majority. so my suggestion to senator reid is go further. majority rule should work in the senate. i have no doubts that if the republicans would gain control of the senate, that is exactly what they would do. >> great to have you on "the ed show" tonight. thank you so much. that is "the ed show." i'm ed shultz. "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton begins now. good evening, rev. >> good evening. and thank you for tuning in. tonight's lead, standing up to the bullies and endsing the right wing's history of obstruction. for a hundred years conservatives used a procedure called the filibuster to block civil rights legislation and for the last five years conservatives have used it to filibuster the first black president of the united states. and tried to deny and destroy

this president's agenda. but now that republican strategy is in shambles. this afternoon democrats took the bold step of changing senate rules scaling back the filibuster that republicans have unfairly used to block the president's nominees. majority rule will be the rule of the senate for virtually all the president's nominees. it's a move to undo five years of gop delay and obstruction. a huge moment for the president and his agenda. >> the vote today, i think, is an indication that a majority of senators believe as i believe that enough is enough. the american people's business is far too important to keep falling prey day after day to washington politics. and if there are differences in the senate, then debate should be had had, people should vote

their conscience, they should vote on behalf of their constituents. but they should vote. that's what they're there to do. and ultimately if you've got a majority of folks who believe in something, then it should be able to pass. >> what a concept. that a majority should be able to get things done. it's called democracy. and that's what right wingers have been undermining for decades often in the ugliest way possible. in 1938, southern senators filibustered a law to make lynching a federal crime. in 1957 south carolina senator strom thurman set the filibuster record talking for 24 hours straight against civil rights legislation. and when it came to the civil rights act of '64, thurman led southern senators who spent 60

days blocking it. it wasn't right then. and it's not right now. it has to be said that both parties have used and misused the filibuster. but in the age of obama, the republicans have made a mockery of our democracy. they've turned a useful procedure that turned majority rule into a battering ram to deny the results of a presidential election. take a look at these numbers. in all of u.s. history under all previous presidents, a total of 86 presidential nominees have been filibustered. but during the past five years, republicans have blocked 82 of president obama's nominees. that's nearly the same as all previous presidents combined. it's unfair and it's undemocratic. >> in each of these cases it's not been because they opposed

the person. that there was some assessment that they were unqualified. that there was some scandal that had been unearthed. this isn't obstruction on substance, on qualifications. it's just to gum up the works. >> it's not about the individual nominees. it's about opposing thes. . this year alone, republicans blocked all three of his nominees to the d.c. circuit court of appeals. they've filibustered mel watt from a major housing job. the first lawmaker to be blocked in 150 years. and they filibustered the president's nominee for defense secretary. the first time that's happened in american history. republicans eventually backed down from that fight, and chuck hagel was confirmed.

this gop obstruction is historic, it's out of bounds. but now harry reid leading the senate democrats has said they will no longer back up from the republican bullying. joining me now are krystal ball and angela rye. thank you for being on. >> thanks for having us on. >> krystal, let's put up that chart again. showing filibusters against president obama's nominees versus all other nominees from all other presidents in u.s. history combined. doesn't that show why this change today was so necessary? >> yeah, it does. i mean, it shows in essence why we can't have nice things. right? maybe we would like to have an emergency brake as the filibuster was meant to be on things that really go beyond the pail. but as you point out, it's not just recent obstruction. we have all this nostalgia about the filibuster and senate tradition. but the filibuster throughout

history at times has been used for very ugly things. >> very vile. >> so as republicans try to mount this charge that democrats are changing the rules and appeal to the history of the senate, it's important to remind people of that. but absolutely in the obama era, republicans have forced the hand of harry reid who did not want to go to this place. he's very much a senate institutionalist. throughout the president's first term, he resisted calls for change. >> and many of us, angela, have wanted to see the procedure maintained for a lot of reasons. i believe in doing procedures that are necessary to make sure that we don't have tyranny by the majority, as some say. but this has become just down right abusive and is based purely on let's stop this president. for example, republicans claim president obama was trying to pack the d.c. circuit court of

