much i share in all this. we philly people were really proud that band stand started in our old neighborhoods and i say best to you, mr. charactelark, o to you, mary, wherever you are, who made south philly such a famous part of our great country. long before rocky, long before even cheesesteaks. that's hardball for now. thanks for being with us. politics nation with al sharpton starts right now. welcome to politics nation. i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, the death of a legend. tributes are pouring in for dick clark. the tv and music icon who passed away today at the age of 82. the host of american band stand and new year's rockin' eve died at santa monica this morning after suffering a mastiff heart attack. he started hosting american band stand back in 1956, help to ing

bring rock and roll into living rooms for the first time in in 1972, he launched dick lark's rock new year's eve. beginning an annual tradition of helping america dwrop the ball rock new year's eve. beginning an annual tradition of helping america dwrop the balll rock new year's eve. beginning an annual tradition of helping america dwrop the ballc rock new year's eve. beginning an annual tradition of helping america dwrop the ball here in times square. i met mr. clark during my time as a son to james brown. i didn't know him well, but he was obviously and all-american icon. nbc's chris janning has the story. >> live from philadelphia -- >> he walked on to the stage with an effortless appeal. and in to homes for what would be a 50 year visit. >> ladies and gentlemen, here's chubb bicheck. >> reporter: often called america's oldest teenage, he seemed age rest, hosting american band stand for more than 30 year, from black and white to living color. >> the greatest fantasy of my life. been working 35 years this television, it's my first love. and the band stand made it all

possible. >> reporter: dick character was born richard wag staff clark in 1929 in mount verb vernon, new york. his moem a homemaker, his father owned a chain of radio stations. and after graduating from syracuse university, he got a job in radio, too. and music was his passion. >> music underscores everything that happens to you. the good such and bad stuff. music really is one of the tree most important things in our lives. >> reporter: in philadelphia, in 1956, clark took over a popular local teen music and dance she. and quickly turned it into a national sensation. american band stand launched the careers of hundreds of artists from the supremes to the beach boys even a young mike achael jackson. >> the jackson five. ♪

>> reporter: clark's career was threaten this had 1960 when he was called in front of congress and accuse aed of taking money to promote artists. >> i have sworn under oath that i have never taken payolo. >> reporter: he was cleared of all charges and went on to succeed far beyond band stand. a prolific entrepreneur, he created the american music awards, produced the golden globes, hosted the $10,000 pyramid until it was worth $100,000, and in 1972, launched this new year's eve tradition. >> when i sea new year's seef, do you think of any other place in the world? no, you think of times square. >> reporter: clark was that new year's eve institution until 2004 when his life took a dscar turn. he was hospitalize pod sevd for week after that stroke and for the first time in 33 year, he was unable to host his rocking eve count down down. he made a brave return.

>> it was a long hard fight. my speech is into the perfect, but i'm getting this there. you and i have been a part of each other for so many new year's eves. that i wouldn't have missed this for the world. >> reporter: after that, he didn't miss a new year's in new york co-hosting with ryan seacrest. >> dick, you've done this for the last 40 years. please take it away. count us down it tgown to the n. >> and now the big moment we've been waiting for. five, four, three, two, one -- happy new year! >> clark then said gr good-bye to his loyal audience one more time. >> all that energy, all those happy people. i'll remember this heignight fo long time. >> reporter: a father of three gasoline child, he once said

american band stand was like a fourth child. that fans were like family. now that family is in mourning. chris jansing, nbc news, los angeles. joining me nonis a contributiing editor at "rollin stone" magazine bs a, and on th phone, the founder of motown records. thanks to both of you for joining us tonight. met me start with you, mr. gordy. you worked with dick clark and your artists many of hethem hado deal with them. what did it mean to the world of music to deal with dick clark, how important was he to the world of music? >> first of all, thanks for calling me and i'm delighted to be here. but i'm so saddened and devastated over the loss of my dear friend dick clark. i was friends with him for over

