fire and that he is the one giving orders on the president's behalf. that he has the authority and the power to do so. i just don't see it. what i see are a group of people who aren't confident the president has their back, not confident therefore to cover his back. i'm calling it as i see it. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. politics nation with al sharpton starts right now. thanks, chris. and thanks for tuning in. tonight's lead, the gop smear campaign against eric holder. republicans are ramping up a new round of attacks on the attorney general i trying to use all those so-called scandals in washington to bring him down once and for all. now they're accusing the attorney general of lying to congress and calling him to resign yet again. >> at the very least, eric holder misled congress, he failed in his obligation to do

what the attorney general should do and that's to be honest with congress. if i were eric holder, i would resign. >> perjury is a criminal charge that has to be proven, but certainly it's hard to have confidence in what this attorney general says. >> i think the attorney general has definitely logs the trust of the american people. they have lost the trust. i think it will take a generation to rebuild trust in the federal government. >> perjury some m? misleading congress, it will take a generation to rebuild the trust lost by eric holder? what are they talking about? this is the attorney general who stood up for voting rights, who convicted his hate crime perpetrator, who fought for victims of mortgage fraud and who protected minority home borrowers of discrimination by some of the biggest banks in the country. eric holder is a historic figure the nation's first african-american attorney general who republicans have cited him for contempt and treated him with the worst kind

of disrespect. >> you either lied or you were xwroesl grossly incompetent. >> you're well-known for not reading memos. >> how many more border patrol agents would have had to die as a are the behalf fa part of fast and fewer wuewer f for you to take responsibility? >> do you think he's smart? >> i have not been impressed with his intelligence, no. >> layeiar, incompetent. no attorney general has faced this kind of disrespect. it's shameful and that is the scandal and it has to stop. joining me now is congresswoman karen bass, can testimodemocrat california, and simone walsh. thanks for being here. congresswoman, what do you think

about republicans throwing around words like perjury now? >> i think it's the type of abuse that the attorney general has had to put up with, the attacks on government that we have heard for the last several years from republicans, that really do erode the trust. i just have to tell you that when i sat at the hearing a couple weeks ago in the judiciary committee, i said to attorney general holder, i really hope you don't resign, but i have to say at this point in time, every couple of months that we drag you before congress, i can certainly understand if you're getting tired. this is severally a diversion to take us away from the real issue which is we need a conference committee so we can develop the budget. all last year, the senate hasn't passioned a budget and we couldn't go to conference. the senate's passed a budget, the house has passed a budget,

we need to move forward with the business of the american people and believe me, it's not focusing on attorney general holder. >> but you know, joan, whether or not attorney general is getting tired, the precedent that it would set for them to bully an attorney general out of office when there is no evidence at all that would lead to connecting him to any of these so-called scandals, i think that would take a long time for the american public to be able to overcome if we could just start bully i bullying the top person out of office. >> marsha blackburn thinks she speaks for america, but she does. a large base respects eric holder and their support gets stronger every time they hear the rhetoric that you played at the top of this show. i thought you were playing some old tape from their attacks on susan rice. the language is almost identical

about that incompetent, not intelligent, not bright. so there is a tinge of disrespect that gets people's backs up. i want to go on the record, i'm concerned about the targeting of the a.p., i'm concerned about naming james rosen a potential co-conspirat co-conspirator. there are concerns about that element of what the justice department is up to. but these attacks on eric holder most are substance free and always pushing the envelope to a level of disrespect that's not about his performance. >> congresswoman, senator john kernen was attacking eric holder during a hearing in june of 2012. listen to this to give you an idea of the kind of disrespect that has alarmed some of them. >> you won't cooperate with legitimate congressional investigation. and you won't hold anyone including yourself accountable. your department blocks states from implementing attempts to combat voter fraud. you leave me no alternative but to join those that call upon you

