you go to court and make your case. this is probably not going to happen quickly in any event. but i think the president should have already made this decision, by the way. >> okay. senator byron dorgan, good to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> we'll do it again. that's "the ed show." "politicsnation" starts right now. a reminder, he will be in nebraska tomorrow for more coverage on this pipeline story. rev, good evening. how you? i'm good. and good to talk to you ed, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the retrial of michael dunn. today we learned the state plans to retry michael dunn on first-degree murder charges in may and back in jacksonville. in a new interview with wtev in jacksonville, prosecutor john guy speaks out on the mistrial, on everything from the verdict to his critics to if dunn can get a fair trial.

but the headline, he is confident this battle is far from over. >> did michael dunn get away with murder? >> not yet. >> not yet. we heard from juror four yesterday who thinks dunn did get away with murder in the killing of 17-year-old jordan davis. but was there something the state could have done better? >> do you have run across your mind you wish you had done anything differently? >> always. there is always things you can do differently, different evidence, different argument, better performance. there is never a perfect trial. slow it be better the next time. >> so he is talking about different evidence and different arguments. what's the new strategy? and how could it affect the new trial? joining me now, former prosecutor faith jenkins, florida defense lawyer ken padowitz, and lisa bloom, legal

analyst for avo.com. and she is also author of "suspicion nation: the inside story of the trayvon martin injustice and why we continue to repeat it." thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> lisa, the focus is now on evidence. what might he be alluding to? >> i certainly hope it's the admissions of racism that came from michael dunn himself both in his jailhouse letters where he called african americans thugs and gangsters, and said the more he gets to know them, the more prejudiced he is against them. and now the new phone recordings released where he calls african americans animals. i mean, this is a prosecution that needed to show malice, hatred, ill will. they had it right there. they didn't use it. i know the judge initially ruled these letters wouldn't come in. once the defense put on character witnesses and said this man is gentle and peaceful, they should have tried again on cross-examination or through

rebuttal witnesses. they didn't do that. i sure hope they do that next time. >> now let me ask you this, faith. another juror has come forth, juror eight. a 20-year-old -- she broke her silence today saying race did not play a role in the decision. listen to this. >> i never once thought about oh, this was a black kid, this was a white guy, because that -- that wasn't the case. >> so the people who say here is another white guy who got away with shooting and killing a black kid. what would you tell them? >> i would tell them that they really should acknowledge theirselves -- >> she says she never thought about race, and that people that think it's that situation should look deeper into the law. >> well, with all due respect to this juror, because i believe she talked about how they worked really hard to come to a decision about the case.

she was disappointed there was a hung jury. but with all due respect, i think it's naive to say that in this case. because answer this question. think about this question. had those been four white teenagers blasting justin bieber music, would we even be here? would michael dunn have been able to advance the narrative that he did in this trial and say all of the sudden they pulled a shotgun on me. they were thugs. they were gangsters. . no he did that because they weren't white teenagers listening to justin bieber. they were four black kids listening to rap music. so yes, there was an underlying issue throughout the trial and allowed him to come up with a manufactured fear. i don't think for one second michael dunn ever feared for his life. i think the whole defense was completely manufactured. >> ken, your feeling on this. >> well, i think the juror looked at the case that she was presented. i think there were enough clues there that this had to do about race. but some of the important evidence she was not exposed to. not exposed to because of the judge's rulings and not exposed

to because the prosecutor did not go through that open door that occurred during the trial when he could have argued to the judge now that character evidence has been presented by the defense, we should be able to now come in showing this evidence, the letters from the jail, showing that he had in fact had racism in his mind and that did in fact affect his decisions on the day that he pulled that trigger. so i think clearly in the next pretrial, the prosecution has to redouble their efforts in getting this evidence in so that jurors like this woman who spoke that race had nothing to do with it would have a different opinion if they had the full picture of all the evidence in this case. >> and lisa, she did say they should look at the evidence. well, there was no evidence of racism presented to this jury, which was your point. the state might try and go after dunn's character using a letter michael dunn wrote from jail. quote, this jail is full of blacks and they all act like thugs.

