board room are king and the rest of the country just has to take it. jack kennedy used tough language in thafls. you can read about it in my book, even if i can't say it here and tougher tactics. but people knew they had a guy on their side sitting behind that desk in the oval office. so did big business. that's "hardball" for now. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. you are looking at live pictures from the civil rights memorial center in montgomery, alabama. a monument to the heroes who lost their lives in the struggle for equality in this country. welcome to a special edition of "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. all this week, we're retracing the route of the historic 1965 march from selma to montgomery. a watershed moment in the civil rights movement. tonight, we'll have new details about the rise of hate groups in america and the effort to roll back voting rights. we'll also have an exclusive

interview with the actor and singer tyrese who has been marching with us down here in alabama. and we'll have some politics for you. president obama released a new campaign video today that has republicans quaking in their boots. but we start tonight with the gop war on women's health. today is international women's day. and rush limbaugh celebrated by going back on the air and making sexist remarks about yet another woman today. but his initial slut comment really came from a war on women's health, raging in statehouses all across this country and in washington. today republicans in congress celebrated women's day by debating a bill to roll back abortion rights. also today, we're learning we're on a track for another record

year for abortion restrictions. a spokesman for the guttmacher institute says we are looking at about 430 abortion restrictions that have been introduced into state legislatures this year which is pretty much in the same ballpark at 2011. and 2011 was already a record-setting year for the anti-choice laws. we saw 92 laws passed in 24 states. it's a huge jump from what we saw passed in 2010 and far more than we've ever seen in one year since the '80s. but the fight is on. in virginia, governor mcdonnell just signed a mandatory ultrasound bill into law. ignoring that more than 1,000 protesters came out to oppose that law over the last month. right here in alabama, protesters came out today in opposition to a similar law

making its way through the statehouse. and last night, lawmakers in georgia walked out of the state senate as republicans passed a law saying employees of religious institutions can't have access to birth control. >> here come the right wing shock troops marching, marching, marching, and women are on the bull's-eye target. >> and day after day, rush limbaugh is fanning the flames. today he launched yet another sexist attack accusing a washington post reporter of not getting her facts straight. >> today is a worldwide holiday. well, i don't know holiday. but it's international women's day. alexandra petri, "washington post," has got the snarky, lying, full of holes so-called report today. miss petri, i don't know who feeds you your information.

i have a pretty good guess, but you might want to double check here because you've written something that's patently false. it's an out and out lie complete with your b-i itchy opinion in it and it is untrue. >> it's now been over a week since he first called a law student a slut. at last count, at least 50 advertisers have pulled their ads. today the american heart association and home depot have joined the list. and over a week later, we haven't seen one candidate, not one step up and truly repudiate these attacks. inappropriate isn't good enough, speaker boehner. not the language i'd use doesn't come close, willard. where is the outrage? where is the leadership in the republican party. where is the leadership from the republican candidates who want to lead this country? joining me now is congresswoman karen bass, democrat from california. and alexandra petri, "the

washington post" editorial writer who rush attacked today. and tracy mcmillan, author of the american war of eating. she was also attacked by rush this week. thanks to all of you for joining me tonight. >> thanks for having us on. >> let me start with you, congressman bass. congressman bass, what do you say about the gop leadership refusing to denounce rush limbaugh? >> well, i think it's absolutely inappropriate and absurd. they need to be on the floor. they need to be holding press conferences. they need to say that this type of speech which in my opinion is hate speech needs to stop or he need to be off the air. i think that this is the type of thing that leads to violence against women. this is international women's day. and so the way he acknowledges it is by using the "b" word in reference to a woman? what i'm very glad about, though

