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tv   Politics Nation  MSNBC  August 17, 2012 3:00pm-4:00pm PDT

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the new law precludes. and one million voters lack the acceptable photo i.d. it would seem only a partisan opinion could sustain the new law. that's a legacy i doubt ron castille will embrace. that's "hardball" for now. thank you for being with us. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts now. welcome to "politicsnation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, pau ryan's big mistake revealed. we've learned a lot about mr. ryan this week, but the latest news on his stimulus flip-flop could be the worst yet. and he's hearing about it on the campaign trail. here's what happened in virginia just moments ago. >> epitomize what the american idea's all about. >> why have you lied about accepting stimulus funding? >> there it is, folks. ryan's been asked why he lied
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about accepting stimulus money. this is more than hypocrisy. it's about whether paul ryan has trouble telling the truth. remember earlier this week we told you about this boston globe report? it showed that in 2009 at the same time he was bashing president obama's stimulus program, he was writing letters to the energy department asking for stimulus money for his own district. look at this one from december 2009. it begins dear secretary chu, i'm writing to express my support for the wisconsin energy conservation corporation's grant application. it ends, thank you for your consideration of my request. and look. there's ryan's own personal signature. looks like he really wants that money. and he got it. he got it. nearly 21 million stimulus dollars went to ryan's state.
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mr. ryan must have had a change of heart. because here is what he was saying before writing those letters. >> we can do better than this. this bill, this economic stimulus package is unworthy of our new president's signature. >> unworthy. but like i said, that was before he wrote the letters. surely after these letters went out, mr. ryan must have had a different take on the stimulus. right? >> we learned much of this stimulus which was neither timely or temporary, it was just a down payment on government programs. all this temporary booster shot stimulus didn't work in the stimulus package. so we don't want to go with ideas that have proven to failed. destructive economic agenda. it has failed to create the jobs promised. >> the stimulus failed to create the jobs promised.
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that doesn't sound like the same paul ryan who told the energy department that stimulus money in his state would, quote, stimulate the local economy by creating new jobs. and quote, create or retain approximately 7600 new jobs. wow. this is a problem for ryan. he slammed the stimulus, said it didn't create jobs then begged for stimulus money. arguing it would create jobs. but all week ryan's been pressed on this. and he just denied it all. >> word came out again today in the ap. it was a prepeet of the wall street journal article from a couple years ago where you had asked for stimulus money for your district. >> i have not asked for stimulus. i don't recall -- i haven't seen this report so i really can't comment on it. i opposed the stimulus because it didn't work. >> never asked for stimulus money.
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but what about that name right there on the letters? today the truth caught up to him in a statement that he released. ryan explained the stimulus requests were quote, treated as constituent service requests in the same way matters involving social security or veterans affairs are handled. this is why i didn't recall the letters earlier. but they should have been handled differently, and i take responsibility for that. end of quote. folks, it should have never come to this. it should not have taken paul ryan, a politician on the biggest stage, this long to just tell the truth. we're 81 days away from the choice. and mr. ryan will have to answer this one all the way to november. >> epitomized what the american idea's all about. >> why have you lied about accepting stimulus funds? >> joining me now is chris
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hayes, host of "up with chris hayes" here on msnbc. he's also the author of the new book "twilight of the elites." and crystal ball cohost on msnbc. thank you for being here. >> thanks for having us. >> chris, do you buy mr. ryan's response to all of this today? >> i don't know. look -- i mean, look. there are two different channels. people have offices in districts and then in washington, d.c. he said it came through the district offices. what's revealing to me is this is a pretty big request. >> $21 million. >> $21 million. >> not quite a constituent service is it? >> also if you're the penny pincher you're saying and you think there's all this money flying around which is the sort of soul of the critique of the stimulus, then you should put into practice your -- you should put into practice in your own office a process of very intense
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forensic scrutiny of these requests if that is the thing that you think is the problem with the stimulus to begin with. you shouldn't just be passings letters out the door with your signature saying $21 million here, $21 million there, what the heck. >> isn't that the point, crystal? if you were adamantly opposed to the stimulus, you're a member of congress, you think it's wrong, you think it's a waste, you think it's whatever his reasoning was. wouldn't your staff know that? >> you would certainly think so. >> so when a letter is brought in to ask for it, you would say that's against the policy of our congressman? >> you would think so. it seems like congressman ryan was trying to have it both ways. i remember so many republicans who would rail publicly about the stimulus to play to the national audience and wear the mantle of the fiscal conservative would be happy to show up to the ribbon cuttings at home when they were
