i'm al sharpton. fresh off his win in florida, mitt romney had this to say. >> i'm in this race because i care about americans. i'm not concerned about the very poor. we have a safety net there. if it needs repair, i'll fix it. i'm not concerned about the very rich. they are doing just fine. >> not concerned about the very poor. folks, this bruising primary battle has done one thing. it's exposed the gop candidates and the brutal way romney and gingrich are attacking each other is just making it worse, whoever wins the republican nomination. 2008, hillary clinton and barack obama also had a long and grueling battle. but it was about policy. mostly it was not personal. this republican face-off is personal. and as the result, willard's losing even as he moves toward the nomination. last night, 38% of republican voters still wanted someone else

to run. and, get this, 38% of those who voted for romney also wanted someone else to get in. meanwhile, romney's negativity rating among independents has shot up 13 points since december. he's shaping up to be one weak front-runner, and his mistakes keep piling up. you'll be hearing plenty of this heading into saturday's caucus in nevada where the housing crisis is a top issue. >> don't try and stop the foreclosure process. let it run its course and hit the bottom. >> wonder if president obama had that speech in mind when he said this today. >> it is wrong for anybody to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible homeowners is to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom.

>> i refuse to accept that and so do the american people. >> with their flaws on full display, willard and newt should be worried voters will refuse to accept either one of them come november. joining me now, former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, now an nbc news political analyst and alex wagner, host of now with alex wagner here on msnbc. thank you both for coming in tonight. governor, let me start with you. has this process strengthened romney or weakened him? >> there's no question it's weakened him. and, reverend, you put your finger right on it. when hillary clinton and barack obama had a very bitter and long and drawn out battle, there was always about policy, always about differences, always about

electability. none of this negative stuff. this has been brutal already, and i believe newt gingrich if he gets the money to continue on, is going to bring this all the way to the convention. he can't be the nominee, but he can continue to just really rip mitt romney. and it's going to be very hard for romney to recover. you and i talked about the fact that there's sort of a reset after the conventions. but it's going to be a reset but it's going to be digging out from such a deep hole that it's going to be very difficult for them. >> now, alex, he's had a bumpy road. willard here and there got defeated in iowa ultimately by a few votes after he thought he won by a few. then he was killed in south carolina politically. got a great night last night. and i'm saying, okay. willard looks like he's going to make it. and then i see him say this statement about poor people. i'm looking at the tv saying, what is wrong with you? i mean, he manages to snatch

defeat out of the jaws of victory. >> yeah, today is not the day that mitt romney wants to be talking about his comments on poor people. it's weird because it wasn't as if he was baited into saying that. he was just saying that on television. i think mitt romney has had a sort of benign, up until now, case of foot and mouth disease. he said i like firing people. today's comments about poor people are certainly more incendiary. the issue, i think, is that the romney camp has battled back saying context is important. well, really? then maybe they shouldn't be running ads that take president obama's comments about joblessness and the economy completely out of context. >> let me first, and i agree with you. let's say his opponent newt gingrich jumped all over it. watch what newt leroy had to say about willard's comments on poor people. >> i am fed up with politicians in either party dividing americans against each other.

founding fathers wrote we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights. among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. let me shock the wall street groups. the founding fathers actually meant what they call the 1% which i call americans. let me shock governor romney, the founding fathers meant the very poor who they called americans. >> now mitt romney, in fairness, said this to say that he was being taken out of context. >> you've got to take the whole sentence, all right, as opposed to saying and then change it just a little bit because then it sounds very different. i focus my concern, my energy is going to be devoted to helping middle income people. >> so he says it was taken out of context. but even in the whole sentence, he is saying that very poor people have a safety net there. >> which coincidentally, the

