or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how americaexpress cars can help prepare you for growth at open.com. >> could it be a cruel summer for trump? >> there's something really good going on. we're going to make america great again. believe me. >> crooked hilary. >> or will clinton melt as the campaign heats up? >> we are not going to let donald trump bankrupt america the way he bankrupted his casinos. >> we'll have the road ahead for the candidates conventions and beyond. and the real obama legacy. we'll separate fact from fiction as the president enters his final moments in offer. and the judge that sentenced a man to life in prison and then

thought to set him free. >> it was a cruel and unusual sentence. >> from rockerfeller center in new york this is a special july 4th edition of politics nation with al sharpton. >> good morning. i'm al sharpton. today a special july 4th weekend edition of politics nation. we'll be previewing the summer ahead and tackling the biggest questions of 2016 looking at the politics, the polling, and the policies. we start with donald trump. two weeks before the republican convention, is he finally ready to pivot to the general election? change his tone and scale back his rhetoric? in the past he has vowed to become more, quote, presidential, but he also said

he'll never change. >> i'm going to be so presidential. i'll be so presidential you'll be saying loosen up. why wouldn't i change? you have a football team and you're winning and you get to the super bowl you don't change your quarterback. so i'm not changing. >> at some point i'll be so presidential that you people will be so bored. >> i promise you this, i swear to you this, president trump will never change his tune. >> one reason he may need to change, the math. look at this chart. since trump became the presu presumptive gop nominee in may polls have shown him slipping farther and farther behind hillary clinton. republicans are taking notice and getting blunt about the need for trump to change. >> trump clearly needs to change

in my opinion to win the general election. >> he's the nominee and we'll have to deal with that. i hope that he changes. we haven't yet seen it. >> do you think that that guy is capable of projecting the tone that you have so carefully articulated? >> look i think anything is possible. >> could a running mate help trump pivot? could he use the convention to overhaul his image? does he even want to change? is he capable of change? and if he does change will that turn off his base? joining me now is msnbc's joy reid. host of am joy and nbc political analyst and elise jordan. thank you for being here. >> trump has brought in staff, ramped up fund-raising and begun using the teleprompter more often so he made changes but has

he changed? >> i think absolutely not and i think that it's delusional to think that he's going to change at this point. you look at just this week on monday when elizabeth warren was out with hillary clinton his campaign released a disciplined message that was anticlinton and antiwarren based on free trade and trump's policy of being antifree trade and then the candidate himself gets on the phone and starts calling elizabeth warren pocahontus. he cannot help himself. he has no self-control whatsoever and the republican convention is heading into a disaster. >> now, jonathan, he says that if your game plan is working during the primaries you don't get to the super bowl and change quarterbacks but you may change your game plan because you're up against a different team in the super bowl than during the season. i don't know if he gets that. he's up against a well oiled, well experienced political team in terms of hillary clinton.

>> he is making some adjustments. he fired his campaign manager and he is obviously taking some time before the convention to plan his convention and try to do something exciting and turn into a fun reality show. the question is whether it's too late because he hasn't really made any money and he's going to get out spent 2 or 3 to 1. even if he doesn't change. even if none of these things happen he's still a very serious contender and the liberals are getting a little complacent. he had a terrible june and he's within the margin of error in some polls. >> and key states. >> and he's much closer than other candidates have been that have then gotten back into the lead. so he is far from being out of this. >> but even looking at that, let me quote this nbc poll. it shows that 45% of republicans are satisfied with trump but 52%

would have preferred someone else. where does the never trump effort stand and will it make one last push to stop him this summer when you have over half the republicans polled seeming like they're having voters remorse. >> i'm a big skeptic of never trump. you can't participate something with nothing and the problem with never trump is they always said don't vote for him but they don't have abalternative. the big risk to donald trump in those numbers. not only the number you cited but white college educated voters being tied with hillary clinton so the democrats have not managed to win. that's one of the big risks and he's polling well because he's republican. any generic republican. you look at a generic poll

you're going to give any republican about 4 in 10 voters no matter who they are. the problem is whether or not he's going to have motivation on his side and whether democrats will be able to actually increase the motivation of their vote voters. >> also targeting and various voter outreach program. the rnc. >> but i want to get back to something you said about the republican convention could be a disaster. do you see the possibilities of a last ditch effort at the convention? >> i think certainly there are people that are trying and they're working from within the rules committee. they're trying to persuade delegates to unbind dell fwats so they can vote their conscious. how that goes, who knows. but this committee of 112 people is stacked with cruz people and

