obama from the white house? i have to say i've never witnessed such a crackle of enthusiasm for executing people as i heard at the reagan library debate last week. i recalled it last night when i heard the clap of applause when ron paul said he'd let someone die if they failed to bone up for health insurance. this is a tough crowd, an angry crowd. the only question now is whether the tea party, the tea party-driven republican movement wants to one run of their own, rick perry, or is so angry at obama or so determined to whisk him from the white house that they are willing to have someone as their candidate, someone who, mitt romney, long had his heart set on the white house works never in a million years have shown up at a tea party meeting, and that's fair to say about mitt romney, and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. if you liked yes, we can, you're going to love pass this bill. >> pass the bill.

pass the bill. pass the bill. >> pass this bill! hey, pass this bill. hey, republicans, you really going against a theme song. tonight, the president slams the gop and demands fast action. will they hear the people? and america, meet your republican party. boos for treating a man who doesn't have health insurance, and bizarre attacks on protecting women's health. the grand ole party fell into the teapot. plus, breaking news. elizabeth warren, the woman who took on the big banks on behalf of consumers will run for senator in massachusetts against scott brown. this is going to be a great race.

welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, yet another flashing red light that something needs to be done to help this country. today we learned that over 46 million americans are living in poverty. that's the largest number since the census bureau began keeping track 52 years ago, and what's even more striking, 22% of the american kids are living in poverty. it's against this backdrop that the president is pushing his jobs bill and calling out republicans for standing in the way. here's what a boisterous crowd in ohio stood with him today. >> this isn't about giving me a win. this isn't about giving democrats or republicans a win. it's about giving the american people a win.

it's about giving ohio a win. it's about your jobs and your lives and your futures. and giving our kids a win. there is work to be done. in are workers ready to do it. so let's tell congress pass this bill, right away. >> pass this bill. pass this bill. pass this bill. pass this bill. pass this bill. >> republicans have supported the president's proposal in the past, but they are already balking. senator jon kyl has said, quote, i don't think the president is in any position to say it's take it or leave, it all or nothing. i thought he was mr. compromise, but maybe i was wrong about that, end of quote. let's be honest. this bill is built on partisan ideas, bipartisan ideas, but it's the way that it's funded that republicans don't like. it's paid for by ending tax breaks for oil and gas

companies, hedge fund managers, individuals making over $200 a year and corporate jets. that's the exact reason that the gop isn't willing to compromise anymore. >> make no mistake. what the president proposed so far is not serious and it's not a jobs plan. after what we learned yesterday that should be clear to everyone. >> the government can only give money to the food stamp recipient by taxing that money from someone else or from borrowing the money, and eventually that borrowed money needs to be paid back. there is no free lunch. >> no free lunch? not for the 56 million people living in poverty or the 46 million according to the census living in poverty now. well, maybe republicans will back a free lunch for the top 1%. but not for 16 million children

below the poverty line. joining me now is congressman chaka fattah, democrat from pennsylvania. congressm mman fattah, thanks f being here tonight. >> thanks very much. you're talking about the subject on everyone's mind across the country. i visited a plant right outside of philadelphia. 6,000 people working. it's a boeing plant, believe it or not. you might not hear this from some of my friends on the other side, but the president gave boeing the biggest contract in history, $35 billion deal. they got three shifts working, got a weekend shift. they are hiring, and when people get a chance to go to work and make a living and pay their bills, it helps the entire economy. we need to pass the jobs bill, and i think that congress is starting to hear the message because the senate says they are going to tee this bill up. senator reid wants to move it forward aggressively, and i know that jon kyl is retiring from the senate, but hopefully he'll be around to see this bill

become law. >> absolutely. >> and the president is not a take it or leave it. what he wants is his proposals considered. if they don't want to pay for it the way he suggests, they can look at other ways to pay for it, but we need to put americans back to work. >> well, let look at the fact that house majority leader cantor, rather than even dealing with the fact that you have more poverty that you've had since the census is recorded, a higher percentage that we've had since '93, he's worried about the president's tone. he had the nerve to say that to say pass my bill 17 times is not the tone nor is it the way forward for us that will be acceptable to the american people. to say pass a bill that will provide jobs is not the tone acceptable to the american people, i mean, here are the guys, congressman fattah, when the president made the speech last weekend, they said it merits consideration. they talked about some spirit of

