let me finish tonight with this. at the risk of challenging the conventional wisdom, a risk i've spent much of my life taking, i see no reason to accept some grand deal among the president, the house democrats, and house republicans. why on god earth would a republican member of congress interest in protecting himself or herself politically vote to raise taxes on those he represents? why? because they get to make more voters angry with them by cutting medicare, because they get their means tested? give me a break. so this odd republican out there is going to both raise taxes and make his somewhat better off voters pay more for health care? no way. we really don't need to get to the liberals, progressives, but just for the sake of candor, why on this god's earth would a good democrat need to cut or i don't get why people are talking about a deal, that no politician out there worried about his or her

re-election or renomination would ever want to i can mmake. the truth of what i'm saying will shine through. and the sequester won't seem so bad after all. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. >> thanks, chris, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, shame as it ever was. today, both governor romney and congressman ryan took the stage at the big conservative summit outside of washington. so did they talk about the lessons of the election? did they show they understand why they lost? does the gop finally get it? nope. >> we may not have carried on november 7th but we haven't lost the country we love and we have not lost our way. i may be a little biased, but i applaud the clear and convincing

voice of my friend paul ryan. >> we haven't lost our way. i applaud paul ryan. so much for change you can believe in. republicans refuse to accept that their policies were rejected in november. and none more so than wrong way ryan. >> you know, it's really pretty simple. we stop spending money we don't have. our debt is a threat to this country. we have to tackle this problem before it tackles us. >> no. on november 6th, americans said no to that. no to cuts, cuts, cuts mentality. we refused it. we shot it down, we nixed it, declined it, renounced it, dismissed it. i don't know how many more ways republicans need me to say it, yet despite that, the gop keeps offering up the same slash and burn policies that gut the

middle class. take ryan's budget, it's so severe worth to the lowest level since 1948. 1948. that's literally rolling back the clock. this is the same party that rails about white house tours. but it gnaws automatic budget cuts. well, they should ignore the fact that the u.s. forest service will have to cut 505 firefighters. they should ignore the fact that food programs for seniors are getting cut in georgia. or that the head start programs in indiana are actually using random drawings to decide which low-income students get preschoolers kicked out. >> head start has made a big difference in 4-year-old sage. how he plays with other kids, how he's advanced academically. >> i'm very proud of him. >> but alice just learned her

son soon has to stay home. he's being cut from the program as a result of federal budget cuts. >> he loves school. >> earlier this week, the kids name in a fish bowl. >> his name didn't get picked. >> sage's last day is march 15th. he and 16 other children in columbus will be placed on a waiting list for next year. >> i don't know how to tell him he's not going back. >> families now losing their child's head start. >> lotteries to see who gets to go to school. and who doesn't. this is unacceptable. this is unamerican. a republican lawmakers holding lotteries to see if their children can be educated? i don't think so. we're talking about low-income children. they weren't born with a winning ticket like mr. romney.

these kids need a helping hand. but republicans are turning their backs on them. joining me now is e.j. dionne and maria teresa couple kumar. thank you for being on the show tonight. we're talking about kids getting kicked out of education but all the gop can see is cuts, cuts, cuts. why is this? >> i think it's an ideological commitment and the belief that the only thing that matters is cutting tax rates. i think it's really so striking that, you know, two facts about the ryan budget. on the one hand, he wants to cut the tax rate on the very wealthy on people earning over $450,000 a year down to 25%. he said he'll pay for that somehow but it will have to be by getting rid of middle-class tax deductions. at the same time they point out that that budget will take health insurance away from 40 to

