think about it. we need to get something done here. not just talked about. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, george zimmerman questioned in court today. in day three of the murder trial, the defendant himself george zimmerman faced questions in open court by the judge. we'll show you that. this as jury selection continued and at one point tempers flared between the lawyers. we'll show you that too. also we heard from several potential jurors familiar with key pieces of evidence in the case. but who said they still would be fair and impartial? but we start with mr. zimmerman himself. this morning the judge asked him a series of questions about his defense.

>> mr. zimmerman if i could have a moment to ask you questions about the jury selection or the jury process yesterday. again, yesterday you had the opportunity to review the questionnaires with your attorneys for the new group of people? >> yes, your honor. >> and did you have an opportunity to discuss with your attorneys how you felt about the responses to those questionnaires? >> yes, your honor. >> and you were here listening to each one of the people being individually questioned about them? >> yes, your honor. >> and your attorneys made some decisions about some potential jurors. did they discuss those with you? >> yes, your honor. >> and are you satisfied with those decisions? >> yes, your honor. >> thank you. >> today both sides questioned another ten jurors. so far at least 71 jurors have been excluded from serving. we expect to get updated numbers on that any moment now. today lawyers actually stopped

questioning one of the jurors shortly after he gave this response to the prosecution that seems to reject a claim of self-defense. >> i don't have an actual opinion about this actual case, but i do have an opinion about murder. murder is murder no matter what. >> okay. so you believe murder is murder. >> murder is murder even if you are in self-defense. it still doesn't make it right to kill somebody. >> of course mr. zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims he shot trayvon martin in self-defense. his parents were sitting in court for all of the questioning. and moments ago they spoke to the media. >> as we sit through jury selection, we are encouraged that the jurors that have been questioned, we are encouraged that we as a family can get

justice for our son trayvon. and we ask that the public continue to come forth and be honest as potential jurors. thank you. >> joining me now is legal analyst and former criminal prosecutor faith jenkins. and jury consultant melissa gomez. thank you both for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> faith, let me start with you. let me start with mr. zimmerman being questioned by the judge. why did that happen? is that unusual at this point? >> the judge is trying to put everything she can on the record about this case. and zimmerman's participation in jury selection process. she wants him to state on the record that he understands what's going on. every defendant has a right to participate in selecting jurors in their case and she's making sure the communication is open between zimmerman and his attorney. because remember, it wasn't that long ago there was a bond hearing where omeria stood up

and said zimmerman was indigent when he wasn't. so she remembers that. and she remembered how he allowed o'mara to get up and make that statement in court. >> there was some misrepresentation with mrs. zimmerman and some moneys and something. >> yes. and now mrs. zimmerman is under state prosecution because of that. this judge is aware of that. this judge is getting these things on the record so he can't come back later and say my attorney made all these decisions and i didn't agree with them. i let him go forward with the case. >> now, melissa, it got a little heated between lawyers on both sides on how the defense was asking questions about public relations to trayvon martin's death. listen to this. >> did you read anything or hear anything on tv about any demonstration -- >> objection. >> sustained. you can ask him what he has

heard or read or what he knows. >> have you heard or read anything related to demonstrations or protests? do you remember hearing anything about this case in the news that suggested there may be racially -- >> your honor, objection. >> counsel, approach. >> now, zimmerman's lawyer raised the question about protest demonstrations that was objected to by the prosecution. the judge said you can ask what he heard. you can't ask demonstrations. he asked again. then he brought up racial questions. is the prosecution here right to object, melissa? and is the defense purposely trying to just throw this out in the atmosphere even though he knows that the judge has sustained an objection to him doing it?

>> well, i think i can understand the reason they went and asked those questions. i mean, this case embodies so many relevant social issues. and what are the relevant issues in this case? so i can see why those questions want to be asked in order to be determined whether jurors see this as a racially charged case if race is really an issue in this case. because that's the way they're going to be viewing the case facts as whether this was a racially motivated target of trayvon martin. >> faith, why would you pursue it if the judge has told you no, don't ask that. ask this. and you ask the same thing. >> so here's what's happened here. they have an agreement this first phase is going to be about their exposure to the media. i ask the jurors a leading question about race or

