nina turner in ohio, keep up the fight. thank you so much. and we'll see what john kasich is going to do. see if he makes any comments about these bills before it's time to sign them. we believe he's going to sign them. that's "the ed show." "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed. and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, they can't handle the truth. we've told you our "politicsnation" theory. obama care plus success equals a right wing freakout. and we're seeing it again. just listen to former senator rick santorum's rant on government-run health care and former british leader margaret thatcher. >> she knew once you had people getting free health care from the government, you can't take it away from them. and the reason is because most people don't get sick. and so free health care is just that, free health care until you

get sick. and then if you get sick and you don't get health care, you die so you don't vote. it's actually a clever system. take care of the people who can vote. people who can't vote, get rid of them as quickly as possible by not giving them care so they can't vote against you. that's how it works. >> take care of the people who can vote and get rid of the others? you know, i feel i've heard that one before. >> let's repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. let's not do that. >> yep. you know they're running out of good arguments when they bring up the death panels. it was the same story when a republican state senator from north carolina tweeted this weekend, quote, justice roberts'

pen and obamacare has done more damage to the usa than the swords of the nazis, soviets, and terrorists combined. now they're going with nazis. the truth is the law is helping real people. 159,000 have enrolled in plans through california's exchange. more than 95,000 in new york. and through the federal website, 137,000 people signed up in october and november. and 100,000 just in the first week of this month. but republicans don't care about any of that. with all the good news that this law is doing, they still want to get rid of it. here's mr. bipartisan paul ryan saying he made a budget deal so republicans could focus on

health care. >> we like the fact for the economy, no shutdowns. we also don't want shutdown drama so we can focus on replacing obamacare. so we can focus on showing better ideas than what this is coming to. we don't think people like this law. we don't think it's going to get more popular. >> remarkable. this is leadership? jim demint infamously thought obamacare could be the president's waterloo. but it's ripping the gop apart. why? because it's working. joining me now is congressman jim mcdermott, democrat of washington. and msnbc's krystal ball. thank you both for being here. >> thanks for having us, rev. >> good to be here. >> congressman, paul ryan is saying he agreed to a budget deal so republicans could focus on replacing obamacare. what do you make of that? >> every once in awhile paul ryan tells the truth.

the fact is they've never given up on wanting to get rid of obamacare. because they realize that all their efforts to convince the american people that government never does anything good, there's no reason to want government, we don't need government certiis simply not believed by the people. they then say to themselves you know, the people who brought it to us are the democrats. it's not the republicans. they want to get rid of government. and they are afraid this is going to haunt them for the next ten elections. >> you know, krystal, the house isn't in session, but republicans are still attacking the health care law. speaker boehner, for example. his blog posted today, quote, obamacare can't be sold, can't be fixed either. how is this for leadership? they don't want to fix the law. i mean, when will they move on?

>> they are not going to move on because they have nothing else to say. and what i would really like to hear paul ryan or john boehner or any of these folks be asked is i want to hear them defend the status quo that we have. since they haven't offered an alternative, let's hear them talk about how great the status quo is where we have highest costs in the developing world, we have bad outcomes, we have people who can be tossed out right on their ear for something that happened while they were covered under their insurance policy and insurers can go back and say for something as small as an irregular menstrual period, sorry we're no longer covering you. women can be discriminated against. some people are unable to afford it. many people are unable to afford it. i want to hear someone defend that status quo. they're saying they want to keep the way things are and the way things were before obama care. to me that is inconscionable.

i don't think anyone believes that's a good thing. >> that's what they're saying. the wall street journal said today that insurance companies plan to spend $500 million on local tv ads in 2014 pushing people to sign up for health care plans. insurance companies are investing half a billion dollars. they expect the law to work. how will this impact the gop's political strategy, congressman? >> i think it really blows a hole in the bottom of their boat. the idea they have to get rid of obamacare and if they promise people that, they can win elections and all the rest is clearly a bat strategy. because the insurance companies know that people want to have security when they have an illness or an injury. they want to know that things will be covered. they want to know that they won't be bankrupted by the illness or injury. and the insurance companies are going to go out there and sell the president's plan right into the face of the republicans.