in is dunn writing. another. this may sound a bit radical, but if more people would arm themselves and kill these idiots when they're threatening you, eventually they may take the hint and change their behavior. i mean, if this were presented in front of this jury, it might have not only changed this juror's feeling, it might have changed others. >> this is toxic, explicit racism of the kind that you rarely get in courtrooms today. you know, a lot of times we're guessing. is this guy racist or not based on his conduct? well, here we have in writing very clear language from michael dunn himself just months after the shooting where he is clearly a racist with the capital r. that evidence should have come in. but i do not blame these jurors, as you say. they were not given the evidence. they were instructed to follow the law. they did follow the law. stand your ground was a great big problem for them. that's not their fault. that's not the prosecution's fault. that's the fault of all of news a democracy who are allowing these laws to continue. so in my book i don't blame the

george zimmerman jury. they clearly struggled. and i tell the story behind the scenes of what they had to go through. i think if they had all the evidence they would have come to a different verdict. and i think the same thing is true in the michael dunn case. the difference is in the michael dunn case, the prosecution has another chance. i hope they take advantage of it. >> faith, when you look also what juror four said, she spoke about the testimony of michael dunn's fiancee. here is what she said, quote, that was a big deal for me because he testified he wouldn't say or use the words "thug", but he said he would use the words "rap crap." however, in his interview he did say thug a few times. that testimony really undermined dunn's credibility. what can the prosecution do to highlight that? >> there are two things. first, just the use of the term "thug" and now that we know, prosecutors know that michael

dunn endorses thug and gang deserts. that opens the door to put jordandays' parents on the stand was your son in a gang? is he a gangster? if dunn is going to open this door using basically a narrative to call him that and refer to him as that, i think the prosecutors have to go back and argue in front of this judge they should be able to rebut that. now with evidence that he is not a thug and he is not a gangster. second, that's a great point by that juror. and the prosecutors have to seize on this argument now in the next trial in order for you to believe dunn's testimony, you to disbelieve his own fiancee, the police, the other three eyewitnesss in the car and the forensics. and there is no reason for you to do that. >> now, ken, one of the criticisms of the prosecution was they didn't humanize this young man enough. in fact, as faith said, they could have asked his father when he was on the stand about him in terms of whether he was violent, what type of kid he was. now the door is open.

they can do that in retrial. they can call a school teacher since he refers to idiots here. what he an idiot? do you think one of the things they could do in the retrial is to deal more with humanizing who we lost in this 17-year-old young man? >> that's a very interesting question. florida evidence code is very restrictive, really hamstringing the prosecutors in bringing out a lot of evidence concerning the victim. however, the exception is when the defense puts on evidence that opens the door, the prosecution can respond by rebutting to that. so what faith just mentioned is very, very true. if you go in this new trial, it comes out where the door is opened again about him being a thug or one of the kids in the car being a thug, kit be rebutted i would argue by the prosecution by evidence showing he was in fact not a thug, that he was peaceful, just the opposite. they get the opportunity to rebut if that door is open.

so in the next trial, they should be looking very keenly to see if they can rebut that evidence if in fact that door is opened. >> now, we also see that the jury four said a key moment in the trial was when dunn's attorney had directed the jurors to read the self-defense law in the closing statements. watch this. all right. we'll find that. but he talks about turn to page 25. >> yeah. >> which, lisa, was in fact what you were referring to. the key here was the stand your ground law. i think i have it now. >> yes. >> check page 25. start with page 25. >> page 25 reads "the use of deadly force is justifiable if michael dunn reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.

