a database of suspicious wording. when congress kills usps, our last personal and private means of communication is gone. everything old is new again. here's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation with artic" wi sharpton starts now. >> i'm al sharpton. tonight's leading the fight over fairness in the country. president obama took his fight for fairness on the road. promoting his plan to extend tax cuts for middle class americans and earning less than $250,000 a year. >> i believe that we should make sure that the taxes on the 98% of americans don't go up and then we should let the tax cuts expire for folks like me. for the top 2% of americans. and to give me another tax break

or warren buffett another tax break or to give mitt romney another tax break, that would cost -- that would cost about a trillion dollars and we can't afford it. >> he also called out republicans important holding the tax cuts for the middle class hostage to protect tax cuts for millionaires. >> i want to hold taxes steady for 98% of americans. republicans say they want to do the same thing. we disagree on the other 2%. what do you usually do if you agree on 98% and disagree on 2%? why don't you compromise to help the middle class? go ahead and do the 98 sxerz we can keep arguing about the 2%. let's agree when we can agree. let's not hold the vast majority

of americans hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the other 2%. >> the american people are with the president. a new poll shows that 60% say it is very important to extend tax cuts just for families earning less than $250,000. 40% want to extend those breaks for everyone. and including the millionaires who don't need it. of course, republicans and including mitt romney are desperate to keep the tax cuts from their wealthy campaign contributors. they are trying to make the case that the president extending the tax cuts for less wealthy people is actual will you part of some imagined war president obama is waging against small businesses and job creators. but republicans have defined small business tows include companies owned by rich celebrities, like paris hilton, donald trump, and kim

kardashian. democrats called them out for that today when they unveiled their own bill to help small businesses. >> congressal republicans want to lavish huge across the board tax breaks and billionaire hedge fun managers and people like rich celebrities and donald trump. so-called small business owners, like kim kardashian, paris hilton, could qualify for these wasteful giveaway. >> just today the senate began debate on a key item from president obama's to-do list for congress. a bill giving tax breaks to small businesses, it would create nearly a million jobs and add $87 billion to the economy. 13 republicans voted against even debating this bill today. and other gop senators are getting ready to load it up with amendments designed to kill it. folks, that's what this election is all about.

who wants fairness and who doesn't. joining me now is congressman john larson, chairman of the house democratic caucus. and e.j. dionne, columnist for "the washington post." and an msnbc contributor. congressman, let me start with you. why won't republicans agree to pass what they agree on which is extending cuts for the middle class? >> well, reverend al, thank you for having me on. they remain as roosevelt said frozen in the ice of their own indifference. they are indifferent to the working people all across this country who need this tax cut. we are debating right now on the floor of the house of representatives their repeal of the health care bill. they will not bring forward this president's proposal on jobs, ignoring the 14 million people out of work and yet, they are

busy on the floor for the 31st time this year in an effort to repeal health care instead of creating jobs and then remaining obstinate in terms of, it is a president said, compromising on making sure that the middle class gets the tax cuts that they need. >> congressman larson, let me push you a little on this. they claim that they are for extending tax cuts for the middle class. where did -- the disagreement is for those that are disagreeinging as i do, with extending it for those that are wealthier. so why not since we agree on extending it for the middle class why not at least do that as we debate about whether or not we extend for the wealthier -- those that do -- >> because this republican controlled congress would rather see obama fail than the entire nation succeed.

