right now. tonight on "politics nation," the freddy gray autopsy report. new details tonight on how he died and why his death was ruled a homicide. also turning the page. a dramatic vote on the confederate flag as some of america's top companies take a stand against hate. and death panels are back. republicans on yet another vote on obamacare, trying to make sure nobody pulls the plug on grandma. welcome to "politics nation." this is a dramatic moment for america. a potential turning point in dealing with the scars of the past. politicians, corporations, everyday citizens is are having

a new conversation about slavery, about getting confederate icons out of our public spaces. hillary clinton addressed the issue just moments ago at an event not far from ferguson, missouri. >> we can't hide from hard truths about race and justice. we have to name them and own them and change them. that's why i appreciate the actions begun yesterday by the governor and other leaders of south carolina to remove the confederate battle flag from the statehouse. it shouldn't fly there. it shouldn't fly anywhere. >> it shouldn't fly anywhere. 150 years after the civil war we're seeing a wave of calls to take it down all over the south.

>> breaking news out of richmond where governor terry mcauliffe has ordered the confederate flag removed from virginia state license plates. >> state representative earl banks says it's time for mississippi to remove the confederate flag. >> people use this flag as a symbol of hatred. that should not be a part of the flag of mississippi. >> from the capitol in south carolina to our own here in nashville where a bust of confederate general nathan beckford forest is on display. tonight many say that monument needs to go. >> we feel like starting from the top is the way to go. >> he says the statue should go that davis belongs in history books and museums, not atop a pedestal on the way to the u.t. tower. >> people are pushing to get these symbols off of state flags and license plates and out of public parks and schools. businesses are getting in on it too. walmart, sears, ebay and amazon

are among the companies that will now ban sales of items featuring confederate flags. today hundreds rallied at the south carolina capitol pushing to take down the flag. and the legislature agreed to take up the issue. here's a picture of the citadel to move the flag off the statehouse grounds. one of its sponsors paul thurman, son of the notorious segregationist strom thurmond. >> i'm proud to be on the right side of history regarding the removal of this symbol of racism and bigotry from the statehouse. it is time to acknowledge our past, atone for our sins and work towards a better future. >> today the statehouse parking spot for senator clementa

pinckney was empty. we can start honoring the memory of him and the other eight victims by moving past icons of hate. i thought today, as i watched the proceedings, in 2007 a new york paper did a trace of my background and found that the family of strom thurmond owned my family in slavery just two generations ago in edgefield, south carolina. today strom thurmond's son stood up and voted against the confederate flag. something i've advocated tore a long time. old issues can be resolved if we don't turn around. joining me now from columbia south carolina, is state representative seth whipper, from missouri congressman emanuel cleaver and e.j. dionne of "the washington post."

thank you all for being here. >> good to be with you, reverend. >> thank you, mr. sharpton. >> let me ask you what's your sense on the ground? will the legislature vote to take the flag down? >> i'm more than optimistic, mr. sharpton, that that flag will be moved. with the consensus of so many leaders as well as the consensus of so many grassroots folks, it looks like revelation has occurred and the flag is on its way to another resting place. you are hearing behind me the horns that are honking for support to move the flag. and that's here in downtown columbia south carolina. >> so when we hear that honking, those honks are for supporting taking down, take the flag down? >> that's right. move the flag to another place. make it what it is -- a part of our history and a part of our past. >> congressman, this is really a

turning point in the national conversation, not just in south carolina. are we moving forward, congressman? >> i actually believe we are taking a step. you know it's one thing to -- to say that one is race lessless and know it. it's another thing and much better to be raceless and show it. i think that people in south carolina are ready to show it. and this is a tremendous step and the flag was symbolism. and you remove is symbolism and i think that provides space for progress. and this -- i can't tell you how joyful i am at least in this component of our existence right now that south carolina ft. sumter, the heart of the confederacy almost right down from virginia, is saying that

we're ready to move on. the symbols of hate are now behind us. >> e.j. give me your take on everything we saw today. >> well i think a revelation as the representative said is exactly what's going on here. and i think it's really important for us to understand and honor the fact that how we view our history is very closely related to what happens in our politics. the glorification of the confederate side in the civil war as a glorious cause, the denigration of reconstruction the one time before civil rights when african-americans had political power in the south, that all was happening at a time when jim crow was imbedding itself in the south in the period, say, 1880 to about 1910. and the fact that we are finally saying as a country that the confederate flag was about white supremacy. it was about slavery in the