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benefitting from the stimulus money. i think he was trying to have it both ways here. >> and i think the keyword there is you shouldn't lose sight of the bedrock policy here. you said benefit. they gave out money for real things. >> and they understood that. >> the project here was a conservation project, a good project. but the substance of it gets lost. his office should have asked for that money. that's the only right thing he did. >> and from what we are led to believe, the people benefitted from it. but he can't say that and attack the president. let me play for you, crystal, where he actually denied taking stimulus money before. >> i assume you voted against the stimulus, and i'm just curious if you accept pd any money in your district? >> no, i'm not one of those people who votes for something then writes to the government
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asking for money. i did not request any stimulus money. >> he said no i'm not the kind of right to get stimulus money. but wait a minute. in 2010, the same year, his spokesman admitted to the stimulus funds and gave this explanation. it says quote, if congressman ryan is asked to help a wisconsin entity applying for existing federal grant funds, he does not believe flawed policy should get in the way of doing his job and providing a legitimate constituent service to his employers. so his team all but admitted it back in 2010 while he was denying it his team was admitting it and trying to justify it. >> right. and the one thing you can say about paul ryan is he must have a fantastic pr machine. he has managed to endear himself to the libertarian billionaires, the koch brothers, that whole network and convince them that he is truly on their side and he
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blooes in no government which his budget reflects. but on the other hand, he has increased the deficit more than anyone. we voted for medicare part d, he voted for t.a.r.p., he voted for the auto bailout. >> iraq, afghanistan. >> he is not a fiscal conservative unless you mean that's paying for your government. he believes in a small government and low taxes for the rich. he's had this great pr machine to create this persona as a serious politician. >> every time he has faced a moment where he would have to take a vote that would be a politically difficult vote to vote on his principle against what the politics of his district are or the national are, he is gone with the politics. the auto bailout for the love of god. this is the thing the pea party even more than t.a.r.p. rails against ad nauseam, and he voted for it. there are jobs in his district he wants to protect. more power to him.
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most congress people do that. but most don't go around parading themselves as a saintly figure. >> he has become the symbol of the tea party and those who believe in the exact opposite. so it's almost like do what i say, don't do what i do for my own home constituents. because i've got to get re-elected. but i'm going to represent this nationally. so others will have to deal with the rhetoric of what i'm saying. >> right. >> and the other thing i would say is anyone who thinks a mitt romney in the white house and a republican congress would lead to smaller deficits, i have a bridge to nowhere to sell you. >> you've been watching my commercials. >> yes. >> but my bridge went to brooklyn. let me say this. i think it is important, though, that we understand that this has been a pattern. in a statement today, he's still having to admit the money. still taking a shot at the stimulus. quote, regardless, it's clear that the obama stimulus did
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nothing to stimulate the economy. and now the president is asking to do it all over. but we have letters showing that he argued where the stimulus would create jobs in his own state and it did. >> right. and that's the obvious follow-up question. did that money benefit your district? if it didn't, why were you asking for it? there's a fundamental disconnect between what he claims to aspouse and his actions in terms of his voting record. there's a difference between the ayn randian world he likes to spend time in and what things look like when on the ground. >> let me show you one. i've got to go, chris. but he attacked the president on general motor's plan in wisconsin that closed in 2008. watch this. >> i live in jamesville, wisconsin. we used to have a big general motors plant. a lot of my high school buddies
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worked at that gm plant. that was shut down in 2009. i remember president obama visiting it when he was first running saying he'll keep that plant open. one more broken promise. >> only problem with that, it closed in 2008 before president obama was president and he was the congressman. and george bush was the president. >> let's step back and marvel at how ridiculous it is he is to go around the country saying the president didn't do enough to bail out the auto industry. >> if they ever get in the white house, the west wing will be flip-flopping all over. >> it's not going to happen. >> chris hayes, crystal ball, thanks for joining me tonight. enjoy your weekend. >> thank you. >> catch "up with chris hayes" saturdays and sundays at 8:00 a.m. eastern. and crystal on "the cycle" here on msnbc. coming up, the obama team
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sends an offer letter to mr. romney on his tax releases. you won't believe how he's responding. and mr. ryan is heading to the world's largest retirement community in florida. to defend his medicare plan. how is this going to go? all that plus my interview with jamie foxx, ron howard, and eva longoria. they've got a new project that works. it's exciting. you won't want toiss this. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. whoa, look at all those toys.
