florida all week long working on a climate change series telling the story about the rising sea level and how the communities in south florida are dealing with it. that's our next big series coming up on "the ed show" here on msnbc. back to the snowy country. that's "the ed show" "politics nation" with reverend al sharpton starts now. >> thanks to you for tuning in. breaking news tonight. explosive details about racism within the ft. lauderdale, florida, police department. an investigation found four officers sent racist text messages and one created an offensive video. that video uses the "n" word repeatedly shows images of kkk hoods, police dogs and a derogatory image of president obama. here's a short clip from that

video. a warning now, it includes offensive language. ♪ ♪ >> the officers' text messages are expected to be released soon. three of the officers involved were fired from the department. the fourth who created the racist video resigned in bad standing during the course of the investigation. if he hadn't the police chief said he would have been fired, too. in a press conference today, the ft. lauderdale police chief said the behavior was inexcusable.

>> all four officers' conduct involved racist text messages exchanged among themselves and former police officer alex alvarez created a video that was racially biased. the four officers' conduct was inexcusable and there is zero tolerance for this type of behavior within the ft. lauderdale police department. >> the four officers behind this offensive behavior are out, but how were they allowed to become officers in first place? and how do we make sure something like this does not happen again? joining me now are mark claxton, former new york's police officer and director of black law enforcement alliance and criminal defense attorneys john burress and ken podowitz. thank you for being here.

this video is really shocking. can you think of anybody similar to this we've seen in the past? >> you know there have been several -- at least now we're learning of several different instances in law enforcement agencies across the nation where you have this racially insensitive, this ignorant rhetoric, this ignorant video, ignorant and unprofessional communication. and i think what's happening now is that as more comes out, more will come out, but it's really reprehensible and i think the chief acted appropriately in this case in dealing with this but the larger question is how deeply embedded was this hatred and ignorance and bigotry in that particular department. >> john, not only how deeply embedded -- and that's clearly, i agree, that's a real glaring question, but also if you had these kinds of people doing law enforcement, how many people did they in fact impact their lives that may have been out of their

bias and had nothing to do with them breaking the law? you've got to now look at everything that they served a summons, everyone they served a summons all the way to who they arrested. you're a defense attorney. >> absolutely. i think that it's very important because these are the kinds of people with this kind of mind-set that would engage in racial profiling, stopping people without just cause, the kind of people arrest them for crimes that are marginal and should not have taken place. these are people who abused folks on the street by calling them names or treating them in a derogatory way. you z as a prosecutor should go back and take a look at the things that have taken place with these officers' names associated with them and pull those records to see whether or not these people have been convicted for crimes they hadn't really committed or a function police officer's mental state or racial bias. so i think you're absolutely correct. it's a huge issue. nobody really wants to do it but it should happen. we did a similar kind of thing

in oakland when we found these officers -- we went back and looked at over a hundred cases. it should be done. >> ken, you are there in the ft. lauderdale area, you're there tonight. this is stunning. let me say this by no means means all police are bad. >> absolutely. >> or even most police are bad, but this gives you an idea of the fear a lot of people have in dealing with law enforcement. this is blatant. i mean the good news is law enforcement did an investigation and uncovered it but do you understand what signal this sends to a people that have already operated under this kind of fear? >> absolutely. and most people in ft. lauderdale and in broward county, florida, support their police departments, but when you see this type of behavior if true it's absolutely disgusting and undermines the very bedrock of trust that the community has with their police department. this undermines the very scope of the justice system. if the community cannot trust

police officers in doing their job and using their discretion in an unbiased and fair manner you know it could be your mother or your daughter that is inappropriately taken into custody and deprived of their liberty by an officer that has a bias or prejudice. most officers i'd like to hope and think do not have that but this, in fact is very very disappointing and disgusting behavior on the part of law enforcement when they carry so much power out on the street as uniformed officers. >> now marq we just got some of these texts in and they're incredibly offensive. one text an officer says we are coming and drinking all your beer and killing ns. in another text officers say, quote, what would big dad do with that "n"? get that "n" out from under that wagon. how can public officers talk

