common goal. ♪ >> and next week on the "ed show," will the pipeline be built if it's built with american steel? i'll be in pittsburgh tomorrow working on that story. that's "the ed show." i'll ed schultz. "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. good evening, ed, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, caught on tape. the bridge scandal. nearly six months after the dangerous traffic jam ordered by people working for chris christie, we're hearing for the first time the police and emergency calls from the chaos of those gridlocked streets. these calls were released by the city of ft. lee. and in them, we hear people who need paramedics and police complaining about delays.

we hear first responders blocked from doing their job who don't understand why they're there is such a mess created around the george washington bridge. >> do you know if anything happened on the bridge? >> i'll give them a call. i think it's sun glare. >> 10-4. >> okay, 4-5-3, they have a new pattern. they're testing new pattern traffic from off the washington. it's down to one lane now. it's a test. >> at traffic is a nightmare. >> 10-4. we're getting calls from irate motorists. >> you're aware the town is a total gridlock, right? >> total gridlock. a nightmare. and in the middle of all this, people were facing real-life emergencies all over the affected area. here is one 911 emergency call with details redacted by the city of ft. lee. >> 911, where is your emergency? >> medical and personal identification information. >> i don't know. i just got here.

>> okay, is she warm when you touch her? >> medical and personal identification information. >> okay. and you're the home health aide? >> yes. hold on one second. hey, gary, that's the building to our house and the person has chest pains. so we need medics and the fire department. >> all right. let me get an ambulance and an officer right there. >> thank you. >> now, we don't know if there were delays reaching that particular woman suffering from chest pains. but these recordings do reveal obvious frustrations from callers to 911. >> 911, where is your emergency? >> hello, 911. i'm calling back because i called about an hour, almost an hour -- hour and 15 minutes ago to say my car was stuck on a highway, and you were going to send a tow truck. and i'm just wondering if it's coming. >> now, in that case, it was just a car in need of a tow. other callers complaining about delays were potentially more serious.

>> 911. where is your emergency? >> i called you. where are they? >> medical and personal identification information. >> all right. they're on their way. you only called a couple of minutes ago. they're on their way, okay? >> yeah, but, you know, it's an emergency. and they are not still here. >> i know. i know. they're on their way. >> now, remember, there didn't have to be a traffic jam. none of this had to happen, but it happened. though we still don't know why. all we know is one month earlier, christie's deputy chief of staff bridget kelly sent an e-mail saying, quote, time for some traffic problems in ft. lee. port authority official david wildstein wrote back, "got it." and months after the traffic jam, governor christie himself was joking about it. >> i worked the cones actually, matt. unbeknownst to everybody, i was

the guy out there. i actually was the guy working the cones out there. >> but after hearing those emergency phone calls, it's clear this was no laughing matter. joining me now is new jersey assemblywoman gordon johnson whose district was affected by the lane closures and "the washington post's" e.j. dionne. thanks for being here tonight. >> good to be with you, al. >> thank you. >> what is your reaction on the tapes tonight? >> i'm a former police officer in the city of inglewood and a former sheriff in bergen county. and we -- law enforcement and first responders take an oath to protect life and property that is our job. the people of the borough of ft. lee are used to having a response time of about two or three minutes when they call for help in borough ft. lee. >> two or three minutes? >> two or three minutes, usually. when you have this traffic chaos that went on there, because of some individuals who abused their power this the port authority and also in the

governor's inner office, it just -- it just shows that the lack of regard for the importance of first responders. i mean, you disrespected them, the first responders, disrespected the people who are there serving, because of some abuse of power. >> now, e.j., you know, the associated press analyzed the logs of these tapes. their report said a traffic jam deliberately orchestrated by members of governor chris christie's staff appeared not to lead to anyone's death or seriously compromise their medical care. that reflects good fortune, not good planning. it could have been worse. isn't that the point when people are wondering why we stay on this story, the point is that this traffic jam created unnecessary real danger, and it could have been much, much worse. and we need to hold people accountable for this. >> no, i think that's right.