coming together, and i guess when they got back in their caucus all of a sudden they come out swinging with the old divisive sort of partisanism. >> well, i think they protest too much because they have called this president every name in the book, and i don't mean every republican because some have been very statesman-like, but you see what they have said about him. they have called him everything other than a son of a -- a son of god, so, you know, we have to do now is not focus on tone, not throw names back and forth. we need to get ready to put people back to work. we see it right in the boeing plant right outside of philadelphia. the president knows how to get this done, and hopefully congress will work with them so that we can do it. >> but how do we get this done, congress in fattah, with this climate, with the inflexibility of some of the people in the house on the other side, as you say, who have a majority right now? if this is the kind of politics

that they want to play over what's best for the country, how do you and your colleagues get this past the house? >> we have to get the senate to act and then we need the president out on the road saying pass this bill and let's have the house consider it, and we'll see whether or not we can win some votes from some of my colleagues who want to see their citizens in their district go back to work. this is not a thing that cuts in just democratic districts. we have millions of people who are working 1. 30 million, that's great. but we've got another 4 million, 5 million ready to go to work. need to get them to work right now in the cbo. in tomorrow's headlines, they came out today and told the super committee here in the congress. >> right. >> that the best thing to do for our economy, the best thing about dealing with the debt is to spend government money now to increase economic activity and put more people to work. >> and that's the cbo which is non-partisan. >> non-partisan experts.

they are smarter than all of us put together here in the congress. that's why we hired them. we pay them a lot of money, and they have given us some very good advice. >> congressman fattah, thanks for joining me. >> thank you. >> as the president addressed the crowd in columbus, ohio, today he made it clear the time for partisan bickering is over. >> maybe there's some people in congress whoied rather settle our differences at the ballot box than work together right now, but i've got news for them. the next election is 14 months away, and the american people don't have the luxury of waiting that long. >> so will republicans make it happen? will they pass this bill so americans can get back to work? joining me now is congressman thom kroll, republican from oklahoma. congressman, thank you for coming on the show. >> reverend, thanks for having me. >> are you going to listen to the american people and pass this bill? >> i'm going to listen to my constituents, and i'm certainly

willing to sit down and there's some thing in it i can agree, some things quite frankly i can't and won't, and we'll have to have a pretty serious discussion about how the president's plan is paid for, so it's a process, we'll work through it, but i don't think you begin a negotiation by saying do everything my way automatically. nobody is going to do that. >> now you say how we pay for it. let's look at a graph of how the president is talking about paying for this because the republicans said from the beginning how are we going to pay for whatever the president's plan is? well, he's come with how he's going to pay for it. he says oil and gas companies, tax breaks ended and hedge fund managers, end. those making over 200k a year, corporate jets, all of these tax breaks, ending them which only affect the very rich is how he pays for providing jobs. what's wrong with that, congressman? >> well, first of all, what the president wants is to give you a temporary tax cut for permanent tax increase. not all those things, by the way, that he proposed are for

the rich. talking about the oil and gas industry, a place like where i'm from, that's what provides employment to tens of thousands of average oklahomans, and you start doing some of the things that the president is talking about with just offshore production to saudi arabia and opec in general, lower american production and cost american jobs. it's a really poorly thought out idea. now there's some things >> what about the profits? wait a minute. what about the profits in oil and gas? let's not act like people in the oil and gas business to take care of the working class in your district or anybody else's district. >> they are in business to provide jobs but any company is in business to make money, but the reality is the money they make they reinvest in exploration production right here at home so i think it's a mistake. having said that, there's some things i agree with the president on, his willingness to accept free trade deals is admirable. we ought to act on that immediately. again, we can do payroll tax cuts. remember, they are always going to be temporary. sooner or later have you to pay for social security. we're willing to look at some of