this way, marq? >> they shouldn't be talking that way. and these officers are renegades, if you will. the discussion now has to be towards a continued discussion on reform. there's no way to really significantcally have significant impact and regulate this type of bad behavior this type of criminality, if it is that unless you have some federal standard for police agencies across the nation. not calling for federal police but some regulatory authority, some oversight authority, increased documentation and accountability and the standardized training and practice. rev, we have police departments big and small all throughout the nation, and you'll find that all these departments operate differently, train differently, select officers differently. there needs to be some kind of standardized selection and training and accreditation process throughout the nation. >> there has to be.

>> because absent that we really don't know what's going on in the other departments. >> and accountability. but john let's go back to what you and i were discussing about people being subjected to arrest unfairly by one of these officers. what recourse can they take? if you're one of the people that have been arrested by one of these officers and felt it was unfounded, that it might have been based on bias what can happen? >> first off, you can always go back to the lawyer who represented you at the time. but i think more significantly this case then becomes rife for civil rights violations against these individual officer and against the department alleging this racial bias in law enforcement. that might ultimately result in having some of these convictions set aside which is very very important as well as some kind of damages but more importantly, equally important, you can use the lawsuit as a basis for reform to put in certain kind of best practices that go to the hireing of various officer. you need to have diversity in the hiring process.

but you try to weed out psychologically these officers that may have these hidden biases. i know that's a challenge but that's where we're going now because people can have these personal statements and opinions, but the question is do they -- can you uncover them at the early enough stage. and if you don't, do you have the process to limit their ability to engage in this kind of conduct. and if they do engage in it there's a quick process for their immediate termination. >> which is why you need the overall kind of supervision and process that marq was talking about so you can see signs of this -- >> absolutely. >> -- if you see people operating outside of what should be the accepted procedure of law enforcement. and the ft. lauderdale chief also said they reported the incident to state authorities. let me play that and i want your reaction to that ken. >> after the conclusion of our investigation, we forwarded that to the florida department of law enforcement, and they're the

ones that set the standards and they govern police officers in their certification. if they review this investigation, they have the authority to revoke their certificates as sworn law enforcement officers. >> so they might lose their certificates statewide. is it possible they could work in another department ken? >> well there is definitely a concern. they're going to have to do their investigation and make that determination as to whether or not to revoke their certification. i for one, though want to mention that the department of justice in washington can investigate and, in fact if there's a violation of the civil rights act of 161964 or the violation under 42 united states code they can look into it further if there's a pattern of discrimination even if no one has actually been prejudiced by the conduct of these officers. so there may be an investigation beyond the state of florida. it may go to the federal level. it will have to be looked at and

a determination made how far they want to look into this misconduct to see if it in fact goes any further. >> this is extremely troubling for those of us who are trying to deal with better police/community relations and accountability. i'll tell you, gentlemen, what troubles me is we've learned that the way they found out about this is a former fiancee of one of the officers came forward and said she saw the video and saw some of the racist text messages. had she not come forward, those officers may be out there this evening. >> it does happen that way often. >> that's not the system that i think we need. we need to be able to be able to deal with these kinds of things and to be able to recognize these kinds of persons before we just get lucky with someone's former fiancee. marq claxton, john burris and

ken padowitz thank you. we're following breaking news in mississippi. the mystery of a black man found hanging from a tree. how did it happen and what are investigators looking for? the fbi spoke moments ago. we'll talk live to the claireborn county sheriff ahead. and tonight attorney general eric holder is blasting republicans for delaying loretta lynch's vote. and monica lewinsky's courageous speech on cyber bullying. is there a growing movement to change the online culture? please stay with us. hey pal? you ready? can you pick me up at 6:30? ah... (boy) i'm here! i'm here! (cop) too late. i was gone for five minutes! ugh!

move it. you're killing me. you know what, dad? i'm good. (dad) it may be quite a while before he's ready, but our subaru legacy will be waiting for him. (vo) the longest-lasting midsize sedan in its class. the twenty-fifteen subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. shopping online is as easy as it gets. ♪ wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angiealist.com. no more calling around. no more hassles. and you don't even have to be a member to start shopping today! angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today.