republicans are trying to dismantle. the other thing is he completely gives to the democrats the idea they are the ones fighting for the poor people. was not a politically astute comment. also taken in total with everything mitt romney has said, like general sympathy for the plight of the working and the poor, it doesn't add up to someone who has a particular amount of empathy or the contention that mitt romney is not connected to his own humanity and the american people and their humanity. >> well, governor, here's a man that says the poor, let's take him at face value. so he misspoke. take the whole sentence. the very poor have a safety net that he's endorsed the ryan plan that will eliminate it and he's telling everyone we've got stop giving the poor entitlement programs. so, i mean, what is he talking about? >> the trouble with mitt romney, notion what alex said, and she was right on, but the trouble is he's a little tone deaf about his expressions. like when he said i enjoy firing people. what he was really saying is he

enjoyed firing a health insurance company that didn't provide good care for his employees. if he had said i enjoy firing health insurance companies, every american would have stood up and cheered, right? but he said i enjoy firing people. and here if you listen to the whole sentence, he said i'm not worried about the very poor. they have a safety net. and if it's broke, i'll fix it. that was a positive statement. but, you're right. the actions of his party to say that he endorses the ryan budget which rips asunder a lot of that safety net as alex pointed out, it's totally inconsistent. they've got to get him focused as a candidate. it's the same group that didn't answer the tax question right for the first ten weeks of the campaign. and they knew it was coming and they never had an answer for it. so i think he's a flawed candidate, even if he wins the nomination. >> so you think, alex, the governor is right, that he just is tone deaf? i mean, i think he really connected with poor people and middle class people when he had the $10,000 bet, don't you?

>> well, look. i mean, shouldn't he be worried about the very poor. 1 in 2 americans lives at or near the poverty level. you have social and safety net programs so i'm not worried about you. shouldn't we be concerned with pulling them out of poverty? >> it's opportunity, right. it's opportunity. >> you are running for president of all the people. >> shouldn't you care about everybody's plight. >> what we should do for the very poor is not only protect the safety net but give them the opportunity to grow so they don't need that safety net. that's what poor people want. they don't want a safety net. >> what he implies in the whole sentence is he says that even if there was a safety net there that they weren't trying to remove, let them rest in the safety net. not let's try to uplift them. leave them there. i mean, so even at his best, it's offensive. but let me offend you even further, governor and alex. he says this on the day that we find out all of these big money guys are supporting him. he raised -- his superpac,

second half of 2011, comes out today, raised about $18 million from 200 donors. so while you are saying you don't care about the very poor, in whatever context, all of your big super millionaires have given $18 million to your campaign in the last six months. >> you look at money and politics. it's not just mitt romney. newt gingrich has a consumer magnate giving him $10 million, effectively floating his campaign saying it's about people power trumping money power which is hugely ironic. i will say the democrats have lots of money in their coffers. but if you look at the president's numbers he had 500,000 donors. the average donation $117, which is very different than a few -- some have called them oligarchs financing romney's campaign. >> let me ask you something,

governor. what does it say, you are one of the most practiced, seasoned and efficient politicians i know, that the vote in florida last night was 15% lower than 2008 in terms of the florida republican primary. 280,000 fewer people went to the polls. what does that say? >> it shows that this idea that republican voters are fired up because they want to get rid of president obama and they are going to be a huge turnout of republican voters. that just isn't the case. there's no evidence to support that at all. absolutely no evidence. but before we go, al, i think we should fix the blame for these million-dollar contributions where it belongs. not so much on mitt romney or newt gingrich because they are playing by the rules. but on the supreme court of the united states who should be embarrassed about citizens united and that decision. they should be embarrassed. >> well, i agree with you. let's hold it right there, governor ed rendell and alex

wagner. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. governor you know what my clock in my office does around noon every day? it yells, now! now! now! remember to catch "now with alex wagner" weekdays at noon eastern right here on msnbc. >> thank you, rev. coming up, president obama wants millionaires to pay their fair share. we'll talk with the democratic senator who is fighting to turn the buffett rule into reality. plus -- more from my debate on race and politics with the newt gingrich supporter played out live on national tv. >> the democrats want to abort their babies. so i -- that's their position. i'm not going to defend that. >> why would we vote for people that call our parents criminals that says you can't even admit you were wrong on the facts on food stamps. >> what their rhetoric says about today's gop. and the tragic death of soul

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should billionaires pay less in taxes than their secretaries? most americans don't think so. and so does our next guest. he's trying to do something about it. that's next. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business...

