"politics nation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed, and give our love to james and the holm family for the loss of roland. >> will do that, reverend, thank you. thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, republicans tying themselves in knots over the health care law. for years their position was clear, it was all repeal all the time. but now the law's taking root and the campaign trail things are getting more and more complicated. just ask kentucky senator mitch mcconnell, who's in the fight of his political life. here's what he said about the health care law on friday. >> the single worst piece of legislation that's been passed in the last 50 years. it was a big mistake. we ought to be pull it out root and branch and we ought to start over. that's how i feel about it. >> so on friday he wanted to

start over. that's how he feels. but how does he feel about the more than 413,000 people in kentucky who signed up for coverage under connect, the state version of the law? a reporter asked the senator if he wanted to dismantle the connect exchange too. >> i think that's unconnected to my comments about the overall question. >> the only thing unconnected is that logic is completely connected. it comes straight from the affordable care act. mcconnell's campaign said, "if obamacare is repealed, kentucky should decide for itself whether to keep connect or to set up a different marketplace. sorry, senator, that's not how it works. an editorial in one of kentucky's biggest newspapers laid it out. "repeal the federal law, which

mcconnell calls obamacare, and the state exchange would collapse." today's kentucky's governor said senator mcconnell either doesn't understand what the aca is, or is just trying to mislead kentucky families for his political benefit at their expense. listen, senator mcconnell, senator mcconnell, you can try to have it both ways. who knows, maybe if the senate career doesn't work out, you can get a gig as a contortionist. but the reality is, the politics are changing. today, "the wall street journal" reports that democrats are starting to talk up the health care law on the stump. democrats on offense, republicans like senator mcconnell are dancing as fast as they can around the issue, and

why? because the health care law is working. 8 million signed up, more insurers want to join the exchanges, and guess what, the sky isn't falling. this is what success looks like. this is what progress looks like. joining me now is m.i.t. economist jonathan gruber, who helped design the affordable care act, and former pennsylvania governor ed rendell. thank you both for being here. >> good to be here, al. >> our pleasure. >> governor, senator mcconnell really twisting himself into a pretzel on health care. what does that say to you? >> well, it says to me that this is going to be more interesting election and less predictable a election than anybody forecast. the affordable health care act is not necessarily going to be a downside, and, in fact trks going to cause tremendous problems for republicans. republicans who were calling for

appeal in states where it's clearly worked, like kentucky. not only do the people in the connect program lose their health care if you were to repeal the aca, but all the people on the medicaid expansion would automatically lose their health care, so it's more than just the 431, rev, we have to keep that in mind. what has scott walker done, what does rick scott do in florida? a lot of these governors, la page in maine, they've got huge problems because the affordable care act does work to do one basic thing, it increases coverage, not just for the poor, but for middle class families, as well, and that's an unalterable fact. >> jonathan, you know, senator mcconnell tried to argue the state exchange tried -- he's arguing that he could exist without the affordable care act. you told the website talking

points memo an exchange could exist without obamacare, but it would be largely irrelevant. why wouldn't that work? >> you know, al, this is not just the conjecture, we actually have experience with a number of states trying to do this before obamacare, and what happens is unless you have the mandate and tax credits to make health insurance affordable, people didn't want to be in the exchange. the only people who wanted it were the very sickest people. they came in and insurers said, whoa, we don't want any part of this, we're going to back out and the exchanges collapsed. we saw it in california, we saw it in a nump states where they tried, very well intentioned people to set up exchanges in a pre-obamacare environment and they simply did not work. these exchanges simply don't work unless you fix the larger context, to make insurance affordable through tax credits. >> we talked about this before, and the governor just referred to it, jonathan, 24 states still haven't expanded medicaid.

