mike huckabee makes his move. good morning thanks for getting up with us this sunday morning. the holidays have come to a close a new era in washington is about to begin. president obama is leaving hawaii in the early hours of the morning. this putting an end to his 15-day vacation in the state where he was born and raised. he is heading back to washington. the white house, as we speak. we'll have more in just a little bit and how he's planning to kick off the new year

politically. a morning of bad news for john boehner. at least a headache for john boehner. the details on that and a whole lot more still ahead. a busy night overnight for news. we begin this morning with a republican making a big move towards a presidential campaign. >> there's been a great deal of speculation as to whether i would run for president. and if i were willing to absolutely rule that out, i could keep doing this show but i can't make such a declaration. be clear, i'm not making that announcement right now and my timetable is still what it was before later this spring. but i agree with fox that this is the right thing and now is the right time. >> and with that former arkansas governor mike huckabee ended his six and a half year run as a fox host news last night to pursue a potential campaign. huckabee has a gun coming out "god, guts gravy."

huckabee received more votes than any republican except eventual nominee john mccain in 2008. passed up a follow-up bid preferring to stay with his fox news show. "national journal" reports huckabee has been meeting with activists and donors for six months months. huckabee an ordained southern baptist minister won the iowa caucuses in 2008 thanks to deep support to evangelical christians in the state. he will participate in steve king's freedom summit later this month and that's an event that jeb bush just announced he would not be attending. one of the early 2016 tests. just three weeks from now. the most recent poll had huckabee still leading in iowa. albeit with only 13% in a very crowded, cluttered field. if you look at the national polls, huckabee is right in the mix essentially tied with rand paul. so let's talk about this first

move for mike huckabee. bringing in our panel, reporting with "washington post" david avela and eleanor clift. so, mike huckabee okay he makes clear he is not officially in, but this is a pretty big move for him to make. you give up the fox news show and give up that pay check and he's making an emphatic pay paycheck. he's been communicating with the republicans that this is going to happen. in terms of the impact on the race i'm looking at this and, david, you know the republican world as well as anyone here. my read is this is bad news for rick santorum and bad news for ted cruz and anyone who sees their future and huckabee until further notice he is their guy. >> governor huckabee is going to be a very strong contender for the nomination. it was interestingly noted he came in he had more votes than anybody but john mccain. the last time i checked unless you come in first, you're not

the nominee. he brings a lot of advantages. you don't have a show on television for six years unless you have followers. unless you have supporters across the country. he brings a lot to the table and a lot of good policy ideas particularly on the economic messages that will. one of his adviseors told me in 2008 one reason he didn't want to run is he didn't have money. his nominee efor both parties will have to raise $75 million. unless mike huckabee gets comfortable with the fact that you want to be president, big and small dollars. you have to be president of the united states. >> he's done well for himself financially. nothing wrong with that. this is a guy, he talked about this a lot in 2008. he didn't come from money and hadn't made a lot of money in politics. he had an opportunity to do that. seems he did that. the mike huckabee of 2008.

it was a surprise that he broke out and he won iowa. do you think the last six years have positioned him better for a follow-up run, has the tv showed helped helped him in that way? >> there is skepticism out there that he is seriously interested in running and this is going to actually help him get more money. i mean for the first time, i think in 2012 was the first time he was earning millions of dollars in his life and he has a new book coming out and some people are speculating, well maybe this is just a way to generate some publicity for that and will he really want to depart with the income he's getting from these speech engagements and from the show. so that is -- >> he is giving up the show money. we know that. >> he's not hillary clinton. fox news is paying him quite well. so, i don't know that this is all about making himself more marketable. i mean he's on television right now. if he wants to sell books, he

uses his television. >> if he pursues a run that he actually views isn't realistic, how is that going to hurt him in the future if he wants to get a show or do other things like speak, have another book. >> it could be tougher to sort of figure that line out. i remember talking about newt gingrich in 2012 all the way to the point that he won south carolina. is this guy really running or trying to sell books and he kind of did both. >> lightning can always strike. this is called milking the process for all it's worth. extending the announcement. he can accept his speaking fees and i think this is probably a case of not wanting to secede his position as the top evangelical race in the to ben carson. ben carson is already out there and he does better in the opinion surveys almost better than any other republican than jeb bush.

this does set up the contest between the evangelical boatvote or the more moderate vote. i think it's fascinating that jeb bush may want to skip iowa altogether. >> i wonder in a way is there good news here for jeb bush because huckabee showed in 2008 incredibly loyalty to him among evangelicals. other groups outside of -- >> the more the merrier on the far right or the evangelical side from the jeb bush point of view, but, look lots of reasons to run for president short of thinking you can win. i think this is a career extender for mike huckabee. he's doing his show and doing well. what have you done for me lately? now he's going to be back in the headline headlines. we're talking about him and other people are talking about him. he has humor and he'll make an impact but i don't think we're going to be talking about nominee huckabee.

>> do you think he can win iowa again? >> he can win iowa. if he puts together the right campaign. it's early here now and he does bring a lot to the table. but the next couple months we'll see. the field is certainly going it be a lot stronger now than when he ran last time and whether eleanor mentioned ben carson rick sanatorium mike pence, governor john kasich. a lot of strong contenders and you'll get three people coming out of iowa. can he be one of those three? he could. we'll have to wait and see. >> i made sure to check in what was rick sanatorium tweeting about. go steelers. didn't say anything about huckabee. later this morning we'll talk about the controversial new film "selma" and andrew young, very exited about that. first, we need to report on the passing of another iconic figure from that era. we learned last night the former massachusetts senator ed brooke died of natural causes. he was 95 years old.

he was the oldest living former u.s. senator. brooke a liberal republican was the first african-american to win popular election to the u.s. senate. he was elected in 1966. he served two terms representing massachusetts through 1978. brooke received the presidential medal of freedom in 2004. the congressional gold medal five years later. president obama releasing a statement that ed brooke stood at the forefront for civil rights and economic fairness during his time in elected office stood across partisan lines and always working for practical solutions to our nation's challenges. he once said he was thankful to god to see. i'm from massachusetts, i'm partial to his story. he is a gigantic figure historically because so long since he's been on the public stage. 40 years since he lost that

election. he doesn't get his due. but ed brooke, i mean the idea of a state like massachusetts where bussing would be the big issues in 1970s. electing an african-american to the u.s. senate a republican, too. an incredible story. >> right. that's what he's remembered for. the first african-american elected to the u.s. senate since reconstruction and a lot other firsts after that. that was back in the day after the republican party was actually quite liberal, progressive. today, ed brooke would not fit into the republican party. he had his difficulties then. i think he refused to appear with ronald reagan and very much stood up for his own view of politics. so i think he would probably say the party left him behind. it's hard to associate him with any groundbreaking legislation or anything. but just getting elected in a state like massachusetts, which we think of this great liberal state, but, as you point out,

terrible issues over bussing and he transcended that at a time when the american people really didn't think those people could be transcended. we really thought he was the beginning of a large transformation and that really didn't happen. he stood alone for a very long time. >> the other sort of piece of history that intersects a person who intersects with ed brooke. in 1969 he gave the commencement address at wesley and wesley also opted that day to have a student speaker stand up and there you go the student speaker criticized him. that stupidity that students' name hillary rodham. been looking to see if there is a statement from hillary clinton, i don't think there's been one yet. but little interesting intersection there. a live report from the white house when we come back the president returning from hawaii. a lot on his plate this week and the year ahead. we'll talk more with the panel on that when we come back.