is that there's 50 sponsors that have pulled out. i think there needs to be triple that. and i think the stations need to begin to throw him off the air. that is the only solution to rush limbaugh because he's clearly out of control. >> alexandra, he used the "b" word in referring to your work calling it snarky and, i mean, how do you feel on international women's day being called and your work being referred to in such a manner by rush limbaugh? >> i mean, well, it's a weird thing on international women's day. i would say it's a weird thing to be referred to that on a thursday. not usually how i spend my days. but it's -- you know, there's some monosyllables that pack a punk. i think the "b" word is one of them. i think the other word he used is a tough one. you don't like being called that. it's not a civil way of discussing things. if he had issues with the piece he could have said that without

going ahead and, you know, using the adhomonym attacks. i offered him a sandwich. if we get to know people personally as opposed to using rude words to describe them, maybe things will get better. >> now, tracy, he attacked you a little less profane, but an attack nonetheless. you are an authorette. let me let you listen to the attack mr. limbaugh put on you. >> now we have a book by a woman named tracy mcmillan, which has, according to "the new york times," as its premise, that only the fancy and the snobs get good food. what is it with all of these young single white women, overeduca overeducated. doesn't mean intelligent. for example, tracy mcmillan, the author of this book --

>> these are white women, young, single, overeducated. i mean, what -- this whole misogynist, this whole using profanity or other characteristics. i mean, i'm more interested and more disturbed and, frankly, outraged by this anti-woman having their own mind and ability to express themselves attitude that he is openly propagating that legislators are using that climate to legislate in. >> right. well, i think what we're seeing here isn't so much an engagement with the ideas of my book because limbaugh clearly didn't read it, but i think he's really intimidated by the idea that there are women out there who go put themselves through school, get an education and work hard and go out and do their job, right? so i did a book where i reported by talking to american families about food in class so i did my job. and i don't know why rush or

anybody else would actually really have a problem with the idea that a woman works hard and gets a college education, unless they just don't think that women are supposed to do those things. >> now congresswoman bass, senator patty murray took on the republicans for waging a war against women's health in congress, too. and i think that what is real troubling as i just stated is that this whole limelight of misogyny is really being demonstrated in statehouses across the country. let me show you what senator murray said. >> sure. >> now they campaigned across the country in the last campaign on a platform of jobs and the economy. but the first three bills they introduced when they got here were direct attacks on women's health. >> how do you respond to that, and how democratic lawmakers around the country, including your colleagues in the house

going to deal with these record-setting attacks on women's right to choose, women's right to decide and women's right to really act as intelligent human beings? >> well, you should certainly know that the democrats in the house have been very active, speaking out, holding forums and town hall meetings in their community. getting on the air because this is really a frightening time period. and then from a simple political side of it, you know, who do you think the majority of the voters in this country are? so i think it's really outrageous. and for a party that talks about small government and not government intervention, how can you tell a doctor that they are supposed to do a very specific type of exam on a woman so now the government is telling doctors what they are supposed to do? it's really absurd. it's as though they want to roll back the clock to the 1930s. they want women to be at home bare foot and pregnant, i suppose.

but we know that this is a consistent ideological theme. it's consistent with them trying to attack voting rights. it's consistent with the attacks on the environment. so to attack women, i think this is all part of a right wing ideological agenda that starts here in the house and goes throughout our country. it's very frightening. but one thing i'm very clear about, we need 25 seats to take back the house in november and they better be sure that we're going to make sure the women voters understand what's been taking place here in washington, d.c. >> alexandra, as these flames are being fanned by rush and others, is it going to help the republicans lose those 25 seats? is there going to be a backlash by women that are not going, to as congresswoman bass said go back to the '30s and be treated as less than intelligent human beings that can make their own decisions, that they aren't

created to be barefoot and pregnant as she said? >> well, i don't know about that whole thing. i think certainly if you quoted anyone on the street and said, hey, would you like to go back to the 1930s and wander around barefoot and pregnant or the 1880s or whatever time period, most people tend to be opposed to that sort of retrograde time travel. especially when it comes to sort of sticking strange implements into them. but i don't know. i think one of the things with this whole war on women is that women do come from all kinds of political backgrounds and just because i happen to be, you know, equipped with a double x chrome zone doesn't necessarily predict my voting habits. but when you come in and start jabbing strange things and reverting to other time periods, it makes it seem as though that's the only issue happening? there's all kinds of stuff going on. there's the economy. i'm sure if we look out, there's many more issues that women care about. i think anne romney said what