it's kind of funny to watch in a way. we tried to do it by ourselves. now the insurance companies are coming on board and you're going to see this thing trn very quickly. a lot of people are going to start asking why can't we, if we live in tennessee, have the same thing they have in california and oregon and washington. and the answer is you can. all you have to do is go down and sign up. i mean, it's going to cost a little something, yeah, that's true. but you can have it if you want it. and they have tried to sell to people that it's a bad idea and it has not worked. >> you know, krystal, "the new york times" reports today that a number of republican house candidates are looking to tone down their rhetoric. they, quote, shelved their incendiary remarks about president obama. they're trying to mellow their messages. but it's because they want to narrow their focus on the affordable care act. once we're a few months away

from the problems with the website rollout, will that message resonate at all, krystal? >> no, i don't think so. and i think the question that people are naturally going to ask is, okay. so we've heard you hate obamacare. we get that. we've heard that piece. we understand that. the website is working now. what else do you have to offer? and they've never been able to figure that out. they went after the 2012 election and did this autopsy report and had some good ideas in there about how they could broaden their base and appeal to whiter constitue wid wider constituents. and they're terrified of offering their own solutions. once you put a solution out there, someone can pick it apart. so they think it's safer to attack. >> congressman, at the end of the day i understand what "the

times" is reporting. these people have closed down the government. they've had the most extreme rhetoric you can remember. they've acted as if votes, a supreme court vote and a general election for president means nothing. i mean, all that they've done against this act cannot just be swept away in some mellow election rhetoric at the end of all of this. >> the american people will have their opportunity to correct this in 2014. and they are going to say these folks have not given us one positive thing. now, i've heard over and over again, obama won't listen to our plans, won't listen to our ideas. they have never put anything on the table to be voted on. i sit on the ways and means committee in the house, which is the committee where it ought to happen. there has never been a proposal put on the table that we could vote on.

you can't get something through if you won't write it down and let people look at it and read it and vote it. and they are afraid as krystal has said. they are really afraid to do that because they know it would turn out they would be offering an empty sack. there'd be nothing in it. >> i'll leave it there. you said it well. congressman mcdermott and krystal ball, thank you both for your time. >> thanks, rev. >> and be sure to catch krystal on "the cycle" week days here on msnbc. ahead, over 1 million people are about to lose unemployment benefits. so where's speaker boehner's congress? we'll show you. if you're a right winger who thinks president obama is a socialist dictator abusing his power, then we found the game for you. and affluenza outrage.

was this child too rich to jail? and is the black santa debate finally over? he made a big appearance over the weekend. stay with us. >> his eyes, how they twink ld. his dimples they amazed. when i saw him, i proclaimed damn is that isaac hayes? [ male announcer ] you've got to try red lobster's four course seafood feast, just 15.99. start with soup, salad and cheddar bay biscuits then choose one of eight entrees plus dessert! four perfect courses, just 15.99. come in to red lobster today and sea food differently.

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have you joined the "politicsnation" conversation on facebook yet? too rich for jail? it's the story everyone's talking about. the wealthy teenager put on probation after taking four lives in drunk driving accident. and it has dominated our

facebook page. ruth asks, ask the teens who were tried as adults and spent most of their lives in jail. money talks. vanessa says, if this boy is too rich to go to jail for vehicular homicide, then most americans are too poor to go to jail for robbing banks and dealing drugs. that makes just as much sense. we've got more on this story coming up, but first we want to hear what you think. please head over to facebook and search "politicsnation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve.

