ppeals but won battles for neem who have view maining tort claims. >> brent coon mike papantonio. great to have you with us tonight. again, we invited comment from bp. they repeatedly declined. appreciate you gentlemen being with us tonight. i'll have a commentary on all of this tomorrow night on "the ed show." that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. "politicsnation with reverend al smarten begin sharpton begins right now. good evening, rev. good evening. thanks to you for tuning in. breaking news. senate democrats pushed back against republicans' latest attempt to tie up security funding over the president's executive action on immigration. it's the fourth time senate republicans have tried to use homeland security funding as a bargaining chip to stop the president's executive action. and while they keep playing politics, we're just four days away from a department shutdown.

president obama said that would hurt our economy and possibly our safety. >> unless congress acts, one week from now, more than 100,000 dhs employees, border patrol court inspectors, tsa agents, will show up to work without getting paid. now, they all work in your states. these are folks who if they don't have a paycheck are not going to be able to spend that money in your states. they will have a direct impact on your economy and it will have a direct impact on america's national security because their hard work helps to keep us safe. >> dhs keeps us safe and we need its protection especially now. on saturday the somali terrorist group al shabab put out a video calling for attacks on western malls. including the mall of america in

minnesota. officials have stepped up security at the mall and said there are no specific plots against it. but al shabab was behind the attack against a mall in kenya in 2013. that killed more than 60 people. and homeland security's secretary jeh johnson isn't dismissing the threat. >> on a specific place. we've got to take that seriously. i would say that if anyone is planning to go to the mall of america today, they've got to be particularly careful. >> the department of homeland security needs to be completely focused on issues like this. not on whether republicans will give it the money to keep doing this work. joining me now, congresswoman loretta sanchez, democrat of california, who serves on the house homeland security

committee. and jim arkadis, a truman analyst and former pentagon analyst. thank you both for being here. >> thanks, rev. >> thank you. >> congresswoman, four days until the department of homeland security runs out of money. i mean let me ask you, do you think your republican colleagues will really let it shut down? >> well we didn't think that a year and a half ago when they shut down the government for, i believe it was 18 days. their essential people went to work, then what happened was that we ended up having to pay those people who didn't etchven go to work during that time. so what we understand about shutdowns is it's not efficient, it's not effective. and for the republicans to be holding the department of homeland security as hostage when we really need them threats are changing all the time, reverend. you know, we saw what happened in paris, for example. >> yeah. >> and our department has to

change according to that. and when these republicans continue to do a cr or don't fund what's going on over the fact that they don't like immigrant immigrants, i mean, that is the most ridiculous thing that i've seen in a long time. >> jim, we've heard there's no specific plot against the mall of america, but what kind of monitoring are u.s. security agencyies doing there right now? >> well everything comes through the national counterterrorism center which is based out in tysons corner virginia, all reporting from the nsa, d.o.d. and fbi ultimately goes through there, then anything that is deemed credible gets passed along to the department of homeland security. and remember several years ago under the bush administration when we had color-coded terrorism alerts? we don't have those anymore, but dhs has a mechanism, national terrorism advisory system whereby they write a memo that says here's the threat, here's

what's going on, whether it's imminent, here's the level of credibility. they pass that information along to local law enforcement in minnesota who can take appropriate measures to ensure that proper personnel are dedicated to defending against this issue. >> congresswoman sanchez, a cbs poll found 60%, 60% of people think a dhs-funding agreement should be separate from immigration policy. and even some republicans don't want to have this fight. listen to what senator lindsey graham said this morning. >> for god sakes, don't shut down the premiere homeland security defense line called the department of homeland security. if we do as republicans, we'll get blamed. >> will republicans get blamed if this is shutdown congresswoman? >> absolutely. i mean we need these employees. we need this front line.