is denying insurance for nearly 5 million people. now you've said refusing to expand medicaid is, i'm quoting you, almost awesome in its evilness. why? >> well, al, since we last spoke, actually, i have an even stronger reason to say that, a fantastic study came out looking what happened when we expanded health insurance in massachusetts. we saved lives. in fact, the numbers suggest that for every 820 people who got health insurance, one person's life was saved, so to put that in context, these states that are not expanding medicaid and not covering 5 million people are killing about 6,000 people a year. >> wow. >> by not expanding health insurance, so this is a real human cost to not expanding the medicaid program. it's just tragic. >> that's beyond politics, governor, that's immoral. in fact, in your state, governor, your present governor, tom corbett, is one of those who

still hasn't expanded medicaid, leaving more than 281,000 people without coverage. this is your home state. how big of an issue will this be, governor? >> it's a huge issue, you know, this election in pennsylvania will be determined by turnout. we have about a million more registered democrats in pennsylvania than republicans, but the problem is, that in nonpresidential years, they don't turn out. there's a falloff of 800,000 voters, a lot of them been denied medical coverage. they are going to come out and it's going to be a very significant problem for governor corbett. there's no ifs, ands, buts about it. it's a huge problem. >> isn't the fact of the matter, governor, the way to get out the 281,000 in pennsylvania and the other huge numbers around the country that are not covered because their governors wouldn't sign in, the only way to drive them out is to drive that

message home, that they would be injured and that is to not run away from the affordable care act, but to run, show its success, and really run on it and mobilize those people? if you duck it, those people will not be energized to come out. >> well, our governor is not going to duck. he's going to look into the camera on one of his ads and say, i make one promise to you that i know i can keep, on my first day in office, i will notify the federal government that we want to expand medicaid, and that means, and i think it's a little bit more than 281,000, rev, that means hundreds of thousands of pennsylvanians will get life-saving health care, and the cost to pennsylvania next year, zero. the cost to pennsylvania the following year, zero. >> and jonathan, isn't that the point, that you can go to the public, you help design it, you can go to the public, talk about we can do something that we've not been able to do for generations, it will not cost

the state anything, and it's only because of political meanness and partisan bickering that they are denying the citizens this kind of coverage. >> al, once again, if it's possible, you're understating the case, because once again, not only is this mean in denying coverage to the poorest citizens of these states, these states are also turning down hundreds of billions, hundreds of millions, to billions of dollars of federal stimulus to their state economies that are still struggling, so these states are saying not only do i not want to insure our poorest citizens, we want to turn down taxpayer money that comes from other states that could support our state economy. it's truly politics at its ugliest. >> rev, can i say, the exact total on that is $1.2 billion annually that would come into the pennsylvania economy if we expanded medicaid, and $110 million would go to pennsylvania hospitals, many of whom are on a

thin edge trying to survive. we're turning down that money. it makes absolutely no bloody sense. >> and that is what could change as far as i'm concerned, it could change the whole nation in midterm elections. we keep talking about who's not on the ballot. people have to see they are on the ballot. if they understand their interest is on the ballot, they are going to show up and show out. democrats need to wake up and see that. governor ed rendell and jonathan gruber, thank you both for your time tonight. >> my pleasure, al. coming up, president obama lays out his foreign policy vision today. as a new report on the va problem emerges and it raises a lot of questions tonight. plus, a new diagnosis, republicans have come down with a severe new political disease. we'll explain what it is and why it's spreading. and remembering a phenomenal woman, maya angelou, the

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today's question of the day is all about health care. nearly 5 million americans are being denied access to health care because of governors who won't expand medicaid in their states. will those governors reverse cause, yes or no? what's your prediction? you can vote on our facebook page or on twitter. so vote now and be sure to leave a comment. we'll have your answers later in the show. [male vo] inside this bag exists over 150 years of swedish coffee experience. that's 150 years of experience

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today at westpoint, president obama gave a historic speech outlining his vision for u.s. foreign policy. after ending the war in iraq and winding down the war in afghanistan, it's a vision that sharply departs from the bush/cheney philosophy that drove america into those two wars. >> here's my bottom line. america must always lead on the world stage, but u.s. military action cannot be the only or even primary component of our leadership in every instance.

