ght. jim moore, robert wilonsky here on "the ed show." thank you so much. we'll follow the story. that's "the ed show." "politicsnation" starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed. we start with baltimore's mayor, calling on the justice department to launch a civil rights investigation into the city's police department. she wants the attorney general to look for patterns of abuse or discrimination. >> we all know that baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community. we have to get it right. failure is not an option. we cannot be timid in addressing this problem. and i'm a mayor that does not shy away from our city's big challenges. >> the mayor today saying she brought up the issue of civil rights investigation during her private meeting with attorney

general loretta lynch yesterday. and today the justice department confirmed, quote, the attorney general is actively considering that option. the focus in baltimore now on reassessing and rebuilding. moments ago, top obama administration officials spoke in baltimore, announcing job training investments, part of the white house push to target root causes of the unrest. today cvs unveiled plans to reopen the pharmacy that was looted and burned. and music legend prince announced he'll headline a rally for peace concert this weekend in the city of baltimore. this national crisis is an opportunity to make things better for everyone. and the baltimore mayor talked about that today. >> while the past few days have been some of our darkest, the

city has ever seen we've also seen a resilience that sets baltimore apart in times of crisis. we will meet that resilience as we move forward to continue reforming this police department. >> joining me now, maryland state senator katherine pugh who represents west baltimore. she also co-chairs a new panel of lawmakers reviewing police practices in the state. and veteran prosecutor paul henderson. >> thanks rev. >> senator, let me go to you first. how important would it be for the justice department to investigate the baltimore police department? >> well i think it is important, because as you well know, what is happening in baltimore is systemic to what is happening around the nation. and i think that it will allow us to continue to move forward. but at the same time uncover some of the practices that are going forward in many of our police departments. because i believe that baltimore will serve as a model in terms

of how we reform police departments and bring about criminal justice reform that is needed, not just in baltimore, but philadelphia new york you name it across the country. >> now the new panel that you're co-chairing, tell me what you'll be looking at. >> well there are a number of things. there were some bills that didn't get passed this past session. >> and one of the things i asked for reverend sharpton was that the panel be broad enough and inclusive enough so that everybody in the state gets it. the issues that we're facing. so we'll be looking at what kind of things should be done in terms of reforming the police department. i've asked for an ongoing effort to provide psychological evaluations for police officers who serve on a job over a period of time. because i believe that in some cases, people lose the sensitivity that's needed in order to function in our communities. cultural diversity training is obviously needed in our police departments. we're also looking at you know, body camera laws.

unfortunately ly fortunately baltimore has moved forward because the mayor did put in a body camera program for the city of baltimore and added an amendment for the state of maryland so that baltimore can continue to move forward there is a whole host of issues that we'll look at as it relates to reforming the criminal justice system and making polices in our community fair for all. because as we all pay taxes, we pay taxes for police officers to protect and serve our communities and not for these kinds of incidents to continue to occur. >> here is what "the new york times" writes about a possible justice department investigation, paul. into the baltimore police department. it says quote, the department has wide discretion in whether to conduct such an investigation, how broad to make it, and what kinds of remedies to seek. tell me about the scale of the impact that a justice department investigation could have paul. >> well complete and total.

and so we already know that the justice department is investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding freddie gray's death. and what the call now is for them to investigate the entire department. so they'll be looking for pattern and practice of behavior. and if the government chooses to at a federal level, they can essentially take over that entire department, control a lot of the funding that goes and how cops are paid, how cops are hired, and then mandate how they actually execute their job in terms of their training, how they appear on the street and have accountability with an independent oversight agency watching and monitoring them. so it's an open door. and all options are on the table. >> it could be concrete. it's not just to try to get past a crisis. >> absolutely. and it's long-standing. it's not a short-term thing typically either when something like this happens. >> senator pugh, let's talk about the police department in baltimore.