there are challenges every day. there are attacks that could happen that they've thwarted over and over. there are -- just knowing that we have them on the front line makes terrorists think twice before they go and do something. and if we believe that in four day s days they're only essential, or we'll send them of them home then that's a particular time when a terrorist might say, okay, now's the time to attack. i think it is very dangerous for the republicans to be doing this, and i hope that americans understand just how dangerous -- they're doing over a philosophical issue. >> let me pick up on that with you, jim -- >> sure. >> -- because the mall of america is in minnesota. >> right. >> now, there's been any number of instances of residents traveling overseas to join extremists from minnesota. from 2006 to 2011, 27

somali-americans from minnesota traveled to fight in somalia. >> right. >> since 2013, 12 people with ties to minnesota traveled to syria syria. just last week, a minneapolis man was indicted on charges associated with supporting isis. i mean how big is the concern over lone wolf actors in this jim? >> well so here's the thing. there is a large somali in the twin cities area and as you just mentioned have been reports of these individuals going to somalia and training with them. now, the concern is that in a paris-type situation where individuals travel to somalia, spend a few months or a few years learning the tricks of the trade, they return back because they have american passports and they're sort of left to their own devices and there's no connection where some from al shabab calls them up and says okay now it's time to conduct the attack. so the concern is that as they learn things in somalia, they

can go back to minnesota and sort of conduct their normal lives and use what they've learned in order to execute an attack when they feel the time is right. so when we see a video like this, that obviously increases that concern. the other side of that issue, and this is really important for people to understand is that there's been a host of terrorist activity throughout the world over the course of the last several months. people are nervous. a lot of these groups isis al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, elsewhere, are competing for recruits and money and publicity. so there's the concern that someone could return to minnesota, but there's also the issue that this group is just trying to puff out its chest and saying, hey, don't forget about us, either. at this point, i would, while not being able to discount the idea that a paris-type attack could occur in minnesota, i would lean more toward the latter of the sort of publicity stunt angle on this. >> but we can't depend on that, congresswoman, can we? i see you shaking your head. >> you know, the problem is that you have something called the mall of america.

i mean think about the headlines. it's a perfect name for somebody to go. so we need to be vigilant. you know the most important thing for americans to understand is we are in a new age and we have been for quite a while now, and withe need to be vigilant. we're the best eyes and ears that we have each of the individuals as we go about our daily business. and that's the way that we actually, you know when there's something funny that's going on and we report it it turns out that most the time it was something that could have been very serious. >> but congresswoman, while we're being vigilant we also don't need to try to blanket and vilify a whole community. secretary of homeland security -- >> of course not. >> -- johnson talked about that this weekend. listen to this. >> we have to deal with it in a new and different way that involves a whole of government approach and involves working with state and local law enforcement, working with the community, working with

community leaders to hopefully persuade people who might be inclined in this direction to turn away from violence. >> congresswoman, you're on the committee of homeland security. what kind of work on the ground needs to be done in these communities? >> well, i will tell you, for example, out here in orange county, california we probably have the second largest arab/muslim community in the nation. it's not the second, at least the third. and we work very diligently within the community. i mean mosque leaders are constantly talking to young people who attend telling them that, you know -- and it's true islam is not about this extreme terrorism going on. we -- getting them involved getting young people getting people you know these lone sort of people these people sort of out of touch. getting them involved in community, getting them -- you know, my father used to say, or

the old adage is idle hands are the devil's workshop. so making sure that they are involved. and more importantly making sure that communities who might have a different religion or have a different look that they are involved and part of the overall community fabric so that there's understanding between groups. that is a very important thing that we work on every single day out here in orange county, california. >> congresswoman loretta sanchez and jim arkedis, thank you both for your time tonight. >> thanks reverend. >> thanks. coming up a jaw-dropping moment in the aaron hernandez murder trial. what his housekeeper found beneath his mattress before the killing. also the gop's rudy giuliani problem. you got to hear what one of his top defenders on the right is saying about the controversy today. and activism at the oscars. hollywood's biggest stage became a platform for change. what does it mean for the future

of social justice? >> we say that selma is now because the struggle for justice is right now. we know that right now the struggle for freedom and justice is real.

got a question for the president? use the #obamatownhall to submit your questions for the big event this wednesday. my colleague, jose diaz valarbalart is hosting a town hall with barack obama answering questions from social media, wednesday on msnbc and telemundo. you know who i have a lot of questions for?

rudy giuliani. he's digging a deeper hole. maybe he just needs a hug. that's next. the wrong choice? it's like, if i buy a t-shirt and then change my mind i can return it. but a car? you don't reeeaaa eeeeeaaaaaly know until you've driven it a few days. i just want to be sure. ♪ ♪ as long as people drive cars carmax will be the best way to buy them. introducing... a pm pain reliever that dares to work all the way until... the am. new aleve pm the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. good job! still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories.

we're back with the gop's sorry attempt to explain rudy giuliani's claim that the president doesn't love america. today, giuliani himself, wrote, "my blunt language subjecting that the president doesn't love america notwithstanding i didn't intend to question president obama's motives or the content of his heart." but on the same day he wrote that he also said this.