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congratulations to speaker boehner. he's set another record. no, i'm not talking about the record low productivity. pop the champagne, because his house also set a new mark for time off. speaker boehner's house worked just 28 hours a week while in washington. in session for parts of just 35 weeks. all told, it's the fewest numbers of hours since records were kept in 2005. it's a time of record inequality. they're showing how out of touch they have. 12 days from now unemployment benefits will run out for over a million people. right now workers are calling for an increase in the minimum wage demanding action from

congress. amid all this, republicans are setting records for all the wrong reasons. but we did find one republican working today. >> raising a minimum wage does not raise the standard of living. it doesn't have one significant economic benefit. the minimum wage is not about economics or standard of living or any of that. it's a leftist prop. >> he's speaker for the party. they're literally not working, and that's not working for america. joining me now is senator bernie sanders of vermont. senator, let me go right to it. 12 days to go for the long-term unemployed and the house is not in session. what will it take to get republicans to take action, senator? >> well, al, this is just the continuation of the republican party's war on working people

and low income people. we shouldn't be surprised that they want to terminate extended unemployment benefits. these are the same guys who voted for legislation which would cut food stamps by $40 billion over a ten-year period. these are the folks who want to cut medicaid. they want to cut social security. they want to cut medicare. and their business is about representing the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations. and how that is going to turn around, al, is only when tens of millions of people stand up and say enough is enough. the function of congress is to represent the middle class and working people of this country and not just billionaires and big campaign contributors. >> senator, they're talking more conciliatory. you don't buy it? >> no, i don't buy it. i don't buy it for a second. i mean, for political reasons, they have reached the conclusion that shutting down the government again would not be a particularly good idea. but these guys have an extremely

radical agenda. and if you listen to what they write and what they say, they will decimate and try to repeal virtually every piece of legislation, al, that has been passed in this country in the last 80 years. that protects working families. these guys do not sinot want to raise the minimum wage, they want to repeal the minimum wage. >> you know, we're hearing new republican threats to hold the economy hostage by making demands over the debt limit. this time it's congressman paul ryan. listen to this, senator. >> we as a caucus along with our senate counterparts will meet and discuss what we want out of the debt limit. we're going to meet in our retreats after the holidays and discuss exactly what it is we're going to try to get for this. >> how do you go -- how do you

deal with this, senator? what do you react to this? >> this is how i react to it and everybody should understand this. paul ryan among many other republicans cast the votes which created the deficit we're now struggling with. ryan voted for two wars. forgot to pay for those wars. voted for tax breaks to the rich. no offset. voted for medicare part "d" program which was not paid for. many of them voted to deregulate wall street, drive us into the recession, and lack of revenues coming in. so i find it absolutely hypocritical for these people to say, let's balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the children, the sick, and the poor when their votes caused the deficit in the first place. >> you know, it's funny. in an ironic way, not humorous way. because he's always talking about president obama raising the debt ceiling. but you're pointing out his own

voting record while he's making these threats and predictions about they're going to have a retreat afterward and figure out what to do. >> al, let's not forget that when clinton left office in 2001, this country had a $236 billion surplus and the economists projected that surplus to grow. after bush and ryan and all of these guys voting for wars they didn't pay for, et cetera, that's what happened to drive us into the deficit. >> senator bernie sanders, thank you for your time tonight. >> my pleasure. coming up, republicans throw around the "i" word like it's some kind of game. now it is. literally. how can a teenager get away with killing four people in a trunk driving accident? big news tonight in the

affluenza case that has everyone talking. but first rush limbaugh gets some coal in his stocking for tonight's nice try, got ya. people don't have to think about where their electricity comes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does. using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. generating electricity that's cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions--

