we got two inches of snow. >> governor, good to have you with us tonight. brian schweitzer, former governor of montana. that's the ed show. i'm ed schultz. politics nation with reverend al sharpton starts right now. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. we've seen the republicans respond to the state of the union. >> what an honor it is for me to be with you after the president's state of the union. tonight, we honor america. >> good evening, i'm senator mike lee, utah. in the few minutes i have tonight. >> good evening. president reagan said -- >> [ speaking foreign language ] >> and now it's time for the unofficial politics nation response to all of those responses. we now go live to the reverend al sharpton. >> my fellow americans, good evening. tonight, i can say to you that the gop's state of derangement is strong.

that's right. for president obama's fifth state of the union, republicans sank to new lows of insults, distortions and disrespect. and they began even before the speech started. gop congressman randy webber tweeted "on the floor of the house waiting for command and the in chef. he meant in chief. he goes on to say, "the socialist dictator who's been feeding us a line, or is it a lying? "way to keep it classy, congressman, calling the president a lying socialist dictator before he's even given his speech. republicans used to at least wait until they heard what the president had to say. but i guess not anymore.

sl and then there was congressman louis gohmert who apparently dressed up just for the occasion. >> i was looking for a tie this morning, and i liked the red in this tie. >> is that santa claus. >> it is. i thought i can't wear that. that's santa claus. then i realized we're going to be listening to santa claus tonight promising what anybody wants they can have. >> ho, ho, no, you fail, congressman. and then tea party senator mike lee offered this bit of scary advice. >> obamacare. all by itself is an inequality godzilla that has hobbed working families of their insurance, their doctors, their wages and their jobs. >> obamacare is godzilla, a

monster created by nuclear radiation? actually, it's a law that's already helped millions of americans get affordable health care coverage for them and their families. and speaking of nukes, senator lindsey graham was criticizing the president's iran policy after the speech. graham said the world is "literally about to blow up, literally about to blow up? does he mean this? for republicans, that's what having president obama in office is like. it's almost literally like the end of the world. except, of course, that it's not. but leave it to the boss of the party, rush limbaugh, to win the award for the most offensive attack by a republican party boss. going after the president's

emotional tribute to the army ranger who was wounded in afghanistan. it was a moment that brought americans in that chamber and all across the country to tears. for the boss, it was just politics. >> ranger remsburg sitting next last night, testifies a hero for overcoming something terrible that happened to him. i think ranger remsburg was there to send a message. the message was look what my predecessor did to this country. look what george bush is responsible for. >> how low, how low and it shows just how deranged the far right has become. five years into the obama presidency.

joining me now are jimmy williams and joy reid. thank you both for being here tonight. you know, joy, even on a big night, the gop's disrespect for the president continues. what stood out for you? >> okay, so as i'm watching the state of the union speech and it was really good and i was also on twitter, i had my twitter thread open. as the president is talking about education, okay, governor bobby jindal of louisiana, supposedly the guy who said the gop needs to be the smart party not the stupid party. he tweeted that the obama administration is standing at the -- in front of the schoolhouse door, a reference to george wallace and specifically called out. >> and segregation back if the '60s blocking blacks from going in the door. >> exactly. called out eric holder, attorney general eric holder. i'm not sure how he got him into it. he said it's pretty ironic for the president to be talking about education when the obama administration and a.g. holder

are making a stand at the schoolhouse door. so i then tweeted did bobby jindal just equate the obama administration to george wallace and segregationists in the '60s? a follow-up tweet responding to whoever, he tried to explain and say well, they're trying to keep black and brown children in louisiana from getting an education. >> the irony also is that eric holder is married to the black woman that was the little girl george wallace blocked in the door. that just happens to be his wife. but you know, she talked, jimmy, about the following her twitter thread last night. congressman you'll's camp tweeted last night before even before the president spoke, the first release of obama speech reads like dictates from a king, all orders he will do to bypass congress #lawless. #lawless? you worked in congress, jimmy.