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in just a few hours from now, president obama will be landing back in washington, d.c. and as he's been traveling back from hawaii his aides have been busy telling reporters how the president is planning to kick off the new session of congress. the idea from his aides, at least, that he's going on offense. major newspapers with major headlines leaked by white house aides who described how the president was going to go on the road to promote his agenda ahead of the state of the union address. kristen wellker joins us now from the white house with all the details. good morning to you, kristen. he's going on offense and state of the union is two weeks from now. what are thing thes we are expecting to hear from the president over the next couple

weeks. >> the strategy is a bit of a break from tradition. usually president obama and his predecessors deliver their state of the union addresses and then they hit the road to sell whatever message or policies they've just announced. this year though the president is going to hit the road beforehand, as you said. this wednesday he's going to embark on a three-state tour. he'll be announcing executive actions along the way. first, he's going to travel to tennessee to talk about higher education and then head to arizona where he'll talk about housing and then michigan where he'll discuss jobs. white house officials say the president will spend the next several weeks crisscrossing the country trying to highlight the themes that he is ultimately going to lay out in his state of the union address and the goals for the remaining two years of his presidency. the strategy here is that the president is eager to show that he still has muscle to get things done, especially as he prepares to work with the republican-controlled congress. lawmakers, of course return from recess on tuesday. and republicans are under a lot of pressure as well.

americans, of course just fed up with the grid lock here in washington. so, both sides have talked about trying to find common ground on a number of issues. things like tax reform infrastructure projects and trade projects and it doesn't seem like a whole lot of bipartisan agreement. at least in the few weeks because they'll introduce keystone pipeline that is something the president signaled he was opposed to. he is of course going to repeal that. the president returns here to the white house in just a few hours. some big battles on the horizon. steve? >> kristen welker live for us at the white house. thank you for getting up this sunday morning. appreciate that. >> no problem. the president is coming back to washington. elahe, it feels like he had momentum here. he had the news on cuba got some good economic news. those poll numbers, which have been, they actually not a lot, but they ticked up a little bit

here. does he have momentum coming into this year? >> he sounds like he does. this tour can also be viewed as a way to counteract the message that will be coming from republicans in congress who will be pushing forward these proposals which were mentioned the president very much opposes. so rather than leaving that vacuum he's going out and talking about his proposals. the funding for dhsp the department of homeland security runs out and that will be another battleground for republicans in congress. speaking of immigration, he is going to challenge speaker baner for the speakership and that is immigration is an issue that has galvanized a number of republicans, not many but a number of republicans in the house and, you know then again being, continues to be a thorn in the side. >> that's the other piece of big news this morning. we'll have more on this in just

a few minutes. louis gomer from texas. outspoken conservative force in the house. they got that formal vote on will john boehner get two more years as speaker. we remember that scene two years ago where he sat here and a number of republicans who didn't vote for him. they voted for other random names. there was a coup attempt and kind of fell apart in the end. boehner having to worry about here? >> the speaker does not have to be a member of congress. and i would offer any of the three of us have just as good a chance as dwoemgomer. >> i would spoke for speaker boehner. >> not the question of would gomer become the speaker but the goal the conservatives have is deny boehner that first ballot and they need 25/30 to do that. >> the number of republicans in congress are now at a historic high. speaker boehner will be re-elected. this will be one of the most unimpressive elections for

speaker he will win. he will be the speaker when it comes up and, look people announced and congressman gomer has every right to run. if he thinks he ecan be a better speaker. can he get 218 votes to become speaker and no indication today that he can. >> interesting developments. this going on on the republican side and the president coming back. what do we expect next week? >> i agree. i think speaker boehner will handily get another two years as speaker and gomer is not the face of the republican party wants to put on their new effort which is now we're all about governing and getting things done and not about throwing bombshell sgohmert is the sound bite dream and i think the president has wind behind his back now for the first time. he is at that magic 50% approval and his policies seem to be taking hold and the economy seems finally to be worker and i think he learned the lesson of

the last election and that is being on the defensive doesn't work. i mean they kept him bottled pup. i his issues were on the agenda and they were. he is out there as the minimum wage is taking hold in a number of states, most of the country. so, i think he's doing the right thing. he's getting up and using the bully pulpit that he has not really used to the extend he should for the last six years. so, i think progressives are heartened by this new president they see out there. >> they basically, the white house spent the last year saying if it's bad for mark pryor in arkansas, don't say it. we will take a break here, but we will show you on the other side. we'll talk about the news that gohmert is making and get a live report on that. later in the show a chance to talk more about ed brooke and his legacy with andrew young a former congressman, former ambassador to the u.n. and also aide to martin luther king jr. and also speak with him about

the new film "selma." controversy whether it takes too much license behind the civil rights movement. stick around for that. lots more ahead. also, we will go live this morning to indonesia for the latest on the search for the victims of the airasia crash. now north korea is reacting to sanctions the u.s. imposed in the wake of the sony hacking. and we will remember mario cuomo for our pick of the most influential speak. it has had a huge impact. a lot this morning. stay with us. (son) oh no... can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys.

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i have the worst cold with this runny nose. i better take something. dayquill cold and flu doesn't treat your runny nose. seriously? alka-seltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms plus your runny nose. oh, what a relief it is. lots of news and politics we're keeping an eye on this morning. not really the time of the year for this but parts of mississippi were severely damaged by tornadoes that tore through the state yesterday. luckily no reports so far of any major injuries and an american

health care worker who was exposed to ebola will arrive in a nebraska hospital. a hospital that has successfully treated several ebola patients. not sick or contagious but going there as a precaution. the white house says the sanctions are in response to the sony cyberattack. and then only minutes ago this morning this happened. >> we've heard from a lot of republicans, gee i'd vote for somebody besides speaker boehner, but nobody will put their name out there as running. nobody else to vote for. well, that changed yesterday when my friend ted said i'm putting my name out there and i'll be a candidate for speaker and i'm putting my name out there also today to be another candidate for speaker. >> congressman louie gohmert's announcement of how volatile 2015 is proving to be for

