know. he's obviously in very frail health, so they are in contact with nelson man dera's people. >> kristin, thank you so much. thank you for watching our broadcast this afternoon. crist matthews and "hardball" is next. . good evening. back on the stand, for the second day. rachel jeantel, described as the prosecution's key witness, underwent a long and grueling crocks in the trial of george zimmerman. zimmerman, of course, is accused of murdering the unarmed trayvon martin last year. the defense attorney don west tirelessly worked to try to

discredit the young woman who was last to speak to martin moments before he was killed. and in fact, as he did yesterday, west exposed a number of inconsistencies in her efforts to describe what happened that night. what is not as clear is whether west managed to manage the core of her story, that george zimmerman stocked her. joining me now, lisa bloom, and former florida circuit court judge alex ferrer. judge alex, is she as integral to the prosecution of this case as we have all made her out to be. >> she absolutely is. she was the key witness. she was talking to him at the time of the confrontation or right up to the confrontation. she provides a lot of detail that the prosecution would love the jury to believe. she testifies that the fact that trayvon martin says to zimmerman, why are you following he? and zimmerman responds, what are you doing here?

and it buttresses the claim that zimmerman went over to check out what is trayvon martin doing. issue adding some additional language we went heard before, where she hears trayvon saying get off, or get off me, words to that effect, which certainly implies, that he's been jumped by george zimmerman, which goes along with the state's prosecution theory as well. >> lisa, anecdotally i can support something i've heard you repeatedly say, and that is that her credible is in the eyes of the beholder. on the radio today, it broke on racial lines. i want i thought yesterday she was a weak witness and i was overwhelmed from calls by african-americans who said you're completely misreading the situation. >> overwhelmingly on social media and elsewhere, a lot of people have felt support for her. they feel she was almost abused on the witness stand. it was harassment, too much, not

fair, people don't understand this. i look at it through the framework of a trial. every witness who tells a story is going to be cross-examined in the same way she was, yet she has elicited a lot of sympathy. she's 19-year-old young woman who just finished her junior year at high school. she cannot read cursive, even though she signed a letter that was written in cursive. perhaps there have been language issues, and as you say, there's a strong sentiment in her favor. >> we need to remind folks, this is a jury of six women and no african-americans. >> that's absolutely true, but i -- i don't think that this jury is going to say, well, we're white and zimmerman is white and we're goal along those lines, but they will have a harder time understanding the cultural differences that the

audience out there is understanding. that is absolutely true. she did herself a lot of disfavors yesterday because of her attitude and the way she came off on the stand, because if the jury doesn't like her, they're less likely to believe her. you don't want that acting against you. you want the jury to like and relate to your witnesses. >> i would add that you can like her, but still not believe her. the testimony is she was trying to help the martin family, because she felt sorry for them. initially she said she thought this was just a fight and that's why she didn't call the police. now she says he's being stalked and his final words were "get off, get off." >> in this morning's testimony, don west tried to establish a string of inconsistencies in her descriptions of events. here's one. >> i lied because you wanted to

give a plausible answer to you ms. fulton to why you didn't go to the wake? >> yes, sir. but on the april 2nd interview, you in fact were under oath. >> yes, sir. >> you knew that. >> yes, sir. >> you made a decision because of how different the situation that you had just been put in, you decided to lie about going to the hospital rather than say something that might be painful? >> yes, sir. >> lisa bloom, if likability is a factor, i think that don west and rachel jeante will. have some degree of parity. i think he should have shut down the prosecution a lot sooner. >> he was not concise. you lose people's attention and

their affection when you repeat the same point over and over again. listen, i'm a trial lawyer. i'm watching this case every minute of the day. i can make a list of discrepancies, but i don't think most people, even the jurors are analyzing that closely. people are trying to get the point, and you lose the forest through the trees. >> he'll bring it back together. one of the things that stood out to me, she's a crucial witness, they pick her up along with trayvon martin's mother. and she sits there and gives an interview to the police, and basically this is an eyewitness or ear witness to a murder. they're interviewing her with the victim's mother sitting there. i've never heard that in a criminal prosecution. no police department would ever take the witness they want to interview to decide if they're going to prosecute and bring the family of the victim and sit