to resign your office. >> now, congresswoman, when he's talking about voter fraud, this was the attorney general that went after he's voter suppression ideas. in fact on my own radio show, the attorney general talked about voting rights and what it meant. listen to this. >> you know, people dr. king, others died, sacrifice sod that everybody would have the right to vote, the 1965 voting rights act is the signature achievement i think of the civil rights movement and i'm bound and determined not to let that be unravelled while i'm attorney general. >> i can't help but one wonder is the fact that he's opposing them on things that they want to do like unravel civil voting rights and other things, is this the motive and is this why they're talking in such

personally ugly terms about this attorney general in because clearly he was recused from dealing with the questions from the situation and no connection in the other. so why this vile kind of tone to that i ever langua their language to him? >> i think his last quote is precisely the problem. he is enforcing voting rights and that's the problem. they don't want to do that. we know they wanted to do everything they could to suppress the right of people to vote in this last election. it was really december pick des. so then to say he's allowing voter fraud, i think he's enforcing the law of the land. i think he's done a fine job in spite of all the harassment. and you'll probably remember when we walked out of congress because we were so offended by the idea that they were going to hold him in contempt of congress. the first time in u.s. history something like this has ever

happened. i think it just goes to show that they will really go to no length to divert us away from what we really need to worry about, which is jobs. that's what's on the american people's minds, not these investigations. >> joan, if you let them get away with it, they will go across the board. representative issa called white house press secretary jay carney a paid liar. look at this. >> the administration is still, their paid liar, spokesperson, 3ik9d behi picture behind, he's still making up things in what happens in calling this local rogue. >> david plouffe who used to work as an adviser to the president says strong words for mr. grand theft auto and suspected arsonist insurance windler and loose ethically today. so i think that issa had among other things new yorker magazine said issa has been indicted for stealing a car, arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and

accused by former associates of burning down a building. these are facts. so i think that you have to look at the fact that they can beat up on the attorney general, they jump on calling a paid liar to the white house press secretary. there are some reports that some in the white house had better stand up because they are all a candidate for this. >> those reports were disturbing. there is a little bit of leaking and talking into on. darrell issa is so familiar with investigations. he's been investigated for multiple counts of car theft and a couple counts of potential insurance fraud. and he came into this office determined to do this to this president, to tie this president in knots and block the democratic agenda. what they're doing is trying to tight president up in scandal and distract and get the media involved in the side show. >> we'll get into all of that

another night about the accusations. we're getting a lot of letters about it. but thank you congresswoman bass and joan walsh. thank you for your time tonight. ahead -- the news that republicans don't want to hear about is great for america and bad for the gop. plus george zimmerman's lawyer admits to mischaracterizing material about trayvon martin. this is big news and we'll talk about it. and the 1970s comedy "all in the family" broke ground on tv and changed race relations in america. but you how far have we come? >> i suppose you'll tell me the black man has had the same opportunity in this country as you? >> more. he's had more. i didn't have nobody marching and protecting my job. >> his uncle got it for him. ♪ we could use a man like herbert hoover again ♪

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have you joined the politics nation on facebook yet? we hope you will. today every was talking about this cherrios tv ad featuring an interracial family. and the backlash it inspired on youtube. steve says i'm disgusted by the backlash but not surprised. dorothy says interracial families are part of our nation and it's time we realize it. robert says i thought this was a great commercial. just shows a little girl who loves her dad. coming up later in the show, we're talking about a tv show that had a lot to say about race relations in america. but first we want you to weigh in on this cheerios ad yourself. we've posted it on our facebook page. if you want to check it out,

that's facebook.com/politics nation. and be sure to like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show end. [ male announcer ] moving object detection. ♪ blind spot warning. ♪ lane departure warning. safety, down to an art. the nissan altima with safety shield technologies. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle.