since 2011 it's paid out $5.7 million in 102 civil suits alleging police brutality. and since 2012 five people have died while in police custody. does this speak to the need for justice department investigation? and for your new committee to look at things? >> i think it's quite obvious. just think what we could do with that kind of money into our communities and our neighborhoods, especially in a neighborhood as you well know that is very depressed. and i inherited much of this community through the redistricting. but if you walk out into those neighborhoods and you look at those communities, they look like the 1960s. many of them look like war zones. so i think this is really important in terms of the oversight, looking at how we move forward. i think that if we look at reforms that need to take place in our communities that we will see that it's not just the police reforms that are needed, it's the sharing of wealth, the

economic inequities that exist in our communities, the disparity of wealth that exists in our neighborhoods. so i think this investigation, civil investigation is very important. and was already said this really shines a light on policing, and police activities. and will encourage police departments, not just in baltimore, but around the country, you know, who don't want to come under this kind of civil oversight to look at how they -- how they make their police departments better and more excessive and communicative to the neighborhood. >> and accountable. >> absolutely. >> paul let me tell you something that caught my interest this afternoon. former president bill clinton said his 1994 crime bill cast too wide a net. >> absolutely. >> it put too many people in jail. and he would support calls by his wife to change it. listen to this, paul. >> we wound up putting so many people in prison that there wasn't enough money left to educate them train them for new

jobs, and i strongly support what she is doing. and i think any policy that was adopted when i was president in federal law that contributed to it should be changed. >> now, in full disclosure i was one of those that raised questions and protested his crime bill. so i give him a lot of credit for taking this position publicly. but does this show the kind of political shift we're seeing when it comes to policing paul? >> i think it absolutely does. and in all of these cases, i think it's very wise now as a political movement to recognize that we have to look at the mass incarceration process that we faced in the past and figure out how to address the disenfranchised communities that are constantly being underserved or overserved by the justice system there has to be an equity. and i think his comments speak to that in understanding and hindsight that mistakes that have been made overall with the justice system that has created

this problem that we're seeing flaring up in different parts of the country. but again and again and again, it's the same story that we're seeing played out over and over where we need an intervention to address the need to have disenfranchised communities have parity in the justice system. and it's being played out on the ground with the police departments obviously in baltimore and clearly from his statements he wants that to take place throughout the rest of the nation. >> it suddenly has impacted baltimore. >> yes. >> mass incarceration. >> absolutely. >> how do you react to president clinton's statement today? >> i think it was a great statement to make. in this country, two million people incarcerated at a cost of 30 to $80,000 a year. >> $48,000. >> education, spending less than 15,000, $10,000 in some communities. imagine again what we could do with that money. but the thing that is really sad about all of this the number of people who have been incarcerated, who now have records for small minimum crimes

or issues that they've been confronted with. and what about all those people who need to expunge their records, who don't even understand the process that they have to go through. and i can tell you, personally having dealt with the young man who ended up having to go -- went to the hospital because people thought that he had been shot. but what we found out later is he had not been shot, but he had some issues of his own. but at the same time when i asked the young man, i said how old are you. he says 23. i said do you have your high school diploma? no. do you have your ged? no he doesn't. a frightened young man, misguided, not given the opportunities that need to be given. and at the same time has been in contact with the law before. and that's so many young people in this country who come in contact with the criminal justice system. so it concerns me that we did this mass incarceration. so what do we do to turn the lives around of those individuals who have gone through that. >> paul, i want to ask you about a legal development.

>> yes. >> one of the officers charged in gray's death, edward nero is disputing the claim that the arrest was wrongful. he says the knife freddie gray was carrying was illegal. and you can see in the charging documents police described it as a spring-assisted one-hand operated knife. can you shed light on this issue? >> absolutely. what they're talking about is -- and it's going to be very eso esoteric is whether it's a spring blade knife. in maryland it's an open carry weapon state for knives. if he was just carrying that knife, it's not illegal at all. the issue is going to turn on if he was concealing the knife and if he was concealing a knife that was -- had a spring blade reaction when you open it. that may have been illegal. but the question that you have to ask is beyond the detention,