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the obama campaign sends an early morning e-mail to the romney team asking to cut a deal on tax returns. doesn't look like they'll be
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we're back with more fallout a day after governor romney made this statement about his taxes. >> i did go back at look at my taxes. over the past ten years i never paid less than 13%. >> but this morning president obama's campaign manager made an offer to the romney team. at 6:36 this morning, jim macena send off this e-mail with the letter regarding governor
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romney's tax returns. governor romney apparently fears that the more he offers, the more our campaign would demand he provide. so i am prepared to provide assurances on just that point. if the governor will release five years of returns, i will commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more. neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign. end of quote. two hours later, romney campaign manager matt rhodes fired off his response. hey jim, thanks for the note. not sure he really meant that, but he goes on to write, if governor romney's tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for president obama to discuss them over the next 81 days. see you in denver. thanks. so there you have it. there will be no deal. no more releases. but will the question on secrecy
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ever stop? joining me now is dana milbanks, a columnist for the washington post and patricia murphy. thank you both for being here tonight. >> hi. >> dana, what do you make of this back and forth between the two campaign managers? >> i love it when they become pen pals and start sending letters as if they're being genuine about it. of course the letter wasn't really meant for the campaign. it was meant to keep this issue alive. and guess what. it did just that. the romney folks took the bait again. once again, we're talking about mitt romney's taxes. and it seems that this has enough energy to just keep on going. romney keeps teasing out a little bit more. okay, now he's saying it's 13%. but we have to trust him on that. so it's only going to ask the next series of questions. i think the obama campaign is looking to tweak them each day.
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>> patricia, messina seems clear he wanted romney to release five more years. they will span the time romney's been running for president answer questions people have about the one return he has released. and five more years of returns would also address questions about romney's effective tax rates, foreign investments, and accounts and tax shelters. why do you think that would be in the judgment of supporters of romney, let's say. an unreasonable request. >> i think -- you know, there's no -- we don't know why it seems unreasonable to the romney people. the only thing that most people can guess is because whatever's in romney's tax returns is so much more damaging than the question of what's in your tax returns. they have made this decision. it's a gamble that they're taking. it really only leaves outside observers with the assumption that it must be really, really
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bad if it's something that they don't want to talk about. and when they do want to talk about it, when they do say why they're not releasing the tax returns they say it's because it would give so much ammunition to the other side. leading you to wonder why would it be so much ammunition in there? you're paying 13% tax rates, what else is in there. he seemed satisfied to say i did pay 13% taxes. that's not a lot compared to most of america. so if that's the information you're willing to reveal, what are you not willing to reveal? they've decided it's worse than having to bat the question down every day from the obama campaign. >> well, dana, to underscore patricia's point about 13% is not a lot compared to other americans, his vice presidential candidate, his running mate just released his taxes tonight. mr. ryan. and according to his tax returns for the past two years, he paid a higher rate than mitt romney