they want next to them. >> and let's listen. >> so the last thing you heard was some kind of noise like something hitting somebody. >> trayvon got hit. >> you don't know that, do you? >> no, sir. >> you don't know that trayvon got hit. >> he could have. >> you don't know that at that moment trayvon didn't take his fist and drive it into george zimmerman's face. >> please lower your voice. >> do you? >> no, sir. >> lisa, she also related that she heard the sound that she ascribed to wet grass. that was a moment when my antenna went up and that sounds like the sort of thing you pulled from police report other media report, and phone calls

said i was being too harsh on her. >> rachel jeantel speaks the language. it sounded like wet grass. in a courtroom you have to be very precise. what exactly was the sound? you don't know that he was hit, do you? you couldn't see anything. you're making an assumption. most of us in normal conversation, we make assumptions all the time. >> let's watch this so they know what i'm talking about. >> are you saying that the sound of west grass, as you describe it today, you're saying that you believe that it was people rolling around on the ground? >> yes, sir. >> what's that based on? what is the sound you heard that led to that conclusion?

>> i real listen don't know how to describe it. >> how do you read that? >> it's a fair question. when you is say something like i heard the sound of wet grass, he's going to come at you. the thing here is, this is the prosecution's side of the case. this is the part of the kay where we were be going action you this a powerful case. when they get to the defense side it's going to eid away, and maybe a point or two for the defense. they're in a tough position. >> i believe i'm getting the entire -- without george zimmerman testifies, and i can't remember the world, cold-cocked or sucker punched? >> sucker punched.

>> the question was what if there had been a sucker punch. george zimmerman doesn't have to take the stand now. >> i think you're putting the finger on one of the interesting issues, will george zimmerman testify? i think the defense wants to keep him off the stand, because they don't want him to be cross-examined. he has inconsistencies in the stories he told. he submitted to a videotaped interrogation the next change and there are inconsistencies, perhaps innocent, perhaps he was telling lies. i think the defense would love to get the videotaped statement in. they may not be able to do that themselves, because it could be hearsay. the prosecution may get it in. all of this is a bit of legal gamesmanship, but i think the prosecution wants to force the defense's hand. >> at the end of the day's testimony, it was the woman who logged the 911 call, where in the background you heard the plea for help. as you well know, the expert testimony was disallowed, yet the jury has heard that tape repeatedly. i think that's significant.

i think they will try to analyze who is crying for help. >> if they could identify who is crying for help, it absolutely is, end of the case. they could on an expert level, as you and i have discussed before, and it was right to keep the expert testimony out. what you're level with this wailing on the tape, which is very impactful. i'm sure the jury reacted to it, and then you'll hear trayvon's parents get on and say that's my child, even though tracy has said in the past that's not trayvon's voice, he's now on board and maybe he reconsidered it. neither of them have probably ever heard their child creaming in a panicked stage, so how much weight the jury will give to that, i don't know. it may end up being a wash. >> lisa, the lawyering in this case, are mark omara and don west involved in a good cop/bad

cop routine? itches that's an interesting perspective. i don't think so. certainly don west has made his mistake, the knock-knock joke. >> huge mistake, but he's making some really important points and trying to save his client from 25 years to life in prison. he's doing his job. >> really great to see both of you. i appreciate you being here. >> it was a pleasure. coming up, the fallout from the gay marriage decision. but this isn't 2004 when republicans were able to use it as a wedge issue. next year democrats may be able to ride the tide of public opinion to make gay marriage work for them. >> the immigration reform bill was passed by the senate later today. now comes the hard part. is there any chance the house will go along? we can also agree it was great theater, the texas filibuster. but the bill is likely pass next