>> and we took a poll. there were two of us undecided, two for was justified and the rest were not justified. >> why were you and the others so convinced that dunn was guilty? >> we all believed that there was another way out, another option. >> so the vote, lisa, of the jury was one thing, but what established stand your ground was the vote of the florida legislature. that's the vote we also have to look at in this case. >> that's right. and this information from this juror i think is key to understanding the entire case. because she comes from a very common sense place of human decency. i thought he had other options. i didn't think he had to shoot. and she says there were nine other jurors for a total of ten who felt that way. two wanted self-defense. the problem is they could look on page 5 of those jury instructions and they could look at all of the other pages and they wouldn't find anything to help them. before 2005 when stand your ground was enacted, they would

have. they would have found language that said if he could have retreated, he would have had to have done that. and you can't claim self-defense unless you avail yourself of retreat. after 2005 and stand your ground, that's gone. and so that's why the jury struggled and struggled and ultimately hung. it's precisely because of the stand your ground law. >> faith jenkins, ken padowitz and lisa bloom, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> and this program note. >> thank you. >> tomorrow night, i'll be joined by jordan davis' father, ron davis. that's tomorrow night, 6:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. ahead, high profile murder cases in florida have put stand your ground laws in the national spotlight. today we'll introduce you to another story that has many questioning the justice system. plus why was there no bridgegate questions at chris christie's town hall today? and ted nugent called

president obama a subhuman mongrel. so why are some republicans coming to his defense today? and it's the rap i never thought i would see, but i'm glad i did. stay with us. ♪ ♪ go by the code of the doctor of the -- i'll tell you why, you see i'm 6'1" and tons of fun ♪ alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ hi boys! i've made you campbell's chunky new england clam chowder. wow! this is incredible!

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after the michael dunn verdict, more and more americans are looking at stand your ground. and self-defense law, wondering if they're fair. are they right? are they allayed equally to everyone? up next, the case of an airman now serving 25 years in prison whose claim of self-defense was rejected by a jury. what makes him different from michael dunn? that's next. [ sniffles, coughs ] shhhh!

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after the mistrial in the michael dunn case, we're seeing renewed attention on self-defense laws, especially in florida. and whether they're evenly applied. now we're learning about the case of michael giles, a former u.s. airman who was outside of a tallahassee club one night in 2010. when a fight broke out. no one reported seeing giles fighting, but he was celebrated from his friends and got a gun from a car for which he had a concealed carry permit. he then says he returned to the

crowd to look for his friends and a man punched him. giles said he believed his life was in danger, and he fired his gun. the other man was hit in the leg. he was out of the hospital the next morning. and giles was charged with attempted murder. one witness testified the man who threw the punch, quote, leaped like a frog to giles and just went at it to his face. she says before he punched giles, he was, quote, excited and acting crazy and talking and cursing and upset and angry and agitated. the victim testified, quote, honestly, my motive was to hit the first person i get to i was going to hit them. and when he was asked if he, quote, ran his entire body to strike this person, he answered yes. prosecutors said giles was

standing when he was fired. but a defense expert testified, quote, the initial trajectory of the bullet was just above the surface of the asphalt, suggesting he was knocked to the ground. michael giles was convicted of aggravated battery and sentenced to 25 years in jail. but his family says he was standing his ground, and they're fighting for his freedom. joining me now is phyllis giles, michael giles' mother and florida state senator dwight bullet, who was been pushing for michael giles' sentence to be commuted. thank you for being here. >> thank you, reverend al sharpton. >> phyllis, you believe this was a clear case of self-defense. now somebody question why mike. retrieved his gun. what would you like to say to those that would question that? >> when michael went to retrieve his gun, it wasn't planned.

he did not go to the car to get the gun. he went to the car as a rally point. i'm proud of military, so it's a rally point where you get separated from your friends or your team, you have a rally point. so the car was the rally point that michael and his friends got separated, which happened. michael went to the car and he retrieved his gun at the time after everyone was standing around him, he was afraid to stay at the car. so at that point, he got the gun from the car and then he went back to the crowd to find his friends so they could leave. and in that point he got punched from behind. >> now, when he returned looking for his friends, he got punched from behind, and he is saying that he felt threatened and witnesses say this guy was appearing crazy and agitated. so he shot the guy, and the guy was hit in the leg and was out of the hospital the next morning. yet michael was prosecuted for attempted murder. >> correct.