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right now, warren buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest americans? >> president obama in his state of the union calling for fairness in the tax code and making one simple point. a billionaire shouldn't pay less in taxes than his secretary. warren buffett says he pays 17.4% in taxes while his secretary pays more than double that. it's not fair. it's not right. but it's how the system is rigged right now. but how mitt romney was able to pay less than 14% in taxes in 2010 even though he made $21 million that year. but today, democratic senator sheldon whitehouse introduced a bill to make the so-called buffett rule a new law.

>> so we'll bring fairness as well as common sense to our tax system. it really makes no sense for somebody earning $80,000 or $100,000 or $120,000 a year to be paying a substantially higher tax rate than somebody earning $250 million a year. >> joining me now is senator sheldon whitehouse, democrat from rhode island. senator, first of all, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you, reverend. good to be with you. >> good to have you. now most americans support your bill. the president wants it. so will it become a new law right away? >> i don't think it will become a new law right away. i think there's pretty strong opposition on the other side of the aisle. but it's the kind of thing that if the american public expressed their view, that it can begin to change the opinion here in washington. and one way the american people can express their view is to go to buffett rule bill.com.

buffett rule bill with two fs and two ts. sign up. let people know. we're keeping count and we want the american people to be heard in this. it's not just about washington insiders. >> buffettrule.com. >> buffettrulebill.com. two fs and two ts. now what common sense argument can the opposition make against this bill? let me show you why i raised this. if you look at the highlights of your paying a fair share act that you introduce, it requires a tax rate of at least 30% for millionaires. it affects 94,500 taxpayers. but it creates $50 billion a year in revenue. they claim that they want to bring down the deficit. they claim they want to stop this spiraling down in terms of the american economy. here's a way where billionaires and millionaires will pay the

same percentage their employees do that will bring about $50 billion a year. and you are telling me they oppose this? >> it's a little hard to justify, but the status quo always has its defenders. but if you go back and look at the boom years of the clinton presidency, the high end income earners were paying 39%-plus. in theory, high end taxpayers are now paying 35%. and many do. there are a lot of hard working, high-earning, really great folks out there who are doing well and who are paying the full 35%. but there's a group that's been able to take advantage of a loophole so that they only pay 15% or in some cases less. if you take a look at the helmsley building in new york city on park avenue, it's so big that it reports all of its info together in one zip code to the irs. they've broken out the information. and the people who live in that building pay about 14.7% all in

federal taxes, according to the irs. and the people who work in that building, according to the department of labor, the janitors, the doorman, the security folks, they are paying about 24%. so the folks working there doing the cleaning are paying much higher federal income tax rates than the people actually in the building. and it's not just the helmsley building. it's the top 400 income earners in the country also reported by the irs as a group also paying the same below average rates. so we need to fix it. it's simple fairness. it's common sense. >> now one of the things, if we were having a public court hearing, we even could say against the charge that they are raising against you and the president and those of white house advocate class warfare, we could call some of the billionaires themselves who are saying it's not fair. i would call to the stand warren buffett, and i would also call

out as a witness mr. bill gates. let me let you hear part of what they want to testify to, senator. >> if this is a war, my side has had the nuclear bomb. i mean, we've got k street and lobbyists. we've got money on our side in terms of contributions. >> the united states has a huge budget deficit. taxes are going to have to go up. i certainly agree they should go up on the rich more than anyone else. that's just justice. right now, you know, i don't feel like people like myself are paying as much as we should. >> did i come up with the right witnesses? >> you came up with good witnesses, reverend. it really makes no sense to claim that it's class warfare when all you are trying to do is bring up the rates of a group of people, many of whom are earning as much as $250 million a year to the same rates that their drivers, their secretaries, the guy who comes in and fixes the

