rest of the people together, and he told them that the work is great and large, and we are widely separated one from another on the wall, but when you hear the sound of the trumpet, and might i say when you hear the sound of the bell today, come to that spot and our god will fight with us. so today we're going to let freedom ring all across this nation. we're going to let freedom ring everywhere we go. if freedom is going to ring in libya, in syria, in egypt, in florida, then we must reach across the table, feed each other, and let freedom ring. [ bells tolling ]

in 19 63, the 16th street baptist church was bombed. the bell was saved. thanks to the mayor of birmingham, that bell is here. to help celebrate dr. king's legacy and this day, let freedom ring. [ bell tolling ] [ cheers and applause ]

>> please welcome our next performance by tony and grammy award winner heather headley. ♪ >> msnbc's special coverage of the 50th anniversary of martin luther king jr.'s iconic "i have a dream" speech continues here with "the cycle." what a day it's been. 200 speakers, thousands of people gathered in d.c. president obama is moments away from speaking on the steps of the lincoln memorial, the same spot where dr. king spoke 50 years ago. we've seen the king family ringing the bell that was saved from the birmingham baptist church where the four little girls were killed. now we have heather headley singing. we've heard john lewis, oprah, jamie foxx and two presidents so far and one more to come. what an incredibly inspiring day. the highlight, we imagine, is still ahead of us. we've heard all manner of

progressives lifting us and speaking to various progressive causes, and we still have the president to come. he said his speech is not going to be as good as dr. king's speech, which we imagine is a really good thing to say, but obviously the bar is high for this president. one minute until the president speaks, as we see dr. king's memorial there. surely an exciting historic moment ahead of us. >> and such a focus and such a sense of how far we've come and yet the work that remains to be done. i found it really moving just seeing that bell rung from a church that was bombed in 1963 with the first african-american president standing right next to it and of course martin luther king, dr. king's family there ringing the bell. just absolutely -- just a moment that is uplifting and gives you a lot of hope for the future in this country as well. >> absolutely. you have president clinton who said i'm standing, you know, under the shadow of lincoln's statue, the journey that we've

been on as a country and the journey we still have yet to go. obviously president clinton was a big part of that journey. but you can't help but just get chills, just to feel in this moment. >> we have steve kornacki in for ari today. you're a history buff. you are living through history right now. >> yeah, we talked about this a little bit on our show over the weekend. it's amazing sort of the evolution of the king legacy to look at a statue on the mall of martin luther king, and you think of -- we showed this over the weekend in our show, the last full year of his life, 1967, they did the list the ten most admired americans of the year. he didn't make that. in 1983 when there was a push to get a federal holiday, it passed, but the president of the united states, ronald reagan, actually spoke up. he signed it into law, but he spoke up to support jesse helms. he defended him in that. just look at where the wleg si of martin luther king is today. >> and where it will be in 50 years. >> yeah, which it's an amazing

evolution. it happened very quickly in a lot of ways. >> we're just moments away from the president now. a really incredible, important, almost crisis moment for these movements right now. so many issues going on from stop and frisk to stand your ground to a jobs crisis to a voting rights crisis. we could not have a better time for this march on washington. heather headley has finished singing. here comes the president. [ cheers and applause ]

>> to the king family, who have sacrificed and inspired so much, to president clinton, president carter, vice president biden, jill, fellow americans. five decades ago today americans came to this honored place to lay claim to a promise made at our founding. we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are

endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. in 1963, almost 200 years after those words were set to paper, a full century after a great war was fought and emancipation proclaimed, that promise, those truths remained unmet. and so they came by the thousands from every corner of our country, men and women, young and old, blacks who longed for freedom and whites who could no longer accept freedom for

themselves while witnessing the subjugation of others. across the land congregations sent them off with food and with prayer. in the middle of the night, entire blocks of harlem came out to wish them well. with the few dollars they scrimped from their labor, some bought tickets and boarded buses, even if they couldn't always sit where they wanted to sit. those with less money hitchhiked or walked. they were seamstresses and steel workers, students and teachers, maids and porters. they shared simple meals and bunked together on floors.

