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tv   Politics Nation  MSNBC  June 4, 2015 3:00pm-4:01pm PDT

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that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. "politics nation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. thanks to you for tuning in. tonight on "politics nation," a wake-up call for washington. a new poll shows what voters really think of minimum wage inequality and fair play. also hillary clinton's new call for a 20-day early voting period nationwide! think voting rights was a big fight in 2012, wait until you see 2016. and new questions from the duggar's sex abuse interview. the family breaking their silence, but should they be speaking out at all? welcome to all my friends in "politics nation." we start with the question, what
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does america want? today, we have some answers. let's talk about it. a new poll from "the new york times" shows 57% say government should do more to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. 57%! now, i'm not surprised the poll says that. because as i travel around the country, people of all communities, all economic strata have said to me we need to deal with this gap, reverend al. let's see what else the poll shows. 66% says distribution of wealth should be more even. now, i know those on the right say, oh, that's just some left-wing, far-out, extremist views. 66%, two-thirds of americans, according to this poll said that we need the distribution of wealth to be more even. these are americans that think this. let's see what else they said.
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68% support raising taxes on millionaires. not anti-millionaires. not anti-people at the top but let's have the equality in the percentages that we pay. 68% -- this is not the left-wing, this is not extreme, this is not marginal -- 68% of the poll says this. let's go to some -- to one other. 71% support raising federal minimum wage to $10.10. again, we're not extremists. we -- i'm quoting "the new york times" poll. this is not reverend al's poll done in the office. "new york times'" poll american people, we need to listen to what americans are saying about income and economic inequality in this country, because this is what we're facing as we go into
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the 2016 election. the question is if this is what americans think, then what do the candidates represent? this is a struggle for the gop. like rick perry, who said today that he's running for president. but his economic policies don't match these numbers. don't match what americans are saying. jeb bush is about to jump in later this month. again, his policies don't match the number. this is not partisan. these are the numbers against the issue. the issue isn't complicated. americans want economic justice. it's nothing to figure out, it's whatever party you like whatever style you like but our interests, we must vote and the american people are saying what they feel their interests are. let's talk about it now. let me walk over and welcome democratic strategist tara dardel, and in chicago, austin
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goolsbee, former chair of president obama's council on economic advisers. thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> yeah thanks for having me. >> austan these numbers are pretty striking. they're not even close. what does that tell you? >> well you know in some ways they're even more striking than you said, because they broke it out by party, and on several of those points even the majority of republicans are saying they agree with that. and i -- what i want to know is every major republican candidate for the last 50 years, i think, has proposed a substantial tax cut for high-income americans, as part of their campaign platform. the majority of republicans in the survey do not support that. they support the opposite. so i want to see what happens. >> and sing that's what's critical. you know even on minimum wage tara we have the numbers now,
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on this poll and other polls that i've seen but we use "the new york times'" new poll. the numbers say that. listen to what people that were workers said about minimum wage. listen to this. >> we come in and we work hard and we bust our butt and all we want to get is our hard-earned money that we work for. we be at work more than we be at home. >> i have a family and i have to support them. if i don't do this to get minimum wage higher how am i going to get it? how am i going to survive in this expensive city of new york. >> today, we go way, way back. it is ant race to the bottom. this isn't what america is about. we can do better. it's time for people to start standing up and fighting for their rights for a decent wage and a livable existence. >> tara i hear this everywhere. north, south, east west. all the races, all the regions everywhere i can go i hear this. that's why i'm so i'm so surprised when i hear people act like this is just some partisan view or some ideological view.
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minimum wage people want it. >> paid family sick leave, people want. people want all of these things. basically, what that poll did was it put a rubber stamp on the democratic party's policies. that's what that poll did. and i've said this many times before. and democrats need to say this more. republicans are acting like we have a rich people aren't rich enough problem in this country. we have a workers aren't earning enough money problem in this country. and democrats need to be better about, as a whole party, not just individual democrats, as a whole party, hammering these points home. one message, all the time, nonstop. >> but, it goes alan you even pointed out, when you break the poll down and i've seen the breakdown, it's not even just a rubber stamp on the democratic party. i understand tara is a democratic strategist and she's got to get that in there. but republicans are saying it. and republicans are changing their language. look at rick perry today, the language he used.