50 million americans between the cuts in obama care and the cuts in medicaid. and that is just not the way forward for the country. and on the sequester, you've had an utterly inconsistent talking points. on the one hand, sometimes they say this is devastating but mostly they've said these cuts are good. we have to get rid of government. but government isn't something in the abstract, that piece about the head start program shows what these cuts are starting to do. but i just think it will take a little more time for all of that to penetrate. >> maria, we're talking about kids. one of the most compelling things to me in looking at that piece, you're talking about children who just need a leg up to get started with education in life. let me show you some of the local news reports on the impact of these automatic cuts. watch this. >> ultimately military families will be the ones who suffer

most. >> people are already making plans on how we are going to -- how we are going to cope with a different paycheck than what i got last month. >> in the latest budget battle, usda inspectors are on the chopping block. >> i'm standing here where it's set to close april 7th. that means the people who work inside will lose their jobs and there will be changes with our safety and security. >> sequestration may mean 1.9 million fewer federal dollars. that has both parents and teachers concerned. >> children, teachers, air traffic controllers, meat inspectors and all the republicans kept saying is cut, cut, cut. but maria, when the cuts started hitting their districts, all of a sudden some republicans are suddenly against them. senator john thune is slamming the cuts to national parks service in his district. congressman richard hanna in upstate new york is against the

cuts to his local airport. and suddenly pennsylvania senator pat toomey is attacking cuts in his local army depot. so when the chickens come home to roost, it's a different story. >> right. reverend, what you're saying, this is politics unusual. all of a sudden they've realized that because they've let the sequestration stall where it is today, they are actually feeling the pain back in their home districts. that's not news. that's something they should have known before going into this. but what e.j. is saying is that when we start looking at our budget priorities and what we decide to cut as americans and the fact that, sure, paul ryan is saying that the biggest thing is we need a smaller government but he's asking middle america to sacrifice and that's not a social contract. that's not a functioning government. what we need to do is say a lot

of grassroot mob by llie zags a that the young kid doesn't get laid off. >> e.j., they reached out at republicans again today to make a deal on the budget. list sej to put forth a balanced approach that includes smart spending cuts and new revenue and that won't hurt our middle class or slow economic growth. if we do that, we can move beyond governing from crisis to crisis to crisis. >> i mean, he's making the appeal, he's saying what needs to be said to try to lean over backwards for compromise, and

most of them -- i'll give you an example, e.j. the focus that they've been putting on wrong things in regard to the automatic budget cuts are highlighted between march 6th and the march 13th, fox did 163 segments on white house tours getting cut. and just three on how automatic cuts are impacting the poor. 163 segments on the white house cuts being -- white house tours being cut. only three on how this is impacting the poor. so when this is the kind of way they are projecting to the american people what's going on, this clearly so showing that they are not giving the real information on the impact that this has happened to ordinary average americans already. >> i am so glad you mentioned that white house tour obsession which has spilled out beyond fox news. i was talking to somebody today

about the president's effort, which he's going to get more detail about to guarantee pre-k to every american kid and i said to the person, you know, maybe if he announced that he's going to give pre-k and the white house tour to every american kid, maybe this will start getting some attention. this is absolutely nuts. is he supposed to keep white house tours and cut military pay more or cut kaid, nutrition aid to the poor? i don't think the house republicans are going to move unless there's movement around senate republicans and the response of the senate hasn't been as hostile so far as it was among house republicans. and if you could get some movement there, maybe there would be pressure back on the house to give up their current position, which is we won't negotiate unless you give us everything we want. >> and at the same time, maria,

there seems to be a total insensitivity to average working class people like the house republicans today voted unanimously, unanimously against raising minimum wage to over $10. 227 house republicans said no. including congressman paul ryan who must have raced back to d.c. after his big speech at cpac to vote no against raising the minimum wage. >> there's just a callousness that keeps permeating from the republicans. and that is something that basically when they try to evaluate what is wrong with the republican party and with the brand, it's not rebranding. you have to rechange your ideology to actually reflect the american people and the american people want their health care. they don't want tax cuts that are unfair and they want to make sure their kids can go to head start if they have to.

they need to realign themselves. otherwise, they are not going to win elections in the future. >> and it's astonishing, if you want poor americans not to be so poor, not to take government benefits, not to go on wealth fair, what should you do? you should pay them a wage they can live on. and this is going to hurt some of these republicans because the minimum wage is very popular among americans because they believe in work and they believe that people who work ought to be paid at least enough to get by. >> okay. >> and that's just -- e.j. and maria, it's just commonsense. but my mama used to tell me, commonsense is not that common. e.j. dionne and teresa kumar, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. ahead, day two of the cpac conference, it was an easy one to see. and why republicans should be embarrassed and ashamed to share the stage with the nra chief.