those and certainly some of the infrastructure proposals, though i think frankly turning the congress into the school board for the united states building local schools is really not our job. our job is national in school. those are traditionally functions left to state and local governments. >> if you've got 35,000 schools that could stand repair nationally and you can provide jobs, you talked about your district. let's look at your district. census came out today saying that we have more people than we've had since they have been counting them in your district, home, you, 10.1% living below the poverty line in your district, 22.4% making less than $25,000 a year. rich people in your district, only 1.8, so, i mean, in your district you have more reason to be concerned about providing jobs and breaking poverty than most, and certainly you're not going to tell me that a guy has a corporate jet because he wants to get around easier to provide

jobs. >> if you recall, reverend, that's actually a tax cut proposal that the president put in his first stimulus bill, so i'm happy to see that go, but he's the one that propose it had and kept it in the tax code. the reality is some -- some portions of the tax code do stimulate employment and jobs, but, again, let's have a discussion about that. let's sit down and find the areas we can agree. i've pointed out several. >> shouldn't we start by being honest and being honest is that certainly the rich in this country has got to do more, and we need to be honest about stimulus. the fact is that you brought up the first stimulus bill. it provided jobs. >> well, it certainly didn't work as advertise. >> look at what rick perry said last night. before i show you my graph on the jobs, rick perry said last night that the stimulus bill did not provide jobs. let me show you what he said, a candidate in your party. >> he had $800 billion worth of stimulus in the first round of stimulus. it created zero jobs.

400 plus billion dollars in this package, and i can do the math on that one. half of zero jobs is going to be zero jobs. >> now, if you look at the facts, because that, congressman, my mother would call a bold-faced lie what he just said. look at facts. the facts are, if you look at the graph of what happened before and after the stimulus. third quarter, 2008, the economy shrank 3.7%, fourth quarter 2008, shrank 8.9%. 2009, the economy grew by 1.9% and added 2.9 million jobs. the cbo, congressional budget office, commerce department, established these facts. why are we going to say let's have a conversation if we're not going to be honest? >> well, first of all, the unemployment was higher after the stimulus than when it was passed. >> do you deny 2.9 million jobs? >> let me finish, reverend.

the president said unemployment would never go above 8%. the reality is it hasn't gotten below 8%. the stimulus said unemployment would be at 6% and going down because it's not. >> because we didn't have enough stimulus. >> the president got what he asked for. he had overwhelming majorities. >> he asked for based on misinformation. >> well, i don't think so. he had the votes to pass what he wanted. >> are you willing to concede that the stimulus did provide jobs? that was the question. >> provided some jobs, but no net new jobs. >> then you disagree with governor pery? >> the word i would have used is no net new jobs and that would been a little more precise. >> no net new jobs. >> that's correct. >> so there were new jobs, but they were no net. >> look, unemployment is higher today than the day the stimulus was passed into law, so we can argue forever as to whether or not it created some jobs, but it didn't have the effect that the president said it was going to have. unemployment went considerably higher than he thought it was.

it's considerably higher today than he predicted it would be, and you're asking us now given that track record to accept a second stimulus package, about half the size, paid for by raising taxes. >> not at all. what i'm asking you to do is to be honest, and what you're saying is not what perry said last night, and i repeat what perry said last night was a bold-faced lie, and can you talk any way you want. he did not say what you're saying. he said it did not provide -- he said zero. i know what zero meant. that's not true, and this stimulus package will provide jobs as well. >> i just speak for myself. >> let's be honest, congressman. >> that's what i'm trying to be. >> thank you for joining me this evening. >> thank you, reverend. >> coming up, the ugly truth. how the gop fell right into the teapot, and breaking news about elizabeth warren. she fought wall street. will now be fighting for a seat in the united states senate. you can bet conservatives are going to go nuts about this one.

plus, unjustice in georgia. will the state execute a man who is not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? somewhere in america, a city comes to life. it moves effortlessly, breathes easily. it flows with clean water. it makes its skyline greener and its population healthier. all to become the kind of city

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>> elizabeth warren is taking her fight against the big banks to the campaign trail. she's running for senate, and the republicans are running scared. i love it. we'll talk about that next. emily's just starting out... and on a budget.

