>> how is a young black man, i should interact with the police. >> when george confronted him he could have walked away and gone home. >> this is a father son tradition i hoped would not need to be handed down. >> trayvon got mad and attacked him. >> some of our frailties came out in the courtroom on tv. >> ridiculous questions. back and forth, back and forth. >> when someone speaks to you in english, do you believe that you have nel difficulty understanding it? >> i kept my ground. i stayed strong. >> it's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense. >> we will pass powerful anti-racial profiling ordinances. >> we must stand our ground. ♪ >> we begin with the widening impact of the george zimmerman acquittal with al escalating

push for federal civil rights charges, even as top political figures weigh in and efforts at changing the law gain momentum. in his second remarks on the case in as many days, attorney general eric holder suggested at the naacp convention tuesday that the verdict should be followed by new legislation whether it be gun laws or an effort to roll back stand your ground provisions. >> it's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and so dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods. >> these laws try to fix something that was never broken. we must stand our ground to ensure to ensure that our laws reduce violence and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they will prevent. >> meanwhile in florida's capital, dozens of protesters

cathered for a sit-in at the governor's office. demanding changes to the stand your ground law. but governor rick scott quashed that idea citing a tack force that he put together to review the law after martin's tragic death. his office issued a statement saying "the task force recommended that the law should not be overturned and governor scott agrees." but that may not be the last word on the matter. in washington, democratic koj mann luis gutierrez told my colleague chris jansing that he wants a congressional investigation. >> i get the point that if you one want to defend your home and you're going to use a gun to defend your home, i get that. but when stand your ground means you don't retreat, when stand your ground causes the death of a teenager, i think it's time to examine just everything that happened that day in florida. >> and the conversation extended to one of the most closely

watched political figures in the nation. former secretary of state hillary clinton. in remarks to a largely african-american sorority, she related to the story not as a politician as a parent. >> no mother, no father should ever have to fear for their child walking down a street in the united states of america. >> and, of course, no one knows that better than sybrina fulton, the mother of trayvon martin now lending her voice to gun safety measures. miss fulton's attorney benjamin crump tweeted share a message from his mother and demand action to end gun violence. with a photo and her quote "we are not going to let this verdict define trayvon. we will define our son's legacy. we have a long way to go to make sure this happens to nobody

else's child." a very long way indeed. let's get right to our panel. with us from washington is democratic strategist and former house judiciary counsel julian epstein and in philadelphia, lehigh university professor james peterson a clinter to the grio.com. julian, if we accept that the law is designed to curb and prevent violence, is it not the case that stand your ground laws actually escalate violence since they encourage people to meet force with force including deadly force? >> yes, i think what the trayvon martin case teams amongst other things is you can be the instigator of a scuffle and then in the course of that scuffle, use a firearm and if there are no other eyewitnesses, be able to get away with a claim of self-defense. i think it is not just the self-defense laws. it is the combination of the most relaxed and i think had

irresponsible gun laws in this country that create an unbelievably toxic mix. if you just consider the basic statistic, there are 11,000 criminal homicides in this country every year. only 250 touch out to actually be justifiable homicides with firearms. there's less than 2%. so if you look at the amount of times that firearms are used in self-defense, it's an extremely small number. if you look at the number of whom sighs we have with guns, it outpaces any other industrialized country on a per capita basis. >>s will i. >> what you get with the stand your ground laws is putting unbelievably irresponsible gun laws on steroids with the stand your ground laws that allow people to use them in very, very irresponsible ways not just in a racial context, it could be a business dispute, it could be jealousy. that's why we are an wash with violence and that is most acute i would argue in the

african-american and hispanic communities. >> professor peterson, though the stand your ground law was not ultimately used in zimmerman's defense, it's worth noting the profound racial disparity nrt convictions in stand your ground states. in cases with a black shooter and a white victim, just over 1% ruled justified. about the same as in states with no stand your ground law. but in cases with a white shooter and a black victim, almost 17% deemed justified. in states with no stand your ground laws, that falls to under 10%. how do you explain that. >> by saying that what this law basically reflects is the very real fact of the bias in our criminal justice system so that the color of your skin is the justify canable cause for homicide in these cases. listen, we have a criminal justice system that has been proven to be statistically racially biased. when you overlay that with a

