closed their eyes and shut their mouths. the grown-ups at penn state, it seems, can learn a lesson in personal responsibility from the children they're supposed to be protecting. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. republicans have found a tax cut they don't like. the bad news -- there goes your tax cut. tonight, tea party revolts. so will taxes now go up on the middle class? and did you know willard mitt romney makes as much as $13 million a year for a job he doesn't even have anymore? hey, i'll vote for him if everyone can get that deal. and forget flavor of the month, republicans are about to have a ron paul moment. are they ready for it?

>> i think gold is a good insurance policy and i personally buy my gold to protect my family. i'm for seat belts but i'm against seat belt laws. i don't think we need a department of education. >> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. looks like a christmas miracle, republicans actually backing a plan to help the middle class. but not so fast, folks. the tea party's holding the conversation hostage once again. later tonight, house republicans are expected to vote down a bill that would keep money in the pockets of 160 million americans. and extend unemployment benefits for all those struggling to find work in this country. this was supposed to be easy. in fact, 89 members of the senate voted in favor of it, including 39 republicans. this weekend, speaker boehner even called it, quote, a good

deal. and, quote, a victory. but, apparently the tea party has changed the speaker's mind because suddenly, helping the middle class isn't a good deal. >> we oppose the senate bill because doing a two monz extension instead of a full-year extension causes uncertainty for job creators. it will cause problems for people trying to create jobs in the private sector. >> do you know what causes a lot more uncertainty? raising taxes at a time when 146 million americans are living in poverty or low income. do you know what else raises uncertainty? telling 6 million people out of work that they might lose unemployment insurance six days before christmas. speaker boehner, 160 million americans are depending on you. will you ignore them because of 60 tea partiers in your caucus? joining me now is congressman

jim mcdermott, democrat from washington, and jared bernstein, an msnbc contributor and former chief economist for vice president biden. thank you both for being here tonight. >> sure. >> pleasure. >> congressman, let me start with you. so many americans are hurting. how can you explain to them, let's forget the beltway talk. to the american people, how do you explain what's happening in congress right now? >> well, reverend sharpton, i discovered the motto of the republican party. they are giving the american people a lump of coal for christmas. there is no excuse whatsoever that they can give for why they are not passing the bill that passed the senate. it was mcconnell -- it's mcconnell/reid. republicans voted for it. there's nothing wrong with it. it's got the oil pipeline in it. it's got everything they want. but they just want to stop the government from working.

they want everybody to get a lump of coal when they go there whether they're unemployed or they're getting a paycheck and they're going to have a tax increase. they're going to get a lump of coal for this christmas. >> now, that is frightening. that's not a prop. that's a reality. jared, what is confusing to me is that speaker boehner originally thought this was all right, good deal. then today he flipped back, it's a bad deal. let me show you what he said then and what he said today. >> if the senate acts, i'm committed to bringing the house back and we can do it within 24 hours to deal with whatever the senate does. >> you initially supported moving forward with the two-month plan. >> that's not true. i was outlining the fact that having the keystone pipeline in here was a success, but i raised

concerns about the two-month process from the moment that i heard about it. >> now, jared, i guess he's playing "don't believe your lying eyes and don't trust your ears." we heard him say what he said. there's even reports of on a conference call he said it was a good deal. what happened to change his mind? >> well, what happened is the tea partiers really define dysfunction. if congressman mcdermott's image here is a lump of coal and that's a strong one, my analysis really hovers around this issue of dysfunction. the reason why the american people simply don't believe the performance of this institution right now is because even when they hammer out a compromise that both sides obviously and explicitly agree. you heard the clips you just played from speaker boehner. this was a done deal.