when they knew that he had the knife and how they knew it. because even if they had a right to detain him, i don't know that they had a right to search him to find a knife if the knife was concealed. and even when you do all of that analysis, it's only going to take out two of the charges. because at the end of the day, this is in the weeds. and the bigger picture is because of whatever happened with interaction with freddie gray, he ended up dead because of the actions of the people that have been charged. and that's the real issue. >> that's the real issue. >> i think the knife is a side issue, and it gets an interesting legal discussion. but i think it's esoteric outside of the bigger picture that the justice department has focused on that the mayor's office has focused on and the prosecutors will be focused on. all of it will come to light and be argued when they have the preliminary hearing and the detention hearing for the officers. >> state senator catherine pugh

and paul henderson. >> thank you so much for having us rev. >> thank you so much. breaking news. a bombshell. deflategate. report from the nfl. it claims tom brady was likely aware of deflating footballs, despite what he told the press. >> i would never do anything outside of the -- the rules of play. i would never, you know have someone do something that i thought was outside of the rules. >> the big question so what will the nfl commissioner do now? plus how hillary clinton's big push on immigration is putting republicans in a tight spot. and why an old comment about poverty, quote, poverty pimps, is coming back to haunt scott walker. stay with us.

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two weeks ago president obama welcomed the super bowl champion new england patriots to the white house, and he joked with the players about the deflategate questions hanging over their victory. >> i usually tell a bunch of jokes at these events. but with patriots in town i was worried that 11 out of 12 of them would fall flat. all right, all right, all right. >> quarterback tom brady was missing from that celebration, and he is definitely not laughing at the explosive report released today. more on the deflategate findings next. excellent looking below the surface, researching a hunch...

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breaking news tonight with a bombshell. nfl report on the deflategate scandal. and it's not good news for super bowl mvp tom brady. the report saying quote, it is also is our view that it is more possible than not that tom brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities. and it says two team employees likely took part in a deliberate effort to release air from game balls. at a news conference right before the super bowl brady flat-out denied knowing anything about deflated balls. >> i didn't alter the ball in

any way. i feel like i've always played within the rules. i would never do anything to break the rules. i have no knowledge of anything. i have no knowledge of any wrongdoing -- >> nobody did anything wrong? >> i'm very comfortable saying it. i'm comfortable saying nobody did it as far as i know. >> head coach bill belichick and patriots ownership were found to have no knowledge of any wrongdoing. and today commissioner roger goodell says he'll vigorously work to protect integrity of the game and promote fair play. but what will that look like? and what will this mean for tom brady? joining me now from boston is joe sullivan sports editor of "the boston globe" and "the huffington post" sports columnist jordan schultz. joe, what do you think this report means, and what is the reaction like in boston? >> well i think everyone is

shocked, al. i think people did not expect tom brady to share in the blame when the findings came down. i think everyone is in a little bit of shock. i think patriot fans being the loyalists that they are look at this as a lot of circumstantial evidence and that it doesn't really draw a direct line to tom brady. but i think anyone who reads the report, even part of it can see that he is most likely involved in the deflation of balls. >> so they're saying that it doesn't directly say it, but it directly says it without directly saying it. i mean they didn't have to name him at all. >> look, there is a lot of lawyer talk that more probable than not, that it doesn't come out and say that tom brady was involved. so that's an out for, as i said patriot loyalists. i think most people if they're objective and read the report it's pretty hard to believe he was not involved. >> jordan roger goodell has made -- he really has a decision

to make really. what kind of punishment do you think we're looking at here? >> well you go back to spygate. you're talking about a quarter million, half million fines that have been put down on the patriots before. i think you're going have something similar here. it is worth mentioning al you're talk about an owner in rog robert kraft and roger goodell. i think that kind of bothered people. was he giving robert kraft maybe a little special treatment. were the patriots getting special treatment. i think it's going to be a big fine, a substantial fine. but i don't think you're going to see any type of suspension moving forward. i would be very surprised. >> now, joe let me go back to you on brady. the report says quote, brady's refusal to provide us with his own e-mail text messages and phone records limited the evidence available for our review and analysis. it doesn't look like brady cooperated, joe. >> well he certainly didn't in