it's the story the right wingers are trying to hide. days away from a major jobs report friday, and they're signing on the economy. i wonder why. guess they don't want to talk about the job reless rate at hi its lowest level since 2008.nm m

numbers the word on home prices. they keep talking scandal, scandal. what about jobs and the economy? sfrsthey keep talking scandal, scandal. what about jobs and the economy? sf sfrs. >> there are 7 million new jobs. 500,000 are in manufacturing. we're producing more of our own energy, we're consuming less energy and importing less from other countries. the housing market is coming back. the stock market has rebounded. our deficits are shrinking at the fastest pace in 50 years. >> yes, we've had good news. but we can't stop now. wages are still at a stand still and we still are waiting for see the full effects of the gop's automatic budget cuts. this is the stuff we need to be talking about. and it's a conversation we're going to make the gop have whether they like it or not.

joining me now is jared bernstein. thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> you're welcome, reverend. thanks for inviting me. >> the economy is improving, but how do we keep it moving in the right direction? >> two things come to mind. first of all, no more self-inflicted wounds. you mentioned sequestration. back in march, 25% of americans said they were negatively affected by that. in may, that was up to 37%. you don't see it as much in the macroeconomic numbers yet, but i think you will later in the year as more of the furloughs take hold. but kids are losing head start slots, seniors are losing meals. the flying public has been protected from this the more visible stuff. so that's number one. no more self-inflicted wounds. number two, this is a great time for some investment in infrastructure. you don't have to look too far across this nation to see obvious problems with our roads, our bridges and other parts of our public goods. this is a great time to pull forward some of that work that we're ultimately going to have

to do anyway. let's start it now. >> now, when we see the recovery of 45% of wealth, which is the average u.s. household, that's a move in the right direction. how do we keep that going? >> well, a lot of that has to do with recovery in the housing mar we ket. we've recovered about 45 pfrs the trillions of dollars lost when the housing bubble burst. but some of that has a lot to do with the stock market, as well. and remember, something like 30% of stock market wealth is held by just the top 1% the wealthiest households. if you don't own a house, then appreciating home prices don't help you that much. so the thing you said earlier is really important. it's great to see the housing market, the stock market moving upwards. some of that absolutely does affect average folks. maybe you have a 401(k) or

pension in the stock market. but we have to get the paychecks moving up and that's a labor market issue. >> the president has made it clear that he's going to focus on the economy and he's going to focus on working for the middle class while they keep focusing on scandals. let me show you something he said. >> i know it can seem frustrating sometimes when it seems like washington's priorities aren't the same as your priorities. i know it often seems like folks down there are more concerned with their jobs than with yours. others may get distracted by chasing every fleeting issue that passes by. but the middle class will always be my number one focus. period. >> you know, you look at the focus he has, you look at how the stock market has been going. he must be the worst socialist in history. >> he is. i posted a graph this morning that showed since the expansion, economic expansion began in the

second half of 2009, adjusting for inflation, the stock market is up about 60% while wages and median incomes are flat. look, the budget deficit is moving in the right direction. we talked about the stock market, housing prices, even consumer confidence. now is the time to focus on the jobs deficit. we talked about the budget deficit until we're blue in the face. enough already. it's time to focus on the jobs can deficit. and if you're not, you're not serving the american people.an . and if you're not, you're not serving the american people.n deficit. and if you're not, you're not serving the american people. deficit. and if you're not, you're not serving the american people.def. and if you're not, you're not serving the american people. interest rates are low. eventually we'll have a transportation bill that addresses the roads and bridges. that's what we ought to be focusing on now and that's what i believe our representatives ought to be working on. >> jared bernstein, thank you for your time tonight. ahead, a big admission from george zimmerman's lawyer that opens up all kinds of questions about his defense. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually

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all in the family was a ground breaking television show that changed the way america talked about race. tonight we remember the actors jean tastapleton, archie bunker lovingly called her ding bat. ♪ i boy the way glenn miller played, songs that made the hit parade ♪ ♪ guys like us we had it made,