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watch this. >> to the one in five children in families who are on food stamps, to the one in seven americans living in poverty, to the one in ten workers who are unemployed underemployed, or have just given up hope of finding a job, i hear you! the american people they see this red game where the insiders get rich, the middle class pays the tab. >> american people see a rigged game, rick perry's saying that. but do the policies match? we, you're not the only one. listen to some of the others. we see, we see many of the others that are saying the same thing. why republicans are suddenly talking about economic inequality. "the new york times" wrote the article. others are talking about it but their policies don't match. let's show that number again.
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66% say distribution of wealth should be more even alan. and i think that is the point. and the question is we tara we austan are not talking just, of course, democrats, but republicans are saying it too, austan, as you point out. >> yeah look if you just played that quote from rick perry, we would be open to that message come frgt democratic primary. i think what's hard to reconcile is they feel like they want to talk about helping the middle class, helping people who are suffering, but then they're turning around and saying no we're not going to extend medicaid. we're going to fight the obamacare as much as we can. we want to cut off all for -- we want to reduce the minimum wage. we want to oppose expanding tenored income tax credit. we want to oppose all the policies that are exactly about
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the very thing that he said in the previous sentence. and i don't know how you reconcile that. >> tara, it's lip service. it's like knowing there is a malady knowing there is an illness, reading the right diagnosis, but prescribing something that gets you even circumstance. >> exactly! and, see what i think the democrats need to do, though is two things. very simple actually. expose and propose. they need to expose this hypocrisy, like austan mentioned, when you talk about the earned income tax credit which is essentially a de facto increase of the minimum wage it puts money in the pockets of low-income workers, and the data actually shows, it encourages people to find jobs which is what we want to have happen. and when you talk about that the republicans have consistently wanted to refuse to expand it and some have even opposed having it altogether. at the same time they want to make corporate tax cuts permanent, at a time when corporations are doing perfectly well. and also the child care credit. which -- the child tax credit which president obama expanded
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just like the earned income tax credit. republicans don't want to make that permanent either. so there's a record of success and democrats can tell on these issues, when having the opportunity, and also they can also talk about how they're going to continue to bring these issues forward. how they're going to continue to promote these policies that help the most vulnerable, and help working -- >> but we don't even have to go dc and republican. and i know you have to be democratic, democratic strategist but we can just deal with the opinion of people. if i were dealing in the debates, and i ran for president, i know how those debates are, i'd say, here is what people are saying, here's the numbers, austan. now, tell me candidate one, candidate two, candidate 14 if it's the republicans, how your policy answers this. match this. match this. that's how we ought to do the debates. >> look, i got to think that's right. and look you have experience running for president, so you
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know how people would react. now, i think in the case of the republicans, how they would react is they would try to bend themselves over backward and do a triple lutz flip to get themselves to portray that their policy is trying to support that. i think, it's really matter of philosophy, in the sense that the democrats have on their side, the reality that if the middle class is strong, the economy is going to grow in a stable sustainable way. and when you have a very concentrated benefits going to just a few people you're much more likely to have a bubble. so contemporary art, the prices are up 50% in one year. why? because the people who buy fancy art, their incomes are way up. you're going to have bubbles when you have concentrations of wealth and people just interested in buying the same types of stuff. >> well austan goolsbee and
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tara dardell, i've got to leave it there. thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. coming up hillary clinton threw down the gauntlet on voting. she got specific. i like that. she got personal. i like that even more. and she got right after the republicans. that's why i'm still standing up. also reaction to that sex abuse interview from the duggar family. new questions about what happened and what they're doing now. also a fascinating new look inside president obama's powerful selma speech. his handwritten notes and his personal vision for a speech that will definitely go down in history. >> we honor those who walked so we could run. what could be more american than what happened in this place?
