make sure the american people and the guys that are sitting on the other side of the aisle, they now he means business, and he is going to do it. and i think that that's really where it all sits for tomorrow night. >> i'm looking for that too, yes. >> congresswoman jan schakowsky, always a pleasure to have you with us. that's it for "the ed show." "politicsnation" starts right now. good evening, rev. good evening, and happy birthday, brother ed. >> thank you, brother al. you're not there yet, but you're getting there. >> i'm right behind you, but i'm glad to be on a planet. have a great birthday this evening. >> thank you, rev. i appreciate that okay, let's get busy. thanks to you for tuning. in tonight's lead, the gop's new disaster in the war on women. now, we've heard republicans talk about legitimate rape, libidos, and uncle sugar. and now they're talking about monica lewinsky. here is senator rand paul.

>> the democrats, one of their big issues is they have concocted and says republicans are commit aguiar on women. one of the workplace laws and rules that i think are good is that bosses shouldn't prey on young interns in their office. and i think really the media seems to have given president clinton a pass on this. he took advantage of a girl that was 20 years old and an intern in his office. there is no excuse for that. and that is predatory behavior. >> is he serious? i mean, is he really talking about something from 1998 in order to defend the gop's attacks on women in 2014? it's ridiculous. and very revealing. because republicans still don't have a clue about how to deal with this issue. here is what senator paul said about the war on women. >> this whole sort of war on women thing, i'm scratching my

head because if there was a war on women, i think they won. the women in my family are incredibly successful. i have a niece at cornell vet school. and 85% of the people there are women. so i don't really see this that there is some sort of war that is keeping women down. >> so women have already won the war on women, and senator paul knows this because the women in his family are successful. you got to love that logic. meantime, what is the gop doing about the other guy who put his foot in his mouth last week, talking about libidos and uncle sugar? here is the chairman of the party. >> it's not where our party stands. it really isn't even what mike huckabee meant to say. i mean, he had a pretty good message -- >> i'm just curious, though. >> and overshadowed by a choice of words that it was just a little bit off. that's all. >> actually, mike huckabee completely meant what he said.

here he is defending his comments this weekend. >> i think they wanted to change the subject. because if they were honest, they would have to admit that democrats are the ones who have denigrated women and demeaned them. >> of course. >> by the way, the uncle sugar comment, some of them were scratching their heads. what does that mean? is there something hidden? if you lived in the south, you have heard the term, uncle sugar, uncle sam. when he becomes a sugar daddy, he becomes uncle sugar. >> oh, good. now that we know who uncle sugar, it isn't offensive at all. but the war on women isn't about word choice. it's about anti-women policies. tomorrow, the house will consider yet another anti-choice bill. at the state level, more abortion restrictions have been enacted in the last three years than in the entire decade before that. and women still earn just 77

cents for every dollar that men earn. these are serious issues. and rand paul thinks voters will forget about them, if he just rehashes 15-year-old scandals. that's going to be a serious problem. joining me now are jesse mcintyre and joan walsh. thank you both for being here. >> thanks for having me, rev. >> jess, senator paul is invoking monica lewinsky to defend the gop war on women. i mean, it's so odd. what's your reaction? >> well, there is no way for him to substantively talk about the republican war on women, because it is accurate and it is policy-based, as you said. when women say "war on women", we mean republican efforts to oppose equal pay, the violence against women act, and access to women's health care. it's very specifically about a policy party agenda. and that's what women are reacting to. it's not about any one person.

it's not about any one remark, although i do think a lot of this rhetoric like we heard last week from mike huckabee really does remind women that republicans don't understand them at all. and don't particularly trust them to make their own decisions. so in that sense, we have one party that is not very comfortable with women and doesn't know how to talk to them, and another one that is really proposing solutions that is going to help their daily lives. and the contrast couldn't be clearer. >> if bill clinton's past would be an issue for hillary clinton in 2016. let's listen. >> i mean, that hillary clinton should be judged on if she were a candidate in 2016? >> no. i'm not saying that. this was with regard to the clintons. and sometimes it's hard to separate one from the other. >> now, he says you shouldn't judge hillary because of bill, but you can't separate them. am i missing something? wasn't hillary the wife here? i mean, how does hillary get