female announcer: right now at sleep train get up to 48 months interest-free financing on tempur-pedic. save hundreds on beautyrest. or choose $300 in free gifts with stearns & foster. the triple choice sale ends soon at sleep train. we're back with breaking news tonight on that disturbing story from mississippi. moments ago authorities confirming the identity of the

african-american man found hanging from a tree as otis bird, a preliminary report on the cause of death is expected later next week. the fbi and local police are going door to door interviewing neighbors, following every lead. 54-year-old bird was reported missing earlier this month. he was found hanging by a bed sheet just a few hundred yards from his home. authorities say his hands were not tied and it does not appear he stepped off of anything before he died. attorney general eric holder weighed in on the case today. >> the fbi, the civil rights division the u.s. attorney for the southern district of mississippi are looking into the matter to determine if there are any federal violations of law that occurred. if it's a potential hate crime -- we simply don't know

enough facts at this point. we're in the process of trying to gather those facts. >> as investigators work to uncover those facts, bird's family remains shocked by these events. >> all of a sudden bam. we don't do stuff like this. not these days. when he became missing, we was like, no not him, no. not otis. >> authorities have not determined if there was any criminal activity involved in the death, but the case is obviously raising a lot of disturbing questions. joining me now is sheriff marvin lucas of claiborne county mississippi. he's leading the investigation for the local police. thank you for being here sheriff. >> good evening, reverend sharpton. >> sheriff lucas what's the latest on your investigation? >> we were able to get mr. bird

out of those woods and cut down from that tree and this morning we took him to the state autopsy so they can try to do an autopsy on it so we can get to the bottom of this and find out what happened out there over the past couple weeks. >> what can you tell us about how the body was found? >> well it was all the way out in a local tree he was in a local tree. we got out there and he was hanging there. it was one of the most shocking thing is ever seen in my life. i heard about those things in mississippi and southern states but i was shocked myself. we was able to get him down. we need to get an autopsy to try to find out what happened. >> what's the next step with your police department getting the autopsy? >> yes, sir. once we get a report back from the autopsy to see if he died from that hanging or what was the cause of his death or was there any wounds to the body we

need to find out what happened to make sure there was no crime committed. from there we'll proceed. right now we're still under investigation with the claiborne county sheriff's department and the federal bureau of investigation. >> now, i understand mr. byrd served a quarter of a century in prison for murder. he was paroled in 2006. and i understand you knew him from his check-ins at your department. what can you tell us about him as a person that you came to know? >> well prior to me becoming sheriff, i had seen him at church at a church called mt. vernon. i used to see him at church. after i got to be sheriff i seen him come in to check in with his parole officer. i knew him. he never gave me any problem since i've been sheriff. >> and he did go to church? >> yes, sir. i've seen him at church at mt. vernon church services when i've been there. so i never had any problem out

of him, though. >> sheriff lucas, thank you for your time. we're going to be watching this case very closely. thank you for your time. >> thank you for your time reverend sharpton. thank you. >> now, i want to bring in msnbc law enforcement analyst and former atf special agent jim cavanaugh. thank you for being here jim. >> thanks rev. >> where does this investigation go from here? i mean what are authorities looking for? >> well they're looking specifically for was it a homicide or was it a suicide. you know, i would commend the sheriff in that he did everything right here. he noticed the scene looked suspicious, that there was nothing that mr. byrd had stepped off of. it looked kind of funny to him. he immediately called the mississippi bureau of investigation and the fbi jackson division, but he's got the forensic help with the medical examiner. he's done the right thing. he's not dismissed the history, the ugly history of mississippi.