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in exactly one week, lawyers will begin selecting the jury in the miles per hour trial of george zimmerman, the man accused of killing 17-year-old trayvon martin. mr. zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims he shot trayvon martin in self-defense. now zimmerman's attorney mark o'mara is admitting to a mistake about what he hoped might be part of his case. last week mr. o'mara asked the judge to allow material that some say was designed to paint trayvon martin in a negative light. the hearing was covered live on national television. millions of people watched. as mr. o'mara described a video he says was found on trayvon martin's cell phone. >> keep your mind open when we

present you the videos of him at these fights, not just as a pure spectator, but refereeing one and being involved in taping one where two buddies of him are beating up a homeless guy. >> but it turns out not all of that is true. that video doesn't show trayvon martin's two buddies beating up a homeless guy. in fact it's a video of two homeless men fighting over a bike. mr. o'mara's office issued an apology and correction on his website yesterday. quote, mr. o'mara misstated the nature of the video from trayvon martin's cell phone. though it was unintentional, it is a particular concern to us because we are and have been committed to disputing misinformation in every aspect of this case, not causing it. for that, mr. o'mara apologizes. the mistake was made live on

national television in a court of law. but the apology was only posted online over the weekend. joining me now is veteran prosecutor paul henderson and legal analyst lisa bloom. thanks for being here. >> hello. >> nice to be here. >> paul, let me start with you. how could this affect the jury pool in this case? >> well, once again,s's despai disparaging against the victim and i keep reminding people trayvon martin is not on trial. disparaging against the victim and i keep reminding people trayvon martin is not on trial. so all of this character assassination is not good. it's not helpleful. nor is it going to be admitted into the trial. and what we don't want is for this to taint the jury pool and for the public to hear and see all of this information that in this case in particular isn't

even true to try to paint the victim in a negative light. so that's the harm that's being done. that's the challenge. >> when you look at the fact, lisa, that mr. o'mara makes the statement live television, knows millions are watching and then apologizes over the weekend online, i mean, aside from anyone's view of that certainly is not comparable to what happens, he apologizes after he throws it out there. isn't the fact that these kinds of things are thrown out there potentially leading to some potential jurors getting an image in their mind that is hard to get out of their minds if they are in fact selected to be on the jury? >> reverendle al, i'm glad you're broadcasting the apology so that people can appear about it, but i'm really not concerned. my informal poll, exactly zero had heard about the video. most have not heard about it.

those of us who analyze it, we know about it. by the time trial comes around, i can guarantee you these jurors will analyze the evidence. i've tried and analyzed hundreds of cases in my legal career and not once has the jury ever come back and say we reached this decision because of something we heard about on cable tv two months ago. just not the way it works. jurors rise to the occasion, they decide the case based on the evidence and i think that's what's going to happen here. >> but one of the reasons that i raise it is that there was a headline in the orlando sentinel which is the major newspaper in that area where the jury will be elected from, saying that he in fact had a video of trayvon martin filming two of his buddies beating up a homeless man. that was a headline in the paper there where it will most matter. >> so here's the good news for the court system and the bad news for the media. jurors are more distrustful of the media than they are of lawyers. jurors know that the media sometimes gets things wrong.

and they are not going to rely on something they read in the newspaper. this will be a complicate difficult trial. it's a self-defense case and true that trayvon martin is not on trial, but every little action that happened during that incident that was witnessed, eyewitnessed and ear witnessed by a number much people will be poured over by the jury. and that's what will be determinative about this trial, not whether there is a video on his phone. and if there was what it depicted. >> paul, here is something o'mara was saying in the days ahead of evidence hearing. look at this. >> if they go into trayvon's past, trayvon is peaceful, i might be able to say trayvon is aggressive. >> we have the one eyewitness that says george is on the bottom getting pummeled. >> it seems from the text message that's involved himself in street fighting. if we're talking about who he was that night, if that becomes relevant, then the idea that this is a person who is familiar with fighting, familiar with

getting on top of somebody another text, i think that's very relevant. >> paul, prosecute this. he is on this campaign clearly to paint a certain picture. lisa says it won't matter to the jury. but maybe it will. >> it may. and we have to look at what the source is. and so while the public is absolutely aware that the media is one source of information, if we peel the onion back, what is the actual source of this information, the source of this information and it's misinformation is coming from the defense team. right? so these are statements being made in court. and you hear him talking about trayvon martin being aggressive. you hear him talking about trayvon martin being associated with fighting. and all of that information is not necessarily going to come into the trial and instead it's being distributed into the media and into the public knowledge and so this is where the jury