couple things, the proliferation of guns, the ways in which the nra markets guns to people and people amaze guns in the community, the laws that allow people to use them and consume guns and overlay that withstand your ground which doubles or triples down all of that which provides people with excuses to commit homicides, it is no shock at all that racial bias is becomes manifest in the way in which the stand your ground laws are used. >> in the light of that, julian, as far as these are state laws as you know. we've already seen florida's governor dismiss any changes. what are the avenues for pursuing reform of these laws? after all, we've seen the intransience of the gun lobby in terms of any generalized background checks. how on earth does anyone reverse the effect of these stand your ground laws? >> that's i think exactly the case. the question now is where do we go from here. there is a lot of anger, i think justifiable anger at the verdict. the question is what do we do?

i don't think there's a great deal of likelihood the federal government will bring charges. i don't think there is a lot of instances where you've seen the federal government bring a federal civil rights case after a self-defense acquittal in a state. i'm not sure that's where i would be funneling all the political energy right now. where i would is a mass movement of what is now the silent majority in this country to change the twin barrel effect that dr. peterson is talking about of the stand your ground laws together with the gun laws we've spoken about many times on this show. the african-american community in particular has an enormous amount of political leverage in this country, leverage with the democratic party and i think nationally, as well. i think if the african-american community together with the hispanic community and together with the silent majority in this country who wants common sense changes in these laws creates a political movement that will matter on election day. the issue here is that people that care about these issues don't vote on them on election

day. if they create a genuine bona fide movement on the twin problems, that's when you begin to see meaningful change and that can be the ultimate good if any good could come out of the martin tragedy, that could be the ultimate good that would come out of it. >> professor peterson, please. >> i would quickly add, that's the reason why it's great sybrina fulton lended her name to the broader sort of common sensence movement for gun safety. >> the president referenced gun violence. >> we have to broaden this out because how this is unfolding is, there's all these issues around state's rights. there's the war on women is being fought on those battlegrounds. the anti-obama care is being fought on those grounds and we have to bring all these things together to attack them together in order to be successful here. >> julian epstein and professor james peterson, thank you, gentlemen. coming up, the burden of a star witness in a hot lit dly disput

trial. >> this don't have nothing to do with me. it's not about me. it's not about my character. it's not about trayvon's character. it's about that night, what happened that night. who caused the situation to happen. hmm...fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yep, everybody knows that. well, did you know some owls aren't that wise? don't forget i'm having brunch with meghan tomorrow. who? meghan, my coworker. who? seriously? you've met her like three times. who? (sighs) geico. fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief.

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first there was the verdict, then the rallies and protests and now the questions. where do we go from here and what can we learn from the tragic death of trayvon martin. the calls for a civil rights investigation from come pr members of congress and hundreds of thousands of americans. this week representative sheila jackson lee sent a letter to the

chairman of the house judiciary committee in which see said i am requesting an oversight hearing of the full committee be held to explore the killing of juveniles by adults in communities across america. i believe it is also important to re-examine the problem of racial profiling and explore the extent to wilit adversely aches the proper functioning of the criminal justice system. and i'm delighted to say that congresswoman sheila jackson lee joins us now. good afternoon, ma'am. >> martin, so good to be with you and your viewers. how are you? >> thank you. the reaction to the verdict has been divisive in many ways. congressman andy harris, a republican from maryland, said about the verdict, that's the way the american law system works. get over it. i'm not sure any of us could get over the shooting death of our own child but be that as it may, doesn't this reflect the chasm in understanding that currently exists in this nation?