i used to be agent in charge of mississippi, i did a lot of church fires and bombings down there. i'm very familiar with the area. i commend the sheriff for that. the next step is what happened was it murder or was it suicide? that's what they got to find out. >> let's go through the timeline here, jim. on march 2nd, otis byrd was last seen by a friend who dropped him off at a casino in march 8th mr. byrd's family reported him missing. on march 19 the body believed to be otis byrd was found hanging from a tree. now, what can this timeline tell authority authorities, jim? >> well, they've got to go back to see everything about mr. byrd including that immediate aftermath that you just described, reverend al. the casino did somebody try to rob him? did they follow him home? were they trying to make it look like a suicide? or did they try to rob money that he won at the casino? did he lose money and was despondent.

they've got to talk to people in his life friends, relatives. the did he say anything about wanting to harm himself. and where did the sheet come from? is it from mr. byrd's home or from the grand wizard of the local klan? they've got the find out those answers. but one thing in suicide, remember persons can kill themselves in a lot of strange ways, and you know you got to be prepared that that could be a suicide. but it's a very suspicious death at the moment. >> now, the special agent in charge was asked about reports mr. byrd was found with his face covered. here's what he said. >> the specifics of how the body was at the time are sipgngular in nature and waiting to get a full idea of what happened before we come to any kind of conclusion. >> jim, what does that answer tell us about what authorities may be thinking? >> well what they're thinking is how the body was found and especially how the hood cover

was over his face and the sheet was over his neck what does that tell them. they want to analyze that as an important fact. you know was there assail enss there who might have assaulted him and tied him in a certain way or was it possible that he could have done it by himself as a suicide? so that's what they're going to be looking at. special agent in charge says singular in nature he means an important fact that they have to closely analyze to see if they can help determine what might have happened at that point in time. so they're going to be looking for, you know evidence of what is at the scene, cigarettes footprints, tire tracks and mr. byrd's background was he despondent, could it be suicide or was he the victim of a vicious murder? >> jim cavanaugh, thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks reverend. >> we'll be right back. re never held responsible. you are saying "frog protection"? fraud. fro-g. frau-d. i think we're on the same page. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. fraud protection. get it at discover.com

mouths are watering, and stomachs are growling. or is that just me? it's lobsterfest... ...red lobster's largest variety of lobster dishes all year. double up with dueling lobster tails. or make lobster lover's dream a delicious reality. but hurry this won't last long. 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.

coming up what do monica lewinsky and hollywood star ashley judd have in common? they could be changing the future of social media. we'll tell you how. and the newest dallas cowboy has a history of domestic abuse. the mayor of dallas isn't happy about the hire. was it the right decision to put him on the roster? that's ahead.

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. in small business you have to work hard, know your numbers, and stay focused. i was determined to create new york city's 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. ink from chase. so you can. it's back. the philly cheesesteak pizza. get our philly cheesesteak pizza. with original philly cheesesteak company steak and garlic parmesan sauce. a large for just $12. better ingredients. better pizza. papajohns.com

if you're running a business legalzoom has your back. over the last 10 years we've helped one million business owners get started. visit legalzoom today for the legal help you need to start and run your business. legalzoom. legal help is here.

it wasn't enough for republicans to tell foreign leaders to ignore president obama. now they want to convince governors to ignore him, too. "the new york times" reports senator mitch mcconnell is urging states to help thwart

obama's war on coal. sending a detailed letter to every governor in the u.s. laying out a carefully researched legal argument as to why states should not comply with mr. obama's regularegulations. since senator mcconnell doesn't like these rules, he's telling states not to follow them. and his bud ne the house? first speaker boehner snubbed the president inviting israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to address congress behind his back. he wanted netanyahu to argue against negotiations with iran. now boehner's visiting netanyahu on the deadline for those negotiations, traveling overseas to criticize the president. joining me now is e.j. dionne of "the washington post." thank you for being here. >> good to be with you, reverend. >> e.j., has speaker boehner and senator mcconnell forgotten who's president? >> well i just think they're operating with new math and 53%

of the vote and 51% of the vote isn't a majority any more at least that's what it seems like. i mean look i expect senator mcconnell to give a speech any day now on nullification and interposition. i mean if they want to change the rules, let them pass a bill but the notion of going around the country and telling states no, no you don't have to follow these rules, i don't know what kind of lawyers he has, but i might want to use them to justify something that's pretty unjustifiable myself. and as for john boehner, i just don't know why he is compounding his act first inviting mr. netanyahu in his talk to congress without any consultation from the white house, now he's going to go over there perhaps right at the moment when these talks with iran are reaching a conclusion. i don't think it's good for israel to make israel a partisan issue, and i think speaker boehner is doing everything he can to do just that.