they are frozen in the ice of their indifference. they would see the president fail the nation succeed on several fronts, but certainly in the area of tax cuts and in the area of health care, and certainly in the area of job creation. >> now, e.j., you have been covering tax cuts and -- politics around taxes for a long time. is this unusual? i mean, it seems to me to be something that could backfire on the republicans and they are going to hold the tax cuts for everybody hostage to protect tax cuts for millionaires. >> i think that this turns out to be a kind of political twofer for president clinton because as that char showed and as virtually all of the polls have shown, the idea of cutting taxes for people earning under $250,000, not cutting taxes on the very rich, that's very popular. partly because most people aren't rich. and partly because people know

that wealthy americans have gotten wealthier while the middle class has stagnated. he is making another point here. which is that if the voters blame inaction in washington on the system or on washington, that goes back and hurts the president because he is the guy in charge. he is being very clear here, i think the key quote today was let's agree when we can agree. everybody says that they don't want taxes to go up on the upper middle -- $250,000 or more on that category americans. 98% of us. why can't congress act? to the extent the republicans are looking like they are engaged in a game that says we won't give those tax cuts unless we get the ones important the rich. i think that gives the president an opening to do that old harry truman do nothing congress kind of campaign and it worked pretty well back in 1948, i think he will try to tie my romney to the republicans in congress who

truman tied tom dewey to the republicans in congress in his day. >> well, but is it not so that -- congressman larson, that in many ways mitt romney's already tied there. agreed with these policies. he's -- apparently campaigning on them. and i think that -- e.j. said president clinton -- but i think president obama could get a twofer here. >> i think he is definitely going to get a twofer here because fundamentally, as both you and e.j. have said, ultimately with the voters and the american citizens, it is about fairness. this is intuitively obvious to most americans that this is fair. even to those as warren buffett has said, who have done well during these times, they understand the responsibility that they -- responsibility that they have, especially in lieu of the needs of our veterans and men and women who have truly been the only ones that are really sacrificing during these times.

for us to make sure we are giving them the kind of support that they need, along with lifting people out of an economy and helping them get back to work. something that all of those fronts the republicans remain obstinate in their obstruction of seeing this president succeed. they rather see him fail than the nation succeed. >> e.j., how far and how long can the republicans go with this? can they push this past the election? they would rather see taxes go up for the middle class? just to try and hold the line against this president? and help their richer friends n. >> well, i think their theory is they can go on forever on this because they think they can just keep labelling the democrats as tax raisers. and that people won't pay attention to the specifics of the issue. disadvantage they have is that we are in the middle of a presidential campaign and that a lot of americans are paying lot of attention to and will be paying more attention to it as

the campaign goes on. and it is hard to accuse president obama -- get it right this time -- and democrats in congress of, you know, wanting to raise taxes when he's very specifically calling for tax cuts. and you know, i made that clinton mistake. it is exactly what clinton did running against newt gingrich and the republican congress and worked in 1996. i think that there is a reasonable shot it will work again. >> no. '94, newt gingrich and them rallied and in '96, president clinton was successful. thank you, congressman. >> great to be with you, reverend al. ahead, you all remember the bermuda triangle where ships and planes vanished with no explanation. well, mitt has his own version. wait until you hear what he is saying today. karl rove happened to give a speech right next to romney's big retreat in utah.

and for some reason, romney's son is involved. amazing. martin luther king once said voting is the foundation stone for political action. nearly five decades of after the voting rights act, we are still fighting over voter suppression. i'm here in atlanta on a voting engagement to honored to have martin luther king iii join me. you are watching "politics nation."

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pokes, have you checked us out on facebook? the conversation is going all day long. today fired up over voter

suppression laws. dorothy, are there any principled republicans who will oppose this? they cannot all be zealots or are they afraid on speak out? renee shared good news whose sister is in philly. tells her people are all over the place helping with i.d.s, churches, schools, playgrounds. they are getting it together. we are all fighting back on this one. it is what i'm working on here today in atlanta. we want to hear from you and what you think, too. head over to facebook and search politics nation. like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show airs. lth as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. [ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin

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we are back on "politics nation" with a game of name that instrument. can you guess what it is? ♪ if you guessed steel drums, you are right. the music of the islands. the music of places like bermuda. what a beautiful island. it is known for its breathtaking white sand beaches and bermuda shorts. lots of bermuda shorts. in a variety of colors. who hasn't heard of the bermuda triangle? movies have been made about the ships and planes that mysterious livan i shalled there over the years. turns out that there's something else that's mysterious livan i shalling. the details surrounding aber maude a company listed under

romney's name. we don't know what he is hiding. in fact, neither does he. >> i don't manage them. don't know where they are. that trustee that follows all u.s. tax laws and all taxes are paid as appropriate. all have been reported to the government. there's nothing hidden there. >> nothing hidden. nothing hidden. folks, think about this. isn't it weird he doesn't know about a company that he owns in bin bermuda? people, people, people, don't most people know where their money? and it only gets more confusing from there. an ap report that bermuda company he owns is among several romney holdings that has not been fully disclosed. mitt set it up in 1997 while working at bain capital. it was used among other things in bain's billion dollar takeover of domino pizza.

later, it was transferred into a blind trust owned by romney's wife one day before he was sworn in as governor. sure doesn't look like romney doesn't know anything about that could. but the fact remains that he owns a bermuda company. did you ever think we would have a presidential candidate who owns a bermuda company? well, we do. only he doesn't know anything about it. sort of seeks are were you is weird. it is exactly what vice president biden was talking about today when he hit mr. romney for not releasing his tax returns. >> when his father was a candidate for president in 1968, his father released 12 years of tax returns because he said, and i quote, one year could be a fluke. perhaps done for show, end of quote. that was his father. house son has released only one

year of his tax returns. he wants you to show your papers but he won't show us his. it is fascinating. >> he won't show us his papers. well, maybe because he doesn't know where they are. >> i don't manage them. don't even know where they are. >> joining me now is rebecca wilkins, senior counsel. benji has been covering the story closely. thanks to both of you for joining me tonight. >> thanks for having us. >> rebecca, let me start with you. please explain something to me. romney's bermuda company is listed as a company but it doesn't have any employees. and romney doesn't know anything about it. can you explain that to me? >> well, i don't think that it is possible that he doesn't know anything about it because it was set up before it was transferred to the blind trust.

it was set up back in the '90s and he was shown as the sole owner and then it was transferred to the trust. talk about the trustee of the trust is -- a long time adviser and romney's personal attorney. >> wait a minute. it was set up in the '9s. '97 by romney. >> right. >> so he knew about it in the '90s. it was transferred to a blind trust, that is controlled by his personal lawyer, yet he doesn't know anything about it now. >> yeah. that doesn't seem very plausible, does it? >> no. benji, let me go to you. when we look at the ap "vanity fair" story, we find out that the company was set up by romney in '97 and placed in a blind trust to bradford. then we find out that he doesn't seem to be investing too blindly because vanity fair points out the following.

quote, it is certainly true that under malt the trusts don't appear to be as blind as they might be. for instance, in 2010, the romneys invested $10 million in the start-up of a fund co-founded by their elder son, tagg and spencer. romney's one-time campaign fund-raiser. so seems like this blind trust can see something. >> right. there has been a lot of debate over how blind this trust is. it doesn't actually fit the federal guidelines for how a blind trust should work. important starters, it is run by -- as mentioned, one of romney's own close personal aides and a friend. it is -- so -- it is -- not exactly that much distance between him and this money. there's some evidence he has some influence. there's month way to clear this up without releasing significantly more records.

it is all very mysterious now. there's a lot of -- smoke and mitt romney says there were no taxes avoided, no illegal use of this at all. and you know, probably that's true. he has been a very careful guy his whole life. there just isn't way to know as long as he doesn't release any tax records and release any further information on it. >> you know, but -- but, rebecca, i think what's not careful, if you know you are running for president, you have been dreaming and -- of this for years, running for years, you own a company in bermuda. and then you won't even answer questions are be transparent. there's something strange. the company is only worth $10,000. i mean the ap reports of financial snapshot of sankaty in romney's 2010 tax returns showed the holding with almost no value at that time for $10,000 in both assets and liabilities. so why won't be he -- would he be so scared about releasing