and then on a hot summer day, they assembled here in our nation's capital under the shadow of the great emancipator to offer testimony of injustice, to petition their government for redress, and to awaken america's long-slumbering conscience. we rightly and best remember dr. king's soaring oratory that day, how he gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of millions, how he offered a salvation path for oppressed and oppressors alike. his words belong to the ages

possessing a power and prophesy unmatched in our time. but we would do well to recall that day itself also belonged to those ordinary people whose named never appeared in the history books, never got on tv. many had gone to segregated schools and sat at segregated lunch counters. they lived in towns where they couldn't vote and cities where their votes didn't matter. there were couples in love who couldn't marry, soldiers who fought for freedom abroad that they found denied to them at home. they had seen loved ones beaten and children fire hosed, and they had every reason to lash

out in anger or resign themselves to a bitter fate. and yet they chose a different path. in the face of hatred, they prayed for their tormenters. in the face of violence, they stood up and sat in with the moral force of nonviolence. willingly they went to jail to protest unjust laws, their cells swelling with the sound of freedom songs. a lifetime of indignities had taught them that no man can take away the dignity and grace that god grants us. they had learned through hard experience what fredrick douglas

once taught, that freedom is not given, it must be won through struggle and discipline, persistence and faith. that was the spirit they brought here that day. that was the spirit young people like john lewis brought to that day. that was the spirit that they carried with them like a torch back to their cities and neighborhoods, that steady flame of conscience and courage that would sustain them through the campaigns to come. through boycotts and voter registration drives and smaller marches far from the spotlight, through the loss of four little girls in birmingham and the

carnage of the edmond pettis bridge the agony of dallas and california and memphis. through setbacks and heartbreaks and gnawing doubt, that flame of justice flickered. it never died. and because they kept marching, america changed. because they marched, the civil rights law was passed. because they marched, a voting rights law was signed. because they marched, doors of opportunity and education swung open so their daughters and sons could finally imagine a life for themselves beyond washing somebody else's laundry or shining somebody else's shoes. because they marched, city councils changed and state

legislatures can changed and congress changed and, yes, eventually the white house changed. because they marched, america became more free and more fair. not just for african-americans but for women and latinos, asians and native americans, for catholics, jews and muslims, for gays, for americans with disabilities. america changed for you and for me and the entire world drew strength from that example. whether it be young people who watched from the other side of an iron curtain and would eventually tear down that wall, or the young people inside south africa who would eventually end the scourge of apartheid.

those are the victories they won. with iron wills and hope in their hearts, that is the transformation that they wrought. with each step of their well-worn shoes, that's the debt that i and managillions of amers owe those maids, those laborer, those porters, those secretaries, folks who could have run a company, maybe, if they'd ever had a chance. those white students who put themselves in harm's way even though they didn't have to. those japanese-americans who were called their own internment. those jewish americans who had survived the holocaust. people who could have given up indian given in but kept on keeping on, knowing that we may

endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. on the battlefield of justice, men and women without rank or wealth or title or fame would liberate us all in ways that our children now take for granted. as people of all colors and creeds live together and learn together and walk together and fight alongside one another and love one another and judge one another by the content of our character in this greatest nation on earth. to dismiss the magnitude of this

progress, to suggest as some sometimes do that little has changed, that dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years. medgar evers, james cheney, andrew goodman, martin luther king jr., they did not die in vain. their victory was great, but we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. the arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own. to secure the gains this country

has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency. whether it's by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all and the criminal justice system is not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails. it requires vigilance. and we'll suffer the occasional setback, but we will win these fights. this country has changed too much. people of goodwill, regardless of party, are too plentiful for those with ill will to change history's currents. in some ways, though, the

securing of civil rights, voting rights, the eradication of legalized discrimination, the very significance of these victories may have obscured a second goal of the march. for the men and women who gathered 50 years ago were in the there in search of some abstract idea. they were there seeking jobs as well as justice. not just the absence of oppression but the presence of economic opportunity. for what does it profit a man, dr. king would ask, to sit at an integrated lunch counter if he can't afford the meal?

this idea that one's liberty is linked to one's livelihood that, the pursuit of happiness requires the dignity of work, the skills to find work, decent pay, some measure of material security, this idea was not new. lincoln himself understood the declaration of independence in such terms, as a promise that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men and that all should have an equal chance. and dr. king explained that the goals of african-americans were identical to working people of all races. decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have

education for their children, and respect in the community. what king was describing has been the dream of every american. it's what's lured for centuries new arrivals to our shores. it's the second dimension of economic opportunity, the chance through honest toil to advance one station in life for the goals of 50 years ago have fallen most short. yes, there have been examples of success within black america that would have been unimaginable a half century ago. but as has been noted, black unemployment has remained twice as high as white unemployment.