demonstration. you're supposed to ask them what they've heard and go from there. at some point as much as the defense doesn't want this case to be about race, both of the attorneys will address that head on with the jurors. i think they have to. it's part of what makes this case unique. but now is not the time to ask those leading questions when they have an agreement in place that it's going to be about the media and what they've been exposed to and go from there. >> let me ask you this. on a broader picture, you are on expert with juries. where do you see this case today in terms of the jury selection? give me a big picture of where you see this at this point. >> a big picture review is that both sides are looking at this case in terms of the -- not only the media exposure, but the social issues that are important in this case. and it might be different for different people. is it a gun control case, civil rights case, case about teenagers and parenthood. so what each side is trying to

do is question these jurors to find out what is that person's perspective. how are they going to see this case and are they able to get through whatever their perspective is and what socially relevant topics are most important to them. and judging this case for what it is opposed to the broader social issues that are so inherent in this case. i think that's part of the reason why they're having such a difficult time. there is not only intense media exposure about the zimmerman case in general and people may have opinions of that. but these hot topic issues that are an embodiment within this case are also going to be reasons why jurors can say they might have difficulty being fair and impartial. i think that's why this is going to be a jury selection process that's going to continue for quite a while. >> faith, is this not why this can become complicated for the judge in this sense? when you say race is involved, many of the demonstrators and leaders -- i know i can speak

for me -- was concerned about the sanford police and their reaction with race. not zimmerman. so when you start raising these issues, are you getting into complex areas here that really have nothing to do with the facts of zimmerman and the case because many of the people that were protesting were protesting that he was not arrested, not protesting that he himself might have had a bias. >> but for many of these jurors, perspective is their reality. now as the case has gone forward and so much information has been disseminated in the media, some wrongly, but people have perceived it as race is an essential part of it. they cannot ignore that. if the jurors take that into the deliberation room with them, they want to know that in advance. you're looking for jurors. you want to know about their life experiences. there are no right or wrong answers here, but you have to ask questions. because at the end of the day the jurors are going to bring

their life experiences into their deliberation room with them. it's best you know in advance to try to get the best jury possible to persuade your arguments are the ones to take into consideration. >> we had the lawyers of both sides ask about the hoodie trayvon martin wore the night he was killed and what it meant to them. listen to this. >> did you place any significance on the fact he was wearing a hoodie? >> i have an 18-year-old that lives in one. no. >> it did not have an impact on you whatsoever? >> wearing a hoodie is because you're cold. >> tell us what you thought about the picture you saw with the solidarity photograph about trayvon martin. >> those ones i thought were just a little bit ridiculous. to then turn around and say black people are being victimized or he was targeted because he was looking shady or something like that. i thought it was a little, i guess, overwhelming.

>> what do we get from that back and forward, melissa, between the potential jurors and the lawyers over the wearing of hoodies and arizona iced tea and all that? >> uh-huh. i think asking about the solidarity and the comment whether or not african-americans were being targeted, i think what you're hearing is another way that that attorney is trying to ask about race. if i'm not allowed to ask about it this way, i'm going to find another way. they feel this is relevant enough and they want to know what perceptions are in there in the jury, enough that they're going to find a way to ask those questions. >> and for many people, the hoodie became a symbol of solidarity or symbol of prejudice. the attorneys are saying what do you think about it? many people said trayvon should not have been wearing a hoodie. that's like equating a rape victim with what she was wearing. so there's the division there.

and the attorneys want to explore that as well. >> i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you both for your time tonight. and in full disclosure in court george zimmerman has sued nbc universal for defamation of character. we will be watching this to see what all of these issues and all of the back and forward. can we get a fair jury that will listen impartially to the evidence. and whether the judge will allow distortions and distractions to get in the way of justice. we're going to be watching. we wanted a trial. now we want a fair trial. when will they learn? another republican congressman is talking about rape today. unbelievable. plus senator ted cruz is bragging about having

obama-phobia. president obama said something today that should have him scared. and years ago today america lost one of the best civil rights leaders in history. his widow myrlie evers-williams joins me. and i want to know from you friend or foe, e-mail your questions. reply al is ahead. ♪

[ roars ] ♪ [ roars ] ♪ [ roars ] ♪ [ roars ] ♪ [ male announcer ] universal studios summer of survival. ♪ have you joined the "politicsnation" conversation on facebook yet? we hope you will. today so many in our facebook family were honoring and

remembering medgar evers. lolita says i will never forget. i lived a few blocks from this family when i was 13. sathanuman says his wife is a hero for keeping his memory alive and fighting to find and convict his murderer. yes, she is a hero. and gerald says as elders, we need to expose our kids as well as our grand kids to our history and not let it be told by someone else. coming up, we will talk to medgar's widow myrlie evers-williams about her late husband's legacy and what she thinks about the state of human rights today. you don't want to miss this. but first we want to hear your thoughts. please head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today?