>> martin it, reflects the lack of understanding and sensitivity to the wealth of thisfation and the wealth of this nation is invested in her people and the diversity of her people. i'm glad you used that quote so the that i can disabuse the congressman of his lack of knowledge. first of all, a state jury in fact, a local municipality jury, rendered a decision regarding the trayvon martin case. but petitioning your government and seeking relief gives you a wide, vast realm of opportunity and rights. one of them happens to be the right of the trayvon martin family to pursue a civil proceeding or the rights of petitioners who are protesting peaceably to ask their government in this instance, the united states department of justice to investigate. i would not rush so quickly to say what the justice department cannot do. right now, it is very thoroughly

reinvestigating talking to the fbi and witnesses and looking at what the prosecutors in a local jurisdictional court did. >> right. >> i frankly believe there are many things the justice department can do, but it is acceptable for people to petition their government. and i think kong persons should be very careful as they go to the floor such as congresswoman bachmann and this congressman who went to the floor after myself and congresswoman wilson went to the floor to speak calmly about the hurt that so many were feeling as to make this a final action, certainly racially caught in a criminal case does play into fact for mr. zimmerman but we have many opportunities such as the justice department and yes, martin, a congressional hearing oversight hearing to fix the broken criminal justice system. >> one of the key witnesses for the prosecution was is rachel jeantel, a friend of trayvon martin. she has just spoken within

msnbc's reverend al sharpton. i'd like to you take a listen to what she said about the defense and the way they tried to cross-examine her. take a listen. >> they're trying to get me angry. to show the jury look at her. she's angry. she a friend. if she angry, you should imagine how trayvon is. >> i guess one has to assume they're trying to call her character into question worked because the one juror we have heard from said in an interview that she did not find miss jeantel credible. why do you think that is? >> well, i think unfortunately, many people, again, do not accept the beauty of america as i do. and many americans that i have the pleasure of interacting with do. we are so diverse and frankly, this young lady was a teenager. trayvon martin was a teenager, was a child. 16 days, 16 years and 21 days.

the love of his mother and father as we have seen in their prayerful reaction to this jury verdict. and because of her lack of sensitivity and reflection on the diversity of so many of us, our different backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds, language beginnin beginnings, then rather than listen to the words and the sincerity of this young lady, she were spending time on the external. i found her to be a very credible witness but more importantly, i would make the argument that she probably could have been better prepared by the prosecutors so that she would be prepared for what a setting in a courtroom would be. but she made it very clear. she was the last one to speak to that child, trayvon martin and he was fearful. why the jury couldn't get that one sentence of what she said as a clarian call for help by trayvon i do not know. but that is a very reason why many of us are calling for other

alternative routes, pathways to what we think should be a just reaction, the issue of gun violence, racial profiling, congressional hearings, changing the law, questioning the stand your ground law in states where it might be disproportionately impacting the minority community. if any other community was disproportionately impacted either by gun violence, by racial profiling, you can count on sheila jackson lee to stand as evenly shoulder to shoulder for any american who feels they have been deprived their rights, constitutional rights or civil rights, on the basis of their difference. i don't think that juror understood the difference of this woman and the truth of what this young woman was saying >> congresswoman, thank you for your representation and thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. you can watch the reverend al sharpton's interview with rachel jeantel ahead on "politics nation" at 6:00 p.m. eastern right here. coming up edward snowden canceled the olympics? not so fast.

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visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. >> i have notified the olympic committee that with soviet invading forces in afghanistan, neither the american people nor i will support send agolympic team to moscow. >> that was president carter in his state of the union address back in 19 0 announcing a boycott of the olympic games in moscow. so is history about to repeat itself? well, maybe if senator lindsey graham has his way because if the russians agree to provide permanent asylum to leaker edward snowen, then the senator believes the united states should consider not sending a team to the sochi games next year. >> i love the olympics but i hate what the russian government is doing throughout the world. i don't know the if putting the olympics on the table is the right answer but i do know this.

what we're doing is not working. >> so is this finally something that the republican party can agree on? will this possible boycott win support in both chambers of congress? speaker boehner, over to you. >> i love senator graham. we've been close friends for 20 years. but i think he's dead wrong. >> oh, dear. well, i guess some things never change and nor will nbc's complete coverage of the sochi winter games opening ceremony just 205 days from today. coming up, the day's "top lines" as stephen colbert adds his own considered perspective to the trial of george zimmerman. >> he's going to have to live his life as a marked man as his brother robert said. >> clearly he's a free man in the eyes of the court but he's going to be looking around his shoulder for the rest of his life. >> yes, he'll be looking around his shoulder. i mean, can you imagine feeling like you're being followed? everyone just assuming you're a criminalle?