latino unemployment close behind. the gap in wealth between races has not lessened, it's grown. as president clinton indicated, the position of all working americans, regardless of color, has eroded, making the dream dr. king described even more elusive. for over a decade, working americans of all races have seen their wages and income stagnate. even as income profits soar, even as the pay of a few explodes, inequality has steadily risen over the decades. upward mobility has become harder. in too many communities across this country, in cities and suburbs, the shadow of poverty casts over our youth, their lives a fortress of substandard schools and diminished

prospects, inadequate health care and perennial violence. and so as we mark this anniversary, we must remind ourselves that the measure of progress for those who marched 50 years ago was not merely how many blacks could join the ranks of millionaires. it was whether this country would admit all people willing to work hard regardless of race into the ranks of a middle class life. the test was not and never has been whether the doors of opportunity are cracked a bit wider for a few. it's whether our economic system provides a fair shot for the many, for the black custodian and the white steel worker, the immigrant dishwasher and the native-american veteran. to win that battle, to answer

that call, this remains our great unfinished business. we shouldn't fool ourselves. the task will not be easy. since 1963 the economy's changed. the twin forces of technology and global competition have subtracted those jobs that once provided a foothold into the middle class, reduced the bargaining power of american workers. and our politics has suffered. entrenched interests, those who benefit from an unjust status quo resisted any government efforts to give working families a fair deal, marshaling an army of lobbyists to argue that stronger labor laws or taxes on the wealthy who could afford it

just to fund crumbling schools, that all these things violated sound economic principles. we'd be told that growing inequality was a price for a growing economy. a measure of the free market. that greed was good and compassion ineffective. and those without jobs or health care had only themselves to blame. then there were those elected officials who found it useful to practice the old politics of division, doing their best to convince middle-class americans of a great untruth, that government was somehow itself to blame for their growing economic insecurity. that distant bureaucrats were taking their hard-earned dollars to benefit the welfare cheat or

the illegal immigrant. and then if we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that during the course of 50 years, there were times when some of us claiming to push for change lost our way. the anguish of assassinations set off self-defeating rights. legitimate grievances against police brutality tipped into excuse making for criminal behavior. racial politics could cut both ways. as the transformative message of unity and brotherhood was drown out by the language of recrimination. and what had once been a call for equality of opportunity, the chance for all americans to work hard and get ahead, was too often framed as a mere desire for government support, as if we

had no agency in our own liberation. as if poverty was an excuse for not raising your child. and the bigotry of others was reason to give up on yourself. all of that history is how progress stalled. that's how hope was diverted. it's how our country remained divided. but the good news is just as was true in 1963, we now have a choice. we can continue down our current path in which the gears of this great democracy grind to a halt and our children accept a life of lower expectations, where politics is a zero-sum game, where few do very well while struggling families of every race fight over a shrinking

economic pie. that's one path. or we can have the courage to change. the march on washington teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history. we are masters of our fate. but it also teaches us that the promise of this nation will only be kept when we work together. we'll have to reignite the embers of empathy and fellow feeling, the coalition of conscience that found expression in this place 50 years ago. and i believe that spirit is there. that truth force inside each of us. i see it when a white mother recognizes her own daughter in the face of a poor black child. i see it when the black youth

thinks of his own grandfather in the dignified steps of an elderly white man. it's there when the native born recognizing that striving spirit of the new immigrant, when the interracial couple connects the pain of a gay couple who are discriminated against and understands it as their own. that's where courage comes from. when we turn not from each other or on each other but towards one another and we find that we do not walk alone, that's where courage comes from. and with that courage we can stand together for good jobs and just wages. with that courage we can stand together for the right to health care in the richest nation on earth for every person. with that courage we can stand together for the right of every

child from the corners to get an education that stirs the mind and captures the spirit and prepares them for the world that awaits them. with that courage we can find the hungry and house the homeless and transform the bleak wastelands of poverty and the fields of commerce and promise. america, i know the road will be long, but i know we can get there. yes, we will stumble, but i know we'll get back up. that's how a movement happens. that's how history bends. that's how when somebody is feint of heart, somebody else brings them along and says, come on, we're marching. there's a reason why so many who marched that day and in the days

to come were young. for the young are unconstrained by habits of fear. unconstrained by the conventions of what is. they dare to dream differently, to imagine something better, and i am convinced that same imagination, the same hunger of purpose stirs in this generat n generation. we might not face the same dangers of 1963, but the fierce urgency of now remains. we may never duplicate the swelling crowds and dazzling procession of that day so long ago. no one can match king's brilliance, but the same flame that lit the heart of all who are willing to take a first step for justice, i know that flame remains.