50 years. >> wow. >> and he gave me my first break with the a record that i heard for the very first i'm on his show it was release and i heard it on ll local tv and he was playing on national tv at the same time. and what he has meant to the record business and the world is too big to every describe. and what he did if for me personally was too big too describe. he was from philly. i was from detroit. and we round up being neighbors

in malibu for a long time. so he was a major force in changing pop culture. the first time i heard my record, i got a headache, there was a first time and i could see white kids, you know, playing my record even before there was a motown. and then when there was a motown, he continued that. they had a little known record that just came out and he graciously put them on the dick clark care volie are a van of s. and he was so powerful until their record was number one in the country. are a van of stars. and he was so powerful until their record was number one in the country.are a van of stars. and he was so powerful until their record was number one in the country.re a van of stars. and he was so powerful until their record was number one in the country. we were friends for over 50 years. and i was very friendly with his wife who took care of him so

wonderfully throughout his local career and during his sickness, she was right there by his side and i love her so much. and i saw her recently at american music awards which he promoted. so he did everything. dick clark did everything with class and style and integrity. and he also -- of course he loved all music, but it seemed that he loved motown music a little more and he was always there for us. >> you now, he helped to bridge that whole gap of bringing r&b and soul music into the living rooms of white america. >> when i first saw my record, it was the first time i saw whi

kids dance to go my record on band stand. could i not believe what i was seeing. because, yyou know, it was just -- and band is an wis an fr all artists. elvis presley, chubby check, black, white, whatever, band stand helped to integrate the country in so many ways. he was the pioneer. and i was so lthrilled him to call him my wonderful, wonderful friend. >> let me ask you, you hear barry that the whole world -- speaking with such passion. the sense of the importance of dick clark in american cultural history and world history could be overstated. >> well, that's right. i don't think i feel like i can

do much more than just gloss what barry gordy said. but look at the impact. i mean, putting forward these artists as barry gordy described. he was a kind of wedge figure in a way. people talk about there was this kind of white bread quality to american bandstand, but that's really missings larger point. introducing these people in a way that really made it seem like what's the big deal. if you think about other figure somebody like rick nelson or ed sullivan functioned in a similar way. they made something that had an important edge seem like something that was acceptable and eventually it became acceptable. >> mr. gordy, the thing that also struck me and i'm hearing it in your voice is how people would still be personally close

with him. seemed like everyone felt like he engaged them personally and liked him personally, which was not always the case in the music world. >> dick clark was a master at that, at making people feel important and talking directly to them. i mean, i thought i was one of his very, very best friends and of course i was because i loved next door and we would talk. and he was just so gracious. but when i talked to other people, they feel the same way. because dick was very humble. you know, being as powerful as he was, he was very humble. and he had this subtle integration that was happening just by what he was doing, being himself. he never tried to be anybody else. and dick was an entrepreneur, you know.

he was not -- even though he was a great music man and he did all the music, he had other things. he did broadway plays, he did other things as you know right away. he did the rocking new year's eve show and he was all around. so he brought that -- he helped to bring that social integration long before the laws changed, long before that. and he was a today the list fca of that. and i always looked up to him because of the fact that, you know, on did it he did it from his emotion, his feeling. and it was never the money and fame that he was for, it was just the love of what he was doing.

>> that's who he was. we wanted to give tribute. thank you and we're moved and thank you for taking time on this day to talk about your friend, berry gordy, founder of motown. thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. it was wonderful just talking to you. and talking about somebody that i love dearly. >> thank you. coming up, breaking news in the secret service sex scandal. three men are leaving the agency. we'll have the very latest. plus, conservatives rally around ted nugent. despite his outrageous attacks on the president. now the secret service want to talk to him. and george zimmerman gets a new judge in his murder trial. how will it affect the quest for justice for trayvon martin? you're watching politics nation on msnbc. [ male announcer ] this is corporate caterers, miami, florida.

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three agents involved in the secret service sex scandal are leaving the agency. one supervisor is being fired. another supervisor is being allowed to retire. and the third agent is resigning. the eight remaining agents are still on administrative leave. their security clearances are still suspended. the secret service says the investigation is still ongoing, including polygraph tests for the agents involved. nbc news also reports that investigators are look at surveillance individual why vid hotel. everything that i've gained in life has been because of the teachers and the education that i had. they're just part of who i am. she convinced me that there was no limit to what we could learn. i don't think i'd be here today had i not had a wonderful science teacher.