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himself. in 2010 he paid a 15.9% tax rate. $34,233. 2011, he paid a 20% rate at 64, $764. so if your running made is paying higher, if the average middle class guy would pay higher and you have all this paying lower, the best returns would show is he's paying a very small comparative tax rate and it can only go worse from there if in fact there are worse things there. >> i don't know about you, reverend. but i'd be happy to be paying paul ryan's higher rates on his taxes. what it illustrates is that mitt romney's a very wealthy man. paul ryan's a reasonably wealthy guy just with his investments and his congressional salary. interestingly enough, because he's a wage earning public servant, mitt romney earlier on said a man like that should not
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be qualified to be president because he hasn't worked enough in the private sector. so it illustrates the point that okay, he's a wealthy guy but not extremely wealthy so he pays a little more in taxes. >> well, i think that if you -- if i'm right, patricia, we are talking about if you're running for president you need votes. and 63% of people polled say romney should release more returns. only 36% say he shouldn't. if he's listening to the american people, they think he should release it. they don't think it's small minded as he called it yesterday. apparently significant amount want to see these returns. >> well that also means that a significant number of republicans would like to see those returns. i've talked to a number of republicans who can't figure out for the life of themselves why he's not doing this. and i do think, though, it goes to a larger policy question.
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if anything's going to go forward in the next congress in terms of legislation, it is tax reform. and there's a reality in our tax code that we tax wealth at a much lower rate than we tax work. and this is a perfect example of that. and i think for romney to not be presenting what exactly is in his tax returns makes it very difficult for him to go forward and argue for tax reform when he can't have an honest conversation about the taxes he's paying himself. >> dana milbank and patricia murphy, thanks to both of you for your time tonight. >> thank you so much. coming up, paul ryan's heading to the largest retirement community in the world to sell his medicare plan. good luck with that. plus the 93-year-old face of the fight for voter rights finally gets her i.d. but what about the millions without a voice? stay with us. [ angry ] i just discovered untopped triscuit taste great.
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have you joined us on facebook yet? the "politicsnation" conversation is going all day long. today folks were cheering vif yet applewhite. she's the 93-year-old plaintiff in the voter i.d. case who finally got her i.d. today. cookie says god bless her for standing up for her rights. ace points out she shouldn't
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have to jump through hoops. koleman reminds us, the struggle isn't over yet. he's right. and i've got more on that later in the show. but first, we want to hear what you think. head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. i was teaching a martial arts class and having a heart attack. my brother doesn't look like a heart attack patient. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter and now i don't have that fear.
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welcome back to "politicsnation." looks like the paul ryan honeymoon is over. nearly one week since the big announcement and since then all anyone is talking about is medicare. and his plan to end the program as we know it. >> are you going to cut medicare? are you going to cut medicare? >> hands off medicare! hand off medicare!
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>> meanwhile, governor romney's even been forced to bust out his white board on the issue. and this conversation isn't going away. the obama campaign is slamming the ryan medicare plan in a new tv ad airing in eight swing states. >> the ryan plan? aarp says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors. >> but paul ryan says he's ready to have this fight. and he'd better be ready because he's heading to florida tomorrow where he'll campaign at the largest retirement community in the world. and how about this? he's bringing his mom with him. i think he'll need more than that to help sell this one. joining me now is melissa harris-perry host of "the melissa harris-perry" show here on msnbc.
