thank you. that's "the ed show." "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed, and thanks to you for tuning in. breaking news on that white house fence jumper who was the first person to ever make it inside the executive mansion. tonight, we're learning just how far he made it. "the washington post" reporting omar gonzalez made it much farther into the building than previously known. overpowering one secret service officer and running through much of the main floor. after barrelling past the guard immediately inside the door, gonzalez, who was carrying a knife, dashed past the stairway, leading a half flight up to the first family's living quarters. this is stunning information.

secret service had previously said gonzalez was stopped in the main entry. now it appears he wasn't stopped until he got deep inside. according to the post, here's what's happened. this is the lay-out of the state floor of the white house. gonzalez made it through the entrance hall, then into the 80-foot-long east room, the same room where president obama announced the killing of osama bin laden, before he reached the doorway to the green room, where according to the post, he finally was tackled by a counter assault agent. take a look at the ground he covered. the intruder didn't simply make it inside before he got tackled and the green room where he was stopped, overlooks the south lawn, where president obama and his family had been walking just minutes earlier, as they departed the white house. how in the world did this happen? how did someone carrying a knife get deep inside what's supposed

to be the safest home in america? is the secret service doing everything it can to keep the president and his family safe? joining me now from the white house is nbc senior white house correspondent, chris jansing. chris, what is your reaction to the white house and what is the reaction in the white house to this report? >> it is as you said, stunning. the white house won't comment on these latest reports. neither will the secret service, but this really is, rev, a very different situation than we were led to believe. i was here that night. we just talked to congressman elijah cummings, the ranking member on the committee that will talk to the secret service director tomorrow. he said this should be a come to jesus moment. he said the secret service has not lived up to its reputation and here's why. after scaling the fence into what as you said is widely

expected to be the most secure house in the country. he ran 70 yards across the lawn to the front door. now we know he got well into the building, confronting at least two agents along the way. how could this happen? well, we now believe the reason dogs didn't stop gonzalez when he sprinted across the lawn, was because there were a lot of officers there and there was concern the dogs might attack them instead. originally, you'll remember the secret service said it was because he appeared unarmed. and now we know he was carrying that serrated blade knife. what about the front door? "the washington post" reports there's an alarm box near the front entrance that's supposed to alert guards to intrusion, but apparently it had been going off a lot. so it was on mute because it was bothering staffers. all of this happened after the president and his daughters went for a weekend at camp david. so these new revelations will f

following the weekend report. it took agents four days to realize it even happened and it was a housekeeper who found the evidence. members of the house oversight committee are expected to question julia pearson tomorrow. she wants the hearing to be closed. the president was briefed by her this past thursday. we've seen a few changes, a double row of what looked like bicycle racks surrounding the existing fence. we saw agents on the lawn testing communications equipment. but no one at least that we know of has been relieved of duty. the briefing today, i asked the white house press secretary should the american people have confidence that the president and his family are safe, and he says the president does, rev. >> let me go back to the dogs. they're saying that the dogs they feared were going to attack agents. and that's why the dogs were not

where they could have stopped, apprehended or at least brought down this intruder? >> i've seen this before. when a previous intruder came over the fence, rev, and it was happening just right behind me, and there were agents actually with guns drawn, but when the man was brought down, the dog was within, i would say, inches of his face. they are trained to run, to knock down a full grown man with a single leap. and then, if they need to, they will bite, they will hold that will person down. so, originally the question was, why weren't they released? and they said, he appeared unarmed. same reason that apparently snipers chose not to take a shot. but now they're telling a different story altogether. elijah cummings said these are the kinds of questions they want to get to the bottom of. one more point that he said, one of the things that disturbs him

so much about this, rev, is that part of what keeps the president safe is the reputation of the secret service, people have come to believe if you try something, they'll stop you. and he's concerned about the message that this sends. >> and they're saying he appeared to be unarmed. chris jansing at the white house, i thank you for your time this evening. >> welcome. >> let me bring in jack rice, a former cia agent who spent time as as a special agent in the office of security and jim cavanaugh, msnbc analyst and retired atf analyst. thank you both for being here. >> thanks, reverend. >> jack, this man with a knife was deep inside the white house. what's your reaction? >> well, this is horrifying. if you contemplate what the potential could have been here. yes, everything turned out already in a sense. i guess the positive is that you realize the procedures, the protocols that were in place, that should have been in place, were simply dismissed, ignored,