and the secret behind dick cheney's decline to power revealed. how did he invade bush's brain? the man who spent four days with cheney is here. stay with us. [ male announcer ] what are happy kids made of? bikes and balloons, wholesome noodles on spoons. a kite, a breeze, a dunk of grilled cheese. catches and throws, and spaghettio's. that's what happy kids are made of. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪

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have you joined the "politicsnation" conversation on facebook yet? we hope you will. folks are fired up about the emergency manager chosen to run detroit. monica says, it's a sad, pitful day for my state. don says, quote, we don't have a governor, we have a dictator. paul asked, how can this happen in a democracy? i've got more to say on that coming up next. but first, we want to hear what you think. please head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and "like" us to join the

conversation that keeps going long after the show ends.

on thursday, governor rick snyder silenced the voice of the people by shoving aside elected officials and appointing an emergency manager to run the city of detroit. it's an insult to democracy. voters in michigan had rejected this law before. snyder and his republican allies came back in and rammed it back through. today the governor and i were both guests on "morning joe" and

i pressed him on this very issue. >> governor, i think no one can defend the condition that detroit is in but how do you deal with the fact that the customers feel disenfran is chew disenfranchised decision and undermines people's right to vote because the only one who voted for kevin was you and this is something that is very disturbing that you have governors undermine the willing voters. there was a referendum last year opposed to this kind of action. you did it anyway. >> reverend, if you look at it, the old law went away. it was in response to the issues and i was elected by the people of michigan.

and i think that's critically important. the citizens of detroit are my customer. >> what if i'm in detroit, reverend charles williams and others are raising this, in all due respect, and i vote for city council and mayor to represent me during the financial crisis, now you bring in someone unelected, like in pontiac we had someone on the show who came in and sold the silver dome for half a million dollars that was valued at -- i mean, kevin has no one to answer to that -- in the local constituency. that's undemocratic. >> governor? >> let's put it in perspective, reverend, because you brought up flint, michigan. we have the city councils still giving input so there's still a process going on involving those elected officials. >> the governor didn't really have an answer for my questions.

but pretty soon he will have to answer to the voting public. >> the timeline we're working under is basically an 18-month timeline, which would be october or so of next year. this will be a very clear issue by next november and i'm happy with that because i should be held accountable and we're going to show results. >> on at least one point i agree with the governor. he should be held accountable and he will. joining me now, live from detroit, reverend charles williams, ii. he's the president of the michigan chapter of my group the national action network. thanks for taking time to be on the show tonight. >> thank you for having me, reverend. >> now, reverend, you led protests yesterday opposing the emergency management appointment in detroit. let me be clear. when the governor says that the emergency managers are working with mayors and city council members, those members and city councilmembers no longer have any power once an emergency

manager is appointed. is that right? the emergency manager makes all decisions on contracts, employment, on everything. they are just really the mayor and the city council are just sitting there giving information to him, they can no longer make any decisions. is that right? >> absolutely. the mayors and city councils, they lose all of their power and it's entrusted inside of the emergency manager. now, there are certain one who is are sitting there and they may still have their paycheck and they may, in theory, still have their power. but if the emergency manager has a gun to your head, there's not much you can do. i like the fact that you brought up the point that the governor is the only vote that the emergency manager has. however, there were 2,182,504 votes decided to repeal public act 4, which was the emergency manager law, that they came back

in lame duck session and made sure that they put back into law so they could take over cities and municipalities dis disenfranchising our votes and democracy in michigan. >> 2.3 million people voted against having an emergency management law. the governor turned around and did it anyway, which was the point i raised. so not only is the governor just totally saying, i'm ignoring the vote that i lost with the referendum last year, came back in a lame duck session and did it, he says it doesn't matter in the middle of all of these fiscal problems, it doesn't matter that you voted for a mayor, voted for a city council, i'm taking their power away and i'm appointing an emergency manager that has the final word in all of this and he tells me, well, i'm elected to do it. how does his election matter but validates the votes of the re r

