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tv   Politics Nation  MSNBC  April 5, 2013 3:00pm-4:00pm PDT

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don't have mental problems? because we're going to force them to have background checks. got it? we won't make anyone else have a background check. that way, you see, we make sure everyone has a ungo. got it. do you? we sell guns. 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, the president offers compromise but republicans, they've shown yet again that they don't know how to lead. today we learn that president obama will try once again for a grand bargain. his plan calls for $1.2 trillion in cuts, including a change in the cost of living increase for social security that would reduce benefits but would still protect low-income and older
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beneficiaries. in return, the president is asking for $600 billion in revenue by closing loopholes for the rich, by ending rates for big oil. this president is serious and he's offering compromise with republicans that already has some in his own party furious. the progressive caucus called his plan entitlement reform "unpopular, unwise, and unworkable." isn't that what republicans have called for over and over again? >> the president must be willing to reduce spending and ensure entitlement programs that are the primary drivers of our debt. >> what would solve the problem is doing something about the entitlements. >> on the entitlement reforms needed to save medicare and social security, we know what they are. it doesn't require any more study. it just requires the courage to
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do it. >> unfortunate he look, unfortunately, we could never get the yes. >> senator mcconnell said, "those are the kinds of things that would get republicans interested in new revenue." so they are ready to get on board, right? wrong. speaker boehner had the audacity to call this major proposal modest entitlement savings. he went on to say, "there's no reasons entitlements should be held hostage for more tax hikes. that's no way to lead. it's the same, my way or the highway response that we've come to response from the republican party. the more the president shows he's serious, the smaller they seem. joining me now is ed rendell and jared bernstein. thank you for coming on the show tonight. >> thank you. >> governor rendell, i think this is a big move for the
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president. i mean, what do you think? >> i think he deserves a tremendous amount of credit, reverend. this is a big move. it's a bold move. it's a format that can really begin discussions and lead us to a grand bargain and if anybody doesn't think that we need to resolve this debt problem now, today's jobs numbers should lead us to know that it's going to straighten us out. it's going to cause him to lead with his own caucus. the progressive left of our party and congress in the senate has got to be won over. that's going to acquire presidential leadership. he's willing to try to do that. in return for reasonable revenue increases that really don't hurt any working family. reasonable revenue increases on the right and he's got the absolute right to expect that republicans will work with him. this is a budget that's subject to negotiation but republicans have to understand what a heavy
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lift this is with his own side. i think he deserves a tremendous amount of credit. they have been asking him to lead and he's leading with a capital "l". >> but jared, there's going to be a lot of criticism, many on the left, including me, are going to be hard to sell on this. i mean, because we're talking about changing social security even though it's protecting seniors and those that are low income but this is a heavy lift for the president, yet the republicans say no anyway. we're told that he's going to meet with republican senators next week. the white house is making it clear, though, that there will be no changes to entitlement without new revenue. a senior administration official tells "the new york times" that the changes in social security, that republican leaders have pushed hard for will only be acceptable if crown gregs nal republicans are willing to deal with the own revenues.
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how do we deal with the ones that don't want to see any of this? >> it's a good question. the president said an important thing today in that regard, or yesterday. he said something about this not being a menu where opponents can just pick out parts they like. now, that's very important in terms of republicans because they can't go to him and say, forget the revenues, we've already done that but we'll take the change cpi. we'll take the benefits to social security because of the price index that you mentioned earlier. that kind of picking off the menu is something that the white house has to stashd really firm on. as far as the left goes, that's where you raise a very good question. i think the white house strategy, they want to pick up republicans. as social security goes, as you mentioned, there's something in there that takes some of the revenue from these changes and it plows it back in to help boost the benefits of older poor people for whom this change
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compounds a lot over time. for them it's a serious benefit cut and it's important to make sure that they are held harmless. >> now, governor, the president has said over and over again that he's willing to make tough decisions even if it's not politically convenient. >> i am prepared to do hard things and to push my democrat friends to do hard things. some of which will garner some significant frustration on the part of members of my party but i think it's the right thing to do. >> the problem with this is that he's meeting with republicans next week. if he says to them, i've done a tough thing, i'm going to face criticism on some of my own party members a he some of the people that have been supportive, here it is, you've got to come in and at least meet me halfway, does he put them
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between a rock and a hard place in terms of them rejecting them on this? >> sure. absolutely, reverend repd. he's done essentially what they have asked for. they have categorize this as modest. it isn't modest. it's significant. it also makes sense. someone like me, someone like you, we don't need the inflation index to keep track exactly. we can take a lesser benefit. the people who really have to be protected and that's the message to the people to be protected, the oldest and poorest are going to be protected and we can't get everything we want. i've always said, you you've heard me say this before, we should pipe in to the senate and the house, you can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you'll get what you need. this country needs to get the debt under control. it will spur the economy and the only way we're going to do it is for both sides to understand they are not going to get everything they want.