or whatever reason, not there. but chris's point is a really good one. one of the biggest concerns that we need to have now besides all that is this lack of credibility. the perception that the secret service is failing to do their job. because potentially what that does is encourage others to simply test just how good, or how bad, the secret service actually is. >> now, jim, the post reports that an alarm box was turned off. quote, an alarm box near the front entrance of the white house designed to alert guards to an intruder had been muted at what officers believed was the request of the usher's office. said a secret service official who spoke on the condition on anonymity. how could something like this happen? does this appear to be a breach of protocol? >> i think so, reverend al. i've been on a lot of secret service details.

the one thing you hear a lot of carping about people, it's intrusive, it bothers them. there's all kinds of reasons. if this is true, and the ushers office said that, i think that's a failure as well to interfere at all with the security. but the atmosphere of the secret service, down to any agent and uniformed division officer has to be that you're not going to compromise the security no matter who requests it, and the chain of command is going to back you up. so they have to change the atmosphere. they have to listen to their people. they had the female agent on the balcony in 2011, she said there were shots fired and she was fearful to bring it up again. so the climate is not right. the atmosphere has to change. and director pearson has to be the one to change it, and she has to take responsibility tomorrow in front of the congress for this lapse. this is outrageous. i agree with jack, it's outrageous that a person could penetrate to the green room. >> outrageous is almost an understatement. let me go back to you, jack. the post also reports that at

least one secret service agent appeared to have been caught off guard. quote, the female officer posted inside the front door appeared to be delayed in learning that the intruder, omar gonzalez, was about to burst through. officers are trained that upon learning of an intruder on the ground, often through the alarm boxes posted around the property. they must immediately lock the front door. does this suggest a widespread breakdown? shouldn't that agent have been alerted? >> without question. that's again, one of the problems here. there are procedures that should be in place. by the way, how is it the ushers' office gets to determine security? >> good question. >> at the end of the day, you need to have a director who clarifies what happens and the campaign chain of command up to the potus himself, has to say, we're going to back you up. it's not the ushers office.

it's the secret service. they make the call to apply all of the things they have to ap y apply. they didn't in this case, and that's clear. >> the president said after this story surfaced, a few days after the break-in, listen to what the president said. >> i'm grateful for the sacrifices they make on my behalf, and my family's behalf. >> what needs to change in the secret service? what needs to be done, jim? >> the atmosphere. the atmosphere needs to change from the top down. you need to listen to all the people. the people that know the most about the security of the president are the 6,000 men and women of the secret service. they have to be listened to and trusted. they have to know that their commander trusts them. that's how you change the atmosphere. what we're facing is the worldwide terrorism issue. all the vulnerabilities are

exposed. when the terrorists want to launch an attack, it's not one guy with mental issues. it's three or four attackers with sub-machine-guns like killed sadat, or hand grenade and sub-machine attack like killed bhutto. these are the types of attacks that are used by terror cells, watching this minute by minute. this story is in the manila times today. so they have to tighten it up. >> the president says he has confidence in them, but how angry do you think he must really be? his family is there. this guy got right to the entrance, the bottom of the steps where you go up to the living quarters of the residence at the white house. >> right, reverend l.al. he's a leader, he's backing his people. he knows what the secret service has been through. they've had their people shot protecting president reagan.