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here's a picture that may be worth more than a thousand words. what does everyone in this picture have in common? anyone have a guess? if you said they're all men, you are correct. now, what's the last thing these men should be doing? creating laws about a woman's body. right? yet that's exactly what they did today. one democrat joined 19 republicans in passing a bill out of the judiciary committee that would ban abortions nationwide at 20 weeks. it gets taken up by the house

for a full vote next week. is this amazing? they never learn. and then it happened again. they went there again. >> before when my friends on the left side of the aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject, because, you know, the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low. >> bringing up rape again? sounds like he's been taking science lessons from this man. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> i mean, what doesn't the gop understand? there's a problem with the gop when it starts with this picture. 20 men deciding what millions of women can do with their bodies. joining me now is lead democrat from texas sheila jackson. she's a member of the committee that debated the abortion bill

today. congresswoman, thanks for your time this evening. >> good to be with you, reverend. how are you this evening? >> all right. but another republican talking about rape today. what's your response to this? >> reverend, unfortunately we could not shut this thing down today, and no matter how many amendments or counterarguments that we made to challenge our colleagues as to whether or not they have ever stood in the shoes of someone who had been raped, whether they understood a woman when she was raped, what her condition was, and whether or not they understood the law. the constitutional law of roe v. wade that indicates that abortion is legal. not random, reckless decisions, but decisions made quietly and prayerfully with the woman's medical adviser. but in this instance, the amendment being offered for this ban on abortions that might have been driven by a woman being a

victim of rape or incest, they could not understand the connection. and that was what was so enormously disappointing. and this particular sentence that pregnancy due to rape is very low. i didn't see one medical documentation that was utilized by the opposition. and the amendment was rejected on that premise. when there are studies, st. lawrenceville university study that indicates pregnancy pursuant to rape is significantly higher than in other instances. or the san francisco state report that says that pregnancies in columbia women victims of sexual violence is very high. where do they get their stats? >> that's a good question. let me put this picture back up a minute. they're talking about getting government out of everything except when it comes to women's

bodies. i mean, what's your response to today's vote? >> well, my response is it is another attempt as a siege on women. just a few weeks ago, a committee held a hearing to eliminate all abortions or the right to an abortion in the district of columbia. it is a constant repeated repetitive effort to tell women what their bodies can and cannot do. and literally the women that were in that room today, democratic women, were outraged but really we were saddened. it was an emotional time. because this is a debate that has happened over and over again. many of us obviously are mothers. we've given birth. some of us have daughters. one of the biggest fears of women is rape. a violent sexual attack. and the premise of our amendments was to suggest to mr. franks that the woman might have to come in with a medical procedure based on her doctor's counsel and advice when she has been raped or the victim of

incest and it might be at a later time. we only wanted an exemption on exception to protect the life of the mother. >> congresswoman sheila jackson lee, thank you for your time this evening. >> thank you. my salute to the medgar evers family for their sacrifice and contribution to this nation. >> yes, ma'am. >> thank you. ahead, the gop's got a new illness. obama-phobia. they haven't even gotten over romneyism yet. but first, darrell issa is flipping and flopping all over the place trying to link these so-called scandals to the president. stay with us. [ male announcer ] in your lifetime,

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california congressman darrell issa is trying to link the white house to charges the irs targeted tea party groups. he only released snippets of interviews with irs employees to back up his claims. ten days ago he was asked about it. >> your critics say that republicans and you in particular sort of cherry pick information that go to your fore gone conclusion. can you put out the whole transcript? >> the whole transcript will be put out. >> great. because congressman elijah cummings says the interviews

show a conservative republican irs manager started the targeting of the tea party groups. and that the white house wasn't even involved. >> i want those transcripts to be released, but he's the chairman of the committee. we're not in power. now, if he does not release them, i will. period. >> get everything out in the open. shouldn't be a problem, right? >> can you not put the whole transcript out? >> the whole transcript will be put out. >> but guess what he's saying now. quote, your push to release entire transcripts for witness interviews while the investigation remains active was reckless and threatened to undermine the integrity of the committee's investigation. so now it would be reckless to release these transcripts. what are you hiding, mr. issa? it's reckless to release select parts of the transcripts. did congressman issa think we wouldn't notice his shameless