women care about is jobs. yet we're being forced to look at our uteri. it seems very odd. >> tracy, is this unhealthy to try and demonize and denigrate educated women that may be pursuing their own life careers? i mean, are we setting a climate here that is really unhealthy for young women in this country to grow in -- up in and to find their own self definition in life? >> well, i think it's unhealthy for anyone, not just young women. like i feel like education is a real american value. so it's pretty un-american to say that half the population shouldn't bother getting educated. and it would be just as damaging if we said that about men. and particularly if we're thinking about americans like being able to compete in a global economy. like jobs are really hard and don't usually pay well. the easiest way to get out of a low-wage job is to get more education and training whether

that's vocational or going to college. so i think anyone calling for less education, that's a huge problem. >> congresswoman karen bass, alexandra petri and tracie mcmillan, thanks to all of you for your time tonight. and thanks for joining us. >> thank you for your work. >> thank you so much. ahead -- they hope americans forget that president obama saved this economy from falling off the cliff. we'll have a first look at a new obama campaign video that show exactly how the president is going to run for re-election. plus -- the right wing's new conspiracy theory about some old obama video. they say the president was a radical years ago. nice try, guys. and 47 years ago, people were killed here in alabama fighting for the right to vote. today, we continued marching here in alabama to make sure

everyone gets a fair shake. >> like so many people come to me and say, we are standing on your shoulders because of what you have done. but you know, we laid the foundation, but what we need is not for them to stand -- >> you are watching a special edition of "politics nation" live from montgomery. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

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we're live in mont gomry, alabama, tonight, talking about voting rights. talking about justice. and we'll talk live with actor and entertainer tyrese who is here marching with us to protect our voting rights. the silent tr. so you're calling to tell me you're giving me the silent treatment? ummm, yeah.

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we're back on "politics nation." with the republican presidential race which is going south, literally, the candidates spent the day in mississippi and here in alabama courting some of the country's most conservative voters. >> now you have presidential candidates traipsing through alabama. everybody wanted to have a little piece of your ear. alabama which is the heart of the south. the conservative, greatest part of this country that understands what made this country great. >> in fact, santorum is going so far right that today he actually

called in to a notorious anti-gay radio host who once suggested that homosexuality caused the holocaust. >> the president doesn't believe that the constitution means what it's printed to say. what it means whatever the president wants it to mean. again, i go back to the difference between a free people and a king or an emperor trying to dictate. and we have a president who believes he's more of an emperor than a president. >> the president is more like an emperor than a president? these candidates are willing to say anything to reach the extreme base. and it's crippling the republicans for november. even mitt romney's advisers realize it. they say santorum and gingrich should get out of the race because, quote, the only person's odds of winning they are increasing are president barack obama's. joining me now, former pennsylvania governor ed

rendell, now an nbc news political analyst. governor, thanks for coming on tonight. >> good evening, reverend. >> i want to show you something karl rove wrote in today's "wall street journal." he says, quote, every republican running for president got something on super tuesday making it likely the gop race goes on for months, not weeks. could republicans give president obama any greater gift than a race drawn out for months? governor? >> well, reverend, let me say this. this is a rare moment, but i absolutely agree with karl rove. this is -- the president couldn't ask for anything more. and for this race to go on into may and june and in to pennsylvania, california, new jersey. that would be great because the candidates continue to chop themselves up and they continue to make stupid statements.