they've been hurt. killed in front of the blair house with harry truman, the white house uniform division. so they're very brave. he's backing them up. he needs to do that. but the mistakes need to stop. the director needs to take a hit on the hill tomorrow, take responsibility, it was on her watch with the fence jumper, and let's institute plans to get this fixed. >> this is not just a little mistakes, for example, jack, "the washington post" is also reporting on a 2011 incident that jan referred to, which it says the secret service fumbled. seven gun shots struck the white house. seven gun shots. but it took four days for the secret service to realize what had happened. the post says the secret service' response infuriated the president and the first lady. >> well, rev, again, that's one of our problems. what we're not seeing is transparency here, at least within the organization itself. they're not responding. they're not being responsive in the way that they need to be. if they see a failure, they need

to address it. >> but four days -- but four days, jack, and you don't know seven shots hit the white house? it takes someone in the white house staff to notice some glass before you realize that shots actually went into the white house? >> well, apparently it's the ushers office and the cleaning crew who is securing the white house now. what does that say? >> that's my question, to not only you, but i hope it's raised in a vos ifrous manner tomorrow at the hearing. >> me too, rev. >> i agree with that. >> words can't express how unbelievably outrageous this is. >> it is. when the shots hit in 2011, rev, they should have sent a dozen special agents who were off duty down in to sort it out. come in from the suburbs and come in from home, it's an urgent thing. you've got to respond now. that's why you're the secret service. not only the people on duty, but

you bring in more people, commanders, you got to be there, you got to be on the scene, you got to sort it through, search, listen to your people, trust them. they need to change the way they're thinking. they're changed over the years. been around them. have a lot of friends, have a great respect for the agency, but they stumbled, failed, now they got to pick it up and -- the director has a chance to do that. >> let me go back to cummings' point. we talk about this sense of alert around the world with terrorism. what does this do to the reputation of the secret service, that might encourage all kinds of reaction, if people feel you've got not one, but two incidents that both got through to the white house? seven bullets, seven shots, and then a man with a knife actually getting on the grounds, running through the main floor. what does this say to the world? >> that's the scary part. it's not just about competency.

it's about the perception of incompetency in this case. if you can't establish that if you step on white house grounds and you're not supposed to be there, you're going down in some fashion or another. if you can get into the white house, get across the main floor, get into the building, get very close to the family. what's not to encourage somebody else to try again. except for somebody who actually has competency. somebody who can run a real operation. and that's what we're afraid of. frankly, that's what the secret service is afraid. that's what potus is afraid of. that's what we should all be afraid of. >> thank you both for your time tonight. coming up, president obama talks candidly on dealing with the isis crisis. so why is senator john mccain criticizing him today? and breaking news from the supreme court today on voting in a critical swing state. plus, we know george clooney, the actor, and george clooney, the activist.

but now, it's george clooney, the husband. and it was a night to remember in central park, a concert to end poverty. 60,000 came out over the weekend and hundreds of millions of lives were impacted. that's ahead. please stay with us. i love having a free checked bag. with my united mileageplus explorer card. i have saved $75 in checked bag fees. priority boarding is really important to us. you can just get on the plane and relax. i love to travel, no foreign transaction fees means real savings. we can go to any country and spend money the way we would in the us. when i spend money on this card i can see brazil in my future. i use the explorer card to earn miles in order to go visit my family which means a lot to me. ♪ but they have to use special care in keeping the denture clean. dentures are very different to real teeth.

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over the weekend, one of our favorite socially conscious activists tied the knot. he also happened to be hollywood's most eligible bachelor. george clooney and his human rights attorney fiancee got married this weekend in venice. and it was a talker with our "politicsnation" social media community. lois said, what a wonderful couple. other posting, finally, congrats.

ian wrote, he definitely married up. she's spectacular, chic, brilliant, accomplished, gorgeous. congrats to the new couple. >> and please keep the conversation going on our facebook page or tweet us.

developing news tonight in the fight against isis. the pentagon announcing the u.s. and his partners launched eight air strikes against isis targets yesterday and today for a total of 290 strikes against isis and other terrorist groups in iraq and syria. in an interview on 60 minutes,

president obama said only the united states could lead this fight. >> america leads. we -- we -- we are the indispensable nation. we have capacity no one else has. our military is the best in the history of the world. and when trouble comes up anywhere in the world, they don't call beijing, they don't call moscow. they call us. that's how we roll. and that's what makes us america. >> the president also said the u.s. government didn't anticipate how isis would advance, nor how the iraqis would react. >> i think our head of the intense community, jim clapper, has acknowledged that i think they underestimated what had been taking place in syria. >> he didn't say that -- just say that we underestimated isil.