plumbing on their sink are all already paying. that's just bringing it even and doing what the tax code is intended to do. it's the opposite of class warfare. it's just simple fairness. >> senator sheldon whitehouse, let me say this. this class warfare charge is really bogus. it's not about the rich against the poor. the only class warfare is those with class and those with no class that don't think that the rich ought to be paying their share. senator sheldon whitehouse, thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks, reverend. >> ahead, new gop union bastion. the republican flavor of the month mitch daniels is trying to cripple unions in indiana. but the people are taking to the streets to protest. and chris christie speaks out again on his controversial comments about the civil rights movement. this one might surprise you. we'll be right back. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil

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working people in indiana took to the streets today to protest a union-busting law signed by governor mitch daniels. demonstrators marched from the statehouse to the site of this sunday's super bowl. driving home the point that the nfl players association has come out against the law as well. the people of indiana are

fighting back against governor daniels' attack on workers. but the gop's golden boy doesn't get it. i guess we shouldn't be surprised. republicans love daniels so much, they tapped him to give the rebuttal to president obama's state of the union. he served as george bush's budget director turning a billion dollar surplus into a deficit. he grossly underestimated the cost of the iraq war. he helped put together the bush tax cuts. to say daniels is out of touch is an understatement. his union-busting law will reduce wages by $1500 a year, and it will make it harder for workers to get health care and pensions. but indian's fought this fight before. the state passed a right to work law in 1957 only to repeal it seven years later. the working people of indiana want to overturn this law again. we're paying attention to what

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welcome back to "politics nation." we've been following the ugly talk that's been a regular part of this republican presidential race this year led by newt gingrich. last night, rachel maddow began questioning rick tyler, the head of gingrich's superpac on some of newt's language. then it was my turn. and no matter how many times i pressed it, tyler refused to answer one simple request. if the republican party is fighting for the black community, prove it. >> 98% of african-americans vote democrat, okay? what have they gotten for it? poor schools, poor neighborhoods, crime-ridden neighborhoods, destruction of the family and the democrats want to abort their babies. so i -- that's their position. i'm not going to defend that. that's not the republican

position. that's the democrat position. >> black people vote democrat because the civil rights act, voting rights act and many of their members of congress -- when you ask a question, you'll get an answer. >> and more republicans as a percentage. >> republicans were the abe lincoln party and was the party of little rock. we voted republican like anybody nels america, sir. we vote our interests. republican or not. why would we vote for people that call our parents criminals, that says that you can't even admit you were wrong on the fact on food stamps. we're not sadists or masochists. >> we just showed this movie "red tails" across the state. you know who showed up? military families. they were african-american. you know who they brought? their kids. why? because finally hollywood made a movie that had patriotic african-americans part of american history that they could say these are my role models. they showed up because they don't have any. that's why. >> no, they have many. they have doctors, lawyers. >> we have many --

>> sure they do. >> your policies fail and our policies work. >> what is this policy? reprimanding them saying they don't have role models in their community is a policy? saying the only things they see is crime is a policy? >> let me tell you a story. >> what is this policy? >> why not just try freedom and free enterprise. that everybody in america -- we have a common culture. >> you have the white house eight years under reagan. another four under bush sr. and eight more under bush jr. so you didn't have an opportunity to have a program? >> people prospered in those years. >> african-americans disproportionately suffered under every one of them. african-americans were doubly unemployed under every one of them. show us the program that you had that you claim worked. >> i'm still waiting on that answer and that plan. joining me now is joe madison, host of "mornings with madison" on sirius xm radio. and back with us, alex wagner,