that area, you're right. he answered their question, but he wasn't going to give up his cell phone or let them look at his e-mail. so i guess that's cooperating somewhat, but not completely. >> go ahead. >> i will say this. what you were talking about before is that goodell has delegated the disciplinary action of this to troy vincent. he is not going to make the decision. >> troy vincent, a former player. maybe he can help with this more. but there is a loft factors here going on. and they're calling this guy the deflator. that was really his nickname one of the staffers that was deflating the balls. tom brady saying hey, i don't like the way the balls are inflated on this particular game. it goes back not just this season, but before. because of the play-offs and super bowl it's amplified. a loft strange things starting to come out that maybe even patriot fans were surprised about. >> patriots owner bob kraft says quote, to say we're disappointed in its findings

which do not include any inconvertible or hard evidence would be a gross understatement. the time effort and resources expended to reach this conclusion are incomprehensible to me. he says no hard evidence. is that a problem with this report jordan? >> that's why i don't think you're going see a suspension. and i think robert kraft, you know he obviously has one point of view that is very specific. he doesn't feel like his guy has done anything wrong. they won the super bowl fair and square. that's fine. but the report clearly states there are some serious things going on here. but there is that lack of hard evidence i think. and that's why i said earlier, al i don't think you're going see a suspension moving forward as a result. >> joe, take it out of the legal context for a minute. is this a real pr problem for the patriots, or for that matter for the league? >> it is. i think it's a pr problem for the patriots, not the league. i think -- look i don't think these deflated footballs really affect results of games.

i think they went on the win the super bowl with obviously footballs that were inflated correctly. but it is breaking the rules. and so i think they will be punished for it. it looks bad for the patriots with this on top of spygate that they're an organization a team a coach and now a quarterback who really pushed the boundaries of the rules. >> well jordan in january, a reporter asked brady straight out, what should happen to the person responsible. listen. >> it's important for you and the legacy of this team someone is held accountable. >> well, that's for -- i'm not the one that imposes, you know those type of you know accountability. it's discipline all that, that's not really my job. obviously i'd like to know what happened, as you all would too. >> how will this discipline process play out jordan? >> well i think the wells report it's over 240 pages. there is a lot of stuff in there that we need to go through. but i think as time goes on the

negative perception of the patriots will be minimized because of the fact that there is not that necessarily hard evidence that we as fans really want. that to me is a big deal here al. >> joe sullivan, jordan schultz thank you both for your time tonight. >> you're welcome. breaking news tonight. a tornado emergency in oklahoma. severe weather warnings affecting millions across the region. we'll have the latest. also hillary clinton's big move to the left on immigration could give republicans a real headache. stay with us. you can call me shallow... but, i have a wandering eye. i mean, come on. national gives me the control to choose any car in the aisle i want. i could choose you... or i could choose her if i like her more. and i do. oh, the silent treatment. real mature. so you wanna get out of here?

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with deep ties and contributions to our communities who deserve a chance to stay and i will fight for them. >> today the right is hitting back. governor scott walker personally tweeted today, quote, hillary clinton's full embrace of amnesty is unfair to hardworking americans and immigrants who followed the law to achieve these rights. and mike huckabee saying, quote, hillary has started her presidential campaign with an open plea to win obama's third term. but latinos are a vital demographic for any 2016 hopeful. and jeb bush knows it. in a new spanish language video, he highlights his close ties to the latino community. [ speaking spanish ]

>> but since george w. bush the gop is seeing declines in the latino vote, from 40% steadily declining to 27%. and the gop has to deal with that very early move to the left from hillary clinton. let me bring in democratic strategist jamal simmons and executive editor of blue nation review jimmy williams. thank you both for being here. >> good evening. >> good to be here rev. >> hillary is going hard to the left on immigration reform early. how much of this is to box republicans in and how much of this is about bernie sanders and elizabeth warren? jimmy? >> i don't know that it has anything to do with elizabeth warren or bernie sanders, both sitting united states senators. i think this has everything to do with the evolution of hillary clinton. listen on every single social issue, she has done something