he said we overestimated the ability and the will of our allies, the iraqi army, to fight. >> that's true. that's absolutely true. >> the u.s. is now depending on those iraqi troops to stand and fight. this time backed by american air power. but the president is standing by his promise, that he won't let us be dragged into another ground war in the middle east. joining me now is brian cat you knowis, senior fellow at the center for american progress. thanks for being here, brian. >> great to be with you. >> some are criticizing president obama's comments, but frankly did anyone expect isis fighters to do so much so quickly? or the iraqi army to have so many problems? >> well, i think the key is the iraqi army shocked everyone when they literally stripped off their uniforms and handed over their weapons in mosul and in other places. that's something nobody

anticipated. the key point here, our human intelligence, our ability to understand what iraqis or others can do is quite different than what we can collect from sat slights and phone calls. having that human intelligence, sometimes people do the craziest things and the iraqis just did not fight for their country. that's what shocked everyone. >> senator john mccain will use just about any excuse to go to war, but he really likes pushing war. but today he went after president obama for not launching attacks on syrian president assad. listen to this. >> are we going to ask young men to train and equip, and we send them back to be slaughtered by bashar assad's air power? >> what's the solution? >> we need a no-fly zone. >> what if he breaches it? >> we take out his air force. the president can act, under the war powers act -- >> against assad? >> absolutely, he can act against assad.

why shouldn't he? >> why shouldn't we attack assad? i mean, isn't he being extremely casual about something that could lead to some very dangerous results? >> i think he is, but we need to understand that even these syrian rebels, the forces that oppose isis and assad, they're complaining as well. so it's not only senator mccain. he has some points here in saying that, look, at a certain point in syria, assad himself is part of the problem. he allowed the rise of isis. i'm not saying strike them as senator mccain is, but we should think about how this policy fits together. we have necessary action against isis, we don't have a clear picture of how this all ends. >> a new cnn poll finds the american people, 73% support air strikes, while 60% oppose u.s. ground troops. so the american people don't want u.s. ground troops.

but listen to what speaker boehner said over the weekend. >> if no one else will step up, you would recommend putting american boots on the ground? >> we have no choice. these are barbarians. they intend to kill us. if we don't destroy them first, we're going to pay the price. >> we have no choice, he says. why is he jumping into something the american people are so overwhelmingly against. >> i think it's in the dna of the republican party. even after the mistakes that they made over the past decade, to try to get us to pull the weight of everyone around the world. what president obama is trying to do, in essence, with this coalition that he's trying to build is say, iraqis, syrians, turks, will you fight for your region? will you fight against these mad men? when you see speaker boehner or senator mccain, they're saying the exact opposite. we should have learned that decade during the previous decade.

most americans have, but many in the republican party have not. >> brian, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. still ahead, breaking news from the supreme court, a ruling to limit voting in a key, swing state, just weeks before the mid-term election. but first, we welcome back an old favorite into tonight's gotcha. senator mcconnell, you're up. so when we asked the guys at composites horizons to map their manufacturing process with sticky notes and string, yeah, they were a little bit skeptical. what they do actually is rocket science. high tech components for aircraft and fighter jets. we're just their bankers, right? but financing from ge capital also comes with expertise from across ge. in this case, our top lean process engineers. so they showed us who does what, when, and where. then we hit them with the important question: why? why put the tools over there? do you really need those five steps?

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what do you do when your policies are unpopular? anything. and that's exactly what we've seen from republicans, this circus of an election season. it's the lamest show on earth. take congressman tom cotton. he just tried to blame president obama for a deeply unpopular vote he took against the farm bill. cotton doesn't like food stamps, so he voted against the whole thing.

now he's trying to bluff his way through it, blaming president obama. that's certainly a trick we've seen before. here's another act for you. mitch mcconnell twisting himself into a pretzel. mcconnell told a room full of billionaire donors, what kind of majority leader he would be if republicans take the senate. >> we're not going to be debating all this gosh darn proposals. that's all we do in the senate is vote on things like raising the minimum wage. >> he's not going to debate the gosh darn minimum wage. but just last week, mcconnell was asked if he would allow a vote on the minimum wage, and he said yes. he sure is walking a tight rope, trying to have the issue both ways. mitch mcconnell and the republicans know they're on the wrong side of the issues.