you have a group of obstructionists who are standing between the american people and $1,000 on average boost to their paycheck in 2012 and hundreds of thousands of people suffering from unemployment who will lose their coverage. we know that there are four unemployed people per job out there. this is a demand side problem. the economy actually has a little bit of momentum now, reverend, not enough, not a lot, but a little bit. >> but, jared, let me ask you this because i want to ask the congressman something about what's going on on the hill. but let me ask you this -- as we talked about the unemployed and those in poverty, is this bill helpful to the economy because we're not talking about charity here. will this bill actually help the economy and if so, why? >> that's my whole point. it will unquestionably help the economy and, by the way, if you listen to the rhetoric of all the folks up there, it's not that they're arguing against these bills, it's that they --

in the republican case, they want to put a whole bunch of poison pills to poison the negotiations. last week we thought we got around that. unquestionably an economy that's just beginning to get a little bit momentum. by taking out the payroll tax cut and the unemployment insurance -- remember, both of these programs are currently active, currently in place in the 2011 economy. we need them to be in place for the 2012 economy as well. >> congressman mcdermott, let me show you this. scott brown, a senate republican, actually lectured the house republicans. here's a man, republican in the senate that's up for reelection. and he says this -- the house republicans' plan to scuttle the deal to help middle class families is irresponsible and wrong. a two-month extension is a good deal when it means we avoid jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of american families.

here's a republican facing reelection, chastising people in his own party in the house. what's going on here? >> well, basically the house of representatives is without a leader. mr. boehner is not the leader. he's a puppet run by the tea party. and he's like a weathervane. whoever he talks to, he agrees with them. then he talks to the second person and he agrees with them. he's spinning in so many directions, nobody knows where they're doing over there. and pulling the strings is mr. cantor with the tea party votes to really destroy the speaker. >> congressman, are you saying here tonight on "politics nation" that the speaker, in your opinion, is a puppet and that eric cantor is the puppeteer that is pulling the strings and that's what we're watching here? >> well, it's what it looks like. he goes out and makes a

statement. then he goes back in his office, receives a phone call, then he comes out and says something else. it's as though he can't speak for himself or what he believes. he's always having to check with somebody behind him. and they tell him, no, that's not what we're doing. so he's out there tonight -- i don't know what he's going to say on the floor when this thing goes down f it does. i think it's an evidence that his speakership is done. >> now, jared, people are suffering. this is beyond republican or democrat. i was giving away hundreds of turkeys don king sponsored all over the country. i'm looking at people's faces. it's really, really come peming. i'm going to show some of the footage later in the show. that's why the publics of this doesn't make sense because you can spend all you want, people know they're hurting. if they need a turkey for christmas, imagine what $1,000 would do, imagine what the

threat of canceling your unemployment insurance would do. the politics of this makes no sense for republicans. >> i think that's right. by the comments you just heard, i would give elizabeth warren a lot of credit for those comments. i think it's her pressure that's leading him in that direction. look, you're absolutely right, reverend, in terms of the politics. one of the things i read this weekend was a statement by one of the tea partiers that said the following. he said, we're not going to let the senate push us around this way. by the way, 39 republicans in the senate voted for this. we're not going to let the senate -- these tea partiers are not listening to the american people. they're not reflecting on an 8.6% unemployment rate and a 16% underemployment rate. they're not reflecting on real wage trends that are negative. they're not reflecting on four unemployed people per job opening. what they want to do is pick a political fight to signal their base. that has nothing to do with what this economy needs right now and

it's pure dereliction of duty. >> congressman, let me say to you before i go, while i'm dealing with fighting to get the unemployment insurance extended, while you're fighting on the floor, i was stunned when i heard what the speaker's priority is. in the middle of all of this, let me show you what the speaker went to the floor on behalf of today -- >> this resolution will honor the former british prime minister by placing a bust of him in the u.s. capitol. winston churchill was the best friend america ever had. i ask my colleagues to join me in honoring his legacy of persistence, determination and resolve. >> 160 million americans living in poverty, needing unemployment and he's up saying, we -- five days before christmas, need to put a bust of winston churchill in the capitol.

