from it. nothing in my life was thrilling as historically than to stand on this eastern side of that gate and ask a captive east german what freedom meant to him and to have him respond in german that it was the ability to talk openly with an american reportering with me. and that's "hardball" for now. "politicsnation" starts right now. thanks for tuning in. tonight's lead. the hunger shames. the gop has been called scary, narrow minded, out of touch. and yet again today they lived up to their reputation. fresh off voting to roll back women's rights, today republicans went after benefits for the poor. the house gop wants to cut $20 billion from the food stamp program. money that goes to hungry kids, disabled adults, struggling

seniors. why all the massive cuts? well, just ask congressman sessions. >> what we're trying to accomplish is to end eligibility of food stamps that compete against those families, those needy families that we talked about for rapists, pedophiles, and murderers. whether rapists, pedophiles, or murderers will be eligible. but it's pedophiles, murderers, rapists. those who should have enough money. >> pedophiles, murderers, and rapists? the cuts the gop want would kick 200,000 kids off the school lunch program. kids, not pedophiles, not murderers, not rapists. kids. where the majority of household include children, seniors, or disabled people. that's who the gop is targeting. this isn't about fraud.

it's a full scale war against the poor. just look at the amendments they're offering. they're telling needy mothers they need to get drug tested. they're pushing new work requirements to qualify for food stamps. and while the gop can't even talk about gun registry, they want one for people on food aid. this party will stop at nothing to tear down the poor. just as they have time and time again. >> self-reliance means if anyone will not work, neither should he eat. >> really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working. and have nobody around them who works. they have no habit of i do this and you give me cash. unless it's illegal. >> teach a man how to fish, he can feed himself for a life. don't simply feed fish. >> wouldn't it be nice if for once the gop talked that way about banks and oil companies

instead of those struggling to get by? joining me now is congresswoman jane she cow ski from illinois. she is just steps away from where the house is voting. she participated in the s.n.a.p. food stamp challenge with others who lived off that. thank you both for coming on the show. >> my pleasure. thanks. >> congresswoman, does the gop always target the poor when cuts need to be made? >> you know, actually this is unprecedented. over the past years when there's been check downturns. programs like the food stamp program have been protected. we've never seen anything like this before where they're actually going to cut 2 million people including 200,000 kids off of their school lunch programs from actually putting

food on the table. they're taking food out of the mouths of hungry children. >> and you know what's alarming, the gop always claims they support military families. so why, explain to me if they support military families, why is it they're cutting aid to these families who need it? military families redeem $100 million a year in food stamp benefits on military bases. and they would be cut. >> that's a really good point. and a lot of other people who get the s.n.a.p. program are working full-time. they're just working at such low wages. and so this idea that somehow these are slaggers or rapists or murderers that don't deserve to get food stamps is absolutely wrong. reverend al, one out of four american children is called food insecure. another way of saying go to sleep hungry at night. >> karen, congressman stockman's

office pushed back at the food stamp challenge that congresswoman schakowsky and other democrats did and are doing. calling it, quote, a left wing publicity stunt. his office says that on the $31.50 in food stamp assistance poor people get each week, he said quote, we have room to cut about 12% more. it's one thing to disagree with something, but how insensitive and cold can you get? people on $31.50 of food a week and his answer is we can cut 12% more. i mean, how arrogantly insensitive is that? >> and it also, reverend, is yet another indication of how out of touch the republican party is. i mean, they talk about wanting to help people and you had eric cantor give a speech last month when they say i don't understand

why people think we want to take things away from people. this is why. and it shows -- that kind of comment shows how little they understand about life in america, how these programs are used by people whether it is to help feed their children, to help during a tough time. i mean, they have no concept of how these programs are benefitting americans. many of whom are their constituents, by the way. >> you're absolutely right. congresswoman, the other thing that is so outrageous to me, they claim they're doing this all because of they have to fix the deficit. but look at all of the deficit reduction we've seen under president obama. the deficit has shrunk by $800 billion since he took office. health care costs are falling for the first time since the 1970s. all of which we've had to fight them to get all of this done. so they want to cut the deficit

when it comes to poor people. but other things they fight the president tooth and nail. >> they're just losing that excuse. the deficit is disappearing. but they hate these programs. and the consequences are so great. i'd like to see one of them live on $31.50 a week. it's an important experience. i have one dinner left today and i have a sweet potato and some ramen noodles. that's about all i have left for the week. and it's a learning experience. i'm done tomorrow, but american families all around this country, it's going to go on and on for them until they can get back on their feet again. most people are on the program for less than a year. it's like a trampoline. one beneficiary told me. to get me over a bad time. >> the right is always talking about people are scamming the system.