61% say it's important to pass significant immigration reform. 67% say we need to make changes in the workplace to treat men and women equally. and 71% support increasing the minimum wage. the gop has blocked all of these efforts. so what's a republican to do? anything but talk about policy in a substantive way. did senator mcconnell and the republicans think these high-flying acrobatics are going to fly with the american people? nice try, but we got you. rs, ou. your aspirations, our analytics. your goals, our technology. introducing synchrony financial, bringing new meaning to the word partnership. banking. loyalty. analytics. synchrony financial.

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let's get back to our schools and offices, our churches, beauty shops, barber shops, make sure folks know there's an election coming up. they need to know how to register, and they need to know how and when to vote. >> the president this weekend talking about the urgency of getting out there to vote in

this mid term election. but late today, breaking news from the supreme court which issued a ruling to block early voting in ohio. just hours before it was supposed to start. early voting was supposed to start tomorrow. but this ruling delays early voting by a full week. it eliminates weekend voting in the two weeks before election, including polls on sundays. it also eliminates weeknight voting in those two weeks, making it harder for folks to vote after work. the ruling was a 5-4 decision, with all 5 conservative justices supporting an argument that will lead to fewer people voting this fall. it's stunning and it could have a huge affect on lawsuits to protect voting rights in other states, including wisconsin, north carolina, texas, and arkansas. joining me now is maria theresa

kumar and krystal ball. >> thanks. >> is voter suppression part of the election tragedy for the right? >> unfortunately i guess they feel they can't win on the power of their ideas, so they have to win by rigging the rules. it's incredibly troubling. in ohio what they did, they moved it from 35 early voting days to 28. you think, why does that make such a difference? well, there was a week there where you could register and you could vote on that same day, which was important, as you're pointing out. you also had a curtailing of sunday voting, and they claim this has to do with combatting voter fraud, which, a, no one can prove exists in any meaningful quantities. >> data says it doesn't exist. >> it doesn't. and please explain to me how voting on sundays increases voter fraud. it makes absolutely no sense. and it's troubling that the

supreme court went in and said at the very last minute that we are going to block this early voting and people cannot start voting tomorrow. >> maria, a u.s. appeals court heard the argument and a judge asked a simple question. why does the state of north carolina not want people to vote? isn't the heart of the issue? the quote was, why does people in the state of north carolina not want people to vote? i wanted to correct it. >> that's right. i think what this judge is saying, we are right now, in the most diverse country and by changing the rules in the middle of the game because you don't like the people who are participating, not only is it unfair, but it's undemocratic. what krystal was saying is right. it's not talking about the letter of the law, not modernizing the election system, how do we make sure the majority of americans are voting?

it's basically because they don't want participation. and what we're seeing, unfortunately. you mentioned ohio, north carolina, texas, arkansas. these are increasingly swing states, where you have a huge boom, not only in the african american vote, but a huge boom in the latino vote. what you're saying to young people, people of color is that we don't want your participation. and what we have to do is to ensure that we hold their feet to the fire and make sure that we're having these conversations. because at the end of the day, the only way that you maximize participation is that you make voting easier, not harder. >> well, i've been looking at supreme courts a long time now, this is the most partisan supreme court bench i've seen. i mean, the five conservatives here are like the political guardians of the right, in terms of a strategy for winning elections, in my opinion. but maybe republicans need to suppress the vote, krystal, because they can't run on their policies.