this is either amazing insensitivity or contempt for the american people. if it wasn't boehner-like, i would cry. >> he really wants to also make sure that the -- he's worried more about the tax cut for the job creators, as he says in one of his quips. he said, i'm worried about maintaining their tax break at christmastime. he never talks about the people or the unemployed or the near poor or the people that are struggling in this society. it's just a plain old lump of coal. >> it was winston churchill who said the american political system will ultimately do the right thing after trying everything else first. i sure hope he's right because it looks like house republican are trying to prove him wrong. >> i don't think mr. churchill could estimate how much else the tea party could come up with. congressman and jared, thank you for your time tonight. ahead, newt gingrich wants

poor kids to be janitors and willard says cutting billions in welfare won't hurt the poor. wow. plus, newt's free-falling in the polls. so he wants to arrest federal judges? you can't make this stuff up. and we'll tell you why scott walker just added more fuel to the recall fire. he's going after women in a very dangerous way. you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. how can you get back pain relief that lasts up to 16 hours?

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willard romney says cutting welfare by hundreds of billions won't hurt the poor. that's billions with a "b." the potential republican nominee is just out of touch. i have a response next.

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during the campaign, willard mitt romney has tried to make voters believe he's a regular guy, just like us, just like us. he's tweeting about eating subway. and he's just like us, he loves carls, jr. sandwiches. and just like us, he flies southwest airlines in coach. and just like so many americans, he's unemployed. >> i should also tell my story. i'm also unemployed. >> but he's not just like your typical unemployed american.

"the new york times" reporting today, willard's still receiving millions from bain capital, the private equity firm he used to run. the retirement deal brings in more than $13 million a year. meantime, he's campaigning to cut taxes for the rich and for the radical paul ryan plan which would cut medicaid by $700 billion, food stamps by $127 billion and pell grants for low income college students in half. but willard doesn't think it will hurt anyone. >> you don't think if you cut $700 billion in aid to the states that some people can get hurt? >> in the same way that by cutting welfare spending dramatically, i don't think we hurt the poor in the same way i think cutting medicaid spending by having it go to the states run more efficiently with less fraud, i don't think it will hurt the people that depend on that program for their welfare.

>> cutting welfare won't hurt the poor? this coming from a guy who makes $13 million a year doing nothing? cutting $127 billion from food stamps won't hurt the poor. this is just the latest republican with the war on the poor as his motto and philosophy. joining me now is someone who knows how to fight for the middle class, randy wein gart r gartner. thank you for joining me tonight. how do you plan to fight these kinds of agendas? >> well, first, it's a little -- the hypocrisy is a little shocking. as you were going through that clip, reverend, i started thinking about the big news out of last week which is that half the country -- half the country

is within 200% of the poverty rate. half the country right now is poor, or just scraping by. and so when you say to people who -- even when they have a job, they're living paycheck to paycheck, that god forbid they have some emergency surgery like my father just had this week. what are they going to do if they're living paycheck to paycheck? what happens? do they make the choice about not having emergency surgery? that's the questions that normally happen right now that grip most people who live in america. and so this kind of dissonance between someone -- and i don't begrudge him. look, i think there should be kind of deferred compensation for lots of people. that's what pensions are. but the average public worker pension in this country after 20, 25, 30 years of service is $24,000 a year? versus mr. romney's pension,

which is $13 million a year. there's some dissonance there. >> let me show you this, randi. he says a couple of months ago -- willard was calling the president's payroll tax cut plan that would save millions of americans $1,000 a year a band-aid. look at this. >> if the payroll tax cut is not extended, that would mean a tax increase for all americans. what would be the consequences of that? >> what it takes to create jobs is more than just a temporary shift in a tax stimulus. >> you would be okay with seeing the payroll tax cut -- >> i don't like temporary little band-aids. >> but if you think that's a band-aid, $1,000 is a band-aid, how much would your tax plan get us, willard? well, he answered that. let me show you what his capital gains taxes -- whether it's more than he called the band-aid. >> well, first of all, $167 is

