tv Politics Nation MSNBC August 7, 2012 3:00pm-4:00pm PDT
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[ alyson ] just keep walking... ♪ oh, come on! ♪ ugh, again! [ sniffs ] that's what i'm talkin' about. [ female announcer ] up to 100% flake-free, flirty hair. head & shoulders green apple. all right. so south korea pulls off the volleyball upset and that's all the time we have for today. don't forget to go to nbcolympics.com for tv and screening schedules. for more turn over to the nbc sports network. nbc coverage is back tomorrow at 9:00. i'm rob simmelkjaer, we'll see you tomorrow. >> welcome to politics live to
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from miami. we begin tonight with a question. where's sarah palin? the gop lined up lots of speakers important the republican national convention. today rick santorum was added do the list. and so was tea party favorite senator rand paul. both come on the heels of yesterday's big get governor rick 36% approval scott. huh? but still no word on if sarah palin will speak. could it be that governor romney just doesn't like her all that much? that story ahead. there is someone else that hasn't made the speaker's list yet. someone who could be tapped as mr. romney's vp. i'm talking about congressman paul ryan. the man who embodies unfairness and his budget literally takes from the poor and middle class to give to the rich. mr. romney has fully signed on to that fair logic and president
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obama slammed that thinking last night. >> he asked the middle class to pay more in taxes so he could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. it is like robin hood in reverse. it is romney-hood. >> romney-hood. nothing embodies romney hood more than ryan's plan. to pay for massive tax breaks, plunders our seniors and turns medicare into voucher programs and raises the eligibility age to 67. and makes seniors pay $6400 more for their coverage. this is romney hood. this is what the election is going to boil down to. the main obama super pac is going to the ryan budget. central discussion in this
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election. and republicans wanted it to be central, too. don't ask me. ask them. >> endorsed the ryan plan. all the republicans in the house and senate voted for it. i prefer to have paulry an defending that plan and go on the offensive and have mitt romney say damn right. >> you want to defend gutting our seniors to pay for the rich? maybe they do. mr. romney certainly loves congressman ryan's plan. >> i applaud it. it is an excellent piece of work and -- very much needed. >> spent a good deal of time with congressman ryan when his plan came out i applauded it as a very important step. this is a guy that's willing to stand for something. >> what paul ryan stands for is a system where the top 1% thrives at the expense of everyone else. at the expense of the poor and the expense of our seniors. that sort of topped down
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economics is a tough sell. and president obama made that point last night. >> if this sounds like an idea that's difficult to explain or sell to the american people, you would be right. so there are all kinds of different gymnastics being perfect formed by the romney campaign last week. they have tried to sell us this trickle-down tax fairy dust before. guess what, it does not work. >> don't be fooled by the fairy dust because what mr. romney and mr. rn are selling is a might mayor. joining me now is joan walsh, editor-at-large with salon.com. and political analyst for msnbc. and dana mill bank, columnist for "the washington post." thank you both for being here this evening. >> hi, reverend. >> joan, let me start with you. there is a lot of talk about bain and offshoring.