>> i've said it maybe 30 times before, but somehow this time it hit a nerve. maybe because the president is on such defense about his unwillingness to face islamic extremist terrorism. this man has a different view of america than most american presidents had. i think he just looks at us differently. he doesn't have the same emotion about this country and the same understanding of it. >> rather than backing down giuliani is leaping even further into the deep end. and take gop governor bobby jindal who today finally said the president does love america, but in the next breath he said the president doesn't deserve to be president. >> the president loves america. he loves our country. there's no doubt about that. i think that the president has really disqualified himself to be our commander in chief because he will not only identify this threat but take the steps that are necessary to

defeat this threat. >> president obama has disqualified himself as commander in chief. really? and now gop governor scott walker is doing it too. backing off his statement that he doesn't know if president obama is christian. while fund-raising off the controversy, the truth is republicans are still beholden to the far right fringe and they're still not playing it straight. joining me now are dana milbank and joan walsh. thank you both for being here. >> hi, reverend. >> thanks, rev. >> dana this weekend the new york papers quoted me when i said rudy giuliani needs a hug. meaning he's you know a faded guy, just looking for some attention. but what's the solution for all of these other republicans? >> well it's awfully good of you, refverend to give him this attention. he's obviously cries out. >> i want to keep giving him

attention. it shows how they won't confront something that should be easy for them. >> it's very gracious of you. you know as i think we've discussed, the problem isn't rudy giuliani, it's how the rest of the party is reacting to it. >> correct. >> and, you know particularly the people who would be president, who would be the party's nominee. now, and jindal i think stepped in it quite a bit there, but not as bad to the extent that scott walker has done and actually now bringing up this old cockamamy thing about is the president a christian? that's speaking to really the most venomous parts of the republican primary electorate, and sort of giving a wink and nod to the more hateful elements of the party. so, you know it's one thing to be rudy giuliani or something of a has-been and definitely in need of your affection, but an entirely different thing for a guy who's a serious contender for president to be playing this game. >> now, joan i mentioned governor scott walker and his

campaign, and in line with what dana's saying what is really relevant to me is the top republican candidates running in 2016, their reaction to it. giuliani i think is a has-been looking for a hug. but i mentioned scott walker because his campaign team is fund-raising off the controversy, sending out an e-mail saying "he refuses to be drawn into the sideshow of answering pointless questions about whether and how much president obama loves our country. now is the time to stand up against the publicity hounds and the journalistic pack and help governor walker fight back." i mean does this reveal what's going on here joan? republicans believe their base response to this ugly rhetoric? >> yeah i think if we look back at 2012 we've now got rudy giuliani playing the donald trump role. he's kind of the carnival barker, he's shamed himself. he doesn't care. he's saying -- he's the id.

he's saying what other people maybe won't say in quite the same way. then you've got the giuliani primary, rev. we're living through the giuliani primary where you have people like lindsey graham jeb bush, like rand paul like marco rubio who have distanced themselves, who really don't want to go all the way there and maybe hope that the republican party can beat the democrats without demonizing the president. then you've got bobby jindal hugs giuliani, then steps back then says an even nastier thing, and scott walker who some people are calling the front-runner. i can't quite see this but he's doing very well in polls. having this, what really is a strategy to say these are unimportant questions and i shouldn't have to answer them then to go to his e-mail list and say, give me money. >> right. >> because i'm engaging with it. and i'm trashing the liberal media to boot. >> let's not forget dana, it's now routine to hear these attacks from republicans in congress. listen to gop congressman tim

and what he said. >> this is not a man educated in the american system, he learned all kinds of things wherever he was educated. spent times in indonesia and the schools there and this is exactly what they caught there, if not probably close to what he believes. >> last time i checked, columbia university and harvard university were very much american educational institutions but are we going to hear any of the gop leadership in congress condemn remarks like that any time soon? >> remarks taking us right back to the madrassa. i thought we dealt with that seven or eight years ago. so we're hearing precious little of people pushing back against that. and that's why the presidential race really brings us into focus because you always have the tim huelskamps and the others in the background on the fringes making this noise, so for the democrats it's delightful delicious, and delovely to see the leaders of