you've been on the hill awhile. did president obama invent using the executive order? >> no, in fact, since i think the last 30 years, the president has used the executive order the least of all presidents in his first term. >> really? >> that's exactly right. here's what's interesting, tim huelskamp, a member of congress is using the hashtag lawless. he should apply it to his own chamber because they haven't passed any. you might want to stop pointing a finger at the united states for doing something that you consider lawless. i understand that you are a republican, he's a democrat. fine. but you can't actually accuse the president of doing something that you yourself are actually guilty of, which is not passing any laws. that's lawless. >> they're supposed to be lawmakers. >> but the camp wasn't finished because then after the speech, he came on this network to defend his nonsensical attacks. watch this, joy. >> he said i don't like congress. i don't like the american

people. so he listed 14 different dictates, executive orders. >> dictates? >> yes. >> are executive orders lawless? >> an executive action without authority is lawlessness. >> executive orders by presidents are lawless? >> if there is no authority. under obamacare. >> that is -- we have scasquare circle. >> he has no authority to suspend obamacare and that's what this is the president has done. >> your tweet stream and your arguments here are from two totally different universes. >> i mean, this guy is a congressman. i mean, can you be serious? the president of the united states has no authority. well, who had the authority when ronald reagan signed over 200 executive orders? and when george bush senior and junior and clinton signed orders? all of a sudden, this president has no authority, congressman hughes camp? are you serious? i mean, joy, this is insulting

to the american public. >> i was watching that in realtime last night and thinking to myself, i can't believe that this is real and not a pair roddy. just watching rachel maddow try to make sense of what congressman huelskamp was saying >> we were all sitting around the table like climbing on the table saying let us get him. rachel just surgically took him apart into it was amazing because essentially the argument that is being made by huelskamp and other republicans is that president obama uniquely among all other presidents must not use any authorities invested in the president of the united states. george w. bush when he was president would get on his desk and issue a signing statement saying nice try, guys, but i think i'm not going to go along with it. >> let me tell you something, huelskamp wasn't alone because congress woman michele bachmann even threatened suing the president. she said "he may think he's a king. he may declare himself king but that's not what he is.

we'll sue the president of the united states and force him to no longer act unilaterally." >> here's the good news that it's widespread. it's contagion. it is an epidemic within the republican caucuses of the house and the senate because rand paul sent out a fund-raising letter just today saying exactly the same thing. donate 25, 35, $45 so he can help bring a class action suit. don't forget republicans say hate trial lawyers. >> it's a trivial lawsuit. >> this is just a fund-raising sort of thing. it reminds me of jim and tammy faye bakker from my home state of south carolina ta both ended in jail at some point for taking poor people's money and scaring them to death. >> this is political evangelism at its worst. michele bachmann is doing it, rand paul is doing it. who's next? and the saddest part is that they actually are preying on people that are gad-fearing

christians. that's what scares me to death about it. >> p-r-e-y- >> n-g-not p-r-a-y-i-n-g- >> jimmy williams and joy reid, thank you both for your time. >> thank you. >> coming up, the new line from some republicans, eliminate the minimum wage? president obama gave his response to that today, and the stunning image from "the new york times" today. it shows just how close governor christie's inner center was, and today others on the inside are talking. plus, chris christie's connectioning toing this. >> i'll break you in half. >> congressman michael grimm threatens a reporter. look familiar? stay with us. [ male announcer ] here's a question for you:

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today, president obama took his message on the road, vowing to give america a raise. but wait until you hear what the right wingers have to say about that. that's next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪

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if you work hard, you should be able to pay your rent, buy your groceries, look after your kids. >> give america a raise. that seems like a no-brainer. but some republicans just refuse to get it. watch what happened last night when senator rand paul was asked about it. >> well, i think that when you look at raising it all of the studies show that if you raise it, you get more unemployment. >> so there shouldn't be any federal minimum wage? >> i'm into the so sure i'm saying that. i'm not sure i have an answer as far as there is a right or wrong. >> you're a united states senator. >> he's not sure whether there should be a minimum wage. can't quite decide if it's right or wrong. well, some other republicans are a little more sure, and i think senator paul is going to recognize this first guy. his dad. >> do you advocate getting rid

of the minimum wage? would that create more jobs? >> absolutely. and it would help the poor. >> do you favor abolishing the minimum wage. >> i think we need to look at all of the factors that go into job creation. i think that's something that obviously congress would have to take a look at. >> i want people to make as much as they can. i don't think the minimum wage works. >> you do not believe in the concept. >> the correct. >> some in the gop don't even want the minimum wage to exist at all. we're always hearing republicans talk about how they're the party of business. so just listen to what a 1 percenter told the daily show about the minimum wage. >> if we eliminate the minimum wage law, then individuals would be free to accept jobs at whatever pay they're able to get. >> the paint me a picture of a person whose work would be worth $2 an hour. >> you know somebody who might be? maybe somebody who is -- what's the politically correct word,

you know, for you know, mentally retarded? what's the new -- >> okay. >> that's what i believe in the principles that the country was founded on. >> but -- >> i'm not going to say that we're all created equal. you're worth what you're worth. >> he's not going to say that we're all created equal? you're worth what you're worth? this is the kind of heartless talk that's driving the debate on the right. joining me now is congress woman donna edwards, democrat of maryland. thank you so much for being here tonight, congress woman. >> well, thank you, reverend al. >> how doll democrats pushing for a fair wage fight fight the ugliness we hear about minimum wage from the right? >> well, i think what we have to recognize is that the vast majority of the american public is actually on our side. and so i think the way that we fight this is we talk about the experiences and the stories of people who work for minimum wage who don't even make up to the

poverty level and who have to depend on other kinds of federal benefits because employers don't want to pay above the poverty line. i think that's the way we do it. it's the message that the president has. it's actually about all of us doing better because when the minimum wage is raised, people aren't as dependent on federal and other benefits. they put that money into the economy. they grow jobs and they grow our economy. >> but that's a rational argument. it's a common sense argument. but it just doesn't seem to register with some of those in the republican party. i mean, we've heard some of the more extreme republicans who don't want a minimum wage at all. but here's some of the more standard republican attacks. listen to this. >> it's bad policy. and it will hurt the very people the president purports to want to help. >> if we increase the minimum wage, a lot of people will lose

jobs be. >> distraction now is raising the minimum wage to $10. what's your problem? >> you want to pay. >> isn't it reasonable somebody working full-time 40 hours a week should be able to live above the poverty line. >> yeah, but, of course, the minimum wage is mostly an entry level wage for young people. the last thing we want to do is have even fewer jobs for younger people. >> now, i mean, how do you try to relate to these people some information like you just broke down when they just seem to have such a rational nonfact-based view? >> we, i'm glad that you said nonfact based because every single one of those comments that were made by republican leaders is not borne out which the facts and not by the research and guess what, the american public actually knows that. 65% of minimum wage workers are women and they're also people who are working to support themselves and their families. they're not teenagers coming in

just to get some extra spending money. so we fight facts with -- we fight with the real facts and the real facts are on our side. the american public knows that and overwhelming majority of the public, republicans, democrats, independents believe we should raise the minimum wage and i do, too. i know that when we do that, we really invest in our communities. it's not to say we don't have to do other things like the president laid out. invest in the job training and workforce training but we must raise the minimum wage to $10.10. the president already started out by dealing with federal contractors and we have to do it, too. i think we just do what the president is doing. he started out in my district today taking that fight right to the people and he's going to go across the country and doing the same thing. and we have to come back at them both with the facts but also with the stories. and there are stories in every congressional district across this country. it's time for those people to

tell their members of congress because you know what? the president said i'm going to go use my pen and start there but i'm not going to stop there. we're going to do this. i'm convinced that we can do it. the argument against raising the minimum wage has. ed the same for the last 30 years. but it's been wrong and we've been able to raise the minimum wage successfully and we need to do it now and tie it to inflation. >> it's going to take all of that and some. and people moving in order to put the rights and concerns of ordinary americans front gronk thank you, congress woman, donna edwards and thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. still ahead, a stunning new look at governor chris christie's top advisors who are so close to him, that they strategized at his kitchen table. but is it really believable that they kept him in the dark about why they closed traffic lanes to the busiest bridge in his state?