just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail. >> the president rejected the right wing's view that always thinks military option ought to be the first resort, even in cases where the u.s. isn't directly threatened. >> such circumstances, we should not go it alone. instead, we must mobilize allies and partners to take collective action. we have to broaden our tools to include diplomacy and development, sanctions and isolation, appeals to international law, and if just, necessary, and effective, multilateral military action. >> americans are weary of war. they don't want to send more troops into harm's way unless absolutely necessary. and today, president obama laid the foundation for new foreign policy that lets america do some

nation building right here at home. joining me now is democratic congressman and navy veteran jim mcdermott. thank you for being here, congressman. >> good to be here, rev. >> aren't americans ready for this new, smarter foreign policy, even if some on the right are not? >> absolutely they are. this country is tired of war. we've been at war for 11 years, and the president is gararadual withdrawing us that's protectsing our interests. if you listen to the guys on the right, we should have gone into syria. the president got rid of chemical weapons without putting a single boot on the ground. that was wonderful. he's doing the same thing in iran. he's bringing that to ground through diplomacy, and that's really what the american people want. >> you know, let me share this

with you, congressman. an nbc poll raised the question, should the u.s. be less or more active in world affairs? 47% said less active, just 19% said more active. so the president's speech today was in step with what the american public wants, weary of yet more military adventures, wasn't it? >> well, the people in the congress who will complain about what the president said today simply want us to get more involved in war. we could have been involved in a whole bunch of places, and the president has held steady and used diplomacy and he also knows where the american people are. we are willing to defend our country. the real test of it was that the people he was speaking to are the people who are going to go out and do the wars for us, and they cheered him in his speech.

they agreed with him. so you know he was right. >> you know, many on the right rush to criticize the president's plan for all troops to be out of afghanistan by 2016, like republican congressman adam kinslinger. listen to what he said. >> i think he is more concerned with his legacy at the end of 2016 than he is with doing what's right with afghanistan and the united states of america, a residual force of 10,000 people in at least for perpetuity for a little bit is a very small commitment on our end. >> so his answer is to stay in afghanistan another ten years? >> that member of congress has not been around very much or knows what people are thinking in this country. the american people believe we did what we could. we had 100,000 people there in 2009, and we have decided that

we have done what we can, we're going to write some kind of status of force agreement with this new president in afghanistan, and we will do what we have to to protect americans and finish the job as best we can. we can't do it all ourselves. the afghans have to do some of it for themselves. >> let me ask you this quickly on a different note. today, the veterans affairs inspector general released a preliminary report about medical care. it found that there are problems with delayed medical care and with records being manipulated at va hospitals across the country. at the phoenix medical facility, 1,700 veterans seeking care aren't even on a waiting list. veterans at that facility waited an average of 115 days for their first appointment, so now even some democrats are calling on va secretary eric shinseki to

resign. putting politics aside, are you, are you confident these problems will now get resolved now that they are out there? >> i think there's no question about it. general shinseki has been a very solid servant for this country, and i do not think that he would have tolerated that, had he known about it, and people were hiding it from him and from everyone else. and those people ought to be -- they ought to be gone tomorrow morning. there shouldn't be any question about the people who were covering those things up. they should not be protected. >> all right. congressman jim mcdermott, thank you so much for your time tonight. >> you're welcome. still ahead, how do you explain the gop's push against the first lady's healthy kids program? turns out it's part of a larger republican agenda. i'll explain. but first, the star of "duck dynasty" is back. you won't believe where he's