month anyway. the question, will abortion rights advocates around the country be inspired to copy what they saw on tuesday night. ever wonder how supreme court reporters get their hands on decisions? it turns out it takes a village, a real fast village. this is "hardball," the place for politics. 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. ♪ the house caught fire and we were out on the streets. [ whispering ] shhh. it's only a dream. and we have home insurance. but if we made a claim, our rate would go up... [ whispering ] shhh. you did it right. you have allstate claim rate guard

so your rates won't go up just because of a claim. [ whispering ] are we still in a dream? no, you're in an allstate commercial. so get allstate home insurance with claim rate guard... [ whispering ] goodnight. there are so many people in our bedroom. [ dennis ] talk to an allstate agent... [ doorbell rings ] ...and let the good life in. the manhunt no nsa leaker edward snowden has generated plenty of attention. one person who clearly didn't think it's all that big of a deal -- president obama. listen to what the president said about the hunt for snowden. >> no, i'm not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker. >> the president said he hasn't spoken to the presidents of russia or china about snowden, and doesn't want the issue elevated so that it becomes a bargaining chip among american and her rivals. we'll be right back. out there owning it.

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first of all, i think the supreme court ruling yesterday was not simply a victory for the lbgt community, i think it was a victory for american democracy. i believe at the root of who we are as people, as americans, is the basic preseptember that we are all equal under the law. welcome back to "hardball." that was president obama this morning reacting to yesterday's historic decision from the supreme court overturning a major part of the defense of marriage act. speaker of the house john boehner certainly had a more muted response. >> well, as you're probably aware, i was disappointed in the ruling yesterday. i believe in traditional marriage, but there are people on both sides of this issues, with very heartfelt feelings

about it. i respect that view. the court made its decision. no plans at this point in terms of how the house would move ahead on this. >> while the response was moderate, the reaction has been anything but. tim huelskamp said he plans to introduce a federal amendment. former arkansas governor mike huckabee reacted to the news by tweeting, quote, my thoughts on the scotus ruling that -- is okay -- jesus wealth. wept. many republican politicians seem any going out of step. "the washington post" put it this way -- less than a decade ago republicans used the issue, and put democrats on the defensive. today, although a majority of republicans continue to opotion

same-sex marriage, republicans leaders and candidates are on the defensive. their positions may not have changed, but many are silent, particularly in the -- history is moving against reps on this. david axelrod, a former senior adviser to president obama, now an msnbc senior political analyst. john feehery is a republican strategist. have you ever seen a wedge issue jump aisles like this before? >> no, it's been moved quickly. i was watching the vote on immigration two thirds of the republicans in the senate opposed. you see republicans on the wrong side of public opinion on this issue. you see the republicans mounting campaigns to restrict a woman's right to choose, and you look at what happened in 2012, where they got beaten so badly among latinos, among young people, among women.

it seems like they're digging a deeper hole sirchlts john feary, i have a scenario in my head. i see a whole crop of akins, murdoch, angles, and how did the republican party prevent against the emergence of those sort of candidates? >> i think they have to try to do a better job of picking the right winners in the primaries, try to consult vail people with vast experience, not only business experience, but governing experience. i don't think that's necessarily a big problem. i think this ruling obviously is a jump off, throws it bulk to the states. there are 36 states on the books with laws against same-sex marriage, so i think the red

states will get redder, the blue states will get bluer. in the national election, i don't disagree that a republican candidate has to understand them to be competitive, they have to calibrate their message. i think with a lot of fund-raising, they need to be careful on this issue. there's a huge fund-raising potential. >> today this press conference in senegal, the president made some news that it should be applied to all 50 states. >> it's my personal belief, but i'm speaking as a president, as opposed as a lawyer, that if you've been married in massachusetts, and you move someplace else, you're still married. and that under federal law, you

should be able to obtain the benefits. >> john feary mentions those three dozen or so states where same-sex marriage is nevertheless banned, so active should the president become in championing a turnabout of the law in those states. >> he's certainly spoken out. he's done it in illinois, where the house has a bill pending that would bring same-sex marriage here to illinois john is right, of course, that a republican nominee for president in 2016 would have to be more sensitive to these issues. the question is whether that kind of candidate could actually get through the primaries. the same forces that you talked about, michael, are the ones who are in control of the nominating process for president. so the paradox for the republican party is the kind of candies who can win nationally can't get through their nominating -- >> to that point, last night