and the more stupid statements they make, the more baggage they'll have when the fall campaign starts. >> now romney's camp is actively arguing no other candidate can win the nomination. the nomination is an impossibility for rick santorum or newt gingrich. these guys, it's going to take some part of it, but it's going to take some act of god to get whether where they need to be on the nomination prize. so is it that these guys don't believe that or is it they are driven by something else? why do you think they won't get out of the race, or do you think eventually they will? >> two reasons. number one, newt gingrich uses this as a way to feed his ego. whether he has a chance or not, he still wants the attention. number two, rick santorum and newt gingrich know they may not be able to get the necessary votes to be nominated but they think that together they might be able to deny mitt romney 50%.

if mitt romney doesn't have 50% going into tampa at the convention, then it's very likely all heck could break loose and who knows who winds up as the nominee. that's their strategy. can santorum or gingrich get the 1140 they need in delegates? no. can they keep romney from being at 1140? possibly. it depends on what happens in the primaries in the next several weeks. >> now isn't it also so that the more they fight and the more they continue attacking romney this continues to tear him down and erode some of his support for the general election if, in fact, he's successful? listen to how santorum keeps swinging back at romney. listen to this. >> what won't they resort to to try to bully their way through this race? you know, if the governor thinks he's now ordained by god to win,

then let's just have it out. >> i mean, this can't be helpful taking shots. the governor thinks he's ordained by god. the later and later we help hearing this, the more they lessen the time period that romney is going to have to try to refute some of this negative stuff. >> i think that's a very good point, al. let's assume super tuesday had ended it. then all of the attacks on romney, all of the beatings he's taken, a lot of it self-inflicted, there would be time for that to sort of erode and fade into the background. if he gave a good speech at the convention, he could start off the fall campaign, maybe even close to even with the president. the longer this stretches out. and, remember, we've got primaries in new jersey and california in june. the longer this stretches out, the worse it is because there's less recovery time. it's like an athlete with an acl. you want to give them the maximum recovery time. governor romney if this goes into california, new jersey, is not going to have that recovery

time. it's going to be less than two months and lord knows he's got terrible battering so far. and he's, of course, given a terrible battering as well. so i think it will do damage. and, look. there's no sign that this is going to let up. there is no sign that senator santorum or speaker gingrich is going to get out of the race. absolutely not. >> governor ed rendell, thanks for your time tonight. >> thanks, al. have a good night. still ahead -- we're here in alabama marching from selma to montgomery to try to protect gains of the civil rights movement. actor and singer tyrese has been marching with us. he joins me live. and a special preview of president obama's plan to beat republicans in november. and he'll talk about the economy and osama bin laden. you're watching a special edition of "politics nation." live from montgomery, alabama.

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we're live here at the civil rights memorial center in montgomery, alabama. a monument to the sacrifices of the heroes in the civil rights movement.

this week, we are retracing the 1965 historic march from selma to montgomery to honor and protect their legacy. march resumed today at mile marker 120 along highway 80. a public effort to refocus the nation's attention on the fight for civil rights. >> i am here to make history just like my forefathers. just like my heroes. just like my mom and dad who marched with dr. king. >> this country is still headed in the wrong direction. i'm going to do whatever i can to make sure that's not lost in all this madness. >> they say get back. we say fight back. >> we marched today for voter rights against voter i.d. laws and against some of the worst immigration laws in the country that has now been passed by the

alabama legislature. labor secretary hilda solis joined us as we marched today with many anti-immigration groups. we're fighting for civil rights for everybody. you can't have civil rights for anyone unless you have it for everyone. [ male announcer ] for the saver, and a big first step. for the spender who needs a little help saving. for adding "& sons." for the dreamer, planning an early escape. for the mother of the bride. for whoever you are, for whatever you're trying to achieve, pnc has technology, guidance, and over 150 years of experience to help you get there. ♪ open up. we have come for the foul, unholy beast.