like a scam artist would scam to get $31.50 in food. but listen to this. >> the role of citizens, of christians, of humanity is to take care of each other. but not for washington to steal money from those in the country and give it to others in the country. >> why don't we just pay for your clothes? pay for your shoes? pay for your housing? >> we don't want to hand these out to people who are gaming the system, so to speak. >> $31.50 a week in food. no scam artist would waste their time doing that. >> yeah. that is not gaming the system. but here again, it shows that they have no idea what is really going on in this country. and they are protected. they don't actually even understand that many people don't even have the opportunity to make the kinds of good choices that many of us make. it's not that people want to be on these programs, trust me.

it's that they need these programs. one of the things the congresswoman said is important. the data shows people who rely particularly on is s.n.a.p., it is a bridge during tough periods of time. these are working people who go on these programs. these are not people who kick back trying to collect their $37. these are people saying i'm willing to do my part, can the government help me while i need it just like when we help people after a tornado, a flood, you name it. >> these people are in an economic flood. and we're talking, congresswoman, about children, about seniors, about military families. we're talking about people that we ought to be rushing to try to help any way we can during the period that they need the help. >> and i want to say that there is not a district in this country, i promise you this is true, where there are not hungry children. where there aren't families that are struggling and senior

citizens who are getting in line at a food pantry. this is in suburban areas. this is in every wealthy community. there are people that are really struggling. i don't know why they can't see them, but they don't. >> congresswoman jan schakowsky and karen finney, thank you both for your time this evening. >> thank you. >> and be sure to watch karen finney this weekend. "disrupt" is live at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. coming up, drama in george zimmerman trial today. he comes face-to-face with trayvon martin's parents. plus over 24 hours after being exposed, congressman darrell issa has yet to come clean with his irs witch hunt. so many people are asking me about this. i'll tell you what's really going on with president obama's approval rating. and remember, friend or foe, i want to know.

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america will stand with europe as you strengthen your union. and we want to work with you to make sure that every person can enjoy the dignity that comes from work. whether they live in chicago or cleveland or belfast or berlin, in athens or madrid. everybody deserves opportunity. we have to have economies that are working for all people, not just those at the very top. >> today we got many comments from our facebook community about the president's big speech in berlin. where he spoke from the

brandenburg gate just as president kennedy did some 50 years ago this month. doug says thank god for giving us leaders like the kennedys, clinton clintons, and obama. abby says i think it's a great honor for our president to speak where another great president did fighting for the same cause. equality. gregory says president obama always represents us well. and with his beautiful family traveling with him, even better. we want to hear what your thoughts are on the president's speech or anything else. please head to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. i turned 65 last week.

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today marked a pivotal new phase in the jury selection in the george zimmerman murder trial. 40 jurors began round two of questioning as lawyers try to whittle the field down to six jurors that will determine zimmerman's fate. he faces 25 years to life in prison for the shooting death of trayvon martin. mr. zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims he shot trayvon martin in self-defense. for today's questioning, the courtroom has been dramatically rearranged. the deference and prosecution tables now face the jury box. this puts george zimmerman very close to where trayvon martin's parents are sitting. we also saw george zimmerman's family seated in the gallery for the first time watching the

prosecutor grill jurors on many topics. >> what i want to know now is in the front row if anybody's ever been arrested. do you feel you were treating fairly? anyone feel people have the right to take the law into their own hands? anybody live in negated community? because of the way a person is dressed, that should matter? everyone believe in the second amendment? who here has a firearm? >> have you ever been arrested? how do you feel about a neighborhood watch? do you own a gun? these are the kinds of questions that will determine who ultimately serves on this jury. joining me now is former criminal prosecutor faye jenkins and former u.s. attorney ken coffey. thank you both for being here. how's the second round of

questioning been up to now for both the prosecution and the defense? >> first, look at the setup in the courtroom. it almost looks like representing the head of the class. as they're asking these jurors questions about how they feel about certain things. wanting open-ended questions so they can get real answers. and we've talked about the fair and impartial aspect of this. but the truth is they want jurors who are going to be most susceptible to the arguments they are going to make in this trial and who will side with them at the end. >> and today was the defense gets his chance to go for it. you know, the makeup of the jury in terms of race, gender, in terms of their perspective that you can gain from questioning them from the voir dire of the jurors, how important is that, kendall?