>> senator, you'd like the governor to commute michael giles' sentence. and you wrote him a letter saying, quote, his act of frightening away an attacker by firing a gun was as much self-defense as that allowed under stand your ground provisions. the only difference in mr. giles' case is he allowed his attacker to live. this is what you wrote. as you see it, is that the problem with stand your ground, senator? >> yes. as we've seen with both the zimmerman verdict and the verdict of michael dunn, it seems as though in florida, you can only go to jail if you miss the victim as opposed to killing them. and that is problematic. and that's the wrong message that the law is sending. all the proponents have said well, the law wasn't intended for that purpose. but as we're seeing in case after case after case, whether it's michael giles, whether it's marissa alexander, that seems to

be the occurrence that keeps happening. >> now, are all of the supporters of stand your ground and all of them that are attacking people like me that disagree with it, have they rallied behind mr. giles? i missed the rallies and the support for mr. giles by the self-defense and stand your ground proud in florida. >> well, oddly enough, you're absolutely right. all the proponents and the sponsors of stand your ground have yet to use mr. giles as the same rallying point as they did with mr. zimmerman in the case of michael dunn, who is the so-called responsible gunowner. in the case of mr. giles, we're talking about an air force veteran, an iraqi war veteran, someone who did have a concealed carry permit. and if anyone was a glaring example of someone who should have everyone rallying to his defense, it should be michael giles.

and so i felt it very important that the governor look at mr. giles case and commute his sentence. but, again, although he encouraged florida to pray for the family of trayvon martin, i have yet to hear him speak to the flight of mr. giles. >> now phyllis, you started a change.org petition to commute michael's sentence. more than 100,000 people have signed. what does that mean to you as a mother? >> it means we have a lot of support, and the people do care and everyone wants to see justice in florida. that's what it means to me. >> senator, michael was sentenced to 25 years because of mandatory minimums known as the 10-20 life law in florida that means if you're in possession of a gun during a felony, you're sentenced to a minimum of 10 years. if you fire a gun during a felony, minimum of 20 years. and if you injure or kill someone with a gun, you're

sentenced to 25 years. what is wrong with that law, senator? >> oh, naturally, what's wrong with it has been wrongfully applied in two high profile cases. in the case of ms. alexander, and of course in the case of michael giles. you see a situation in which you have a victim of domestic violence. and in the case of mr. giles, the victim of assault. so somehow you create the commission of a crime when there was no crime committed. and in both instances, you wrongfully convict both a woman who is being abused and, again, i can't reiterate enough, a war veteran who was being assaulted outside of a club here in tallahassee. and that for me is problematic in terms of its application. and it seems to be a constant occurrence, especially among people of color. >> phyllis, how long has michael been in jail now? >> just at four years, sir. >> how is he doing? is he still hopeful? >> he is hopeful, weapon this.

he knows that i'm doing this. so he is very hopeful that when the petition rolls up 200,000, he is very home. >> phyllis giles and state senator dwight bullard, thank you. >> thank you. >> so much for your time. and i promise we'll be following michael's story closely. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. >> thank you, sir. still ahead, is chris christie trying to avoid questions about the bridge scandal? we'll tell you what happened at a town hall held in very friendly territory. plus, the gop's ted nugent problem. why are some republicans trying to downplay his vile comments about president obama? but first, a new attack ad against obamacare is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. it's tonight's "got you." [bell rings]

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the obamacare distortions keep on coming. the right wing group americans

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and what about those high out-of-pocket costs? the fact checker looked at that too. quote, the premium savings appear to match whatever out-of-pocket costs she now faces. so at worse, she may be breaking. at best, she may be saving money. overall, "the post" fact checker ad gave it two pinocchios we hope nothing but the best for a full recovery. but what we don't have sympathy for is right wing groups spinning human stories to try to score political points. so to the group behind the ad, i say nice try, but we got you. bee 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.