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but the president is setting the record straight with a new documentary narrated by tom hanks. >> how do we understand this president and his time in office? do we look at the day's headlines or do we remember what we as a country have been through? >> the president-elect is here in chicago and he's named the members of the economic team and they all fly in for the first big briefing on the economy. >> what was described in that meeting was an economic crisis beyond anything anybody had imagined. >> our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions, that time has surely passed. >> if we don't do this now, it will be a generation before 30 million people have health insurance. >> if the auto industry goes

down, what happens to america's manufacturing base? what happens to jobs in america? what happens to the whole midwest? >> joining me now, nia-malika henderson, national reporter for "the washington post." and dana milbank, political columnist for "the washington post." nia-malika, let me start with you. the republicans want americans to forget just how bad things were. i mean, don't they? >> in some ways they do. and that's the point this documentary seems to make. and make pretty effectively in a very dramatic, slick hollywood-type production. that things were very, very bad when this president took office. the nation was losing something like 700,000 jobs a month when obama took office. we'll get some new job numbers tomorrow. but i think this is a very effective way that the president can really argue his case and argue the case for his re-election. we've seen in some ways a white house that had seen a lot of the

narrative to republicans. but we see the president here really giving his base a reason to get fired up and get ready to go for this election. >> dana, he also, unlike when he ran in 2008, will have a record that he can run on and taking the -- 23 straight months of private sector growth. weekly job claims have been steadily falling since the start of the stimulus. full screen here is really, we can call it the achiever in chief. affordable care act. ended "don't ask, don't tell." stopped depending -- defending domain court, dodd/frank, lilly ledbetter fair pay act. consumer financial protection bureau. ended the war in iraq. bin laden mission. it goes on and on. so is it the republicans

overjumping the runway when they act as though he did nothing when he can specifically list categorically some achievements, whether you agree with the policy or not. they have, in fact, been achieved? >> well, of course, reverend. but what are the republicans going to do? they've got to play the hand they've been dealt. now that the economy is beginning to move up, they have a difficult time of it. i think what you are seeing in this video is the beginning of a morning in america campaign that things have turned a corner. that they are getting better. it's difficult to make the case to say, hey, things would have been worse if we hadn't done this because that's more hypothetical. this is only half the campaign here. this is the morning in america. you'll see some other videos down the road that are going to look more like freddy kruger. those will be the videos about mitt romney or whoever else is lucky enough to be the republican nominee because that's really the other half of this. and they'll just have to make that guy look a whole lot worse than president obama.

>> now, nia-malika in line with that, the republicans and the right wing have taken a peculiar thing of just trying to find anything to make an issue. let me show you. sean hannity treated a video of a young barack obama hugging a so-called controversial black professor like it was a big deal. let me show you this. >> let's watch this. >> open up your hearts and your minds to the words of professor derek bell. >> now that hug and the president's association with the radical professor like bell is no doubt going to become a hot topic in coming days. what are we to gain from this? looking at a controversial professor, he is a little younger here, is it more controversial that he hung out with ayers and dorn later in life or jeremiah wright or is this just a bigger picture, a

broader pattern? >> but front line had this tape four years ago and the professor we're talking about, i mean, is a radical? i mean, i don't get it. is hannity reaching for straws here? or have egg on his face? derek bell is a radical? >> derek bell, of course, died a couple of years ago. but i think what you are seeing republicans try to do is really revive these arguments that were made in 2008. these arguments that obama palled around with terrorists. that he sat in jeremiah wright's church for years and years and listened to him say anti-american things which, of course, just ended up not being true. and i think you really see a republican party that is desperate to find something. to find a smoking gun. i think they would be well advised to really follow haley barbour's advice and keep the main thing the main thing. and the main thing in this campaign is going to be the