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but ultimately, ultimately, do you think that this election will come down to the ryan/romney plan and fairness? >> i think it will be very significant, reverend al. i think that, you know, the idea that paul ryan would make a good vice president, bring it on. i would love to see those would campaigning side-by-side. would of the most robotic, uncare its mat wrik and unsympathetic americans i have seen. >> he said acrobatic. did you say acrobatic? >> no. uncharismatic, robotic. charles pierce of "esquire" calls paul ryan the zombie granny. paul ryan is really a zealot and really thinks he can sell this budget. he doesn't think seniors are going to pick up on how much it costs them. he really wants to make the election about the so-called takers versus the makers. not realizing that a lot of the
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republican base is actually on the taker's side. and so i say bring it on. everything that is in his budget,it is what mitt romney does want to do. he told us. we are going to talk about his budget in quiet rooms. he's not going to make the mistake of telling us what he would cut but paul ryan does tell us what he would cut. so this is a terrific blueprint for a political debate around fairness and i think it is a debate president obama wins. >> fairness. we are talking about the politics of fairness. let me ask you, dana, today the -- romney campaign and mr. romney launched an offensive against president obama on the issue of welfare. he launched an ad and he also talked about it repeatedly today. take a listen. >> his perspective is that more and more people ought to have the capacity to be part of the welfare system and they shouldn't have to have the work
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requirement president clinton or republicans put in place some years ago. >> that is wrong and if i'm president i will put work back in welfare. >> now, dana, i'm confused because it just doesn't add up. because romney -- obama administration, let me show you what he says. obama administration did not remove requirements, simply allowed states more flexibility and administering their programs. this is what president obama has said that they want to have. the reason that's confusing, even more so, is that in wife, he, mr. romney, was one of 29 gop governors who signed a letter asking for the same waiver program he's now criticizing. the letter said that increased waiver authority and the ability to coordinate state programs all important aspects of moving aspects of moving recipients from welfare to work.
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so he is slamming the president forgiving states waivers or dealing with states needing waivers. when he -- in fact joined 28 other governors in requesting the exact same thing in 2005. >> you know, reverend, i don't think that mitt romney needs to run with paul ryan to earn the romney hood label. think about it. obama says this last night. what do we have? we have romney in chicago today saying let's crack down on welfare, more -- you know, make sure those are really stiff work requirements. then turns around and goes to two fund-raisers. first people pitting up to $50,000 to get into and second one people are paying up to $75,000 to get into. he's -- basically illustrated the point from right there. i don't think you need paul ryan hip self to be on the ticket to illustrate that stark difference between the two candidates here. that would, as joan said, i think, help people clarify things in a very easy way.
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it is an awfully stark choice to begin with. >> joan, on the -- contrast of attacking welfare and going to these huge fund-raisers, that's certainly the -- clearly badly advised. but aside from optics which we are all -- mr. romney has not mastered, plenty -- hypocrisy here. consistent flip-flopping. is this not another form of blatant hypocrisy to come out and blast president obama on something that you yourself signed and requested as governor of massachusetts in 2005? >> well, there he goes again, reverend al. you know, the thing is, he's -- we talked about this. he is in the mitt-ness protection program. he was never governor of massachusetts. it did not happen. so everything that you try to blame on him for his tenure there, like the penalty if you
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don't pay, et cetera, he didn't do it because he wasn't governor. so once again, we have a situation where he's just refusing to run on his record as governor and he's -- he's also slurring and sliming this president and really in traditional republican ways. i mean, let's just say it. welfare is a code for some other words. and, again, it is back to the makers versus the takers. we had newt gingrich calling president obama the food stamp president. we know what those words mean. we know that -- they are trying to gin up the notion that this president is the guy who is giving handouts to parasites. when, in fact, mitt romney is the one that wants to give handouts to welly parasites and give them more of a share of our nation's wealth. but it's just -- it is shocking but it is not shocking. how many times can we sit here and be outraged by mitt romney
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running against something he did in massachusetts? he will not own it. >> now let's it is getting down to it because i think joan just touched it. giving out welfare to pair sites. food stamp president while, in fact, you really hurt in the middle class and giving out subsidies to the rich or tax breaks to be the rich. isn't what this campaign really coming down tos in term of fairness that we are going to give the rich a break while we demonize the poor and we charge it to the middle class? isn't this really what we are looking at? >> yeah, reverend. i don't think you have to be the sheriff of nottingham to figure out exactly what is going on here. and that's why in that sense, mitt romney would be doing everybody a favor by making it official and having paul ryan on the ticket. he doesn't need to do that. by doing that, he's -- tied himself more closely than he already has to those policies and i think that would give the
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sort of choice that both sides are talking about but i think bill kristol in asking for that is exactly right. that would clarify things for everybody and let people make that choice. >> joan walsh and dana mill bank, thank you both for your time tonight. >> thanks. >> ahead, nra is raising funds on gun violence with a fantasyland brick that president obama is taking your guns away. plus, remember practice? who can forget the hanging chad. what's going on here in florida right now is worse than before. because it is planned. and this round goes to sarah palin. dick cheney blinks after calling the palin pick a mistake. is she about to make life harder for mitt romney? and spike lee joins us live to talk politics, movies and more. you are watching "politics
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nation" on msnbc. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team.