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one of the most progressive voices in the fight against wall street abuses is entering the massachusetts senate race. elizabeth warren made her name as a fierce advocate for american consumers. >> i spent my time and my research on economic death and rebirth. it will not save us if a handful of wall street banks prosper and the rest of america fails. >> last year warren set up the new consumer protection agency, but republicans blocked her from becoming its director. warren's work has won her fans on the left and pushed her into the headlines. the "boston globe" named her the bostonian of the year in 2009. she also earned her fair share of enemies on the right. the "new yorker" wrote, quote, the banking lobby sees her as

its nemesis, congressional republicans are openly hostile to her, and conservatives decry her as the exemplary totalitarian liberal. joining me now is alex wagner, reporter for "the huffington post" and msnbc analyst. how you doing, alex. >> how you doing, reverend? pretty good. >> let's look at this wbur boston poll, if the election were held today according to them, scott brown would be at 44%, elizabeth warren 35% and don't know 18%. that's pretty formidable coming in. >> considering she hasn't actually announced yet and considering as recently as a few months ago scott brown's popularity was something like 74%. >> right. >> i think that, you know, elizabeth warren, as you said, has no shortage of detracto but there are a lot of people i think and as the bostonians and massachusetts residents come to get to better know her who understand what she's doing, and i think she is not -- she has not minced words.

she is someone that absolutely sees herself as an advocate for the working and the middle class. she's very much trying to give them a seat at table, and her work at the consumer financial protection bureau is evidence of that. >> now, she's going to have to have a primary first, even to be the democratic nominee. i don't want to go straight to scott brown like she's the nominee because that may not be the case, but the question is as she questioned a lot of the abuses on wall street, where were a lot of the other democrats? i think part of what has made her such a lightning rod is because she's taken on issues that even members of her party. >> of course. >> was not there for. >> yeah. i think that the word regulations at this point is a very much hot button issue. the president himself walked back on epa ozone regulations a few weeks ago because there was a huge cry from the right and businesses saying it would cost jobs. elizabeth warren has done no so thing. tenacious should be her middle name. she's really pushed for reform over credit cards and over

mortgages. unapologetic about the cfpb's role in consulting with the states attorneys general over fraudulent mortgages and has gone to bat every time on this stuff. >> she kind of brings out the passion and emotion of the left and the right. look at what happened in her hearing with the congressmen talking about and to miss warren. >> you had no agreement. >> we had an agreement for the time this hearing would hurt. >> you're making this up. this is not the case. this is not the case. >> mr. chairman, you just did something that i -- i'm trying to be cordial here, but you just accused the lady -- >> she's accusing me of making -- >> this is a republican from north carolina. he seemed a little less than being civil. >> yes. i mean, at that same hearing she was schooling. there was fighting over the

length and the -- the start time for the meeting. this is someone that the right does not like, and elizabeth warren, to her credit, was schooling some of the members on that panel of specifics of funding regarding the agency and other federal agencies. she knows her stuff. also a harvard professor. >> now, give me the inside. some say she didn't want to run and that members of the progressive community and others kind of talked her into it and pushed her into it. >> sure. >> is that the intelligence you're geting? >> i am and i'll quote david korn who said when she spoke with elizabeth warren who said she would rather stab herself in the eye than run for senate. the progressive change committee has pushed her. see her as their champion in a field where they are not and she's apparently taking up the mantle. >> well, we'll see and she's supposed to announce tomorrow. >> she is. >> alex wagner, thank you. >> thanks, rev. >> coming up, the tea party goes primetime by co-sponsoring cnn's

republican debate, but they are only pretending to be mainstream. we'll talk about that next.

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i haven't been seeing in these presidential debates is on a whole new level. i hardly recognize the republican party anymore. just look at what's got the crowd going last night. look at what got the biggest reaction, a question about helping someone who doesn't have insurance. >> a healthy 30-year-old young man, something terrible happens. who pays? >> that's what freedom is all about, taking your own risk. this whole idea that you have to prepare and take care of everybody. >> congressman, are you saying the society should just let him die? >> no. we've given up on this whole concept that we might take care of ourselves and assume responsibility for ourselves, our neighbors, our friends, our churches would do it.