blamed or for that matter any woman get blamed for the behavior of her husband? i mean, i'm missing something here. >> no you're not missing anything. it's so offensive, reverend al. it's hard for us to really take it. in and we do wind up thinking what was he really saying? you say libido. i say lewinsky. and between the two of them, they're idiots when it comes to women. jess is exactly right. it's not about rhetoric, although rhetoric matters. it's also about a world view. this man has the audacity to think he is reaching out to women by insulting a woman over her husband's choices. she has a long track record. she is an eminently qualified woman, but he is insulting her over her husband's choices. >> choices that he was impeached for, by the way, and she suffered going through all of that. i mean, this is absolutely offensive. >> she has been through hell. she was put through hell. the media did not give him a pass there was wall to wall coverage, if you're old to

remember back then. >> live wall to wall. >> i don't know what he was doing back in the late '90s. i don't really want to venture to say. but there was wall to wall coverage. he got no pass. maybe even worse is the entitlement that is required to suggest that women are winning the war on women because, quote, my family, the women in my family are doing great. women in many families are not doing great. two out of three adults in poverty are women. two out of three minimum wage workers are women. to extrapolate from your own privileged family, it's just the essence of privilege and entitlement. it's wrong. >> but going to policy, jess, since you brought it up, when senate republicans blocked an equal pay bill, something that i referred to and jones has referred to, senator paul con paired it to a soviet policy. he said, quote, in the soviet union, the politburo decided the price of bread. and they either had no bread or

too much bread. so setting prices or wages by the government is always a bad idea. so, i mean, this is the policy that rand paul is saying. he is comparing this to the soviets to deal with equal pay for women. >> the communists are bad at selling bread. and so women shouldn't earn as much as men. it makes perfect sense to me. i don't know what everybody else is having a problem with. >> i knew it was me, jess. i knew it was me. i knew it was me. it's just absolutely tone deaf, and arrogantly so when it comes to women, joan. >> it really is. i mean, the idea that it's not that the paycheck fairness act does not set wages. it does not have the government set wages. i don't know if he is stupid or if he is deliberately misstating what it does. maybe he really doesn't know what it would have done. maybe he doesn't pay close enough attention to what it would have done. but, again, it's this entitlement and it's this tin ear. he's always got -- he is like

this perfect combination of nepotism as well as sort of 21st century republican echo chamber. because rand paul acts as though his every utterance is brilliant. and he is going to come at this in a way that mike huckabee didn't get it rite. but he is going to give it a shot. he is going to say something really profound that is going to move the debate forward and help republicans. and it's just as stupid in a different way than what huckabee said. >> jess, i'm not finished with his pro fundties. he also talked about possibly cutting government benefits for single mothers with several children. he said, and i'm quoting, maybe we have to say enough is enough. you shouldn't being having kids after a certain amount. i don't know how you do all that because then it's tough to tell a woman with four kids that she's got a fifth child, we're not going to give her any more money. but we have to figure out how to get that message through because that is part of the answer.

now here is how the senator defended those comments over the weekend. >> it's kind of tricky to say exactly what i did say. i didn't come up with a policy prescription. i would say i mused about what are we going to do and does government have a role in it. and i concluded by saying it's a community, it's a religious, it's a personal problem. but it is a problem. and i mused about how you would have a government policy, but actually came down saying it would be very difficult to have a government policy. >> so, jess, your reaction to his musings? >> personally, i prefer offensive musing to offensive policy. but i am, in fact, still offended. i think there is a strain in the republican party that comes across as really quite heartless. and telling a woman that, you know, you don't believe that her birth control ought to be covered by insurance and you don't think she ought to have access to that, and also, you don't think that single moms

deserve assistance for -- there is just an entire world view that doesn't understand the daily realities of women living in america, single mothers especially. and i think that we see this in the gender gap in elections. i mean, ken cuccinelli lost the single women's vote. he was a very anti-woman, anti-choice candidate, lost the women's vote by 42 points. women could not possibly be louder about rejecting this agenda. and we're going to see it -- remember how long it took in 2012 for the rhetoric to get amped up this far? it's only january, and we already can't count the gaffes. >> it's not february yet, and we've already learned that the government that you and i pay tax to are nothing but sugar daddies to some women. joan walsh, jess mcintyre, thank you both for your time. >> thanks. coming up, is there a political press in new jersey? a new super committee formed to