not zero. i recognize it's not a huge tax cut. it is a tax reduction and it allows middle income folks to participate in making a brighter future for themselves and for saving. >> randi, $1,000 is a band-aid but $167 is a great savings. you talk about hypocrite caichy >> look, most of our skro schoolteachers would teach you that $1,000 is more than $167. but the bottom line is this -- there's a lot of things we have to do in america, number one is we have to help people who want to work, work. there are 26 million people that are out of jobs that want to work. the better a job is, the more it has a middle class wage, the more a person can feed, clothe, house and educate his or her family. and so that's why the big question is, how come mr. romney

is not supporting the president's jobs act which would get people back to work? get them a real job, create income in terms of communities. so this notion of trickle-down economics, of a minor tax cut here versus an immediate payroll tax cut here, i just don't understand the republican party these days. if they're about creating jobs, then create real jobs for people who want to work right now. and don't cut the social net that people really need right now. people who are not working need unemployment insurance. people need medicare and medicaid. people need food stamps. that's a safety net that people have when they're not working. >> now, i want to ask you about something that you and the aft is doing at west virginia.

but before i do that, i need to -- so people understand that we're not just beating up on willard, newt gingrich suggested that we make some of the students in poor neighborhoods janitors. look at this. >> it is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods in trapping children -- first of all, in child laws which are truly stupid. most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitors and pay local students to take care of the school. the kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they'd have pride in the schools. they'd begin the process of rising. >> now, as a union leader, one of the biggest union leaders in the country, how do you think about openly advocating changing child labor laws and as the head of the teachers in the country's union, your teachers work with janitors every day. how's the reaction to this? >> let me do this -- there are so many things wrong with that statement.

number one, what are we going to do? when we have a jobs crisis in america, we're going to take people out of jobs, good-paying jobs in schools where people who are in the neighborhoods working these jobs so we're going to ask poor kids to clean the floors in a school and get rid of their parents who may be cleaning the floors in a school. that doesn't make any sense. number two, would mr. gingrich actually make that proposal for kids that were in private schools or would he only make that proposal for poor kids? >> wow. >> number three, kids should be in glee club. they should be in debate society. they should be doing the kinds of things to create knowledge and excitement and engagement. that's what we should be doing in communities that are underserved, not asking poor kids to actually be janitors. >> now, randi, i've run out of time, but i want you to tell us

about this partnership in west virginia. i'm going to have you back again where we can talk about it extensively. but tell us what this does. i think this is very important. >> so this is -- as the republican candidates are talking about how we actually fray the social safety net, what we're trying to to do, it's an unprecedented partnership, they're saying the economy and education are interrelated and in a place like mcdowell county, which was a big coal producer 100 years ago and has seen -- it's seen its better days, let's create a new chapter there. if we're going to actually help kids, we have to help by doing everything. we have to focus on the economy. we're going to have to focus on social safety net. we have to focus on health care and we have to focus on education. and that is what we're all doing under the tutelage of the

governor and senator manchin's wife, gail. i'm honored the aft is leading this group with other groups in terms of trying to help give mcdowell county and the kids there a new chapter so they cannot simply dream their dreams but achieve them. >> we're going to do a whole piece with you on it. people can go to reconnecti reconnectingmcdowell.com. randi, thanks for being here tonight. >> thank you so much. ahead, don king, the legendary boxing promoter and activist, joins me to talk about why he's giving away so many turkeys during the holiday season and the burden on the poor. stay with us. ♪

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governor scott walker's fighting for his political life in wisconsin. but that's not stopping him. he has a new target -- planned parenthood. his administration is cutting planned parenthood's contract from a program to coordinate free breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings for low income women in four wisconsin counties. last year, the program served more than 1,200 women in those counties and its screenings detected cancer in 15 women. so 15 women's lives might have

been saved by this program. but to walker, it's all about politics. >> there are many clinics that aren't as controversial as planned parenthood. our goal was to make sure that low income women had access to those sorts of screenings and so we've got other providers around the state who don't carry the controversy you get from a planned parenthood. >> walker's office claims women expecting to go to planned parenthood would get cancer screenings elsewhere. but we reached out to planned parenthood today for a comment and they told us, quote, the state has yet to communicate to planned parenthood or the area service providers and patients who will be assuming this critical cancer care coordination. so apparently there's no plan to take care of these women, keep on running to the right, governor, and we'll keep working toward your recall.