>> so much for the party of life, and the word treason was thrown around like it was a punch line. >> you know that governor perry has suggested that ben bernanke, the head of the federal reserve potentially should be tried for betweenon for what he's doing. >> if you are allowing the federal reserve to be used for political purposes, that it would be almost treesnous. >> to say that you can't secure the border i think is pretty much a treasonous comment. >> and when did the republican party decide to put social security under siege? >> the real question is does governor perry continue to believe that social security should not be a federal program, that it's unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states, or is he going to retreat from that view? >> i think we should have a conversation. >> we're having that right now, governor. >> we're running for president. >> if the people did that in the

private sector, it would be called criminal. >> meanwhile, protecting girls from disease is a bad idea? >> you signed an executive order requiring little girls, 11 and 12-year-old girls to get a vaccine to deal with a sexually transmitted disease that could lead to cervical cancer. was that a mistake? >> it was, and indeed. >> to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong. >> and helping immigrant kids get an education, that will get you jeered in today's republican party. >> if you are working and pursuing citizenship in the state of texas, you pay in-state tuition there, and the bottom line is it doesn't make any difference what the sound of your last name s.that is the american way. no matter how you got into that state from the standpoint of your parents brought you there or what have you, and that's what we've done in the state of texas, and i'm proud.

>> and a banner was flown over the event that red where's the real birth certificate? nope, they haven't dropped that one yet. one thing is clear. the tea party has made a splash, and they are ready to take over, and tea party express chair amy cremer said, quote, we are going to choose the next republican nominee for president, not the republican party. joining me now, former downnc chair and pennsylvania governor ed rendell, now nbc news political analyst and a political reporter for the "washington post." she was at the debate in tampa last night. thanks for being here, both of you. governor rendell, when i saw people cheering and yelling let him die about an uninsured

person facing death last night, that was outright scary to me. i mean, what are we looking at? >> well, people ask me who won the debate last night, and there's only one winner of the debate last night and that's barack obama. the president won because if you watch that and you were anything other than a wild tea party enthusiast, it had to scare the living daylights out of you. people saying that we should stand by and let someone who is in a coma and can't make decisions for himself die because he didn't buy health insurance, the answer is treat him and then if he's got some means, go after that later and try to recoup some of the costs of the treatment, but you don't let human beings die. that was frightening. that was scary. governor perry booed for doing the right thing for children who didn't do anything illegal, didn't cross into the state. they were the children of people who did, getting an education in texas. governor perry, the favorite of the tea party booed. ron paul booed badly. >> yeah.

>> that's got to scare you like crazy if you're a normal voter. >> well, i mean, even today governor perry himself had to step back a little from the cheering about the uninsured man with no insurance. look at what happened when governor perry was questioned about it. >> sure. >> last night we heard some audience members cheer when a question, i think it was posed to ron paul about letting someone die. did you hear that? what was your reaction? >> i did, and i was a bit taken back by it myself. >> and here's a man that doesn't make any bones about he's a tea partier and he was taken aback. nia, you were there. i mean, i don't know where you were in the crowd. hopefully you were -- >> safe. >> not in the middle of all of that. was it as bad as it sounded on television in terms of the kind of tension and the go get them at any cost attitude that i was

picking up over the television? >> well, it was very much like a standard tea party rally. i've been to a number of these across the country, and there is a very vociferous, a very vocal way that they go about politics, and i think that's what you saw on stage yesterday. it was very much almost like a sporting event at times, and you had bachmann there very much playing at her home stadium in many ways, and then you had romney who was, you know, at an away game in many ways. i think the surprise for me in coming away was that perry, who had come into this thing with a head of steam, ahead in polls by 20, 30 points against mitt romney, and in many ways he came out not quite fitting what the tea party wants to hear from him. he, you know, whether it's hpv vaccine, whether it's his support of in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, he came away i think daned a little bit last night in terms of his -- in terms of his tea party credentials, so i

think going forward we'll have to see. i think, you know, the republican party obviously has to -- to decide, you know, who is going to determine this election? is it going to be the tea party as that woman said, the tea party leader in warming up the crowd said, you know, the tea party is going to determine this election. it's not going to be the chamber of commerce republicans that have normally decided this thing, so we'll have to see. i think you have seen a movement away from perry. people maybe more of the gop politics people. >> ideally, there are some issues above politics and when you talk about uninsured people dying like in the last debate when the death penalty was raised by brian williams, people cheering. >> cheering. i'm for the death penalty -- i'm for the death penalty but i would never cheer. >> look at what happened when ron paul was talking against hate and the muslims that live next door. look at what happened, we're talking now tolerance. this is beyond republican or democrats. tolerance, look what happened to ron paul last night.