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rush limbaugh is jollier than ever this christmas season. he's fighting the good fight against the war on christmas. >> as you know, every year to one degree or another there are attempts by the left to eliminate christmas. if they could they would totally eliminate it. >> the left wants to eliminate christmas? that's scary. how do they plan on carrying out this nefarious plot? >> outlawing christmas carols or not being allowed to say merry

christmas, but having to say happy holidays. you can outlaw christmas trees if you want. you can outlaw christmas decorations. >> sounds sinister. well, let's see what those notorious lefters the president and the first lady are doing to get rid of christmas. >> merry christmas, everybody! >> 'twas the night before christmas where all through the house, not a creature was stirring. not even a mouse. >> merry christmas! ♪ chestnuts roasts on an open >> oh, i forgot the press was here. >> uh-oh. better not rush catch you carolling, mrs. obama. but christmas isn't just about carols and decorations. mr. limbaugh, president obama knows the reason for the season. >> each christmas we celebrate the birth of a child who came

into the world with only a stable's roof to shelter him. but through a life of humility and the ultimate sacrifice, a life guided by faith and kindness towards others, christ assumed a mighty voice teaching us lessons of compassion and charity that have lasted more than two millennium. >> rush, did you think we wouldn't notice you're on the "politicsnation" naughty list? nice try, but you're getting coal in your stocking this year because we got you. me, if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, like me,

and you're talking to your rheumatologist about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira , your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region

where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your doctor if humira can work for you. this is humira at work. mmm! this is delicious katie. it's not bad for canned soup, right? pfft! [ laughs ] you nearly had us there. canned soup. [ male announcer ] they just might think it's homemade. try campbell's homestyle soup. does your mouth often feel dry? a dry mouth can be a side effect of many medications but it can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath. that's why there's biotene. available as an oral rinse, toothpaste, spray or gel, biotene can provide soothing relief, and it helps keep your mouth healthy, too. remember, while your medication is doing you good, a dry mouth isn't.

biotene -- for people who suffer from dry mouth. this week back in 1998, republicans in the house voted to impeach president clinton. it was the first time a president had been impeached in 130 years. even richard nixon was never actually impeached.

but republicans did it. over something that wasn't even remotely close to a high crime or misdemeanor. now they're back at it with president obama throwing around the "i" word, impeachment. >> tell me how i can impeach the president of the united states. >> if he continues, could that build up to make a case for possible impeachment? >> all options should be on the table. >> if we were to impeach the president tomorrow, you could probably get the votes in the house of representatives to do it. >> republicans have been talking about impeachment so much it's been a game to them. now it's literally a game. it's called scandal, the impeachment card game. if you know any right wing nut

who suffers from obama derangement syndrome, then your christmas shopping is done. >> scandal, the card game that pits opponents against each other as they endeavor to build the best case for impeachment. there are cards like stone walling, executive privilege, immunity, and midterm election shakeup. these make the game more unpredictable and a whole lot more fun. >> wow. i mean, just wow. this is a real thing. it sold on the birther website world net daily and it's a deep dive into the right wing mind-set. pick a case for impeachment. maybe it's benghazi. look. there's a scapegoat and an actual goat. or the irs controversy or the nsa stuff. or maybe you'll like the plain

old abuse of power. it's fun for the whole family. >> people are drifting apart and games are a great way for family and friends to get back together. four people can play a game of scandal in less than 30 minutes. scandal is attractive enough to display. and left on a desk or end table, it serves as a wonderful conversation piece. so get a deck of scandal for your right-minded friends and family and get a deck for yourself. and don't just use it as a status symbol. play it and have some fun. >> a status symbol? a conversation piece? impeachment. a great way to bring your right-minded relatives back together during the holidays? and it just shows how pathetic the republicans have become. joining me now is pulitzer prize

winning columnist cynthia tucker and radio host bill press author of "the obama hate machine." thank you both for being here. >> good to be here. >> cynthia, what's next? succession the board game? what should it take? >> you know, reverend al, this would be funny if it didn't involve representatives in the senate and congress. as ridiculous as this card game is, there are elected representatives who have been throwing around the word impeachment. that's their fever dream. that's what they want santa claus to bring them more than anything else. a reason to impeach president obama. while the american people are waiting for congress to solve their problems, there are members out there trying to find