appeals. but the facts don't back them up. only one obama nominee has been confirmed to four nominees for bush and eight nominees for reagan. so how would he be stacking the court when he's only had one nominee that was approved and he was putting in nominations for empty seats? the seats need to be filled, angela. >> they absolutely need to be filled, but, rev, on a larger scale we need to be celebrating that today a substantial advancement was made. we can now bask in rnr which is the reid rule. we still have a major fight ahead. >> re-rule. not rest and relaxation. don't send the wrong message. >> we know you don't rest, rev. but to that point we now have a fair fight. we are now more on a level playing field. we know the constitution calls

for majority rules. that is how a democracy absolutely should work. that is not how they've been operating. the filibuster was to be used for extreme circumstances. we've even seen filibusters, people protesting things simply because they did not like them. these are folks like judge wilkins that fought very hard for the african-american museum for the smithsonian. congressman watt who knows the material like the back of his hand. there's no reason he shouldn't be confirmed to head the federal housing finance agency. these things have to be put in their proper context and place. the cbc is standing with many others saying it's time to move forward. you can no longer protest the president just because he doesn't look like the rest of those presidents before and you can't shut down 82 of his nominees through the filibuster process.

>> when there's only been 85 done in history. i make it simple, krystal. it's a yes or no vote. it's just that simple. now it's a yes or no vote. 51 yes, it goes. if it's lower than 51, it's no and it doesn't pass. no games in between. and this is only a nominee. this is not legislation. >> right. >> and it's not even on supreme court nominees. so when they play this game, the republicans, that the sky is falling, it does not mean legislation and it does not mean supreme court. it means on administrative and judicial nominees other than the supreme court. and it also makes the senate function. because before it wasn't functioning. and the day the president talked about the change was about fixing that. look at this. >> it's no secret that the american people have probably never been more frustrated with washington. and one of the reasons why that is is that over the past five

years, we've seen an unprecedented pattern of obstruction in congress that's prevented too much of the american people's business from getting done. the gears of government have to work. and the step the majority of senators took today i think will help make those gears work a little bit better. >> help those gears work a little bit better, krystal. >> that's right. what we're talking about here is the president will be able to actually have his team in place to run the government. we've seen instances like senator elizabeth warren who started the consumer financial protection bureau who was not able to be head of that because of the threat of a filibuster. you've seen like the national labor relations board. where republicans refused to allow anyone no matter who they were just because they came from this president and because they were to sit on a board that they don't like, they refused to let them through until the last

filibuster. this is about making the government work overall and allowing the president to have a team in place. >> angela, let me throw this at you quickly. the republicans are so angry, they'll say we're even going to outdo that. right now the change does not include the supreme court nominees like i said. but today gop senator chuck grassley said they'll extend it to that court when they're in power. listen to this. >> the silver lining is that there will come a day when roles are reversed. when that happens, our side will likely nominate and confirm lower court and supreme court nominees with 51 votes. >> now, let me get this right. they don't like what the democrats did today in yes or no vote, but when we get in, we're going to even extend it to the supreme court. how's that for not liking what

y'all are doing? we're going to do it worse. >> well, it's awful, and i don't know if he believes the words that came out of his mouth. it really is something where he has to say that to avoid a tea party challenge. that's the day and age we're living in. >> thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> thank you, rev. >> and be sure to catch krystal on "the cycle" 3:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. coming up, here they go again. a secret gop memo revealed their plan to attack obama care. but a little thing called facts has them worried. plus, what happens when the president fights back? he's a dictator destroying your republic? oh, yeah. it's a "politicsnation" class trip to the bubble tonight. and for the first time since his arrest, george zimmerman's estranged wife is breaking her

violence in an amazing and wide ranging interview. she talks about doubting george's innocence in the trayvon martin killing. and living in fear with someone she calls a ticking time bomb. >> it certainly seems like something snapped in his spirit. >> and made him behave like what? >> like a monster. >> what do you think about any of these stories? e-mail me. reply al is ahead. [ male announcer ] alka seltzer plus presents the cold truth. [ coughs, sneezes ]

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coming up, the extraordinary words from george zimmerman's estranged wife. on a ticking time bomb, on

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even when we're apart. [ male announcer ] in stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and more, swanson makes holiday dishes delicious. there they go again. fresh off of their epic overreach on obama care, the gop is at it again. you remember their big plan, the one where they were all smiles shutting down the government? this was going to show president obama. yeah. how'd that work out for them? well guess what. today they're at it again. a secret gop memo obtained by

"the new york times" reveals their plan. mapping out waves of attacks over obama care. the big talking points, attacking increases in health care costs, and why exchanges may not be secure. and congressman darrell issa is going on tour. yes. it's the misinformation tour. holding pointless hearings around the country trying to highlight problems with the law. well, guess what, folks. here's the reality. just like the shutdown, they're misreading the public again. yes, there are problems. but look at these numbers. 58% of americans don't want to repeal it. they might want changes, but they want to keep the law. last i checked, that's a majority. and more people are signing up for the exchanges every day.