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thanks to both of you for being here this evening. >> good to be with you. >> melissa, let me start with you. ryan's going to try and defend his plan in florss of all places. how do you think that will work out? >> going to a particular retirement community. one that has a strong republican contingent. he's going to the nicest place he could find in florida. i suspect they're going to be pleasant and respectful to mr. ryan as he presents his plan. but there's a reason as a matter of politics -- there's a reason why politicians and elected officials don't kuch medicare. that's because this voting block, senior citizens who have a clear understanding of how medicare impacts the quality of their lives, they don't play. they're not going to be supportive of a candidate who is willing to say their benefits in their lifetime will be reduced. >> now, e.j., i noticed he's bringing his mom with him. this is not the first time that
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republican candidates have used their mothers when talking about protecting entitlements. just look at some gop ads. >> rick would never do anything to harm social security or medicare. in fact, it's one of the main reasons he's running. >> you wouldn't do that to your mom, would you, tim? >> i wouldn't do that to anyone. i've worked to make it secure. >> that's not true. >> what is the politics of bringing your mom out, e.j.? is it a sign you're in trouble or a sign of something else? >> first of all, we should only say nice things about paul ryan's mom, but i think -- you know, i think that they're trying to convey the idea that well i care about your mom as much as you care about your mom. but the problem is you can say that.
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you can run an ad on that. but if they really, really believed in this premium support plan that they're putting out, they wouldn't keep saying that wait a minute, senior citizens don't have to worry about this, because it doesn't take effect except for people under 55. there are two issues there. one is if the plan is so good, why don't they apply it to this generation of senior citizens who happen to be part of the republican base. and the second problem is that if you start in ten years to pull healthy people out of the medicare pool and insurance companies, private insurance companies want to insure healthy people, you will over the long run destabilize the financing of medicare and could raise premiums. it could cause real problems. my colleague has made this point. and i think that's something you're going to start hearing about more and more as the campaign goes forward. >> but going back to this point about are they in trouble?
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polling shows that 80% of democrats say it's extremely or very important to go vote for the president in medicare. so the majority even of republicans say medicare's important when they make up their mind about voting. >> here's the failure of bringing your mom out on this. nothing but nice things to say about paul ryan's mom. actually i have nice things to say about mitt romney's mom who's an interesting character in her own lifetime. but the point isn't the mothers of wealthy children who would probably still be okay. even under circumstances of reduced benefits. the issue is not that group of seniors. the issue is the group of seniors who have been brought up out of poverty as a result of the implementation of medicare and the fact we don't have the same kind of senior citizens in
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poverty we had previously. the only way to make programs for the poor operate in this kind of way. so they become politically safe is that you have to offer them to the entire class of people. we see this on welfare and food subsidies. if you only provide a subsidy to the poorest, they are -- the politics of it immediately goes away. there's no one there to build a hedge and protect it. >> but in medicare we're also talking, e.j., about things that people have bought into. we're not talking about just poor or people getting a welfare food stamp which they tried to label it. so this even becomes even more important with medicare when you're dealing with people who pay into this program. >> well, first of all, amen to melissa's point. it's very important to understand how much these programs for the elderly have helped reduce poverty in america in a big way. and also we allow programs for
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poor people alone to become poor programs. and that's why medicare has been so successful. because it's broadly based. and it's popular because every single one of us knows that when we get older, we are likely to get sicker. and it's going to be harder and harder for us to buy private health insurance. that's why we had government step in to ensure the elderly. and it's why romney and ryan realize they got a problem on this which is why they're trying to pretend that president obama is somehow slashing up medicare. he's not the guy who's against medicare in this election. >> now, the republicans are actually on a congressional level trying to run away from this. because voters understand this. when you look at chris collins taking on a new york rep, kathy hochul and he refuses to take a point on the plan.
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strickland in california, he said he'd vote no on the ryan plan. brendan dougherty put out a statement saying he doesn't agree with the ryan plan. so you're getting republicans that are going to be at the bottom of this ticket saying not me. >> the first thing a vice presidential pick should do is no harm. this is rule number one. vice presidential picks should first do no harm. in this case what happened was they got their enthusiastic speech and $10 million bump but also just made this a race that happens in every single congressional district. because they put a specific plan on the ballot. >> thank you both for being here this evening. and catch melissa harris-perry on saturdays and sunday at 10:00 a.m. right here on msnbc. still ahead, my conversation with jamie foxx, ron howard, and eva longoria. and others.