information if this if it is only worth $10,000? >> that's the value that's reported in the income tax returns. tens of millions run through the corporation. it is possible. it is just that at the time that the return was prepared at the date of the reporting date, it didn't have anything in it. it doesn't mean that it hasn't been used to invest in other things and -- and to -- >> so why would he open it if it is not for tax purposes, run a lot of money through it? >> why does anybody open entity in a tax haven? it is because they want to avoid the rules and regulations that would apply to them onshore. and the primary one of those is tax evasion. you know what bothers me more than romney having a bermuda corporation is the fact that when he was head of bain capital, bain capital started forming all of its private equity funds in the cause men islands. and he made that decision on

behalf of bain capital. so even if he and his partners at bain aren't using those entities to evade tax, they make it really easy for their investors to evade tax. that is facilitating tax evasion and find it shocking he thinks that's okay. >> so the reason that you go to the cayman islands in bermuda and the reason that some of the clients if not bain itself is to deal with tax havens and avoid taxes here in the united states where you are running for president. >> right. here in the united states or around the world. the funds probably have investors from all over the world from the united kingdom or france or the united states. and that cayman islands entity doesn't go through the filing requirements anywhere. it doesn't have to tell any tax authority anywhere in the world who its investors are or how much income they got from that investment. cheat on your taxes and it makes it really easy. >> benji, in the debate this

year, the real reason might have slipped when romney was in the debate. listen to this. >> why not should the people of south carolina in this election see last year's return? >> because i want to make sure -- i bee president obama. every time we release things drip by drip the democrats go out with another array of attacks. >> so -- the democrats got another array of attacks so that's why you will not be transparent why you ask people for vote for you to be president of the united states? >> he is right about one thing. democrats are coming out with a lot of attacks. attacks are saying look, why don't just release these records already then? and if you remember from that debate, that didn't work out very well for mitt romney. he got booed and was forced to immediately capitulate and release at least a couple of years where only one full year of his taxes which is how we first discovered this bermuda company was still an asset in the first place.

it was unknown for about a decade he even still owned this thing. so it is difficult to see how things aren't heading the same way right now. democrats really succeeded in highlighting a lot of the questions and issues that i think a lot ichd analysts confirm are legitimate and serious and probably merit quite a bit more documentation for mitt romney. >> rebecca, there is clearly the investments and business done by bain under willard mitt romney in the cayman islands and bermuda. what is the cayman islands sandwich? >> well, it is -- very sophisticated tax planning technique that involves avoiding withholding taxes around the world and avoiding reporting requirements around the world by using cayman islands entities in between all of the investments that you are doing. >> thank you for your time this

evening. >> thank you. >> speaker boehner is back in washington working hard on, of course, i'm kidding. he is trying to repeal the health care law again. congressman ellison joins us. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go.

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. today the white house extended federal health insurance to firefighters on the frontlines. temporary employees but now they will have health insurance. but tomorrow yet again, republicans will try to repeal the obama health care law. that's next. a key role throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage.

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miralax. tomorrow about the 31st time that republicans have tried to repeal or defund president obama's health care law. just two years ago the tea party was all about bringing down the president's greatest achievement. but a funny thing has happened. americans are starting to warm up to the health care law it is still not popular but this blog shows support for the health care law when went up by eight points since the supreme court ruling and opposition went down by six points. the game has changed. but republicans don't know it.