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fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. republicans. they know how to stay on message. scandal, scandal, scandal is all you hear from the right. but today president obama called them out for standing in the way of progress. >> some republicans may be rethinking the stances that they took in the past. that's the good news. we want to encourage that. but the fact of the matter is there are a whole bunch of republicans out there that are not interested in getting things done. what's holding us back right now is inaction in washington. gridlock in washington. too many folks in washington who are putting the next election ahead of the next generation. >> he's talking about republican senator ted cruz. the guy who once called president obama the most radical

president we've ever seen. he tweeted if supporting real immigration reform, not path to citizenship, is obama-phobia, guilty as charged. retweet it if you're a fellow obama-phobic. now, i know he was responding to a democratic senator, but the fact is that this is who they are. they're scared because the party is built on fear and obstruction. and no matter how hard they try, it's not working. >> businesses have created nearly 7 million new jobs over the last 39 months. we've produced more of our own energy than any time in years and we consume less from other countries than we have in decades. deficits are shrinking. the cost of health care is slowing down. the housing market is

rebounding. the american auto industry is bouncing back. we are moving forward. >> the president is cutting through the noise. america is moving forward. apparently without republicans. joining me now is joy reid. thanks for coming on the show. >> anytime. >> senator cruz is bragging about being obama-phobic. but the president doesn't seem to care. >> yeah. it's interesting. first of all, that guy went to harvard. for him to say retweet if you're a real obama-phobic, the real way would be obama-phobe. but ted cruz is interesting. he plays a singular role in washington. on the one hand his goal is stop marco rubio. any time rubio looks like he has a chance of pulling the republican party back to the center on immigration, ted cruz pops up to stop him.

the second thing is there's no proactive part of ted cruz's agenda. i wouldn't expect him to have a grand piece of legislation going through the senate. he's only there to sort of play the talk radio role in the senate. he's not there to legislate. he's there to blow things up. >> now, the president recently appears to be using tougher language with republicans. listen to this. >> there's no good reason to play procedural games or engage in obstruction. i will not negotiate around the debt ceiling. but they will not collect our ransom in exchange for not crashing the american economy. regular folks do their jobs. the notion our elected leadership can't do the same thing is mind boggling to them. it's not fair. it's not right. the american people don't it's fair. this is not a complicated concept. >> and he's talking tougher, and i suppose you run out of patience when you hear like

today congressman steve stockman today called president obama's election a scam. he was on a right wing radio show. listen to what he said. >> scamnesty. where are we at with that right now? >> which one? which scam? you mean his election? >> nice. >> is that what you're talking about? when he had 120% people voting in the primary. just very patriotic precincts? >> this is a congressman, joy, saying 120% turnout. the president scammed the election. this is a sitting member of congress. >> yeah. i mean, but it all goes part and parcel with where the republican party is now. there is this inability on the right to accept the fact that the majority of americans rejected their candidate in 2008 and then in 2012. and really reject their ideas.

so republicans because they are in that bubble, they've decided that every time they lose, they really won. there was just fraud. they really won in '08 but acorn stole it. they really won in 2012 but there were phantom voters. it's how not to deal with the unpopularity of their ideas. the only surprising thing about that being a senator talking like that is he's not in the senate. has rolled into the senate. and now we have neither branch of the sort of legislation bodies in government able to function because there's tea parties to the left and right of me. now nothing gets done. i think the president has figured out there's no point trying to negotiate with these people. they're not there to make laws except laws that have to do with abortion. >> but there's someone else that has figured something out. vice president biden. he's talking about how we can fight back by voting. yesterday he urged democrats to get to the polls in 2014. let me show you what he said. he said the last thing in the

world now is someone who will go down to the united states senate and support ted cruz. support the new senator from kentucky ron paul. it's about the vote according to the vice president. >> the reason we are here is that in 2010 people on the left decided not to vote in the same numbers as the people on the right. we got all these tea parties in. now they're there and democrats have to decide if you want them out, you have to vote. it's the only way. >> joy reid, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. ahead, the assassination of medgar evers 50 years ago tonight. a tragedy that shocked the nation and put a widow's grief on newsstands across america. my interview with myrlie evers-williams is next. [ 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