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♪ i'm free-falling >> welcome back to "politics nation."

i'm getting used to hearing this music. tom petty, "free falling." i've actually heard it six times now for every republican front-runner falling from the top spot in iowa. and now it's newton leroy's turn to drop. a new poll shows his favorability plummeting over the last two weeks. he went from a 31 rating to 12 and then down to minus 1. minus 1. i guess the attacks are working. >> ethics complaints while he was speaker, driven out of the speakership in disgrace. >> having to pay $300,000 for lying, for complete fraud. >> i have lots of things to do. >> newt gingrich is the latest example of how the corrupt resolving door drives washington. >> newt has a ton of baggage, like the fact that gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethics violations, or that he took at least $1.6 million from freddie

mac just before it helped cause the economic meltdown. >> wow. corrupt, baggage, ethics violation, no wonder he's dropping. new iowa polls have ron paul skyrocketing to number one. gingrich is third. another poll even has him in fourth behind rick perry. once again, ron paul is in the lead and paul's campaign announced today he's raised $4 million since friday. nationally, the newt is no better for newt and newt leroy has now dropped to where he's tied in the lead with willard. i guess sir isaac newton's law of gravity is alive in the gop. what goes up, must come down. joining me now is bob shrum and the newest member of the msnbc family, perry bacon, jr., the

politics editor at thegrio.com. congratulations, perry. we're glad you joined the family. >> thank you, al. appreciate it. >> bob, let's start with you. big question -- is newt leroy done? >> well, yes, probably. look, i thought there was a chance here that he was impervious to these attacks and would be teflon. but he's had a ton of negative dropped on him. it's much more effective than the usual negative because romney doesn't have to get on there and say, i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. number two, you have a whole lot of conservative evangelical ministers who have gone out and attacked newt. they don't like romney, but he's the un-gingrich. they've gone after newt and they're helping romney. three, i think ron paul right now is mitt romney's best friend in iowa, put aside whether he may run as an independent at the end of this whole thing. he's helping romney right now.

and with a lot of these gingrich voters saying romney is our second choice, there's a chance he could win iowa, then win new hampshire and maybe roll the whole process. >> perry, when you look at "the huffington post," they did an article explaining how his opponents' attack ads have really worked. they say, quote, if iowa voters are thinking about newt gingrich these days, there's a good chance that one word in particular is coming to mind, baggage. baggage came up frequently in conversations with iowa. several repeated the line or some form of it. so this negative ad campaign by people that may not identify themselves as with willard or ron paul but they seem to be working. >> there's so many things he's been attacked on. he's been attacked about freddie mac and fannie mae, about his marriages -- the three marriages. he's being attacked on a lot of different fronts and it's really helping romney and to some extent ron paul. i don't think he's done yet. a lot of the republicans don't

like romney and don't like ron paul and would never vote for those people. there are a big group of iowa voters who are open in iowa, in south carolina, in florida. i think newt still has a chance. but he's definitely peaked in the polls right now. >> he's trying to appeal to the far right and maybe a lot of those that will never go at romney because they consider him too moderate or never go with ron paul because they consider him too unusual. so he went on tv this weekend -- he being newton leroy -- and actually started talking about arresting federal judges. i mean, talking about really going for the extreme right wing, watch this. >> one of the things you say is that if you don't like what a court has done, the congress should subpoena the judge and bring him before congress and hold a congressional hearing. how would you enforce that? would you send the capitol police down to arrest him? >> if you had to.