investigate bridgegate. but a republican on that committee is raising all kinds of new questions today. plus, president obama's state of the union speech will focus on fighting inequality, and is sending the billionaire boys club into freak-out mode. and one right wing group is out with this ad showing president obama as joseph stalin. and why is seahawks player richard sherman talking about john mccain today? big show coming up. stay with us. [ molly ] this is one way to keep your underwear clean.

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is there political press from republicans going on for governor christie in new jersey? today the new jersey senate and assembly voted unanimously to create a new super committee to investigate the george washington bridge lane closings. >> a key step forward toward learning what happened with this threat to public safety and abuse of government power. >> the committee reissued the 20 subpoenas it sent out earlier this month, and documents are due one week from today. but on day one of this new committee, there appeared to be seeds of resistance planted by republicans. there are 12 members on the committee. four are republican. and after that unanimous vote, things seemed certainly to change. >> reiterating the concerns that

our party has expressed about the bipartisan nature of this commission. >> there is what i see as a glaring omission here. it seems to me under these circumstances, anybody could investigate anything. >> there is a concern that most of us would have when you take on a lawyer whether there is ever a conflict. >> if there are any documents which are not disclosed to the minority party, we'll received a privileged log or a list of those documents that are not provided to us. >> a funny thing happened on the way to the super committee. how will this play out? and will it be a fair investigation? joining me now is former pennsylvania governor ed rendell. thank you, governor, for being here. >> my pleasure. >> what is your take on what happened today, governor? i mean, were republicans laying the groundwork here to turn this investigation into a political battle? >> well, if they are, it's a bad strategy. they should cooperate with the investigation because i think

the public wants to get to the bottom of this. it is a serious question. it's not just a bridge closure. it's a deliberate bridge closure with abuse of power that endangered public safety. and they should deal with it as such. and it's in their interest in finding out what happened. i think republican senators at their own peril get out there and try to politicize this. if it were to come out, and we don't know if this is true, but if it were to come out that governor christie personally ordered this, then they would be hanging out there looking terribly political and terribly insensitive to the needs of the people in new jersey. so i think that their best move would be to cooperate to make sure that this gets done in a fair manner, but make sure all the questions are answered. >> you know, today the co-chair of the new committee said the republicans appear to be trying to slow things down. listen to this, governor. >> what i'm hearing are suggestion after suggestion on how we ought to tie the hands of the committee.

we have an obligation. based on information that came to the committee to find out why this happened and how it could happen. and i keep hearing time and time again, let's make sure that we don't essentially do too good a job. >> i mean, wouldn't one think that any legislator in the state of new jersey would want to, with no hesitation find out what happened since it impacted so many citizens for no reason at all? >> sure. and it's not just a case of looking back to find out what happened. it's finding out what happened to make sure we can put in place fail-safe mechanisms to make sure it doesn't happen again. because the harm, the potential harm was done. but the job of the committee is to make sure that things are put in place and decisions are made that will make it very difficult to replicate what was just an absolutely outrageous situation. i mean, think about it. >> yeah. >> think about if there was a

fire and fire trucks couldn't get through because of this politically motivated traffic jam. >> now, i want to bring something to your attention. i have to ask you about. republican state senator kevin o'toole, he is a christie ally whose on the new committee. on the first batch of subpoenas, the name o'toole appeared in an e-mail from david wildstein, the official who shut down the bridge. on december 5th, wildstein sent an e-mail. quote, spoke with o'toole this morning, and he will talk to you later today. the next day, wildstein resigned from the port authority. now, we don't know for sure the e-mail is referring to senator o'toole. when reporters asked him about that e-mail, he said i don't know what this means. would it not be a glaring conflict if the o'toole on

wildstein's e-mail is the o'toole on the committee? >> will's no question. in fact, if i were the chair of the committee, i would ask senator o'toole directly did you speak to wildstein as his e-mail seems to suggest? is that you? and if the answer is yes, he spoke to wildstein, whatever he claimed the conversation was about, it's an inherent conflict to be on an investigating committee when you're a potential witness in the investigation itself. senator o'toole should do the right thing and back out and resign from the committee with the understanding that another republican senator would be appointed to replace him. >> thank you very much, governor ed rendell. thank you for your time. >> nice talking to you, rev. still ahead, a billionaire's jaw-dropping comments about president obama's fight against inequality. i mean, you've got to hear this one. but first, senator shutdown