>> you know, it seems funny that senator mcconnell is telling states to ignore new regulations because he's always complaining, e.j. that the president isn't following the law. you know back in september he said the president is required to take care that the laws are faithfully executed not -- as he has admitted -- make them up as he sees fit. but senator mcconnell can make up laws. what's going on here? >> you're making the mistake of looking for consistency, reverend. i mean you know i think there's always been this inconsistency among conservatives on states' rights which is they say they're all for states' rights except when states say they want to regulate on the environment harder than the federal government or regulate on consumer stuff, then they say no no no they can't do that that's the federal government's power. but when the federal government is standing on the side of the environment or consumers, they

want to tell states ignore this. so it's a consistent form of inconsistency that we've seen on a whole lot of issues from a lot of conservatives. >> and that's a great point. the hypocrisy they show with states' rights and they seem to be about states' rights in many areas, but even republicans are slamming this latest move. christy todd whitman, the former republican governor and head of the epa wrote an op-ed entitled mcconnell can't pick choose which laws to follow. quote, i was brought up to believe that following the law isn't optional. senator mcconnell can rail against epa, cut his budget do all that he has the power to do within the law if he must but he cannot and should not call on others to ignore a law. this is whitman saying this a republican. how serious is this e.j.? >> well i think what it shows

is how far to the right republicans have moved on the environment. she was and environmentalist. george h.w. bush was a pretty good environmentalist as president, had some pretty good people at the epa. and now, if you don't say on an issue like climate change take the side of oil companies, coal companies, then you're not a legitimate republican any more. so i'm not at all surprised that she is unhappy, but the republicans have forgotten that teddy roosevelt was a republican, too, and he cared quite a lot about the environment. >> e.j. dionne thank you for your time tonight. have a great weekend. >> good to be with you. >> straight ahead, monica lewinsky speaks candidly about cyber bullying. could this week be a turning point on the growing problem in our society?

across america, people are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes... ...with non-insulin victoza. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza. he said victoza works differently than pills and comes in a pen. victoza is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c. it's taken once a day, any time. and the needle is thin. victoza is not for weight loss but it may help you lose some weight. victoza is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and should not be used in people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. victoza has not been studied with mealtime insulin. victoza is not insulin. do not take victoza if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza or any of its ingredients.

symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include swelling of face lips, tongue or throat fainting or dizziness, very rapid heartbeat problems breathing or swallowing, severe rash or itching. tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. serious side effects may happen in people who take victoza including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) which may be fatal. stop taking victoza and call your doctor right away if you have signs of pancreatitis, such as severe pain that will not go away in your abdomen or from your abdomen to your back with or without vomiting. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. taking victoza with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, and headache. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you the control you need... ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza. it's covered by most health plans.

now, to the issue of cyber bullying in the spotlight this week. in a most public appearance to date monica lewinsky gave a speech last night on cyber bullying and being attacked in public. >> anyone who is suffering from shame and public humiliation needs to know one thing. you can survive it. i know it's hard. it may not be painless quick or easy but you can insist on a different ending to your story. >> but now people are starting to take action. today actress and activist ashley judd is out with a scathing op-ed on mike.com addressing gender-based violence and misogyny. that's become the norm on social

media. it comes days after she said this to my colleague thomas roberts. >> everyone needs to take personal responsibility. >> sure. >> for what they write and not allowing this misinterpretation and shaming culture on social media to persist. and by the way, i'm pressing charges. >> it's the digital age and new media require new solutions. so how do we address cyber bullying and stop it in its tracks? joining me now is senior editor of mic.com, liz plank. thanks for being here tonight, liz. >> thanks, rev. >> at a time when cyber bullying was in the headlines, it was fitting to hear from monica lewinsky last night. what's your reaction of her candid talk? >> her commitment to take a very negative experience and turn it into a great cause, having a good message and putting it out there is extremely admirable. her talk about empathy i think