that tireless teacher who gets to class early and stays late and dips into her own pocket to buy supplies because she believes that every child is her charge, she's marching. that successful businessman who doesn't have to but pays his workers a fair wage and offers a shot to a man, maybe an ex-con, who's down on his luck, he's marching. the mother who pours her love into her daughter so she grows up with the confidence to walk through the same doors as anybody's son, she's marching. the father who realizes the most important job he'll ever have is raising his boy right, even if he didn't have a father, especially if he didn't have a father at home, he's marching. the battle scarred veterans who devote themselves not only to helping their fellow warriors stand again and walk again and

run again but to keep serving their country when they come home, they are marching. everyone who realizes what those glorious patriots knew on that day, that change does not come from washington but to washington. the change has always been built on our willingness. we, the people, to take on the mantle of citizenship, you are marching. that's the lesson of our past. that's the promise of tomorrow. that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. when millions of americans of every race and every region, every faith and every station can join together in a spirit of brotherhood, then those mountains will be made low and those rough places will be made plain and those crooked places, they straighten out towards grace, and we will vindicate the

faith of those who sacrifice so much and live up to the true mean manager of our creed as one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [ cheers and applause ] >> there you have a presidential take on history on the importance of economic opportunity, of the dignity of the folks out there living their lives. if you're not moved, you may not have a hard. msnbc's chris matthews has been on the mall all day. alongside him is eugene robinson from from "the washington post." chris, i want to hear your thoughts on what's going on right now. >> well, i thought the speech had great values in it. it was about american compassion for people who are straight, people who are gay, people in mixed marriages identifying with people with other kinds of ma

marital obstacles in our way. i thought it had a feeling of unity, and the crowd reacted to that. i don't want to criticize it, except this. i heard the president give a speech much like this the weekend before he won the presidency. there was the same kind of crowd reaction, a largely african-american crowd in a very tough neighborhood, a very depressed neighborhood of north philadelphia. the problem of course is that neighborhood is still depressed just like it was when i went there in 1968 to learn about small business practices in minority communities. it was still depressed and is still depressed. i was waiting for a proposal today, something concrete. now, you can't knock something because it didn't have something. if you do think it was a good speech, i thought it was a great speech. >> eugene robinson? >> toure, i thought the president made a choice with this speech. he chose to speak to the people, the very large crowd now that's

here at the memorial. he chose to speak to the nation, which is tuned in and listening. and he sought to make a speech, i think, that would touch people's conscience, touch people's hearts. he did not speak to the government. he did not speak to congress or to washington with an agenda, with the next step we take toward realizing the dream. perhaps that's a state of the union address. he has many chances to do that. he made, i think, a conscience decision to speak, i think, perhaps to the better angels of our nature. in that sense, i thought it was a very, very good speech. it kind of rose and fell the way great oratory rises and falls and then ended at the right sort of high note. i think it's a speech that will be remembered. >> absolutely. in many ways he put sort of the

burden on us to act and to push progress forward. chris and eugene, thanks for being with us. let's bring in nbc's chuck todd live on the national mall. chuck, describe how the crowd received and reacted to the president's speech. >> i can tell you, i would say it this way. i thought it was a very post-racial speech. the president has always wanted to be seen as a post-racial political leader, right. it was from the -- and to me, there's a string in this speech that starts with the remarks he made in that 2004 speech, which arguably launched his national political career to it tthe rac speech in 2008, something he had to give at the time, he was in a political crisis. to the remarks he's given when he gave a speech at moorehouse college just a few months ago at that commencement speech that included tough love for the african-american community, particularly talking to african-american men.

so there's a really familiar strain here of what the president is trying to always wanting to be, which is not viewed as the first african-american president but this person that is presiding over an american that is more multicultural, more multiracial, post-racial america, acknowledging the issues of the past, acknowledging those things. to me, that was what was fascinated about it. you didn't hear -- i didn't feel like he was saying, okay, this is the part of the speech that's to black america and this is the part of the speech that's to white america. he was trying hard not to do that, trying to have a speech where people just heard -- maybe perhaps people listen to all of the speech rather than portions. >> chuck, what was the sense from the crowd during the tough love section to the african-american community? was there a reaction to that part of the speech? >> well, tii think it goes to wt chris was trying to refer to. this was a crowd that i felt like was listening very carefully to this speech.