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the pain level was so high, it became unbearable. from the baggage after eras long gone to the future of the voting rights act, here are today's top lines. what's lacking in this conversation? >> it's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and so dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods. >> attorney general eric holder now going after the stand your ground law. >> these laws try to fix something that was never broken. >> the whole element of the race hustlers is out there, as well. >> trayvon's death last spring caused me to sit down to have a conversation with my own 15-year-old son. >> we are being led to believe that it's hunting season on black people.

>> it is my responsibility not to burden him with the baggage of ear raz long gone. >> they were trying to roll back the clock to the 1950s. >> it's been open season on black young men across the country. >> by other black young men. >> what's lacking is an empathy and appreciation for the humanity of trayvon martin. >> called trayvon martin a dope smoking is gang stag wannabe. >> black thugs are killing black people. >> my prayers are with the martin family. >> they were trying to roll back the clock to the 1950s to keep these blacks very concerned. they complained about the supreme court's decision on voter rights. >> narrow majority of the supreme court struck at the heart of the voting rights act. >> this was a deeply disappointing and flawed decision. >> i strongly disagree with the court's action. >> for more than four decades this law has helped overcome unconstitutional barriers to voting >> these problems are real and they are of today. not yesterday. >> urge this congress to put

aside politics once more and pass legislation to replace those portions of the voting rights act that the court struck down. >> let's get right to our next guest. joining us is representative park pokan. democrat from wisconsin. some people have react to the the zimmerman verdict to suggest that racism is no longer a problem in america. it evaporated. just a myth perpetuated by so-called racial hustlers as we just heard. now there's a similar argument against the voting rights act, that the court was right to strike it down because it's outdated. we don't need to worry about the voting rights act of black, minorities and so on. is that something you agree with? >> no, absolutely not. we have plenty of racism left and we can just look at the election laws across the country show us that. the fact that in over 30 states, there's over 80 bills introduced right now to somehow impede someone's ability to vote to me

shows we still have racism alive and well. >> so eventual a proposal that will would replace the section that was voted down in the recent supreme court announcement. what is your proposal in detail? >> representative keith ellis son and myself have a proposal that specifically would be a constitutional amendment to make sure that we have a right to vote. i think people expect that you have that already in the constitution. but there is no explicit right to vote in the constitution. if we had an explicit right to vote, in he state that passes a law that makes it harder to vote would have to prove that they're not harming someone's ability to vote rather than the opposite. right now a person has to prove they've been harmed by a state law. and it really changes the burden of proof on to those states that pass these laws that really make it harder for people to vote. >> so mr. pocan you're suggesting not that the this should be restricted in terms of protections over certain southern states and states where there was a history of voter

discrimination, you're saying it should be spread right across the 50 states. >> every single state, you should have a right to vote. you should be able to have the same right in wisconsin that you do in maryland that you do in california. >> good luck with that. i'm desperately trying to imagine how you're going to get that through the house and the senate. >> if we have the conversation, every single person has that inherent right to vote. that is the fundamental part of our democracy. if we had a constitutional amendment that said that, all these other fights would be for naught. >> let me read what jennifer ruben wrote in the "washington post" today. she says the racial grievance mongers could not accept the proposition that the states probably under the watchful eye of the voting rights act have changed in 50 years. they are convinced that the stain of racism never fades. but did we not just have a presidential election with very clear examples of attempts to suppress the vote? >> and there are also clear,

yeah, clear examples across the country of attempts to suppress the vote whether it be in my state, wisconsin, photo i.d. laws, bills that restrict your amount of time you can vote, how you register to vote. these are the types of laws we see across the country making it harder to vote. what happens seemingly is elected officials want to. i can their voters rather than voters picking elected officials. so that's why we need to make sure we all have the same fundamental right to vote no matter where you live, no matter who you are. >> congressman mark pocan, thank you for joining us. now let's turn to ari melber. you were following i believe web blogging the senate judiciary committee hearing. i want you to listen to something that republican james sensenbrenner of wisconsin, same place as where mr. pocan comes from, take a listen to this. >> in 2006, i was proud to have served as chairman of the house judiciary committee. when the voting rights act was