governor chris christie, one of those candidates perhaps, was scud his response to the supreme court decision, christie who supported criminal unions in the past last year vetoed a bill in his state and he had strong words for what the supreme court did yesterday. here they are. >> i don't think that the ruling was appropriate. i thought that justice kennedy's opinion in many respects was incredibly insulting to those people. 340-some members of congress that voted for the act, and bill clinton basically said the only reason to pass that bill was to demean people. that's a heck of a thing to say about bill clinton and about the republican congress past in the '90s. it's just another example of judicial supremacy, rather than having the government -- so i thought it was a bad decision. i interpret those words as chris

christie wanting to be one with the to me it looks like a second sign that he's really going in 2016. >> i don't disagree. less on the whole equality -- a bad argument for bad rpg. i think he is going to run. to david's point. and if you look at mitt romney and john mccain, they were the most moderate candidates of the bunch other than the than jon huntsman the i think they were the most electable. they just ran bad campaigns. so it's not necessarily a problem of getting the most elect acone through the process, but making sure they run a decent campaign. >> thank you both. i wish we had more time. thank you david axelrod and john

feary. who won the dubious distinction of being the -- that's next in the sideshow. and a reminder moo radio programs is 9:00 a.m. eastern on sirius potus channel. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ kitt ] you know what's impressive?

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because for more than two centuries, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. ♪ and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ back to "hardball." now the sideshow. we were all on the edge of our seats waiting to the supreme court's decisions. the truth is the decision gets from the supreme court building to your tv screen pretty quickly. in part thanks to a few interns and hopefully a decent pair of running shoes. here it goes. being hand-delivered to pete williams by an amazingly deft intern named dan stein.

there you have it. doesn't pete seem totally at ease? dan, the intern, and pete williams were both on "the today show" to look back. >> first of all, good open-field running, speed, lateral movement, you kept your head up, you protected the document, which was very good. how are you feeling? >> feeling great. i had to do some stretches, a little sore. obviously these aren't running shoes. >> not only did he have to dodge people with signs and strollers, everything else, remember these were the hottest days of the years. i was perspiring just standing still. he must have lost ten pounds in the last few days. >> no shortage of jubilation when doma was deemed unconstitutional, but -- a threat to marriage -- we turned to stephen colbert. >> the defense of marriage act

is dead. traditional -- yes. like my audience, i clap when i'm afraid. so straight married people listen up. if a gay charges your marriage, you're going to want to puff yourself up, make yourself seem bigger, try to frighten it off by talking in a firm, loud voice about pleated denim or jimmy buffett. it's going to be okay, it will scare them off. doma is unconstitutional as a deprivation of liberty of persons that is protected until the fifth amendment. oh, please. i find it hard to believe that there are amendments after the second. it sounds made up. next, members of the democratic congressional committee campaign cast their ballots for which their republican colleagues, which of them is the most clueless, as they put it.

some highlights from the video matchup of the contenders. ♪ >> from the results of abortion, after the beginning of the sixth month are very rare. >> when you say it's not a mand and a woman anymore, why not have three men and one woman or four woman and one man? or why not, you know, somebody has a love for an animal. >> my father had a ranch. we used to hire 50 to 60 -- >> do you believe he's a muslim? >> i don't know. we don't have enough information. >> there might have been -- ko are to politico, the members of, did really did cast their ballots. who was voted the most clueless republican? iowa congressman steve king, noted in the video for using

language like illegal aliens and suggesting that president obama's birth certificate may have been telegrammed from kenya to hawaii when he was born. up next, the senate passes immigration reform, but how much pressure is now on the house to do the same? this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ whispering ] uh! i had a nightmare! the house caught fire and we were out on the streets. [ whispering ] shhh. it's only a dream. and we have home insurance. but if we made a claim, our rate would go up... [ whispering ] shhh. you did it right. you have allstate claim rate guard so your rates won't go up just because of a claim. [ whispering ] are we still in a dream? no, you're in an allstate commercial. so get allstate home insurance with claim rate guard... [ whispering ] goodnight. there are so many people in our bedroom. [ dennis ] talk to an allstate agent... [ doorbell rings ] ...and let the good life in. where over seventy-five percent of store management started as i'm the next american success story. working for a company hourly associates. there's opportunity here. i can use