the republican party being forced to answer to this sort of thing, and it is going to go on. they either need to repudiate it, not every single gotcha statement, but they need to repudiate that element of the party and risk their own fortunes in the presidential race or embrace it and essentially disqualify them in a general election. >> you know joan it took post of the 2016 gop candidates two days to respond to giuliani's comment, picking up on your last statement. but here's where things stand now. i like your political nose on these issues. four have said it's wrong to question whether president obama loves america. two have withheld comment. and one, bobby jindal first claimed the gist of what giuliani said is true but then said the president loves america. if this was a test for 2016 republicans, how did they do? >> well i think what we see -- i'm very interested in what

scott walker is doing. i'm going to be honest, rev, i've consistently underestimated him. i thought he could be defeated. he's come back. i'm going to give him that credit. i thought all this weekend, oh this is stupid he's not ready for primetime. dana says he's disqualified himself. i hope he's right. however, i think he sees a place for himself in the establishment primary going after the donors to jeb bush's right, he can be the guy who marries the right wing, i'm the right wing candidate but i'm also the establishment candidate. that hasn't happened. they haven't been able to put that together in one person. he thinks he can be that person. i don't know if it's possible. that's what he's doing. >> yeah, jeb bush, we haven't heard from him all weekend. jeb, where are you? dana milbank and joan walsh. >> he needs a hug, too. >> thank you both for your time tonight. >> thanks. coming up, social aware bsness was the big winner last night. common and john legend's powerful performance of "glory" brought tears ss to in the theater

and across the country. the las vegas murder suspect makes his first court appearance today in shackles. the "justice files" is next. ized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. there's nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. so why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom?

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human impact of global warming, republicans has it down to a science. >> if climate change is a problem, and do you believe it is or not? do you believe -- >> i'm not a scientist. >> i don't know the science behind climate change. >> well, listen, i'm not going to -- i'm not qualified to debate the science over climate change. >> what is your take on global warming? climate change? >> i'm not a scientist. >> i'm not a scientist. it's their favorite line. and when they do actually talk about scientists, they usually point to people like dr. willie su, the darling of the right wing climate denier caucus. he says greenhouse gases just aren't that bad for you.

senator inhofe has repeatedly cited his work over the years. the same senator inhofe who once said this about climate change. >> the fact that all this is happening is due to manmade gases i really believe is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the american people. >> the greatest hoax ever perpetrated. and to back him up he pointed to people like dr. sun. >> these are scientists that can not be challenged. >> i'm not too sure about that senator, because "the new york times" reports dr. sun has accepted $1.2 million in funding from the fossil fuel industry which he hasn't disclosed in most of his scientific papers. interesting. a guy pushing back on climate change debate while getting paid by oil and gas companies. well, i'm not a scientist, but i can sure spot a potential conflict of interest when i see

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justice files." "joining me tonight, criminal defense attorney eric guster and former prosecutor and host of "judge faith" faith jenkins. thank you both for being here. >> thanks, rev. >> thank you. >> now to a developing news story on that las vegas murder. the man accused of killing a mother in a hail of gunfire stood shackled as he faced a judge for the first time today. his lawyers saying today erich nowsch was acting in self-defense. nowsch faces murder attempted murder, and gun charges. las vegas police say he killed tammy meyers after she and her armed son followed him. they'd been involved in a

reported road rage incident earlier that day with her. a new police report reveals how nowsch was acting after the arrest. it said "he told friends he fired shots" at meyers. one of those friends even said he "seemed excited and happy" about it. when police asked nowsch about the shooting he denied it all. faith, they're claiming self-defense today. >> i think there are more questions than answer in this case. here's what we do know. we do know this defendant was in his car. when you're looking at a self-defense claim you're looking at i had to defend myself, i had to shoot, it was my life or theirs. the real question is, did the son of this woman who was killed, did he fire first? we know he had a gun, he fired at least four shots. who fired the first shots? that's going to be a key question, but at the end of the day, this defendant drove to this woman's house. she was shot in her driveway. why did he drive to her house? was it to pursue her?