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folks, have you checked us out on facebook yet? the conversation is going all day long. today our community was all over the president's romney hood comment. bruce says, it is not just reverse robin hood, quote, the entire republican party is in reverse. i mean, it is rob-me-hood. this new photo of gabby competing in london is a big topic, too. even if she doesn't win another medal in london, she has already had some great achievements.
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i so admire how she is handling all of this pressure and scrutiny. go, gabby! we want to hear what you think, too. head over to facebook and search "politics nation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. what are you gonna do? ♪ [ cross ] i'm gonna finish what he started. who is he? [ dita ] it's aaron cross. consider the magnitude of what we're facing. ♪ withdraw your team. do not try to take him. aaron! you okay? let's go. [ male announcer ] "the bourne legacy." rated pg-13.
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anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. this afternoon in tucson, arizona, jerrod lee loughner pled guilty to killing six people and shooting 13 others. including congresswoman gabrielle giffords. in colorado, aurora schools reopened today. 2 1/2 weeks after a gunman
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opened fire in a movie theater there leaving 12 people dead and wounding 58 others. meantime, and we are learning much more about the white supremacist who walked into a sikh temple in wisconsin and shot six people dead two days ago. these are the stories dominating the headlines this latest shooting in wisconsin has raised, again, the issue of home-grown terrorists. it isn't a new phenomenon. in april of 2009, the department of homeland security released this report on right-wing extremism which warned, quote, the economic downturn and the election of the first african-american president present unique drivers for right-wing radicalization and recruitment. republicans eviscerated the department and secretary janet
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napolitano claiming right wing extremism was a bunch of liberal bigotry. >> disagree with that lib rat path president obama has taken down. you may soon catch the attention of the department of homeland security. >> it is just nonsense. find real bad guys. you don't need to make them up! >> this is a radical, irresponsible condemnation of legitimate political dissent which is terrifying. >> all of this stuff they talk about regarding these right-wing groups has never come to fruition. there's no real threat. >> joining me now is mark, senior fellow at the southern poverty law center. he is an expert on home-grown terrorists. mark, these mass killings by home-grown terrorists are becoming way too common. what do you attribute them to? >> well, i think that the 2009 dhs report you referred to was
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really accurate. in fact, it -- although research completely independently very much mirrored our own findings. you know, what's going on out there is the country is changing racially, whites are losing their majority, and that, of course is very much represented in the person of barack obama. so that combined with the very bad economy since the fall of wait has resulted, you know in just an explosive growth of groups on the radical right. and i think that very obviously a real growth in domestic terrorism as well. the attack on the sikh temple near milwaukee being the only latest example. so, you know, that report was dead-on accurate. it was renounced by janet napolitano in what i view as just a cowardly cave-in of -- you know, to the political right. you know. it is astounding, some of those comments that were made about the dhs report are absolutely
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false. it is as if these people never actually read the report. it certainly did not portray all conservatives as potential timothy mcveighs as the political right claimed. >> let's go into what some of what the fbi said. here is how they described, let's start here, right wing extremism. 2004 and these are -- this is all in the report. 2004, it sounds a lot like the sikh temple shooting. quote, right wing extremists and here to a variety -- adhere to a variety of ideologies but commonly espoused some form of anti-government sentiment and/or racist philosophies. right wing terrorists poses significant threat due to their propensity for violence. many groups increased their rhetoric and recruitment efforts since september 11. this is 2004. in the report in 2007, the fbi reported the danger of lone individuals carrying out acts of