republicans on capitol hill. we're joined now by frank thorp, capitol hill producer for nbc news. i want to do a preview of what to expect in congress in the next week and the next year. let me start with this louie gohmert news. if you don't want to vote for boehner, vote for me. we were talking about this a bit in the earlier segment here. seems like the idea is to deny boehner that first ballot victory so he doesn't get to 218 on the first ballot. any thanschance that hap snnz. >> no indication that speaker boehner is in any trouble being re-elected as speaker. you have to remember that congressman louie gohmert voted for alan west two years ago in the race for speaker two years ago. congressman ted voted for then eric cantor. these are and of the usual suspects. some folks that we expected to

vote against boehner in the first place. so i don't think that boehner is in any trouble being re-elected speaker. i think it is notable that there is this number of members that are coming out and publicly saying that they would run against him. remember two years ago we were watching this election and there were conservatives on the house floor with secret lists of who they thought were going to vote against boehner. that turned out not to be enough to take on boehner. i think nine republicans voted, actually voted for someone other than the speaker. 12 total. some voted president and some didn't vote at all. so, it would have to be a pretty huge coup for them to take down speaker boehner. they need at least 29 votes to take him down. >> let's assume boehner survives this week. a little bit of drama there and he gets through it. we have the new congress in place. and the republicans are basically on capitol hill. they will be as of this coming week and their strongest position there basically in a decade. you still have a democrat in the white house, though, at least for the next two years.

what happens? let's take the first issue here of the keystone pipeline. republicans talking about this all through 2014. they say now they have the majority in both chambers. pass this thing and put obama on the spot. how will this play out? >> republicans are going for a couple quick wins here. they want to be able to show that they can govern. that was their message after the november elections and keystone they see as one of those possible quick wins. it will be interesting, you know, all indications are that the incoming mitch mcconnell will allow for a more thorough energy debate surrounding the keystone pipeline bill. they will mark the bill up on thursday and indications are that they'll actually allow democrats to introduce amendments on this bill which is kind of a little bit of a shift from what we've seen in previous years under majority leader harry reid. so, it will be interesting to see whether or not they can get that bill passed.

they also want to work on other bills. jobs bills that have passed out of the republican house and the previous months and years that haven't seen the light of day over in the senate even though they've passed with bipartisan support. they want to send bills to president obama's desks. whether they're bills that president obama will sign or bills that president obama will veto. they want to show that their congress the congress under their, under their majority can actually do something. >> are there any signs it's a little early, but the one thing that was made shortterm was funding for the department of homeland security. i think that's coming up in february. is that something, do you think republicans will get hung up on that and stage a big fight around that or is that something they're looking to find a way to side side step? >> i think that's a really good question and they don't know the answer to that yet. some indications that they may next week try to start working on a bill that would fund dhs. so, like you said as part of

the funding bill that funds the government through the end of september, it only fubdz thends the department of homeland security until february. that was an effort to set up a fight or set up a debate on president obama's executive action on immigration. one thing we should keep our eyes on is at the end of the second full week in january, both senate and house republicans are going to go to hearsy, pae ae hershey, pennsylvania, to have their yearly retreat. they're going to sit down and discuss with the entire party what they're going to do on immigration and what they're going to do on obama care and what they're going to do with on these hotly contested issues. >> nbc new's frank thorp, capitol hill producer. really appreciate the time this morning. also my goal was to make 2015 and we didn't make it through that segment without it. that's okay. thanks for the information this morning. really appreciate that. and still to come this

morning, former virginia governor bob mcdonnell is about to find out whether he'll spend ten years in prison. that's what federal prosecutors want. he has surprising allies in his corner who are asking for leniency for him. plus our investigators also any closer to finding the black boxes to find ought what caused airasia flight to go down. we're going live to indonesia, next. can you help me up? [ snow intensifies ] [ sleighbells ring in the distance ] aleve. all day pain relief with just 2 pills. get back to being you.

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♪ you got to know when to hold'em. ♪ ♪ know when to fold 'em. ♪ ♪ know when to walk away. ♪ ♪ know when to run. ♪ ♪ you never count your money, ♪ ♪ when you're sitting at the ta...♪ what? you get it? i get the gist yeah. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. it's been one week now that airasia flight had distress and now trying to find the wreckage of that flight. more on how that is going katie joins us with the latest. what is going on over there? >> they were able to get four more bodies from the water, steve. bringing the total up to 34 and a bit of news out of jakarta.

they do in fablth believe that weather was the main factor in this crash and they think the engines probably iced over much as we saw in airfansh.rance. they are not going to know though until they find the black boxes. they got a big piece of wreckage, bringing the total wreckage up to five large pieces. they are still looking for the main part of the fuselage and they are looking in an area where they believe it is. they want to get divers down there. today they went down, the currents were too strong and the visibility was too low. they're focusing now on trying to find the black boxes. which they believe are in the same general geryuarea. they can detect the pings, the same thing they're doing here. but they're very optimistic. they believe they are able to find the black boxes tomorrow. hopefully if the weather starts to cooperate out here. steve? >> all right, nbc katy tur,

appreciate the time this morning. thanks for that. up next why you can't always believe the numbers. ugh... ...heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm... amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

curling up in bed with a favorite book is nice. but i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. and remember, you only take it when you need it. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss

in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra. we have a new poll that shows jeb with a commanding lead as the gop frontrunner for president. how well does he do up against hillary clinton. we have some interesting numbers to share with you. as we said, some big news overnight about mike huckabee potentially getting into the presidential race, but the other big news on the 2016 front this week was that poll you were just hearing about right there. if you heard about the new republican presidential poll this week you probably heard it framed that way. the idea that jeb bush was surging into the lead after his conservatory committee that week. i think it's a lot less clear what is going on here if anything else is going on here. let's use the big board for this. cnn poll this week.

we'll show you the last cnn poll before this. the basis for this idea of a surge. you can see in november 2014 this was the entire republican field and you saw jeb bush sort of at the time. 11 for ben carson and 10 for huckabee and what does that look like? let's take a look. the most recent one that came out just in the last week. bush going from 14 to 23. a jump of nine points. so, sure that's significant. he's more clearly in first place. now you see christie bumping up from 9 to 13. huckabee in the news this morning was at 10 falling to six a little bit. a little bit of a dropoff there. this is what it looks like right now. christie at 13 and rand paul, he's just sitting around. there he is he is about 6%. my reaction to this is it's not surprising with all the news that jeb bush made that he would pull into the lead like this. but 23% for a guy named bush who is supposed to be the name who can can unite the whole party

and end a lot of this chaos, that is not that high. but a really big asterisk and that's the fact that in the 2014 poll, they also included mitt romney. i don't know eifif mitt romney will end up running. but when you poll mitt romney against jeb bush. look at this back in november when they did that. mitt romney was doubling up jeb bush. being paired against the guy that lost the 2012 election for republicans and more than twice republicans we'd rather go with romney than jeb bush. this new poll did not include romney against bush. i think that's a key benchmark if you want to talk about a surge and republicans rallying around bush. are we at a point saying we'd rather have him than romney. take a look at this every other major national poll that has been taken that has paired romney and bush has shown the same thing. romney 21 romney 19. five-point lead, eight-point lead. that tells me i'm a little less