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just over a year ago, the gop announced their brand just wasn't working anymore. they vowed to seriously change it in order to win new voters. >> the way we communicate our principles isn't resinating widely enough. focus groups described our party as narrow minded, out of touch, and, quote, stuffy old men. we know that we have problems. we've identified them, and we're implementing the solutions to fix them. >> no more narrow minded, out of touch, stuffy old men. they would open the tent, become the party that welcomed

everybody. and tomorrow, the gop will get a chance to show case their new agenda at the 2014 republican leadership conference in new orleans. so who are some of the new leaders taking the stage? how about donald trump? yes, the king bertha. nobody says open the tent quite like donald trump. then there's louisiana governor bobby jindal. he recently slammed the president while visiting the white house at a bipartisan event. and what's a leadership conference without senator ted cruz, the guy who led the gop into their lowest approval ratings ever? but nothing says change like the conference's big celebrity speaker, a star that could really appeal to a wide audience, somebody to lead the party to new heights. i'm, of course, talking about phil robertson, the star of

"duck dynasty," who is best known for comparing homosexuality to bestiality and for saying african-americans had nothing to complain about under jim crow. they were singing and happy. yes, he will be on that stage. wow, you better stop changing so much, gop, i'm getting whiplash. did reince priebus really think we wouldn't notice their rebranding quack up? nice try, but here's my favorite duck call, we got ya. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can.

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go ahead, run in the halls, put your feet on the furniture, jump on the bed. the rules can wait, it's time to play freely, in pampers cruisers. they adapt at the waist, legs and bottom, with up to 12 hours of protection for pampers best protection and fit, and all the freedom to play. wishing you love, sleep and play. pampers. you'd think that legislation aimed at getting kids to eat healthier would be easy, right? wrong. a house committee is expected to move forward with the bill this week that would gut the first lady's healthy school initiative, but why? well, it appears as if the republicans have been struck with a bad case of ofis.

that's right, ofis. obama for it syndrome. it's a sickness whereby if president obama or the first lady is for something, then republicans are against it. and boy has the gop caught a nasty bout of it. michael tamaski writes about it in today's "daily beast." he asks, "is it really cost that's driving the house gop to fight michelle obama on school lunches?" nope, the answer is, in part, plain old hatred of her husband. but this isn't the first time the gop has caught this affliction. sometimes they oppose policies they used to support simply because the president is behind them now. >> every state has different demographics. every state has different problems. it's good to allow them to work

out their own problems rather than a one-size fits all program. >> you do not believe in the concept of the minimum wage? >> you would abolish the minimum wage? >> correct. >> how many stimulus bills do we have to pass before these bridges get fixed? i would suggest, mr. president, you think about ways to actually help the people of kentucky and ohio instead of how you can use their roads and bridges as a backdrop for making a political point. >> ouch! senator mcconnell's a long-time sufferer of ofis. he and republicans supported infrastructure spending, that is until president obama supported it. and on minimum wage, they loved it, even though now the party's talking about abolishing it. even health care, senator hatch co-sponsored a health care bill that included key obamacare provisions, but now he's like all the rest, get rid of it.

the latest fight over the first lady's healthy eating initiative is just one more case of ofis. let's hope someone somewhere discovers a cure. joining me now are the "daily beast" michael tomaski. his article today called "republicans for more fat kids." and "the washington post" jonathan capehart. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> let me start with you, is this opposition just the latest case of ofis, if the obamas are for it, the gop is against it? >> yeah, and, of course, the state is doing this, the evil state is imposing that these children have to eat fresh vegetables and fresh fruit and whole grains instead of other things and fewer calories, so it's that, but basically driven by the fact that if the obamas

are pushing it, they are going to be against it. now, you know, i thought we all grew up being told by our mothers to eat our greens and try and eat healthy, but apparently, you know, once the obamas latch on to that idea, it becomes a bad idea in republican land, and it's really a terrible thing, because i was having a joke with my headline there, little bit of a joke, "republicans for more fat kids," but that's in essence what it boils down to. >> as a guy that grew up a fat kid in school, i took it personal, your headline. aside from that -- >> sorry. >> -- it is really that bad when you see as something as common sense as this being opposed and opposed in a strenuous way, michael. >> yeah, it really is, and so what they are doing technically is they are proposing a bill that would allow certain school districts that have complained about this to opt out of it. now in fairness, i will say there's been studies of the way