remarkable. she has moved with the country. not ahead of the country, but with the country. she is with us on the issue of marriage equality civil rights choice. she is with us on immigration reform. the country is dead left on those issues and she is right there. what she said without actually saying it is the following. that under the republican congress, they want latinos in this country to be separate by equal. it's a mind-set if you will. they have no legislation. they have passed nothing. so if they don't have legislation, all they have are just talking points then they have to do something besides separate but equal and they aren't doing that. she is saying separate but equal or second class citizenship is not okay if she is president, and we accept and embrace it. >> you know hillary clinton is not just highlighting her progressive policies she is also using this as an opportunity to call out her opponents. watch this. >> make no mistake, today not a

single republican candidate announced or potential is clearly and consistently supporting a path to citizenship. not one. when they talk about legal status that is code for second class status. >> she obviously sees this as a chance to hurt the gop's latino outreach jamal. will it work? >> oh, absolutely. here is the thing, rev. it's not just latinos and what we saw in your the numbers you showed earlier is george bush was the last republican to get close to 40% of the latino vote. and you know what? he won. as you lose further away from 40%, 37 32, 29, you're going lose. and it's not just latinos that you lose with. you lose with young white americans, millennial generation because there is nothing else that seems to bind together many of these voters is they have an

intolerance for intolerance. they want to see lgbt marriage equality. they want to see african-americans treated well on the streets of baltimore and washington, d.c. and all these cities. you see interracial coalitions marching up and down these streets. so hillary clinton knows that. not only does she appeals to latinos taking this position, she appeals to younger voters who are going to need to be excited to get her elected. >> immigration reform is an interesting one for jeb bush. a new poll out today is showing jeb bush trailing six other republicans. he comes in seventh among republican presidential hopefuls. winning just five% support from likely gop caucusgoers. it's still early, but he is trailing ben carson. how might this play out for him? >> listen, this is in iowa. >> the home of steve king. steve king is the guy that said you had immigrants going across the border with -- what is it? calves the size of cantaloupes

because they were running drugs. so he had that summit back a few months ago, and i called it the cantaloupe conference because all the cray-cray right wingers came running for president and bowed down to him. now the problem here is that jeb bush did not do that. and jeb bush has an essential base issue, which is if he does not come out strong and he is not going to by the way then he is going to have a very hard time in iowa. he will probably have a hard time in new hampshire. and i can tell you as a son of south carolina he will have one heck of a time in south carolina maintaining his current immigration stance if you will. then let's watch him move to the other southern states which are right after that. it's a death knell for him. >> so if he has problems in iowa new hampshire and then south carolina that's the first three one caucus two primaries. >> that's right circumstances jeb in trouble, jamal? >> he is in trouble. as jimmy is sort of alluding to you got to win somewhere. >> that's right. >> anywhere.

>> right. so -- >> but those are his choices. >> you can be a great second and third place finisher, but at some point you got to win to keep the money up keep the momentum up. and voters like to be with a winner. if they don't see you able to hold together the republican coalition, it's a very hard case to make to even moderate republicans that you can actually win a general election if you can't keep republican faithful on board. >> now, there is a lot of talk about progressives pulling hillary to the left. on "morning joe" this morning new york mayor bill de blasio refused to endorse hillary clinton for president. watch this. >> is hillary one of those democrats who is afraid to preach what progressives want her to practice? >> i'm optimistic about where she is going. i think she is beginning to fashion a progressive agenda. i think a lot of us understandably want to hear the core ideas around fighting income inequality because that's what people are struggling with. >> how will the left impact

clinton's politics? >> with all due respect to the mayor of new york who i like very much and i know you are friends with it's not that i disagree with him. i think hillary has had a progressive agenda. i just said that earlier. secondly, more importantly, it's not that there are outside voices from the far left or the far far left wishing her this way, that's where the country. progressives want her. and by the way, so do independent women. you don't win elections in this country, period no matter what unless you can garner a majority of the independent female vote. and she can do that. by the way bernie sanders cannot. elizabeth warren, who is not running for president, cannot. and cannot win in a general election. so if that's the case, what hello is doing is being progressive. she is being thoughtful. by the way, i might want to remind mayor de blasio he was in fact the chair of her last campaign. so i don't know why there is a turnaround this time. >> we're out of time.