or you'd instruct the justice department to send the u.s. marshal. but are judges above the rest of the constitution? or are judges one of the three co-equal branches? >> let me get this right, bob. if a judge does something you don't like, that's what schaefer asked him, you send the marshals to get him? i mean, what is he talking about? >> well, listen, the whole thing is absurd. it's been attacked by people like michael mukasey and alberto gonzalez. but when he said that in one of the debatings last week, he got huge cheers. this is, as perry says, a very conservative party, very unhappy with romney. i think one of the interesting things in some of that polling data you put up at the beginning is that perry is actually nudging up. i know we find it hard to believe. but it's clear that conservatives are still looking for some alternative and they could decide that they're going to try and coalesce around

someone other than gingrich. it could be perry. i'd be surprised if it happened. but in this crazy era, i wouldn't rule anything out. >> talking about crazy world, perry, is ron paul for real? do you really think that ron paul could do serious damage and become the nominee? >> no, i don't think he can become the nominee. there's not enough republicans who are libertarians. that said, he could win iowa. if he won iowa, that kills gingrich and i think that kills rick perry in some ways as well. ron paul winning would take away from their vote and their appeal. in some ways, ron paul winning iowa could guarantee romney wins the primary. >> now, bob, walk through quickly for me. ron paul wins in iowa, what does that do to willard and where do we calculate that from new hampshire inand to south caroli and the other two primaries? >> his second best wish is for ron paul to win iowa.

he'd like to win it himself. but exactly for the reasons perry just stated, he'll be fine if paul wins. they'll go on to new hampshire, romney will win new hampshire going away. i think in south carolina, people will begin to come around, he'll probably be able to win south carolina, although there's going to be more resistance there than a lot of other places. and then i think you'd see florida move much as it did with mccain in 2008. he begins to look like the nominee and so people go to him even though they're not entirely happy with him. ron paul -- i said it last week on this program -- is mitt romney's best friend right now. >> perry, if ron paul wins iowa, is it over for everybody but willard and him? is it a willard/ron paul race? does that kill the rest of the conservative options? >> i think it does. i think there's a south carolina option where ron paul, mitt romney, not very popular in south carolina. you could have a gingrich or maybe -- there's not any debates right now, so perry is doing really well right now. he could sneak up as well.

but i think ron paul wins iowa. mitt romney wins the nomination and that's pretty much it. >> if you were advising newt or ron paul, bob, what would you tell them to do now in the last couple of weeks they have left? >> it's a really improbable thought that i would ever be doing that, reverend. but on the other hand, he's been attacked for the fact that he spent some time with you and it appears to be hurting him. it's one more good thing he did for the country. i think that newt gingrich in some ways doesn't understand how he got where he got, doesn't understand how to stay there. he's not in iowa. he should be in iowa every day campaigning very, very hard. i'm not sure that would make a difference. i'm not sure he can overcome what's already happened to him. and i think these polls are a leading indicator that conservatives are looking and tea party types are looking somewhere else. >> bob shrum, perry bacon, jr., thank you for joining me tonight. ahead, north korea's

dictator kim jong-il died this weekend. but you won't believe how some are remembering him. that's next. this new at&t 4g lte is fast. did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7. did you guys hear that fred is leaving? so 30 seconds ago. [ noisemakers blow ] [ both ] we'll miss you! oh, facecake! there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪ so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind.

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north korean dictator kim jong-il died over the weekend from a heart attack. he was 69 years old. no doubt kim jong-il was a very dangerous dictator, responsible for terrible acts against his people, including a major famine. but in this country, comedians found him, well, funny. >> give me a woop woop! hey, that guy not woop woop. good one, my friend. >> i am extremely unstable and highly irrational, and for your information, quite completely insane. north korea, always good time means party. >> and there's also a lot we're learning about him. he loved hollywood movies. he had a collection of more than 20,000 films.

he once arranged the kidnapping of a south korean director and his wife to remake "godzilla" one of his all-time favorites and according to his own press reports, he might have been the tiger woods of north korea. in 1994, north korea media reported he shot 38 under par on his first try at golf. just five years ago, kim had the idea to solve north korea's widespread hunger problem by breeding giant rabbits. we'll be right back. ♪