will come from. so they're seeing this information and they know it's not just coming from a random article or a random television program. it's it actually coming from the defense team and that's what's troubling. and this is exactly why we have the prosecution asking for a gag order again and again and again. and this new incident i think is going to give them more credibility in asking for a gag order because now we have the defense team saying they are sending out misinformation that i believe they knew or should have known before they made those statements in court. i really don't understand how a defense attorney is introducing evidence that he has not personally reviewed in a case that's as important as this that specifically just speaks to these standard and tired old prejudice and stereotype perspective that we have associated with the victims. that's my real concern. >> lisa, isn't it interesting, though, that all of this is

being done around the person who was killed yet the accused is protected that his past acts cannot be brought up because he in fact had been arrested and dealt with on things they know that can't be brought up at trial. so you're doing all of this when you know that it can't be done to your client who is the one accused of a crime. no one has accused trayvon martin of a crime. >> you put your finger on really the third rail most sensitive issue in the case. and that is that george zimmerman like all of us has certain constitutional rights and they won't bring up his prior bad acts unless they are directly relevant to something at trial. and so far i'm not seeing that. and you're right, trayvon martin who is the victim, who is deceased, who was an unarmed young man, a minor and now deceased and can't speak for himself, is going to be trashed to some extent because it's a self-defense case. that's what happens in a self-defense case. but i think we all need to steel ourselves for that. that's the way it will go down. it doesn't mean that there is not going to be a conviction in

this case. that's what the jury will have to decide. >> well, lisa bloom and paul henderson, i'll have to leave it there. we'll have to steel ourselves, but it doesn't mean we have to be quiet while we're steeling ourselves. thank you both for your time tonight. and full disclosure in civil court ghorneorge zimmerman has nbc universal for defamation and they have denied about. ahead, chris christie makes my mailbag. and jean stapleton's passing reminds us just how ground breaking "all in the family" was. but today, we're realizing there is a long way to go. it's monday. a brand new start. your chance to rise and shine. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner,

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should police be allowed to take a dna sample from people they arrest even without a warrant and if the person has not been convicted? today a sharply divided supreme court said yes, that is allowed under the constitution. justice anthony kennedy wrote for the five justice majority, quote, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee dna is like fingerprinting and photographing. a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable

under the fourth amendment. i don't often agree with justice scalia, but today, i do. scalia wrote the dissenting opinion siding with three other justices. elena key began, sonia sotomayor and ruth bader ginsburg. scalia -- made no mistake about it because of today's decision, your dna can be taken and entered into a national day it base if you are ever arrested rightly or wrongly and for whatever reason. he is saying that privacy should be protected. and he is saying that it is wrong. i don't often agree with justice scalia, but on this one, me and scalia are on the same page. that's pigs flying around the studio. or me! oh no! my mom just cleaned this place! calm down, squishy, this'll be easy to clean.

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♪ boy the way glenn miller played, songs that made the hit parade ♪ ♪ guys like us we had it made, those were the days ♪ there is very few television shows or television actors that helped change the culture in america. but the actress jean stapleton did just that. she passed away last friday at age 90. she was best known simply as edith bunker, archie's long suffering wife on that 1970s hit all in the family. the show premiered in 1971 centering on the bigoted archie bunker. it was the top show in the country for five straight years. and it broke new ground. the show tackled difficult subjects, including race relations, war, gun control and gay rights. some thought the show's humor made light of archie bunker's

racism. but others felt it exposed the silliness of his prejudice like in this conversation with his son-in-law, known to the world as meatahehead. the language in this clep wip w language of that era. >> get out there and hustle for it just like i did. >> you're for getting one thing. you didn't have to hustle with black skin. >> no, i didn't have to hustle with one arm and one leg either. >> so you're admitting the black man is handicapped. >> no, he's just as good as mean. >> now i suppose you'll tell me the black than has had the same opportunity as you? >> he's had more. i didn't have no million people out there marching and protesting to get me my job. >> no, his uncle got it for him. >> archie frequently sparred with his liberal son-in-law who he called a hippie. >> i thought there was somebody at the door.