is especially important. she's not the perfect victim. you know she had sexual relations with the president at the time. she definitely made a mistake, but it's still important to have empathy for people who have death threats and rape threats and no one deserves that kind of treatment. >> she also spoke about the need for change. listen to this. let me read it to you. she says what we need is a cultural revolution. it's time for an intervention on the internet and in our culture. now, every state in this country has laws against cyber bullying but it's still happening. how do we address it liz? >> i think we address it by recognizing who it's affecting in a more severe way. i mean ashley judd monica lewinsky countless female actresses, they're all women and they deal with it in a much more severe way. there's pew survey data that back this up. men and women experience harassment but women experience

it in much more severe ways. in my opinion this is going to be fighting online harassment, especially of women, is going to be a defining portion of the next femmen nis wave. >> a defining portion of the next feminist wave. >> i truly believe that because we're spending more time online. because the digital safety gap is just as important as the physical safety gap. a lot of activism is happening online. women are discouraged from fighting for equal rights because of being subjected to abuse online. >> ashley put that op-ed on your site. she addressed the comments she received on her account saying quote, as i began on twitter to identify and push back against the toxicity and abuse, i faced the standard bashing anyone girl or boy, woman or man, experiences when objecting to and taking action against misogyny. the tweet she's referring to are

violent and explicit. how can we have -- how can we have this become the standard in online culture in how did this happen? >> the reason she published her article on mic is because mic reaches so many young people. that's a key factor in this. young people are native to this kind of technology. they're native to social media. it's a part of their identity. they actually live on these spaces. so i think we need to talk to people to figure out how to get out of this culture. what monica lewinsky is talking about, what ashley judd is talking about, the ceo of twitter is saying we have to do better but what steps do we have to implement to make that happen. >> thank you for your time tonight. have a great weekend. >> you too. >> straight ahead, 132 days since loretta lynch's nomination. what is the issue? president obama just addressed

the delay. "conversation nation" is next. denver international is one of the busiest airports in the country. we operate just like a city and that takes a lot of energy. we use natural gas throughout the airport - for heating the entire terminal generating electricity on-site and fueling hundreds of vehicles. we're very focused on reducing our environmental impact. and natural gas is a big part of that commitment. 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.

♪ ♪ ♪ (under loud music) this is the place. ♪ ♪ ♪ their beard salve is made from ♪ ♪ ♪ sustainable tea tree oil and kale... you, my friend, recognize when a trend has reached critical mass. yes, when others focus on one thing you see what's coming next. you see opportunity. that's what a type e does. and so it begins. with e*trade's investing insights center, you can spot trends before they become trendy. e*trade. opportunity is everywhere.

time now for "conversation nation." joining me tonight political strategist angela rye, the huffington post's noah michaelson and "u.s. news & world report" susan milligan.

thank you all for being here tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> attorney general eric holder is slamming republicans for delaying loretta lynch's confirmation vote. it's now 132 days since president obama nominated lynch to replace holder. today he had strong words to share with msnbc's tremayne lee. >> the notion that we would be here where we are deadlocked about a woman who is unbelievably qualified, who received really glowing reviews about her performance during her confirmation hearing, is almost inconceivable to me. >> attorney general holder says it's inconceivable. what's your response angela? >> rev, it is inconceivable. the fact that all five of her predecessors were confirmed -- like she's now at the point where she has -- her -- i'm sorry, i'm tripping over this. but her confirmation process is longer than her five

predecessors combined. the fact that the president has even said that her nomination process is now being held hostage by the fact that there's a hyde amendment poison pill in another piece of legislation is absolutely ludicrous. there should be something on the senate floor that mandates that another not nomination process cannot be held hostage by something that's nongermane to the process. >> let's listen to what the president said about this because president obama just weighed in on loretta lynch's confirmation and it being held up. and he did this in an interview with "the huffington post" noah. watch this. >> you don't hold attorney general nmenominees hostage for other issues. p this is our top law enforcement office. nobody denies that she's well qualified. we need to go ahead and get her done. >> noah? >> even rudy giuliani is saying that we need to approve her. at that point it's just getting