first instance. and it went up in all those southern states basically to protest civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. and so i think the fact that this is happening in south carolina and the ripple effect all across the country says finally we are coming to terms with this history, that doesn't guarantee politics will be better going forward, but i think it's the beginning of something very very important. >> and representative whipper, i think none of us are naive enough to think that just bringing the flag down changes the conditions and the unfairness and the disproportionate impact on race in many areas. but the symbol of many of the things that stand in the way of that has been this flag and has been the use of the confederate emblem like it was acceptable. so i think symbolically it can begin that process.

>> that's correct, al. and what we're saying now is that there's another way to live. there's another kind of camaraderie available. there's another kind of understanding that's available. what we're saying now is that instead of domination, we're talking about cooperation, we're talking about equalization, we're talking about the proper kinds of representation. we're talking about the comfort of all kinds of people in this state. we're talking about a better approach to voting a better approach to education because now we can have these conversations in earnest, what we have found often is the folks and the parties and the constituencies of the flag staying up are against most of the progressive and really true answers to the problems that we have in society. equal employment equal education, better wages, the whole nine yards. so yes, this is the beginning of a new day. and now the good people have an

opportunity to stand up and say we want to live differently. >> and keep it going. you know congressman, i think a lot of people don't understand when people talk about heritage and history like it's far removed, but it is not that removed. that's why i shared when the new york daily news told me that anna thurmond married to alexander sharpton owned coleman sharpton who was my grandfather's daddy right there in south carolina. this is something that our parents and grandparents talked to us about, and that flag that emblem means something to us just two or three generations away. we're not talking about thousands of years ago with moses and the exodus. we're talking about people in our lives. >> absolutely. captain henry cleaver owned -- when i said the word "own" it turns an ugly way inside my stomach. but owned my great-grandfather

down in cherokee county texas. so it's not something in the distant past that we can say is in our past so far back that we can forget it. it's real. and you know i feel really good, almost like i'm in church when i hear those cars honking. it's almost like somebody's saying amen. and they're saying amen to the fact that people are, i think at least in the beginning stage of understanding what we have gone through and what we are experiencing and the pain we still suffer from what happened years ago. >> e.j. we heard from hillary clinton, but we also heard some strong words from rand paul after days of his silence. listen to this. >> yeah i think the flag is inescapably a symbol of human bondage and slavery, and particularly when people use it you know obviously for, you

know murder and to justify hatred so vicious that you would kill somebody. i think that that symbolism needs to end. and i think south carolina is doing the right thing. >> now those are good comments but e.j. he didn't say a word for days for days and you wrote about the politics of evasion this week. why didn't more republicans speak out sooner? >> i think we know that the republican party, the conservative coalition in the south, was formed in significant part in opposition to civil rights. so when barry goldwater voted against the civil rights bill and lyndon johnson pushed it the whole political makeup of the south changed. and so the republicans have been reluctant on this flag issue for a long time. john mccain said he was against taking it down during the primary when he ran down there for president, then apologized later for saying that. i think we're going to look back on this as an interesting test.

who stood up before governor haley made her announcement. hillary clinton obviously did. mitt romney did. i thought that was a powerful statement he made. jeb bush issued a statement saying i took it down in florida. i hope it happens elsewhere. i think some of the other republicans who were quiet or silent really have to explain themselves. i doubt they will. but i think that said something about who spoke out when it was not as easy and who didn't speak out. >> you know when i was in charleston the day after this massacre last thursday and visited the church and talked about the last time i was wo our late friend i think that many of us saw the coming together of people across races. some time you could say why did it take nine innocent deaths in a bible study class in church why did it take this long?

others of us can say, yes, it took too long but let's not miss the moment now to make things happen. not just a flag but all of the other things as representative whipper said has come to represent in this generation. iffy welcome stay together and seize the moment i think we can move this country forward. representative whipper, congressman cleaver and e.j. dionne, thank you all for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you, too, reverend. breaking news ahead, the freddy gray autopsy. reports say the medical examiner thinks acts of omission may have led to his death. plus president obama's push to end the crisis in our prisons. that fight is getting a big boost tonight from both the left and the right. also john boehner is still trying to make sure we don't

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ahead breaking news on the freddy gray case. the "baltimore sun" just got its hands on the autopsy report. it's a critical piece revealing more about gray's injuries. what may have caused them. and what may have occurred during those final moments inside the police van. that's next.