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republicans think the war on women is as real as the war on caterpillars. but we know that's fiction. and women do, too. and it's causing a huge problem for mitt romney. a new poll shows he's down by a whopping 45 points under -- with women under the age of 30 and it's not a surprise. he's been on the wrong side of basically all women issues. from defunding planned parenthood to supporting a law banning all abortions. is it any surprise willard has issues with women voters? joining me now is senator barbara boxer, democrat from california. and a tireless crusade forewor woman's rights. what do these new women polls on romney tell you? >> well, they it he will knee

women get it, that women are tuned in. and if do i nothing else for will this election, it's to make sure that they tune in even more. when you look at what republicans are doing to women's health, to equal in the workplace, just goes on and on. they're hurting women. now, you have mitt romney saying he wants to, quote, get rid of, unquote, planned part hood. he wants to get rid of planned part hood that serves 3 million americans and gives will them basic health care, prevention, breast screening, other independent could kinds of canc screeni screenings. it hurts, that type of policy. there's no less than 30 bills introduced by republicans in the house. all of them by republicans that would restrict women's health including listen to will this,

they want to outlaw the birth control pill and invitro fertilization. you have willie led bettbetter around the country telling people don't vote for mitt romney because he basically said he wasn't sure if he would sign the equal pay bill and he called governor walker a hire row. governor walker from wisconsin who just repealed the equal pay bill. >> senator, for people that are watching this, it was a little stunning that we could not even get the public that is a straight answer out of mitt romney on the lilly ledbetter bill. let me show you this. he says i'm not going to go back and look at all the prior laws and say had i been there which ones would i have supported. that was his answer on equal pay

act, lilly ledbetter. how do you not take affirmative position on something as simple as that? >> well, it's something so straightforward. equal rights for women in the workplace. the story of lilly ledbetter is amazing. i don't know if you've had her on her show, but this is a southern woman who worked as a managener a tire company and a friend of hers didn't put his name to a letter, slipped a header into her mail box and it said, lilly, i so respect and admire you, you are not getting the same pay as your male counterparts. she was stunned. and she sued and the lower courts said absolutely you deserve a compensation, the supreme court said, you know, she wasn't treated fairly, but congress needs to change the law to allow her and people hike her more time to get justice. we passed the raw. it's critical. if mitt romney can't answer

that, and he is not going to be able to answer anything. you're absolutely right. this is the most black and white issue. whether you believe in equal pay. >> and we see just in the last week war on women is happening at the state level, too. in arizona, governor brewster signed a 20 week abortion ban. in mississippi, governor bryant signed a restrictive regulatory law that could close only abortion clinics. in new hampshire, republicans are pushing a blount amendment like law to get employers to deny birth control coverage. in ohio, republicans just today unveiled a plan to defund planned parenthood. so on a state by state level, represented by a national candidate, it seems like they're digging in their heels against women at a time that they expect women to vote for them. >> they say there's no war on women and reverend al, i'm so glad you raised the states there are no less than 500 bills in

the various states in the union, they're completely outrageous. 90% of them, 90%, are written by republicans. and i need to tell you, one of them in arizona says that life begins two weeks before conception. that is what is going on in our nation today. and president obama is there to protect the women of this country, in the workplace, in the privacy of their homes, and wants to make sure that a woman has the right to decide her future in terms of her reproductive health care. this means respect for women. and when mitt romney doesn't even know if he'd sign a bill promising us equal pay for equal work, i got to say to the women out there, whether you're a republican, a democrat or independent, if you're a self respecting human being, please vote for president obama and to the men who care about do the same thing. >> senator, you released a music

video for win with women campaign pushing to get more women elected to congress. would you say this war on women we're seeing makes it more important than ever to have women go to congress? and that's why you put that video out? >> we need democratic women who will fight for women's rights, yes. >> well, that's the videond at music out. so you are championing the whole election for women and it's on your website and you're continuing the fight. >> i will. and i also think it's president obama all the way. >> senator boxer, thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. ahead, breaking news in in the george zimmerman case. this there's a new judge. what impact whether this have on zimmerman's bail? we're live in florida. and rocker ted nugent will meet with the secret service tomorrow. but the right wing talkers have no problem with his appalling comments. where's the leadership?