host of "now with alex wagner." thanks for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> joe, it amazes me that the republicans engage in this. let us underline that newt gingrich was the first one to bring up race. you didn't. i didn't. nobody. he started by saying what he wanted to tell black people at the naacp, and they used to infer things. they just say outright by name now. and then when you challenge them, they can't even go back the last century. they have to go the century before last year and get abe lincoln. he couldn't think of a 20th century republican to tell me that had been on the side of the african-american community. i mean, do people get this? >> no, and that's why they can get away with it because most people don't get the modern history. as you were talking and going through the gyrations with him, i kept thinking, you know, you really don't need this guy to validate what you were saying.

for example, we know it's not the same republican party that participated in the 1964 civil rights movement because there was something called the southern strategy. remember that. remember strom thurmond and all the dixiecrats were very much opposed to the civil rights movement, the civil rights bill. where did they find comfort? in the republican party. and we know what johnson said. we may have done the right thing in passing the '65 voting rights act, but we'll lose the south because it's going to go republican. but he didn't bring that up as far as the history. >> the dixiecrats left the democratic party. there were racists in the democratic party. >> that's right. >> but they went and found refuge in the republican party. but then let me ask you this, alex. this whole food stamp thing that they are using -- well, let me show you the exchange tyler and i had on the food stamp

question. i want to raise something with you. >> more people are on food stamps today because of barack obama. >> it is a patent untruth that president obama has more people on food stamp. more people went on food stamps, new food stamps recipients under george bush than under president obama. would you call him a food stamp president? >> well, we're not running against george bush. we're running against barack obama and his failed policy. >> if more people went on food stamps under george bush than obama. that is factually incorrect. >> he says more people under president obama. that's why they called him that. when i raised that president bush actually brought more new food stamp recipients than obama. the excuse isn't i just ran something inaccurate. it's that we're not running against him. let me show you who gets food stamps in america. 36% of them are white. 22% african-american.

but let's go to the numbers between bush and president obama. under george bush, there were an additional 14.7 million new food stamp recipients. under president obama, there's 500,000 less. 14.2. so clearly not only are they trying to make this inference, like blacks are synonymous with food stamps when it's not true and this president is synonymous. it's not even true. george bush brought far more people on as nigh food stamp recipients than -- >> but reverend, you are tied to facts. what are facts when you are a republican. this is a party that has also said taxes have gone up under president obama which is false. it's an effort to paint obama with the same vitriolic brush that says -- that has given quarter to conspiracy theories that the president was not born

here. that he is muslim. that he is not one of us. these are theories that have been floated in republican audiences as recently as last week and the republican field has remained mum. rick tyler talking to you, al sharpton, about the lack of black role models. look who is running for office of the president on the republican side. it's all white males at this point. and look who is the first black commander in chief. he's a democrat. the contention that somehow the republican party has been sensitive and reached out to the african-american community and has its ear to the ground, is patently false. >> it is absolutely -- >> you knew good black republicans in your time. i remember there was arthur fletcher, james farmer. these are no longer the kinds of people that are even welcomed in the party. i can't think of any of the republicans that have come out and even embraced a lot of the black republicans that have tried to be progressive. >> moderate white republicans

aren't welcome in the republican party. you are absolutely 100% right. and they just say anything. like for example, jan brewer. last time we talked about the finger pointing thing. do you know she told an arizona reporter that after she was criticized, someone said she was nazi-like because of her immigration policy, that her father -- she was insulted because her father died fighting in world war ii and we found out that he died ten years after world war ii in 1955 of cancer. look. >> wow. >> anybody who would lie about how their father died and in order to make a political point will lie to you, lie to me. i wake up at 4:00 every morning. when i step out of my place, who do i see on the buss? who do i see going to work? it's the working poor that mitt

romney said today he didn't care about. and he better be careful because i seem to remember a sermon where the rich man went to hell and the poor man went to heaven, not because he was rich. i'm not trying to step on your job there. not because he was rich, but because he was more concerned about how he looked, about him than he was about the poor man. so mitt romney -- >> you are acting like an evangelical now quoting the bible. >> the thing that i did not get to challenge last night, this notion that the democrats want to abort black babies. did i miss something here? i thought women's right to choose was for everybody and i thought that this was not a racial decision. to accuse the democrats of wanting to conspire against black babies, why aren't the democrats out there today screaming. that was the most outrageous thing he said.