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suicide terrorism. quote, it says, the threat of suicide terrorism derives less from groups engages in coordinated well drg orchestrated campaigns of violence and more from individuals acting alone upon the messages of hate espoused by these groups. that's beginning to look like what we are seeing in wisconsin. >> i think that's absolutely what we are seeing in response in wisconsin. you know, it is class pick lone-wolf terrorism. and that is the reason why it is so very difficult to stop these kinds of attacks. the reality is that's what we see from the domestic radical right these days. these are not plots that are cooked up in the large rooms with filled with lots of white men. these are typically agents that are undertaken by a single individual on their own volition. so -- you know, the sad part of this whole story or one of the
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sad parts of the story is i just don't think there is anything that law enforcement might have done to stop this shooter in milwaukee. when a person on their own decides to attack a group of people and doesn't say anything about it to anyone it is almost impossible for law enforcement or for groups like the southern poverty law center to pick up that kind of a plot. >> let me go to the -- southern poverty law enter. your study says that these -- hate groups have grown every year. we are dealing with the fact that there is clearly individuals that are operating, there are groups and according to the southern poverty law ent enter, you guys are reporting they have grown. in 2000 there were 602 hate groups and in 2011 there will be 1018. is it these conditions and the election of president obama that is helping to grow these groups in your opinion? >> yes. it is. the short answer is yes.
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it is not only hate groups, it is also -- this is where we are seeing the most explosive growth. it is the growth of militias. the groups we saw. so many of back in the 1990s. there the growth has been unbelievable. and in 2008, there were 149 of these groups. then barack obama appeared on the scene and that november was elected. in 2009, all of a sudden we had 512 of these groups. 2008, 824. sorry. 2010, last year, 1274. so we are seeing just enormous expansion of these groups, you know, at a rate we simply have never seen in the past before. >> mark, thanks for your time tonight. one note, we are learning today that the national rifle association is trying to raise money off the shootings in colorado. bloomberg is reporting that nra
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executive vice president wynn la pierre sent a fund-raising letter to nra supporters. just three days after the shooting in colorado. the letter doesn't mention the colorado shootings but la pierre wrote the future of your second amendment rights will be at stake and nothing less than the future of our country and our freedom will be at stake. and the letter reportedly says that president obama's re-election would result in the con fist indication of our firearms and poetenially ban on semiautomatic weapons. he told supporters that if they contributed, quote, the money will be used for hundreds of thousands of the and radio ads. and especially in hand full of key swing states. that simply is amazing. and totally, totally outrageous.
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nation." live tonight from miami. we have been reporting on the republican effort to block the vote. an effort that's in full force here in this crucial swing state. and in the last two years, 19 states passed voter suppression laws. but florida may be the most crucial. republican governor rick scott's requiring photo i.d.s and purging voter roles. last year he signed a controversial elections bill. it cut early voting from 14 days to eight. forced voters who have moved from county to county to cash provisional ballots and it placed restrictions on voter registration. a judge temporarily blocked those restrictions in may. folks, this is happening in florida. the same florida that gave us hanging chads in 2000. and today, florida's less process is once again in the national spotlight for all of the wrong reasons.
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so i have come here today with my organization and national action network to inform voters and engage volunteers about the laws. we must -- even if you win in court. not of a question we get the idea. we know what they are trying to do. the question is how we are going to rise to combat it. and we cannot do it without coalescing and building together. we are trying to con the legacy of freedom fighters. >> we must, we must start pushing back on these suppression tactics. joining me now is congresswoman frederica wilson. democrat from florida who attending the voting engagement tour and the bishop victor cu y curry, pastor of new birth church. here in miami. he is also with us tonight.