certain that jeb bush has surged into the lead here. i think he has to prove a lot more. anyway, to talk more about the jeb bush/mitt romney dynamic. steve moore joins us. i have to swipe him in to get him on the screen. welcome this morning. i want to get to the jeb/romney question. the big news of mike huckabee making a pretty big step towards a presidential candidacy. i know there is a divide at conservative circles where he is very popular among social conservatives and sort of more economic conservatives have had reservations about him in the past. what is your reaction to mike huckabee getting into this? >> i'm not surprised at all that mike huckabee is taking a serious look at running and he a a, among all the field, the 10 or 12 people on the screen. he is probably the most popular which is a big part of the republican base. don't quote me on this but i believe, steve, that huckabee won the iowa primary a number of

years ago. the caucuses there. so, he will be a force to be contended with no question about it. >> would you be comfortable with somebody like huckabee a nominee? >> i would be comfortable with any of these people. that's the way most conservative republicans feel. 10 or 12 people running and, you know it's a fairly impressive group of people. some really outstanding governors, jeb bush, a former governor. you've got some really outstanding senators and i think most conservatives i talk to say i'd take any of these people over had ilryillary. >> what is the reaction in the republican world and the world you travel to jeb bush the last few weeks. i'm putting the numbers up and i'm still not that impressed that the republicans are rallying around this guy. what is your sense? >> i disagree with you a little wit bit on that one. i think there is a jeb mania

going on. so far i don't think jeb could have scripted this any better. and also you're seeing a lot of the big money people now centering around jeb bush. i think that's a big problem, by the way, for mitt romney if he wanted to get in. by the way, i'd make the case mitt romney had the worse month because jeb had stolen his thunder. but i agree ewith you no way jeb bush is going to be i said you're going to have to fight for this, jeb. no one is going to hand this to you and you have a lot of outstanding people out there. like john kasich and so on that will fight like dogs for this. so, it is going to be a dog fight and you're also right, by the way, to some extent when you look at these polls, it's name recognition. a lot of americans don't even know who these governors are. >> it's really out there in phoenix. appreciate your time. >> it's 32 in phoenix.

no global warming steve. >> oh, come on now. >> great political moments don't come along very often. up next look at the speech responsible for how many moments in american politics in the past 30 years were made and later how great moments are remembered. the new film "selma" stray too far from the real relationship. andrew young will be here to talk about that and plus a whole lot more. stay with us.

>> a shining city is perhaps all the president sees from the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well. but there's another city. that speech from the 1984 democratic national convention is the reason mario cuomo's death this week is such an event. he was a firstterm new york governor when he gave it and it gave him overnight political imortality. the next two presidential

elections the run away favorite among democrats. that speech more than anything else is mario cuomo's legacy. his passing is a reminder of just how rare moments like that are. how rare it is for a political speech to stop everyone in their tracks to captivate millions of people to make such an impression that we're still talking about it years and decades later. think about how many political speeches are given every year. how many given over the last few decades. now think about how many you actually remember. how many you can still feel today. maybe you remember ted kennedy in 1980. >> for me a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. for all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die.

>> ronald reagan, when the "challenger" exploded. >> the crew of the space shuttle "challenger" we will never forget them nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye. and slipped the bonds of earth to touch the face of god. >> or even an illinois state senator who got to speak at the 2004 democratic convention. >> we are one people. all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes. all of us defending the united states of america. >> that's the company mario cuomo put himself in with that speech he gave 30 years ago. when he took the stage that night, barely anyone was listening. within minutes the room was silent silent, except for his voice. and millions listened in awe and inspiration. much to say about mario cuomo

himself. talk about the imortality he maintained with his words and how he delivered them and what they said to people. the art of the perfect speech. what are the ingredients. joining me to discuss this hen hendrick. you were in the room. san francisco, july 1984. what was it like to be there for that speech? >> as great as that speech was on television. you can go to c-span and watch the whole thing. even greater in the room because of the mastery of cuomo, as a speech deliverer. it's as if he was surfing the crowd. he was playing it like a great org organ. it just wasn't the words he was saying and the ideas he was expounding but the sense of mastery of control. you know we can take our destiny. that was utterly exhilarating.

>> i was trying to think about this before and i'm having trouble putting it into words. what the ingredients are to get that kind of effect because you read the words and this is so true of so many speakers and they're powerful and resonate on some level but there was something extra. is it the delivery, is it what he communicates in terms of are people responding to his identity? >> some kind of magic. all of those separate elements you can go after each one of them separately and not quite get to the point where you're mario cuomo or whether abraham lincoln. it's like asking, you know what makes a great song. is it the words? is it the melody? is it the singer? it's all of those things together in some inevitable way. you can chase it all you want as a speech writer or a politician. unless god has touched you with

that magic, you're not going to get there. >> people sometimes say politicians who are very good with words. you hear about the president all the time. it is just words. he can only give a good speech. but cuomo is testament to the power of speech making. it's very important. he communicated valus. he communicated ideas with that that are still able to inspire a political party three decades later. >> as did cuomo with his speeches. it's interesting because that was the keynote speech at the democratic convention. the cuomo speech at the national convention and both catapulted these men into a position where they were 80% of the way of being president in a sense. just from that one speech. it's absolutely wonderful, isn't it? >> so you have some experience too. you say you were carters' speech writer. but you also before that you worked in new york politics when

hugh carrie was the governor here and mario cuomo was the secretary of state. you saw mario cuomo up close and personal very early in his political career. >> i joined with governor carey for a few months i was writing for "the new yorker" and i didn't know how to write a political speech. what i used to doin albany, i'd go over to mario's office. he had this job as secretary of state that didn't have a lot of responsibilities. he had a lot of time on his hands. i would just go over there and toss out a subject and he would start, you know he'd sit back and start talking and i would just be taking notes, taking notes, taking notes. go back and write the speech and got a lot of praise and got to be presidential speech writer thank you, mario cuomo. >> when you're in san francisco in '84 and mario cuomo did his speech did you have an inkling something like that was going to happen having seen him before? >> i did. i think i wrote something about it that this was going to put him on the national map.

i had no idea what he was going to say or how he was going to say it. and then to be in that room. i was maybe 40 feet from tim russert. tim russert was his top aide then and i looked over at tim while mario was speaking and, you know that big irish mug was just suffused watching this and knowing how it was going over and he was, he was actually mouthing the words with cuomo as he spoke like somebody at a rolling stones concert. >> that was, i mean that was russert worked with cuomo and had that vision and taking it nationally. i'm sure in that moment thought, here it is. we talked about in the show yesterday, the great mystery for the ages. why didn't he get on the plane? i guess we'll never know. some great what ifs there. >> you need to be shakespeare to answer that question. >> thank you for joining us. another full hour of news and politics still ahead. stay with us. volkswagen sign-then-drive event. for practically just your signature