thank god no one apparently died because of this. and that's a good thing. the a.p. had that story a while ago. i think what these tapes do is they dramatize what this -- what this was about. you can read it on a sheet of paper. lord knows i worked for newspapers for years. i think the written word is important. but when you hear the urgency in the voices of some of those people, the anger on the part of some of those people, you really realize this wasn't just they caused a traffic jam. causing a traffic jam has real real consequences. and also the fact that these tapes have now come out gives you a sense of how this story is going to keep developing. there will be more information coming out over time. and i think that's snag is going to bother chris christie in political terms. >> and talking about those tapes and hearing it another emergency call reports of a missing child

assemblyman. >> yes. >> listen to this. >> we have a possible missing 4-year-old. he's wearing a yellow shirt, a blue jacket, blue pants, last seen about ten minutes ago in the courtyard. >> missing 4-year-old. describing what he has on. now, if you hear that tape, and remember bridget kelly's e-mails to david wildstein during the lane closure, quote, it is wrong that i am smiling? i feel badly about the kids. i guess. david wildstein wrote back, they are the children of buono voters, meaning barbara buono, the democrat who was running against christie. i mean, to put this in focus as to why this is a story that needs to be followed up, you are talking about people working for the government that are exchanging e-mails, talking about should they feel bad that

they don't feel about kids while kids are missing. and you have 911 calls discussing that. this is no mild little matter. >> this is a callous disregard for public safety. that's what this is. and as i said before, it's an abuse of power. it's -- well, you've seen it. you've heard it, and you've read the comments, the texts. could careless about people's lives and about the effect that this traffic chaos caused for the dedicated men and women in the police and fire and ems trying to protect the people of the borough of ft. lee and others who were trying to get across the bridge. >> you know, e.j., on wednesday night, governor christie dismissed the media coverage as hysteria. listen to this. >> we're going through an internal investigation. all of this stuff will come out over the appropriate period of time. and i'm not going give into the

hysteria of questions that are given by folks who have information today that i didn't have at the time that you're talking about why didn't i ask certain questions. i mean, i didn't ask the questions because i didn't think they needed to be asked. >> e.j.? >> you know, i think one of the problems all along with this story and it's i think the big hole in governor christie's big press conference is why he didn't ask more questions earlier. because it was well-known that this event happened. it was well-known that this event inconvenienced lots of people. he was running for reelection. you would think that a governor running for reelection, many of whose constituents have been badly inconvenienced and plus these problems succumbed to the four with these phone calls, you would think he would have had more curiosity over all those

months to get to the bottom of this. governor christie talks about hysteria now. the reason there is such interest in this story is all those months went by and he didn't ask hey, did anybody on my staff have something to do with this. >> and, you know, again, assemblyman, and i can't emphasize enough the human element here and danger. listen to this 911 call during the lane closures. listen to this. >> 911. where is your emergency? >> hi, this is the plaza diner in ft. lee. we have an older elderly customer that has just fainted. >> okay, but they're conscious now? >> they're conscious, yes, but i think it's best for you guys to send over somebody. >> okay. we'll send an ambulance over. >> now you have an elderly gentleman who has fainted. i know that diner, and i'm sure you do too in ft. lee. the diner calls the police. we'll send someone over. they're caught in a gridlock. >> correct. >> hysteria.

you'd be hysterical if it was your 4-year-old kid that was missing. >> correct. >> and there was some interference with possibly getting to finding that kid or if it was your father or mother that had fainted at the diner in ft. lee. there is not a overreaction here. only by the grace of god did we have something more serious to happen. >> we know the importance of response time when it comes to emergencies. response time. the police know about it. the fire know about it. ems. when you obstruct the traffic, you increase response time, which frustrates everyone. and then when you find out it was done not because of some emergency, but because some people abuse their power, that's a problem. >> e.j., do you think that must stay on this? we're getting a lot of people saying ah, move on. >> well, i think that it's inevitable that people are going to stay on this there is an investigation going on. there are lots of other aspects of this story now. people are asking questions about how sandy relief was used.