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finally tonight, we all know these are hard times for many americans, one out of every two americans is poor or barely scraping by. that's 146 million people and 5.9 million of them are children. earlier today, we gave out hundreds of free turkeys outside of the national action network headquarters in harlem, a national drive by boxing

promoter don king done in cleveland, in new york, new jersey, westchester all over the country, to try and give something to people that really need it. i was struck by how people lined up for hours waiting for what might be the main part of the meal that they were trying to scrap together. joining me now is the legendary boxing promoter don king. thanks for joining me tonight, don. >> it's a pleasure to be able to join you, reverend al sharpton. >> now, you've been doing this all over the country for how many years? >> over 50 years i started the country. it was started in cleveland, ohio, at a night club there. and i was in another business of promotion then. but giving back to the community has been a part of my life because the people are the most important. and so that is why i'm -- i guess, you know, i'm a promoter of the people, for the people and by the people. and my magic lies in my people

ties. i deal with the people and that's what i try to do and helping them, the needy, the downtrodden, the denied and those who would not get an opportunity in the land of opportunity to give them one. >> don, you and your wife, he y henriethenr henriette, and she's no longer with us, but at holiday, you say put politics aside, let's stand up for the people and people all over the country today you did alone what you and your wife have done for years. do you appeal to other people in business that there ought to be a time that we put politics and our disagreements aside and really look out for the american people? >> i think so. i think the time is now. it's almost like a new beginning. a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. the only thing left out of that

was not the words, it was the mental subordination of people, inclusiveness. those were the words that were left out that put us in a position to start again right now. most certainly everyone should consider giving back to the people of this great nation, a great nation conceived and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. we boast that, we boast the self-evident truth, we live the self-evident lie. >> let me ask you this -- what happened in florida? i understand something happened with one of the trucks with the poor people down there. >> yes, the trucks down here -- we had trouble with the truck. they said it was hijacked. then they say it disappeared, the driver abandoned it. and finally the reason i'm not there with you live is because i have to stay here to make certain that the people in florida get their turkeys. i wrote a letter to costco and i

made a deal -- i'm still waiting on a reply. i have not received a reply as to when these turkeys will be there. i have some verbalization that they'll be here on thursday. if they don't get here on thursday, the christmas holiday is over. >> i hope they respond to your letter. we just put it up. let me hold one minute, don. i want to bring in tamika. earlier today, you helped me give out turkeys outside of our headquarters in harlem. what does this mean to the people of the country when people like don king care about them? >> it's obvious that people are hurting. we had people by the hundreds lined up outside of our headquarters all day. they were lined up for hours before we even told them to get there because they needed turkeys. we had seniors, people who are really hurting. while we're in the middle of all the different political debates, you have people who are struggling. and national action network is

trying to do the job of bringing people what they need. >> if don king has done this, others could do it. what is amazing to me is every year no matter what, he does it. i don't see a lot of other people reaching out. some do. but i think people in harlem and cleveland and newark and other places want to thank don, which is why you came down to the show today. >> absolutely. it's a great partnership all the time that i've been at national action network, mr. king has been donating these turkeys to us and helping us bring people what they really need. we appreciate you, mr. king, for doing that for national action network. >> mr. don king, i hope that costco responds. you're going to come back another night when we can debate politics. >> you just said it. take a trip back in history. thomas jefferson said many years ago that our liberties are more dangerously imperilled by the

banking institution than by standing armies. it causes unemployment, he says, homelessness, joblessness and this is like 200 years ago and it's all coming to bear fruit right now where people are homeless and jobless and their houses are being foreclosed on. and in cleveland, they're tearing down houses that were good houses because the house -- the mortgage is double what the people would owe. or what the house is worth. it's a sad commentary for us in america, the greatest nation in the world and to be able to suffer this type of situation where our people are starving and not having jobs, we should just create a job -- >> we have to do it. we're going to bring you back on and talk at length and go through the points. don and tamika, thanks for joining us. >> only in america! >> let me say this, as you see these people lined up in harlem today -- and it happened all over the country -- how can people stand in line for a turkey and others act