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it will be one of the biggest issues in 2016. making sure every american can vote. and today, as hillary clinton was honored with an award remembering congresswoman barbara jordan she blasted the voter suppression we've seen in recent years. >> 40 years after barbara jordan fought to extend the voting rights act, its heart has been ripped out. what is happening is a sweeping effort to disempower and disenfranchise people of color, poor people and young people from one end of our country to the other. >> this blatant discrimination has swept the country, and it could be getting worse. according to the brennan center
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21 states have passed new voter restriction laws since 2010. and in 14 of those states next year will be the first time those restrictions will be in effect for presidential elections. that's why clinton's recommending a series of changes, like restoring the voting rights act and creating 20 days of early voting nationwide. >> we should set a standard across our country of at least 20 days of early, in-person voting everywhere including opportunities for weekend and evening voting. if families coming out of church on sunday are inspired to go vote they should be free to do just that. >> republicans have attacked sunday voting to go to the
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polls after church called soul to the polls. and african-american voters are predominant in that effort. president obama and former attorney general eric holder have fought those efforts, and today, hillary clinton promised she would, too. >> we owe it to our children and our grandchild to fight just as hard as those who came before us, to march just as far, to organize just as well to speak out just as loudly and to vote every chance we get for the kind of future we want. >> now, let's bring in spencer overton, president of the joint center for political and economic studies and author of "stealing democracy: the new politics of voter suppression." also with us msnbc's contributor and president of voto latino maria lisa kumar.
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thank you both for being here. >> thank you, reverend. >> spencer, let me start with you. how much of an impact could these new voter suppression laws have in 2016? because it's very, very -- i want to underscore -- 14 of the states that had passed the laws don't go into effect until next year. so even though we saw long lines and were able to overcome it somewhat in 2012 and in the midterm 2014 now we have 14 states that didn't have the impact until next year. it could be a deciding factor in the election. >> it could be especially if the election is close. let's just take early voting for example. early voting is important, because it reduces lines on election day. and if we look at election day in 2012 african-americans were almost twice, they stayed in line almost twice as long as whites did, on average, across the country. so, early vote reduces that
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pressure and it reduces long lines on election day. another piece of this is just frankly, political. mitt romney and barack obama tied among people who voted on election day, but in terms of early voters obama won those voters by six points. so could have a huge outcome, impact on in outcome of the election, especially if it's close, like in 2000. >> you know maria, mrs. clinton today was specific. and i like that. >> we need specific. >> yeah i'm not always saluted a lot of what she said but she was specific. i like that. and she's specifically went after some of her republican opponents, for voter suppression, specifically on this issue. listen to this. >> here in texas, former governor rick perry signed a law that a federal court said was
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actually written with the purpose of discriminating against minority voters. in wisconsin, governor scott walker cut back early voting. in new jersey governor chris christie vetoed legislation to extend early voting. and in florida, when jeb bush was governor, state authorities conducted a deeply flawed purge of voters before the presidential election in 2000. >> and maria, she didn't just name call name and what they did, name and what they did. this is the way you have a responsible election. can this work for mrs. clinton? is this a good tactic and a good strategy for her? >> well with first of all, i think that this is -- she's putting people on notice that she's going to be tough. but the fact that she's going after the voting rights and actually talking about the reason why we need to have access to our election system is huge. reverend, that map that you
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showed earlier, when you look at the ones where the voting rights act is actually gutted and preventing people from the polls, those are the states that have had a high population increase in latino voters. so it's not by chance that these folks, the republicans are scratching their heads saying we don't know what to do with this growing demographic, let's suppress the vote. so i think the fact that she's naming names and being very clear that this is not about politics, but more importantly it's about our democracy and what it stands for, is incredibly important. >> hillary clinton talked about texas voter i.d. laws specifically. it is one of the strictest in the country, spencer. it lets people present a concealed gun license as a valid i.d. but not a university i.d. or tribal i.d. and it's disproportionately affecting african-american and latino voters. is it important that clinton gave this speech in texas? >> it is.