they're trying to figure out who else in governor christie's operation may have known about this. so i think it's inevitable there is a story like this. the press is supposed to find out if the government has abused power. and that's what the press is doing in this story. >> if nothing else, i think people in government ought to know that they cannot put people in danger for whatever reasons that they did this. assembly gordon johnson and e.j. dionne, thank you for your time tonight. >> you too, reverend. coming up, president obama's year of action. moments ago he wrapped up a speech rallying the democrats, pushing them to ramp up their fight for fairness this election year. plus, vice president joe biden's definitely running. in this video, but will he make another run for the white house? and a judge getting

kickbacks for throwing children behind bars. the scheme detailed in a new documentary. you won't want to miss it. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪

coming up, the campaigner in chief. just moments ago, president obama rallied the democrats, pushing them to make the fight for fairness central in this election year. that's next. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. 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. ♪

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moments ago, president obama wrapped up a combative emotional speech, rallying fellow democrats. a big theme, economic, the president calling out a right wing triple-down theory that is obsessed with slashing the safety net. >> they think we should drastically reduce or eliminate the safety net for more people. we're seeing that right now played out in the debate about unemployment insurance. they'll even shut down the government or threaten the full faith and credit of our country when they don't get their way. it's a theory we presented in the run-up to the great depression. it's a theory they expounded in the run-up to the crisis in 2008. just because this theory has a history doesn't mean it should have a future. it's time to retire this theory. >> americans agree with the

president, and that the gop's broken ideology is isolating them on issue after issue. starting with the basic question, should the distribution of wealth in america be more even? in a new poll, a majority of americans say yes. majority of democrats and independents say yes. everybody says yes, except republicans. and on the minimum wage, the same pattern. only republicans are raising it. and on obamacare, once again, majority of americans, including democrats and independents, say the law is good and should be kept the way it is or improved. the gop again is in opposition. and yet republicans won't read the writing on the wall, especially when it comes to obamacare. >> we could repeal obamacare and

get this monkey off the backs of the american people. >> the worst example of the abuse of the rule of law has really been with the president's health care law. >> alternatives. >> this country wouldn't be in this angst that it's in today if we had been better obstructionists when they tried to jam obama care at us. >> it's astounding. the republican plan is more obstruction and more attacks on obama care. it's an election year strategy that might only obstruct the gop from winning votes. joining me now is cynthia tucker. thanks for being here. >> good to be here, reverend. >> cynthia, next week republicans are planning a vote targeting the health care law. for the 50th time, 50 votes, do they want one for each state or something, cynthia? >> well, here is the scary thing, reverend al. if in fact republicans are able to win the senate later this year, there might be a very

serious effort to repeal obama care because a couple of right wing senators like head cruz are going to insist on it. for now, what we see is sort of show votes in the house of representatives that are not going anywhere. but if republicans take the senate, there might be a real effort to repeal obama care, which as you noted, most americans do not want. >> this week speaker boehner said the president isn't interested in governing. listen to this. >> you know, back in 2012, the president chose politics over governing. he took the year off, got little done. and this year i'm beginning to see the same pattern of behavior. we see more and more that the president has no interest in doing the big things that he got elected to do. >> but look at this report from "the washington post." quote, republicans are focused on calming their divided ranks

in the months ahead, shelving any big ticket legislation for the rest of the year. so isn't it a little bit ironic, cynthia, that the speaker is attacking the president for allegedly not being interested in governing? >> it's more than ironic. it's laughable, reverend al. the most interesting thing than was that speaker boehner could keep a straight face as he said that. the president has several big items on the table, including immigration reform, which the house refuses to even take a vote on. and as far as obama care is concerned, they keep claiming that they have a replacement. they're going to get all of their members together behind a replacement. i'll bet you that when november rolls around, there is no serious republican plan to replace obama care. they just want to repeal it and

go back to the old system where many people didn't have any health care at all. >> now, this week, the tea party celebrated its five-year anniversary by attacking the president. listen. >> there is not a smidgen hardly of constitutional authority that this man actually exercises. he is outside the bounds of it. >> it is easy at times to look at the expansion of government power, at the lawlessness, and to be demoralized. >> as this president and this administration continues to abuse its authority. >> now, but the truth is, after five years, the tea party is unpopular even within the galena park. according to a new poll. only 37% of republicans have a favorable view of the tea party. 37%. just 21% of independents share that view, and 6% of democrats. doesn't it seem like americans

are tired of the tea party ugly attacks, cynthia? >> they are sick of the tea party, but the tea party continues to run the republican party. they can't get away from it. i mean, one of the speakers that you saw up there just a little while ago was senator ted cruz. >> right. >> up there trying to play indicate the tea party. so yes, the vast majority of americans want nothing to do with these folks. but they're the very people who are more or less in charge of the republican party. and the reason that americans can't get anything sane done on immigration, on the economy, on the minimum wage in any number of other issues that need to get done. >> cynthia tucker, thanks for your time this evening, and have a great weekend. >> you too, reverend. coming up, will joe biden run or won't he?