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republicans spent most of this year accusing president obama of waging a war on religion. yet now gop leaders are pushing a budget that catholic bishops say doesn't meet moral criteria. you're watching pollic its nation. stay with us. [ male announcer ] before the gold,

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this election day we need to ask one question, do we want to live in a country where the poor and middle class are told to fend for themselves or one where every american gets a fair shot? i know which side this president is on. yet the gop is taking that chance away from the poorest among us. republicans are looking to cut $33 billion from food stamps in order to offset pentagon cuts. policies like there are the reason that catholic bishops are blasting the republican house budget. saying that, quote, fails to meet moral criteria. when asked about this today, speaker boehner wasn't convinced. >> yes, but i want to take a bigger look. >> maybe you should take a bigger look. one that asks everyone to pay their fair share.

not just the moore. joining me now is congresswoman dan in a he hdonna edwards, and father thomas reese at georgetown university's woodstock theological center. thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> father reese, let me start with you. it might be obvious, but why did priests like yourself come out against these cuts? >> well, we're not naive. we know that the country is under economic constraints. and that sacrifices have to be made. but these sacrifices should not be born only by the poor. and predominantly by the poor. which is what we have in the ryan budget. he's trying to balance the budget and provide tax cuts for the wealthy on the backs of the poor. and that's simply not just. that's not a budget based on the

goods spell, th gospel, that's based on social c darwinism, anti-religion, and said that we should just be motivated by shfishness. christian city says we should be motivated to help the poor just like jesus did. >> congresswoman edwards, when we look at the facts about food stamps, the program is really a lifesaver for the poor. children are -- it is proven that it works. and that it impacts 75% of participants are families with children. it impacts children in a real, real serious way. >> i think that's right, reverend al. and what the catholic bishops understand really clearly and what they've articulated is that the republican budget eviscerates a social safety net and that means nutrition

programs that feed children and the disabled and the elderly. it means that ripping out from underneath people who are the most vulnerable. and this is completely against catholic social teachings and i'm glad the bishops have come out and said there's a morality to a budget, as well, and this one totally fails the test. >> now, let me ask you, reverend reese, as you know, i'm a baptist. you're catholic. we're both christians. something confused me. paul ryan, who wrote this budget, in an interview last week, he said his christian faith helped guide him in this budget plan. let me show you this. >> the preferential option for the poor means don't keep people poor, don't make people dependent on government so that they stay stuck in their station in life. help people get out of poverty on to life of independence. >> now, you and the catholic

leaders took a position against his budget. how do you interpret the theology that he just said in that interview? >> well, i'd like to ask him how is he going to help the poor. but throwing them out on the street on their own, by cutting spell granl pell grants, by cutting food stamps that help the poor eat? as catholic, we believe that the government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to work together for the common good. and to help people, to give people a fair chance, to educate themselves and improve themselves. you don't do that by throwing them out on their own and an bon donning them in the streets. you do it by giving them job training so that they can get work, so that they can get a step up. this is what a real catholic social teaching would direct us

towards. >> now, let me go back to you, congresswoman. mr. captntor says the presidents only interested in micro managing small businesses. and when you look at small businesses that's covered under his bill, they include companies with fewer than 500 employees. but that would include things like paris hilton entertainment or donald trump towers sales and leasing, los angeles dodgers which just sold for $2 billion. there are a lot of companies under 500 employees. >> and i think that this underscores the problem with the definition here. small businesses, and i know in my congressional district and across the country, we really are talking about individuals, entrepreneurs really trying to make a go of it who need some stability and predict ability in the economy, and they're hiring our neighbors.

the mom and pop businesses that really are going to be the base of innovation. and so i think when you combine that idea of small business with what's happening with the budget, it's really clear that republicans don't understand that when we're all interested in building ladders of opportunity for success for people to achieve the american dream, the rungs have to be pirm. education with pell grants and student loan, nutrition program, medicare that's sustained and that is targeted toward our elderly and their health care. these are the opportunities that the american public needs. >> reverend reese, mitt romney met with regular voters and they told him not cut education. they also said they don't mind paying more taxes. listen to this quickly. >> i hate to see any type of cuts towards education. >> most of the fat has been trimmed from those budgets.

a lot of hoof costs are fixed. none of us like to pay more taxes, but sometimes that's necessary. >> a necessary evil. >> right. >> i just wanted you you to know, father reese, and mr. romney is a big assumer of the ryan budget, that the catholic leaders are not alone. ordinary americans are raising some of the questions about the principles in the ryan bill. congress barack obama donna he had woman and father reese, thank you you for your time ton. still ahead, conservatives should be denouncing ted nugent's attack on the president. instead they're embratsing him. what does that say about today's gop? plus on you a new judge could affect the george zimmerman trial and the question is, how will it affect the quest for justice for trayvon martin. ok! who gets occasional constipation,

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i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies.