referendum? who decides what matters in michigan? >> he will with, the people should decide but they don't want people to decide who choses are president and who choses our mayor or city council. what this is all about is part of the republican scheme to disenfranchi disenfranchise voters so that in 2016 when we start talking about presidents again, as you know, we have been fighting against voter right in section 5 of the voting rights act, as you know, they are trying to make it so that you have to have i.d. all of this is working together so that they can squash the working people so they continue to silence our voices. however, we're going to stand up and fight back and we're not going to allow our voices to be dismissed. >> well, thank you for your time tonight, reverend charles williams. and, again, we're going to stay on top of this story. >> thank you. >> ahead, nra outrage,

right-wingers give the nra a hero's welcome and the rising debt toll. plus, a being showing untold story of how dick cheney convinced george bush to make him vice president and drag america in the war. i'll talk to the filmmaker behind a powerful new documentary. stay with us. [ other merv ] welcome back to the cleaning games.

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they can call me crazy. >> they call us crazy. >> they call me crazy. >> they call us crazy? they say we are crazy? i mean -- >> yes, they do. and for good reason. nra executive vice president juan lapierre on the stage of the big conservative party known as cpac. he received standing ovations and loud cheers throughout his speech that was filled with conspiracy-laced arguments against sensible gun reform. and he went after vice president biden. >> for four decades, you've enjoyed the armed protection of capital police and secret service officers, all while trying to destroy the second amendment rights for the rest of us. so when it comes to that right,

sir, you keep your advice. we'll keep our guns. >> we'll keep our guns. note to mr. lapierre, nobody is taking your guns away. and comparing these gun reforms to secret service protection, that's insane. but there was more. >> what's the point of registering lawful gun owners anyway, so a list can be hacked by foreign entities like the chinese who recently hacked pentagon computers? so a list can be handed over to the mexican government? in the end, there are only two reasons for government to create that federal registry of gun owners, to tax them or to take them. >> now he thinks mexico and china are coming to take away his guns. he knows the fight is coming and we won't be deterred. measures are headed to the senate floor and the american

public wants change on assault weapons bans, on universal background checks but lapierre just doesn't care. >> i'm still standing unapologetic and our individual freedom. >> you may still be standing but look around you, mr. lapierre, nobody's standing with you. nice try. but sit down. we got you. vo: always one step ahead with an intuitive motion activated lid and seat, bold makes sure you'll never have to ask him again. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online.

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our friends in d.c. will be happy. and the louisville cardinals celebrated an easy win over villanova. oh, look, we have exclusive pictures from the locker room. it's the star forward cha chane behanan and there's russ smith, guard. and two-time president bill clinton? what an amazing scene. oh, but you really want the real march madness, the madness as in mad, as in crazy? yes. it's day two of the big conservative party known as cpac. and let's go straight to the highlights or should i say low lights? reality star and birther king donald trump taking a shot at immigration. >> when it comes to immigration, you know that the 11 million illegals, even if given the

right to vote, you know, you're going to have to do what's right, but the fact is, 11 million people will be voting democratic. you could say that to a certain extent the odds aren't looking so great right now for republicans that you're in a suicide mission. you're just not going to get those votes. >> oh, the crowd goes wild. all three of them. they caught the donald falling out with his ridiculous comments and then mitch mcconnell subbed in and threw up this air ball. >> don't tell me the democrats are the party of the future when their presidential ticket for 2016 is shaping up to look like a rerun of the golden girls. >> golden girls? i mean, is he serious with this one? even his party sitcom comes from the reagan area.

but then came bobby jindal. unfortunately, he fails to realize he should be playing for junior varsity. >> we don't need a change what we believe is conservatives. our principles are timeless. we have to be comfortable with the fact that our liberal critics in the media will say that we haven't changed anything unless we endorse abortion and socialism. >> after what happened in the election, the gop should be trying to improve its game. instead, it's the same, old trash talk. joining me now on march madness sideline reporters, abby huntsman and dana milbank. dana, you called this one. conservatives group therapy session. how's the soul searching going? >> they are still searching, reverend. they haven't come up with much. if this was a papal conclave,