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>> now, the song you can't get all that you want maybe should be played to the republicans because it seems as though they are saying no matter what he puts on the table, they are not going to do it. they are not going to budge on revenue and it seems like again, as i said earlier, they are saying my way or the highway. >> well, okay. so this is really a very fundamental point that we perhaps haven't hit on hard enough. the three of us are talking about this budget offer as if it has a pretty decent likelihood of going anywhere. well, not if the republicans refuse to budge on revenue and the comments you played earlier is really a significant offer from the president. so, yeah, again he's meeting them on their side of the field. many of us judge that as a risky strategy. well, perhaps one of the things going on in the mind of the white house is it's not a risky
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strategy because we're not going to fold unless we get what we want as well, which is a balanced deal, spending cuts on one side, entitlement cuts firmly on the table. they have to come with new revenues. if they don't, there will be no deal. >> governor, what perplexes me is that the republicans said that last year wasn't a referendum, was the term used, on where the country is going and where the people of the country want to go. well, they lost the election and if it was a referendum, the referendum came back that the american people rejected their way and went the other way with the president. doesn't elections have consequences? >> of course it does. and the republicans should understand that. and i think down deep they do. but they can't hold to protect their base. and their base are the wealthiest people in this country. they've got to explain to the american people if they reject the president's deal.
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what part of the ex spend tpend that are going to be taken away, what part of it is unfair? what part of taking away the oil company subsidies at a time when they are making record profits and don't need a nickel in subsidies, why is that unfair? they've got a tough job persuading the american people, even some of their own people, even some of the tea party folks. they've got a tough job persuading while we're going to protect those benefits to the rich, especially when the president has moved on entitlement reform. this is the type of leadership everybody has been asking for. those people who were for simpson/bowles, this is the type of leadership we hope we would see from the president. we're seeing it and if they reject it, they do so at their own peril. >> jar he had aed, the republic themselves have said over and over again that this was a referendum, as i said to the governor. they lost the referendum that they described as a referendum.
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what is it that they don't get? watch what some of the republicans were saying. >> what we want to do is say to the country, here's your choice. >> i believe that when people go to the polls in october and early november, it's going to be a referendum on the president's economic policies. >> this election is really a referendum about something much more meaningful. >> and the choice is yours on november the 6th. >> and boy is it a clear choice. >> they said a clear choice. they said a referendum. they lost. what don't they get, jared? >> ever since the day after the election, the republicans have come to the president or anyone else they are negotiating with on the democratic side with essentially this statement. we lost, now here are our demands. it's a real nonsequiter. the fact of the matter is they
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hold the house. unless they are willing to balance in negotiation and compromise, this isn't going anywhere. and i think the important conclusion of all this is the president has just gone as far as i think he could reasonably go. if they say no at this point, a gridlock is just their middle names. >> ed rendell and jared bernstein, thank you both for your time this evening. have a great weekend. >> thank you. >> thanks, rev. ahead, president obama bashed for calling kamala harris the best-looking attorney general. but who's defending him? the pigs are flying and president obama winning the culture war and it is ripping the gop apart. who's on the right side? who on the right is calling o'reilly arrogant? and on the week to reflect on civil rights history, i'm joined
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by two ji yepts giants in the m. they marched side by side with dr. king. stay with us. welcnew york state, where cutting taxes for families and businesses is our business. we've reduced taxes and lowered costs to save businesses more than two billion dollars to grow jobs, cut middle class income taxes to the lowest rate in sixty years, and we're creating tax free zones for business startups. the new new york is working creating tens of thousands of new businesses, and we're just getting started. to grow or start your business visit thenewny.com it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love.