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texas is ground zero in terms of the assault on voting rights. as you mentioned, in terms of that i.d. in texas, they found that african-americans and latinos are two to three times more likely not to have the proper i.d. in order to vote. so it is critical to give this speech, in texas, where the action is. as ferguson is to policing texas is to voter restrictions. >> maria, we see that there were huge lines, but that was because a lot of us you, me others went out and told people the danger of not voting whoever they voted for. i'll never forget riding around with bishop victor curry in florida, all over florida, watching the huge lines that his operation, among efforts that it inspired, in other parts of the country. but we can't depend on lines and
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people's enthusiasm. we've got to get their rights back on the books. republican and democrats and protect them. >> that's absolutely right. and i think what folks forget the fact that because we're asking people to stand in line that's another type of poll tax. it's a time tax. how many people that are working class can actually afford to spend seven or eight hours in line and forego a day's pay? that's impossible. it's unfair. and by -- why hillary clinton is basically saying is it's time for us to get our voting systems into the 21st century. we have to modernize our voting systems. we are able to basically digitize everything except for the ability to do this properly. i think the fact she's putting this on the campaign trail now, it should be an issue for both parties, because at the end of the day, our democracy is only as is strong as our participation. >> well, you should vote for who protects your vote. >> that's right. spencer overton and maria kumar, thank you for your time. coming up, breaking their
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silence. the duggars speak out about their son's molestation scandal. and many say it only raised more questions. also, it's been called the best speech he's ever given. tonight, we go inside president obama's personal selma speech. the drafts the re-writes, and why it meant so much to him. stay with us. [ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours.
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. it's no secret that the 2016 gop candidates have been a little tripped up talking about the iraq war and foreign policy but not senator lindsey graham. he knows exactly what he would do. >> the only way i know to defend this country is to send some of us the back to iraq and eventually to syria, to dig these guys out of the ground
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destroy the caliphate, kill as many of them as you can, hold territory, and help people over there help themselves. >> but senator, that's a tough -- it's a tough message, because a lot of people are just worn out by war. >> well don't vote for me. >> hey! hey! you heard the guy! if you don't want anymore war, don't vote for lindsey graham. good to know! but today, i was just as interested in a different gop candidate, and what he had to say about foreign policy. >> the most immediate responsibility we have is to help them build a functional government, that can actually meet the needs of their people in the short and long-term and ultimately from that you would hope it would spring -- >> that sounds like nation building? >> no it's not nation building we are assisting them in building their nation. >> wait a minute, senator rubio, can you repeat that? >> well it's not nation building, we are assisting them in building their nation.
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>> mm. that's what i thought you said. "it's not nation building but it's helping them build their nation." is it sort of like how you weren't water grabbing here you were just awkwardly grabbing for a bottle of water. it's a distinction without a difference. and here's another one, senator rubio. don't think of this as us getting you, think of it as, we got you. and help on experian.com. so how are we going to sweeten this deal? floor mats... clear coats... >>you're getting warmer... leather seats... >>and this... my wife bought me that. get your credit swagger on. become a member of experian credit tracker and find out your fico score powered by experian. fico scores are used in 90% of credit decisions. i like my seafood like i like my vacations: tropical.