will he wait for hillary clinton to decide? lots of new buzz tonight. plus, did a judge get millions in kickbacks while throwing kids behind bars? a new documentary exposes this shocking story. stay with us. ♪

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for weeks, months, years, we've heard one thing from the gop, repeal and replace obamacare. >> we want to repeal obamacare and replace it. >> we need to repeal and replace obamacare. >> we will repeal and replace obamacare. >> we will repeal and replace obamacare. >> we're going to repeal and replace this entire law. >> we can repeal obamacare, replace it. >> we need to repeal this law and replace it. >> that was exhausting, even to watch. okay. we know the republicans have tried to repeal it.

but how is that whole replace part going? just this week majorityr eric cantor said, quote, obamacare is on borrowed time. well may have an opportunity for an alternative to be put in place. they may have an opportunity? they'll give it the old college try? hmm. maybe speaker boehner has the answer. >> we're going to continue to go through a lot of ideas. you can see our members. they've introduced 126 different ideas about how to fix obamacare, how to replace obamacare. >> that's it. of course that's it. they just have too many ideas. the ideas are just whiz big so fast, they don't know which one to pick. or maybe, just maybe, they're backing away from the plan to replace obamacare. because obamacare is working. this week we learned four million americans have signed

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>> i was planning on making a major announcement tonight. but i decided tonight is your night. >> thank you. thank you. >> so i hope you'll invite me back. >> yes, absolutely. >> you haven't said no? >>, no i absolutely have not said no. as likely to run as i don't run. i just truly haven't made up my mind. >> he hasn't made up his mind. but at least one former obama official, someone from inside the president's inner circle had this to say. >> biden is the happy warrior. biden loves what he is doing and he doesn't want to stop. i don't think it's a stretch to believe, as he was telling "the view" that he might continue to want to do it, even if somebody else named hillary clinton runs. >> even if hillary runs, the president says that won't play into his decision. >> you have said that if she runs for president, you will not run. >> no, i haven't. >> then tell me what you've

said. >> the only reason to run for president of the united states, if you truly believe you're better positioned to do what you think is most needed in the country. so whether she runs or not will not affect my decision. >> so will 2016 mean a matchup between biden and clinton? i wouldn't rule it out. joining me now are governor ed ren deal and nia-malika henderson. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> great to be with you. >> my pleasure, ed. >> governor rendell, you have been a supporter of hillary clinton in the past. how likely is a biden-clinton matchup in 2016? >> i've also been a supporter of the vice president in the past, and i think he has done a great job as vice president. but, reverend, it's totally unlikely. and let me tell you why. there are two numbers in "the washington post" poll. 73-12. that's democratic voters nationwide. joe biden loves to run and he believes he would be a good president, but he is also a good politician.

and he looks at those numbers and says to himself i can't raise money off of those numbers against hillary clinton. because basically, hillary clinton and joe biden have the same givers, have had for years. and when the numbers are 73-12, you tell me where the givers are going to go. >> but nia-malika, joe biden has seen those numbers and he is still talking. he is doing the circuit, talk shows, he is throwing it out there. is he trying to change those numbers, or he doesn't care about those numbers? what are we seeing here? >> certainly i think he is trying to change those numbers. and if you read that article and you know what he has been doing, he is sort of privately meeting with these folks and seeing what the lay of the land is there. if i think you look at where things are now, his big problem is sure, he might have these ambitions to run for president, but there is no infrastructure in place for him to do that. he is essentially a party of one, a coalition of one, where as if you look at what hillary clinton has now, she has these huge superpacs that are not only raising money, they are out

there, encouraging supporters to get on the bandwagon and essentially draft hillary into this movement. and they're prepared to hand over lists of volunteers to hillary clinton should she decide to run. so joe biden just can't compete with that. >> now, governor, you know, it appears that biden is making moves, though, toward that infrastructure, towards something, according to politico, this. according to them, he has been pushing for a bigger role in the second term. he has also convened a series of meetings to discuss his strategy for the next two years. and he has also agreed to campaign in more than 120 midterm races. it's a lot, governor. >> it is, rev. and what joe biden is doing is very smart. he is positioning himself by doing all that to be the front-runner, and a strong front-runner, if hillary clinton decides not to run, which i still think is a distinct possibility.