>> i think in a case like this which has an acknowledged racial divide, the composition of the jury is extremely important. and from the standpoint of a verdict that's going to have broad acceptance, the closer it is to represent the demographics to the community, i think the more fundamentally acceptable the verdict's going to be. and one of the biggest challenges the judge is going to happen in this case is what if the defense begins to use its preemptory challenges to spriek african-americans from the jury panel. >> and that each side gets ten, right? >> i think each side is getting six. initial will get indicated ten, but it's six a side now. >> of the 40 potential jurors, 27 are white, 7 are black, 3 are mixed -- of mixed race, and 3 are hispanic. that's of the 40. as kendall said, that's not how it's going to end. same question to you. how important is gender, not just race but gender, race, and

political views if you can get some of those views out during the voir dire? >> all of those things are going to be important in this case. i think those numbers represent the numbers in that community and that county. that county only has about 12% of its community african-american. but gender, i can tell you right now the prosecution wants women, mothers on that jury. there's such an emotional aspect of this case because they're going to argue trayvon martin was a teenager, a high school student walking home with no weapon and just some candy when he was shot and killed by george zimmerman. they're going for the emotional aspect. >> you have been part of putting a jury together. how important is the setup? i'll give you the breakdown of the county. 66% of the county of seminole county is white, non-latino. 18% latino. 12% african-american. so we don't know where we're

going to end up. how important is that in the mind of prosecutor or defense attorney picking a jury? >> starting out with the defense perspective, a lot of folks had thought maybe they're going to try to get out of seminole county because of all the intense pretrial publicity. they decided to stay in the county. i think the demographics is one obvious the reasons. where they go is going to be fascinating to watch. because there's a whole process, actually a protocol and formula that florida uses if either side prosecutor or defense strikes individuals of a special protective group. if that starts to happen in the next couple days, you can expect to see some side bars. you can expect to see maybe even some fireworks over the issue. >> because if the strikes are not for cause and the defense starts striking african-american jurors, you can bet the prosecutor is going to want a reason why on the record. and they're going to go before the judge and they're going to

have a fight over every black juror that the defense is trying to strike when it's not for cause. >> let me give you another scenario i'd like both of you to respond to. some of the jurors that did make it this far to round two have expressed sympathies that would help the defense. listen to this. >> i heard discussion about his parents asking or making the young man leave town and go visit whoever the relatives were in this area because of some behavioral problems. >> the opinion of was basically regarding what i heard about trayvon being up here because he was expelled from school. i don't want to judge, but i just want to say that this could have been prevented had he not been up here. that's all. >> now, just for the record, he was not expelled from school. but we also heard some jurors that made it this far that seemed to say things that would be sympathetic to the

prosecutors. >> it seemed to me at the time a presumption was made whereas instead of taking george zimmerman in and asking him additional questions at the station and booking him, that did not occur. >> listened to the police officer whomever was telling him to wait. >> and in that sense, do you think he did something wrong? >> perhaps he did. >> how do you deal with people that have opinions that appear either way? is that a reason to remove him with cause? they may say at the end of the day that they can be fair and impartial. they walked into that courtroom with some thoughts and existing thoughts one side or the other. look. they're going to be fair and impartial, you don't like what you see about them, that's what you use the preemptory challenges for. you may only have six, but

that's what you use them for. >> both sides have been taking tremendous notes during this process when the jurors speak. they're keeping track of what jurors are saying what and who they believe is going to be more sympathetic to the other side. they're going to try to get these jurors removed by trying to get them to admit i don't think i can be that fair and impartial, but if they can't they're going to use their preemptories to remove these jurors. >> how much of what the judge would want to see in a jury, how does that come into play? and what do you think is in the judge's mind with the bigger picture that you've outlined that this verdict when we get there, the implications it will have. what's in the judge's mind? i'm sure it's a guess. >> the thing the judge will articulate is to have a fair and unbiased jury to let the defense and prosecution exercise their strikes. but in the back of the judge's mind, if i'm the judge, i want whatever the verdict is, i want

a verdict that is going to have public credibility and acceptance. and i think that means not only the fairest possible jury, but a jury that has some diversity. >> so you think the judge does not want an all-white jury? >> if i were the judge, i don't want an all-white jury. she may not be able to control it, but that's not good for the system here. >> faith jenkins and kendall coffey, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. darrell issa likes to be the one asking questions, but right now he's got a lot to answer for. plus i'm serving up a healthy slice of republican hypocrisy. these guys love to bash government money. except when they take government money. that's next. my mantra?