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ok, are you doing test markets like last time? uh, no we're going to roll out globally. ok. we'll start working on some financing options right away. thanks, joe. oh, yeah. it's a game-changer for the rock-climbing industry. this is one strong rope! huh joe? oh, yeah it's incredible! how you doing team? jeff you good? [jeff] i think i dropped my keys. [announcer] you work hard to build your company. wells fargo will work right alongside you, bringing the expertise your company needs to move forward. wells fargo. together we'll go far. the duggars are breaking their silence about their family's scandal. they spoke out on fox news about the moment their oldest son told them he had improperly touched underaged girls. >> our son, josh came to us on his own, and he was crying and he had just turned 14. and he said that he had actually
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improperly touched some of our daughters. and it was -- >> we were shocked. i mean we were just devastated. i don't think any parent is prepared for a trauma like that. >> they revealed that josh duggar molested four of his sisters and one other girl who was not a member of the family. and they added that he approached them on three separate occasions about it before they asked for help from someone outside the family. >> that same day -- >> he just was weeping and we were weeping. and the little one was like what's wrong? where is -- why are daddy and josh leaving? and as we were all weeping, the next day and for days and days i was saying you know josh has done some very bad things and he's -- he's very sorry. >> the couple was asked why they
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would launch a reality tv show knowing they have this issue in their past. >> we had nothing to hide. we had taken care of all of that years before. and when they asked us to do the reality tv show all of this had been taken care of five years before. and we had a clean bill of health from the state. it had said you have gone through counseling you had told the police. >> this interview lit up social media, and while many people did support the duggars, a majority of twitter users slammed the couple of the interview. so, did this interview raise more questions than it answered? joining me now are legal analyst, arevo martin and dr. gail saltz, psychiatrist at new york presbyterian hospital. thank you both for being here. >> thanks, rev. >> areva, what are your questions after seeing this interview? >> you know the biggest question i have is how come the
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duggars continue to try to minimize what their son did. they keep using words like "bad choices," as if he forgot to turn in his homework. they have not come forward and talked about the serious crime that was committed by his son -- by their son, not once but on multiple occasions, with four sisters and someone outside the family. and when we talk about sexual molestation, as if it's not the crime that it is we minimize the damage that's been done to the victims, and in some ways we legitimatize the conduct. so i still want to know how come the duggars won't just call it what it is which is a crime, a violation of arkansas penal code that we're talking about, and not just bad choices. >> well that's the legal side. dr. saltz, let me go to you on that. because i want to get your take on how the duggars describe what happened and your take on this. listen to how they describe it. >> for us of course this is
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public shame, that our son did this, back 12 13 years ago. this was not rape or anything like that. this was like touching somebody over their clothes. there were a couple of incidents where he touched somebody under their clothes. but it was like a few seconds. >> it was more of his heart, his intent. he knew that he -- it was wrong. but they weren't even aware. it was like, you know -- it wasn't to them they probably didn't even understand that it was improper touch. >> what josh did was inexcusable, but it was not unforgivable. >> your reaction to how they dealt with this? >> yeah i think it's an understandable compartmentalization and somewhat a denial of the seriousness of it. i'd have to agree. and what concerns -- >> is that common with -- >> very common. i mean you love all your children. and so it's very understandable that you don't want to believe the worst, and you do want to kind of compartmentalize things. but the problem with that since
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they have come forward, since they are a public family is that the issue of abuse is one of public health. it is not uncommon. the public needs to understand how to deal with. and dealing with it by having your child see a counselor -- counselor is not a meaningful word. counselor is not a psychologist, necessarily, a psychiatrist, necessarily. a person who is trained -- you could call yourself a counselor. anybody can call themselves a counselor. so we don't know if either the victim or the perpetrator in this case got appropriate care the kind of treatment that they would need. that's very important. and we also don't know if it's really understood how and why this happened in the first place. so, earlier, they messagesed this happens a lot in households. you know what happens a lot in households? playing doctor. mutual curiosity that needs to be stopped, mind you. but it is not the same as repetitively touching someone
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who has not given consent and in terms of them not understanding the problem with this abuse is really it's for the purpose of sexual gratification. and so assuming that just because you're a young child, you wouldn't understand that is unlikely. and that's the trauma that's involved that needs to be treated. >> areva, also there's a legal side because many have criticized how the duggars reported this to law enforcement. listen to what they say happened. >> we felt like it was an important step for josh to confess to the police what he had done because he had broken the law. i had a towing business for years, and so i did know a lot of the officers around here but we went into the arkansas state police and -- >> at police headquarters? >> at the police headquarters. walked in, this man was there, we went in and talked to him and said, hey, my son has something that he needs to share with you. >> areva, from a legal point of view, how do you respond to how they reported this? >> well i'm very concerned