establishment republicans and who aren' necessarily allies of donald trump and he didn't do the leg work to make sure his people would be on that committ committee. >> trump said that the gop convention may be where he launches his campaign. listen to this. >> it's going to be a tremendous success. the convention, so many people want to speak. >> i view the convention as a real starting point. >> we're going to, i think have a winners night. there aren't many winners but you take these winners and we're going to have them speak. >> what should we expect? we're seeing reports that he's having problems even giving people with real gravitas to

speak at the convention. >> i don't think he cares because they're just members of the establishment. he wants entertainers and don't underestimate his ability to put on an entertaining show even though he's likely to have a lot of b or c list celebrities at the convention. it will make people like me and you think what is this because we're used to conventions going a certain way but the american public might see it as an entertaining tv show. >> if he's having problems getting speakers with gravitas, will he have a problem getting a vice presidential candidate with gravitas and will that not impact on his vote or not. >> the biggest risk is the trump brand. you have corporate sponsors that don't want to get involved. that's a real problem.

they're having trouble getting a list political leaders to speak at the convention. to the extent that it makes trump voters feel like they're more in a bunker they'll be more passionate about him because the culture is turning on us but that doesn't fwroe his base enough. he's trying to find a vp candidate to marry their brand to his. he's going to end up with a c list candidate. >> it's also about mobilization and resentment. you want to be adding and not subtracting and he doesn't get that. >> he can't be with his natural allies known as the republican party. he can't be beating you on a significant portion of the party

and expect them -- >> they were the ones he ran against. everybody stay with me. lots more ahead. >> next. deal them in. 50 years after the founding of the national organization for women their president joins us to talk about this historic year and later our bending toward justice series. meet the judge that wrote to president obama urging clemency for the man he sentenced to life in prison. it's in the quiet moments when you see why she does this. for hillary, it's always been about kids. and when millions couldn't get health care, this first lady worked with republicans and democrats to fix it. creating the children's health insurance program, so that every child gets the health care that child deserves to have. now eight million kids are covered. that's the kind of leader she is. and the kind of president she'll be. i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message.

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but 96 years after winning the right to vote, women voters, women's issues and a woman nominee are dominating the 2016 race. this past week the supreme court made the most important abortion rights decision in a generation and women will be the biggest voting block in this election. in 2012, women voters outnumbered men by nearly 10 million and turn out among women has seeded male turn out in every presidential election since 1980. in other words, women matter. women along with minorities will decide the election. and just the site of two powerful outspoken women

together is enough to send the right into a tail spin. >> i mentioned the need for maybe a color wheel. >> they the matching hair. >> they look ludicrous. >> twin outfits. >> can i just start with the obvious there? those blue suits. the matching blue suits and they call donald trump goofy. >> they're thelma and louis at the end of the movie. >> joining me is the president of the national organization of women that is celebrating it's 50th anniversary this year. >> did you expect this backlash that we're seeing with clinton as the nominee? >> that antiwoman backlash is to be expected from antiwoman conservatives but they really are the dream team.

to have hillary clinton in the white house would be amazing and he liz belg warren is the leader of the progressive wing of the democratic party in the united states senate but in the congress as a whole they would be fabulous and help move our country forward. >> the poll has her up 17 points. washington poll has her up 23 points, nbc up 17 points. that's not a gender gap. it's a canyon. can the gop appeal to women voters with trump as the nominee? >> it cannot. look, donald trump is a racist

and has the endorsement of paul ryan speaker of the house and mitch mcconnell the republican leader in the senate. that makes the entire republican party the party for racist massagonistic policies. it's the racism and the homophobia. women tend to be much more interested in shared prosperity policies and donald trump is a huge turn off for the vast majority of women. >> i couldn't help but notice even when he's not talking about women, donald trump manages to be offensive. let me show you when he was talking about the trade agreement this week. watch this. >> the transpacific partnership

is another disaster. done and pushed by special interests who want to rape our country. continuing rape of our country. it's a harsh word. it's a rape of our country. >> can you imagine a woman politician discussing or describing a trade deal that way? >> no, i mean it's completely offensive. this is another way that he is just honestly in the way that he thinks. >> you're right it's ridiculous and i say that as the leader of an organization that does oppose the ttp as hillary clinton does but to talk about it many those terms is offensive. >> i need to ask you, quick answer, is america ready for two women at the head of the table? >> i think we are. thank you for your time. enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend. >> thank you. >> coming up, the best-worst

president. a new book on the real ball balm legacy and why the right got him so wrong. (dog) mmmm.