>> to conflate it with a fear-mongering race-baiting theory of racial eugenics is so widely irresponsible. and one can only hope those listening to the program, african-americans, women, americans in general look at that and scoff. >> and we know the code. we know the code. >> alex and joe madison, thank you for joining us. now i want to give an update to you on a story we told you about earlier this week. new jersey governor chris christie said this at a hearing on same-sex marriage last week. >> the fact of the matter is, i think people would have been happy to have a referendum, you know, on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the south. >> earlier in this week, he backtracked on those comments saying he meant civil rights activists wanted another option but the political climate wouldn't allow it. but i wasn't buying it. and last night, he apologized.

>> obviously, when i was talking last week at the town hall meeting about the civil rights movement in the south, i wasn't clear enough. i just wasn't. the fact that i wasn't clear about the analogy i was trying to make and left it ambiguous and it allowed people to misinterpret it. anybody who was offended by what i said if you are listening out there tonight, i apologize for that. ahead, the gop's war on women took an appalling turn today. that's next.

the nation's first lady sat down with jay leno and explained how she's getting ready for the election. >> our motto is, you know, we try to do the best job that we can do every single day. and the hope is that that will speak for itself. >> it's going to be tough for republicans to top that. but even if they try, there's one thing they can't prepare for. >> he does have a beautiful voice, and he sings to me all the time. >> really? >> when people said he sang, i said, i bet he sang al green, and that. ♪ i >> did you hear mitt romney sing? what did you think? >> i saw it in the green room. it's beautiful. >> beautiful? >> republicans have a tough road ahead. now they have to contend with the first lady's charm. good luck. ♪ spread a little love today ♪

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welcome back. the gop's ugly war on women took an appalling turn today. in a shocking decision, the leading breast cancer charity group, the susan g. komen if are the cure will stop funding planned parenthood for breast cancer exams and other exams. they refuse to fund any organization under government investigation. who is investigating planned parenthood? florida republican congressman's cliff stearns. he says he wants to find out if planned parenthood uses public money to fund abortions for that purpose. komen pulled its funds. you nour seeing exactly how dangerous the gop war on women is. politics is now putting people's lives at risk. in the last year, we've seen an unprecedented attack on women's reproductive rights. and reproductive health.

republican controlled house passed tlus allow hospitals to turn away women seeking abortions even if life-threatening situations. passed laws to redefine rape to limit abortion funding. and passed laws to block federal funding to planned parenthood. that battle over planned parenthood funding inspired one of the most passionate and emotional moments when congresswoman jackie spear took to the floor. >> that procedure that you just talk about was a procedure that i endured. i lost a baby. but for you to stand on this floor and to suggest, as you have, that somehow this is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly or done without any thought is

preposterous. there is a vendetta against planned parenthood, and it was played out in this room tonight. >> joining me now is congresswoman jackie speier, democrat from california who is a tireless crusader for women's health. congresswoman, thank you for your time tonight. >> my pleasure, reverend. >> what do you make of this decision by komen to defund planned parenthood. >> it's shocking, i think, for all of white house have been great supporters of the susan g. komen race for the cure. i've walked in the races. i've run in the races. i've emceed their events. and for them now to politicize breast cancer is absolutely jarring. and i think that women across this country are rising up and they have seen a huge blowback today. and organizations like planned parenthood have received enormous support as a result. but the fact is that they are a