>> that's michael out there, isn't it? >> there's a beard out there with a nobody under it. >> and "all in the family" was one of the first sitcoms to feature real political debate like when arrechie argued with s wife's cousin about franklin roosevelt. >> people adored him. he was a saint. that man had charisma. >> i don't care if he was sick. he always had his big mouth open at them fire side chats. >> those fire side chats kept this country informed. and one from roosevelt was worth a barrel full of let me make this perfectly clear. >> and the show also presented what was then the most famous kiss seen on tv. >> i want one picture taken with archie bunker, my friend and me. on three, okay? one, two, three.

>> there was of course sammy dafts jr. more than 40 years after the show debuted, it still inspires strong emotion. joining me now is matt zoller, new york magazine tv critic. thank you for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> you wrote a piece on why all in the family still matters. and i'm quoting you. you say, quote, the cultural fault lines and hot button topics all have modern equivalence. racial, ethnic and sexual upheaval. double check liberal conservative rancor. and how terrorism and war. you better believe it, buddy. how modern is this show? >> this show is very modern and as you were showing those clips, i was laughing at the show as if it were a modern show. and all of the references are

very particular to the era. they're talking about nixon, the civil rights movement, vietnam. but it's pretty ease y to transpose those in the era of obama. >> i showed a clip of sammy davis kissing him. let me show you another clip of that episode with sammy davis. >> he's not a bad guy, mr. davis. i mean like he'd never burn a cross on your lawn. >> but if he saw one burning, he's liable to toast a marshmallow on it. right on. >> i mean, this was the kind of stuff you never saw discussed on television like before this show. >> absolutely not. in fact cbs struggled for a long time about whether or not to air this show. they took a lot at that pilot, it was like a big piece of lava in the programmer's hands. they didn't want to put it on the air. and when they did, it was the right show at the right time. people wanted to see this, hear this, and talk about this. >> you know what was surprising

to me, you write about archie bunker's position on gun control. and it ererily is reminiscent o what we hear from the right wing today. here's what he said about preventing air jacking. >> all you got to do is arm all your passengers. then you got no more superiority there. ain't going to dare to pull out no bomb. and then your airlines wouldn't have to chase the passengers on the ground no more. just pass out the pistols at the beginning of the trip and pick them up again at the end. case closed. >> that's incredible. >> i mean respe, it was a joke then and now you hear everybody talking about arm people inle coulds. and it was funny back then. >> it was funny back then, it was -- i'm sorry, that clip just

kills me. when i see that clip and when i see common sections of websites arguing about gun control and saying that the solution is to just arm everybody, that the solution is more guns, i think of archie. and in fact not a week goes by that i don't read something that makes me think of archie and edith and meathead and gloria. the nouns and adjectives may have changed, but the same conversation in a lot of ways. >> what about archie. tell me what made archie so endearing to americans even though what he was saying was so repulsive. >> i think it was because it was very sympathetic to the fact that he thought he was the king of the castle. he thought he had privilege. about he only had a very limited amount of privilege 378 only a little more than george jefferson.he only had a very li amount of privilege 378 only a little more than george jefferson. and that was the tragedy of archie bunker. if he had just more self awareness and more you pow

every, would he have been insufferable. nobody could have looked at hip and seen themselves or their grandfather, mother, anybody.mp and seen themselves or their grandfather, mother, anybody. and seen themselves or their grandfather, mother, anybody. >> interesting when you look back 40 years how many of those now and how many of those issues are still alive and unresolved. matt, good to have you. thank you for your time. >> thank you. joining me now is dr. am vin pussant, professor of psychiatry at harvard medical school. hes worked as a script consultant on the cosby show. "all in the family" was the first show to be rated number one for five seasons a feat later matched by the cosby show. you were an early critic of "all in the family". why? >> yes, i was. my reaction even though i could laugh at some of the clips, my reaction was that it was making humor out of bigotry. and that was going to make a lot of people feel, particularly white people feel that it was