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on a creative and fun new project. you won't want to miss it. plus the 93-year-old face in the fight for voting rights has a photo i.d. but millions of others may still lose their right to vote. that's why we've got to keep up this fight. stay with us. are you okay, babe? i'm fine. ♪ ♪ ♪ with a subaru you can always find a way. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.
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we're back with a pause from the political battles of the day. a time to rest, relax, and recharge. that's right. it's time for the "politicsnation" summer break. who's up for a parade? it seems like an ordinary march down main street until the guest of honor strut by. they waddle in perfect form. and look, they just keep on coming. now, that's how you walk through a parade route. politicians, take note. now to a soccer match with some pretty creative fans. the hometown team hasn't scored a goal in five games. so these fanatics decided to point their players in the right direction of the net. they follow all the action moving back and forth in the stands with those arrows.
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but can those arrows help speaker boehner find a jobs plan? and finally, you've seen dogs do all types of tricks. but have you seen one that surfs? look at him. hang ten. but he's not just into water sports. check him out on that snow board. but what i was really impressed with were skills on the skate board. skate board, snow board, wonder if he could do tricks on romney's white board? and that's today's summer break. so you brushed with colgate total and you didn't. let's compare. germ party! eww! now the colgate total mouth. nice! [ female announcer ] colgate total fights 90% more plaque germs. i'm in. [ female announcer ] colgate total. less germs. healthier mouth.
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liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? you have a plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my mother was so wrong about you. next, we get priority boarding on our flight i booked with miles. all because of the card. and me. okay, what's the plan? plan? mm-hmm. we're on vacation. this is no plan. really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with special perks on united. get it and you're in. welcome back. on this show we talk a lot of politics. but tonight we're taking a brief break from all that. i want to talk about artists and creativity. when i was a teenager i began to
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travel with james brown, the godfather of soul. i learned a lot going around with him he was like a father to me. i learned artists were creative even off the stage even out of the venue of their profession. their minds always looking for something new to make a contribution. i was reminded about that recently when i heard about an exciting new project involving some of the biggest names in the arts. oscar winning director ron howard. oscar winning actor jamie fox. ben stone. cofounder of twitter. and lcd sound system front man james murphy. all six are combining their talents for its project
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imagination 2012. for the project, cannon is soliciting photographs. anyone can participate. and those photographs will form the basis of a short film to be directed by the star studded group i just mentioned. when i sat down with the group last week, i asked ron howard what is so compelling to him about creating stories based on photographs regular people send in? call it user generated creativity. >> remind me of a thing i used to do with my kids all the time. which is take the piece of paper, draw a little line and hand it around the dinner table and everybody's adding to it and soon you have a picture. >> it's people driven. it's letting people express themselves. and you try to direct that something comes out of what people bring. >> and it's that also. because i think what it really does is invites people to share their creativity. >> that's how we form our mem y memories of life is through a camera. i think it's an amazing project.
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>> what images are you looking for when you look at a photo? >> i'm looking for something that provokes an emotion in me. i'm interested in a story telling aspect. >> what impresses me it's people driven. >> by the people. >> jamie, you won academy awards, grammy awards, you've done it all. now director. what made you do this? >> myself and ron, we have some history. we did the blame it on the alcohol video. >> really? blame it on the alcohol. >> i'm sorry, reverend. i blame it on the alcohol since i'm with the reverend. >> it's all right. >> but we had a connection. so i said i would love to be able to do this. >> do you think projects like this could help unite people? would people understand each other better? >> any time politics is not involved, we're all united. . look at the olympics. we all root for one thing.