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what did he know and when did he know it. all right. thanks for staying with us this hour. very excited this hour that andrew young is here to discuss the legacy of edward brooke who died overnight. to weigh in on the historic accuracy of the film "selma" not every sunday morning that al trautwig joins us. more on why, i'll tell you about that later. in only two days, bob mcdonaldmcdaun mcdonnell is going to find out if he spends the next ten years in prison. a very busy hour of news and politics is ahead. thought it made sense to begin with the person who had what was probably the worst week in politics. the house majority whip and also the third ranking republican gave the speech to the white

supremacist group with even some republicans, including sarah palin turning on him. he has apologized for the speech saying it was "a group whose views i whole heartedly condemn." he said he had no idea about the racist nature of the european american unity in rights organization. that was the name of the group he spoke to. but there is some context here that is worth keeping in mind. chances are you know who this guy is. david duke who ran the white supremest group that scalise addressed in 2002. david duke was a political force in louisiana. now it's true that he only won a single election for state representative, but also demonstrated repeatedly that he had a sigerantnificant right of center and that every politician in louisiana had to at least be aware of. duke beat a sitting republican

governor in jungleprimary and still managed to win 55%, a majority. 55% of the white vote in that race. and in 1999 david duke came within 3,700 votes, that's just 3 percentage points of making a runoff in a congressional election. three years later in 2002 that duke's group invited steve scalise who was a state legislature in louisiana to speak. it's possible that scalise is being up front here. little support staff who accepted pretty much every speaking invitation that he got and always good livered his stump speech when he'd speak to those groups. he didn't have any kind of idea what group he was walking into on that particular day. david duke, more to the point that david duke supporters represented a significant

political constituency in louisiana when scalise gave that speech, so much that it also seems plausible that he did have some idea what kind of group he was appearing before when he got that invitation. here to discuss more about this big controversial story this week. we have national political correspondent at "washington post" and columnist with "chicago tribune" clerrance. i think we laid out what his version of events was in 2002. little context there. when you look at what he said do you buy his explanation? >> not entirely steve. certainly, scalise knew the fellows who invited him to this meeting. they knew that both of those fellows were advisors to david duke and his successful political runs back there in the late '90s. and it's besides it's part of the political culture and the republican and conservative

circles in louisiana that you'll know somebody connected with david duke. duke himself is somebody who is political poison as far as other republicans are concerned. he's like the man who must not be named. and, yet, he's got a potent mailing list and phone list. he's got a lot of people there in louisiana who like him will vote for him. he got a mu yorajority of the white vote running for governor. he is someone while politically incorrect is viewed as being, someone who is really plug under to the base of the party. so it's very hard to believe that scalise was completely ignorant on that score. but politics are different when you go from the state level to the national level. >> that's karen, that's the part that i get stuck on when i look into this it's the invitation to speak came from a guy who was known as david duke basically political lieutenant

in louisiana. i think when we elook at the national image of david duke. it's been a while since david duke ran for office and he is completely marginalized now but back in 2002 when you're getting an invitation to speak an event who you know is close to david duke. the fact that that didn't set off alarm bells. i guess does that say more about steve scalise or how politics have changed? how do you interpret that? >> first of all, the person who extended the invitation said that he also made it sound like it was just a bunch of neighbors. but steve scalise is lucky here. lucky and smart on a number of scores. you know he's lucky that there is no video or no audio of this or he would be getting haunted by it over and over and over again. don't forget trent lott got basically kicked out of the senate over something like this at just about the same thing. the other thing, scalise has gotten out in front of it and has apologized for it.

he has also had people who could validate him. including an african-american congressional colleague. congressman richmond saying look, this guy doesn't have a racist bone in his body. finally, unlike with trent lott there doesn't appear to be a pattern of these kind of statements and these kind of appearances. all of those things i think, could sort of just really seal his doom. but at this point, i think, you know he's sort of gotten what appears to have been a mistake under control. >> clear ancethe only african-american in the delegation from louisiana, it seemed he did this without any urging from scalise. he vouched for him and then made a statement that was interesting to me where he basically said scalise now has an opportunity. assuming scalise survives this. he has an opportunity to broaden his political base a little bit and broaden in terms of how he represents the state of louisiana.

that move was interesting to me. do you think steve scalise might emerge from this changed from some way when congressman richmond vouches for him? >> i think scalise himself understands that politics are different on the national level. but, you know, the relationship between him and richmond is not extraordinary at all. scalise is a nice guy first of all. secondly, this is louisiana and black or white, republican or democrat you work with the colleagues that you have or you have constant gridlock. they have scalise and richmond have a working relationship for a long time. like me and rachel maddow point out we don't agree with pat buchanan but he is a nice guy who we have gotten along with over the years. at the same time scalise is very much trusted by the right wing republicans in congress. and john boehner needs that. and that's why he was elected in this position in the first place

because he does get a long with people well enough that you can get business done. >> we were talking about louie gohmert. you have the election for speaker next week. if you don't like boehner, vote for me. so some rumblings there on the right of trying to at least embarrass boehner with the vote this week. when you look at the role that he is talk aing about. he is the basis guy in leadership and you look at how john boehner very quickly came out and stood behind him. hey, boehner is looking ahead to the speaker's vote this weekend and how he handled this? >> i also think boehner is in a stronger position than he was in say a year ago or a year and a half ago to sort of keep his troops under control. he's got a bigger majority than he had he's also you know we saw how he kind of tapped down any talk of a government

shutdown, as well. you still have the gohmerts out there. right now john boehner has a better command of the republican conference than he has had in quite a while. >> clarence final question. just in terms of the image of the republican party. the trent lott incident of 2002 where he got up at 100 birthday celebration for strom thurman and said if he won in 1948 we wouldn't have had all these problems we had ever since. a lot of concern back then. you know republicans, a transition in the south where the white voters in the south were all democrats and segregationists. and there have been some sort of awkward moments in that transition. seems like another one of those. do you see long-term damage here to the republican party from something like this? >> it's a set back for their efforts to diversify the party after the racially divided mitt

romney defeat. but they had work to do all along. but the political culture inside the republican party needs to change. jeb bush y think, i think, certainly a real test here because he's trying very hard to reach out to the middle. even at the expense of some primary voters it looks like. at the same time democrats are starting to look, again, at the fact why are they doing so badly with blue collar whites which has been the case since 1964. just like republicans have gained with that group. so it's going to be interesting in 2016 as far as both parties and their efforts to reach out. >> karen tand clarence thanks for joining us. will there be prison time for a one-time republican rising star. that's straight ahead.