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scheduled to appear at a bond hearing. and nbc news has obtain this had exclusive video of florida investigators who were back at the shooting scene today. joining me now from florida, former prosecutor, ken, what do you make of this move today? >> the former judge said in her order that legally there were insufficient i don't understands to find a conflict to have her remove herself, but taken in the totality of all the circumstances on this specific case, she was basically going to remove herself from the case in the appearance of fairness to make sure that justice is done. she thought based on will case with all the media scrutiny this, was the appropriate action on her part. >> so appearance, not the law. what you can tell us about the new judge? >> judge ken lester grew up in the orlando area. at age 1, he joined the navy and went to vietnam.

when he got out of the stint with the armed forces, he went to college at the university of central florida where he not only got a bachelor's degree, but received a master's degree in accounting. from there, he went over up north in florida to the university of florida in gainesville for law school where i actually was in my undergraduate years in college at the time. so he gets points right away for being a florida gator in my mind. but after leaving law school, the new judge practiced law for approximately 17 years, practicing criminal law and family law, and then became a judge in 1996 and he's been a judge for 15 years. so we have a portrait of a man who is very intelligent, apparently a by the books kind of guy, he'll be conservative and tough sentencer and we should add to top all all these facts, he's presently married to a homicide prosecutor in orange county. >> married to a prosecutor.

let me ask you this. how will his appointment affect the bond hearing on friday? >> i think that he apparently is a very intelligent man, an experienced judge and i think that he can easily take over the spot, slide into that bond hearing and listen to the evidence from both sides and make a fair determination as to whether or not a bond should be granted this this case. and the issues in the bond hearing are whether or not the defendant has ties to the community, whether he is a flight risk, and i think the judge is an intelligent person with enough experience that can he listen to the evidence and make a proper determination as to whether or not mr. zimmerman should be granted bail. and from all things i've seen, i would take a wild guess that bond will be granted in this case. >> that's not unusual in a murder 2 case because of whether he's a flight risk or risk to the community? >> the judge will have to listen to the evidence very carefully

to make sure that mr. zimmerman will in fact show up for trial if he's release on bond. but from everything i've seen, there appears to be ties to the community and he doesn't apparently have a prior conviction in his background, so there's a number of factors that a good defense attorney will argue as to why bond would be appropriate. and in many cases, similar to this, a second-degree murder charge, the judge does in fact grand a grant a bond. >> ken, thank you for your time. still ahead, how the right wing media is embracing ted nugent despite his dangerous rhetoric about president obama.

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we're back on politics nation. with ted new against's appalling

comments. today we learned the secret service will interview him tomorrow for these provocative comments he made at an nra event. >> i'll tell you this, if barack obama becomes the president in november again, i will either be dead or in jail by this time next year. our president and attorney general, our vice president, hillary clinton, they're criminals. we need to ride in to that battlefield and chop their theys off. >> what does that mean, what is he say something these comments are beyond the pail. but today, nugent was out making the rounds on conservative radio and was welled with open arms. >> ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only, close personal friend ted new against. after talking with beck, he went on the air with mike

huckabee.against. after talking with beck, he went on the air with mike huckabee. here's huckabee's take. >> it was not threatening at all. the secret service has their own issues to worry about. in fact some of them probably need to be inoculated from at colombian cat scratch fever. >> this is going to another level. a warm welcome on the radio and the gop leadership is once again silent. mitt romney happily took nugent's endorsement last month and he's only said divisive language is owe pen differencfo. he needs to do better than that. we've seen his rhetoric from saying that he pounds around to a terrorist. it has to stop. where is the here? joining me now is sirius xm radio host and political columnist for the "washington post." thank you both for being here tonight.