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senator rand paul has a new talking point. when in doubt, just bash president clinton. he was this past sunday on "meet the press." >> the democrats one of their big issues is they've concoctened an said republicans are committing a war 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. >> nothing like pointing to a 19-year-old incident in order to

defend the gop's current problems with women. but senator paul didn't stop there. yesterday, he doubled down telling politico democrats feed to explain why they defended a guy who really had his own personal war on women going on. and here he was today, looks like he thought the third time would be the charm. >> for all these people who stand up for bill clinton and say he's a greatest thing since sliced bread, he was a serial philanderer but he also is someone who took advantage of women in the workplace. >> so what is this all about? why, oh, why, would senator rand paul keep bringing up the clintons? does he just want to party like it's 1999? >> and what do you think that has to do if hillary clinton runs for president? >> you know, i'm not so sure. i mean, like i said it's hard to separate them but it's not her fault. she's had to do rate the same sort of problems from him i

guess over time. >> it's not her fault. but you know it's hard to separate them. did senator paul think we wouldn't see the what he's really trying to do? that this is all about the 2016 campaign and trying to tear down hillary clinton by attacking her husband? that's not even a nice try, senator paul. but we still got you. it's eb. want to give your family the very best in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. want to give them more vitamins, omega 3s, and less saturated fat? it's eb. eggland's best eggs. eb's. the only eggs that make better taste and better nutrition... easy. eggland's best eggs. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. it's eb. i nethat's my geico digital insurance id card - gots all my pertinents on it and such. works for me. turn to the camera.

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steppian's old office. steppian is the former campaign manager who notoriously called the mayor of fort lee an idiot. more recently that same office was occupied by bridge yet kelly, the former deputy chief of staff who sent the e-mail time for some traffic problemses in fort lee. now, these two aides, bill steppian and bridge yet kelly, have either resigned or been fired. they are now both facing subpoenas. today, the "times" reports they were part of what one high-ranking republican called the crew. around mr. christie, friends who strategized at empty christie's kitchen tables inhendham and socialized with him in the governor's box at metlife stadium. one republican said "if step were in -- were to bark an order at somebody, the assumption

would be unless otherwise stated that it was coming from the governor. there is no getting around that. the "times" cites anonymous sources who describe a governor intimately involved with his inner circle, a governor who personally tended to the smallest of details, who worried about his e-mails being traced so he texted instead. the big question, did governor christie's aides who shared almost everything with him keep him in the dark about the lane closings as he claims? joining me now is one of the people who told their story to the times" on the record. david pringle, new jersey campaign director for clean water action. he served on christie's 2009 transition team. an msnbc contributor jonathan capehart. thank you both for being here. >> thanks. >> david, the floor plan makes clear how physically close

governor christie's office was to bill steppians and bridge ket kellys. how close was their working relationship. >> very close. the knows what he's doing. is there a smoking gun that says, you know, let's have the traffic problems coming from the governor, i doubt it. but he created a culture that not only thought this would be okay, even encouraged it. this is from a governor who suggested that the prs should take a bat to the head of the senate majority leader, a grandmother in her '70s who happens to represent fort lee. >> now, how closely did you work christie? >> in 2009, it was the first republican we endorsed statitywide in new jersey ever. he had. >> out of four years, it's the first time your group endorsed a republican governor? >> yep. and he had an outstanding platform in 2009 but the ink wasn't even dry from his

election till he started breaking promises even before he got into office and it went downhill from there. >> so you were close enough to observe how his aides and he operated? >> yes. and you know, we would -- if -- the governor is a very effective bully, less effective now than he was two months ago but you don't have to be effective, you don't have to be a bully to be effective. it's now coming back to bite him. >> the "times" reports on the christie operation, jonathan and says everything had to be vetted by the governor's top lawyers in the counsel's office or by his chief of staff. minor changes in bills or labor agreements, news relations from agencies, and commissions. i mean, it sounds like an extremely tight knit operation. is that what you see here, jonathan? >> yeah. when i read the story, i tweeted, i sent out a tweet. i tweeted out right away saying telling people not to underestimate the power and importance of this story. i mean, we've all known for a