last reauthorized. i thank you for the inviation to participate in this hearing and to provide my perspective on the continued importance of the voting rights act. >> so there we have a republican saying he still believes in the value. what are we to make of that. >> thanks for covering this and what you see in james sensenbrenner, who managed bill clinton's impeachment who is an old school right winger but who unlike some of the tea party folks and some of these local officials actually is past this issue and sees it as an american issue, not a place for political division. sensenbrenner was with us on the voting rights act in '82, with us in 2006 and he came out today and pushed his fellow republicans on this. and the fight is going to be between him and what the house republicans are doing tomorrow which is handing their committee oversight on this issue to congressman franks who voted against it in '06 and one of the few republicans to do so. >> isn't it also the case that the opposition is actually just

a generalized sense of cynicism and pessism and you've been pointing this out throughout, haven't you? >> that's the other biggest problem. it goes back to something we need to talk about, which is martin luther king. he had a vision that was initially unrealistic. if there was cable news news in his time when he was organizing boycotts, restaurant access and federal laws, everyone would have immediately gone to that cynical approach saying this doesn't look likely. therefore we'll talk about it as unlikely and there ever we're going to end up making it unlikely. >> here's the problem, ari. we have just witnessed what some of the best authors and watchers of this congress have described as the most dysfunctional in the history of the house. >> yes. >> so i'm not just being cynical. i'm being realistic. can you imagine section 5 or a new form of section 5 being

reconstructed with this house. >> i absolutely can and i worked in the congress and i'm not a fan of going on tv and declaring we should do everything would you feel with no plan. the plan is you take it through the senate where every last republican vote ford it in 2006. the votes are there in the senate. when you go to the house, unlike immigration where it's a question mark, the votes are there if you get it to the floor. if you have a discharge petition for boehner, sensenbrenner, right wing friend out on the floor talking about it, you push the guys you can get a vote. the predicate in this terrible house is the violence against women act which republicans didn't want to bring to the floor but under pressure be including from some conservative women they brought it to the floor where we had the votes. it's bigger than politics and too important. >> i wanted to extend our warmest congratulations. you recently got engaged 37 congratulations to you. coming up, the carefree days are back on wall street. we'll pop the champagne just ahead. (announcer) at scottrade, our clients trade and invest

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their high earners. they'll soon be able to buy more influence, i'm sorry use their money for political purposes. quarterly earnings report at some of the nation's largest banks have seen double, even triple digit increases in profit which i guess means more money to oppose, for instance, the consumer financial protection bureau. whose first director richard cord ray was sworn in during a private ceremony today after waiting almost two years for a senate vote. at a public ceremony, the president said this. >> special interests they'll always have their lobbyists. they'll always have the capacity to tilt the system in their favor. but middle class folks deserve leader who are going to stand up for them, as well. >> joining us now is jared bern steern, a senior fellow at the center for budget policies.

you wrote recently about this confluence of money, how it buys the sort of policies we now see that value deregulation, low income taxes over government programs like head start which actually protect the most vulnerable people in our society, children. >> that's right. i was reflecting on a story where they canceled a head start program in kansas because of the budget cuts which have almost nothing to do with the deficit, by the way. this is just dysfunction and a half politics and a woman who's kid lost her slot went to her congressman a republican and said what should i do? we depend on this. and he said, maybe you can find a rich up benefactor to help pay for head start. to me this kind of closes the circle, right in the income flows up to the very top. they control the wealth and the politics. and then when someone comes and asks for help from a government program like head start, they say go ask somebody in the top 1%. >> that sounds resonant of mitt romney saying to students, go and ask your parents for money.