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i want to thank both of you for joining me. let me start with you, congresswoman wilson. what is going on in florida? it is so brazen, as i see it. what are you hearing from your constituents? >> well, reverend al, this is truly a crucial time in the history of florida. where 47 years after the voting rights act has been passed, it passed yesterday. and here we are still addressing the same issues. it is such a crucial time because we are disenfranchising so many people. we are disenfranchising seniors, students, poor people, and the elderly. and as we are so happy that you came to miami to stand with bishop curry and bishop curry, we are so happy that you took the torch to establish the national action network in miami. we will be there with you because we have got to come together to fight these voter
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suppression laws that are causing people so much trauma and they are turning them away from the polls. because they do not have the appropriate identification. >> now, bishop curry, you have one of the largest congregations in the country. certainly in florida. and i heard you talk about how they are targeting african-american seniors, list that the congresswoman just gave. in fact, early voting in 2008 general election, 54% are african-americans voted early. now they are limiting voting early. it is this you think -- directed that after -- at african-american? >> of course. as you mentioned, we have a -- souls to the polls. it would be on sundays that after worship service, thousands of people would go and vote. well, the governor has cut that in half. and reverend sharpton to everyone else, million we can win this on another level, we
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have to beat them at their own game. if you give us eight days we will take advantage of the eight days and get souls to the polls. we are not going to let this deter us and not let this dissuade us and sure not going to let it discourage us. too many people suffered, bled and died for the right for us. we have to take advantage. whatever they give us, played a hand you have been dealt. you give us eight days, we will make it work in eight days. >> congresswoman, you have said to people to vote absentee, we are going to fight on to turn the laws around. but at the same time, we have to go get people their i.d. or get them to vote abensee. would-pronged strategy. >> absolutely. you can either have a voter identification card or an absentee ballot. take your choice. we must make sure that everyone goes to the polls and votes. those are the choices in florida. florida happens to be one of the easiest places to vote absentee. that came about after they -- republicans found out that that
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is the way republicans like to vote. the democrats have to get onboard. so we can either vote absentee or we can get the appropriate identification from the appropriate sources. you must have one or the other. you do not have an excuse. do you not have the luxury to stay home. you have got to vote! >> bishop curry, people around the country need to know when you make this charge about african-americans, it was stunning to read a deposition from former florida republican chairman jim grier who said under oath, quote, political consultants and staff were talking about voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting. this is the former republican chair of this state. >> yes. >> saying exactly what you are accusing them of have been discuss. >> exactly. i think what we need to do, again, we got to beat them at their own game. we know what their tactics are. bottom line is, we are playing
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flag football while they are playing full contact. the democratic party, african-american churches, everyone, people who just love this country. i think it is -- really anti-american to try to suppress legitimate people from voting. there's something that seems to to be wrong with that. every time i see these people there, they have the american flag behind them but their practices don't speak the same way that they are -- that -- that their voices are speaking. i'm hoping and praying that people of good will, black, white, latinos, people of good will, would see through this facade and just say to the republican party, why don't you win the elections fair and square. >> congresswoman, even some republicans have expressed some doubt about this. former florida governor charlie kris on "andrea mitchell's" show two weeks ago said this about voter suppression. he said, in florida, we have a history of having you some pretty close election. and i think everybody remembers 2000 how close that was so every
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single vote matters and the notion and idea of making it more difficult to exercise this precious right that so many people have fought and died for for our fellow americans and my fellow floridians is just unconscionable to me. this is a former republican governor questioning this. >> well, this is -- this shows you how deep this. i grew up during the civil rights movement. i know how hard it was. my daddy do -- grew up during the depression and he told us about the poll tax and how when you went to the polls they would ask you how many bubbles are in a bar of soap. crazy questions like that. so we have come full circle back to the same kind of crucial points in our history. we have got to overcome that. we have got to make sure that we vote. we have a president who needsing a second term. someone who is fighting for the working class and the middle class. someone who is making sure that everyone has health care. i call it obama cares.