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i'm hampton pearson. stocks rallied for a third day, the dow jumping 114 points, the s&p 500 adding nine, the nasdaq up 25 points. positive signs in the economic front, the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time dropped by 9,000 from a week ago.

meantime, consumer spending increased in may, up 0.3% from april. pending home sales jumped 6.7% last month to hit a six-year high. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to "hardball." we're back, late today with vice president biden presiding, the of course 68-32, about a dozen republicans crossed party lines and voted for the measure, no doubt thanks to a recent amendment which adding 20,000 new agents along the border, in addition to 700 miles of fencing. despite that the bill failed to win any support among republican leadership. now the spotlight terrence to the gop-controlled house, where reform faces a much greater challenge.

so they can stop compromise reform from becoming a reality. we cannot let that happened. senator robert menendez is a member of the senate's gang of eight. senator, i made reference to the fact there will be 20,000 new border agents. someone has noted that's one every 1,000 or so feet. what else is left to offer to accommodate the gop-controlled house? i thought security was their beef. >> certainly it was one of the critical elements that got us to 14 republican votes in the senate, the most significant border efforts. we're willing to listen to the house's views. we would love to see them take or bill it had bipartisan votes, over two thirds of the senate voted for this legislation, so we look forward to the house meeting the same challenge that

we met in the senate and responding to the american people's desire to see immigration reform. house speaker john boehner isn't impressed. this is speaker boehner earlier today. >> the house is not going to take up and vote on whatever is the senate passes. we're going to do our own bill through regular order, there will be legislation that reflects the will of our majority, and the will of the american people. wogs worst report that peter rosscamp said the bill likely won't come to a vote in the house, labeling it a pipe dream. are there areas of agreement between that which -- or are you just not sure what they have on their mind? >> well, look, i'm not sure what they have on their mind. look, the house can have its own process. i'd like them to take many our

senate bill, as i said, bipartisan, strong vote. the speaker may not be impressed, but we rarely get 60 votes for any momentous piece of legislation. we got 68, more than you need to ratify a treaty for the united states. so it's an incredible vote. we respect the house's process. the question is, does the house leadership want to get to yes? does the house leadership agree that as one of the core elements of immigration reform, in addition to secure, there must be a pathway to citizenship. if the answer to those are yes, then we can ultimately get to a bipartisan bill that we can pass in both houses. i hope that the leadership in the house, particularly on the republican side will allow the house to truly work its will. if you insist on a majority of the majority, as speaker boehner has said, that is a minority of the house of representatives. a minority should not dictate

the future of millions of lives of people in this country, the security of the nation and the prosperity of america. >> thank you, senator robert menendez. we turn now to howard fineman, who's editorial director for the huffington post media group. i love the politics of this. marco rubio and ted cruz being on opposite sides of this issue. what's your analysis? >> my analysis is the house republican leadership i think in theory, somewhere in their political brains, would like to pass a bill, but they've got the tea party to deal with in the house, and if they come up with any kind of bill at all, it's going to be hugely different, obviously from the senate bill. exactly how, i don't know. i think the republican bill will have such a complex and difficult pathway to citizenship

that it would barely be that at all. that seems to me the only kind of thing that the house could pass. but i think -- i get the sense from talking to some people in and around the house leadership, that at least in theory, they do want a bill. they're not stupid politically, michael. if they read karl rove in "wall street journal" today, car rove said looking at the numbers, republicans need hispanics. not all immigrants are hispanics, but this is a huge issue. the republicans have to get it off the table somehow. they know that. all but the heart of the tea party know that. >> but they'll win the battle and lose the war, as you make reference to the demographic shift in this country. we're going to do a segment in a couple minutes about the purple nature of the state of texas. that momentum, howard, is never going back. >> and of course it's no accident, karl rove, who is one of the leaders of the republican establishment made his bones in texas. he came up in texas.