>> it's the privatization of functions so essential. this is head start, okay? this is preschool for disadvantaged kids. >> right. now, ben bernanke was testifying before congress and he said at one point, the risks remain that tight federal physical policy will retrain economic growth, translation, congress, you're the biggest threat to the economy, correct. >> i was going to translate into that english you did it for me exactly right. i thought it was interesting when he goes before the house of representatives and says to them, the problem with the economy right now is you guys and gals because according to the feds' numbers they've shaved about 1.5% off of gdp growth this year. gdp is slauging along at 1.5, 2%. if that were up the unemployment rate would be coming down faster. instead of banks getting the rurps we just saw, we would see middle class folks get a bit --

>> wasn't he also making the point to republicans if you're thinking of doing with the debate sealing what you did in 2011, we're in for a real trouble again. >> he actually mentioned that in passing. he said there are outstanding threats. this is bernanke. he's not going to say it the way i would. outstanding threats to the economy if the debt ceiling were to become an em broguelyio or whatever. he is saying explicitly the last thing we need is another self-inflicted wound. i am of the camp i've stopped asking congress to do anything good to help the economy. that's a bridge too far. maybe they could stop doing things that would hurt. >> be neutral. >> take a neutral stance. >> you've just come back from france tell our viewers how successful the great austerity project in europe is working >> probably the best way would be to define the following. unemployment is rising, almost 11%. gdp is slightly south of zero, just even contracting a bit and

yes, the budget deficit is coming down. but the debt as a share of the economy is actually going up. that is their debt is rising more quickly than gdp which is actually contracting, exactly the opposite results that the as youtarians advertised. >> it was paul ryan actually who made that point. >> there you go. >> jared, thank you sir. coming up, the moment is now. so are americans ready for another cheney in the senate? [ male announcer ] it's 7am and steve is already thinking about tomorrow. which is why he's investing in his heart health by eating kellogg's raisin bran®. mom make you eat that? i happen to like raisins. [ male announcer ] invest in your heart health. now that's what i'm talkin' about. [ male announcer ] with kellogg's raisin bran®. now that's what i'm talkin' about. all this produce from walmart and secretly served it up in the heart of peach country. it's a fresh-over. we want you to eat some peaches and tell us what you think. they're really juicy. it must have just come

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just as you thought it was safe to go out into the world again, the name cheney has come back to haunt the american electorate. the former vice president's daughter elizabeth announced her candidacy for the senate just a few hours ago. first she'll needed to win wyoming's gop primary where she will confront the popular senator mike enzi.

as well as perhaps the entire gop establishment which today appears to be collectively shaking its head and asking why can't they leave us alone. this is her constitutional right, something our next guest knows about. he is kevin bleier, a former writer for the daily show and author of "me the people, one man's selfless quest to rewrite the constitution of the united states of america out now in paper back." >> the key word is selfless. i do not do this on my own behalf. but for america. will liz cheney be greeted as a liberator upon invading iraq sorry invadining wyoming. >> on behalf of dick cheney, touche. although i also will say i never expected to use the phrase on behalf of dick cheney. to your question, greeted as a liberator. if the republican establishment is any indication as you suggested all morning, the answer would have to be no even though by the republican

establishment we mean dick cheney's close friends. the most interesting thing here is that dick cheney is clearing the path for his daughter not so aub because he she is his daughter but he's got close friends. mike enzi as i understand it is a close friend of his. or i suppose i should amend, was a close friend of his. >> was a close friend. >> on the other hand, we know how he deals was close friends sometimes. >> shoot them in the face. >> you stole my punch line, sir, well done. bravo and touche again. >> let me play you a portion of elizabeth as a new campaign ad. take a listen to this. >> i am running for the united states be senate because i believe deeply in the values that have made our state and our nation great. i am running because i believe it is necessary for a new generation of leaders to step up to the plate. >> so liz cheney represents a new generation of leaders, finally someone to represent d.c.'s underclass of entitled children. >> i'll tell you, everyone is piling on liz for running for the senate. i have to say i'm going to agree

with bill o'reilly, which is another phrase i might not have expect. i say liz, do it, don't look back because quite frankly i'd be a hypocrite if i suggested anything other. in my book and my new constitution, i make a fairly compelling case and you'll have to decide if i'm facetious or not not only daughters of former congressman and secretaries is of defense should be allowed to run for congress but from person should be declared a congresswoman or mannen upon birth. instead of throwing the bums out, we throw the bums in. embrace the subject. >> there's something of a birther issue, is there not, with liz cheney? because she's only recently moved from virginia where she also graduated from shoal. now she's claiming feelity to the wyoming. >> the slogan of virginia is it's for relievers. >> i thought it was for lovers. >> it is, in fact. wyoming i have to tell you is a fascinating place. they willal do nothing but