at least ten years in prison is the sentence that federal prosecutors are hoping for against former virginia governor bob mcdonnell. in two days from now he and the world will find out if that's what he gets. mcdonnell convicted of 11 counts of public corruption back in september. his party is asking for three years of community service. he's actually not the only one asking the u.s. district court for leniency in the case. he has democratic senator tim kaine in his corner as well. somewhat surprising kaine has written a letter to the judge on the case. i think governor mcdonnell commendable action during his time in office warrants positive consideration. mcdonnell's own daughters are also backing their dad by throwing their mom under the bus. they sent sharply worded letters

to the judge saying her greed was the root of the criminal actions. now he could be facing some serious time in the big house. just how much time is the former governor going to get? joining me now former federal prosecutor paul butler and now a professor at georgetown university. if we have paul on, you know ewe'll also have criminal defense attorney brian. our legal dream team back with us, thank you to both of you for being here. so, paul the prosecutor, let me start with you. the announcement last month that the prosecutors wanted a minimum of ten years and a maximum of more than 12 years for mcdonnell caught a lot of people by surprise. it was more harsh than people were expecting. how do these things usually work? do the prosecutors get what they're looking for? >> steve, it's not just the

prosecutors. the federal sentencing guidelines. this is a law that congress passed that suggested how much time people should get in situations like this. look this is the guy who was the highest elected official in the state. he's sworn to uphold the law and, instead, he violates it. 11 felony count conviction. it's not just a one-time thing. he was like, hook me up with the rolax. hook my wife up with a $20,000 shopping spree. yo, hook my daughter up with a wedding reception and the amount of money. you know, i used to prosecute these kind of cases and we were always amazed with how low folks would go public officials would go in terms of will he be willing to commit a crime. the low dollar amount. this is a lot of money. $175,000. should a judge look at this sentence, look at comparable crimes and sentence him the way he would sentence anyone else? yes. that means ten years. >> so, brian, from the defense

standpoint, i notice this all the time in sort of sentencing processes like this. you start hearing about the letters that are sent to the judge asking for leniency. so, in this case, you got the daughters' weighing in on behalf of bob mcdonnell and a rival politician tim kaine weighing in ask catching people by surprise there. do these letters ever carry weight with the judge? >> sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. steve, in a situation like this over 400 letters that district judge james spencer has received will ultimately be trumped by a fancy legal term for really really bad sentencish guidelines. look there is this urban myth that any defendant in any criminal case has a right to a trial and testify and not to be taxed for it. it's just not true. under the federal sentencing guidelines, if you go to trial, the judge will make a finding and you perjure yourself in a situation like this and governor

mcdonnell was a leader or organizer or manager and by the time you get through stringing these guidelines together, the cubs are likely eto win a world series ring before he even sees what passes for parole in the federal system which doesn't exist. >> that's interesting. in terms of strategy brian. given how stringent these guidelines are was the defense in terms of maybe trying to cut a deal or something? was there some negligence in terms of how the defense was put together? >> that's a great question steve. the governor had a chance early on to plead to a single count that would have carried a sentence of no more than 36 months, including the prospect of community supervision and the wife would have caught the elevator, that would have been it. they came up snake eyes and, unfortunately, that deal is gone with the wind. you make a great point. i never understood with my ged in legal studies, guys a defense that is premised on throwing your wife under the bus to create a latter day lady

macbeth. to me, didn't have any traction at all and now tuesday is going to be judgment day. >> and, paul if this ends up being, if we end up talking about a ten-year sentence for a former governor. i mean i'm struggling to think of another big-name politician who has done that kind of time. i can think of politicians that have gone away to prison to a year or two, meantime, a ten-year sentence does that send a message maybe even to the rest of the political system? >> that's the point. the point is that nobody is above the law, including the governor of virginia. you know his, even now judges will give you credit. even after you're convicted in your sentencing you take some responsibility. you know what, i did it. it was a mistake and i deserve to be punished. he's still trying to throw his wife under the bus and getting his own daughters to throw the wife under the bus. it's like he still doesn't get it. the judge will sentence him not just to send a message to

everybody out there, if you commit a crime, you do the time but to send a message to governor mcdonnell himself that what you did is wrong and you realize it after you sit in jail for ten years. >> that's interesting. the possibility we ask about these letters maybe weighing in terms of leniency it could work the other way. this could also offend the judge. >> he doesn't deserve any special breaks because he is the governor and had all this influence influence. in a way, he should get more punishment. congressman jefferson in new orleans, he got 13 years. governor blagojevich in illinois also got time. so you know it's not just the drug king pins now who are victims of our very harsh sentencing policy. it's hard to keep the genie in the bottle and we try to lock up everybody and throw away the key. it turns out that applies to big-time politicians, as well as low-level criminals. >> congressman jefferson. he was found with $90,000 of cash in his freezer.

literally, cold hard cash. thanks to paul butler and attorney brian weiss. appreciate you joining us this morning. big day in new york and also a tragic day in new york. you're looking live now at the arrivals for lui's funeral. we will have a live report from that funeral, next.

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speak and we expect to see some 25,000 officers from new york city and around the country to mourn and pay their last respects to officer wenjian liu. he came to america 20 years ago looking for the american dream. seven-year veteran and two months he was married. only two months and today he will be buried. now, the mayor will be giving the eulogy and the commissioner said they should respect the funeral. this is a hero's funeral. this is for grieving not grievances. >> politics, as you say, infused in this. everyone looking to see what happens when the mayor arrives. my thanks to adam reece in brooklyn. of course, much more coverage of the funerals throughout the day here on msnbc. later on this show ahead in the show one more candidate throws his hat into the ring. we'll circle back to that, next. curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing:

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>> the honorable thing to do at this point is to end my tenure here at fox. as much as i have loved doing the show i cannot bring myself to rule out another presidential run. so, as we've told you, mike huckabee announced that he will end his weekly fox news program to potentially run for president in 2016. huckabee also sent out an e-mail to supporters saying that he wants to openly talk with supporters and donors. huckabee the second republican to make a big move for 2016. former florida governor jeb bush is out in front, at least in terms of expressing intentions and announcing a few weeks ago that he is actively exploring a race. resigned from all the boards and the nonprofits he was a member of including his own foundation. new jersey governor chris christie also out there says that bush's decision will not affect what he's going to do. so far he looks like a candidate, though spending nearly half of his time out on

the road this past year. 32% of it. that in his role of the chairman governor's association. rand paul from kentucky also appears to be gearing up for a run. right now it is bush and huckabee who made the first official moves while close to two dozen other names. two dozen are currently being bandied about when it comes to the gop nomination. you have enough names to field two football teams. one year from now republicans will begin voting and picking their candidate. how is this incredibly large field that's taking shape shake out in the year ahead? joining me from washington to help figure out that question we have political correspondent kasie hunt. this mike huckabee move. mike huckabee now as we head into 2016s the mike huckabee of 2008 who won iowa who was this beloved figure and evangelical christians in particular do you look at mike huckabee now and say this is a stronger candidate or do you like at mike huckabee

and say maybe he's a little bit of old news here and you have more competition this time? >> you know steve, honestly, i don't. in the trips that i've taken to iowa and we were there quite a bit in this cycle in 2014 because of the senate race. he is still a beloved figure there. for someone like mike huckabee, that's the road to a potential nomination. it runs through iowa and it runs through that evangelical conservative base and as the early primary starts to take shape. you are starting to see moves on both sides. jeb bush on the establishment side and now huckabee on the conservative base side and you'll start to see those two groups fight it out behind the scenes. you're already seeing jeb bush get in the way of chris christie in his early plans. you'll see ehuckabee sort of get in the ways of potentially ted cruz. somebody like maybe a ben carson coming up in south carolina and a tea party for him later this month and in des moines a steve king event. i think this is already off to the races, so to speak.