he managed george w. bush, who got over 40% of the hispanic vote when he ran for reelection for governor. karl rove and the people around him were trying to build a republican party through the bush family and others that would reach out to hispanics, but that's utterly different from what most of the tea party people are doing. the tea party is not necessarily an anti-immigration party, but it's kind of taken on that tenor in the house. it's a looming disaster for the republicans. anybody with any sense, and i actually put john boehner in that category know that. >> howard fineman, thank you a. well. up next, the dramatic filibuster in texas. will abortion rights advocates across the country use the same playbook we saw tuesday night? you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

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ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. the lieutenant governor has agreed that sb-5 is dead. welcome back to "hardball." that was the dramatic scene at 3:00 a.m. on tuesday night at the texas state capitol when the word came down. if passed the bill would have banned abortion after 20 weeks while shutting down almost every clinic in the state. it was killed in large part to wendy davis, a single mother from ft. worth has gone from local hero to national icon overnight all thanks to a grueling ten-hour-plus filibuster that delayed a final vote just long enough the lieutenant governor couldn't sign it before a critical

midnight deadline. make no mistake. procedural rules dictated she couldn't eat, couldn't use the bathroom or even lean on her desk for those ten hours. at one point a colleague helped her put on a back brace, which republicans denounced as a violation of the rules. while davis and her throngs of reporters suck succeeded on tuesday. governor rick perry has ordered a special session for monday. the message is clear -- no amount of procedural heroics or passion-filled mobs will kill this bill a second time. what's it all mean for the future of women's rights for women in politics for the political fate of texas, and even the nation? cecile richards is the president of planned parenthood. nia-malika henderson is a reporter with "the washington post." 20 weeks gets the headlines, but a real significant factor is the shutting down of virtually every abortion clinic in the state.

>> that's exactly right. that's what you're seeing an outpouring of outrage, which has nothing to do with women's health. it has to do with shutting down women's health centers. which tums on the heels of ending service for the women's cutting off women from breast cancer screening, vetoing the equal pay act. this is a final nail. folks have simply had enough. >> if the bill passes, texas will be a 13th state -- and a new poll from "the national journal" more people favor that kind of law than opos it. wendy davis this morning addressed the reality that this bill will likely pass. >> there was an incredible focus put on what's happening here in texas. women and men across texas are in an uproar about it. i don't expect that their concerns on this issue are going to go away with the passage of the law.

i think there will be political consequences in the future, as people exercise their opinion about this issue at the ballot box. >> nia malika, are you surprised about the polls data shared where the majority of americans say that 20 weeks seems like the right number? >> not really. it's fairly close to what roe v. wade sets at as well, 24 weeks. in fact, not many abortions happen after 20 weeks. when they do, it's usually because the mother is in deep distress. it's a painful decision mothers make to get a abortion. i think what we will see from this is a real galvanizing effort. already ofa has been sending out messages to their supporters saying that they want to fight these measures in these different states. and you have seen courts also move to block these measures to put tighterer restrictions on abortions in north dakota, i think. there is a measure passed that put it at six weeks. in arkansas it was 12 weeks. in arizona, another law passed

that was at 20 weeks. and courts have very much stepped in. but you have seen this wholesale shift in the anti-abortion movement going from essentially waiting for a roe v. wade to be overturned by the supreme court to really chipping away at this time frame at these different state legislatures. it's been a real battle, i think, that they have successfully waged in many ways. and now you see i think some backlash and a real galvanizing movement now with these women's groups. >> cecile, governor perry took a direct shot at governor davis today. watch. this. >> she was teenaged mother herself. she managed to eventually graduate from harvard law school and serve in the texas senate. it's just unfortunate that she hasn't learned from her own example, that every life must be given a chance to realize its full potential, and that every life matters. >> and then davis responded in a statement saying rick perry's