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about it rev, because, first of all, they didn't report it when it was first made aware to them. they waited over a year before they went into that police department and made the report. and we're also hearing from the state trooper that he was only told about one incident. in any event, it raises for me the question of an unequal justice system. if someone walks in and says that there's been some impermissible touching some molestation of young children there should have been a full-fledged investigation of this. that child should have been removed from that home. the parents should have been investigated as well. and we know in this case none of that happened. this trooper so-called, gave a stern talking to to josh duggar. again, that's not what the law says. that's not what should have happened under the legal system and so the legal system failed these children. the victims in this case who were not spending a lot of time talking about, rev, which is also a problem. >> now, let's talk something about the victims here dr. saltz, because listen to
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michelle duggar discuss what her daughters are going through. >> they've been victimized more by what has happened in these last couple of weeks than they were 12 years ago, because they honestly -- they didn't even understand or know that anything had happened until after the fact, when they were told about it. >> i mean from your experience what do you think of the assessment, and the fact they're talking about the last couple of weeks. what about 20 years ago? >> right. first of all, it's not great for any of them that we're talking about this, to be honest. it's not great. even whether they were very traumatized or only mildly traumatized, this can't be helping. however, it's very unlikely that there are no repercussions, because we know that victims of abuse do have an understanding and we know that they have a greater incidence of depression later in light, anxiety disorders later in life difficulty with relationships and intimacy for themselves and
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that's why treatment is so important. and of course whether they don't believe that they really knew what was going on until they were told either way, they were told. and they did understand that their brother had done this to them. and that means that they really needed good treatment to not have ongoing repercussions. that's why, you know i'm not a lawyer so i can't comment on whether they should have gone to the law right away but what they should have done is go to a proper mental health professional, right away. and that clearly did not happen. >> well let me say this as we have to move on we hope this family gets the help they need. none of us should forget the victims and the family and the understandable feelings parents have for their children including the son. areva martin and dr. gail saltz, thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> thanks rev. coming up, one of the president's most personal speeches, the behind-the-scenes story of how his selma speech came together.
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plus why have millions of people watched this interview of a man living on the streets. stay with us. perpower. surprised? in fact, america 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. when i started at the shelter, no one wanted benny. so i adopted him. he's older so he needs my help all day. when my back pain flared up i was afraid i would have to give him away. i took tylenol at first but i had to take 6 pills to get through the day. then my friend said, "try aleve." just 2 pills, all day. and now, i'm back for my best bud! aleve. all day strong. and try aleve pm now with an easy open cap.
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we'll show you. we honor those who worked so we could run. we must run so our children soar. and we will not grow weary, for we believe in the power of an awesome god. and we believe in this country's sacred promise. >> in march of this year i was
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honored to join other civil rights leaders as we marched with president obama across the bridge in selma, alabama, that 50 years ago, led to the voting rights act, when civil rights activists at that time were beaten. i told him, as i walked i walked between he and amelia boykin, one of the original marchers, this is great, but it followed one of the greatest speeches i ever heard. i said mr. president, i think this is your best speech. i mean it really moved me. now an article in "the washington post" is offering a new and intimate look at how the speech was conceived and written. including rough drafts with the president's own personal notes, some even written on the plane to alabama that very morning. the selma speech highlighted the president's beliefs about what really makes this country great.
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>> what could be more american than what happened in this place? what could more profoundly vindicate the idea of america, than plain and humble people unsung the down trodden, the dreamers not of high station, not born to wealth or privilege, not of one religious tradition, but many coming together to shape their country's course. >> and his own notes show his strong vision of what it means to be patriotic. >> what greater form of patriotism is there, than the belief that america is not yet finished. that we are strong enough to be self-critical. that each successive generation can look upon our imperfections and decide that it is in our power to remake this nation to more closely align with our highest ideas. >> the selma speech was not only
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meant to honor the legacy of the civil rights movement, it revealed president obama's hopes for this country. and what it means to him to be an american in the 21st century. joining me now is a great civil rights leader in her own right and someone who was also there at that speech congresswoman eleanor holmes norton democrat of washington, d.c. thank you for being here first of all. >> of course reverend. >> this "washington post" article confirms what many of us have known, this was a uniquely personal speech for the president, wasn't it congresswoman? >> oh, you could sense that. and i agree with you, reverend. as i sat listening to this speech i said this is not obama's normal super inspirational speech. something different is happening here. it was virtually definitional.