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we root for americans to win gold, silver, bronze. and even if we lose, we still embrace our own. >> how do you compare this work to other work you're doing and have done? >> again, i grew up on the andy griffith show and from then on. a project like this is a pure creative thing. and that's what it is. it's an exercise. one of the things i was trying to say today is trust that. and build upon that. and take these photographs as you say from these anonymous sources. we have no idea where these images came from. and yet if they speak to you, they speak to you. >> it's like a game of telephone. they take a picture of something because they see it different than somebody else. then that gets sent in. we make a film based on that. >> doesn't that help the world when we start seeing that maybe we see the same things differently so we have a different way, but there's a thread that all of us deal from.
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that's sort of some of the underlying magic with this. >> that's what's so awesome about photography and film making. is that, you know, it transcends all of these things that you were talking about before. >> i think it's just healthy for society. and this project gets people to get interested and build their own self-confidence in something. >> believe in your creativity. >> there's a lot of passionate people who don't know how to be seen. so i think it just provides a vehicle for an opportunity for people to be involved in this business. >> and people's own work, you know, is just getting better and better. so-called the line between amateur and real artists, a professional, is evaporating quickly. >> you revolutionized the world with twitter. and people being able to express
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themselves. it's almost a natural thing for you to be involved in something where people take their pictures and emanates into stories. no matter what their story is, who they are is beyond race, politics, differences. >> everyone is creative. everyone has within them some creativity and some power to express it. the trick is how do you unlock that? >> i felt it's a viable way to have creativity amongst story tellers. >> what zmum. >> i'd like to see people put it into schools and say kids, you know, take this idea. take these story telling sort of building blocks. take these images and let's see what you got. >> i'm not going to know the intention behind the photograph or the emotion the photographer
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felt. so i'll be really interested to see and to meet them and say what were you feeling? did i get it right? >> when people see what you direct out of these photos, what do you hope people will walk away with from what you did? >> wow. i think like georgiena said, an emotion. that's what we aim to do is create emotion through entertainment. >> i started out as comedy. if it's a comedic picture i know what to do that. being able to do drama. we did just did quintin tarantino. every time i saw eddie, i'd do the whole laugh. and i think i had some tight leather pants. anyway, that's another thing. >> i want to thank ron, jamie, eva, and everyone else for their time. you can go to
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imagination.usa.cannon.com to find out more about this fantastic it's aic project. well, i had all the classic symptoms... like the elephant on my chest... he thought he was having a heart attack. she said, "take an aspirin, we need to go to the hospital." i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm very grateful to be alive. aspirin really made a difference. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this?
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finally tonight, big news on the fight for our voting rights. major news coming out of florida today. because of the 1965 voting rights act that president lyndon johnson signed, some floridians will have a chance to vote this fall. a court ruled that gop cannot shorten the voting hours. the three judge panels said reducing that period, quote, would make it materially more difficult for some minority voters to cast a ballot. but this isn't an outright victory. the county's not covered under the voting rights and will dial
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back by four days. they were not included in this lawsuit. we also just got word that florida secretary of state restarted his voter purge today. election officials are cutting through the federal immigration data base to find ineligible voters. what's this all about? the former head of the base told me last week. >> never one time did we have any discussions where voter fraud was a real issue. it's simply been created as a marketing tool here in florida for the right wing that is running state government now to convince voters that what they're doing is right. >> but there's good news from pennsylvania. groups have already filed an appeal to the judge's decision not to block the state's voter i.d. laws. and the lead plaintiff in that case, 93-year-old vif et
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applewhite got her i.d. to vote this fall. but he struggled for months to get it. she thinks republicans are to blame. here's what she said to me in may. >> i think it is because they don't want obama in there. so i think they're trying to do something to keep the black people from having the right to vote. >> viviette can vote. but as many as 1.5 million people in the state could still be turned away from the polls. that's why we must continue fighting for our voting rights as viviette said yesterday, you just have to keep trying. don't give up. all year we rallied. in march we marched and we retraced the steps of those that got that 65 voting rights act. we can't let them down. we brought ourselves too close far full dra

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