economy. you have seen from mitt romney a real focus on this. but i think with these videos you see some republicans at least preaching to the choir. but they haven't made many gains in terms of going out into the congregation and converting souls to their side. >> dana, they tried it in 2008 and from my recollection, they lost that election. it didn't work then. why will it work now? especially when you are coming up with phantoms. >> i think it's fun to have reverend wright back in a debate here four years later. it's -- i think it's important to point out this is sean hannity. he's made more out of less in the past. and i don't think the republican party and the candidates are actually going to get behind this simply because it's so flimsy. and if that's the worst thing they came up with, his time in schooling, i had a lot worse film to see when i was in school. >> well, i tell you, dana, nia-malika, one thing you need for a smoking gun is a bullet. something's got to make the

smoke. nia-malika henderson and dana milbank, thank you both. >> thanks, reverend. >> rising, rising, rising hate. a disturbing new report from the southern poverty law center right here in montgomery shows the rise of hate groups in america. and some breaking news from here in alabama. another blow to the nation's most extreme anti-immigration bill. big news. you are watching msnbc's special coverage of the march from selma to montgomery, walking in the footsteps of heroes to protect the gains of the civil rights era. >> the fight is now. we are freedom fighters. we were raised for moments like this. that we will not let them take our vote away. ♪

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groups is on the rise, up 69% since 2000. since 2008, militia anti-government patriotic groups have skyrocketed. a staggering 755% increase. 2008, that just happens to be the same year the first african-american was elected president. joining me now is richard corn, president of the southern poverty law center, an organization that's been at the forefront of exposing injustice in america. richard, thank you for coming on the show with this important report. it's staggering. what is motivating this rise in these hate groups? >> you know, reverend sharpton, you talked about it as a coincidence, but, of course, it's no coincidence at all it's happening around the time that president obama was elected. really if we go back to the year 2000 and come forward, what we're seeing as kind of a response, a backlash to the

changing demographics in our nation. you know, kind of the 1970, 1 in less than 1 in 5 persons in our country was nonwhite. today that figure is double. for some people, they aren't happy about that. they see kind of latino immigration as a threat. and that's driving the main increase. the patriot groups you talked about, that's really been exploding since president obama has been elected. >> and these are militia patriot groups. >> about one-third of them are militia patriot groups. they see the president as a kenyan born, secret muslim, someone who is denying kind of america's great and the country is going downhill to china. it's all the president's fault. it's all president obama's fault. that's the way they see it. that's why we've had this astonishing increase. >> the immigration bill in alabama, we marched about that today. it will be part of our big rally tomorrow. and you have a huge bat banner out in front of the center about that bill.

>> yes. >> it got somewhat of a blow in the court. >> we got great news. i think it's because you came to town. >> i'm taking credit. >> the 11th circuit enjoined two more important sections of the bill. one having to do with prohibiting an undocumented persons from entering contracts. and the more important provision that they enjoined was this provision that prevented people from engaging in business transactions with the state. it was a mean-spirited provision that stopped people from getting water service, electrical service, death certificates. we had a client who said he couldn't make a call to his lawyer from a jail because they said using the phone at the jail was a business transaction. >> wow. >> that's unbelievable. it's horrible. i'm so glad the 11th circuit came and had that ruling today. >> now the bases of a lot of these immigration bills is certainly not sound economically because they come spend a lot of money and taxes into the country by purchasing things.

and it's certainly something that you could not pay the cost of sending all of the undocumented immigrants back. so a lot of it is motivated by just bias and hate. >> i think that's exactly right. you know, alabama is suffering economically, terribly. one person at the university of alabama estimated that the state was going to lose $11 billion of economic activity each year up to a million dollars in state and local taxes each year because of the blow to our economy from this bill. it's a disaster on the economic front. a disaster of human proportions. it ought to be repealed. >> we are here 47 years later marching. we saw 47 years ago those in the generation ahead of us had to face danger, threats, homes being bombed, assassinations. we don't have that kind of danger but there's institutional inequality and racism that is

real today. >> very, very real. very, very real. really across the country. it's not just in alabama. it's not just in the south. you know that better than most. and, you know, hopefully the strength and inspiration the marchers draw here will be an example for people all over the country. >> richard cohen, thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> we will stay on this issue until there's justice for everybody. we'll be right back with actor and entertainer tyrese who has been marching with us here in alabama. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. why? i thought jill was your soul mate. no, no it's her dad. the general's your soul mate?