a way to impeach someone who has done nothing wrong. >> and they are making it -- they're attempting to make it more pal. able to the public with games like this so it doesn't seem like an outrage for impeaching a president for doing nothing wrong. 4. >> yeah. i was looking for the high crimes and misdemeanors among the cards that you played there. the thing i would like to point out is this does not stand alone. that's what's so troubling about it. this started in the 2008 campaign. remember sarah palin accused the president of hanging out with traitors. paling around with traitors. right? and with terrorists. i'm sorry. and then right after the president was in the white house. i mean, janet porter who was an aide to mike huckabee said she wouldn't be surprised if president obama was a russian spy. glenn beck said he was trying to

bring about the new world order. rush limbaugh said he was trying to destroy capitalism. in my book "the obama hate machine," i look back. president obama has been subject to more personal ugly attacks than any other president in history. and that's saying something. >> no doubt about it. cynthia, it's not only the impeachment crowd. it's like they want to make their own rules as they go. they have nothing to do with what the country is built on and run by even when we have to deal with things we don't like. let me give you a case in point. today's "new york times" has a big story about sheriffs refusing to enlaw gun laws. one sheriff said the supreme court does not run my office. just because they allow something doesn't mean that's a good constitutional sheriff is going to do it.

i mean, how dangerous is this kind of thinking from people who were supposed to enforce our law? they can reject laws that they disagree with politically. >> you know, reverend al, i can't help but think back to the 1950s and '60s in the deep south. when there were so many segregationists who were absolutely opposed to the laws of the land. and absolutely opposed to enforcing them. it didn't matter what the supreme court said. it didn't matter what the laws were passed. they were going to defy them. and you will remember that turned out to be a very ugly and very violent period. >> absolutely. >> people died. >> absolutely. >> because of the refusal of some people to accept the laws of the land. and this makes me think of that period. >> and not only some people.

law enforcement. but, bill, mother jones had a disturbing report that the leading gop candidate for senate, in october he spoke at a rally to nullify obama care. that rally was co-sponsored by secessionist group called league of the south. this is the leading senate candidate in north carolina. >> well, i'm glad you used the word nullification. this really takes me back to 1860 when john calhoun of south carolina came up with this doctrine of nullification which is we don't have to follow the laws we put in. if they're breaking the laws, they ought to be arrested for breaking the law. >> it's interesting you emphasized nullification. at a nullification seminar last year, the same leading candidate now for the republicans of north carolina, he called health care

law tyranny. listen to this. >> what happens if you don't pay taxes? you go to jail. the doctors who partake in it, we go to jail. how is this not tyranny? that's what we have today. >> i mean, bill. nullification, tyranny. i mean, isn't this all about delegitimatizing the president so they can undercut his agenda? zb shows me two things. yes. number one, they are out to delegitimatize the president. and it shows the tea party -- the essence of this tea party is a racist institution. it is born of the fact that they cannot stand the fact that a black man is president of the united states. it also shows me despite what happened in virginia, this republican hasn't learned one

lesson. they still will go as far right as they can. as extreme on the extreme fringe of republican party. that's who's leading the party today. >> and cynthia, you hear them beginning to say we're go i think to run some candidates that have mellow rhetoric. but you're not hearing leading republicans denounce this kind of extremism. even when boehner kind of reprimanded them on the budget deal that ryan had worked out with senator pat murray. they have not taken them on on things like nullification and impeachment. they have not directly gone after this kind of extreme unwarranted rhetoric. >> reverend al, they're afraid to. they're afford to go after this rhetoric because they have a too many constituents who cheer that rhetoric on. and they have a whole right wing media machine that says the same

kinds of things. they're scared to death of eric erickson. they're scared to death of rush limbaugh. rush limbaugh and eric erickson are the types out there cheering this sort of thing on. >> i've got to leave it there. cynthia tucker and bill press, thank you for your time tonight. >> good to be here. >> thank you. coming up, too rich for jail? the texas tragedy that has the criminal justice system under fire. how did affluenza set this teen free? and is the black santa controversy finally over? you decide. >> you heard of secret santa. here's a secret for you. i'm black as hell. the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list