it's hard to get a self-defense claim when you pursue someone and shoot 22 times. >> he was, erich, was pursuing. how does that shape, as faith raises the question how does that deal with his self-defense claim? >> it makes self-defense harder but they pursued him first. the lady went home got her son with a gun, then went after him. and there's more to this story, reverend al. there is something else we just don't know yet, because there is some other type of relationship or something else because when a person goes after someone like that, it's not normal. and then the son told his mom, call the police, and she did not. she refused to call the police. >> well -- >> wait, i want to bring this in. the "las vegas review journal," this is important, i think, to get your both of your responses to this. they wrote that tammy meyers' son tried to convince her to call police rather than going out to chase a car involved in a previous altercation, according

to an arrest report." now, how will that one fact make a difference if this goes to trial? >> well, obviously you don't advise someone? you've been in some kind of road rage incident to get in their car and try to find and follow the person. nooths that's not a crime, not against the law. you want to follow someone, get their driver's license, want to report it, if you want to confront them, that's not necessarily a crime. the fact her son got a gun, did he show that gun, brandish that gun, menace the defendant? those are questions that need answered. >> the fact he told her, let's call the cops, don't pursue it does that have bearing at all? >> it will have a small bearing, reverend al. this is why. when the person says there's danger, let's call the police instead of pursuing this person, then that goes to mitigation as far as what will happen with the young man who's been arrested? >> right. >> will thighey say this lady should not have done and chased him? the son is essentially saying with that testimony, don't go chase him and she did anyway. >> let's go to a major reversal in the aaron hernandez murder

trial before we run out of time. text messages the judge initially threw out of the case are now back in. hernandez and two other men are accused of killing semi-pro athlete odin lloyd in 2013. right before lloyd died he and his sister exchanged text messages. lloyd wrote to her, "u see who i'm with?" and "nfl just so you know." nfl was apparently the nickname for hernandez. the judge says the jury can hear about the messages but not find out what they say. prosecutors say the texts set up a timeline of the night and pinpoints locations. but the defense says it's worse to let the jury wonder what lloyd wrote. what do you think? >> i think that -- >> speculate, mr. lloyd is saying help, you know, i'm being kidnapped, i'm going to be killed. i mean they can speculate something which is totally

unfairly prejudicial. we don't have any ability really to counter that. >> they can find that at 3:23 he was still alive, and after that he was to longer alive which would be consistent with other witness testimony, so in terms of its relevance, i'd say it's extremely relevant. >> will the text messages help the prosecution? >> they will help the prosecution because when a jury has to start imagining things they -- it does -- their imaginations will literally run wild because on the defense side, we want the jury to know information instead of guessing and imagining and conjecturing things and that's what will happen in this case. >> the defense should concede and let the text messages in if that's what they're concerned about. they fought to keep these text messages out. >> the defense did. >> yeah. the judge is saying we will let the time and location of the texts come in and the defense is -- >> but not the content. >> not the content. if they're so concerned, let the content in. we're not going to get it both ways. the prosecutors, it's important for them to set up a timeline

here. the 58 minutes when lloyd leaves with hernandez and when hernandez comes back without him. those text messages will help establish that lloyd was in the vicinity of where -- aaron hernandez was in the vicinity of where lloyd was murdered. >> the judge kept the text messages totally out. this is one of the things in trial you have to make the decision. they may let them because the jury is already going to know he sent texts. >> eric, faith, i'm going to have to leave it there. thanks for your time. >> thank you. still ahead, social justice at the oscars. was last night a turning point for how we think about celebrities and activism? also did the academy snub the memory of joan rivers? a special oscars edition of "conversation nation" is next. can run in high heels. must be a supermodel, right? you don't know "aarp." because aarp is making finding the career you love no matter what your age, a real possibility. go to aarp.org/possibilities to check out life reimagined for tools,

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time now for a special oscars edition of "conversation nation." joining me tonight, journalist and author allison samuels, access hollywood's shawn robertson, and "huff post live" host. hollywood's brightest stars shined during the oscars last night. as actors accepted their trophy one theme stole the spotlight from all of them. activism. the speeches ranged from civil rights, to suicide awareness,

from immigration to equal pay for women. patricia arquette kicked things off with a speech that made many women, including meryl streep proud. >> to every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. it's our time to have wage equal equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the united states of america. >> then came the most powerful and emotional performance of the night. john legend and common singing the song "glory" about racial injustice. the images of the selma to montgomery march flashed on stage. it brought everyone to their feet, and some in the audience to tears. then came the speech where legend reminded america that

selma is now. >> we know that right now, the struggle for freedom and justice is real. we live in the most incarcerated country in the world. there are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850. when people are marching with our song we want to tell you we are with you, we see you, we love you and march on. >> shawn, what do you think of these powerful statements? >> well, rev, i was there last night, and i got to tell you, the ceremony was a little bit long, however, i think that the oscars, it's all about moments. some of the moments you just showed, those are the ones we will be remembering and talking ablts about i think really for years to come. common and john legend's speech was so touching and included information that made a lot of us go wow, i did not know that.