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christie's office says the questions weren't screened beforehand, but they don't have to be, because christie's aides scheduled the event in a friendly district where he won 70% of the vote in his reelection. a district whose state lawmakers are all republicans. the result? not a single question about why a top christie staffer order lane closures at the world's busiest bridge. in what some critics say may have been political payback, not everyone was satisfied. this woman held a sign reading "resign christie "which she was confiscated." outside protesters made it clear they wanted answers. the governor didn't talk to them. and he didn't talk to the press either. >> 30 seconds? two minutes, governor? >> the governor didn't answer.

but we still have a lot of outstanding questions. why were the lanes closed? who ultimately gave the order? and was there a cover-up? joining me now is bob ingle. he is the author of "chris christie: the inside story of his rise to power." bob, thanks for being here. >> my pleasure, sir. >> how carefully did the governor's team choose this venue for this town hall? >> very -- they knew exactly what they were doing. they wanted the governor to come back and get the attention for what made him very, very popular last year, having to deal with the aftermath of a terrible storm. >> right. >> sandy. >> sandy. and he got deserved credit for that. and since then things have been going in the other direction. and they're trying to get back to that. they're trying to show his sympathetic side. they're trying to show he cares about people. and he is trying to show that nobody cares than bridge but us. >> do you think he is going to do another epic news conference,

conference newser any time soon? >> i wish he would, but i doubt it seriously. i've been calling for him to do it for some time now. >> and he has not responded favorably? >>, no he hasn't. i think when he does his next town hall, it out to be in fort lee. >> june, a judge in new jersey issued orders to bridget kelly and bill stepien, the two key figures in this so far over their refusal to hand over documents. the judge ordered them to explain in court next month why they're invoking the fifth and refusing to comply with subpoenas. now, the stakes in this legal showdown seem to rise every day. where is this headed in your opinion? >> well, i think it's going to go through the state courts for a while. and however it turns out, it probably will wind up in federal court because there are federal issues at stake here. >> now, newly released documents include a puzzling handwritten note made by a ft. lee police chief about a conversation he

had with a port authority police officer chip michaels. it includes this note. chip michaels month last relieve rout 95 from executive jersey city. now "the wall street journal" explains it means ft. lee was being told the closures were part of a month-long study. in other words, the traffic may have been intended to last a month, this traffic jam. so this was supposed to be even more damaging than it was, it turns out. >> i can't imagine. look what happened in only four days. why would they think they can get by with this for a whole month? you would have to be an absolute lunatic to think that. >> and yet yesterday msnbc's steve kornacki asked the head of the port authority about the official who closed the lanes, david wildstein who has since resigned. watch this. >> the absence of someone in

that position whether david wildstein or someone else would have zero about impact on the port authority. >> what was his job? since there was no formal job description we've been able to find, what was your understanding of what his job at the port authority was? >> i understood he was primarily interested in politics. next question. >> he was primarily interested in politics. no job description. yet this does not have anything to do with the governor? >> well, i think that what this shows us, rev, they need to go in and clean house. these people don't have real jobs. why don't we get rid of all of them and see if we can lower those outrageous tolls. >> and he was getting paid a pretty decent salary. >> absolutely. >> and no job description, something to do with politics. and this is the executive director of the port authority that can't answer this. >> it's a patronage pit for hacks. it always has been. >> christie seems to want to go back to business as usual.

that going to work? >> wouldn't you under the circumstances? no, it's not going to work. i think they were counting on this being two, three weeks, a month or whatever and we would move on to something else because that happens a great deal in the news business. >> right. >> but msnbc is not moving on. neither is "the wall street journal" or "the bergen record." we're going stay on it. it's not going oy way. >> and neither was bob ingle. thank you for your time tonight. coming up, some in the gop under fire for ties to a rocker who called president obama a subhuman mongrel. wait until you hear what they're saying today. and wait until you see brian williams and lester holt rapping. stay with us. ♪ my mother and my grandmother are very old fashioned. i think we both are clean freaks. i used to scrub the floor on my knees. [ daughter ] i've mastered the art of foot cleaning. oh, boy. oh, boy. oh, boy.