56% found them easy to use. again, a majority. but not in republican fantasy land. they're going all in again. they just can't help themselves. the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. joining me now is congressman jim mcdermott, democrat from washington. thanks for coming on the show tonight. congressman, the republicans are planning to attack. how will democrats respond? >> well, first of all, the american people are smarter than the republicans take them to be. they have been saying this for three years. and they've been -- this propaganda campaign has been the most determined campaign in a long time. and it has not worked. the people have listened to it. they figured out all the tornadoes and all the hurricanes are not caused by obama care.

that every job loss in the country is not because of obama care. that things are going up in cost is not because of obama care. they simply see the republicans for what they want. they want to tear the program apart because they don't care about people. think about texas where the governor has said he's not going to accept medicaid for over 100,000 people. almost 200,000 people in texas. he's keeping health care away from them because he wants to bring down the president. >> you know, when you look at facts, they keep talking about people who will pay more for insurance. but let's look at the breakdown, congressman. 80% of americans will be unaffected. 15% are uninsured so the law can only help them. 2.5% will be able to get a

similar plan. and the other 2.5% will have to buy a better plan, a better health care plan. yes, there are problems. but when you look at the big picture, this is law is helping a whole lot of people. >> one of the fascinating thing is some people kpan. i've heard men say why should i have to pay for maternity care? or which at 52 saying why should i pay for maternity care? you could also say as a man why should you pay for prostate exams. why should you pay for something for anybody else that you don't personally get. if that's your thinking, you have no concept of the common good. this program is going to be better for everyone in the long run. some may pay a little more, some may pay a little less. that's in the common good. that's the way we operate in this society.

>> but they're going all out misleading the public. for example, the national committee chair reince priebus has his own plan for the 2014 election. watch this. >> we'll make 2014 about obama care and, yes, we will tattoo obama care on each of their foreheads. that will be what 2014 is all about. they want it to be about obama care. but we'll make it about obama care. >> he's going to tattoo obama care on their foreheads. what's your response to that, congressman? >> well, i think that's a pretty cruel thing to say. and it's very, very missing the point of americans understanding. the american people want health security. it's the leading cause of bankruptcy for many american families. and they want someone to do something about it. the president has done it.

and the republicans in three years have shown no plan whatsoever. not one single plan. they only want to get rid of the president's plan because had he did it and he knows that the democrats are going to get credit for it. it's very simply power politics. it has nothing to do with what's good for people. >> congressman jim mcdermott, i'm going to have to leave it there. always good to have you on. thanks for your time tonight. coming up, president obama says enough is enough on the blocking and it's driving the right wing crazy. and george zimmerman's estranged wife speaks on doubting his innocence in the trayvon martin killing and living in fear. >> he became like a pacing lion. very unpredictable. [ male announcer ] if you're taking multiple medications,

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coming up, an amazing interview today with george zimmerman's estranged wife. she's talking about living with a quote, ticking time bomb. and her new doubts about his innocence. wow. that's next. for your heart, but did you know there's a cereal that's recommended by doctors? it's post shredded wheat. recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient: one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. try adding fruit for more health benefits and more taste in your bowl. it's the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. try post shredded wheat. this has been medifacts for post shredded wheat. diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting and increase in psa. ask your doctor about axiron. george zimmerman's estranged wife is breaking her silence. in an amazing wide ranging interview, she revealed to katie couric explosive new details about the man she lived with for six years. it was raw. it was emotional. and it's sure to raise all kinds of new questions. the comments come just days after her husband's arrest this week. he's accused of pointing a shotgun at his girlfriend. a claim zimmerman denies. i want to bring in clinical psychologist jeff gardere and former prosecutor faith jenkins.