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(vo) beneful originals is a healthy blend... ...your dog will love. with whole grains, real beef and accents of vegetables. beneful. healthy with a side of happy. >> he'll go down as one of the worst presidents in history but he'll be truly one of the worst presidents in history. >> donald trump saying president obama has been the worst. it's extreme but it fits a chorus of voices on the right who have long taken aim at the president. >> >> one of the most disturbing aspects of the obama presidency is the willingness to disregard the law. >> now he wants to act as a king or dictator. >> president obama may have this king complex developing. >> we have an increasingly

lawless presidency. >> or how about the claim that president obama is destroying the economy? >> the president's policies have made income inequality worse. >> obamanomics it's worse. >> we have a president asking us to abandon our economic heritage. >> interesting except for one thing, the numbers. president obama has presided over 75 straight months of private sector job growth. since he took office the nation added nearly 10 million new jobs. 10 million and unemployment is down to 4.7%. you could write an entire book debunking the attacks fwens the president. luckily, you don't have to. because someone else has done that for us joining me now is

political analyst mark hannah. the offer of the new book, the best worst president. what the right gets wrong about barrack obama. just about every wk i do a got you debunking right wing myths. your whole book is one giant i got you. why did you decide to write it? >> the conservative movement has been trying to delegitimize him since he took office. too many of my liberal friends block that out and drowned that out and don't want to hear it but i grew up listening to conservative talk radio. so i was exposed to this and it's important that we engage with the conservative world view on some level. we take what they're saying at face value and systematically try to debunk this with reality

and i legitimately and maybe naively hope this will change some minds. our country was founded on this idea of a competition of ideas and the truth will win out ultimately. you've seen an abundance of false information and the media needs to end it. you're doing a great job of holding him accountable for that information but we need to make sure that the truth that reality is winning out at the end of the day. the president has done a phenomenal job. his record comes out crystal clear you see he stabilize the economy. i go point by point. it's not just sort of a fact checking process here. there's interesting stories will. there's sort of fabrications and stuff i try to expose as well. >> let me show you something the president said in this year's state of the union. one of the things he regretted

was that washington d.c. is still very much partisan and divided among party lines. watch this. >> it's one of the few regrets of my presidency that suspicion has gotten worse if not better. it's not enough to change a congressman or senator or a president. we have to change the system to reflect our better self-s. >> one of the things president obama came into office wanting to do was work across the aisle. was there ever a chance for him to achieve that? it seems like from day one they were determined not to do that. am i missing something? was there ever an opportunity that was there and he blew it or -- >> wrote think so. this president showed from the beginning where he said there is no red america. red states and blue states we're

all americans. he gestured toward bipartisanship since the start of his presidency but by such a do nothing congress that existed going back to harry trueman's error. they see compromise as a dirty word and any working with this president as -- their strategy has been extremist and it's been unfortunate. my book is trying to answer the call to be more bipartisan. >> well, the book is the be best-worst president. congratulations. thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. >> next, our july 4th special edition continues with a look at the fireworks hillary clinton could face this summer on the campaign trail. qo :é @d888888@888jj

>> break news in baghdad. a bombing at a market killed 167 people. many victims are children. 185 people are also injured. the bombing hit as families and young people were out on the street after breaking their ramada fast. isis claimed responsibility in a statement posted online. that stalt could not be verified. the attacks come after forces retook the city from isis earlier. hillary clinton has given her first interview since meeting with the fbi. that's about her private e-mail server. she talked exclusively to chuck todd and he asked her how that discussion went. >> it was something i had offered to do since last august.

i have been eager to do it and i was pleased to have the opportunity to assist the department in bringing it's review to a conclusion. >> chuck also asked her about reports of a potential final decision in the case already surfacing. >> are you confident no charges will be filed? >> chuck i am not going to comment on the process. i have no knowledge of any time line. this is entirely up to the department. >> much more of that interview on meet the press this morning. right now it's back to politics nation. >> i'm proud to call her a friend and i know how much we need bill and hillary clinton as a party and a country in the months and years to come. >> today and every day going forward we stand shoulder to

shoulder for the ideals we share and the country we love. >> that was 2008. 2016 the rolls were reversed. look at the front page of clinton's campaign website which features a photo of president obama with the words he's with her. the president approval rating is at 56%. the lieiest since bin laden was killed. they make their debut together this tuesday in the battleground state of new jersey which helped propel the president to his first term in 2008. >> there's been a lot of talk about the power of elizabeth warren but what about the power of president obama. >> yeah. >> we see two days from now. >> absolutely. the smartest decision that hillary clinton made she made early on in her campaign was to associate and marry herself to