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remember senator ted cruz and his crusade to shut the government down over obama care? no? well, apparently neither does he. >> can you conceive of any situation in which you would do that again, try to shut down the government in exchange or in demand for some action by the president? >> well, bob, with all due respect, i don't agree with the premise of your question. throughout the government shutdown, i opposed a government shutdown. i said we shouldn't shut the government down. >> he opposed the government shutdown. i could hardly believe my ears. and i wasn't the only one.

>> and the question i ask you was would you ever conceive of threatening to shut down the government again? >> well, as i said, i didn't threaten to shut down the government the last time. i don't think we should ever shut down the government. i repeatedly voted to fund the federal government. >> well, senator, if you didn't threaten to shut down the government, who was it that did? >> that's right. if it wasn't senator cruz, who was it? who stood on the senate floor reading "green eggs and ham" in an epic phony filibuster? and who vowed to oppose any government budget unless obama care was defunded? >> under no circumstances will i support a continuing resolution that funds even one penny of obama care. i will not vote for any continuing resolution that funds even a single penny of obama care. >> it was ted cruz. and his shutdown was a nightmare for republicans.

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♪ (dad) we lived... thanks to our subaru. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. the gap between the rich and the poor has reached a level we haven't seen since the 1920s. in the past 50 years, the top 1% has seen its income skyrocket 270%. and yet the vast majority of americans have barely made any gains. that's alarming. americans should be outraged by that. and finally, we're seeing some of that outrage. only it's coming from the top 1%. top parkins, a businessman worth

$8 billion wrote a letter to "the wall street journal" comparing the treatment of the rich to the holocaust. saying i would call attention to the parallels of fascist nazi germany to its war on 1%, namely its jews to its progressive war on the american 1%, mainly the rich. the sad thing this has become a theme for the far right. any discussion of income inequality is illegitimate, wrong, or worse. today rush limbaugh attacked the president for focusing on it in the state of the union tomorrow. >> and you know what the theme of the state of the coup is. inequality. the president is going to complain and whine and moan with inequality. this is his route to further

punish achievement, to stigmatize it, to stigmatize the rich. >> the president isn't trying to stigmatize the rich. he's trying to make this country more fair. that's why tomorrow night income inequality will be a major focus of the state of the union. he is re-igniting a conversation that this country needs to have, whether or not the right wants to have it. joining me now are mark hannah and krystal ball. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> thanks for having us, rev. >> thanks, rev. >> krystal, since when did a focus on income inequality become akin to nazi germany? >> it's absolutely insane. this guy is way out there in terms of what he is saying, and he has gotten a lot of criticism from across the board. but the mentality that they are being persecuted, that it's the rich who are being treated unfairly and getting the short end of the stick is quite pervasive, and it's absolutely

insane. the people who are doing the best in this economy far and away are the rich. the stock market is doing just fine. corporate profits doing just fine. meanwhile, worker are struggling. the majority of the jobs created out of this recession have been low income jobs. even as corporations are prospering, workers are unable to feed their families and are having to rely on the government for assistance. it can't persist in this mentality of persecution. it's just bizarre. >> and mark, i want to make it clear, this is not just a partisan or progressive view. the focus on inequality by the president matches the concerns of most americans. 68% of democrats say the gap between the rich and the poor has increased. so do 67% of independents, as do 61% of republicans. this is not even a partisan or ideological issue when you deal in mass.