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breaking news tonight in the death of freddie gray. "the baltimore sun" has obtained a copy of the medical examiner's autopsy report. "the sun" says this report concludes that freddie gray suffered a single high-energy injury most likely caused when the police van in which he was riding suddenly decelerated. "the sun" goes on to say the state medical examiner's office conclude that gray's death fit the medical and legal definition of an accident but ruled it to be a homicide because officers

failed to follow safety procedures through acts of omission. state's attorney marilyn mowsby released a statement saying quote, the state's attorney's office did not release the freddie gray autopsy report. i strongly condemn anyone with access to trial evidence who has leaked information prior to the resolution of this case. six officers have been arrested in gray's death with charges ranging from second degree depraved heart murder to manslaughter. a trial has been set for october 13. joining me now is legal analyst reeva martin and joining me on the phone is dr. cyril wecht, a former medical examiner and forensic pathologist. he's also a medical doctor and attorney. the report rules freddie gray's

death a homicide based on quote, acts of omission by the officers. what does this mean going forward? >> i think what we should expect going forward, reverend is a big fight over what happened in that van and whether the charges that the states attorney brought are over-charges. we know that one of the charges is second degree murder. and in second degree murder there's some intentionality that has to be proved by this district attorney. the medical examiner is calling the death an accident. he says what like lily happened is gray stood up in the van and as the van decelerated he was thrown into the side of the van causing the serious injury that led to his death. we should expect defense attorneys to seize on this statement by the medical examiner to argue that there's no intentionality on the part of any of these officers and that the district attorney overcharged in the case. >> but after freddie gray's death, areva, there was a lot of talk about police rough rides or

nickel rides. "the new york times" wrote at the time it was when quote, suspects seated or lying face down and in handcuffs in the back of a police wagon are jolted and battered by an intentionally rough and bumpy ride. so is this not also a possibility of what could have happened here? >> oh absolutely, rev. and we should also point out that the medical examiner said there were acts of omission by these police officers. he faults the police officers nor not belting gray or doing anything to him in that vehicle that would have prevented him from being thrown about in the vehicle in such a way that he would suffer such a severe injury. we'll hear a lot about what those police officers did, how they place them in the van and whether they took the proper precautions to avoid this kind of fatal injury from happening to him. >> and whether they intentionally omitted it even if they didn't know what the

results would be. dr. wecht, the report says gray suffered a, quote, high energy injury. what does that mean to you? >> it means that as mr. gray lay on his abdomen face down in a prone position with his wrist and ankles tied that that van decelerated suddenly causing his body to impact against the inner portion of the van producing a severe injury to the head and neck causing cervical vertebral fractures and almost completely transecting the cervical spinal cord. at that point in essence, mr. gray was doomed to death. it would have required emergency medical treatment right on the spot and possibly if there had been any conceivable salvageability, it would have required them to immobilized his neck immediately, something that they failed to do. you know it's incredible here

when you think that police officers in 2015 in a major metropolitan area would treat a human being like this. go back and look at the training that they receive as police officers. i would be willing to make a wager with anybody that that included some discussions by paramedical people about how to treat individuals who had sustained injuries. go to any football game and see the way in which someone who is knocked down is handled. the first thing you do is you immobilize the neck for the very reason that damage to the cervical spinal cord can result in death, and if you survive, you'll be quadriplegic paralysis of all four arms -- i'm sorry, go ahead. >> i want to follow up on this autopsy report. but let me go to you on this one, areva, i'll come back to the doctor. the autopsy report also

describes the stop of the police van that it made. quote, the assisting officer open the doors and observed mr. gray lying belly down on the floor with his head facing the cabin compartment and reportedly he was asking for help saying he couldn't breathe. couldn't get up and needed a medic. the officer assisted mr. gray to the bench and the van continued on its way. areva, this assisting officer has been charged with manslaughter. what could this report mean for her legally? >> this is a very damaging statement for this officer. it shows that this officer had an opportunity to take precautions, to get the medical attention that mr. gray needed and she failed to do so. i think it's also interesting to note, rev, that throughout the report, the medical examiner talks about the multiple stops that were made. these officers had numerous opportunities to get mr. gray medical help and they failed to do so. so much so that they were callous because we also know that as he was moaning and