statement is without dignity and tarnishes the high office he holds. they're small words that reflect a dark and negative point of view. our governor should reflect our texas values. sadly, governor perry fails that test. talk about that exchange. >> well, look, i think that that kind of patronizing attitude you just saw about senator wendy davis who of course is wildly respected across the aisle, it's that kind of attitude rick perry has had towards women and this legislature has had toward women which has led to the kind of mobilization you're seeing in texas. women are perfectly capable of making their own decisions, and particularly about child embargo, they and their doctors and their families. what you're seeing from rick perry is the same attitude they've had all along, which is somehow he knows what is best for women. >> nia-malika, texas, you need hispanics and you need women. one of the reasons that state is on the verge of going purple is because of the factors we're discussion right now. >> that's right. some of the architects of obama's win went straight to texas, essentially after his

victory and started battleground texas. the problem there is that latinos, while they are a growing population, 30% of them can't vote because of their immigration status. and even the ones who are registered to vote don't show up at the polls. it's something like 40%. so that's a real challenge. but i do think we are going to see in the south more generally a real effort for democrats to really capitalize on the demographic changes that are happening. >> nia-malika henderson, thank you for your time. cecile richards, nice to be with you as well. >> thank you. >> we'll be back with "hardball" right after this. i'll have a final word to offer about race relations. [ 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. [ telephone ringing ] now a waiting room is just a room.

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let me finish tonight with this. when it comes to race relations, this past week was one that suggested things aren't getting any better. first, there was celebrity chef paula deen in a professional tailspin after acknowledging in a sworn deposition that she had used the n word. and then came the start of the george zimmerman trial in which facing charges. the first words uttered by john guy who was quoting zimmerman as he tailed martin. supreme court rulings. one gutting that part of the voting rights act, which requires nine states, mostly in the south to obtain federal clearance before tinkering with voting procedures, and another which upheld affirmative action

only in narrow circumstances, and only after imposing strict scrutiny. when i opined on the radio that the collection of these headlines made me realize that race relations don't seem to be improving any time soon, and might be hampered by the changing demographics of the nation, my comment prompted a noteworthy response. melissa from dallas was listening as she dropped off her son at pre-k last tuesday. i was focused on the affirmative action case, fisher versus the university of texas at austin. abigail fisher, a white woman, sued after being denied admission at ut, claiming that minorities with inferior qualifications were admitted in her stead. i made what i thought was a practical political observation, namely, that if affirmative action is running out of support in 2013, imagine how hard it will be to defend the necessity come 2050 when whites will collectively be a minority in comparison to people of color? melissa responded that there were more important considerations than the raw numbers and demographics.

she said, quote, the reason affirmative action exists is because for 300 years we had legalized slavery and then we had another 100 years of segregation based on jim crowe. she thought it would be grossly premature to say that after many years of legalized discrimination based on one factor, race, it's now time to get rid of affirmative action. she told me she was only one of 20 or so blacks in law school at ut and said that there were only seven black men in the entire class that followed her in law school, the class of 2000. more important than just population data, she said, will be questions of who is running the institutions, and thereby, who is running the country. wherever we are in race relations, this week has proved that the supreme court is wrong. in the opinion released on monday, neutering the voting rights act, chief justice roberts wrote that congress, quote, reenacted a formula based on 40-year-old facts having no logical relation to the present day. if only things had changed that much. 40 years later, we are not as

far along as the supreme court thinks. that's "hardball" for now. thank you for being with us. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks, michael. and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the grueling cross-examination of trayvon martin's friend. day 14 in george zimmerman's murder trial, the defense finally wrapped up its questioning of rachel jeantel, the 19-year-old who was on the phone with trayvon martin moments before he was killed. this cross-examination lasted five hours over two days. also today, testimony from the neighbor who made the 911 call, where loud screaming can be heard, and then a gunshot. jurors heard her account of that scream. andod