they thought this they could come back from their holiday break and revive this boogieman with hours of hearings and debate on the house floor. one republican lawmaker even compared the health care ruling of the courts to the core's infamous dread scott decision. >> i believe this decision will go down in history as one of the most deplorable ever rendered, taking place of infamy next to scott. >> and just last week, the same maine governor who once said, quote, as your governor, you are going to be seeing a lot of me on the front page saying governor lepage tells obama to go to hell. and he still won't apologize for that ugly talk. on the state level, there's extremism and it knows no bounds. texas governor rick perry announced he wouldn't implement

the law and said this about medicaid. >> the bottom line here is that medicaid is a failed program. to expand this program is not unlike adding a thousand people to the titanic. >> the titanic? really? the president didn't see it that way today in iowa. neither did the fired up crowd. >> i'm running because i believe that nobody in america should go broke just because they get sick. our health care law was the right thing to do. it was the right thing to do. >> well, republicans, you really think you can repeal a health care law that's working? good luck with that. join me now is congressman keith

ellerson, democrat from minnesota. co-chairman of the progressive caucus. wes moore, retired captain in the u.s. army and best-selling author of "the other wes moore." thank you, both, for being here. >> thank you. >> thank you, reverend. >> congressman, let me start with you. i mean, did i miss something? what happened to the republican trying to get americans back to work? >> you know, we are all still looking for that plan to get americans back to work. i can remember with speaker boehner was taunting the president saying where are the jobs? where are the jobs? well, he's been the one obstructing the jobs. they want to know why it is we don't have better job numbers, why won't studded don't they pass a jobs bill, let's start with the american jobs act outlined by president obama? they won't let it the floor. they wouldn't extend a six-year transportation bill. i mean, they have been obstructing every step of the way. no one will ever forget how they failed to -- allowed the faa bill to ex-pure, putting people

out of work. it has been a disaster. >> congressman, they are the party that's concerned about the deficit and yet, the hill report on the impact of the health care law says that when the cbo scored house republicans first bill to repeal, the affordable care act, it estimated -- this is the cbo, it estimated that repeal would probably increase the federal deficit by roughly $145 billion over ten years. how did they justify this as being the ones that want to deal with the deficit but if they repealed this health care law, the first repeal they than went through, without it actually increase the deficit by this huge amount of money. >> these deficit hawks turn into deficit chickens and just as soon as they are confront bid the facts of what they want to do. everything falls on the face of their ideology. i don't believe that they are really concerned about the

deficit. i think what they want to do is to create cut -- cut taxes, create deficit and justify all of it by only spending cuts. because that's all they ever want to do but not to military and not to things which people want like tax cuts for the wealthy. just programmatic cuts for middle class and working people. so really, you know, if you add up their whole program, it is a program of the rich people don't have enough money and the poor people have too much. >> now, wes moore, the politics of this is changing. it is still -- not popular with everyone. but clearly not as unpopular as it was about that 2010. >> the reason the politics is changing is because people have a better understanding of the policy. what happened after -- one of the interesting changes that happened after the supreme court ruling was people actually got to -- chance to understand what the bill actual lynn corporated. what was actually inside of the bill. so when people got a chance to

understand that this bill made sure that if you had pre-existing conditions, you could not have an insurance company that could tell you they wouldn't cover you, when people understood this bill said if you are 26 years of age or younger, particularly with women, youth unemployment in this country is at 17-plus percent. and that if you are under the age of 26, you can still be on your parents' coverage. people understood the details of this bill, that's when you started watching the numbers change because up until that point people didn't have a complete understanding of just how powerful this bill could be for the average american familiar reply. >> i also think we started seeing human faces and understanding that what this bill meant to people, we had on the program stephanie miller whose sister died of cancer and she was praising the health care law on -- just last week on this show. watch this. >> i truly believe that if a bill like president obama's had been in effect five or ten years ago, my sister could have went to the doctors, she could have

gotten preventative health care. they could have detected the colon cancer early. it is one of the most curable cancers there is. she could still be here with her kids. >> so when you have people that are talking about their personal experience, life and death of their loved ones, it sort of changes how people perceive this and in just a cold removed way. >> that's right. statistics add context. but stories promote action. that's the difference. i think when we can talk about the health care law and health care and the potential of health care appeal and to do it in such a colding and terse way without understanding the lives that potentially are going to be affected by this. people want to talk about jobs. here's -- here is a plug for a jobs program. when can you have particularly with youth unemployment, when you can have an opportunity for young people who can stay on their parents' insurance instead of having to go to potential employers for insurance, this is a jobs plan. this is something that -- doesn't hurt the american