groaning, we hear a lot about the moans and groans he was making obviously in severe pain and no effort made by any of the officers involved to get him medical attention, i think that's going to be very damaging to the defendants and help the prosecution prove at least those charges that don't require the more serious elements of murder. >> now, doctor the autopsy report does make note of drugs found in freddie gray's system, according to "the baltimore sun" gray tested positive for opiates and cannabinoid hen hewhen he was admitted to the trauma center. the report makes no further reference to the drugs found in his system. what's the medical significance of this to you? >> there's no significance or relevance of any kind about the presence of openen oids and

cannabinoids and had nothing to do with his injuries either causing them enhancing them or diminishing his ability to survive or be treated successfully. none whatsoever. there was significant deceleration. force equals one half times mass velocity squared. what we're dealing with here is a van that decelerates abruptly and something that should be done and i believe it must have been done is to go over minute by minute second by second that route of the van, each of the five stops. what was it that caused that van to decelerate with that kind of abruptness that produced the force required to cause these injuries. remember, mr. gray is a young man with strong bones. we're not talking about a 75-year-old woman with osteoporosis that you look at her and knock her down and she'll break her hip and her knee. so it takes a lot of force.

so the drugs had nothing whatsoever to do with it. i don't believe, as the medical examiner suggests that he was able to stand up maybe harry huediny and semin straight how someone with their wrists and ankles tied lying on the floor is able to get up. doesn't make any difference whether he did get up whether he was partially up. his body was hurled with great force within the inside of the van producing those cervical vertebral injuries almost transecting the spinal cord. that means that not only were there fractures but there were significant displaced fractures that cut across the cord. so again, second degree murder manslaughter, that's a legal distinction without a difference morally and ethically here. the point is that these officers behaved abottomenably, the drive, there was somebody at least one person among the five

officers who were a superior rank if not two. why didn't somebody intervene? >> that's going to be a question they're going to have to answer at trial. thank you, dr. cyril wecht, thank you, areva martin both of you for your time. ahead, strange bedfellows on criminal justice reform. i'll talk to a progressive and a conservative teaming up to transform a broken system. plus the death panels myth returns. it's part of a gop assault on obamacare, and tonight they're even holding a vote on it. when you travel, we help you make all kinds of connections. connections you almost miss. and ones you never thought you'd make. we help connect where you are. to places you never thought you'd go. this, is why we travel.

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welcome back. there's a big move on criminal justice this week and it has everything to do with this chart. these are the ten countries with the most people in prison. and guess where america falls? right at the front of the line. we have more inmates than any other country in the world. in fact america has 25% of the world's entire prison population. that's 2.3 million adults in prison at this minute. it's outrageous. and now it's having an unexpected impact. a new group of unlikely partners is teaming up asking why so many

americans are in prison. groups like the koch brothers and the aclu. this week this new coalition revealed its goals. they're calling for cuts to mandatory minimum sentences, more alternatives to incarceration, more access to mental health care and more use of early release programs. joining me now are two unlikely partners in this fight, wade henderson henderson, the president and ceo of the progressive group the leadership conference on civil and human rights and grover norquist, the president of the conservative americans for tax reform. first, thank you both for being here. >> thank you rev. >> thank you. >> grover you know you and i have been on just about the opposite side of every political issue i can think of. it's almost funny to be on the same side with you and senator rand paul and many republicans.

i even toured the country with newt gingrich for education. why is this so important to you? >> well i think it's extremely important because we should look at all things the government does and ask are you helping or are you causing more problems can this be done less expensively to taxpayers and less expensively to the families of inmates, the families of felons when somebody's done with prison they should be done with the punishment. you shouldn't be following them after and making it difficult or impossible for them to get work. we want people when they're done paying their debt to society, to be able to work to be able to get back together with their families and their communities. and right now the present judicial system the criminal justice system does a great deal of damage. it does some important things. some people should be in prison for a very long time. but not everybody in prison should be in prison not