there would be only black smoke. they are still severaling farch answers, what the idea should be, who should be delivering these ideas. but there's really a lot of back biting and squirmishing going on there and they are struggling to find out what is going up here. there's a lot of finger pointing and blame going on. >> now, abby, we've been having some fun but seriously, listen to rick santorum today. listen to this. >> face it. the left can always promise more stuff. and make it sound like they care more because they make it easier for providing stuff for them through programs, paid for by somebody else's money. >> you know, abby, this is the

week we meet the man that filmed and brought out the 47% speech and they are still talking about makers and takers? >> you know, i think santorum wins the award for having probably the strangest speech at cpac so far. you started off with march madness. this was very much the same thing for conservatives. you have to remember, this is not a gathering for the republican party. this is the gathering for conservatives. the most conservative group in the republican party. these are folks that ultimately vote in primaries. this is the group that decides who our republican nominee is and it's all about entertainment. donald trump is the main speaker of the event. that should say it all. and the tone was set very early on, reverend. they closed the door on groups like go proud, on republicans that have a strong stand on immigration. so the tone was set very early on that they weren't going to open up their tent to everyone within the republican party because frankly to move forward

we need to have donald trump. i mean, heaven forbid we need to have the donald trumps, go proud, independence. everyone should be a part of a group like this and it was sad to watch this all play out. for the most part, i didn't hear a lot of new ideas. we mentioned that this was a time where people should be talking about new ideas for the republican party in the 21st century. fram frankly, i thought rubio presented a worst case for that. he didn't really talk about evolving on any issues. he didn't even bring up immigration. the one i was most surprised with was rand paul. he was talking about banks too big to fail. there was a lack of ideas overall. >> now, dana, one of the things that was interesting to me is citizens united, he actually took to the stage and went right after president bush today. listen. >> karl rove is no movement

conservative. he has been called the architect and i understand why and he guided president bush to his second-term victory but in reality karl rove and george bush were the architects of policy disasters. >> very interesting. >> i was at a session there yesterday and karl rove came in for a great deal of abuse here. and the problem is it was technology and the consultants and they don't seem to have reconciled themselves to the possibility even that maybe the voters and they have generated at cpac were selling in the last election. it seems like there's no hint of

reconciliation occurring there at cpac. >> now abby, same-sex marriage is big news today with senator robert portman but a gay group was banned by cpac and recently your dad said he backed same-sex marriage but the party is not ready to evolve. listen to this. >> we cannot hope to limit government if we do not stand up for the core civil society institutions beginning with marriage. >> just because i believe that states should have the right to define marriage in a traditional way does not make me a bigot. >> abby, how do we deal with this when there's such passion and flexibility on this? >> this just highlights how divided the republican party is on hot button issues, the most important issues of the guy, gay marriage, for example, many within the party have evolved

that support gay marriage and that's why cpac i thought would have been a great opportunity for those with the microphone to at least speak out on these issues and help the crowd understand how we can evolve on these issues and that wasn't done. you know, i didn't really hear any of the speakers speak out about this. go proud was still there. they were still fighting for gay rights as republicans. i know they were nearby cpac. ultimately, as dana said, the republican party has to see where they got it wrong and doesn't seem like at least at cpac they were admitting to where they got it wrong. donald trump mentioned if you spend $400 million on a campaign and you lose, clearly there's some problems there but that was about as much as they recognized. >> now, let me ask you, dana, quickly, dave weigel of slate, he took notice of the backdrop at the conference and he says it's a bit hard to make out and

shows conservative heroes. and file pitches of an african-american man talking to an asian american women. so basically they want to know why they are not appealing to people when people are not projected, included, they are isolating people as abby's talking about. how do you grow a party when you have one-dimensional figures as the face and symbol of the party? >> reverend, surely you would have allowed them to put up your picture there if they had asked you. >> i was just going to say that. >> they have a couple of sessions at cpac saying, talking about diversity and how do we reach out. the answer in all cases seems to be, well, what racial minorities, what women want and everybody wants is the same sort of policies that we are selling. we are not selling it to them in

the proper way. they do not seem to be able to break away from that. >> abby huntsman, dana milbank, thank you. ahead, a powerful documentary from manipulated and exploited george w. bush. >> this is a war-time situation and it was more successful and if i had to do it over again, i'd do it in a minute. >> and now the former vice president has a problem with the filmmaker. he joins me to respond next. it's been said that beauty is in the ewell...behold. der. behold water so blue it merges with the sky above. behold natural beauty above the sea, and far below. behold smiles so wide

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snoof still ahead, a stunning new documentary sheds new light on how vice president dick cheney manipulated the bush presidency. the film maker behind it joins me next. manipulated the bush pr. the film maker behind it joins me next. [ male announcer ] this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up.