economy. it helps promote small businesses to make hire that's may not have made. we have to show people these are not just numbers or 20 million-plus american numbers we are talking about. these are stories. these are our neighbors and our friends. that's why in bill matters. >> congressman, the fact is that an anonymous gop strategist told "the new york times" that health care is a winning issue for democrats. he says any time republicans are debating taxes and the economy, we are winning and any time we are debating health care, they are winning. one of the reasons that that seems to be the case is if you look at polling on what's covered in the bill, 85% of people polled support covering those with pre-existing conditions. 77% support reduced drug costs for medicare recipients. 68% support adults under 26 staying on parents' plan. this is a loser for them. why are they going through these

motions again tomorrow for the 31st time? >> i think that it is that they are sore losers and trying to just hang on to a failed thing that they tried to do which is to defeat health care. they tried to call it obamacare and now what people -- rejoicing call it obamacare. but frank loves -- predicted this a long time ago. their strategists. he said, you know, if the democrats pass health care, we can lose the house for decades. he was right. he said this a pew years ago. what he didn't know is that the republican machine would be so prolific with all this other mess they threw out there, now that the stories and stats are coming through, i think that -- both and you mr. moore are right. americans are going to embrace this bill. >> congressman keith ellison, wes moore, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you, sir there it has been 47 years since the voting rights act. now we are fighting not just against new voter i.d. laws but

also against the right wing challenges to the voting rights act itself. how we got here and how we must go forward. martin luther king iii, we are honored to have him here with us tonight. that's coming up. [ male announcer ] let's say you need to take care of legal matters. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense.

the law says mitt romney and his campaign may not coordinate with super pac supporting his campaign but somehow keeps

bumping into people running the super pacs. the huffington post reports karl rove gave a speech last month. right next door to a utah retreat for romney donors. rove's speech was sponsored by a private equity firm funded by romney's son, tagg. just this weekend, protesters held signs outside of a romney fund-raiser hosted you about billionaire donor david cook. romney joked, i understand there is a plane out there saying mitt romney has a koch problem. i don't look at it as a problem. i look at it as an asset. folks, super pac rules are flawed to begin with. but romney and his buddies are doing whatever they can to blur the lines. this is the time where i normally say gotcha. cher not even trying to hide what they are doing. oh, what the heck. we got you anyway. ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪

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we are back on "politics nation." live from atlanta. nearly five decades after martin luther king jr. fought for the voting rights act, we are still fighting voter suppression. our task today is urgent. as the right wing continues i swings state by state. swaying against the voting rights act. 17 states now have some former voter i.d. law. including right here in georgia. these laws could disenfranchise more than 5 million people. georgia was one of the first states to enact the voter i.d. laws in 2005. republicans say that they aren't men to stop anyone from voting but an associated press study out this week shows voter i.d. laws in georgia and indiana blocked 1,200 voters in 2008. today i was honored to welcome martin luther king iii to our

event. he's continuing his father's legacy as a civil rights leader and human rights activist. martin, thank you for being here. >> thank you. i'm honored to have the opportunity. >> you made a very passionate speech today at the network session at salem church about your father, what he fought for and now we are here trying to make sure people can vote and you thought that you would never see a day like this. >> well, i certainly -- 47 years after the voting rights act has been passed, i never would have thought that there would be states in our nation that are trying to keep people from voting or suppress the vote. i don't think the issue is people having an i.d. that's not the issue. tissue is selective i.d.s that everyone does not have access to. we don't have the luxury of not allowing people to vote in this nation we call a democracy. my father and many gave their lives so we could have the precious right.