thanks for being here. >> pleasure. >> thank you. >> now, shellie zimmerman was asked about her doubts. that she's had about her husband. i want to play it and then get your reaction. listen. >> do you believe that george murdered trayvon martin? >> no. i don't believe he maliciously went out to murder someone that night. >> i think when people hear of all these incidents following the trial, it does cast further doubt on his al qaections that . >> sure. >> do you feel that way? does it cast further down for you? >> further doubt, absolutely. it casts a lot of doubt like you said because like i've said, i don't know the person that i've been married to. so, of course, i'm going to have questions and doubts. but i wasn't there that night

i've seen the evidence and the jury has seen the evidence. they were the ones qualified to make the decision. not me. >> faith, jeff, first she said no i don't think he did the murder but then i do have doubts and he's not the person i thought he was. what do you make of this? >> first of all, this is the person who stood by george zimmerman's side. he helped his public image. and even going forward with jurors that his wife was standing by his side. >> it was perjury for him. >> now only after the trial where she's getting a divorce, she wants to publicly distance herself from him. she's wanting to live her life not being associated with the man who most people believe who got away with killing a 17-year-old teenager. so i think it benefits her to

publicly distance herself. she continues to distance herself listen, we all know. presentation of himself as this legitimately concerned neighborhood watch guy concerned about this young man walking into his neighborhood was a farce. this guy was trouble from the beginning. she knows it. we know it. and now the public, people who had doubts about him from the beginning they know this is not some mild mannered guy who's just walking patrolling his neighborhood that night not looking for any trouble. he was probably the aggressor here based on the actions we continue to see. >> she said, jeff, this was not the man that i thought i knew for seven years of marriage. >> wow. and what does that really tell us? it means that not only did she not know who he really is, but she was aware that he was

completely unpredictable. listen to her words. i don't believe he went to maliciously murder. does that mean he was a train wreck that ended up escalating a situation where someone was killed? she goes on to say they made the decision, the jury made the decision that he wasn't guilty. well, shellie, what decision did you make in your mind? did you think he was guilty? she won't accept responsibility and puts it on the jury. so she knew something, and she feels that the jury let him get away with it, not her. >> well, let's play something else she said. because she said in the last year and a half saying she's now afraid of him. >> i know you stood by george during the course of that explosive trial. did you have your doubts back then? >> i don't know that i let myself get so deep in thought.

i was kind of drinking the kool-aid, you could say, every day trying to survive. in george's case. so now i have doubts. back then, i just couldn't go there. >> do you regret at all standing by george zimmerman? >> part of me does and part of me doesn't. i do wish that before the night before i had left and went to my father's home that he had just let me go and didn't call me back into his life. and that i didn't play the role i did as a supportive wife because my life would be very different now. >> your response to that. >> well, again, the words. so telling. i couldn't allow myself to get so deep in thought. what are we talking about here?

a defense mechanism called denial. why couldn't you go there, shellie? well, because i just couldn't allow myself to understand or realize the monster that i was married to. i was drinking the kool-aid. in other words, i was actively involved in trying to not understand what the truth is of this person, this fake of a person that i was married to. >> i do not believe for one second that this domestic incident that occurred a couple of months ago was the first incident of violence that george zimmerman has displayed towards this woman. i'm talking about more than that. in 2005 the prior domestic incident. so when she says she played the supportive role of the wife, that speaks to me. she knew she was playing a role then. i don't think she's still telling everything that she knows about what george told her about what happened that night.

and i also don't believe she's telling everything about their relationship. and the volatileness of that relationship. >> the bottom line is for her to acknowledge that she was a party to the mirage that they put out there that they were happily married, that he was a stable individual. for her to acknowledge that would destroy her ego. and so therefore she's skating along this saying, yeah, i thought something was wrong with him, but i really couldn't accept that. it would be too much for her to be able to live knowing that she was a party to this astrosty. >> but faith, could it have changed the trial -- >> oh, yes. >> absolutely. no one knew they had had an argument and she was not staying in the home the night this incident happened when george zimmerman saw trayvon martin. that didn't come out until afterwards. >> or the fact she was afraid of him. >> -- going somewhere else with this. go ahead. >> so his mind-set at that time had he was just going to the

store minding his own business, he wasn't angry about anything, he wasn't in some type of confrontational -- >> all right. so i want you to hear something that she said about how she's found out certain things about his character. i want to come back to that point. listen to this. >> i found out that he was lying about a lot of things. and he became like a pacing lion. very unpredictable. every single day it was like adrenaline going through my body constantly not knowing what it was going to be like from day-to-day. i haven't seen him in a couple months. but it certainly seems like something snapped in his spirit. >> and made him behave like what? >> like a monster.