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>> and just look at senator cornyn's website dedicated to fiscal responsibility and government accountability. so i find it amusing to see this. this "national journal" headline today. senator cornyn reveals not one, not two, but three public pensions on top of hiss salary. in the words of your texas colleagues, oops. he has no problem taking from the government when it's going in his pocket. he's been collecting state money from three programs for his past work as a district judge, a texas supreme court justice, and a state attorney general according to the "national journal." cornyn took more than $48,000 from the judicial retirement system of texas. more than $10,000 from the employees retirement system of texas. and more than $6,000 from the texas county and district

retirement system. for a grand total of $65,380 in addition. all of this in retirement benefits last year. and he's collecting all of this while working as a senator making as a senator $174,000 a year. did mr. fiscal responsibility didn't think we'd see him taking state-funded benefits with bashing government spending? nice try, but take this three times. we got you got you got you. [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ♪ [ agent smith ] ge software connects patients to nurses to the right machines while dramatically reducing waiting time.

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get your first prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. today the right wing scandal machine came face-to-face with the truth and it blew a fuse. tea party activist and gop lawmakers trotted out this rally

against the irs. trying to link that controversy to president obama. even comparing him once again to richard nixon. >> when richard nixon tried to use the irs to target his political enemies, it was wrong. and when the obama administration does it, it's still wrong. >> that's why i call him president barack o'nixon. >> barack o'nixon. really? it's amazing they're saying this even though the newly released transcripts show that no irs official has linked the controversy to the white house. guess they've just got watergate on the brain. >> somebody the other day said to me this is as bad as watergate. well, nobody died in watergate. >> this is far worse than watergate. nobody died in watergate.

>> get to the bottom of it like we did in watergate. >> if you add watergate and iran-contra together, you can get in the zone of what benghazi is. >> these republicans always seem to bring their bucket straight to the water gate well. no matter the facts. but the american people know better. joining me now is michelle cottle and jimmy williams. thank you both for being here tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> michelle, seems like republicans are not really letting facts get in the way of a good story. despite the release of the irs transcripts, they're sticking with barack o'nixon. >> which isn't as catchy as you'd hope for. there's a segment of the party that believes in its bones this is an illegitimate president.

they'll throw it at the wall and see what sticks. the facts are not the main issue here so much as kind of proving that this is a president who is illegitimate. >> the gop's lead attack dog here on the irs controversy is darrell issa, he's been crying wolf for a long time now. listen to this. >> is he has been one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times. >> president and his cronies are picking -- apparently the public were misled. talking points were changed. it's hard to have confidence in what this attorney general says when so often it turns out not to be true. >> with darrell issa as their top investigator, doesn't the gop have a credibility problem? >> well, yes, considering he's kind of a criminal in and of himself. yes, it is a problem. because he keeps saying that

it's the most corrupt administration of all time. if that's the case, then why don't you bring charges or do something besides just have hearings, hundreds and hundreds -- actually, i think when he took over the gavel of chairman of the government oversight committee, he said he was going to have thousands of hours of committee hearings. he's done that successfully, but the problem is he's actually proved nothing. in fact, his ranking democrat elijah cummings of maryland just released the transcripts from the irs, quote, scandal. and it kind of proved that what mr. issa has been saying all along wasn't true. i don't know where he's going with this. if i were in his shoes, i would shut up and try to legitimate something opposed to having hearings. >> what's so interesting to me is that the republicans almost seem oblivious to the credibility problems they had under president bush. i mean, we just saw former vice