the obama brand because it is the most popular brand in democratic politics and giving him the approval ratings and that does include a temptation for the white suburban voters that look at that obama brand and compare that to a donald trump brand. smart on her part. >> let me show you how dynamic a campaign appearance we have seen. that was elizabeth warren and secretary clinton this week. let me show this to you. >> what kind of a man roots for people to lose their jobs, lose their homes, lose their life savings. i'll tell you what kind of a man, a small insecure money grubber that fights for no one but himself. >> i must say i do just love to

see how she gets under donald trump's thin skin. >> is that one of the strengths of elizabeth warren that she gets under donald trump's skin? you mentioned earlier about how he came out calling her a name after this very kind of reasonable position policy attack. he went straight for the name callin >> this week that's what my column was about. how elizabeth warren is so great for the clinton campaign and the only attribute is that ability to drive donald trump crazy and i don't think she risks that being up for grabs in massachusetts but she is a really effective surrogate and she is able to attack and jump just looks like a pathetic bully coming back at her. >> does she fix the bernie problem? >> yes.

but having her support behind hilary helps bring in the campaign. >> jonathan, trump's kitchen sink approach when it comes to going after clinton is -- well look at this. >> she ran the state department like her own personal hedge fund doing favors for oppressive regimes and many others and really many, many others in exchange for cash. >> she's a crooked person. >> she's a world class liar. >> hillary clinton may be the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency of the united states. >> the question jonathan, do these kind of attacks stick? the name calling? and then you said the brexit vote in england takes away one of his key policies. >> he's at his most effective. pin the tail on the donkey or on

republicans when he's on the attack a lot of americans like to see him in that mode. they love everything about it and it does put hilary on the defensive. so she will have to find a way to deal with this kind of donald trump and just not assume that he's over the top. we're against him. she is going to have to put him in his place because a lot of presidential politics is king of the hill. who is the strongest? that's what people want from a president. so she has to be very strong in the teeth of a very intense attack but on brexit she got a huge break. before brexit jump could say it's the obama clinton economy. blame her and now hilary can say

it's your fault. you supported brexit. it sent the markets tumbling. taking a lot of money away from ordinary people while you're helping your golf course. it's the trump recession. so she is kind of checkated trump on the question of the economy. >> the democrats are feeling good this week. is there anything that would derail it? >> what you saw in england was essentially our midterm electorate is an older whiter electorate. but the other was 36%. it is more like a midterm meaning that people of color are not energized. even having elizabeth warren out there does not energize latinos. >> and you have new laws in

states that people are not talking about. the new laws in three states even say proof of citizenship. >> correct and wisconsin's voter i.d. law has already prevented those that have not been able to to 85 people of color. even places like pennsylvania. so if voters oppression works as it is intended to work and you also have a lack of excitement among voters of color, you could have an elertorate that looks more like a midterm and brexit vote. that's how donald trump wins. making it older and wider. >> what role should bill clinton play or not play? >> for now he is doing what he needs do and that's staying quite. he can't stay on message and he becomes a distraction. he is an advantage but as little he can be seen but not heard is

probably the best role for him. at the end of the day it's hilary chin on the's campaign and about her. >> but bill clinton is popular among some democrats and voters. does he have to stay all the way off the scene? doesn't he look a lot more contained when you have a donald trump on the other side? >> absolutely. some states he remains very popular. it would be crazy not to go to arkansas and new hampshire to campaign but the real asset will be president palm balm and he'll be campaigning very hard in the fall. his whole legacy is on the line. everything he tried to do as president the last seven years is all on the line if hilary loses history has a totally different view of barrack obama. >> thank you. enjoy the rest of your holiday

weekend. and remember you can catch am joy coming up at 10:00 a.m. eastern right here on msnbc. >> just ahead, our one-on-one with the federal judge who urged president obama to commute the life sentence of the man he sent to prison. ♪ don't you dare follow your dreams. think big. or demand your own space. don't you dare leave it all behind. don't you dare ask what's next. introducing the first-ever cadillac xt5. ♪ ugh. heartburn.g ] sorry ma'am. no burning here. try new alka-seltzer heartburn relief gummies. they work fast and don't taste chalky. mmmm. incredible. looks tasty. you don't have heartburn.