>> this whole idea that the whole muslim world is responsible for this and they are attacking us because we're free and prosperous, that is just not true. osama bin laden and al qaeda have been explicit. they have been explicit and they wrote and said that we attacked -- we attacked america because you had bases on our holy land in saudi arabia. you do not give palestinians a fair treatment, and you have been bombing -- i didn't say that. i'm trying to get you to understand what the motive was behind the bombing. >> so nia, you say this is how they act at tea party rallies? >> in some ways, yes. i mean, they have, you know, views that might not be considered part of the mainstream, and, you know, you saw some of those -- some performers up there last night or some of the candidates up there last night trying to play to that base. you saw bachmann doing it of

course over the hpv vaccine, but, you know, they have a sort of litmus test that almost none of those guys and bachmann included can fit, and that's why you saw, you know, aural of them getting into tough, you know, kind of a back and forth with the tea party. they are almost on the stage and a pertarticipant on the stage l night. this is what the tea party is. this is what you saw last night. >> governor rendell this, poll was before last night's debate where rick perry, this is a poll of republicans, 42% felt that he was the person that could best run against president obama and defeat him as opposed to only 26% feeling mitt romney could. what do you think, if anything, may have changed last night? nia says he came in with a head of steam, might have hurt himself, but i don't know how badly. i mean, give me the politics of this as someone who has run

successfully all his life >> i think the tea partyites are ideologically driven but they are also somewhat realistic. michelle bachmann is their purest candidate, but they have come to the conclusion, probably correctly so, that under no circumstances is she electable so i don't think perry will see much of a falough from tea partyites from last night's debate. i thought governor romney did pretty well by sort of standing up there and not pandering. i think he may have gained some republican independent support, but, again, i want to go back to -- to the main theme from last night is that the -- the republican party, whoever their eventual candidate has lost. 80% of americans say they want to see more civility in the way congress goes about and does its business. they want to see more civility in politics and government. did they see civility last night? again. what they saw ought to scare them very badly, and it's not an inaccurate picture.

>> now, nia, let me ask you this. the fact is that rick perry was also booed when he talked about having a fairly humane kind of policy to latinos. as governor of texas. he was booed about that. he was booed talking about educating latino immigrant children. now, if you look at the politics of that, george bush got 44% of the latino vote in 2004. president obama got 67% of the latino vote in 2008. how does the tea partiers think they can win without latino votes, and how do they win them with the reactions that they gave last night? >> yeah. this is a fundamental question i think for the tea party and generally for the republican party. how do they win this latino vote? you see peel like jeb bush who are really trying to push this party towards a more big tent

party in terms of opening it up to latinos and even african-americans, but last night, you know, that question came up, and it was sort of rolled into the whole idea of illegal immigration. you almost heard rick santorum equate illegal immigrants automatically with latinos and i don't think that's necessarily what latinos want to hear and certainly isn't a way to attract them to the party. >> they may not want to hear it because it's not true. >> thanks. >> exactly. >> governor rendell thank you. thanks both of you for your time this evening. >> thanks, al. >> up next, is that the state of georgia, is it about to execute an innocent man? more tonight on the troy davis case and new calls for clemency and new doubts about the case against him.