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here was the president, almost re-defining exceptionalism americanism, patriotism to be aspirational to be always trying to do better. not the way some of my colleagues define it as exercising american power. if power made you exceptional. there are a great many exceptional countries or nations in the world today. in that case, china is exceptional. this notion that each generation can do best by being self-critical of its own country, and that that's how you get progress came through in the speech. it's as if the president said how can i write a speech that fits this historic occasion? >> yeah. yeah that is what i felt.
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you know one part of the speech appears to be a rebuttal of president reagan's famous city on a hill speech in which he called the country's freedoms fragile. president obama had a different take. watch this. >> we respect the past but we don't pine for the past. we don't fear the future. we grab for it. america's not some fragile thing. we are large in the words of witton containing multitudes. we are boisterous and diverse and full of energy, perpetually young in spirit. >> is this the vision of the country now for the 21st century? is this what we need now, big and noise we and diverse? and that's what we are. and instead of sitting on a hill, we're climbing the hill. and we are in a different world. the president understood that
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this was not the world of post world war ii, where we were king of the hill. it's a world in which there are a number of nations, china, the asian nations, insisting that they too, must have world power. how do you keep your greatness if you're being challenged? because we're being challenged and he says you keep climbing the hill on the hill you understand, you're not sitting on the hill because you just sit there, you will be overtaken. you keep perfecting american democracy. if we hadn't been perfecting american democracy, then i think we would not have understood what the founders understood. when they said all men are created equal, was there one of them that believed all of us were equal? it was aspirational. it was saying make it so. make it come true. and that's what the president was saying. this will go down i believe, at least thus far, as one of the great speeches of the 21st
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century. >> do you believe that it will go down in history as one of the great speeches of the 21st century? >> i do believe -- i believe that. because when you think of speeches that you revere from american presidents there are very few of these. ask not what you can do -- you can ask for your country, ask what you can do for your country, for example. this is the kind of speech where people will take out parts of it to say over and over again. and it helps us at a time where we are feeling that there are others who are claiming power and yet to understand how important we have been we have to keep climbing or we will lose power, we will lose exceptionalism. we will lose patriotism. >> thank you congresswoman, eleanor holmes norton. thank you for your time tonight. >> always a pleasure, reverend. >> we'll be right back. you wouldn't haul a load without checking your clearance. so why would you invest without checking
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still ahead, one man's story touches millions. how an interview with a homeless man went viral. it's emotional and raw. and is hitting a deep nerve. spurring people to take real action. that's coming up. is getting relief. only nicorette mini has a patented fast-dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. i never know when i'll need relief. that's why i only choose nicorette mini. if you can't put a feeling into words, why try?
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the #1 prescribed acid-blocking brand, and get all day, all night protection. nexium level protection. 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 angieslist.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. we close tonight with a video from the streets that's gone viral. and touched millions of people. a texas filmmaker recorded his conversation with a homeless man
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named obedeiya. he said he was once a successful contractor, but fell into drugs. >> you asked me the doing prison was the hard part and i spent over 12 years in prison. in 18 years, i did 12 total. and it wasn't the -- the hard part wasn't going to prison it was getting out and trying to be part of society again. i became a citizen again. i can actually vote. i can actually go in and vote for the president. but i can't get a job here or here or here. i can't have any apartments because they won't accept felons. >> for many ex-felons, the odds are stacked against them. obedeiya also talked about how people literally don't want to give him the time of day and how he's lost faith in humanity. that video has been viewed by nearly 800,000 times on reddit and over 800,000 times on youtube. over 8 million views on facebook. and some of those strangers
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contributed to a gofundme page to help him out. but the truth is there are many others that need help. we'll be judged in our life by not how many elbows of the rich and wealthy we rubbed but how we help the least of those that others ignored. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. is income inequality job one for both parties? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. we're seeing a new phenomenon in american politics. yes, people are angry about stagnant incomes, have been for a while, but now there's something more. they seem to deeply resent it that billionaires are getting even wealthier.