>> right. >> because joe biden -- if hillary bows out, he is not going get it handed to him. i think you'll see a number of other people contest. so joe biden is building for that eventuality if it occurs. he wants to step in and assume the front-runner's role right away. and he is doing exactly what he should be doing. and he said the best thing he can do is be a good vice president, and that's right. he is exactly right. >> you're nodding, nia-malika. you saying joe biden is running to be number one if, in fact, former secretary clinton does not run? >> i think that's exactly right. the people i talked to in his circle say exactly that. if all else fails and hillary clinton does not run, then he would be presumably the front-runner. now, if we look historically, vice presidents haven't done a very -- don't have a very good track record. i think only four sitting vice presidents have been elected to the number one job. and so in that article, you see biden grappling with that reality. there are so many passages in there that describe him as

restless. and that's because often the vice presidency has been described as nothing but it could be everything. and he is trying to figure out how to make it everything. but so far he is looking at those poll numbers certainly. but also looking at clinton, who hasn't made up her mind. the folks i talked to in her circle say she is legitimately grappling with this decision. and i think for both of these folks, primarily hillary clinton, she's got to probably make up her mind at some point, because that would activate a broader plan from vice president biden, and then also any other democrats out there thinking about 2016. >> governor, you know both mrs. clinton and vice president biden. they're two different type of personalities. mrs. clinton is kind of more laid back, more of an introvert, very, very smart, very studious, very methodical. joe biden, folksy, back-slapper,

you know, out there, hungry for it. they would run two very different type campaigns. >> no question. and i would say, rev, that everyone is introverted compared to the vice president. but joe would be a formidable candidate if hillary is out of the race, i think joe biden is going to get a lot of support from a lot of hillary people because he is the happy warrior. he can bring the message. and joe biden is easy to underrate, except when you see his skills in operation. he has been a valuable member of the obama team. he's been the one guy who has related well with the congress on both sides. he has led in many different areas. i know when i was governor, he did a great job leading the stimulus. so it's easy to underrate joe biden, but you do so at your peril. if hillary clinton doesn't run, i believe joe biden will be our candidate. >> now, you just heard,

nia-malika, the governor said joe biden will probably be the candidate if hillary doesn't run. but we hear different names. is anyone out there that could be a major obstacle to biden? hillary out of the race. biden is running whom. could stop him? >> you know, there are all sorts of names you hear. elizabeth warren being one. kristen gillibrand who is making quite a name for herself, particularly among women's groups. somebody like amy cloverture, martin o'malley. maybe brian schweitzer, who i know just signed on with your network. there are a number of people who could, but we'll just have to wait and see. >> let me make it clear, we still have a president that has a lot of work to do and a lot of time left to do it. >> absolutely. >> if he maintains the senate. so all of this will be day after tomorrow in politics. >> absolutely. >> governor ed rendell and nia-malika henderson, thank you both for your time tonight. have a great weekend.

>> thank you. >> you too, rev. still ahead, a judge got kickbacks while putting 3,000 kids behind bars. we'll talk to one young woman who was incarcerated. plus, first lady michelle obama gets personal about her let's move campaign. and breaks down her mom dance. all of her moves. stay with us. from the classic lines to the elegant trim in each and every piece, ♪ kohler will make your reality a dream. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance,