we need to be voting in every election and it is about everybody voting. not any one party or one ethnic group. it is all b all americans. >> the attorney general said that this is the new poll tax. so clearly when you have the attorney general and others saying that this is clearly something that disproportionately affect minorities, let me show you what the attorney general said today. >> many of those without i.d.s would have to travel great distances to get there. and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them. we call those poll taxes. we will be vigilant and strong. let me be clear. let me be very clear. we will not allow political pretext to disenfranchise american citizens of their most precious right. >> so in effect, because it is causing seniors who have fixed incomes money, it is a poll tax, one of the reasons we are out

here and you have joined us on these tours is tow try to help facilitate that but why do we need new i.d. when there's no evidence that there is widespread fraud? we already have i.d. i.d. we used for reagan, nixon, clinton, what's wrong with that i.d. now? >> that's a very good question. i don't know that anyones that answer. you would hate to think that any of our elected officials would want to keep people from voting. but it appears that there is an effort, front, to keep people from voting. and so i think we just had to be vigilant as we always have. there's nothing more powerful in all the world than an idea whose time has come, victor hugo used to say the time has come for us to mobilize, organize, and registration with education will create ultimately voter participation. >> one of the reasons that we are moving in july is because if people have to get i.d. and may take weeks to get the i.d. back and then they have to register before 30 days. you can't do this in october.

what do you say as the son of dr. king and mrs. coretta scott king to people that are frustrated, that it is so complex, i'm tired of -- going through all of these different complications to vote. >> while i say this is a -- quirk, you know, i have to think about what my dad and his team went through. and the struggles that they and others, even before them, went through to accomplish what they accomplished. this is a minor glitch. it is a glitch in the road. it is a glitch in the road. this is minor compared to what they had to do. all we have to do is to stand up and be counted. and make it be known we want to participate in this process and actually democratically we have -- we have the right to participate. >> you know, i sort of -- workshop when people were being instructed on what to do and how to get people the i.d. i thought about what you just said. c.t. was there and punched by

sheriffs. how do we have the nerve to complain. viola lost her life, her daughter marched with us in march of this year. i think that when we look at how we got here, we would be cheapening the memories of those that gave their lives to just let it go like this. >> we cannot. we have no choice in this matter. i think what we have to do is also mobilize the entertainment community. those who have voices, the ath let economathletic community. people are waiting. waiting for one voice but there is not going to be one voice. it is going to be a collective voice and that makes the difference so that those who we elect will protect and preserve the rights of tall people. >> thank god we still have the voice of the king family and you out there. clearly this is not about who people vote for. we want to protect people's trite vote. martin luther king iii. thank you for your time tonight. we will be right back.

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the cost of secrecy. i want to talk about the secrecy surrounding mitt romney's campaign. there are five months left in this race. we will definitely learn more about mitt romney before it is over. but as we have reported, there's much don't know about. lack of hard policy solutions. something surrogates say is a good thing. >> i think right now romney is smart to wait before he starts laying out proposal after proposal. he ultimately will. >> that's a -- big enough problem. the heart of this issue is secrecy about how he accumulated his wealth and what he's done with it since. one of mr. romney's spokespersons say questions about his wealth are oun founded character. calling them unseenly and disgusting. i don't see a dead weight. only way to judge how someone

would lead the country is to look at their past. the president says it is important to have these questions answered. >> what's important if you are running for president is that the american people know who you are and what you have done and that you are an open book. >> an open book. that's hardly what we are seeing. "new york times" columnist paul kroegman says, quote, what a man does with his money is a major clue to his character. that's why there are questions. that's why the veil of secrecy the troublesome. mitt romney keeps saying he's proud of being a successful businessman. he's proud that he was able to earn and do well. and that's good. so if you are proud of it tell us how you did it. and tell us what you did with it. you can't be proud of something that you won't tell us what you are proud of. spread the pride. or we will only assume that