you mix guns and alcohol? >> just like mixing alcohol with almost anything i do is better. >> john: you can't have control of your own uterus but get drunk in -- with a gun in a bar. >> lie be drinking in the carolinas. >> there is a reason the alcohol, to be acco and firearms -- you have tobacco in north carolina. big to be acco. you've got guns. what i love about north carolina legislature, two weeks ago, they were banning abortion making it even more restrictive in the same -- they were banning islamic law. they're imposing christian law in the same place. >> john: far right wing

fundamentalist islam and far right wing fundamentalist christianity. >> the other thing about north carolina is that they have a much higher rate than the national average of gun violence. so -- and it is going to spike. >> the irony too is tobacco and smoking is not allowed in the bars so apparently the only thing that's allowed to be smoking is the end of your gun. >> john: that's progress. enjoy it. new york. you paid for it. you built this! i want to thank my panel paul mecurio, check out his podcast. actor activist and amazing individual mel issa fitzgerald. look for you on "the stephanie miller show" and on chasing the hill with richard schiff and political comedian dean obeidallah of the "daily beast." three of my favorite folks. thank you for coming on tonight. next we'll explore the impact walmart has on a community namely yours. the high prices, don't come cheap. the f bomb is next.

they should self-deport? >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians laughing. >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> ya, i consider you jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv.

>> john: want too talk our old friends walmart in tonight's f bomb. truth is i'm not a fan. if you spent enough time in the right walmart you will stop believing in evolution. i actually once did pepper sprayed in the face on black friday at a walmart and it enhanced my shopping experience. but times are rough. for some people, the low prices walmart overs are the only option. but if you're going to be critical of walmart's business practices, there is always going to be someone defending them saying shut up, you commy job creator hater. you can talk about how they put stores out of business and sell stuff not made in america pay awful wages and when you shop there, the money doesn't stay in your community. what do you hear back? shut up, you hate success. so then you can talk about how insanely rich the walton family is. at $446 billion per year, walmart is the third highest revenue grossing corporation earning over $15 billion a year

in pure profit. in 2007, the six waltons on the forbes 500 list were worth over $69 billion meaning these six individuals control the same amount of wealth as the bottom 30%, 100 million people of american families. by that time, they had received more than $2.1 billion in tax breaks, free land, infrastructure assistance, low-cost financing and grants in the state and local governments. welfare queens. but they pump up profits by paying workers low wages no one can raise a family on while putting other small employers out of business. then you'll hear it's a free market. lower prices save people money benghazi. between 2001 and 2006, walmart cost america 196,000 jobs, mostly manufacturing because they import stuff from china or that their average workers make $8.81 an hour, about $16,000 a year. and a lot of employees don't even get that many hours. that's less than 70% of the poverty line for a family of

four and you'll hear shut up, you why. why -- you're just jealous. so that's when you tell them this. walmart's lower prices do not save american people money because the only way walmart employees can support a family on such low wages is with public assistance and y'all are picking up the tab. see, wisconsin still releases info on how many workers are enrolled in their public healthcare program. they break it down by employer. it is public record and by last year, there were over 3200 walmart employees who had to enroll in one of the state's public healthcare programs, more than any other employer. add their dependents, the number goes up to over 9,000. the recent report by the s. house committee on education estimated that a single 300 employee walmart supercenter store in wisconsin cost taxpayers at least $904,000 a year in public assistance payments and they employ almost a million and a half people nationwide. yeah, but that report was done by democrats because they care about working people and not the

job creators. walmart's employees get $2.66 billion in government help and they're the largest number of employees on taxpayer funded programs. in florida 2005, they were the company with the most staff eligible for medicaid over 12,000. and again not picking on the folks who shop at walmart but the fact is walmart could give every employee a $5,000 raise and is it i will have $17 billion in profits but only a communist who hated freedom and puppies would ever repeat a fact like that. where's the birth certificate benghazi? chinese-made products, the money you spend doesn't stay in the community and the staff is so poor, your taxes subsidize their healthcare. the dow is at a record high. walmart. prices so nice, you pay for them twice! let's agree to stop saying walmart means low prices. they mean high cost for you. that's our show.

>> joy: eve and i will have a vagina dialogue. a new study finds a direct link between a good night's sleep and a high sperm count. so i guess men who sleep like babies are good at making them. i'll talk with the original hot lips houlihan, actress sally kellerman next on "say anything." >> joy: my first guest has done more to destigmatize the word have vagina than anyone else in the whole