>> that seems as if george is a ticking time bomb. i mean, given all these incidents, these run-ins, you know repeated incidents over just this last year. what do you think is going to happen to him? >> i don't know. i certainly hope that there are no casualties. i hope that there's no violence. but he does seem like a ticking time bomb. i know i'm certainly afraid. >> what is interesting to me about this, faith, that the far right that questioned those of us that said at least investigate this and prosecute this, something you said no one knew all this about him. why didn't the police know if there had been a real investigation which is what everybody said. the police didn't know that him and his wife were not together that night and he had an attitude and he was this guy

that was a ticking time bomb? they just let him go. >> well, there are rules of evidence in a trial. and there are only certain things that you can present in court. we knew about the 2005 domestic violence incident. we knew there was an incident with a police officer going ahead to the trial. but the jurors didn't know about his background. because there were rules of evidence. that was not allowed in court. even if they had had an argument that night, i still don't think that would have been allowed in court. i'm talking about shellie zimmerman -- >> that's not -- again, you notice i didn't say the jury. i said the right wingers. yes. it may not have been allowed in court, but this was never told to the public. >> that's right. >> all of us that said let's have a real investigation, we were demonizing him. how dare you. none of this came out about him when it should have been known. that's all i'm saying. >> yeah. because it would have reflected upon them and the fact they have some of the same attitudes

against minorities, believing in this standing your ground, actually wanting to be in a situation where they feel they must protect themselves against others. but here are the words that really surprised me. she says i hope that there are no casualties. >> no violence. >> i think the word should have been i hope there were no further casualties, because trayvon martin was a casualty. >> she also said she would like to talk to trayvon's mother. what is that all about? >> guilt. guilt. >> and the ticking time bomb. this is a bomb that went off a long time ago. we have a 17-year-old that was killed. this whole ticking time bomb because of these incidents that have happened since the jury acquitted him, this is not something new. i mean, people want to say we didn't know this about george zimmerman. this is the real george zimmerman. we saw the real george zimmerman back on the night of february 2012 when he followed and

profiled this young man. >> we're going to keep watching this. an amazing interview. jeff gardere and faith jenkins, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. coming up, what happens to the right wing when president obama fights obstruction? you'll see. get the popcorn out. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab.

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u.s. senate today as democrats voted to eliminate filibusters from the most -- for most judicial and executive nominees. president obama hailed the move as a way to get past the unprecedented obstruction we've seen in washington. a good move for democracy. so just guess how the right wing reacted. >> the republic is being undermined by people who are supposedly at least decent people. we might disagree, but they're at least decent people. no, they're not. >> your republic is being undermined because democrats aren't letting republicans block the president's qualified nominees? and here's how they reacted over at fox. >> at one point he said well, the american business is far too important for the rules. how far do you take that? you could ignore the house and have a military coup.

>> this is a change in senate rules, not a military coup. but i guess it wouldn't be fox without a little fear mongering. and that was nothing compared to what we heard from the leader of the republican party. >> not interested in democracy at all. total statist authoritarianism. there's no stopping them now. so if obama wants to nominate, oh, i don't know, bashar assad to the ninth circuit court of appeals, there's no stopping him. he gets to play dictator. that's something he's always wanted. he is -- i saw him. he is ecstatic. >> no, president obama's not playing dictator. he's just doing what the american people elected and re-elected him to do and the right just can't take it.

joining me now are ari melber and goldie taylor. thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> thank you, reverend. >> goldie, why do they always take these attacks to the extreme? >> it's laughable to me. none of these people were talking about changing the rules or the lack of democracy about changing the rules at the eleventh hour when they changed the rules for a government shutdown. there's a lot of hypocrisy going on here. and so this president -- harry reid in particular -- found a way that was available to him under the law to make certain some of the president's nominees could go forward and fill some critical seats. so i just think this was the right thing to do. but you've watched republicans pull stunt after stunt. every one of them, mind you, within the bounds of the law. but stunt after stunt in advancing this obstructionism.