>> no. senator patrick moynihan said you can argue about the opinions, but you can't argue about fax. >> right. >> the poll numbers you just showed demonstrate that people feel the reality of this economic inequality in their bank accounts, in their wallets, with their inability to spend money and pump money back into the american economy. i think what krystal said was really smart. this recovery has been steady and slow, and the obama administration deserves a certain amount of credit for stabilizing the economy. unfortunately, the vast majority of that stabilization has gone into the pockets of wealthy people. the -- there is no question whatsoever that the rich in this country have disproportionately benefitted from the increase in the stock market, doubling the dow, for example. that hasn't trickled down there. is no evidence that has trickled down. it's a real problem we face as a country. and i think the president shows a lot of courage in confronting that in the state of the union on tuesday. >> we've been hearing this trickle-down theory since 1980.

and we've got the down. we never did get the trickle. krystal, the right is angry with the focus on income inequality. but they're also angry with any measures that would help poor people. listen to this. >> what is unemployment insurance? it is paying people not to work. >> it's like a paid vacation for people. >> the minimum wage makes no sense whatsoever to me. honestly, it's just the teenaged -- black teenaged unemployment act. >> a lot of people are lazy, and a lot of people are becoming lazier. >> when you're hungry, you'll figure out a way to eat. >> when you're hungry, you'll figure out a way to eat. that's the social policy. and the black unemployment act. i mean, so you don't want to deal with the disparity in income, and you're angry at any proposal to try to help lift those at the bottom. >> right. i think if folks on the right are being honest, they'll say

they don't care about income inequality. it's not important to them. they don't think it matters. they think the richer the 1%, the more motivation it is for those poor starving people to get up and get a job. well, the problem is the jobs don't exist. they aren't there. unemployment insurance is because -- it actually encourages people to work. studies have shown that there are incentives in there to do that. but it's because we have a huge problem of long-term unemployment in this country that republicans have stood in the way time and time again of dealing with it. 10 that's why they cry class warfare, any time you talk about income inequality, because they have no solutions. they have nothing to say other than slinging accusations and insults. >> well, it's not even class warfare anymore. it's you're biased. >> right. >> we're operating like nazi germany. you are talk about going from the absurd to the bizarre. it's amazing. let me get to the fact that the president is going the address

this, mark, despite this political lunacy. one white senior adviser previewed a major theme of the state of the union, making this a year of action, he says. and i'm quoting him. he is very focused and very excited about all the ways we can move the ball forward if congress isn't willing to go along. he's energized by the creative thinking going into the ways to move forward. and this is something that the president has been hammering home all month. listen to this, mark. >> i've got a pen and i've got a phone. and i can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward. >> long-term, the challenge of making sure everybody who works hard can get ahead in today's economy is so important that we can't wait for congress to solve it. where i can act on my own

without congress, i'm going to do so. >> i've got a pen, i've got a phone, and we all refilled his pen last year, mark. it seems like it's on. >> you bet. look, the white house's line is we're going to work cooperatively with congress when we can, and we will bypass congress if we must. if there is this kind of level of obstruction, you know, this 113th congress is on track to be the least productive congress in the history of the united states. i'm not exaggerating. this is more unproductive than the do nothing congress under harry truman. so i think the challenges we face in this country are great. the president doesn't just have an economic obligation to make sure that economic inequality is something we confront, but also a moral obligation for people who are working at the minimum wage, who are working full-time jobs and taking home under $20,000 a year for their family. this isn't just an economic problem in our country. it's also a moral problem. and the president i think realizes the urgency of the

moment. and i think he realizes -- and the republican party isn't just intent on obstructing the president. let's be clear. they're also intent on obstructing each other. there is an official state of the union response that is going to be given by this congresswoman, republican congresswoman. now you have people like rand paul are going to come out and give their competing response. you have mike lee giving the tea party response. >> no doubt about it. >> they can't agree on how best to obstruct the president. they're obstructing each other on how best to obstruct the president. it's ridiculous. >> mark hannah, krystal ball, i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you both for your time this evening. >> thanks, rev. >> good to see you, rev. >> and be sure to catch krystal on "the cycle" weekdays at 3:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc." coming up, they can't help calling him a dictator. that's right. conservatives have a brand-new conspiracy theory, the president's executive actions. and he is the nfl player who has been called a thug.