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have you joined the "politicsnation" conversation on facebook today? the controversy over president obama calling kamala harris the best-looking attorney general. "the comment was sexist and therefore inappropriate." nora says," it's true. she's smart and beautiful. that's a good thing." nicole says, "it was harmless but no matter what he says he'll get flack." you're right on that one. but you might be surprised to find out who was defending him on this one. that's coming up later. but first we want to hear what
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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. o swiffer 360 dusters extender, and you'll dump your old duster. but don't worry, he'll find someone else. ♪ who's that lady? ♪ who's that lady? ♪ sexy lady, who's that lady? [ female announcer ] swiffer 360 dusters extender cleans high and low, with thick all around fibers that attract and lock up to two times more dust than a feather duster. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning. and now swiffer dusters refills are available with the fresh scent of gain. her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day
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or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ are republicans on the ropes when it comes to the culture wars. today a big left hook, two more democratic senators have come out in support of marriage equality. both from red states that voted for mitt romney in the 2012 election. two down, four to go before every single democratic senator publicly backs gay marriage,
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which the public now supports. the president and the democrats are getting a little help from some on the right. >> the compelling argument is on the side of the homosexuals. >> you were sort of marginalized on the factor as not being bible thumpers. >> >> i don't think you really needed to say that. >> waited. we're going to get very specific. >> at no point did i think you were being pejorative of the religion right. >> the demo gaugs, why do they do that? the right, some people, all right, they don't want a noni'd
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dee logical guy assuming this kind of power. >> the gop is bruised and battered. will they go down for the final count? joining me now is maria teresa kumar and jonathan capehart. jonathan, you rarely see the big talkers on the right going after each other but it reveals a bigger split among the republicans. >> right. look, the republican party in tone, rhetoric, and policy is over here. the country, however, has moved certainly within the last five years, definitely within the last ten years over here. the republican party, if it's going to survive, has to get over here. o'reilly, limbaugh, all these folks in the media, they kind of get that but it's the people on capitol hill and who are running the republican party who don't quite get -- understand that yet. >> maria, the gop strategist
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says the reasons they are winning the culture wars are, quote, across the board they are on offense. they feel like the wind is at their back, that the demographics are in their favor, and there is a confidence in prosecuting these issues. republicans are on their heels. will the gop drive them apart? >> you're not just going to see it with gun legislation but with immigration reform. the republican party is at the seams because they within their party cannot coalesce. yet at the same time, they can't get their personalities such as bill o'reilly on the same side as the extreme right a demonstration that they have more work to do. what jonathan just said is
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absolutely right. the republican party right now is beholden to the most extreme that they don't have to worry if they are up for re-election. it's senators that are statewide and governorships that have to make sure that they are appealing to the majority of the country. and that's not the case for a lot of the house republicans. >> jonathan, we're not just talking about them coming together. i mean, they are really fighting it. you have mike huckabee and the religious right just absolutely threatening the party. listen to this. >> do you ever see the party pivoting on gay marriage? >> they might but they are going to lose a lot of their base because evangelicals are going
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to walk. it's not because it's anti-homosexual move. but we base it on an objective standard. >> i mean, when you look, jonathan, at the support from same-sex marriage among republicans in may of 2012, 13% supported his position. now in less than a year that number has jumped to 37%. why can't the gop leaders do the same? >> well, look, governor huckabee is right. the base the party probably won't like it. the base of the party is the energy of the party. anyone who wants to run for president has to win a caucus has to win a primary. who are those people who show up? the far right, evangelical christians and so on. it's going to require a republican candidate to stare
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them right in the eye and say, we disagree on this and you don't have to vote for me but the future of the court is here and this is where i want to be. bill o'reilly's comments, watch this. >> bill o'reilly, who frankly a lot of the times, ladies and gentlemen, comes across as a pompous, arrogant wind bag. we are a bunch of knee an droe that bible bangers. that's essentially what he's saying we are. >> i mean, this is serious back and forward going on here now. >> there's a growing young evangelicals that embrace and the reason the party is in such trouble is that it's an older party and if they want to bring in young people and the young
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energizing base that capehart is talking about, there's a lot of republicans out there that are maybe fiscally conservative but fiscally conservative. they are getting driven not to the democrats but drive these individuals into independence and make sure that they are up for grabs and that's not a good scenario for the republican party if they want to win the white house, which that's the gem in politics. >> it's interesting. for years the republicans always beat the democrats up on the culture wars. maria teresa kumar, thank you both for your time and have a great weekend. >> you too, reverend. thank you. ahead, the gop problem with women voters are only getting worse. here comes hillary clinton. plus, newt gingrich offers to help the gop with minority
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outreach. what could possibly go wrong? and if you're looking for something to make you smile on a friday, we have it. president obama's oval office tour with the kid president. stay with us. [ male announcer ] ah... retirement. sit back, relax, pull out the paper and what? another article that says investors could lose tens of thousands of dollars in hidden fees on their 401(k)s?! seriously? seriously. you don't believe it? search it. "401(k) hidden fees."