accept her because they need all the residents they can get. i hate to tell you, in my extensive research or as i call it my me very much i learned the fact wyoming has three representatives in congress. i don't mean three congressmen or women. i mean two senators and one kong person. it's one of the rare states that's almost outnumbered by its congressmen, but the thing is, as i understand it, that would be a margining error, a rounding error in a place like california. they need everybody they can get. their full house of represent tins would fit in this studio. it would fit in my new york apartment. >> i'm sure it would. kevin blyer, "me the people" is the book. thank you so much for joining us. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is kevin.

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[ male announcer ] legalzoom has helped a million businesses successfully get started, including jessica's. launch your dream at legalzoom today. call us. we're here to help. air. or maybe it's bob mcdonnell, the governor of virginia who should be clearing the air today because that's the view of the roanoke times which featured this headline and the following editorial. as the water around him gets deeper, governor bob mcdonnell can't wait for a lifeboat to rescue him from a swirling cesspool of scandal. the governor needs to paddle his way to dry land and explain himself. mr. mcdonnell is now drowning in a sea of scandal that appears to reflect his love of money and luxury. after stories emerged revealing how the mcdonnell family has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in unreported gifts from a friendly businessman called

johnny williams. for his part, the governor says he's followed all the appropriate laws. but consider what the disclosures reveal. $15,000 to cover the cost of catering at the governor's mansion for the wedding of one of mr. mcdonnell's daughters. $15,000 shopping spree at the glittering burgdorf goodman department store for the governor's wife maureen, then there was the free use of mr. williams' ferrari and the he also bought the governor a gold rolex. a gaudy gift that currently dangles from the governor's wrist. frankly we don't have the time to itemize every gift but you get the picture. one of thing aspects about mr. mcdonnell's career is how it has been marked by the most adamant assertion of christian morality but almost entirely on the subject of ex-. let's not forget, this is the same individual who recommended transvaginal probes for any

woman who might be considering a termination. mr. mcdonnell's views were helpfully elucidated in a master's thesis that he wrote at the age of 34. in addition to deriding cohabitaters and foreign equators he draws liberally on scripture to explain why he believes that the family unit has been ordained by god as depicted in the book of genesis. it is in the law of nature of the created order he writes that the creator institutes marriage and family in eden where he ordained that for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh. sadly, there is a myopic selectivity to the mr. mcdonnell's christian morality. he chooses to focus on the lusts of the flesh but never once condemns the temptation of

materialism. he liberally quotes scripture to condemn sexualivity its but either hasn't read or has chosen to ignore these new testament passages where the apostle paul for example says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. or where jesus himself asks, are what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? no, mr. mcdonnell seems to draw a self-serving distinction between those things he deems an bobable, sex, principal among them and those he regards as agreeable, rolexs, private jets, and shopping sprees. but if mr. mcdonnell is only prepared to read those passages of scripture that suit his own proclivities, then maybe he should go back and read his own thesis because it contains a line that now seems perfectly

applicable to a man who is inclined to use government to serve his ownen materialistic ambitions. must government ask the governor mcdonnell, subsidize the choices of a generation with an increased appetite for the materialistic components of the american dream? what a great question, governor. thank you so much for much waing. and a reminder, you can always view our segments online at bashir.msnbc.com. we invite you to follow us at twitter at bashir live and on facebook @facebook.com/martin bar shirr and a final reminder, stay tuned for the reverend al sharpton's interview with rachel jeantel ahead on politics nation at 6:00 p.m. eastern. but first and next, it's time for chris matthews and "hardball." is stand your gr

call to arms? let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews out in san francisco. let me start tonight with this. stand your ground. what's this law all about? is it a statement that you don't have to avoid trouble? is it a call to arms? and what part did it play in george zimmerman's behavior that tragic night? did it encourage him to pursue trayvon martin? was it because he had a gun and thought he had the law on his side? isn't it a fair question that none of this would have happened if this person had been unarmed? was there something in his thinking, zimmerman's about the law, something about the way he behaved that resulted pr this law that says stand you