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it's the texas travesty that's got everyone talking. the teenager who one judge says is too rich to jail. today we've learned that five civil lawsuits have now been filed against ethan couch. the 16-year-old who was driving drunk when he killed four people and paralyzed another. and there's new outcry against the judge who handed down that sentence. judge jean boyd. a petition is being circulated demanding she be removed from the bench. already more than 9,000 people have signed it. prosecutors have asked that the judge sentenced couch behind

bars. but he was handed just ten years probation instead. no jail time. in her ruling she agreed with couch's attorney that he, quote, might not get the kind of intensive therapy he needed in a state-run program. and so this is where the 16-year-old will likely spend the next year. at a $450,000 a year rehabilitation facility. that offers chef-prepared meals, equine therapy, martial arts training, yoga, and nature hikes. but the same judge offered a very different ruling last year. >> we discovered the same judge sent a 14-year-old african-american boy to prison last year. for killing just one person, punching him to the ground.

>> at least one report says that judge boyd wanted to send that young man to a private facility to. but it's unclear if his family could afford it. and it's believed that no program wanted him. two different systems of justice in play. one for the rich. one for the poor. what's just about that? joining me now is texas attorney cade bernstein and faith jenkins a former prosecutor. thank you both for coming on the show. >> thank you. >> thanks, reverend al. >> cade, let me start with you. doesn't this case highlight the inequalities we see every day in our criminal justice system? >> it does, reverend. it's -- this ruling by this judge is absolutely outrageous. it's really struck a cord across the country, in fact. and those of us whether you're involved in criminal defense work or civil rights work who

try to make sure that everybody has a fair access to the courts and that the law and justice is provided to them as well as other people, this ruling in allowing this junk science of affluenza to even be uttered in a courtroom, i think it's a step back for those of us who seek social justice. >> now, i like the term junk science that he referred to with affluenza. you know, the psychiatrist who testified that ethan couch had affluenza lists consulting services for criminal attorneys first under his areas of expertise. that's before he even mentions his actual therapy experience. >> right. i'm going to take the term a step further and say our entire justice system suffers from affluenza.

if you are rich there's a different standard of justice for you. you can afford better attorneys. you have better resources to defend yourself when you're accused of a crime. and as a result, if you have money, you get a better outcome in your case in many instances. i take the term a step further and i use it to associate with our entire criminal justice system and what we see with people who are poor and people who try to defend themselves. >> now, we saw this judge sentence this young man couch to ten years of probation. killing four people in a car accident that he was drunk and he'd been cited before or been involved before in being warned about driving drunk and one time found passed out in a car with a 14-year-old female with him who was naked. yet she sentenced a 14-year-old african-american boy, some say while she wanted to put him in a facility, we don't know if he had the money or not, no facility would take him. but she gave him ten years in

jail. i mean, where once he becomes grown, he still is transferred to an adult facility and have to do years more. isn't that kind of harsh compared to what she did to couch? >> reverend al, you're exactly right. there's no doubt. it is what it is that rich people and poor people get treated differently in our criminal justice system. i think it's outrageous that that young man -- or, say, a young man or woman who comes from poverty gets caught shoplifting. they get hammered by the courts and then we've got white collared people on wall street that are bilking clients of millions of dollars, defrauding the government. they get slapped on the wrist. so i think it's safe to say that justice is blind. i mean, that's a stretch. there are the haves and have nots. it's been like that for a long time. us as attorneys, we've got to --