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here's a news flash. newt gingrich wants to help republicans with minority voters.
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that's right. newt gingrich. he wants to bring the gop to black districts. i think it's great he wants to the gop to be more inclusive and we even worked together back in 2009 going to five cities to bridge the achievement gaps from minorities in school. but that was a few years ago. i'm wondering what he'll say when he visits black communities now? >> really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works. so they have no habit of staying all day. of this no habit of, i'll do this and you give me cash unless it's illegal. >> oh, newt. i wouldn't start with that. might not send the signal the party wants to change. maybe try something else.
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>> they have no money, they have no habit of work. so what if they became assistant managers and their job was to mop the floor and clean the bathroom and you paid them? >> i've got another idea. maybe avoid talking about child labor. want to give it another shot? >> if the naacp invites me, i'll talk about why the african-american community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps. >> that probably won't make a greater impression either. now, look, i'm all for gop outreach but newt, did you think we'd forget all the offensive things you and others on the right said just because you wanted to be inclusive? because you've changed for right now? nice try, but we've got you. orl.
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the gop's war on women is on fire and back in the spotlight. but look out, so is their worst nightmare. hillary clinton got a standing ovation at the women in the world summit today and vowed to continue fighting for women's rights worldwide. >> if america is going to lead the way the way we expect ourselves to lead, we need to empower women here at home to participate fully in our economy and our society. we need to make equal pay a reality. we need to extend family and medical leave benefits to more workers and make them paid. >> she's back at a time when the gop's in big trouble with women's issues. and their problems might only get worst. joining me now, lauren ashburn,
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editing chief of "the daily download." thank you for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> lauren, two forces colliding, what does hillary back speaking for women in public mean for women who want to attack women's rights? >> first of all, i think any move that hillary makes, anything that she says is going to be new. so that number one is tough for republicans because they don't have anybody in this gat gore the way that hillary is. you have the governor of new mexico, nikki haley, governor of south carolina, but you don't have anyone who has been the first lady, who has been a senator, who has been the secretary of state and has this popularity. so that, number one, is cause for concern. politically speaking. for the republicans. >> but dana, it's not only that they don't have anyone. it's at a time that they are
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actually attacking women's rights in certain states, coming with votes that are clearly viewed as anti-women. >> sure, reverend. if hillary didn't exist, the republicans would have every bit as much of a problem tripping over their own two feet. the gender gap is as bad as it has ever been for them and it is continually coming up virtually every week here in washington. the hillary clinton phenomena i think compounds that and what she is doing is something that she really failed to do during her 2008 campaign. she wasn't running to be the first women president of the united states. she was running because she thought she would be the best candidate. i think she's changing that now and addressing the significance of her possibly being the first woman to lead this country and that's going to work very well for her and compound the
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republican's problems. >> but she did signal that, lauren, in 2008 when she was in her speech -- in her concession speech, she did. look at this. >> we will some day launch a woman into the white house. although we weren't able to shatter that highest glass ceiling this time. thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. you can be so proud that from now on it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories. unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee. unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the united states and that is truly remarkable, my friends!