it wasn't necessarily designed to try to get people up and on their feet. he didn't try to do that. i think that was intentional, particularly in talking to his aides. you know, they had expressed to me that he knew he was -- the expectations were absurdly high. here he was speaking on the anniversary of martin luther king. he was joking yesterday, guess what, it isn't going to be "i have a dream." there's one of those speeches for multiple generations to be talking about. so i saw an audience that was listening very carefully, that was leaning in. they weren't trying to be here to be moved. i think they were trying to listen to the message. you know, maybe others were hoping that they would get up on their feet and there would be this rousing moment, but i know that's not the speech the president was intending to write or give. >> all right, chuck. thanks. i found it very rousing and moving watching it here in the studio. our msnbc special let freedom ring coverage continues next with more moving moments in a

day that was full of them. please keep it here. at 4:00 eastern, tamron hall will bring you all 17 minutes of martin luther king jr.'s iconic "i have a dream" speech in its entirety, something you really rarely get to see. much more ahead as we remember and reflect on this 50th anniversary of the march on washington. >> free at last, free at last, thank god almighty we are free at last. ♪

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the president. we've seen new barriers erected to voting. we've seen the supreme court overturning a key part of the voting rights act. do you think there's a greater sense right now than we've had for a while of how much work we actually have yet to do to achieve dr. king's dream? >> yes, i think that there is without question a serious feeling called the urgency of now. the people who came on that mall on saturday were on fire. they were on fire regarding the need to pass a new voting rights act to repair the damage done by the supreme court. people had signs. one of my favorite signs i saw said, you are now entering the state of north carolina, surrender your voting rights. people were on fire. also, you know, you saw all kind of signs about trayvon martin, all kinds of signs calling for justice in the criminal justice system, for total reform and the

elimination of the prison industrial complex. all of these things i thought were not just, you know, issues where people just came to be present. they came because they were trying to inspire the nation to action. i thought that was so important and that's what the president also spoke about today. >> michael, we haven't seen really any progress in economic disparity. according to a recent poll, 60% of blacks say whites have a better chance at getting jobs. i mean, the numbers are all too real. the economic disparities separating blacks and whites remain as wide as they were 50 years ago when it comes to household income. this wealth gap has even widened. poverty rate is still three times that of whites. it's no surprise that president obama made this a huge focus in his speech today. >> well, there's no question. is that a question for me? >> yes, michael. >> there's no question that the gap is widened. unemployment for whites and blacks was double in '63.

it's still double. i think that it's important to focus on creating the dream now rather than simply having the dream. it's no longer about having it. it's about living it. and we've got to have some really serious solutions in order to do that. that means we have to pass some legislation. we have to, you know, repass the voting rights act. we have to have legislation on an american jobs act. we have to have legislation on creating more equity in education. so we have to do all of these things in order to live the dream. >> all right. barbara and michael, thanks for that. the president, as you heard, take great care to make sure that as we reflect on the past we've also look toward tomorrow, where we're going. with eyes on the horizon, let's bring in two people whose opinions we respect here on "the cycle." we have angela rye and tim wise.

angela, i'll start with you. we talk all the time in looking at the political scene in washington about the polarization and this can't get past the republican house and this'll die in the senate. it struck me listening to this speech that the president was not laying out a specific legislative agenda, was talking about how change comes to washington not from washington, and he talked about how progress takes time. it does happen, but it takes time. i wonder what you made of that. >> i totally agree with what the president said. it would be ill advised for him to have come to the march on washington commemoration and talk about a political agenda per se. i think bill clinton did a great job of doing just that. even talked about being low income as a pre-existing condition. it's something we all know very well, but nobody like bill clinton to articulate such a point. it's absolutely time for change to come to washington. we know that. we've been talking about it. it's time for other folks to hear about it. absolutely the president did just what martin luther king did 50 years ago.