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> shocking case of judicial corruption. 3,000 kids, one judge, and a scandal that rocked the nation. a new documentary "kids for cash" looks behind the notorious 2009 scandal. a pennsylvania judge had teenagers shackled and sent to juvenile detention for minor mistakes. 3,000 kids ripped away from their families for over $2.6 million in kickbacks from companies, building a private juvenile detention center. >> was a no-nonsense zero tolerance judge. he always jailed kids. >> you're going to experience prison. i'll be glad to put you there. >> the way he ran the courtroom. >> there is a mechanism that takes over that keeps kids in that system. >> no one listens because we were kids, there was never any

instance of guilt or innocence. he would lock them up. >> a high number of kids appearing without counsel. >> it's unbelievable. we're talk about children. >> i wanted them to be scared out of their minds. i don't understand how that was a bad thing. >> 3,000 kids, amazing. one of them is hillary. she was incarcerated when she was just 14 years old for posting a joking myspace page about her assistant principal. that's it. that's all she did. but finally it was hillary's mother who fought this injustice and helped expose this amazing scheme. joining me now is hillary transu and her mother laurene and robert may, the academy award-winning producer and director of "kids for cash." thank you all for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> robert, what made you do this documentary? >> you know, i actually live in

luzerne county, pennsylvania, where it happened. and all the other projects i worked on, worked on from my offices in new york here. but we were developing another story about kids and greed and power when the scandal broke in january 2009. and this was one of those stories, the truth was stranger than fiction. and i was aware of these judges who were celebrated by the community for many years, didn't know them personally. and i was really curious about how they could wake up one day and perhaps do something so evil. >> but i mean, it's an unbelievable story when it came out. i think one of the most gripping moments in the documentary comes during the judge's trial. a mother whose son committed suicide went after him outside the court. watch. >> this is not a cash for kids case, and we hope somebody starts getting the message. >> my kid is not here here.

my kid is not here. he is dead. he isn't here. he ruin mid [ bleep ] life. i'd like him to go to hell and go there forever. you know what he told everybody in court? they need to be held accountable for their actions. you need to be. do you remember me? do you remember me? do you remember my side? he is gone! he shot himself in the heart. you scumbag! you ruined my life. i hate him. i hate him. you got to do something with him. >> you ruined my life. somebody needs to do something with him. you did. you stood up for your daughter. tell me what really got you so determined to find out what was going on here. >> i think i had a slight advantage over some of the other parents in our county because i did have some background as a caseworker. so i knew what to expect in court with my daughter. and i think what really alarmed me is when i got in there, the

court proceeding and everything involved with it was the complete opposite, completely different of what it should have been. and that's when i first became alarmed. >> hillary, tell us your story. what was going through your mind when you were being arrested. >> i was on the telephone with one of my girlfriends when my mother called up and said do you know anything about a myspace page. and i said yeah, from months ago. and she was exasperated. she was having this -- i could tell by her face, by her expressions that she was having a crazy conversation with whoever was on the phone. she got off the phone and said that was the police. they want to come down here and arrest you. and i was terrified. and i didn't know that i could be arrested for making fun of my vice principal. >> and what happened in court? >> well, we -- when we got to court, we were asked if we had a lawyer, and i said no. so we were given a blank form to sign, which i did. and then it was pretty quick. things happened quickly.

we went into the courtroom. we were not in the courtroom 60 seconds, next thing i knew the gavel came down. she was adjudicated delinquent, taken out of the courtroom and put in handcuffs. >> so you were put in handcuffs for a myspace page. >> yes. >> and, i mean, this must have been mind-boggling to you. >> it was. it was. it was completely surreal. i was expecting them, you know, someone to come out and say this has all been a big joke at any second. it was totally surreal. even as i was being cuffed in the next room, coy hear my mother's wailing and pleading, and the bailiff, who is cuffing me is going look what you did to your mother. just a completely shocking, it's almost like -- you have sort of an out of body experience. you watch yourself go through this because it couldn't be happening to me. >> all of this really, on kids, on minor offenses because they wanted to make money off these

kickbacks of billing this prison. and you had in the documentary the judge broke his silence. and let's listen to what's had to say. >> i'm not this mad judge who was just throwing kids away and shipping them out and locking them up and putting them in shackles. no one would ever look at the whole picture. they only wanted to look at a little bit of the picture. well, all the media ever focused on was cash for kids. if that was something that the feds wanted to charge us with, then bring the charges and we'll go to trial. >> how do you respond to that, hillary, as one of the kids? >> it's hard for me to watch him deny that he did anything wrong to kids. i mean, the money was never one of our concerns. we were there when he was violating my rights. and that was our big first concern. so it's really hard for me to have him admit to maybe taking the money and not writing it off on my taxes, maybe that was