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>> 18 million cracks on that glass ceiling for women, unremarkable what women can do in her concession speech. she really went in to history. from her body language now and for the last couple of weeks since she left being secretary of state, lauren, do you read in her body language she wants to finish this task, that she's going to do this, that she's going to run? >> yes. i have no idea. i think none of us have an idea. we all want to believe, i think, that hillary is going to run. republicans or democrats, people just want to know. joe biden who is sitting there going, is she going to run, is she not going to run, everybody just wants this. but it is four years away. i think we also have to remember that 2008 was not very good for hillary. she was attacked. her campaign was attacked. she lost and i think that right now there could be this honeymoon period coming off of
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four fabulous years as secretary of state. she wasn't really attacked until the very end with the whole benghazi flu madness that happened. but we're for getting that the rough and tumbleness of the 2008 campaign. >> now, dana, fight for women's rights have really helped her popularity. john avalon rights, hillary has become a symbol of something larger than herself. she is an embodiment of baby book second-wave feminists who see her elevation to the pin knack kell of world at large. this is deliverance. >> i think that's sort of the point i'm trying to get at there. and i was there in the hall when she gave that concession speech you just played clips from and a lot of the people wondered, why didn't she make that more of the central focus of her campaign? i think what she is showing now is that she is getting ready to
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make that the central focus. i think the fact that she's talking about these issues now indicate, if anything, it's more likely that she is preparing to run and lauren is right, the election is not nearly for four years but 19 months from now essentially the campaign begins in earnest. so by being out there this much and talking on these themes, she's clearly sending a signal, whether she intends to or not, that she intends to run. >> and she's doing it, lauren, in the time that the gop continues to fight women's reproductive rights across the country. you know, just in the last few weeks in kansas they are pushing a radical personhood bill that would define life as beginning at conception. in missouri, a bill was introduced saying doctors can deny emergency contraception to rape victims. in arkansas, they just passed a bill banning abortion at 12 weeks. in north dakota, they plan to
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ban abortions as early as six weeks. the strictest abortion law in the nation. and reince priebus, the chair of the rnc said this week in an op-ed, he attacked planned pare parenthood, do these democrats also believe in a newborn has no rights? do they endorse infanticide? >> it's political suicide for the republican party to bring up anything about planned parenthood. it reminds everybody of mitt romney and his statement that he wanted to get rid of planned parenthood and even big bird. and so if the republican party is trying to, for once out of the five -- out of the six last presidential -- or last elections actually win the
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popular vote, this is not the way to do it. >> lauren ashburn and dana milbank, thanks for your time tonight and have a great weekend. >> you, too. ahead, the best looking controversy and why everyone needs to lighten up. plus, behind the scenes with the kid president. i give a reverend al guarantee it will make you smile. and on a week to reflect in civil rights history, a living legend, two of dr. king's closest confidants. stay with us. ♪ ♪ pnc bank is proud to bring back the father son challenge, in support of the arnold palmer hospital for children and part of our shared commitment to the next generation.
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it's all about absorption. president obama was in san francisco last night for the democratic national committee and a shoutout to attorney general kamala harris, "she is brilliant and dedicated and is tough and exactly what we would want in anybody who is administering the law and making sure that everyone is getting a fair shape, she also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the court. and then came the bipartisan backlash. obama needed gender sensitivity training, flirtatious, obama praises best-looking attorney general. obama blasted as sexist. come on, the president was just having a little fun. it was a harmless compliment.
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but today president obama called harris to apologize for what some deemed to be a sexist comment. and then the fox news, wait, no. they didn't? >> i think it's perfectly fine to call somebody attractive and what he said was since sear, it was honest, it was very sweet. big deal. yeah, she is. she does happen to be good looking. i just think we've come to a place in society. she is. she's pretty. and it's true, she's attractive. >> wow. we'll be right back. the pigs are flying around the studio.