long time that governor christie is a hands-on person that ha he is somebody, at least by design, who looks like he is on top of things, that he is in control of everything. what this story does is take it out of sort of anecdotal evidence and making it real. from the map you just showed on the screen of where the governor sits and where bill step and anbridget ann kelly sat to the talking about how the governor liked text messages rather than e-mails because they couldn't be traced or how he liked to talk on the cell phone or meet in person rather than to communicate by the rather than top communicate by the e-mail. what this story 0 does is show that the governor's team was very active in maintaining and promoting the governor's agenda, the governor's political standing, but at the same time, the governor was also intimately

involved in those plans. so i've been saying for a while now that each day a new story comes out that sort of draws the circle closer and closer to the governor and this takes it five steps closer in. >> now, david, you went on the record in this story in the times. you're on the record quoted in the story today. i want to read what you said about bill steppian. "there wasn't anything of significance that an stepien did without the governor being aware of it." how do you know this. >> just from seeing how they've operated all these years. a minor quote in the paper, i would get a call berating me if i wasn't kissing the governor's you know what. >> a minor quote by you in the papers. and you'd be called by sepien? >> yeah, and other people at that level. it was ridiculous. it's micromanaged. they are incredibly strong-willed.

like i said, they're -- threw tried to berate folks into submission. it was all about what is in it for the governor and nothing else. be a governor, to be a president, you've got to be strong willed and self-absorbed but they take it to a fault. the people are suffering. >> did they try to berate you? >> absolutely. constantly. >> for what? for -- great example. the governor clearly made strong commitments on climate change in 2009 to be very aggressive and do the right thing pep made a passionate that he believed in it, and then he puts out ridiculous statements in 2010 not sure about climate change anymore. and he knew what he was doing. he cared about climate change. he knew about it, but he had higher aspirations. it was time to move the right to inin 2016, not govern in new jersey. >> how did you face heat from them? >> over time, it depended at what stage. over time he had a strong platform initially. you want to give him the benefit of the doubt. nobody's perfect. so you kit him a little slack at the beginning but it got worse

and worst and worse. we're environmental advocates not in it for the money. we're about protecting people. you know from sandys, from climate change, for protecting our drinking water, environmental justice and if that didn't directly help the governor, he wasn't interested. once he got higher up. he always had higher aspirations. what happened is he caught national fire much faster and so he ran to the right much faster. >> now, jaungts, the "times" reports christie's roo he election campaign was extremely focused on winning big. to set the stage for 2016. it will kept a list of the top 100 swing towns that could bolster christie's argument that he would be electable nationally. he called them mini ohios or mini floridas and it kept color coded dossiers on the mayors of those towns, crammed with the information about all of them. does this focus on mayors, touch

on the question of motive and whether the lane closings were all about punishing the mayor of fort lee, jonathan? >> sure. absolutely. when i read that part of the story, i thought, how is it possible that did the governor didn't know? them have these color coded binders you just talked about, but they would hand them to the governor and the governor would read them and stay on top of the information inside them. if you're talking about mini ohios and mini floridas in new jersey, then that bespeaks an intimate knowledge of everything that's happening in the state. and one of the things i found very curious about bridgette ann kelly's e-mail that said time for some traffic problems in fort lee sent at 7:34 in the morning and what i found very curious is that the response that came back came within a minute later that just said got it. to me, that said to me there's

some premeditation here that the person on the other end knew exactly what to do. so where is that -- where is that information? that premeditated planning? are we going to see that many could out next? perhaps, i don't know. >> david pringle and jonathan capehart, thank you both for your time tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> coming up, one of chris christie's biggest defenders in congress is in the news himself. congressman michael grimm's caught on camera meltdown. that's next. the conversation about his car loan didn't start here. it began way, way back. before he had children. before he got married. it started in his very first apartment. see that overdue bill? it arrived after he moved out. and he never got it. but he's not worried. checking his credit report and score at experian.com allowed him to identify and better address the issue... ... and drive off into the sunset.