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today we remember a tragedy that changed american history. on this day 50 years ago, one of the most powerful voices of the civil rights movement was silenced forever. 37-year-old medgar evers, the

naacp's first field secretary in mississippi was assassinated outside his home in jackson, mississippi, by a white supremacist in the early morning hours on this day in 1963. just hours after he watched president kennedy deliver a historic civil rights speech from the oval office. medgar evers spent his life trying to change this country. after fighting for his country in world war ii, he came home to fight for justice here. >> for many of us who've gone overseas and fought for this country and fought for mississippi, we've fought for alabama, we've fought for north carolina, we've fought for illinois, and we've fought for every state in this union. >> he became a tireless fighter for the right to vote. >> we're not just interested in voting so that conditions will be improved for negros.

we want conditions improved for everybody. >> the irony is that medgar evers' murder did the opposite of what the racist hoped. it inspires thousands of americans to join the struggle for civil rights. and his death gave a powerful push to the civil rights movement. leading to the march on washington two months later. reverend martin luther king and other civil rights leaders flocked to jackson for evers' memorial service. thousands of mourners marched through the streets. he was buried at arlington military cemetery with full honors. and later that month, millions of americans saw the cover of "life" magazine showing his wife myrlie comforting their young son at the funeral. she went on to become the chair of the naacp and a constant force in the civil rights movement. earlier this year she delivered the invocation at president

obama's inauguration. and last week she met with the president to commemorate the legacy of her husband 50 years after he was assassinated. joining me now is the widow of medgar evers and a civil rights leader in her own right, myrlie evers-williams. it's an honor to have you here tonight. >> thank you. >> you know, 50 years later we hear all about the celebration to the march on washington. >> uh-huh. >> but a lot of people don't understand the impetus to that march was what happened 50 years ago to your husband, the assassination of medgar evers really fueled the movement at that time. and even dr. king in the march in detroit about a week or so after the assassination of your husband paid tribute to him. i want you to watch this. >> before the victory for brotherhood is won, some will

have to get scarred up a bit. before the victory is won, some more will be thrown into jail. before the victory is won, some like medgar evers may have to face physical death. i have a dream this afternoon that there will be a day that we will no longer face the atrocities that emmett till had to face or medgar evers had to face. that all men can live with dignity. >> people today don't seem to understand the fear and the depth and what people went through 50 years ago and what you had to witness with your husband killed right there in the driveway of your home. but it spurred a movement that no one could have imagined. and 50 years later, how do you see the progress? how do you assess how far we've come? >> i'm not sure if i can put

numbers on that assessment. certainly we have moved forward in this country, but if we stop for a moment and look at where we are and look at some of the racist things that are still happening in america, for instance when obama was -- president obama was re-elected, there was rioting at the university of mississippi. because of that. there are still deaths that take place. we look at those things that have happened to keep people from voting. so, you know, it's still there. i don't think these negatives are not as pronounced as they were in the '50s and '60s because we don't have people marching in the streets today. so we don't have that attention brought to it, but that's serious. i hear too many young people say that was then. we don't have to be concerned about that now. i beg to disagree.

and i beg to say that jim crowe is alive, and it's dressed in a brooks brother suit, my friend, instead of a white robe. >> you told me you met medgar evers the first day on campus in college, first hour. >> that's correct. >> and he told you not long after that that you were going to be the mother of his children. did you ever once you were married and started bearing children, did you ever dream you'd have to live under that kind of fear? what gave you the strength to live under that climate of constant threat and constant any day could be his or your last day. >> that's true. simple. love. i loved and respected medgar tremendously. and even though i was very young, i was 18 when i married him. he knew who he was.

his determination to do whatever he could register people, get them to vote, challenge the systems, and so many other things that needed attention. i came along with the job. it was just as plain and simple as that. and i hate to say it, but i must. i wasn't always there with him. i challenged that. because we knew being born and living in mississippi that you didn't challenge such a system without some kind of retaliation. and i knew that was coming. >> so you knew it was coming. how did you feel challenging him? what would happen in those kinds of conversations? >> well, i think most married couples have points in life where they challenge each other about the direction that they should go. as a matter of fact, i felt rather strong in being able to say i'm afraid for you. i don't want you to do this.