everybody in prison should be there for a long period of time. >> wade why is this so important to you? >> well grover is absolutely right, reverend al. our criminal justice system is inhumane, immoral and in many ways a massive waste of taxpayer expenditures. we believe that the way in which our country incarcerates more individuals, as you pointed out, than any other industrialized nation on earth, really speaks to the wrong-headed priorities of our federal government and state government and the way in which it handles criminal just issues. as grover pointed out, there are many instances when the criminal justice system responds as it should. there are some individuals who need to be in prison for long periods of time. but having said that we should evaluate the way in which our country applies its criminal justice laws to make sure that we're not taking people into prison who don't need to be there, that we're not keeping them longer than necessary and

that we're not spending more on incarcerating people than we are on the rehabilitation side of the criminal justice system. and so the leadership conference on civil and human rights has joined forces with groups like americans for taxpayers reform to form a coalition on public safety. and it's a group that includes the aclu and the center for american progress. it's funded as well by the ford foundation but also by the koch brothers and we have joined forces with conservative organizations like grover's and freedom works and others to try to promote sound and rational policies. >> let me be clear so that viewers don't get confused. grover, you are saying be tough on crime. you're not saying don't be tough on crime. but you're saying be smart about it. in fact, it's not just hillary clinton pushing this issue. several of the 2016 gop candidates are talking about prison reform as well. listen to this. >> let's show compassion.

let's reform our criminal justice system. >> the idea that we lock people up, throw them away never give them a chance at redemption is not what america's about. >> we should not live in a world of "les miserables" where a young man finds his entire future taken away by excessive mandatory minimums. >> why, grover do you think we're hearing this from republican candidates for the 2016 race? >> well this has been building for some time. you have the christian fellowship which has been out in the prisons working with people and coming back and talking about some of the challenges that they've seen. the cost the numbers of people being incarcerated have jumped over the last 20 years rather dramatically.

and as we've seen some reforms in states like texas, governor rick perry is taking the leading role in getting some of the state laws changed to reduce mandatory minimums, make it easier to get people who should be out of prison out of prison. we've seen crime fall fast and faster in reforming states. so locking people up and throwing away the key does not necessarily get you less crime and safer communities. you can keep safety you can punish crime without some of these mandatory minimums very long sentences that a number of laws have mandated. we can be smart in how we fight crime. >> wade, you know pushing on that point right now in the united states one out of every 31 adults are either behind bars on parole or on probation. that's a lot of families

directly affected by our prison system right now. >> absolutely absolutely. and many of those families of course, are families of color. the system has had a disproportionately negative impact on african-american families and has destroyed many communities not through intent but because of the way in which our laws are carried out. you know we had a breakthrough a few years ago thanks to you and grover and others who worked on this issue along with the leadership conference and the aclu, and that was to change our crack and powder cocaine laws so that they were more equitable in how they were applied. president obama signed the fair sentencing act in 2010 and it made a huge impact on the prison population related to incarceration for cocaine use. we wanted to take the momentum which was generated by that breakthrough and apply it to areas of sentencing reform to fair chance hiring to make sure that when individuals return to their communities having served

their time they are not dogged by a continuous recognition that they served time and, therefore, making it increasingly difficult for them to find legitimate work. and we want to make sure that our system is balanced. not that we ease up, but that we're smarter on crime than we've been in the past. >> well i'm going to have to leave it there, wade henderson and grover norquist. this is a very positive step. i thank you both for coming on the show. i thank you, grover for coming on. pigs are not flying and hell is not freezing over. we all can civilly believe in what we believe in and agree to disagree but be adult enough to stand on what we agree on. thanks for coming and we'll talk, i'm sure in the future. >> thank you, appreciate it. ♪ a romantic fumble at this romantic chateau ... leads to these fine humans. who you take to this eco-lodge ... to get seriously close to nature.