but i would push on that. even bill clinton said today that he made moves with the crime bill welfare reform. i would push you a little. and that's not de blasio that's me. but we'll do another. >> we can agree to disagree. >> if i can get in here for a second, i'm going to push back on jimmy just a little bit. i don't think it's a bad idea for democrats from different parts of the spectrum to push out what they -- what their agenda and push out what they want hillary clinton to talk about. she is not going to have a very big candidate running against her. so that means that some of the groups and some of the people who represent different parts of the party are going to have to push. and here is why it's good for hillary clinton. because at some point she is going to lay out her agenda enough that people like bill de blasio are going to be happy and feel like she has actually answered the questions. and when he comes on board the hillary clinton campaign, that is going to matter. that's going to matter. >> we can have different opinions, but we can't have different facts. jimmy williams and jamal simmons, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you very much. still ahead, a jaw-dropping poll about what millionaires

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- this costs you money and runs on gas. this saves you money and runs on calories. save the car for rainy days and long road trips. biking is better for your body and your budget. the more you know. why is it so hard to talk about inequality in this country? maybe because most of the richest people don't think

they're rich. a cnbc survey of millionaires finds 44% of them consider themselves middle class. 40% said upper middle class. just 9% described themselves as wealthy, rich or upper class. so how do we have a real conversation about leveling the playing field and get rid of divisive rhetoric on the poor? that's next.

on this vote, the ayes are 51 the conference report is agreed to. >> that's the sound of republican senators showing their true priorities. voting last night to gut programs for seniors and the poor. over ten years their budget plan would cut more than $4 trillion from benefits like medicare medicaid and food stamps. and they're not just going after the safety net in washington. they're doing it on the campaign trail too. in a new op-ed, jeb bush writes quote, trouble is from the war on poverty to the persistence of liberal big city mayors, the same government programs have been in place for over half a century and they have failed. but the facts showed that jeb bush is wrong. a new study found that in 2012 the federal safety net lifted 48

million people out of poverty, including 12 million children. despite the facts, some on the right pretend the safety net makes things worse. just check out scott walker in this 2008 clip from the wisconsin eye tv station. >> i think for too long and i'll say this is a fairly aggressive term but i think there are too many poverty pimps in our society, too many government officials who rely on poverty as a way of means of political control. too many community-based organizations who rely on their existence by perpetuating that cycle of dependency. >> poverty pimps? government workers trying to help the poor are actually poverty pimps? walker's office said what he meant was that citizens not the government, know what's best for them. but i think what he said was pretty clear. joining me now is jonathan capehart of "the washington

post" and joel berg executive director of new york city coalition against hunger. thanks for being here to both of you. >> thank you. >> thanks rev. >> so jonathan poverty pimps? how does that fit into the kind of rhetoric we've heard from the right over the years? >> it fits neatly into the rhetoric that we've heard from the right over the years, going all the way back to president reagan when he talked about, quote, welfare queens. or the last presidential campaign when newt gingrich called president obama -- what did he call him, the food stamp president. mitt romney talking about how the president was guaranteeing people, quote, free stuff. this idea that the government and that sort of unworthy people are taking from us and giving it to them is something that the republican party has been dealing in for a very long time. >> joe, voting to cut the safety net, saying the war on poverty

has failed. what would happen to the people that you work with if these conservatives got what they wanted? >> tens of millions of americans would be devastated. and make no mistake about it. i know it won't shock you or jonathan to say some of this rhetoric is racially based. when jeb bush talks about inner cities, he is playing a pretty strong dog whistle. we know that vast pockets of white appalachia are among the poorest counties in the united states. out of the 20 states that have the highest rate of food stamp snap participation in the country, 16 voted for mitt romney. so they're playing an old political game with some horrible background to it when they're ignoring the facts that these cuts are going to hurt real working families children seniors and veterans. >> and it's going to hurt people of all race jonathan. there may be a racial element, but the economic reality is it hurts whites black, latinos asians everybody in the country. >> right. and the one thing that we have