this program has been implemented and it is more expensive for school districts to buy fresh fruit and vegetables than canned ones, and sometimes children have complained that these lunches aren't as tasty. well, of course they are not as tasty, they don't have as much added sugar and added fat, so there have been some issues, but the vast majority, the vast majority of school districts around the country, are implementing these and are finding ways to make it work. but, you know, it's not the cost to these people. it's the ideology and the fact that the obamas want it. >> well, let's look at the point, jonathan, the first lady is trying to tackle a really important issue here, the percentage of adolescents who are obese has quadrupled in the last 30 years. her healthy eating initiative would tackle that issue head on. it establishes guidelines, minimum amounts of fruits,

vegetables, and whole grain foods. i mean, this is real tangible ways of improving the health of american children. >> right. of american children who then go on to become american adults, who then go on to take advantage of the health care system or veil themselves of medical care and whether they have insurance, which most of them will have it as a result of the affordable care act, you know, they'll be able to get coverage, but for those who don't have coverage, they go to hospital emergency rooms and costs go up. the whole point behind improving health care is, one, to improve the livelihoods and the well being of the american people, but there's also a cost component here. healthier people cost less and are less of a strain on an already overstrained system. >> you know, michael, in your piece you talk about the dangers of the gop winning the senate. you say the gop's lunch proposal is, "relatively mild only

because they know nothing harsher would see the light of day in the senate, but if they take over the senate, watch for watering down or defunding of the whole business. that's the end of your quote. doesn't this really get to the larger point, that the gop obstructionism will be out of control on every issue, should they win the senate? >> well, i think it will be, absolutely, and they'll force obama to veto things and he might be able to veto this one and have the program survive, but this is how they are going to, i think, attack a lot of issues. they are going to try to defund them, in the agricultural department of appropriation, it's the agricultural department that oversees the program. they could cut a lot of funding for this. this proposal would continue to give this money to these school districts that opt out, the extra money for the extra fruits and vegetables, it would still give them that money, even

though they'll opt out. they'll play all kinds of games with this if they do get control of the senate and never lift a finger on their own. if we ever have a republican president and majority house and senate, they'll never do anything about school lunches. >> you know, jonathan, it's not the first time they've gone after the first lady. i mean, they've attacked her over and over again for any number of reasons. watch this. >> we ought to name michelle, muc muchelle obama. >> most marie ann twoe net. did you see the dress she was wearing? >> why would you want to raise your own kids when michelle obama will do it for you? in fact, she'll do it at gun point. >> we don't like paying millions of dollars for mrs. obama's vacations. that's a little bit of a waste. they understand it's a little bit of uppity-ism. >> i mean, it's a little beyond

partisanship. it's extra venom in these attacks on the president and the first lady, jonathan. >> well, it's extra venom, it's extra personal. there is in a lot of those comments, especially rush limbaugh's last comment, there is something really personal, very harsh about the criticism. look, presidents and first ladies are criticized all the time, remember president george w. bush was criticized for being on vacation all the time, a whole lot more often than president obama. he went on vacations, first lady laura bush traveled around the world representing the united states, which is what she is supposed to do as first lady of the united states, but, yes, i agree with you, that a lot of the criticism being hurled at the president go way beyond disagreements over policy. they get to a personal hatred of the man. >> all right. i'm going to have to leave it there. michael and jonathan, thank you both for your time tonight. >> thanks, rev.