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welcome back to a special edition of "politics nation" live in montgomery, alabama. we've been marching all week to shed light on the wave of radical immigration and voting laws in the country. just last night, both new hampshire and pennsylvania senates passed bills that would require people to show photo i.d. in order to vote. they are among 31 states pushing voter i.d. laws this year. joining me now is arlene holt baker, the executive vice president of the afl-cio, coalition of unions representing more than 12 million workers. she and her union members have been marching with us all week. we're doing this together. civil rights groups, national

action network, afl-cio and unions. and tyrese gibson, multigrammy nominated singer and actor who has been in movies like "transformers," one of my own favorites "baby boy." and he's out here in alabama for another reason. like harry belafonte and other entertainers who marched for civil rights, tyrese is also lending his time to the struggle here. thank you both for being here tonight. why has labor groups joined in this fight against immigration and voter i.d. laws this weekend put so much into this effort? >> reverend sharpton, the truth is that we're all connected. and when we look at what's happening across this country, workers, immigrants and those who believe we should have a right to vote. we have a common enemy. workers in this country have been under attack, particularly in the last year. they've tried to take away their right to have a voice in the workplace. to strip them of collective

bargaining. the same people who are pushing the anti-worker legislation and trying to prevent workers from having a voice in the workplace are the very same people that are trying to stop the poor, people of color, the elderly and the youth from being able to have a voice in the voting booth. and they are the very same ones pushing this draconian anti-immigration legislation instead of trying to work for real comprehensive immigration reform. they are trying to go after immigrants in a way that we just can't stand for. >> the day before yesterday we marched several miles. i got a call early yesterday morning. tyrese is in selma. i talked to you. you ran into martin luther king iii. you felt you had to come when you heard what we were doing. i remember harry belafonte and others were here 47 years ago when i was 9 and you as an

entertainer come why? what compelled you? >> i'm just not really happy with a lot that's been going on. i'm not the most politically well versed person out there, but i do represent the voice, and i know who i am. i'm aware of my light and the gift that god has blessed me with to have a stage of influence. but it has no value if i'm not going to lose my influence to make a difference. and so i think of all of the people looking at this show. how do you feel? you are just at home right now on your couch in your living room relaxing, complaining about everything that has to do with our america. but what are you doing? i don't care what's your worth, what you're driving in, what type of comforts you've been blessed with. there's a lot of people out here right now who have a problem and they can't do anything about it.

and so tomorrow's rally and this march represents that struggle. and there's a lot of people out here talking, but i'm out here walking. and i'm walking with everybody else who has their position and has their feeling because there are power in numbers. they like to say that only the old folks is out here marching. only the folks from back in the day believe in marches and marches are old school. i'm out here. my feet is burning. i got blisters. like everybody else. i got a problem -- >> you guys don't get blisters. >> oh, man, listen. the thing is, i had on a -- i took it off because i wanted to re-enact and get into the spirit of the -- >> you went over to the encampment with the people. and doesn't it warm your heart to hear young people talk? >> i am so warmed and touched by it. but what even touches me more and tyrese you know this.

when you go through that line and you talk to the, quite frankly at this point today, over 1,000, that march, when you look at it, it is reflective of who we are as americans. we've got black and white, latino, asian, young and old. but so many young people. and when you have a young latina from idaho walk with a building trades brother from pennsylvania and talking about the common struggle, that something is happening. >> and running out to get your autograph and you telling them about voting. >> there are certain things going on in alabama that one could argue has nothing to do with me because i'm from l.a. i have a problem with these laws. i have a problem with these i.d. things going on with voter registration. but the real problem that i have are people that are watching this show right now that have never registered to vote. and we're not saying vote for president ob