tonight he responds to some of his critics right here on msnbc. stay with us. clay. mom? come in here. come in where? welcome to my mom cave. wow. sit down. you need some campbell's chunky soup before today's big game, new chunky cheeseburger. mmm. i love cheeseburgers. i know you do. when did you get this place? when i negotiated your new contract, it was part of the deal. cool. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. so when my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis them. was also on display, i'd had it. i finally had a serious talk with my dermatologist. this time, he prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis

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all aboard. ♪ one night before the state of the union, right wingers are ramping up their latest ridiculous talking point that president obama is a dictator. here is an ad for a state of the union watch party in michigan sponsored by a koch-funded tea

party group. it thanks comrade obama for, quote, saving the children from the menace of guns, family, liberty, work, and other outdated values. and here is the original soviet ad on which it appears to be based, featuring none other than joseph stalin. comparing the president to a dictator is the right's new favorite talking point, even when he is just promising to take executive action if congress refuses to do its job. well, of course that must mean he is a dictator. >> i'm deeply troubled by the president's use of his executive authority. >> it sounds vaguely like a threat. and i think it also has a certain amount of arrogance. >> now, we might have a pen, and he might have a phone. but what he does not have is the constitutional power to run this country like a dictator.

>> joining me now are james peterson and joe madison. thank you both for being here. >> thank you, reverend. >> thanks, rev. >> so, joe, when did signing an executive order turn an american president into a dictator? >> it hasn't. and i don't know where, you know, limbaugh is coming from. if he had been around when roosevelt was president, he would have had a serious problem when he signed the executive order that gave african americans the right to work in defense plants. and he certainly would have opposed abraham lincoln who i think signed a few executive orders. so he really doesn't know what he is talking about. >> let me say this, professor dr. peterson. it's not just in areas for african americans or blacks. look at the fact that ronald reagan, let me give you the list, call the roll, as we say, ronald reagan signed 213 executive orders.

george h.w. bush signed 166. george w. bush, who i believe karl rove worked for, we played a clip of, george w. bush signed 173. president barack obama has only signed 147. so how is he a dictator when he has signed the least of any of the preceding republican presidents in the last two decades? >> yeah, well, rev, as you and joe point out, he is not a dictator. it's somewhat strange when obama has done things that other presidents have done, it's sort of colored in a different light. and i think rush limbaugh is a great example of that in this particular case. progressives, though, rev, are very much interested in president obama raising the numbers of executive orders. remember, the executive order process is within the constitutional processes of our governments. to say it's out the constitution doesn't make much legal or political and policy sense. so i think progressives want the

president to take action. the american people want the president to transcend the gridlock that has been sort of limiting what he has been able to do as a president since he got into office. so let's hope for more executive action and hope that it applies pressure on the congress to sort of come to the table and actually work on some policy for this nation. >> but joe, accusing the president of being a dictator is nothing new for the gop. watch this. >> my next guest has decided to stand up to king obama. >> i'm afraid that president obama may have this king complex sort of developing. >> he has all of the earmarks of a marxist dictator. he does. he doesn't like anybody to challenge him. >> did you happen to see the size of the flags behind obama? those flags are getting bigger and bigger and bigger every speech he makes. and you know, that's what dictators do. >> so, i mean, joe, do you think maybe they should therefore call reagan and bush senior and bush junior our former kings? >> i, you know, i'm only smiling

and half laughing to keep from crying. i hope everyone, i don't care you are, what demographic you belong to, what gender, do people really understand how childish these folks just sound? i mean, it is it's childish. and when you consider the fact that the president, most of us, and i think the professional was allude this, most of us have asked for the president to be more forceful, to use what hour he has. and presidents do have limited power. but what we've finally, i think we're getting the president that yes really wanted, even in the last term. >> well, you know, professional peterson, republicans seem to love an imperial president unless it's a democrat. >> that is exactly right.