and as activists and in the media we can't give up. >> a lot of attention is being directed at this judge. she's retiring in december of next year. but is there anything that can be done about this? what is the texas law? what can be done about this? >> you're talking about impeachable offenses before this. you want to talk about a real impeachable offense, it'd be something like this. you can't impeach a judge. i would hope the people can file complaints with the texas bar. there's grievance procedures that the family of the victims can probably pursue. and i don't represent them, but i would say go for it. and, you know, it's convenient apparently that she's not running for re-election. i would hope that the voters need to show these judges when they make despicable decisions like that, they're going to be held accountable. but grievances can be filed. i would encourage that those

families to do so. >> you know, faith, you said the whole system had affluenza. when you look at the fact that those without money make up the vast majority of the jail system, 83.5% of jail inmates made less than $24,000 a year. before their arrest. and when you look at the racial despairty in prison sentences. it's 19.a% longer for black men than white men. >> when i look at this young man that was given the second chance, i think about the kids if anyone should be given a second chance, it should be the ones born with two strikes against them. they're born into abusive homes, neglectful parents, their homeless, they're poor. they have all these challenges they face the entire lives. we have no problems sending those kids to jail. but this man who's had every opportunity in life, given every chance in life to succeed, he's the one that gets the second

chance. >> it's more than a second chance if he's been warned before. this is like the third incident we're hearing about. >> third, fourth, whatever it is, he's not going to prison. his life is not going to be impacted by being sent to a texas juvenile prison. he's going to have this private rehabilitation center. the distinction there is huge. once you send these kids into these texas institutions and prisons, their lives are forever changed. it's a huge second, third, fourth opportunity for him. >> you know, cade, you're a sil rights attorney. i've been in civil rights all my life. we're not excusing anybody's behavior. the young man that punched a guy that died two days later, all cases ought to be treated equally. but how do you have one do ten years in jail and go from juvenile jail to adult jail and another one saying he was so rich he didn't understand the consequences. he does no jail time.

he gets therapy. we're talking about equal protection under the law. we're not talking about protecting anyone or giving favoritism to anyone. >> no, reverend al. you're right. you know, for that matter, clients should be able to bring up poor man's syndrome. being born into a poor family and a bad neighborhood, you know, it's not fair. but this sends a terrible message to children from wealthy families and children of poor families alike. >> that's right. >> and no, we're -- >> i'm going to have to leave it there. but i thank you for coming on. thank you both for your time. >> it's on honor. thank you, reverend al. is santa claus white, black, none of the above? who cares? but we'll get a report live from the north pole. it's saturday night. santa weighed in in a big way in the controversy. that's next.

the megyn kelly santa claus mess. that's next. (vo) you are a business pro.

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take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ fox news channel's megyn kelly sparked a national fire storm last week after saying that santa claus is white. on friday she followed up by saying the segment was light hearted.

>> i realize that the piece by harris which went on to argue santa should be a penguin was also tongue in cheek. that's in part why we covered the story in the first place. humor is part of what we try to bring to this show. but sometimes that is lost on the humorless. >> humor? i guess there's a lot of humorless people out there that didn't get the joke in this. you want humor? santa himself is responding on "saturday night live". >> you heard of secret santa. here's a secret for you. i'm black as hell. his eyes how they twinkled. his dimples they amazed. and when i saw him, i explained damn is that isaac hayes? i'm surprised that people never thought i wasn't black. have you ever known a white man to wear an all-red suit? >> i can't believe that you and mrs. claus are black. >> oh, she's not black. >> she's not? >> no. no, no, no, no. you think a black woman would

tolerate living out in the middle of the snowy wilderness? if mrs. claus wu black, santa would be living in atlanta near her momma. >> funny or not, let's just say when it comes to comedy, we report, you decide. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. boehner quits the clown car. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews back in washington. let me start with this. the difference between being a child and being a grownup. it's a difference of job description. that wonderful guy who created peanuts. here's the deal. if you're a kid you get to sit in the back seat and gh