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forget the republicans going after the president. this is what they will watch out
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for. is this guy the loveable kid president, 9-year-old robby novack. he's the youtube sensation, 17 million people have viewed his pep talk for america. the kid president was invited by the real president to the white house easter egg roll. they had a great time and the president is a big fan. >> kid president. give kid president an applause. >> now we look at what is going on behind his visit. get the kleenex ready. >> sit behind the desk so you look more official. >> hello. >> okay. well, just don't cause an international incident. i'll try to do my best, between
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the two of us we can get things going in a good direction. now, even though we're presidents, can we still hug? is that okay? >> yeah. >> okay. i just wanted to make sure. >> what an inspiring video and a reminder that the kid president isn't the only one who knows how to give a great pep talk. lindsey! i just discovered these new triscuit
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50 years ago tonight, martin luther king jr. was charged with protesting unlawfully for organizing the boycott of city buses. in jail, he wrote his famous letter from a birmingham jail. it was a response to eight alabama ministers who had criticized the civil rights movement and called dr. king an outsider. his cellmate on that occasion and on most occasions he went to jail was reverend dr. abernathy and many were part of his team
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that stood with him and marched across those years. joining me now, two giants of the civil rights movement, mrs. juanita abernathy, the widow of dr. kenging's closest confidant. they were side by side during all of the key events of the movement. reverend, the emeritus of the key christian rights, the key organizing group of the civil rights movement working closely with dr. king and reverend abernathy. thank you for being with us tonight. >> my pleasure. >> let me start with you, mrs. abernathy. it's such an honor that you would come and do a show and national network forum tonight. you and dr. abernathy were side by side with the king from day one.
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dr. abernathy nominated him the president of the montgomery movement and your house and church was actually bombed the night they formed the southern christian leadership conference. >> that's right. >> you lived under daily threat. i don't think people understand the price that was paid to get us to where we are today. give us a sense of how it was to be the co-pilot of this great movement. >> well, one of the things is that we had death threats every day for five consecutive years. there was a woman hired by the white citizens council, or the koo klux klan. we thought it was the white citizens council. she came on duty at 7:00 a.m. in the morning and worked until 7:00 p.m. in the evening and a man came on duty at 7:00. they called us everything with death threats, we're going to blow your so-and-so head off and your little children and it was constant.
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rosa parks and my house. we got the calls. and when she finished cursing and calling us all kinds of names, she said, now i've got to call rosa. >> reverend, through all of the years of watching some of the people that you worked with, struggled with, go through death threats, you as well, the abernathys bombed, you bombed, and you lived through it all and you are standing there with the addiction for the first black president, one of the first to endorse him when he was running, how do you look back from standing there that day at the capitol steps with the benediction as the one that survived and you can look back to all the way to '63, 50 years ago today, it's an amazing journey. >> amazing isn't the proper name for it. it's hard to realize that in those days we talked about a
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black president but really we weren't sure we'd ever live to see one. i never thought i would. i was older than ralph and martin and older than juanita a little bit. but i never saw i'd see a black president. and then when he called and asked me to do the benediction or the invocation, i told him that i would check my calendar to see if i was clear that day. and the newspaper carried the story the following day that i was going to do the benediction and my friends called and said we want you to do the invocation. i said, no, i'll have the last word. we didn't think we'd ever see a black president but god moves in mysterious ways. >> did you, mrs. abernathy, when
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you were dealing with daily threats, ever think you'd live to see a black president or a black attorney general? >> no, i didn't. we knew that one day it would happen. but not in our lifetime. >> a tape that we played at the dinner last night and the attorney general spoke, i want to play for you some of what he said because there's still challenges ahead. >> of course. >> watch this. >> we've got a lot more work to do together, to create jobs, to fix our broken immigration system, to educate our kids and p protect them from the horrors of gun violence, so we find out what health care means for them and their security. to make sure that everyone has an equal chance and the courage and skills to walk through those doors. >> mrs. abernathy, what advice would you give to this generation that has to face these problems today, nothing
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like what you and mr. abernathy faced and dr. lowery and your lovely face. what would you say they need empower, faith in god, number two, i would say, fact in god number one and determination. be sure of your goals and aspirations. and pursue them entirely. it isn't going to be easy but if you pursue it and continually work at it, you are going to be successful. >> one thing that i remember when i was 13 in new york and abernathy was president of the lclc, he never stopped being a great preacher. was that the basic core of dr.
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king and dr. abernathy, their ministry and faith in god? >> absolutely. and they knew that through that faith they could accomplish anything with hard work and determination and the backbone of the movement was the church and we can't forget that. >> juanita is right. the church and spirituality. and we have lost that -- as i say, we've reaping the world. >> one of the reasons in this national network convention that we wanted to end having those that led the way here is because we wanted to say thank you. there wouldn't have been a barack obama as president or an eric holder as attorney general if it hadn't been for martin

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