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politicians have to make lots of tough decisions. but some choices are easy. for example, it should be easy to distance yourself from these vile comments from rocker ted nugent. >> a chicago communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel like the a.c.o.r.n. community organizer gangster barack hussein obama. >> our president referred to as

a subhuman mongrel. that's disgusting. we shouldn't have to care what ted nugent thinks, except here is the problem. some republican elected officials, they're embracing him. when asked about the controversy, governor rick perry said, quote, that's just ted. anybody that's offended, sorry. but that's just ted. that's just ted? actually, that's just wrong. and here is senator ted cruz. >> those sentiments there of course i don't agree with them. you never heard me say such a thing, and nor would i. >> so far so good. but then he was asked this. >> would you campaign with ted nugent? >> you know, i haven't yet, and i'm going to avoid engaging in hypotheticals. >> cruz hasn't campaigned with nugent yet? so he might do so in the future? he might want to chat with texas

attorney general greg abbott. at first abbott was more than happy to campaign with ted nugent. but now he doesn't really want to talk about it. >> mr. abbott, why did you think it was a good idea to campaign with ted nugent? >> you know, it's funny how reactive the davis campaign is to this. ted nugent was a way to expose winnie davis for her flip-flopping on gun-related issues. >> but this is texas. but this is texas. finding someone who is pro-guns is not that hard. why does it have to be ted nugent. >> what is your question? >> mr. abbott, would you give us a chance to clarify on ted nugent? >> you already asked it. >> why would you associate with somebody who describes the sitting president as a subuhuman mongrel, has described politicians in vile ways? will you use him again in a campaign? >> leaders are elected to lead. instead these politicians are embracing the worst kind of

extremism. joining me now are dana milbank and joe madison. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> hi, reverend. >> joe, what does it say about some of these gop leaders that they're afraid to condemn these ugly comments about the president? >> well, it probably says the same thing that your mother told you, that my mother told me. we're often judged by the company that we keep. it also says that they are willing to appeal to anyone who believes and thinks the way that ted nugent speaks. and for some reason, they think that they need those votes. you know, i have never heard in all the times that i've been involved in politics anyone say anything like that about a sitting president of the united states of america. >> no. >> so, you know, the reality is,

reverend, that we called upon or ourselves called upon remember president obama to kick jeremiah wright under the bus because he is allegedly said something unpatriotic. and here we are now with no major person in the republican party suggesting that this man, ted nugent should not only be kicked under the bus, but he ought to be buried in any pothole deep enough to place him. >> you know, in that same interview, ted nugent attacked the president on benghazi. listen to this in a language he used, dana. >> a lot of people call that inflammatory speech. well, i would call it inflammatory speech where it's your job to protect americans and you're asked to look into the television camera and say what difference does it make that i failed in my job to provide security and we have four dead americans?

what difference does that make? not to a chimpanzee or to hillary clinton, i guess it doesn't matter. >> i mean this is some way over the top stuff, dana. >> he has been using the language of the nazis, the language of the slave holders. back many years ago when people actually listened to ted nugent's music, he had a popular song called stranglehold. and i think he is -- it's appropriate because he seems to be strangling the republican party right now. they are talking about reaching out to minority voters. they're talking about reaching out to women. but can't seem to avoid the grip of ted nugent, who was using some of the most hateful language that has been devised in the english language. >> attorney general greg abbott and ted cruz were asked about nugent's comments, joe, and both deflected to the president. listen to this. >> we need more associated with