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you're looking at live pictures of the house floor where republicans are voting to eliminate the independent payment advisory board. better known by some as death panels. it's just one of the gop's debunked attacks on obamacare. all part of their desperate attempt to get rid of it. and as early as this week the supreme court could rule to gut the law in a case that has been pushed by conserveativeconservatives. it's an all-out assault built on

distortions, and that's why today as a public service we've created a helpful video to once and for all put the gop myths to rest. >> they said it would be full of death panels. they said it would be a job killer. a government takeover. but five years later -- things are looking sunny. coverage is up. costs are down. and the country is seeing record job growth. no death panels but seniors are saving bls on prescription drugs. yes, obamacare, five years later. still not pulling the plug on grandma. this public service announcement brought to you by the politics nation coalition for common sense. >> here's hoping the right takes that message to heart.

joining me now is political strategist angela ryan. angela this was the political lie of the year in 2009. will this talking point ever die? >> it won't especially now with that video, rev. we have to send that out. it's absolutely amazing. i think the one thing that for me is kind of newer knowledge is what is happening with this case and the plaintiff of the case, david king, who despises obama, despises obamacare -- >> this is the supreme court case. >> that's right. and in part because he thinks that our president came up with obamacare himself not realizing that that was the obamacare haters that coined that term. this guy signed a declaration early on stating that he was not eligible for any federally provided health care and that was not true rev. he's a vietnam vet. so i think when you have a case that's built on a lie, you have

a faulty foundation. of course, we don't know what's going to happen yet. but the reality of this is this is the republicans doing everything and anything they could to destroy this bill. they tried case after case and repeal after repeal vote. and now they're struggling to figure out if the repeal vote was worth it. what do we do with subsidies? do we provide emergency subsidies after the supreme court potentially rules that these are not constitutional or do we try to repeal everything? they can't afford to do that because they've been accusing us of taxing and spending and, of course, now, that's the method that they would be taking if they try to repeal everything. a very costly proposition. >> new polls show angela that most like the health care law. 64% say they want to keep the law as it is now or keep it with some changes. 31% want to repeal it. the politics of this are pretty darn clear, aren't they?

>> they're very clear and moreover, rev, as you know from the very very beginning here people have always been confused about obama care versus affordable care. and what we also know is if the gop continues to go down this particular path they're targeting the very people that this law was designed to help. that's young people that's people of color and those are the people -- and low-income folks. those are the people that they also continue to say that they need to reach out to. this is a hell of a way to reach out to a group of people that by targeting them who have traditionally been hit the hardest with health care access disparities. >> the number of insured adult americans is dropping by a record rate. it dropped by 4% in 2014 the largest decline since 1997. and the number of poor americans who were uninsured dropped by 7 percentage points. if it's working, doesn't that make it harder for republicans to repeal this law? >> yeah but i guess ego is in

the way. they've been trying to repeal and we've seen that health care coverage has continued to go up every year. we know again that for african-american people the numbers are dropping the highest there in our community. so there's no rational rhyme or reason for the desire to continue to repeal obamacare except for they made these campaign promises that they've just not been able to fulfill since day one. >> angela rye, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you, rev. straight ahead, on the beat. a video of a police officer dancing at a block party goes viral. you wouldn't take medicine without checking the side effects. hey honey. huh. the good news is my hypertension is gone. so why would you invest without checking brokercheck? check your broker with brokercheck. when heartburn comes creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue

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a cell phone video of a dancing north carolina police officer has gone viral. the hickory police department put on a block party last week with a local frat where officer david lee was caught on tape busting a move. ♪ ♪ >> the video has already been viewed by over 5 million times

on facebook. the frat president said quote, normally the only time the african-american community and the police interact is when something is wrong. the whole concept for this event was to come together when nothing is wrong. we can actually coexist. we can have fun and just be people. this is the kind of engagement we need to see more often between officers and the community. great job to all involved. and some great moves, too. 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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year in selma talking about the need to move the country forward. tonight cities and states across the south are debating the legacy of the confederacy. this could be a major moment for the country to come together to deal with the scars of the past but some on the right are using it as an excuse to divide us further. >> it's not going to stop with the confederate flag because it's not about the confederate flag. it is about destroying the south as a political force. i'll make another prediction to you. the next flag that will come under assault, and it will not be long is the american flag. >> the next flag to come under assault, rush is the american flag? 150 years ago that's what the confederates did. they tried to assault the american flag. they tried to destroy this union. the ones that are anti-american are the ones that flag stand

for, the confederates. don't get it twisted. we stood for the union. they tried to break and destroy the union. they are the ones that trampled on the american flag and raised a new flag. we're saying let one flag stand and let it stand for all and take the rebels that tried to destroy the american flag take it down all over this country. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. flag day. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. the party that fought for the union in the 1860s and backed civil rights in the 1960s has been caught offsides in the