learned since -- well during the 2012 campaign and certainly since then is that income inequality, how the middle class is being squeezed, how folks in the working class can't climb up and those who are the working poor are mired there with no means of climbing up, which has always been the american dream, to move from one class to another, everybody is concerned about that. everyone white or black, latino everyone many this country is worried about their mobility. and so for the republican party to try to pit people and groups against each other, i think in the short-term it's great. in the republican presidential primary it seems because the farther right you can go for republican primary voters the better your chances are of getting the nomination. but when it comes to the general election, the republican party is going to find out once again that the american people are a whole lot further along on all

of these issues than where the party is. >> joel gallup has a new poll that finds most americans think wealth should be more evenly distributed. check out all the groups that agree. it's democrats, independents moderates, liberals younger people older people people who earn less than 30,000 and people who earn more than $30,000. the only people who don't think wealth should be more evenly distributed are republicans and conservatives. are more and more people recognizing inequality as a problem? >> absolutely. and i think most americans believe as i do that we should really be about equality of opportunity, not guaranteed outcomes. but the truth is people working hard and playing by the rules just are being left behind. >> you know jonathan jeb bush made another point that republicans love to talk about in his op-ed about single parents. he wrote quote, if our

government leaders want to attack poverty, they should first acknowledge that an effective anti-poverty program is a strong family led by two parents. our goal so be to build up families. what is he trying to say here? >> well, he is trying to say that marriage is a good thing, that marriage -- i notice he said two parents and not one male, one female. but anyway, he is saying that marriage -- >> if you have two unemployed parents, how does that -- >> right, right. he is trying to say that marriage is this poverty cure-all when it's not. and also we have a lot of single parent families in this country who need help and could use help for what joel just said. the opportunity the succeed and work in this country. and as you said rev, if you're got two parents who are unemployed, that family is not going to stay together much longer. >> and it's not going to help their economic condition.

>> absolutely. >> joel. but progressives are pushing a different agenda. today new york city mayor bill de blasio announced something like the old gop contract with america, but for the left. he talked about it on "morning joe."" listen to this, joel. >> i actually think there is a yearning out there for a set of solutions. i think the typical american believes in progressive taxation and wants to see those who have done well pay their fair share. you see this incredible movement around the country for the $15 minimum wage. it reflects the reality that people can't make ends meet on the current minimum wage. >> he talked about it on joe's show. minimum wage fair tax system. isn't that what regular people want? >> this is a common sense agenda for america. republicans are so pro-family, why in the world do they oppose family and medical leave? why in the world do they oppose raising the minimum wage so working parents can support their families? i welcome a national

conversation on poverty from both parties. but the other side's got to put up some policies not just some rhetoric. >> jonathan capehart joel berg this is going to be a huge issue for 2016 and beyond. thank you both for your time. >> thanks, rev. coming up some controversial comments from senator lindsey graham and why the words we use matter. huh, 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know that game show hosts should only host game shows? samantha, do you take kevin as your lawfully wedded husband... or would you rather have a new caaaaaar!!!! say hello to the season's hottest convertible... ohhh....and say goodbye to samantha. [ male announcer ] geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. ♪ ♪ ♪ (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

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south carolina senator lindsey graham is getting a lot of attention for his controversial comments about muslims. he said quote, everything that starts with "al" in the middle east is bad news. now "al" in arabic is similar to the english word "the." and graham's comments seemed to indict anyone who speaks arabic. in an increasingly diverse world, we need to respect each

other's difference while celebrating our own traditions. this issue was also raised by that attempted terror attack in texas. two gunmen opened fire on a center hosting a contest to draw a cartoon of the prophet muhammad something many muslims consider extremely offensive. that is never an excuse for violence, never. and the group hosting that contest had the right to do so. but just because you have a right to do something doesn't mean you should. there are about 3400 muslims on active duty in the united states military risking their lives to defend our lives, including the right to free speech. we shouldn't let that free speech turn into hate speech. we should regard and respect others as we want to be regarded and respected. that is the tenets the country

was founded on. that is the tenets that we still are seeking to live up to. we've not always got there, but we've got to keep striving for it. and not going backwards. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. is the united states about to invade texas? let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. in parts of this country, people don't live in eminent fear of invasion, and certainly not by forces of the u.s. government. they don't see black helicopters leading an advancing army set out to disarm silence, and enslave them. and then there is texas, where some fear the federal invasion is already set