check out what iowa senate candidate joanie ernst said about climate change in a debate just last night. >> i don't know the science behind climate change. i can't say one way or another what is the direct impact from whether it's man-made or not. i've heard the arguments from both sides. >> just to clarify, you do accept that climate change does exist. >> i do believe that our climate is changing, but again i'm not sure what the impact of man is upon that climate change. >> now miss ernst may not know about climate change, but scientists do. 95 to 97% of all climate scientists agree that humans are a factor in global warming. i mean, is the gop trying to hide candidates' views on issues like climate change? >> that's absolutely right. for her to say that she's not a scientist, so how could she possibly know what's going on

with climate change is just absurd. and she's far from the only candidate who is making that argument. that seems to be the republican line now, of oh, we're not scientists, how can we say? why don't you ask a scientist and see what they say, and take their word, for the 95 to 97% who say man-made climate change and a real thing. let's say you are skeptical, why not try to do something about it, so we can make sure that we're taking precautions that we can. but i think it's how the gop can't win on ideas, can't even explain their ideas, so they have to rig the rules. >> you know the senate race in colorado, is a very interesting one. it's in a dead heat, and the big story there has been republican congressman corey gardner wa supporting a federal personhood bill that could ban all abortions. obviously this is a big problem with women voters. watch what gardner did when he

was asked about his position in an interview on sunday. >> if you don't support the personhood initiative at the state level, why keep your name on that live begins at conception act at the federal level. >> there's no such thing as a personhood though. >> but the people who wrote that bill, duncan hunter of california, paul brown of georgia. personhood, usa, says that's what the -- >> when i announced for the senate, that's when this outcry started from the senate campaign of senator udall. this is all politics. it's unfortunate -- >> the facts are -- >> the facts are, there no federal personhood bill. there's simply politics. there's no federal personhood bill. >> gardner can't admit to his own extreme views. isn't this a problem for gop candidates all across the country? >> not only can he not support his own platform, what's happening in colorado is really

curious. he's going around advocating that he wants women to get contraception over the counter. when that happens, if you get your contraception over the counter, you're basically negating people to actually use obamacare. what he's not saying is that by doing that, then all of a sudden women don't get the luxury of the $600 they get because of their insurance because they're protected with obamacare. so not only is he not being straightforward and embracing his position. the voters need to know where you fall. he's trying to confuse voters by using language and other positions that are not in the voters' best interest. >> maria, thereree and krystal,u both for your time. coming up, a grand jury has begun deciding whether there should be criminal charges in the eric gardner choke hold

case. and the retrial of michael dunn, a man charged with killing an unarmed teen, over loud music. the justice files is next. my mother made the best toffee in the world. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. [ male announcer ] over time, you've come to realize... [ starter ] ready! [ starting gun goes off ] [ male announcer ] it's less of a race... yeah! [ male announcer ] and more of a journey. keep going strong. and as you look for a medicare supplement insurance plan...

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and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. talk to your doctor and visit humira.com this is humira at work we're back with tonight's justice files. joining me now is former prosecutor and current trial attorney mid win charles, and trial attorney carmen st.

george. thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> thanks, rev. we start tonight here in new york where a special grand jury is convening for the first time today to consider evidence in the murder of eric garner. it's been 74 days since garner was killed. the 43-year-old father was six was put into an illegal choke hold by police in july after they accused him of illegally selling loose cigarettes. >> every time you see me, you want to mess with me. i'm tired of it. >> hold on, hold on. >> don't touch me, please. don't touch me. >> [ bleep ]. >> i can't breathe. >> the medical examiner's office ruled gardner's death a homicide and said neck compression from the choke hold killed him, but no arrests have been made in the case.

and officer daniel panta nelo who put gartner in the choke hold, was stripped of his gun and badge pending an internal investigation. another officer was placed on desk duty. two paramedics were suspended for failing to provide cpr in a timely manner. but no one has been formally charged for causing garner's death. and while the special grand jury is convening today, the staten island district attorney daniel donovan has not announced which charges the grand jury might consider in garner's death, nor against whom charges could be filed. my civil rights organization, the national action network, has actively lobbied for a grand jury to be convened and for federal officials to step in and investigate the case. midwin, what do you think this grand jury is looking at today? >> this grand jury is going to be looking at whether or not

this police officer, one, i guess intended to kill eric garner. but one of the things that we have to point out here, the prosecutor hasn't been specific with what charges the grand jury is going to consider, or who is going to be charged. remember, there are several officers on that videotape, seen taking down, for lack of a better word, eric garner. so it's very difficult, actually, rev, to know exactly what the grand jury is going to be considering. >> who should be charged? >> obviously the police officer who put the initial chokehold and anyone else who assisted or added to this compression that the medical examiner said was the cause of death or led to the cause of death. >> chokeholds are illegal, it's against nypd policy in new york, but a new report from the civilian complaint review board shows that choke holds are a real problem in the police department. the report shows from 2009 through june of this year, 2014,