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now to the story everyone's talking about. it happened moments after the state of the union last night. republican congressman michael grimm was being interviewed by a local new york reporter when the reporter tried to ask about on going finance investigations. this happened. >> since we have you here, we haven't had a chance to kind of talk about -- >> i'm not thinking about anything off topic. this is only about the president. thank you. >> so congressman michael grimm does not want to talk about some of the allegations concerning his campaign finances. we wanted to get him on camera on that but he as you saw refused to talk about that. back to you. >> why i want to be clear to you -- you do that to me again, i'll throw you over this. >> i wanted to ask you.

>> why? it's a valid question. >> i'm telling you, no, you are not a man. like a boy. >> earlier today, are he personally apologized to the reporter, michael scotto saying lost his cool and it shouldn't have happened. scotto accepted. but threatening a reporter for asking a valid question is being a bully, it's bully politics. and it reminds me of that other politician. this one. >> governor, do you think this sort of confrontational tone can increase your -- >> you know tom, you must be the thinnest skinned guy in america. you think that's a confrontational tone, you should really see me when i'm pissed. >> i'm not sure that really

rings true. >> if you don't think it rings true, it's not a question. >> why would you blow it off? >> michael, please. >> go ahead. >> listen, don't show up -- do me a favor. don't show up once in every blue moon and think you're going to dominate my press conference. >> did i stay on topic? are you stupid? on topic. on topic. thank you all very much. i'm sorry for the idiot over there. >> yes, before bridge gate, governor christie was really best known for yelling at reporters. for mocking journalists who dared to ask a question. true, nothing physical. but who's chris christie's biggest defender in congress? >> this guy. >> where i stand, he's a man of honor and integrity, period. and i do take him at his word, absolutely. >> would you buy. >> would i have called up and said what the heck is going on? absolutely, absolutely. i would say what's going on.

>> would you take as the answer we're counting cars? >> well, if someone said yes, we're performing a traffic study, it is done all the time. i'm bornen an raised in new york. i've seen a lot worse causing traffic not only on the var dan know bridges but on the beltway parkway. we can go on all night if you want to talk about traffic nightmares that lasted longer than four days. in this area, yes. >> and that christie defender was doing this last night. joining me now is it ryan grim, washington bureau chief for the huffington post. thank you for being here. ryan, what's your reaction to this threat last night? >> oh, i mean, my first reaction was this is just my luck. we finally get a grimm that comes to congress and here he is threatening to toss reporters off the balcony. and he also spells his name wrong. he has an additional "m" at the end of it. >> for the record, there's no relation. >> not that i know of.

it would go back probably to germany back 300 years ago or something. no, be no connection that i know of. no, i mean, this is, you know, quite a remarkable event. you know, to basically you know, assault a reporter like this. you know, i think there's a significant difference between the way that christie treats reporters and what this guy did. he threatened in a serious way, not joking, to throw this guy off the balcony. i mean, that's, you know, and you know, if you look at the reporter, he looks like he's kind of frightened by it. michael grimm's significantly bigger than this rt roer, as well. >> now, you know, the new york political director recalled another time when congressman grimm lost his temper two years ago after asking another reporter -- another question about a campaign investigation. "after the interview, grimm became red-faced and started

yelling at both louis, which is the reporter, and me, alluding to settling the issue by taking it outside with our political anchor, acting as if he were in a bar instead of a tv studio. he also complained to me when our reporters on staten island asked him about the probe when he was running for re-election in 2012." so it seems like he's done this before, ryan. >> right. he's known as a guy with a short fuse. so you know, you know, last night when people said you know, a congressman you know, confronted a reporter in a pretty aggressive way, he was one of the like half a dozen or so that you know immediately that immediately came to mind. very good chance ta it could have been michael grimm. and it turned out that that in fact it was. on the other hand, he represents staten island. this is not a fatal political blow to him.