okay, it was funny, it was part of the culture that it's something they could do. i have a hunch that many of the people watching that show in fact had their own set of racial jokes that they told all the time. they still do. and i think they were putting all the blame on kind of a working class issue, a working class white man when a lot of the things he was saying was being said by politicians, white politicians, wealthy white people and so on. so he in a sense was a scapegoat and the way they covered up was to say it's really a satire, a satire, so it's poking fun and people look at that and won't like to be like archie bunker. i don't think that's true. we're still carrying that on now. we still have these racial issues. they said, well, it will lead to discussion, they're bringing things out in the open. i don't think all of that really happened. >> so really this whole thing of him feeding stereotypes and saying things that others said would prompt discussion, you

felt it was making it acceptable and even humorous which made some very deep and heavy things sort of light and sort of like ha-haish but was a lot deeper than that. >> right. and even today people make the "n" word jokes and not see anything wrong with it. and argue they're trying to be politically correct. of course archie bunker was totally not politically correct and everybody loved him because that's what they wanted to be able to say out loud and to get away with it and cover it up with humor. >> how important in the context of that was it for you and dr. bill cosby to do the cosby show and then the fact that archie bunker was out there doing this, can can this have any impact on you you and dr. cosby? >> i don't think so. we never talked about the archie bunker show when we were putting together cosby show. what we did talk about was a lot of the racism on television, a

lot of the stereotypes on television and what people were able to get away with and call it humor at the expense of other people and other ethnic groups. and we wanted to make a show that ripped those stereotypes about black people and just make it a good show that was humorous behind bill cosby's amazing sense of humor. so we didn't reflect on that show. it was so different from what we did. in fact probably the whole run of the cosby show, you didn't hear derogatory term about any person in the world out there. we didn't use put down humor. i think that archie bunker show used put down humor which underlying it all can be very demeaning to the people's targeting. >> what do you hope the legacy of the cosby show will be? >> the legacy should be that we go on to have good television that people from all ethnic

backgrounds participate in, including sitcoms and mainstream television shows where every ethnic group is represented, whether a doctor show, lawyer show or a sitcom. that television has to represent america. and i don't think we totally have representation yet. more from black people. but we still need more representation of latinos all over television. the other issue with the archie bunker show was his attitude toward women. remember jean stapleton, edith, was called a ding bat. she was like the universal submissive silly kind of dumb housewife. and she worn n emmys for that r. and i don't think it's one that she would want women to imitate. >> i'll have to leave it there will, doctor.

thank you for your time. i think we'll have you and matt on one night when we can debate some of this out on television. thank you for being here tonight. obamacare, vote are suppression and my diet from for chris christie. my answer to your questions, that's next. my mother made the best toffee in the world. 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.

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disingenuous and that could be risky. next e-mail. rich asks, reverend al, will you be sure to stay on top of any potential election suppression efforts, foe toy i.d., elimination of early voting as well as election reeking efforts? absolutely we'll stay on top of it this year and midterm elections. it is important no matter who you who people vote for. it is important the right to vote is protected, that people know they won't be suppressed and we're committed to stay on top of it and to keep a light on it. we will intend to do this with all of the fervor we have and to keep watching as attorney general eric holder as others enforce the law and protect voting rights. it is the american way. sharon writes, i was watching your show on msnbc the night you said you would send your diet to governor christie. would you be kind enough to send

to me some well, i can tell you every diet doesn't work for everybody. i stopped eating any red meat, i don't even eat chicken. eat fish twice a week. i eat salads and fruits and i don't eat late at night. it makes you healthier, more energetic. you can even button your vest which adds to your whole wardrobe. and you can even button your jacket which adds to your self-esteem. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. attack, attack, attack. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. there's a lot of attacking going on in washington these days. it's attack, attack, attack. and what did obama do to encourage this unstopping attack on him? did he actually do something at e