president cheney addressing these issues just this weekend. listen to this. >> i don't pay a lot of attention, frankly to what barack obama says. i find a lot of it in other areas like irs and benghazi not credibility. in terms of the credibility, i don't think he has credibility. the problem is the guy has failed to be forthright and honest and credible on things like benghazi and the irs. so he's got no credibility. >> so he's this weekend saying president obama has no credibility. here's the administration that brings up weapon of mass destruction that wasn't there, that did any number of things on a global level, and sunk the economy. i mean, are these the people that really should be out front discussing the credibility of this president when nothing has even been alleged directly to have stopped or be brought to his office? >> well, the republicans do need

to be careful. and to their credit, some republican leaders have basically been grumbling that darrell issa should put a lid on it and not get too far out there with his wild comments about most corrupt this, most corrupt that. if we learned something from bill clinton's presidency, that works well for you. and what republicans don't need is for their team to get so kind of intent on bringing down this president that the public kind of -- there's a backlash. and people say wait a minute. maybe this wasn't quite like what we'd want to happen, but you're going overboard here. they do need to be careful about that. >> and you know, jimmy, they seem to bring everything back to watergate. and, you know, it's almost like young people would think that watergate was a democratic party scandal. but everything is watergate if it's irs controversy, benghazi,

solynd solyndra, the president's birth certificate. they've cried watergate on president obama on everything. >> when i was working the senate, it was around the time of the clinton impeachment. and my republican -- back then thungs were far less partisan than they are today, by i remember my republican colleagues, they would say things like this is payback for watergate. i guess they don't think that impeaching bill clinton for lying about sex, they think that because his popularity is as high as it is today and his wife's by the way, i guess they don't think they've gone far enough. they have to bring this president down too. that's the inherent problem here. it's always about the revenge factor. that's where they're going to overplay their hand here and every time they do it, they get burned. it's like they touch a stove over and over and over again.

don't learn lessons. >> i'll have to leave it there. thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> thanks. ahead, rush limbaugh never let facts get in the way of a good conspiracy. he's reviving an old smear against president obama. and i'm calling him out for it. plus confused about the president's poll numbers? we'll set the record straight by answering your questions. stay with us. i want to make things more secure. [ whirring ] [ dog barks ] i want to treat more dogs. ♪ our business needs more cases. [ male announcer ] where do you want to take your business? i need help selling art. [ male announcer ] from broadband to web hosting to mobile apps, small business solutions from at&t have the security you need to get you there. call us. we can show you how at&t solutions can help you do what you do... even better. ♪

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today marks a momentous day in u.s. history. juneteenth, freedom day. when the last of america's slaves were freed. president lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation. but it took two years before that document could be turned into a reality. and on june 19th, 1865, union general gordon granger arrived in galveston, texas, with 2,000 federal troops to enforce the emancipation and free the slaves in texas. they were the last slaves in the nation to win their freedom. and in the decades since, juneteenth has become a new holiday in america.

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the right wing isn't good for much. they can't pass laws, they can't win presidential elections, and they have no clue how to govern. but they are good at one thing. messaging. they mastered the art of the smear. here's how it happens. on sunday, a right wing blog featured this story. at&t to load iphones with emergency alerts from obama. that you can't switch off.

it's scary stuff. you can't switch them off. these emergency alerts are just president obama's big, bad government conspireing to get in your life. later on sunday, the right wing drudge report picked up the story and then the de facto leader of the republican party was talking about it. >> there is a third alert that was part of the carrier update that you can't turn off. and it's called the presidential update. the presidential alert is any time obama wants to talk to you. it is part -- i remember when the federal law was passed. it was not that long ago. but that ability now exists for the president of the united states to send out emergency text messages, essentially, to every telephone. >> oh, yeah. be scared out there. president obama's ready to send you some text.

but maybe, just maybe, these messages will alert people to emergencies. the fcc explains the wireless emergency alerts were established under something called the warning, alert, and response network act. and guess when that passed. 2006 when president bush was in the white house. but they never let facts get in the way of a good conspiracy. joining me now is joe madison. thanks for being here tonight, joe. >> thank you. i appreciate talking about this. i know a little bit about this having just recently been appointed to the board of the red cross. and let me tell you something, this is one of the most important alerts that one can get. just ask the people of moore, oklahoma. tens of thousands of lives were saved because they had this early warning system. we even received them here in

washington, d.c., because we had tornado warnings and actual tornadoes that touched down. my iphone went off. my blackberry went off. this is the dumbest thing. >> these are the same alerts that are referred to in these articles. >> yes. >> and what rush limbaugh was referring to that i just played? >> absolutely. that's what these alerts are for. and where you live in new york, just imagine the number of people who got alerts when sandy went through there. and this is hurricane season. and that's why these alerts. so i just hope people recognize just how ridiculous the right wing is trying to make this a conspiracy. >> not only this. i mean, it's over and over the conspiracies. the birther conspiracy is back, for example. listen to a sitting member of congress on right wing radio. listen to this.