i'll get to the point. we reached a point in our marriage where i challenged to medgar about what he was doing. and he replied to me either you are with me or you aren't. that's your decision to make. so often i have read in books and talked to people who romanticize a civil rights movement. it was not all nice and easy and cozy and lovey dovey. we had serious conversations not only about issues but keeping our family together and growing that family. and medgar did a marvelous job in working with our children, telling them stories and where the safest place in the house was. that's exactly what they did when that shot rang out that took medgar's life. >> he pulls up in the driveway and had you heard the car pull up? >> yes.

and the children had as well. they were up late that night because they had watched per their daddy's wishes, president kennedy's address. so they were still up. >> then you expected him to come in and then you hear the shot? >> that's exactly what happened. he pulled into the driveway, got out with white t-shirts on a moon-lit night. and the t-shirt say jim crowe must go. then this powerful sound of the rifle. and our children did exactly what he taught them to do. fall to the floor and go to the safest place in the house, which they had determined was the bathroom and in the bathtub. i ran to the front door screaming, opened the door. the force of the bullet had pushed him forward beyond my car. he had fallen and was strong enough to pull himself around the car with his keys in his hand. and that's what i saw. and that's what my children saw.

>> you've always continued in the movement. >> yes, i have. >> you have been in the naacp board. the world will remember you and your regal bearing at the president's second inauguration. >> that's kind of you. >> what you've done is remarkable in your own right. >> well, thank you. it has not been easy, but doing the things that i have done helped to dismiss the hatred that i had. and i don't say that proudly. it's honest. i still get angry. i saw an exhibit in jackson, mississippi, about medgar, but it included the rifle that killed him. and it stopped me in the door as i looked upon this weapon of destruction. and i looked at the trigger, and

i could just see medgar's body lying there. but something miraculous happened. i saw something else. and that was in my imagination i saw the fire that would come from that bullet and to me interestingly enough, it said peace. and it said progress. so from being hurt, being angry, being vindictive of having multiple personalities around all of the work so hard to see the justice prevailed in the killing of medgar, to see he was not forgotten. and that's been so important to me. we've come a long way in that. and 50 years years later, i might be a little tired, might be a little weary, but i can't stop. because there's too much at stake. >> well, i can say this 50 years later. medgar evers certainly chose the

right woman to marry and bear his children. all of us see that. and 50 years later, you've made sure this world did not forget medgar evers. >> thank you. >> mrs. myrlie evers-williams, thank you for your time tonight. >> my pleasure. >> for more of my interview with myrlie evers-williams, go to facebook.com/politicsnation. we'll be right back. my mother made the best toffee in the world.

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now it's time for reply al. and your e-mails are rolling in. it's great to hear from so many of you. denise writes why are the republicans up in arms over benghazi but not cuts in medicare and social security? well, we should be concerned about what happened in benghazi, not distorted.

but it's partisan when you're only concerned about some things and not concerned about medicare and social security and other things that are crisises in this country. we should not have republican crisis, democratic crisis. we should be crisis for the country that we all deal with. suzanne writes i've not heard any msnbc anchor help me understand why president obama has not put forward a detailed jobs plan. that is, why has he not proposed legislation that a willing senator can introduce. just what is president obama waiting for? hold one second, suzanne. president obama does have a jobs plan. it's called the american jobs act. introduced in 2011. the plan's filled with bipartisan ideas like tax cuts and infrastructure projects. but the house republicans blocked it. eric cantor said the house would not even bring it up for a --

bring the plan up for a vote. so there has been a plan. it was stopped. and we need a plan now, and we need to bring it forward in the senate and the house so people can go to work and have jobs. that's a priority in this country. as i said earlier, this is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of medgar evers. when you see people that will stand for something and even lose their lives, these are the kinds of people that make the sacrifice that all of us live on the prerogatives of. whether your politics are right or left, whether your party's republican or democrat, we should remember people shed blood to give all americans the right to vote. people lost their lives in their youth, left their families, left their children to make it a better america. we ought not be so caught up in

our own myopic views that we forget that we live a better life because others lost their lives. in the name of medgar evers and viola louisa and others, let's protect the vote. let's protect people's rights. some of us will never forget we didn't get here by ourselves. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. are rand paul and ted cruz ramrodding the republican party? let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews down in washington. let me start tonight with this. it's in the a hard thing separating the two parties today if you think about it. the democrats are led by the president, a progressive. the republicans are led, well, it's a moving question there.