so huckabee will, i think, have as much of a chance this time as he did in 2008. >> i think that's a good way of looking at this. those two separate tracks. call it the social conservative track and whatever label you want to put on it. you look at the social conservative side with mike huckabee. in terms of that establishment track right now. we were talking earlier in the show. the romney noise on hold that jeb bush has made his move and chris christie clearly interested in that thing and that competition between jeb bush and chris christie. where does that stand right now and how do you see that shaking out? >> i think that jeb bush's early moves really put some pressure on chris christie and the people that i've talked to lately about the sort of state where chris christie's potential campaign is that it is a little further behind where bush is and that suddenly is a dangerous place for him to be. i think there's some pressure on christie to move forward just to show that he's past the scandal in part. that's not what is pushing him

outp i think bush's early move definitely step straight into his finance path. i'm hearing from republican sources that bush is working on hiring a finance staff and some reporters preparing to launch a super pack as early as next week. i think as that establishment fight sort of moves forward, they'll want to coalesce around somebody because you want to put up somebody strong against this as you show incredibly wide field of people running on the right. >> i think back to 2008 and huckabee had a very successful campaign in iowa and a few other states but that came out of no where. two years earlier nobody thought mike huckabee was going to do what he did in 2008. you looked at the names we put up there. two dozen of them basically. some break out potential here and dark horse potential and somebody to be keeping an eye on in 2015 who we're not necessarily talking about right now. whether it's on the social conservative side or in the

establishment track tat could make some noise in the coming year. >> honestly one person i have my eye on is mike pence the governor of indiana and somebody who has close ties to the coch brothers network and that sort of brand social conservatism and that right wing and the big money part of the party. i think he's somebody now there is a bill in the indiana legislature to allow him to run for governor at the same time. i think he's somebody who could potentially pick up steam if he decides to get into it. >> we'll keep an eye on 23 others, as well because i think we ehave to. kasie hunt appreciate you joining us this morning. in just a few minutes, we'll talk about the controversial new film "selma" one of the pioneers of the civil rights movement. andrew young. also looking forward to this. al trautwig is here to help us figure out what is ahead in 2015 and the only topic i enjoy maybe as much as politics.

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so when we had him on a minute ago brian weiss did not think it was a possibility. could this be the year? we ask that every year about the cubs. as we continue our look ahead, the big personalities that will shape 2015. one area we haven't gotten to this weekend and that is the area of sports. salina roberts and currently founder and ceo a digital sports network and al trautwig, veteran sports commentator at msg network and also from the 1993 movie "cool runnings." brate great to have both of you here. the thing to start on what we're living through right now which is the first time ever in college football they had a playoff. four teams that played on new

year's day and ohio state and oregon emerged from that. huge step for college football here. >> it's a big money party right now, isn't it? college football is getting what they wanted which was this four-team playoff and you get into the end of the year and you have a legitimate one/two option here. the one who is going to win it and no one is going to dispute it. if it's ohio state, the bcs formula didn't put that into the mix. not a lot of debate now. which is great. for college football and having a definitive number one. you also have to look behind the curtain a little bit and say, what does this mean for everybody else? that's one of the issues they're going to wrestle with in 2015. you just had another school in alabama, birmingham they had to shut down their program because they couldn't compete. you see the money party for the big guys. >> a rich getting richer. >> but it is exciting. you can't deny how exciting it's been. >> it's the most ilogical thing

in sports to me. you can have these 13-0 college football teams that can't play. what does this do to college football? it is traditionally more of a regional sport. is it taking a step to being a lot more on par with the nfl? this country is so football crazed as it is. >> they have gotten this right. an attraction to this playoff system and if you are looking forward this year there's going to be a way to figure out paying these players. i have not, have you heard any suggestion of a system that works for all of collegiate sports to get these athletes some money? >> i'm a big proponent of the olympic system in a sense. if you are a star player in college football and the endorsement money comes your way, you should be allowed to receive the endorsements money. i think back in the day when johnny manziel was at texas a&m and nike knocking on the door, i

think you could sign the deal. takes the burden that the universities will come up with the money to take to impress these guys. but it will take corporations to do it. >> it's not the big sports that complicates things. it's the other sports. title nine and i haven't heard of an idea but it's going to happen. this lawsuit is going to go further and it's going to be -- there's no question about it. >> let me ask you the other side of football. the nfl. middle of the nfl playoffs. two games last night. a lot of off-field controversy for the nfl this year. as you look ahead to how 2015 is going to play out and how the issue of violence against women is addressed. how is that going to play out this year, do you think? >> he took a bigger hit than was even imaginable. the thing about it is in my world when i do a game i know that i can predict about 90% of what's going to happen. the 10% that i can't prepare for. they could have prepared for

this. where are we in domestic violence? they could have prethought it. and they didn't. and even when they had a chance to think about it they didn't think about it. so, now the next big story is who is going to step out on a limb and hire ray rice. >> do you think that team will take him this year? >> i don't think ray rice plays again. >> really? >> because he's a diminished declined player, too. you have to remember who he was when all of this went down. >> think of everybody who got a second chance. >> i think the second chances were given out like pamphlets before. this was so this role in people's mind with a videotape. >> he wrote a book about alex rodriguez. he is going to get his third, fourth, whatever chance in the spring. >> i think when you look at what doping is compared to what domestic violence is and the reaction to the video that everybody saw and we haven't seen yet roger goodell nightmare play out yet.

there is an inquiry that will come out in the next month or two that says what did he know and when did he know about it about the videotape in question. i think given the surrounding sort of cultural change that is happening in the nfl with domestic violence and ray rice's positioning in that that right now, there was a team desperate enough to go for a playoff run and they wanted a runningback, they would have taken ray rice. a lot more work for him to do to ever have a chance. >> the fact that roger goodell was made vulnerable by any circumstance. >> the $44 million commissioner. in the seconds we have left is the off season in baseball, the cubs are loading up and they stole from the red sox. how about the cubs this year. do you think the cubs can win a world series this year? >> did they sign mike huckabee? >> who is your world series pick? any crystal ball here? >> i love the kansas city run. there's magic right there and i think the cubs have a little bit more to do to get to that magical point, but they're on their way. theo reversed a curse before,

why not see how it could happen. >> thanks sports reporter salina roberts and commentator al trautwig. appreciate you both being here. one of the most critically acclaimed films is one of the most controversy. we're going to discuss that controversy and a whole lot more with andrew young. he will be our guest right after this. i have a cold with terrible chest congestion. i better take something. theraflu severe cold doesn't treat chest congestion. really? new alka-seltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. [breath of relief] oh, what a relief it is. not all toothbrushes are created equal. oral-b toothbrushes are engineered with end-rounded bristles so brushing doesn't scratch gums. and angled perfectly to remove 90% of plaque for a healthier smile. trust the brand more dentists and hygienists use. oral-b. does a freshly printed presentation fill you with optimism? then you might be gearcentric. right now, all printers are on sale.