the civilian complaint review board substantiated a total of ten choke hold allegations. half the officers in choke hold complaints had a history of six or more complaints with 25% of officers have a history of ten or more complaints. so it's there, but they don't have to go by it. >> well, i read that ccrb report, rev, and it really goes into -- it matters what the previous complaints had been for. this doesn't necessarily mean that each officer had been filed a complaint for a current choke hold had prior choke hold complaints. it might just be a violation of a car accident incident, or an improper procedure that these officers had. and what has been happening is that although the complaints have gone up, they've been found to be insignificant,

unsubstantiated. >> the ones i read were substantiated. >> they are. for the most part, the police department isn't effectively punishing these officers. whether it's based on race, discrimination, disparities that these officers are not properly disciplined. they're only given ten days suspension for the most part for these incidents. >> does that encourage them to not take the law seriously if police have done it, it has been substantiated and nothing happens? >> it sends the message that this behavior by police officers can go unchecked. that's a problem. as you know, the police are there to serve and protect the community. so if they can go by doing these sorts of things to the people that they actually are there to protect, it sort of runs the gamut in terms of where are we going with this? how can we spend this message to the people -- i understand police officers have a difficult job to do. i'm not saying they don't.

but it must be done according to rule and law. >> isn't that the problem all over the country from ferguson to l.a., where people lose faith in law enforcement, enforcing the law on law enforcement? i agree with midwin, not all police or most police, but those that step out of line, when they are proven to step out of line and nothing happens to them. >> it's true. until they're expodsed. until these issues come to the forefront, nothing is seen to the public. i handled cases with the new york city police department against the hispanic police officers and latino, african american police officers that were being discriminated based upon race and other factors. until it shows the disparities that these officers are facing based upon whatever actions, nobody is going to take any action. >> i'm out of time. thank you, midwin and carmen st. george. thank you both for your time. we did not have time to get to

the michael dunn retrial on the jordan davis case, but we will cover that trial in the coming days. still ahead, the justice gap, president obama's call to mix the gulf of mistrust at the heart of our criminal justice system. but first, jay-z and beyonce lead the way in a concert for a cause. stay with us. the conference call.

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the global citizen festival brought 60,000 people to central park saturday night. they all earned their way in through activism. the global poverty project with msnbc put this show on with a goal to end extreme poverty by 2030. it's estimated 259 million people were helped by this year's festival. so many great musicians donated their time, from no doubt to carrie underwood, to the roots, to alicia keys. but the night was capped off by the king of hip-hop, jay-z, and he had a special surprise with him to end the night, queen beyonce. ♪ ♪

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finally tonight, closing the justice gap in america, president obama talked about it this weekend at the congressional black caucus awards dinner. >> and we have to close the justice gap. how justice is applied, but also how it is perceived, how it is experienced. >> in too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement. too many young men of color feel targeted by law enforcement. guilty of walking while black,

or driving while black. judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness. >> the president also said this justice gap affects all americans. >> and that has a kor osive effect, not just on the black community. it has a krosive effect on america. it harms the communities that need law enforcement the most. it makes folks who are victimized by crime and need strong policing reluctant to go to the police because they may not trust them. it scars the hearts of our children, whether you're black or white. you don't want that for america. >> we don't want that for america. i was in washington at the caucus with the parents of michael brown, as we sought federal cases to deal with what happened to their son and other cases. but we also denounced the

shooting of two police in ferguson. law enforcement said it was unrelated to the protests. we must be against all violence, all wrong, no matter who the victim, and no matter who the assailants. it's time to rebuild the trust by having equal protection under the law. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >> americans back ground troops. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening, rime chris matthews in washington. big news night tonight. for the first time there's evidence that the american people would back deploying u.s. combat troops on the ground to fight isis if the military recommend its. obama's problem is that republicans