you heard no cries of king bush. when you think about the ways in which the bush administration operated with dick cheney and others, to sort of hide things from the american public and avoid due process, especially around torture law, especially around the prosecution of the patriot act and the prosecution of the wars in iraq and afghanistan, using secret contracts, no-bid contracts, there is so much to think about there. but this is not than, rev. we should not be distracted by the republican entertainment complex on this. the president is doing what he has to do in an environment where obstruction is the rule. it's not a tool that is used politically. it's actually the rule. and in that environment, executive action is the way to go, i think. >> and joe, when you look at a new poll, for example, when people were asked how they felt about the president bypassing congress and taking action by executive order to accomplish their administration's goal, 52% which is over half of the

respondents, supported it. 46 opposed. female are fine with the president taking executive action. >> and on both sides, both sides. and independents are fine. no. he is in a win-win situation on this. this is not only a do nothing congress, but i think i made reference to the fact that it's a shutdown party. they shut down a bridge in new jersey. they shut down a government. they tried to shut down medicare. they tried to shut down obamacare. all they have tried to do since he has been president is shut this presidency down. they tried to shut him down with the reelection, and they couldn't. >> thank you so much. i'm going to have to leave it there. james peterson, joe madison, thanks again for your time tonight. >> thanks, reverend. >> thank you, reverend. still ahead, president obama's big statement at the state of the union. we will reveal the guest of honor who will be sitting with the first lady. but first, nfl star richard

sherman has been called a thug and labelled a loud mouth. tonight he responds to some of his critics. stay with us.

he is the trash talker from seattle, the football player everyone is talking about. he is richard sherman. the cornerback from the seattle

seahawks has been the center of controversy since his post-game interview once week ago. >> joe, thank you so much. richard, let me ask you. the final play, take me through it. >> well, i'm the best korber in the game. when you try me with a sorry receiver like crabtree, that's the result you're going to get. don't you ever talk about me! >> who was talking about you? >> crabtree. don't you open your mouth about the best, our i'm going to set it for you real wick. >> and joe, back over to you. >> those 25 seconds launched a racially charged debate in america. the day after that interview, the word thug was said 625 times on tv, more than has been used on any day in the past three years. richard graduated second in his high school class. he went to stanford and got a degree in communications. and is widely reported he is very charitable.

today, just six days away from the super bowl, he sat down with my colleague, chris hayes. chris asked him about being labeled a loud mouth. >> senator john mccain had this quote the other day, which i'm just quoting because he said it. but a lot of people i feel have this. everybody is such a manning fan that loud mouth from seattle sort of epitomizes the seattle team to me. do you feel that the story getting built in the run-up to the game is like peyton manning is the hero and richard sherman is a villain? that's the good guy and that's the bad guy? you're the bad guy? >> i don't think -- i don't see it that way. maybe in his circle. but i'm sure he said worse than that. >> never thought i'd see richard sherman trash talking senator mccain. i'll be watching tonight. the full interview airs at 8:00 p.m. on "all in with chris hayes" right here on msnbc. we'll be right back. it can help provide the power for all this? natural gas. ♪

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presidential invitation. some of the president's guests for tomorrow night's state of the union were announced today. boston marathon bombing survivors carlos arredondo and jeff barman will be there. carlos became a hero and jeff played a vital role in identifying the bombers. they define boston strong. joey hoody will be there, the 14-year-old inventor who showed off his new invention at the white house science fair, the extreme marshmallow cannon. >> you go this way so it doesn't hit that person. >> yeah, i think that's a good idea. >> oh! >> let's go look at the marshmallow, see what happened to it. >> more. oklahoma fire chief gary byrd is invited. he worked around the clock after the deadly tornado leveled their city. also invited, jason collins, the groundbreaking nba player who

became the first male athlete in any american team sport to come out as gay. the president remarked he couldn't be prouder of collins for coming out. and kathy hollowell who will be there. she is washington, d.c.'s teacher of the year. and she is seeing amazing results from her students. these are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. they represent president obama's year of action on equal rights on education, on fairness, and on thinking big. and that is how we hope to build, expand, and uphold the even better state of the union. when ordinary people find a way in their lives to do extraordinary things, not from an extraordinary or lofty position, but from wherever you are and whatever stage you are in this country, to do what you

can to give action to a better and more fair and just nation. it's not on the president alone. it's all of us. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. don't mess with bill. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. we'll get to the latest on the kr chris christie george washington bridge scandal in just a minute. he said the president stands guilty today of predatory behavior with former white house intern monica lewinsky. he described clinton as, quote, someone who takes advantage of a young