>> thank you. ahead, it's been a right-wing rally and call for awhile. a convention of the states to limit the role in power of president obama and the federal government, but it's real and it's happening right now. new legislation was just introduced. and good-bye to a legend. maya angelou, the poet, the activist, and the inspiration. we remember this truly phenomenal woman ahead. [ dennis ] it's always the same dilemma --

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we're back with the most -- the right's most dangerous attempt to undermine the president yet. it's states rights on steroids. this is north carolina resolution 1206. a group of republican state legislators introduced it yesterday. it calls for a convention of states, something that hasn't been done in over 200 years, to amend the constitution. these republicans are worried about, quote, abuses of power by the federal government. they think the federal government has, quote, invaded the legitimate role of the states. and they even believe the federal government has, quote, ceased to exist under the proper

interpretation of the constitution of the united states. the federal government doesn't exist? news to me. but north carolina isn't alone. take a look at these bills being pushed in missouri, new mexico, and south carolina. they have virtually the same language. they are the same bills. now eight states have pending or passed bills calling for so-called constitutional convention. and the right wing talkers can't wait to join in. >> and on a state level, i think it's very important that we find candidates and elect them who would be willing to call for a convention of states, if need be, because that is the way -- that is the tool that the people have to rein in government. >> a convention of the states would be able to address things people feel are out of control. >> there's a massive reset coming, you need to break up the

ka ball in washington and this is the way to do it. >> now this radical idea is going mainstream, with support from people like senator tom corbett and governors bobby jindal and john kasich. folks, this is just a new twist on an old story, states rights is all about trying to undermine the authority of the president and the federal laws that protect us all. joining me now is chris fitz simon of north carolina policy watch and msnbc's karen finney. thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> hey, rev. >> chris, why this sudden push in north carolina to change the united states constitution? >> well, i wish i knew. i think it's clearly an effort by the tea party right, one of the founders of the convention on states is one of the leaders of the tea party patriots. we've seen this kind of thing in north carolina since 2011.

the first day of our legislative session in 2013, there was literally a nullification rally on the lawn outside the legislative building, where legislators attended, where the state chairman of the republican party at the time praised the organizers, and it was all about nullifying laws of the federal gott. it reminds me of dr. king's favorite speech, the governor dripping with the words of nullification. >> in the speech they applaud, but leave the meaning of those lines out conveniently. >> absolutely, and we are back now to literally talking about nullification, and it's not just state legislators, senator rand paul came to north carolina and endorsed a candidate in the republican senate primary who spoke at a nullification rally and said publicly we don't have to obey decisions of the united states supreme court that we disagree with. >> wait a minute, rand paul came to north carolina and supported a senate candidate who spoke at a nullification rally and said they do not have to obey the

laws the supreme court decides on? >> that's the kind of state we're living in, rand paul, a sitting u.s. senator. that's the state of the republican party in north carolina, and i fear the nation, that these are radical reactionaries who are taking us back to a time of states rights, and this convention on the states is just the latest mechanism in this sort of radicalization of the republican party and the so-called mainstream republicans here and around the country are unwilling to condemn it, and, in fact, many times they stand beside them. >> i was getting ready to say, some are supporting it, karen, and mind you, ahead of this convention of states group went on fox last year and explained what kinds of amendments he wants to pass. watch this, karen. >> a balanced budget amendment, tax limitations, spending limitations, term limits on congress, mark has proposed curtailing the power of the supreme court by giving the

states a method of overriding it, abuse of the executive order power of the president, all of that is up for grabs. >> all of that is up for grabs, including decisions by the supreme court, karen. >> you would think they'd want to stick by the supreme court, because they've been good to conservatives so far. but rev, let's talk about what this really is about, because i didn't hear anything about this when george bush was president and lied his way into a war we are still paying for dearly, right, so if we're really talking about the federal government getting out of control, we know that is driven by republicans in congress who have all they can say to president obama is no, no, no, so that the government appears to be dysfunctional rather than working with the president and try to undermine the legitimacy of president obama. that's what this is really about. >> but also the danger, chris, is that when we had states rights, we had the country was