i know that a lot of people say that the oscars is not the place to make these so-called political speeches, but i think it is exactly the place because otherwise it just becomes, you know, award, joke award, joke. and i really like the fact that thee actors stand up they take a stand on an important issue and get people really thinking about how they can be active in their own lives in terms of these issues we really need to care about. >> how did it play in the crowd, shaun? >> it played really well. interest you say that because a lot of times what plays well in the crowd does not actually play good on television, but from what i could see, that people you know, they were giving these standing ovations when patricia arquette talked about equal pay for women and you had meryl streep jumping out of her chair and jennifer lopez right next to her, that's really powerful and it shows it's okay to take a stand and to talk about some of these really important issues. >> allison, you cover a lot of entertainment. how do you feel about the using

that big platform to deal with big issues? >> well i think in a way they sort of had to. some of the movies -- many of the movies this year were about really powerful subjects like a.l.s. and alzheimer's and i think it would have been hard for julianne moore or eddie from "the theory of everything" to get up and not give a salute to the people they were actually portraying. it made a lot of sense for the people to get up there and bring attention to whatever cause that was their passion last night. >> alana? >> yeah i agree. if you have that big of a stage, why not use it? i think that you know often the oscars, evidenced by the film options and the nominees they've been criticized for a lack of diversity, not really taking the plunge when it comes to dealing with deeper political issues. at least we saw those in attendance, those part of the ceremony bringing it up themselves this year. i do think the fact that laura

portress won for "citizen 4" best documentary was a big move. they rarely choose political documentaries. hearing someone talk about the surveillance day of plotting government whistleblowers was something that, i mean i certainly applaud. >> allison, wage equality, when patricia arquette brought it up big, big reaction as shaun said and a big reaction on social media. >> right. i think it was an important issue, patricia arquette people love her. i think she took her moment and i think the industry has to do more for women, just like they have to do more for other minorities. i think women are really sort of standing up and saying hey, look, count us in. we need more directors, more representation in that area and behind the scenes where decisions are made. so i think it was totally appropriate for her to talk about that last night. >> and we need to deal with more diversity in the academy and hollywood, period. i want to stay on that. >> of course. >> now to a snub that has many fans furious. the late joan rivers wasn't honored during the immemoriam

portion of the ceremony. rivers appeared in several films and revolutionized the red carpet interviewing stars and everyone connected to the film industry. she died in september during throat surgery. the academy said, "joan rivers is among the many worthy artists and filmmakers we were unfortunately unable to feature in the segment. she is however, included in our in memoriam gallery on oscar.com. alan, what is your reaction? how did she not make it in? >> i think that this is a perfect example of the snobbiness of hollywood, you know, you're either in the club and part of it or you're not, and so for whatever reason i think maybe because joan rivers was just too groundbreaking maybe because of how edgy she was and everything that she said and did over the years they chose not to include her. it backfired and everyone noticed.

>> shaun, how does it play out in hollywood? >> a lot of people were surprised. she was just honored at the last two awards shows. i believe she was honored at s.a.g. with their in memorium and also that the golden globes. why she wasn't included in the oscars, maybe there is some thought, you know, they just wabts wanted to honor people who were definitely known in the movie industry and we have to you know admit that joan rivers was known mostly for her standup and television although she did appear in many movies. so you know i take the academy at their word. they say that there were so people they could have honored. whether this was a snub, i'm not readily to go there yet. her fans were very upset about her not being included. >> allison, would you go there? quickly? >> i just remember they did the same thing to farrah fawcett and she'd been in a number of movies as well but she was primarily known as a television star and they didn't acknowledge her the same way they avoided joan. i think sis what they do.