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he cares about all of us. he cares about me. he cares about you. republicans, democrats, independents. vote. >> bishop curry, i have got to go but i think that you made it clear to your congregation and others working with you, even if you don't vote for people we may choose, we have to protect the vote good that's our goal and objective. protect the vote. >> all right. congresswoman frederica wilson, bishop victor curry, thanks for your time tonight to both of you. ahead -- >> thank you. >> sarah palin makes dick cheney blink. so why is mitt romney ignoring her? all that plus spike lee joins us live to talk politics, movies, and more. stay with us. [ female announcer ] think coarse facial hair removal has to be painful?
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literally. he smashed his way into the record books breaking 1 on 50 negatives 60 seconds. now over to pakistan for a jaw-dropping political debate on live tv. check out the man in the middle. he was so busy chewing out the other guy, that his teeth came out. he was really chomping at the bit. but the last move left him with a toothless argument. all bark and no bite. i guess that's what you get for mouthing off. and finally to the far east, to china, an innovative way to chop a salad or fruit with playing cards. they are attempting a world record for slicing cucumbers here. this real-life fruit ninja has deadly aim. look at them attack that watermelon. he slices and he dices. i bet governor romney's campaign ad editors are just green with
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envy. wonder if justice scalia can get his broccoli cut with cards. that's today's "summer break." s. ♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants. ♪ guts. glory. ram. who learned to fly. not with wings or a jet pack, but with her new dell laptop and a little ingenuity, too. ♪ her fast processor made for a smooth takeoff. ♪ she could soar clear across the sky on her hd screen. and beyond. [ female announcer ] inspiron 15r, powered by
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choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? welcome back. it has been 26 years since director spike lee burst on to the filmmaking scene with his comedy "she's got to have it." he has been stirring things up ever since with his latest film "red hook summer" opening up this month. lee is back in brooklyn with another slice of life from the place where he grew up and whose story he continues to tell. joining me now is director extraordinaire, spike lee. spike, goods to see you. thanks for being here tonight. >> thank you. i know why you have to be in florida. so -- keep it up, baby. >> yeah, well let me ask you about that. i want to talk to you about the film. i'm down here in florida to fight the voter suppression efforts you have been watching
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and -- and helping to get fairness. how do you assess where we are when we see voting laws changing all of a sudden? >> i have a few words for it. skullduggery. it is the okey-doke. you know, they are trying -- pull the bamboozle. leaders astray. run amok. it is -- it is the okey-doke. you knew what happened the last time in florida. so more shenanigans. shenanigan. >> let me ask you, you were there at the convention in 2008. you and grant parker mite. >> i was right there with you, baby. >> yeah. and you were -- the president even came to your house. did a fund-raiser recently earlier this year. where do you think the president is now in this election? you have been quoted as saying it is going to be tight, do you think people are going to come out, do you think the president will be successful? how do you handicap the race now? >> i think it is going to be
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tight because you see -- the other guy is going to pull all type of tactics. when you start talking words like welfare and -- you know, call out willie horton's brother. you know, people get desperate. they are going to do whatever they are going to do to win. >> now, you -- i read somewhere you met mitt romney once. what do you think of him? >> at the moment we met, he was not running for the president of the united states of america. i was in reagan airport, washington, d.c. i was in line to buy something. he was -- i was like two, lee people in front of him in line. returned around and said hello and shook hands. that was it. >> do you think that the base of voters enthused yet or going to need to be more done to get them enthused? >> no. i think stuff is not going to
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pick up -- in my opinion, until school starts. when the summer is over, that's when people are going to -- who have been asleep are going to wake up and say you know what, i got -- i got to help. i think it is going to -- it is going to be a -- a late arriving crowd. >> all right. that's fair. let me ask you, you are probably one of the top filmmakers in american history. >> that's debatable but go ahead. >> and you -- >> i thank you for this brooklyn love. >> yeah, well, but it is true. have you done some sensational movies, classics. now you are going back to brooklyn. >> yes, sir. >> and i have seen the film that you have coming out later this month -- >> opens friday, friday, friday. >> coming out this friday. >> in new york. >> tell me why you are going back to brooklyn and what you are trying to communicate with this film. >> well, rev, i wouldn't say i'm going back to brooklyn because i feel i have never left.