non-profit. if they want to be a political organization, then they should change their identification and become a 501c4. they have given to planned parenthood over the last five years enough money for 170,000 women to get breast exams. of the 4 million breast exams that planned parenthood does over the course of that time. where are those women going to turn to now? these are poor women. these are women without health insurance. these are college women. planned parenthood provides health care to women in this country. >> now congresswoman, susan g. komen for the cure released a statement saying they are dismayed, extremely disappointed, that actions we have taken to strengthen our granting process have been widely mischaracterized. and on to say how they regret that these new policies have

impacted some longstanding grantees such as planned parenthood, but want to absolutely be clear that our grant-making decisions are not about politics. but it's about, if anyone is under federal review and the only federal review is a congressman who is calling on planned parenthood to be reviewed for basic political reasons. >> and that request was made back in september when mr. stearns sent a list of interogatories to plann planned parenthood to respond to. if there was any legitimacy to an investigation, he should have held a hearing already. and where susan g. komen is going is really a very slippery slope because, for instance, nih is called to the congress often to explain certain things. there are investigations done. well, komen gives $1 million to the nih. are they going to cut back that funding? are they going to cut back -- are they not going to accept funding from pharmaceutical

companies when we call a pharmaceutical company to the house floor or to a committee hearing to talk about tainted medicine? so there's nowhere for them to go here. planned parenthood is audited like no other federal grantee in the entire country. they are -- >> let me ask you this, congresswoman, and we invited komen to come on tonight, a representative, and they declined. there's been this real war on women by the right wing. is this but another example and another casualty of this war on women and war on women's right to choose and to decide what to do with their lives and their bodies. >> i hate using the term war on women because, you know, women are strong. we're capable. we're able to take care of ourselves. but we're not going to allow for the diminution of rights and benefits to women and poor women and young women and women

without health insurance who are unemployed should not become the target of this kind of action. >> now people ought to know planned parenthood, what it actually does, 97% of its services includes cancer screenings, birth control, std treatments, sexual health education, et cetera. it's not just about the abortion question. and i think that to have their funding at risk on a -- what appears to be a political announcement more than a real investigation and certainly an investigation doesn't mean that something is being done wrongly. i think it's really shameless when you look at the services that are being interfered with here. >> well, and it's important to point out that normally in this country, we are presumed innocent until proven guilty. if there was an investigation by the u.s. attorney, by the local district attorney, maybe then you could say, well, maybe we

should pause here. but none of that is going on. this is the political sandbox of congress and you have one congressman who is pursued by anti-choice people to pursue this investigation. now if there is an investigation, let's bring that hearing forward because he's had that information since last september. >> congresswoman, thank you for your time this evening. >> my pleasure. >> ahead -- saying good-bye to a legend. soul train creator don cornelius. a legacy that will last forever. [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery?

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today we lost a legend. soul train creator, don cornelius passed today. don cornelius was 75 years old. the televised dance party known at "soul train" went on the air in chicago in 1970.

and the party lasted for 35 years. when it started, there weren't many black people on tv. but don changed that in a major way. the show launched the careers of a generation of amazing black performers. just watch. >> everybody watched "soul train." >> soul train, the hippest trip in america. ♪ i've got something ♪ >> it was overnight hot. almost in minutes, every black person in town knew about it. not because it was such a wonderful show, but because it was theirs. >> the very gifted and talented gladys knight. ♪ ♪

>> right now we'd like to do the soul train line. >> you never knew what those kids were going to do when they came down that line. you just knew the next one should be better than the last one. ♪ >> don's legacy is the tapestry of mediums and platforms by which we can see. >> i'm don cornelius. and as always, in parting, i wish you love, peace and -- >> soul! >> i was on "soul train" in 1974 to honor my surrogate father and mentor james brown when i was 19 years old. >> i know in the recording industry they give a gold record to those that achieve a million seller. but we view your million dollar payback as a black record because it is relevant and says many of the things that young bl