if you're not known for movies, they just don't recognize you in that way. >> all right. everyone, stay with me. when we come back, lady gaga stuns the country with her performance. and john travolta was trending on twitter. was it creepy or was it all just fun? it's all ahead. please stay with us. [coughs] better take something. theraflu severe cold won't treat your runny nose. really? alka-seltzer severe cold and flu relieves your worst flu symptoms plus runny nose. [breath of relief] oh, what a relief it is. mommy! hey! when heartburn comes creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue ...and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum, tum tum tum...♪ smoothies! only from tums.

we're back with our oscars afterparty panel. allison, shaun, and alyona.

were you gaga for lady gaga's oscar performance last night? i mean we saw a side of the grammy-winning pop star we've never seen before with her vocal tribute to "the sound of music." ♪ the hills fill my heart with the sound of music ♪ ♪ my heart wants to sing every song it hears ♪ >> shaun, this surprised a lot of people on fwittwitter. what did you make of her performance? >> first of all, rev i loved it, and here's the reason why i loved her performance. when lady gaga first burst onto the scene, it was all about the crazy outfits, arriving in an egg, the meat dress and all this. she has a tremendous voice, and now we're getting to hear that. it's not about all the pageantry around her. it is about just her pure vocal ability.

the songs that she's doing with tony bennett, i mean she is -- she really is a force. and that's why people are so surprised because they didn't realize that she had this type of vocal ability, but she is a fantastic singer and i am so glad to see that we are experiencing that now. >> well allison, were you surprised? what was your reaction? >> i was a bit surprised, but i loved it, and, you know she just got engaged. i think she's trying to show all different, you know, aspects of her personality now. i think it's the right time to do that. people know the other side of her, but last night i think she introduced a brand new world of sort of interest from fans who didn't know she could actually do that. >> now, before we go john travolta had everyone talking and tweeting. he was trending before the show when this photo went viral with scarlett johannson on the red carpet. many saying this kiss was awkward and uncomfortable. and then a year after butchering her name he poked some fun at himself on stage with idina

menzel. but his cheek grabbing might have overshadowed. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage my very dear friend glom gazingo. >> i deserve that. i deserve that. but you, you, my darling, my beautiful, my wickedly talented idina menzel. >> you got it. >> is that right? >> shaun, that uncomfortable for you, or are the people being too critical? >> well, i really really like john travolta. he is one of the nicest guys that i have met in hollywood. i could have done without the cheek grabbing and the hand -- i could have done without that. but, you know what i knew that this was going to be a time when he was able to come out and redeem himself because, rev, how many times did you watch him butchering idina menzel's name? you know probably a lot. so he wanted to -- >> did he redeem himself?

>> no i certainly don't think he redeemed himself. at this poishtnt you have to wonder why they keep inviting him to the oscars. it made me uncomfortable rewatching and listening to the clip. you can see it in idina's face and body language as well she was uncomfortable up there. it's unfortunate any of us had to witness it. >> well, allison, shaun, alyona thank you for joining us tonight on this special edition. we all want to thank you, shaun, for you inviting us and our dates to join you at the oscars last night. we'll be right back. >> rev, i was looking for you. what was your tux? >> uh-huh. cut her mike. >> thanks, rev. first self-serve frozen yogurt franchise. and now you have 42 locations. the more i put into my business the more i get out of it. like 5x your rewards when you make select business purchases with your ink plus card from chase. and with ink, i choose how to redeem my points for things like cash or travel. how's the fro-yo? just peachy...literally.

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belafonte, and it received some airtime at the oscars last night. >> artists are the radical voice of civilization. each and every one of you in this room with your gifts, your power, can influence citizens everywhere in the world to see the better side of what we are as a species. thank you very much. >> we remember muhammad ali refuses to fight vietnam saying his religious beliefs and his conscience would not permit him to fight an unjust war. more recently, lebron james made a powerful statement without saying anything. celebrities have long had the role of raising consciousness in society and in our country and last night was one of those moments to remember.

i think all of us have gifts, and celebrities certainly have gifts, but part of having a gift is how you use it to give to more than yourself. as reverend joseph lowry always said to me that's the difference between just being famous and being great. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. the terrorists point at our heart. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. tonight, we americans have been threatened with a terrorist attack in our country's heartland. not baghdad or damascus or benghazi benghazi, but the mall of america in bloomington, minnesota. the threat comes from al shabab, a somali terrorist group. homeland security's jeh johnson has warned shoppers out there to be particularly careful when visiting the gia