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i was not born in brooklyn. i was born in atlanta, georgia. i moved to brooklyn when i was a year old. it is a place i love. when you look at the history of brooklyn and all the people that have come from there, no other place like it in the world. so -- what "red hook summer," it started with "she's got to have it" in 19 is 86. "do the right thing." "he got game," coney island. "clockers" was bourn hill. "red hook" is one of the most unique neighborhoods. it is really strange -- i mean, you got -- go out to get -- out of your way to get there. also, people -- you know, grew up in baltimore. carmelo anthony was born in brooklyn and raised in the red hook project. >> you make that point in the film. i was reading a review in the have you evering ton post that says the film feels like his most personal theatrical work in
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a decade or so. it is a solid and often fascinating return to very specific form from one of the most interesting filmmakers of all time. once and all. and -- >> i saw how you left out that warts and all line. i brought it back. i brought it back. i understand that you paid for it yourself, shot it in 19 days. your first film was "she's got on have it," shot in 12 days, also shot in brooklyn. are you returning to film roots? >> no. i think some people got it twisted as if it is saying i no longer work in hollywood. that's not the case. for me to tell this film, i had to finance it myself. it was not going to be made any other way. that's what it came down to. >> what's changed in the film industry in the last two decades? is it harder or easier for people to get films done? sit harder for african-americans
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and harder for new talent? what's changed? >> what's changed is it is harder for everybody. because when we are growing up, the big blockbuster films came out for memorial day to labor day. now big blockbuster films come out 12 months a year. and so -- for on a lot of studios, they are only looking to make films and going to make -- gazillion dollars. they dome feel it is worth their time to make films that are -- full profit and so, therefore, really hurt the diversity of the films being made and subject matter, too. >> now, let me ask you this. as this film is open thing friday, and i have already seen it and i am sure people that are -- know your work anticipating another spike lee joint and you never moved your offices out of brooklyn. i need to ask you about something else.
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aside from brooklyn both you and i share, michael jackson, in fact, you and i sat together at michael's memorial where i spoke -- >> staple center. >> yes. i understand that you are coming out with a documentary on michael. >> yes, that is true. i was -- contacted by sony records and the michael jackson estate to do a documentary about the making of the "bad" album. so it is done, world premiere will be a film festival august 31 in italy. and the thing about this is that i had full access to michael's archives. so there is stuff from his documentary that has never been seen before. never heard before. and it is great. even if i -- still saying that it is great. and you are going -- don't have to be a michael jackson fan to really love this documentary. it really shows you that the
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genius michael was and the hard work he put into his art. he just would wake up and do this. he -- worked hard to perfect his craft. so often, as you know, we just see -- we see michael jordan doing the great thing. we didn't see him in the gym, weight room, running. i mean, this documentary we see the work mike pchael jackson pu. >> nobody works harder and does more things than you do, spike lee. >> what about your man -- i have to take the mantle from your man, godfather of soul, rev, james brown. hardest working man. >> you know i wasn't going to interrupt you closing on that. spike lee, "red hook summer" opens friday in new york and elsewhere. we will be seeing it all over the country this month. later this month. opening around the country. spike, good luck with your film and thank you for coming in tonight live. spike lee. >> keep doing that great job in florida.
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presidential nominee is not on the list. could it be her less than warm and fuzzy history with governor romney? >> oh, no, you don't! >> oh, yes, we do. last summer palin's bus tour cruised into new hampshire just as romney announced his candidacy. ouch. big footed by big wheels. and she's been no kinder in talking about romney. >> and bless his heart, i have respect for mitt romney but do i not have respect for what he has done through this debt increased debate. >> it seems he is the nominee. are you happy with that? >> you know, anything is still possible. there can still abbit after shake-up. >> team romney may not like to have miss anything is possible at the convention. but she does bring star power.
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