so when the rules are changed against them, suddenly all of democracy is at stake. >> ari, you know, it's not enough for rush limbaugh, the republican leader, to attack the preside president. he also attacks his nominees. >> there's a reason his nominees were filibustered. they're all extreme leftists who are unqualified. they would not be good for the country. that's why they were filibustered. >> they're extremists? they're leftists? they're nominees that they blked and weren't leftist. this is blocking the president's agenda. look at the background of these nominees. but why does the right wing go after the president's nominees and his cabinet members? >> i don't think they can deal with the facts here. the american bar association has

set each of these people up for the circuit are highly qualified. it is problematic to be blocking so many female candidates which is what the republicans were doing when we have an imbalance in gender on the federal courts. if you only heard the sound bites you played, you would think democracy took a hit today. democracy if by that we mean a majority vote was advanced today. yet all these people were being prevented a vote. today they're getting votes. that is breaking a blockade that has stopped a lot of this president's nominees. and the last data point people have to keep in mind and you've reported on this, the increase in blockage of nominees from last president to this one. wasn't double. wasn't triple. was six fold. they were trying to prevent this president from governing. >> the combined number of what

they've blocked from this president almost equals to the entire number from the beginning of country. lawmakers are able to pick up the language that president obama is a dictator. listen to what senator rand paul said back in january. >> in this bill we will nullify anything the president does that macks his legislation. i'm afraid that president obama may have this king complex developing and we're going to make sure it country happen. >> why can't they just say i agree with him and i'm going to fight against this particular es or this plosh nom know instead of calling him a king and trying to nullify his executive actions. >> that's just a way of calling him uppity. this is grand ire they want to call senator reid a bully and president obama a king.

what they mean is these people don't belong in office. because they don't agree with our ideology, then they must be socialists and communists and must not believe in democracy. and so that's really what this is about. but let's be clear. if the president nominated bread and water to the d.c. circuit, the gop wouldn't eat today. they wouldn't have water today. and so i just think at the end of the day, this is really about them being upset. that their obstructionism has been stopped in its tracks. this president has had as many filibusters in his two terms of presidency as we have in the history of this country. i am so glad harry reid used his nuclear option to turn it around. >> you know, ari, it reminds me of back in september. here's what he said when we were talking about defunding obama care.

we thought we lived in a democracy with a balance of powers between three branches of government. come on, congressman. that's not what this country is supposed to be about. >> just to remind you. this is not a democracy, this is a republic. >> we do live in a democratic republic. but why are they so comfortable saying that? we don't live in a democracy. it's a democratic republic. >> well, you know, you can get into the constitutional history of why republicans -- the point you're making and the point i think most reasonable people agree with is let's have the vote. the truth is there aren't many socialist members of congress. i think the last time i checked he's the only one that adviced and checked. they might not get 51 votes. but we have votes in this country and the senate. today we advanced on that.

>> ari melber and goel tldie ta, thank you for your time tonight. the scotch ball boys 80 years later. justice delivered today. the story is coming up.

it's one of the most notorious cases in american history. the crime against the scottsboro boys. after those boys were falsely convicted of rape, the record is set straight. stay with us. [ male announcer ] 1.21 gigawatts. today, that's easy. ge is revolutionizing power. supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. using data predictively to help power entire cities. so the turbines of today... will power us all... into the future. ♪

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finally tonight, justice for the scottsboro boys. three black men from alabama were pardoned today for being falsely convicted of raping two white women on board a train 82 years ago. hayward patterson, charles weems, and james wright were the group of niep, nung black mane r men. first charged with rape in 1931. an all white jury, a rushed trial, and even attempted lynchings. the scottsboro case -- and the

need for adequate legal representation. the last of the nine died in 1989. but the record is now justifiably clear. it's a good thing that the record is clear. it would have been that before they passed they would have known they were vindicated. but i was glad to see for their families, for their children and grandchildren, their names cleared. it reminded me when -- it doesn't matter because he says no lie can live forever. and one program note. tomorrow night we debut my documentary on the epidemic of gun violence in this country 50

years after president kennedy was killed after a sniper's bullets. "50 years of guns" airs this friday at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. attack. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews in new york. let me start with the daring attack. the democratic breakout that could change the course of this political war. nothing is more daring or more effective than the attack from a defensive position. it's how henry v. go for the offensive and make take on the attack. today struck with all the pent up