torn asunder. under states rights, you can forget civil rights, you can forget women's rights, you can forget rights for gays and lesbians, immigrants. you have no protection under states rights. it was always a strong federal government that had to protect most americans, particularly in certain states. to revert back to that is absolutely frightening to many americans. >> well, it's frightening to many of us in north carolina, too, and that's what's so astounding about this latest bill that's been introduced. we have a bill last year to establish a state religion and everybody thought, and it was lampooned as it should have been about some outrageous idea, but 16 state legislators signed that bill, including the house majority leader, head of our state budget committee. they were worried about the supreme court ruling against them in prayer at public meetings, christian prayer. so we have a reactionary group running north carolina and a group of people, i believe, in control of the national

republican party, and you're right, it's dangerous and frightening and threatens to take us back. they want to repeal the 20th century here and are doing it one piece of legislation at a time, and i worry that's happening in america. >> you know, karen, this is the latest, as you talk about, the whole thing is targeted at the president and is just the latest talking point that they used in their attempt to undermine the president. watch this. >> we have a president who doesn't understand or just chooses to disrespect our constitution. >> this is stalinism. this is sheer brazen lawlessness. >> and, u, this is what tyrants are made of, this is what autocrats are made of. >> he has all of the earmarks as a marxist dictator, he does. >> we did not elect a dictator, we elected a president. >> i'm afraid that president obama may have this king complex sort of developing.

>> i mean, it is absolutely where they use the president as the target to demonize him, but if they turn this to states rights this, will have implications far beyond the rest of his presidency. >> well, i think that's exactly right, but i think they are using states rights as a dog whistle to scare people, to rally people, around the idea as they call in this imperial president that somehow president obama, what are they saying about immigration reform, they can't trust him to enforce the law. it's outrageous. >> well, i'm going to have to leave there, but we're going to stay on top of this, chris. chris fitzsimon and karen finney, thank you for your time tonight and be sure to watch "disrupt" with karen finney weekends at 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. coming up, we remember a phenomenal woman, who inspired president obama and millions of others. my thoughts ahead. smoke? nah, i'm good. [ male announcer ] celebrate every win with nicoderm cq,

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running on platforms to repeal obamacare and keep obamacare medicaid out of texas." meme is optimistic, though. no one likes to be excluded from a good deal, especially one that can save lives. public pressure will cause them to cave. thanks to all who voted, and please keep the conversation going on our facebook page. the day we rescued riley was a truly amazing day. he was a matted mess in a small cage. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list.

we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb.

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highest civilian honor, the medal of freedom, adding a kiss on the cheek. ms. angelou was a tireless voice for freedom and equality. she worked in civil rights. she worked with both malcolm x and reverend dr. martin luther king jr., and when i interviewed her last year, she spoke powerfully about the ties that bind us all together. >> only equals make friends. any other relationship is out of order, so we are more alike than we are unalike. and when you know that, then you can make a relationship that helps us all to be kinder, truer to each other, more courteous. >> maya angelou was hopeful, but she was also tough, and she told me she had little patience for people who still try to divide us as americans. >> there are a lot of people who

really want us to continue to be these yet to be united states. when i see those people who want to continue to keep us polarized, i think, how stupid. are we really going to continue to be that thick, that dense? >> maya angelou challenged us to rise above hate and ignorance. just like she did in her own life and in her poetry. >> you may write me down in history with your bitter twisted lies. you may trod me in the very dirt, but still like dust i'll rise. >> five days ago we saw maya angelou's last tweet, she wrote, "listen to yourself and end that quietude, you might hear the voice of god." maya angelou was truly one of the people that truly inspired and touched me and millions of

other americans. i read her book very young, "i know why the caged bird sings." i was inspired by it. i was inspired by her poem, "still i rise." you'd have to have been a bird in the cage to understand the meaning. you'd have to have been knocked down to know what rising really means. maya knew it and expressed it for all of us. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. now it's the president's call. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews. up in new york, let me start tonight with this, a week ago president obama warned veterans administrator eric shen she canny that he, the president, was waiting t