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there's a stunning new documentary chronicling to the power and frankly depressing parts was how he basically took over bush's brain and his presidency. documents of how cheney muscled the president into going to war

against suddam hussein. and get this, folks, you almost feel sorry for george w. bush. >> i really think there was a momentum to are wa. cheney is saying, we've got to do it. the intelligence is there. >> he had the personnel, the know-how, the raw material, and he had the desire to get back into the business big time. >> you said we had a lot of allies out there but i haven't seen the arabs supporting the allies against iraq. >> i think they are uniformly concerned about the situation in iraq. >> bush is insecure as president. cheney brilliantly exploits this. >> joiping me thank you for

joining me tonight. tell us, what did he say about his role inside the white house. >> he will with, well, he descr detail the decisions made about september 11th and it's very clear that while he spoke about advising about the president and said that that was his job, he was driving policy. >> how was he driving policy? when he said he got controlled or got into his brain and used his insecurities, exactly what do we see in the film? and committed to making sure no other attacks happen on american soil and referred to the 1% doctrine. if there's a 1% chance that a state is going to aid terrorists

or that anybody is going to aid terrorists in potentially attacki attacking america, that state or person would be an enemy of the united states and subject to attack or whatever. whatever it took. in fact, one of the most striking points in the film is when cheney is talking about what is called enhanced interrogation and he pits honor versus the duty to protect america and as far as he's concerned, honor really doesn't matter. and it's very striking. he's almost dismissive of it. >> tell us what kind of guy is dick cheney? >> well, he's, i think, an extraordinary figure on the american political historical stage. perhaps the single most impactful nonpresidential figure this country has ever known.

and people are nwanting to know what america is particularly in the wake of 9/11 and raises questions about the role of singular conviction in our democracy. on the one hand, we need men and women who believe in things. on the other hand, a singular uncompromising position that sees no way to include other perspectives can lead to demogogary and a different perspective. >> watch this. >> he knew what he wanted and what he was looking for and it was somebody who could be a part of the team to help him govern. >> i can't tell you for sure when he started seeing a vice president in the mirror. but one of the key things that cheney did was to tell bush stories about problems between presidents and vice presidents. and the key feature that he described was a conflict

involving the ambition of the number two guy. he painted a portrait of ambition as sort of latent disloyalty. if you get a guy who wants the job, he's already halfway disqualified and at the same time, cheney is telling bush, no, i don't want it. the more he runs away, the more bush is pursing him. >> we ended up down in texas. we evaluated everybody, we reviewed all of the candidates. he looked up at me and said, you're the solution to my problem. the reason i finally said yes was because i was convinced that he was deadly serious about it being a consequential decision. i took him seriously about why he wanted me because of my background and no national security. he made it certain that i would play a certain role in his administration. >> now, that was fascinating to me. cheney was in charge of the committee looking for a vice president for mr. bush.

and any other candidate and was too ambitious, and when he finally agrees, after running and president bush chasing him, and at that point, president-elect bush, he made an agreement to be a consequential vice president, which meant he was going to matter. >> he wanted to redefine of the role of the vice president. and we see where had it not happened, things were affecting energy policy and things like that. but he changed the world. >> i have to go but i understand the vice president cheney and it

was a fascinating experience and this is a film and vice president cheney can come on any night you want and i will ask you why you didn't like the film. any night. come on. "politicsnation." our jay cutler, thanks for being with us tonight. >> thanks so much. thanks for having me. historic night in the civil rights movement and a reminder of why we fight. that's next. ♪ you know my heart burns for you... ♪

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