ridiculous. if the republicans hate holder so much why don't they get him out of there and get her in there? >> susan? >> i don't even think that has that much to do with loretta lynch, per se i think that the senate majority feels really bruised by what happened over the homeland funding bill where they had to get in and pass a clean bill even though they're in the majority. they wanted to push the envelope again and put the democrats in a position where they would have to approve this human trafficking bill which by the way, everybody wants, but with this abortion language in it. and they're holding the loretta lynch nomination as a, you know as a hostage, for want of a better expression to do that. but i really think they've overplayed their hand if for no other reason as noah just said they don't like eric holder. so without loretta lynch, they're leaving it run by somebody they dislike. i think they'll end up losing on this. >> where you see the problems of

terrorism, the problems of police community relations, the problems of criminal justice and the need for investigations all over the country, don't they make a mockery of what is needed in the justice department using the chief, the head of the justice department nomination being held hostage at this time? what do you say to the american people angela? >> they're not saying much rev. they're saying the same thing that susan just pointed out that they were saying a couple weeks ago, of dhs funding, that it doesn't matter. what matters is a political football that they continue to play with people's lives, with national security. and rev, you talked about criminal justice or police and community relations, but also there's a whole voting rights issue that continues to happen. >> absolutely. that the justice department is engaged in. >> absolutely. >> let's move on though. should fraternities be abolished is my second point tonight?

the fraternity at oklahoma state has been placed on suspension after a pledge book reportedly belonging to members filled with racial and sexual threats were found near campus. among the quotes in the book man, that tree is so perfect for lynching. and dude if she's hot enough she doesn't need a pulse. it comes a week after this video of members of sae fraternity in oklahoma went viral. and days after penn state fraternity members were caught with what law enforcement say is a secret facebook page with lewd photos of unconscious women. susan, there seems to be an epidemic of bad behab your at fraternities around the country. should frats be abolished altogether? >> well i'd hate to see that because i think fraternities and sororities can be places where, you know people can find a community, where they can do charity work where they can have parties.

there's nothing inherently wrong with that. it's just that they've let them get out of control. and we've seen this on a lot of campuses especially with sexual assault and that facebook page thing was just appalling to me that they could get away with doing that. i think one of the things that's happened now is because of social media, we're finding out about some of these things that maybe we didn't know about 20 years ago. >> how do we noah regulate fraternities. don't you either have to make a unilateral move or find a way to monitor and regulate behavior and how do you do that? >> i think beyond that we have to look at our culture and look at a culture that says that it's okay for men to act like this and beyond that in order to succeed and be accepted as part of the group you need to act like that. so i think we need to look really big picture and say what is our culture valuing, then we have to yeah look at the ways we're going to deal with that. >> but angela when you deal with the kind of misogyny and the kind of racism that we're

seeing now in different fraternityies in different parts of the country, how do we deal with this toxicity? i mean i know people thought i know the word -- >> we're on to the next point. i think the reality of this is this is not just a problem that plagues fra tern is or sororities or any other type of social organization. this is a problem that is pervasive throughout this country and, frankly, throughout the world. so until we're really ready to talk about race relations, it can't just be black folks, it can't just be happening on "politics nation." it also has to happen on the starbucks cup. everybody wanted to make fun of race together but there's something to that. we have a huge issue. at some point white folks have to talk about this too, and hear the conversation. it's a huge issue. we're seeing it in law enforcement, we're seeing in courts throughout this country, we saw it at the pk spksupreme court

last year. it's overwhelmingly pervasive and people have to be open to the conversation. >> when we come back, the dallas cowboys under fire for a player they just signed. merica is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs. billions in tax revenue... and a new century of american energy security. the new energy superpower? it's red, white and blue. log on to learn more.