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e-trade. investing unleashed. as we first told you last night, the state of georgia is scheduled to execute a man named troy davis in just eight days, but there are grave questions about whether mr. davis is actually guilty of the murder he was convicted ofoy davis was fo killing a savannah police

officer, mark allen macphail. macphail was gunned down in the parking lot of a burger king in the middle of the night. no weapon, dna or fingerprints tied davis to the scene. he was convicted on the testimony of nine witnesses, and seven of them have since recanted or changed their stories. some time ago davis' sister returned to the scene of the crime to expose the doubts around a key witness claim. >> she said she heard the shots, right, and then she came out of her room and ran to the edge of the stairs and then she saw troy standing over the body with a smirky smile. this is approximate lit area where it took place right here, so -- but it would have been at nighttime so it would have been a lot darker, but, still, i don't think you can see my face that clear from where you are.

well, she identified troy's face from there. how you supposed to see a black man with a smirky smile at 12:30, 1:00 in the morning? >> the witness later recanted saying she felt pressured to say troy davis was the shooter because she was on parole. troy davis has nearly exhausted his options. right now he's making one last appeal for clemency from the georgia board of parole -- board of pardon and parole, but if that fails he will be put to death by lethal injection next wednesday. time is running out. joining me now cynthia tucker, pulitzer prize winning syndicated columnist for "the atlanta journal constitution." she's covered this story extensively. welcome cynthia. >> thank you, reverend. now we just saw where troy's sister showed how far she was

away, one of the witness' testimonies that convicted troy. could you barely see her face at all. i don't see how if this was midnight, after midnight when it actually happened, one could have seen a smirk. i mean, the way the testimonies have now been recanted or changed, and this was the only thing that convicted him. there was no dna, no evidence, physical evidence at all. i think that's why you've seen such an outpouring from across different spectrums of saying this man shouldn't be executed. last night republican congressman bob barr was on with me. he's against it, we've been against, it naacp, john lewis, former president jimmy carter. you've written about it. what is the reality? do you think the board then, georgia, will listen to this? >> no, i don't, reverend al. i wish that i had high hopes for a clemency ruling from the georgia board of pardons and paroles, but i don't.

i think that many, many georgia authorities, particularly those in the criminal justice system, are heavily invested in the idea that they did it right the first time. unfortunately, that's a very typical attitude from criminal justice officials. i don't think they are deliberately looking the other way or trying to send an innocent man to his death, but they don't -- they are in denial. they don't want to admit that they may have made a mistake, and the georgia board of pardons and patrols -- and paroles is also part of that system. if they did in the beginning what troy davis' sister did in that video, it would have been obvious that that witness could not have seen what she said she saw. you know, it's easy enough to forget that troy davis was arrested on the word of a small time criminal.

>> right. >> a criminal walked into the police station with his lawyer and said it was troy davis. it was from there that police began to finger him, found witnesses who told them what they wanted to hear, and since then, even though those witnesses have recanted, nothing has been able to pull the criminal justice system back from its determination to do this, to put troy davis to death. >> well, i think, and we must say this, even those of us that want clemency in this case, that we want justice for the family of the officer. we just feel they cannot get justice if the wrong person pays for something they didn't do. >> i -- that is absolutely true. there is absolutely no doubt that an off-duty police officer was viciously murdered in a dark parking lot 22 years ago. no doubt about that. but the question is who did it? >> right.

>> and i don't think justice is served by putting troy davis to death when all of these questions about whether he could be innocent. and let's say troy davis did it. let's say that we're wrong, that he has been a very good actor for all of these years, that these witnesses for reasons we can never understand are now lying when they were telling the truth earlier, let's say he did it. well, he would not be any threat to public safety if he remains in prison. >> that's true. >> why not let him stay behind bars, and that would give us more years to sort things out. who knows. >> i've go to the-to-interrupt you. thank you. we're going to stay on top of this case. cynthia tucker, thanks so much for taking time to be with us tonight. we'll be right back.

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as we reported, we saw something new at the latest republican debate last night. it was sponsored by cnn and the tea party express. the "new york times" says it's

the first time a news organization has teamed up with a tea party group to hold a debate like this. the group's co-founder told "the times" he hoped the partnership would, quote, help dispel misperceptions about the tea party as a fringe movement. but did it? listen to the first question. >> first coast tea party, jacksonville, florida. my question, how will you convince senior citizens that social security and medicare need to be changed? >> that man's group, the first coast tea party, made headlines in 2009 when people turned up to one of its rallies holding up signs depicting president obama as hitler. the group later said it didn't condone such imagery. another question last night came from a member of the greater phoenix tea party, one of its co-founders is a woman named kelly townsend. she's been a pri