>> any chance the house may actually pursue barack obama's phony identification papers? >> well, you know -- >> that's the original scandal, congressman. that's the original scandal. >> people should have voted against him in november. i'm afraid that that wouldn't get to the supreme court where it ought to get. >> but if we know they're lying about all these other things, why not go back and say maybe the first scandal was a lie too. >> there you go. i'm all with you. let's go back and revisit some of these things because americans have questions about not only the irs scandal but about the president's validity. >> questions about the president's validity. this is a sitting member of congress still saying this now, joe. i mean, these conspiracies just never die with them. >> we talked about that, we played that very tape this morning. and to be quite honest, we

didn't even get conservatived calling in on this one. and listen to what they added. you tell people to read with a third eye. the irs scandal. well, elijah cummings, your show, have proven that there is no scandal. matter of fact, the scandal may be the fact that you've got a chairman of a committee that sat on information that the public should have known. but to bring this up and then to say oh, his validity. people are still concerned about it. the man has been elected twice. by an overwhelming majority. nobody's concerned about it except these limbaugh, hannity wannabes who call themselves talk show hosts. and quite honestly i hate to say they're in the same profession we're in. >> one we keep seeing over and over again, it always kind of amuses me and angers me is the

photoshopped conspiracies. right wingers claim this picture of his skeet shooting of him was photoshopped audiotape at said this was of the president holding a football, that was suspicious. there was the claim the president has been to to shopped with his grandparents. and you can still see his leg. and one conspiracy theirist thought the picture of the president in the situation room was mysterious claiming part of his ear was missing and his neck looked transparent. >> and you have tens of people in that room. i mean, they know who was in that room. let's go back to the gun.

i also heard it was photoshopped because most people wear a hat to keep the sun from blinding them. excuse me. wasn't he wearing sunglasses? i mean, that's just how ridiculous it got. then they put it out there and the one thing i appreciate you saying the other day, people always e-mail aren't you giving these folks more credit than they're due? well, if you're on the field of public opinion and you throw these kind of crazy conspiracy theories out there, then we have a responsibility to attack them. not to allow them to go unanswered. >> i'm going to have to let you let us leave it there. i think i'm getting a text from the president. i've got to go. thanks for your time. >> thank you. your e-mails are rolling in. so many are asking about the president's approval rating. reply al is next. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn?

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it's time for reply al. remember, friend or foe, i want to know. patricia writes please tell me how and why the polls said obama's favorability is down 17 points. this is the most ridiculous polling. i did not hear how these polls were taken, but surely it's inaccurate unless all the democrats are on vacation. can you devote some time to this subject or should we just down play it? well, patricia, polls go up and down. and today we have a new poll from pew that shows his approval rating at 49% with 43% disapproval rating. that's nearly identical to last month when the president had 51% approval rating and that same 43% disapproval. so don't get caught up on a

poll. a poll is a snapshot. you just keep watching over a long period of time. sam writes hi, al. i'm confused as to why there will only be six jurors determining the verdict in the george zimmerman case. why aren't there 12? aren't there supposed to be 12? on non-capital cases in the state of florida, there's only six jurors. on capital cases, there are 12. that's true in other states as well. it's not just this case. if it's a non-capital punishment case in florida, it's always six as in other states. in some other states, i should say. andrew says why are you so biased against republicans? the issue i want to know is why are republicans so biased against voting rights and against in most cases civil rights? the republican leadership of today. my mother and father were republicans until john kennedy stood up with martin luther king

and they became democrats. people go with the people that stand up for their interests. the present leadership of this party, the republican party, are not the leaders that have shown they're not biased against most american people. there was a time you had the john lindsay nelson rockefeller republicans. people responded much differently to. we want to answer your questions. e-mail me askrev@msnbc.com. remember, friend or foe, i want to know. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. the berlin story. good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. ich bin ein berliner. well, 50 years