joe, your response to the secret service talking to nugent tomorrow. >> they should talk and they better not be the same secret service that he says he has barbeque with and could shoot a few rounds of taxpayer ammunition. he also said that in the clip. number two, here's something most people don't know. and i got a caller to my show who says he's supposed to give a concert at fort knox, kentucky. now, let me tell you, i do not think that the military should allow ted nugent to give that concert. that concert should be canceled based on what he said. and number two, the fact that he's a draft dodger. do you know that ted nugent in order to stay out of the draft, mr. i got guns for every episode of life, do you know that he did not change his clothes for 30 days, walked into the draft board with urine and feces 30

days worth of it, so that he would not be drafted by the military. and here's a man that's going to be giving a concert to -- at for fort knox? will is what the right wing radio doesn't tell you about ted nugent and the fact that he also referred to hillary clinton as castro's whore. this is the language that he uses. >> let me ask you, dandana, let get to some of the politics of this. . when we had the hilary rosen controversy last week when she made the statement in regard to ann romney and she never worked a day in her life and people reacted rightly or wrongly, the democratic leadership really stood up, this is it nowhere near, i don't care what your politics is, nowhere near what we're hearing nugent say here calling hillary clinton and the president criminals and what joe

madison quoted him about saying he'd be dead or in jail if president obama is reelected. but michelle obama says every mother works hard and every woman deserves to be respected. daid axelrod also disappointed in hilary rosen's comments about ann romney, they were in-appropriate and offensive. jim massena, i could not disagree anymore strongly. her comments were wrong and family shoies should be off-lim. democrats came out, first lady of the united states, two central figures in the president's re-election, on what is comparatively a mild statement. and they were unequivocal. and hilary rosen is not a high proceed file proce profile endorser of the president. we find the president is winning independent swing states 48% to

39%.politics. don't you think if romney would take a firm stand against these outrageous statements, politically it would help him with independents? >> yes, but it may weaken him, refer represented, with his base. and i think that's what the difference is you're seeing here. that president obama is much more confident in the support of his base, so he can have his people come out there and say, no, we're not with hillary row isn't on this. i think romney would have a good case and say, look, we can't be responsible for what every guy says out there except they were the ones who were pressing after obama on the hilary rosen thing. p so if everybody out there is a supporter of you is therefore your spokesman and your surroga surrogate, about if thelg's play the game that way, then they'll have to answer for the sort of thing that the ted new geugent saying here and that's a problem he's created himself and why there is pressure on him right now. >> joe madison, do you think

that the press will stay behind willard mitt romney and force a stronger statement or do you think they'll let it go? >> i think i will. i think you will. i think we better. because let's remember, four years ago go, there was a candidate, barack obama, who was forced to, what, leave his church, kick reverend wright under the bus, and give a major address in philadelphia on race relations. so where is the other side demanding the exact same thing from mitt romney? he should not soft pedal this. he should denounce. and i think give a complete and full speech on hostile rhetoric that cannot be tolerated particularly in this election. so he should have his sister souljah moment and his reverend wright moment like barack obama

had. >> mike huckabee said he didn't hear anything threatening there. you're smart and well, well, well versed in politics. what could somebody mean when they say i'll either be in jail or dead? >> well, i suppose about if you just left it at that and he didn't go on about chopping off their heads, he might have had a better case there. suspecting that he'd be in jail because of president obama's policies. but, no, that's a hard case to make. looking i suspect this is more of a political problem than a legal problem. but if he continues to say things like that he may get his wish of being in jail well before next year. >> but today, joe madison, senator, they say new against's comments were no big deal. >> it is a big deal and the reality is it's a dog whistle.

it's beyond pail to hear him say that. we know what he was alluding to and he ought to -- and no one on any side of the political aisle should accept this type of rhetoric. it's unacceptable if it's george bush, it's sun enabspeciall una barack obama. it's un-american. sitting up here and referring to brave heart or the movie, my god, he doesn't even have his education in order. brave heart was about being invaded. not about constitutional rights. he doesn't know his history. >> thanks for your time tonight. i repeat again, that we must as we head into the thick of this campaign in the next several