>> but let me ask you about other potential blows. and let me again say he has apologized and the reporter, michael scotto has accepted the apology. but is there something that congress might do, sanction him or in some kind of way deal with his behavior? he's there in the congress in the capital behaving like this. is there any exposure there? >> well, you know, there's two ways of looking at this. there's the letter of the house rules and then there's political pressure. and you know, both have to kind of line up for somebody to be criticized by their colleagues. and so you know, by the letter of the house rules, he certainly seems to have violated. he brought discredit to the house, which you know, is an awfulfully difficult thing to do, an institution that has an approval rating of about 9%. but i also think that the conversation around bullying plays a role here, too. so i think there will be public pressure on his colleagues to

take -- make some kind of public statement that they condemn behavior like this. i think it's quite possible that you could get a censure or something along those lines in the house. >> talking about a statement i might add that 17 hours later, after this confrontation and question about the campaign investigation, attorneys for an attorney for representative michael grimm released a statement about the campaign finance investigation saying congressman grimm denies any wrongdoing and we look forward to an early and favorable resolution of the investigation. well, ryan, maybe he should have said that last night. ryan grim, thanks for your time and have a good night. >> you too. >> still ahead, the nfl player who says he was bullied finally breaks his silence saying the attacks were personal and racial. plus, the people who inspired

the president and last night's state of the union address. stay with us. this is for you. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. well, did you know that just one sheet of bounce outdoor fresh gives you more freshness than two sheets of the leading national store brand? who knew? so, how do you get your bounce? with more freshness in a single sheet.

>> the nfl player at the center of a racially charged bullying scandal is breaking his silence. in his first interview since leaving the miami dolphins four months ago, jonathan martin

opens up about what drove him from the team. >> i'm a grown man. i've been in locker rooms. there's vulgar language used in locker rooms. one incident doesn't bother me. it's the persistence of it. i wish i had had more tools to resolve the situation. i felt trapped. came down to the point where i thought it was best just to remove myself from the situation. >> then he talked about the rhetoric that put him over the edge. >> his comments were of a racial nature. you know, aggressive sexual comments related to my sister and my mother. >> martin is not expected to return to the dolphins, but he hopes that he'll get another opportunity to play next year. whether you like football or not, the locker room is a workplace. and it can't be tolerated. campbp with farm grown veggies. just like yours. huh.

[ male announcer ] and roasted white meat chicken. just like yours. [ male announcer ] you'll think it's homemade. i love this show. [ male announcer ] try campbell's homestyle soup.

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saw president obama remind republicans that in the end, politics is really about people. every vote in washington has real effects on people all across the country. people like amanda shelly who was able to get emergency surgery thanks to her new coverage under obamacare. republicans really want to repeal her insurance? and people like misty demars, the mother who lost her job just a week after buying her first home. why won't republicans restore her unemployment benefits so this mom can feed her family while she looks for a job? americans want to work. they want to succeed. esstempb rodriguez couldn't speak english just a few years ago. now he's heading to college. an american success story and, of course, there's sergeant cory remsburg. the army ranger who president

obama met before and after his devastating injury in afghanistan. >> my recovery has not been easy, he says. nothing in life that's worth anything is easy. cory is here tonight. and like the army he loves, like the america he serves, sergeant first class cory remsburg never gives up and he does not quit. cory? >> real people. that's what the political debates in washington are really about. a vote for war or a vote for peace. a vote to help or a vote to do nothing. it's hard to come up with these policies when you have the face of real people there. and when people understand this is not some insensitive chess

game with parts and pieces, these are real people with real dreams, with real hopes, or real despair. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >> muscle from trenton. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. mistaken identity? how else do you describe the polar difference between the new jersey governor described in today's "new york times" from the man who said he didn't know nothinging? in today's times" piece, we read christie was intimately involved in his town by town campaign of pressuring targeted mayors to endorse his re-election. we're told that christie's people sharpened their attack on each mayor'sre