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>> this issue has been a priority for the president and i

have been in many white house meetings focused on this fight. now with legislation stalled in congress the president is taking action. the white house unveiled several programs to help inmates find work after prison. a major hurdle for those that spent decades in jail. people like alton mills whose story we have been covering here at politics nation. at age 25 he was sentenced to life in prison for a nonviolent drug offense. >> i knew one day i would be going to jail. but i didn't have a thought in my mind that i'd be going to jail for the rest of my life. >> i expressed my discomfort with what the law required me to do and hi no option. he's never been in prison in his life and he's going to die there. >> the judge who sentenced him

wrote a letter asking for clemency and last year president obama commuted his life sentence after 22 years in prison. >> joining me now is judge marvin aspen that originally sentenced alton mills to life in prison and later wrote the letter asking for him to be set free. first of all, thank you for being here. >> happy to be here. >> tell us what moved you to fight for his release? >> well i remember the sentence very well. it happened in 1994 and at that time i stated on the record that i thought that the whole sentence was a very cruel and unusual sentence and i had no

recourse at that time. the law was what it was. if someone had a third narcotics offense no matter how minor the first two were, that person would get a mandatory life sentence and when i heard the president was being petitioned for clemency i wrote the president and told hill my thoughts about the law and the terrible unfairness he was subjected to. >> if you could talk to mr. mills, what would you say to him? >> i would say to him that i hope that he has left prison with a positive attitude. i know it's difficult after what he has gone through but so many

people were concerned about him. his lawyer. people today like you. people in the community and i hope he can be a positive example to show not only was a terrible mistake and injustice done to him buthat he can prove by the rest of his life that he was a worth while person and justified the confidence that all the people had in him including myself. >> we talked to him recently and of course he knows the mandatory sentence and all but we asked him did he have any ill will toward you. tell me tell you what he told us. >> i have no anger toward the judge at all. he wrote a beautiful letter to for me to the president of the united states. that meant a whole lot to me. to know that he was giving me the opportunity that he couldn't give me the first time this

time. i would thank him for giving me a second chance at life. >> what's your response to hearing his words to you? >> well it's a very moving letter and reinforces my confidence in the goodness of humanity in that there are people that make mistakes that have done bad things in their life but should not be thrown away and discarded the way he was initially in the 90s. >> you have seen the toll these sentences have taken on families and people's lives. how would you looking at this as a judge, how would you feel that the criminal justice system should be changed to deal with this where we protect ourselves from crime but at the same time

not continue to do situations like this that go far beyond what is necessary toward protecting the public. >> we are in the process of reforming our system. there should be a way to consider all the factors. even with a suggested guideline and then have it available for review so every sentence can be tailored to the crime for the best we can do in an imperfect system. that's something we have to work on. >> we have a ways to go. thank you for being us this morning. u.s. federal judge marvin aspen. thank you again for your time and thank you for speaking with us today. >> stay tuned in the coming weeks and we'll air part 2 of our series and his path to redemption as a freeman. viagra single packs...

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>> we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men were created equal. but of course back then that didn't really include all men and it didn't include women. american history is the record of our fight to live up to the true meaning of those words. as president obama said last year -- >> these are not just words. they're a living thing. a call to action. it's the idea held by generations of citizens that believe america is a constant work in progress. we know the march is not yet

over. the race is not yet won. >> now once again in this election year, we are hearing debate about what it means to be american. and who gets to be an american and we're hearing talk about how america used to be great but isn't anymore. last year at selma, president obama seemed to predict this debate and urged us to embrace our new more diverse country. >> that's what america is. not photos or air brushed history or feeble attempts to define some of us as more american than others. we respect the past but we don't pine for the past. we don't fear the future. we grab for it. we grab for a few that you are

that wl make america live up to those words. think about this as we celebrate this 4th of july weekend. that does it for me. thanks for watching and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend. i'll see you back here next sunday. i love that my shop is part of the morning ritual around here. people rely on that first cup and i wouldn't want to mess with that. but when (my) back pain got bad, i couldn't sleep. i had trouble getting there on time. then i found aleve pm. aleve pm is the only one to combine a sleep aid plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. for pain relief that can last into the morning. ♪ look up at a new day... hey guys! now i'm back. aleve pm for a better am.

are those made with all-beef, karen? yeah, they're hebrew national. but unlike yours, they're also kosher. kosher? yeah, they're really choosy about what goes in. so, only certain cuts of kosher beef meet their strict standards and then they pick the best from that. oh man! what'd we do?

they're all ruined. help yourself! oh no, we couldn...okay thanks. when you hot dog's kosher, thats a hot dog you can trust. hebrew national. >> when you have been in the eye of the tornado as long as i have i know there's a lot of incoming fire. >> she reacts to the e-mail server controversy and her husband's meeting with the attorney general. new remarks on the donald trump campaign. he says the presumptive gop nominee is not trying yet but there's more. >> changing of the guard.