that was to articulate an agenda and a dream that everyone in america should be able to embrace whether they're black or white, republican, democrat, or independent. i think that's what happened today. >> tim, really glad to have you on the show. the work you've done fighting against racism has been extraordinary. i want to ask you about what white people need to do. i grew up in boston. that's often called up-south. yet, i felt like a lot of the white people that i encountered would say, hey, help me understand racism, help me understand what's going on. nowadays i encounter either people who are not racist and willing to move forward in a multiracial world and some who constantly are saying, hey, you're the racist for bringing up racism and there's no such thing until you bring it up. 40% of white america, according to a new reuters poll, has no non-white friends. so we live in a world of misunderstanding, of islands of two america. what is the way forward? >> well, the first thing is white folks have got to learn to listen to people of color when they articulate their reality

around stop and frisk, around racial profiling, around housing discrimination. the really sad fact, and we forget this at our peril, is that in 1963, we look back and think, oh, everybody was on the same page then. the sad fact is two out of three white americans that year, at the very same time as this march, told pollsters they thought black folks already had fully equal opportunity in employment, housing, and schooling, which means white america has always been in denial about the problem of racism and drinks crimination. that has not changed. we have got to get back to talking about these issues like they actually matter because they do. people's lives are on the line. if we're not able to hear folks talk about their reality without saying that they're playing a race card or they're making a mountain out of a mole hill, we're not going to be able to move forward on an agenda of economic justice for everyone. >> barbara, part of the problem is we have these criminal justice disparitiedisparities.

we've talked about stop and frisk, stand your ground, and about the war on drugs and how it is constantly criminalizing nonviolent marijuana users who are making a public health choice. what do we need to do to move forward do we need to do to mo forward there? we see the attorney general trying to make changes but he can't do it alone. >> number one, get racial profiling out of policing. that is our biggest problem. people are arrested for minor offenses. we've got to stop and decriminalize, you know, all of these minor offenses. it's wronging that 52% of everyone sitting in a jail isitying there because of a simple minor offense. that's not that they were engaging in nel hard crime. they were just either possessing a joint, you know, something like wiig arrest 900,000 people a year for simple marijuana possession? i mean this is just wrong. and we are spending $33,000 per head for everyone in jail. less than 10,000, a little bit

above 10,000 for people's education. 80% of everyone. jail lacks a high school diploma. we need to change our priorities around. no state should ever spend more money on a prison than it spends on education. >> well, tim, we already saw a new demographic coalition electing this president both in 2008 and 2012. we're seeing now that among children under 5, minorities actually make up a slim majority of all children under 537 so we have changing demographics in this country. over the next 50 years, how can we expect those changing demographics to change our politics? >> well, they'd better change our politics. if we get to that place that the demographers tell us we're headed 2043 when half the population will be folks of color and half white, if we're still talking about a 3-1 poverty rate black to white, 2-1 unemployment rate, that is not going to be a workable system for anyone's children.

so we've got to the get serious about racial equity initiatives not just for the benefit of people of color but the benefit of the entire country. my fear is that there are folks who are not prepared to give up that edge, that privilege, that advantage that they've had just as there were not in south africa in what some may think was a more extreme situation. 6% of the population of that country held on for a long time. so the demographic change is not going to bring what we need. we have to get back to pushing for justice, not hoping that the numbers will do it for us. >> we've got a lot of work to do. thanks everybody. we'll be right back. just minutes away at 4:00 eastern, you can see martin luther king's entire "i have a dream" speech from 1963, tamron hall anchors our special live coverage. have i got a treat for you. new clean whipped creme. clean fresh foundation, a dash of hydration, whipped to smooth matte perfection. what a treat!

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here for being part of this special historic hour of television on msnbc, live from the national mall. tamron hall takes over from here with something you do not want to miss. dr. king's "i have a dream" speech from 1963. all 17 minutes in its entirety. singh you rarely get to see. a turning point in the civil rights movement and american history. [ male announcer ] america's favorite endless shrimp is back! people wait for this promotion all year long. and now there are endless ways to love it...

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before the last grandchild graced the stage, before katie and her husband hit that rough patch... before kevin finally came home and the first grandchild arrived, before the sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and brad's brief brush with the law... man: smile. before the second british invasion... before katie, debbie, kevin, and brad... before they became a family, there was a connection that started it all and made the future the wonderful thing it turned out to be. we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is.

♪ >> you tell us to have the power to forgive, the capacity to be reconciled. >> he gazed at the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. >> he dreamed of an america where all citizens would sit together at the table of brotherhood. >> his words belong to the ages. possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time. >> good afternoon. i'm tamron hall. 50 years and nearly two