unethical. but i never did anything wrong to kids. it's extremely frustrating that he refuses to acknowledge what he did. >> robert, i understand the judge's daughter saw the film. and what does she have to say? >> she -- surprise a lot of people, she has empathy for the kids and families. in fact, tells us stories about how her father was zero tolerant with them when they were growing up. told a lot of stories about that, about his toughness and his tough love attitude he had. >> i suppose that one of the last thing you would have thought you would have been is an activist of sort. but if it wasn't for you and your activism in drilling down, this might still be going on, and children might still be suffering. >> well, i do feel that we play a part in bringing this issue to the forefront, you know, certainly with what happened in luzerne county. and i feel good about that, but my concern is that it's happening all across the nation.

so i think we stilld the word out and get other parents and other folks within the system to be more of an activist and really take a look what is going on, what we're doing to our children. >> thank all of you for being on the show tonight, sharing your story. and "kids for cash" opens in select cities this weekend. you can go to www.kidsforcashthemovie.com for details. coming up, a great offcourt play from one of the newest members of the nba. and the first lady breaks down what it takes to do a mom dance. you won't want to miss it. 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.

[ carmel ] that drives me nuts. it gives me anxiety just thinking about how crazy they get. [ doorbell rings ] [ daughter ] oh, wow. [ carmel ] swiffer wetjet. you guys should try this. it's so easy. oh, my. [ gasps ] i just washed this floor. if i didn't see it i wouldn't believe it. [ carmel ] it did my heart good to see you cleaning. [ regina ] yeah, your generation has all the good stuff. [ daughter ] oh, yeah.

>> the world is moving forward on gay rights, and so is the world of sports. jason collins made history sunday, becoming the first openly gay athlete in a major sports league. collins wore a spare jersey that night, the number 46, because the number he wanted wasn't ready. collins is now wearing the number 98 to honor matthew shepard, a wyoming college student murdered in 1998 for being gay.

the tragedy is deeply personal to collins. and last night collins met privately with shepherd's family after game in denver, and presented the family is a number 98 jersey to honor matthew's memory. that's what i can call an all-star performance. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ [ birds squawking ] my mom makes airplane engines that can talk. [ birds squawking ] ♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand. ♪ my mom can print amazing things right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ]

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to lose your supporting teeth? try poligrip for partials. poligrip helps minimize stress which may damage supporting teeth by stabilizing your partial. care for your partial. help protect your natural teeth. the role of a first lady is never easy, even if you're working on something that shouldn't be controversial, like making our kids healthier. but critics haven't stopped first lady michelle obama and her let's move campaign and her efforts are paying off. this week we learned obesity rates for young children dropped 43% in the last decade. let's move was a big part of that. but the first lady isn't done. on tuesday, she announced new restrictions on advertising junk food in schools. and yesterday she unveiled new nutritional labels, making it easier for people to understand what is in their food.

mrs. obama says it's personal for her. >> try to model the behavior that we talk about all the time. i want my girls to grow up to be strong, healthy young women who aren't afraid to exercise, and they see it as fun. >> and she makes sure to have fun too. just this week, funny man will ferrell helped talk to kids about healthy foods. it was announced she would guest star in the season finale of amy poehler's tv show "parks & recreation." and now she is breaking out the moves in her famous mom dance. >> you want to stay low. >> okay. >> so if you just sort of move your shoulders, you move your shoulders. you don't want to go too far, because if you get out of the pocket, it gets a little -- >> things get crazy. >> it gets crazy. so keep it all crazy.

stay in the mom dance. >> stay in the mom zone. >> she's got those moves down, and she's got the rest of the country moving too. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. coming up fighting. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. tomorrow's march. the months of 2014 are being torn from the calendar as we move to november, and that dawning election for congress, especially the u.s. senate where the democrats, the president's party lie perilously close to defeat, and with it the loss of all legislative control by the president. tonight the president himself blew the bugle. he is jumping into the fight to save the power he as president needs to have for him to complete