we're back with our panel, angela, noah and susan are here. now to the growing outrage of the dallas cowboys signing greg hardy. last july a judge found hardy guilty of assaulting and threatening to kill his

ex-girlfriend. he was convicted but appealed and charges were dropped when his ex-girlfriend wouldn't cooperate. he was accused of choking her, dragging her by her hair and throwing her on to a couch covered with assault rifle. now, the mayor of dallas is now blasting the team for signing him. >> i'm a big cowboys fan. i love them to death and want them to beat the eagles every time they play. but at some point being a sports fan gets trumped by being a father, husband, wanting to do what's right for women. so this is not a good thing. and as a cowboys fan, this was a shot in the gut. >> this signing comes in the wake of ray rice caught on tape striking his then-fiancee in a casino elevator. he's still waiting for a team. noah if greg hardy was on

video, would he be playing in the nfl? >> i don't think he would be. i think they're really starting to amp up how they're handling these things. as a gold star homosexual i don't care about football at all but i do care about women. i think the kind of message it sends when you keep someone like this on a team we need the start talking about that. the same thing goes for hollywood, too chris brown. i don't thing you should be rewarded when you attack a woman. >> susan? >> well i am a big football fan, of course i'm from buffalo. every woman there is a football fan. i think what the nfl forgets is that 45% of nfl fans are female. and that's actually the biggest market for them to tap because that's the market that can grow. and when they just look the other way when it's an issue of domestic -- i hate that express, domestic violence as somehow it's okay because it was his girlfriend or ray rice's girlfriend now wife that somehow that's okay. they're going to lose a lot of female fans. the patriots cut aaron hernandez

loose before he'd even been arraigned. michael vick went to federal prison and granted now is still playing but there was contrition when he got out but that was for torturing dogs. but the fact that you could threaten your girlfriend with killing her and throw her on a bed of firearms and still get signed is just stunning to me. >> i'm going to have to leave it there, angela noah and susan, thank you all for your time tonight. have a great weekend. >> thank you, rev. you too. >> we'll be right back with a good-bye to the mother of the modern civil rights movement in the north. and a lot helping you. technology that's with you always. this is our promise. it's never been better to wander because wherever you go, you'll find us doing everything we can, so you can.

shopping online is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. "ride away" (by roy orbison begins to play) ♪ i ride the highway... ♪ ♪ i'm going my way... ♪ ♪i leave a story untold... ♪ he just keeps sending more pictures... if you're a free-range chicken you roam free. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance you switch to geico. it's what you do. ♪ two wheels a turnin'... ♪ alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours, but aleve can last 12 hours... and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? aleve, proven better on pain.

finally tonight, remembering a dear friend of mine. reverend willie t. barrow. for her entire life barrow fought for the civil rights of minorities, women and gays. barrow helped found operation breadbasket with reverend jesse jackson, reverend calvin morris and later worked with him on the rainbow push coalition. she was a mentor to generations of community organizers

including president obama. reverend barrow was nicknamed the little warrior for her energy and passion. at age 12 barrow organized her first civil rights demonstration demanding to be allowed to ride an all-white bus in texas. she went on to join dr. king on the march on washington in 1963 and in selma in 1965. barrow passed away at 90 after being hospitalized last week with a blood clot. she and rev rend morris reverend jackson and others that raised my generation a generation behind them or a half a generation after including our chief strategist dwight mckee in my generation. we learn from reverend barrow. service was what we would be judged by. not accolades, not title, but service. she would say, sharpton it doesn't matter what you achieve in life if you're not serving somebody. in memory of her, i'm going to

keep serving. serve somebody. willie barrow taught us that. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. have a great weekend. "hardball" starts right now. monica lewinsky takes on the culture of hate. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm jonathan capehart in for chris matthews. let me start tonight with the return of monica lewinsky. it's been 17 years since she became the face of the biggest scandal in the world. today she's 41 and speaking out about what she calls a culture of abuse and humiliation online. in a ted talk yesterday, she described what happened to her as an early example of this new ki