barack obama than anybody in the state. i don't think there is anybody in the state who is disliked more than barack obama. >> is this a proper thing to say? >> i'd be willing to bet that the president's hollywood things have said some pretty extreme things. >> so is that the strategy, joe? you challenge them about hanging out with someone who says all of this and they try to deflect it over to president obama? >> deflection is they are masters at deflection. you've got it there is no if, and, butts about it. and one of the things that they do is that they will rush to call you what they really are. and so this is what we're seeing. and to hear ted nugent talk about, oh, saving american lives. wait a minute. coming from a draft dodger during the vietnam war who decided he didn't want to go, not for any ideological reasons, but because he wanted to make money with his band. and now he is this great

patriot? and you still want to embrace him? so the reality is that the deflection needs to be called what it is. and, you know, the reality is the that texas is almost a blue state. and if they want to hold on to ted nugent, he may rush them to that color before it's too long. >> you know, the democratic candidate, dana, wendy davis, she had this to say about greg abbott's embrace of ted nugent. listen. let me read it. it says when i read what ted nugent has said about women, i was outraged. greg abbott feels differently, calls successful women vulgar and disgusting names and demeans and degrades not just the women of texas, but anyone who disagrees with his narrow minded, disrespectful point of view. of course she is talking about nugent there. the gop clearly has a problem

with women. why embrace someone like this when you already have a problem? >> well, it clearly was a political mistake for abbott to do this. you know, there is nobody who was -- who he is gaining by having ted nugent out there with him on the campaign trail. people who are nugent fans were already going to be voting for abbott. and now he has offended a much larger group. and given at least a fundraising benefit to his opponents, who let's face it is an underdog. and any opponent is going to be an underdog in texas. but as joe pointed out there, they're sowing the seeds for some real disappointment down the road by associating himself with people like this. it's not just a matter of, you know, trying to tar your opponent with a president who is unpopular in that state. declaring the president of the united states subhuman takes things to an entirely different level that's beyond the pale

even in our political debased culture. >> all of us throughout our careers have said things we would have wanted to take back and live with it for decades. but to call a sitting president subhuman. and we're not talking about decades ago. we're talking about in these recent times and election cycles. and then for those that are embracing you, not to denounce you for saying it is unbelievable in a serious adult political atmosphere. >> and anyone who understands human history knows, look, that's what klansmen referred to. you can pull up clips of klansmen talking about not having integrated schools because we'll create a mongrel race. so what is he talking about, because he is of mixed race, he is a mongrel? and then a subhuman? and this is the language of klansmen. it's the language of what german

nazis said about jewish people. this is -- this is just what it is. and anyone who is decent would reject it and reject anybody associated with it. >> you said it right. it is what it is. dana milbank and joe madison, thank you for your time this evening. >> thank you. still ahead, republicans in a key swing state are trying to roll back the clock on voting rights. will people have to wait up to ten hours to vote once again? but first, brian williams and lester holt as you have never seen them. unlimited text... and 10 gigs of data to share. 10 gigs? 10 gigs. all for $160 dollars a month. you know, i think our family really needed this. it's really gonna bring us closer together. yep. yep. yep. yep. yep. [ family ] yep. [ male announcer ] introducing our best-ever family pricing. for a family of 4, that's 10 gigs of data with unlimited talk and text for 160 dollars a month. only from at&t.

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"start your engines" finally tonight, troubling news in the fight to protect voting rights. already this year lawmakers in 19 states have introduced bills to scale back voting rights. and now the ohio house has passed bills that would limit early voting, end same-day registration, and put new limits on absentee ballots. and these bills are headed to the desk of the republican governor to sign into law. so now it's time to fight. voting rights were a big part of the meeting i and other civil rights leaders had on tuesday with president obama. i never thought as representative alicia reece of ohio said in 2014 we would be

fighting to maintain our voting rights. but fight we will as we told the president and he assured us, the great thing of this country is giving people the right to vote. and now that it's threatened, we've got to fight. we've got to fight with all we have. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. bridge jam to last a month? let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews up in new york. let me start tonight with the big new developments in the chris christie bridge scandal. number one, according to logs at the ft. lee police department, there is reason to believe that the scheme was to have the bridge block-up last a full month. not four day, four weeks. these guys nuts?