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january is one of the best months of the year for movie fans. the unofficial start of award season which begins in earnest with the golden globes. one of the most talked about films this award season. one who is nominated for four golden globes in fact "selma" the first major feature film abut generating controversy, as well. not for its depiction of the civil rights leader but treatment of president linden b. johnson. the implication that he was not

necessarily supportive and maybe even hostile to the civil rights campaign in selma. >> we want federal legislation granting the right to vote unincumbent. >> that's fine. but most of the south is still not desegregated. let's not start another battle when we haven't even won the first. this voting thing is just going to have to wait. >> the film also suggested that lbj to discredit martin luther king. johnson defenders have been quick to suggest that president johnson and dr. king were partners during the civil rights movement. director of lbj presidential library mewuseum says it flies in the face of history. the partnership between lbj and mlk is one of the most productive and consequential in american history. one of the former top aides called it one of the greatest

legislative achievements. he also suggested that the marches in selma were actually the idea. the notion that selma was lbj's idea was jaw dropping and offensive to the black citizens who made it so. she also tweeted, bottom line is folks should integra got history. let it come alive for yourself. joined now by andrew young, who is an aide to martin luther king jr. and also ambusderassador to the u.n. and former congressman of atlanta. really appreciate you being here today, sir. thank you very much for your time. i want to start with some of the most controversial elements of this movie and just try to establish the basic historical facts here. so we played a clip there and this is one that has gotten a lot of attention. the meeting between martin luther king and president johnson. martin luther king making the

case for a voting rights act and president johnson telling him this thing is just going to have to wait. i believe you were at that meeting. is that how it played out almost that way. but president johnson did not say that it had to wait. he said that i have a great agenda and i can't just -- i just got through. remember this was december the civil rights act of '64 had just passed in july. so we're coming six months afterwards, and we did not expect him to commit. but we did expect him -- we were really kind of letting him know that we had to pursue voting rights. his agenda i found later, was that he thought that the great society society, medicare, title i, age of the disadvantaged, would be

easier for him to bring first. if he had said that we would have probably agreed with him. but we didn't have a choice. because three days after we got back to atlanta, and this was right after dr. king won the nobel prize, mrs. amelia boynton came over from selma, and jim clark had enjoined the movement against holding an naacp emancipation proclamation service in a church. jim clark had said so political meetings can occur in churches. mrs. boynton's husband had to be buried from the street because jim clark would not let her husband's funeral go into the church. so we were responding to an emergency. we were responding to a crisis. and we agreed that we would go to selma the 2nd of january, but

at the time when we met with president johnson in the middle of december neither dr. king nor president johnson had thought of selma. >> the other element here that a lot of people around who were around the former president are objecting to is a scene that strongly suggests that lbj was complicit in what j. edgar hoover's fbi was doing in terms of surveillance of martin luther king and in sending a tape to coretta scott king of mlk having some kind of extramarital relation. the scene plays out where the president gets frustrated with dr. king. he's aware of this surveillance and he plaszs a call to j. edgar hoover and you're shown coretta scott king dealing with this. is that fair to lbj? >> that i don't think is fair because it was robert kennedy who signed the ord erer allowing

the fbi to wire tap all of us. i had a wire running into my house that i just discovered about two years ago. and it's probably been there since i moved into that house in 1966. we knew we were bugged but that was before lbj. and the present fbi director keeps that letter on his desk and he makes the people read it and says that that was one of the lowest positions in the history of the fbi. now, even as i say that one of the things that i like about selma and one of the things that the movie shows, if we would look at it is this was the one time that everybody got everything right. snick and sclc disagreed, but i john lewis' help we got it right, we got it together. johnson actually did a marvelous job, and nick cotts' book on lbj

and martin luther king describe the detailed ways in which lyndon johnson used his mastery of the political process to deliver this bill. we could not have had this bill without lyndon baines johnson, but lyndon baines johnson could not have passed it without martin luther king without the death of jimmie lee jackson, james james reebe, cheney and goodman, medgar evers. it's unfair for anybody to talk about credit. too many people gave their lives. too many people risked too much. >> i think that's a great point and in terms of the portrayal of the people on the ground who were waging this fight, there have been no objections that have been registered by anybody of this film. it's strictly about the relationship between mlk and lbj. >> let's even say, though on this occasion, 30 days 90 days after president johnson said he didn't have the power to pass

civil rights legislation in 1965 he was standing up on the 28th of march with a joint session of congress. and he introduced legislation which changed the south. that's what we want to celebrate in the selma film. >> that was the lbj speech where he said we shall overcome. >> he said we shall overcome. >> we're short on time i don't mean to cut you short, but we have the news overnight of the passing of ed brooke the first populary elected african-american u.s. senator in history, served two terms for massachusetts massachusetts, died at the age of 95 years old. i wondered your thoughts on ed brooke, his life and legacy. >> my thoughts on ed brooke is he was one of those people in the senate that worked with lyndon johnson. when i got to congress we worked together on a number of urban finance bills, the passage of our mass transit legislation

the helping to build our airport. all of these things. and he was quiet, he was strong. but we lausz another visionary also this last week. and that's mario cuomo. those were two of the great men of american politics. they saw clearly, they were not petty. and they held even though one was republican and one was democrat they held the national interests as their priority in anything and everything they did. >> all right, andrew young, former u.n. ambassador former atlanta mayor and civil rights icon. appreciate your time very much. thank you for getting up with us. >> and thank you at home for joining us this morning. we'll be back next weekend, saturday, sunday at 8:00 a.m. stay here for the continuing coverage of wentjian liut jingin lue's

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what is the role of white people in a racial justice movement. plus nicki minaj, and marijuana country. colorado one year after legalization. first, the role of the police then and now. good morning. i'm molesa harris-perry. this morning, mourners are gathering for the funeral of new york police department detective wenjian liu who was killed in the line of duty. liu and ramos were shot to death in their cruiser in a brooklyn neighborhood targeted solely because they were police officered. li