i'm al sharpton. msnbc's special coverage of the republican national convention starts now. >>> the first catholic nominee 1928 a democrat. the first woman nominee 1984 a democrat. the first jewish candidate 2000 a democrat. the first african-american nominee 2008 a democrat. but this year it is the republican party breaking the glass ceiling. in the footsteps of his father who tried but ner made it this far, tonight mitt romney accepts the republican party's nomination for president of the united states. his mormon faith means tonight makes history. his faith, his business career, his one term as governor of a

reverend 58 sharpton -- al sharpton ran. he knew it would be difficult paragraphly because in america one of the things that has existed and is changing now is the fact that a condition of racially-polarized voting very much exists in this country, and that is where white voters largely vote for white candidates and black voters large ri vote for black candidates. and so barack obama realized that if he were going to win the presidency, he would have to run a different style of campaign than traditional african-american candidates ran. and so, therefore, he developed a -- he's not the first to develop this, but he decided to run a deracialized campaign and to downplay his race as such. and so unlike jesse jackson or al sharpton who ran as an african-american candidate, obama ran as candidate who happened to be african-american. and there's a big distinction here. and so that was a large emphasis that he placed on his campaign from the beginning. and it was a successful one as well. that was just one tenet of his overall stra

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, mitt romney's taxing situation.oday in a rare q&a with reporters, he hit back at senate majority leader harry reid for accusing him of not paying taxes. >> harry reid really has to put up or shut up, all right? so harry, who are your sources? let's have harry explain who that is. now let me also say categorically, i have paid taxes every year, and a lot of taxes. so harry is simply wrong. that's why i'm so anxious for him to give us the names of the people who have put this forward. i wouldn't be surprised to hear the names are people from the white house or the obama campaign or who knows where they're coming from. >> romney is dragging the white house into it, and he says he paid a lot of taxes. we only know what he paid for one year. that's all he's released so far. romney's 2010 tax returns show he just paid a 13.9% tax rate. that's less than half the rate that a worker making $60,000 a year pays. it's enough to make you wonder how much romney paid other years. it's why senator reid hit romney for his secrecy. >

i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >>> if you want a crowd, start a fight.y "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. one of my rules with politics is if the truth about the politician is better than it appears, they'll come out and tell you. if, however, the truth is worse, the politician will clam up and stay clammed. mitt romney has refused to release his income taxes over the years. all he put out was the 2010 return. he promises to put out his 2011 returns. what about all the years he was swashbuckling at bain? all the decades he was making big money? did he pay taxes in those years like regular people? and if not, why not? harry reid is now on the hunt for romney. he says romney has not paid taxes for ten years at all. romney says reid shut or shut p up -- put up or shut up. i don't know whether reid is playing sorry. but he's popping this guy. >> and what he's doing is he's taking up the oxygen. any time that mitt romney is ataking harry reid because mitt romney has not released his taxes, that's a good da

"politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. >>> thanks for joining in tonight. tonight's lead -- the gop's extremism problem. congressman todd akin vows to stay in the missouri cincinnati race. and the republican party is in full freakout mode. despite a firestorm of criticism for his comments about legitimate rape, mr. akin says he's not getting out. >> we are going to continue with this race for the u.s. senate because we are going to continue because i believe there's a cause here and that there is a part of the message that's missing and a lot of people peel left out of the parties. >> republicans are desperate for akin to quit the race. senator mitch mcconnell said today akin made a deeply offensive error and said sorry is not sufficient. national republican committee chair rich priebus called the comments biologically stupid. and maine senator olympia snowe said akin's comments were repugnant and outland i shall. karl rove's crossroads gps pac announced it would pull millions of dollars in funding for akin telling cbs news that the act speaks for itself. a

tonight, the reverend al sharpton on the romney campaign to distract and conquer. >>> and the nation's ari berman on the surprise ruling that will help republicans steal the election. >> wonky on you, but we haven't run the numbers on that specific plan. >> the republicans serious guy on budgets has no answers for fox news. robert reich is here tonight to explain paul ryan, the fraud. >>> my plan has already extended medicare by nearly a decade. their plan ends medicare as we know it. >> howard dean on today's smackdown from the president on medicare. >>> and the architects of romney care and obama care say paul ryan is dead wrong when it comes to rationing health care. >> we're saying get rid of the health care law, stop putting this rationing board in charge of current seniors' health care. >> john gruber and john mcdonagh join me tonight exclusively. >> to have you with us. thanks for watching. if mitt romney gets his way, this is what we're going to be talking about for the next 83 days. >> the president's campaign is all about division and attack and hatred. i think unhinged would

ultimately, jesse jackson, al sharpton, others came on. but i think, clearly, it was just a movement. it was a tidal wave, and people began to hear him, see him, plus there was the realization by many that this was an african-american who had a legitimate chance to win. and many people began saying i never thought i'd see this in my lifetime. so it was just, it was a wonderful time in american history. people clearly when i was going to campaign events and what not, i would begin asking people why are you here, people began thinking it was very historic, and there was an opportunity that this person could be the first african-american president. >> host: can you compare his 2008 campaign to the campaign that he's running now? >> guest: you can compare it because there's still a lot of similarities. although some things have changed, clearly at that point we had, for the first time we did not have a president who was running for second term and the suspect was not running as well -- vice president was not running as well. so you had, basica

randy said on al sharpton's radio show. this is not about money from us. that's a lie. he and his brother jermaine have already petitioned the estate for $500,000 roughly that for back child support for the woman by whom they each have two children. it is about money. the whole thing about the doctor he told al my mother is ailing. et cetera. this is a matter of record. mother had a complete physical checkup. this is all garbage. when she got there. remember when she came back all of the family was standing around in the weird press conference no one was allowed to speak said i was fine i was not kidnaped by my children. in the court decoration a different story. she says when she got there she was surprised to find her phone cut off they took her ipad and cell phone she wasn't allowed to watch television. janet is jealous of paris. paris was offered a movie role. janet was upset. said quotes about i don't want her to do that she shouldn't be doing this. why? because janet her career is not doing that well it's lagging. that gave randy and the guy as little bit of mocks

>> where is the outrage from al sharpton and the naacp about this?to say anything because they're nothing but effective wing of the democratic party whatsoever and have kept them well-placed so they continue to make sure they have a black electorate voting bloc. >> bob: they are part of the democratic party and you ain't. you said you'd release campaign cronies against our military. if you live by the sword, brother, you die by the sword. >> greg: i think he understands that better than you bob. >> bob: excuse me. >> eric: the naacp only represents black lib walls. curious. >> bob: their prescription approximatelies i -- theirprinct oppose. >> greg: they are scared to death of west. boots. freddie they are. he threatens their world view. she a conservative black man. he doesn't want anything from you. he doesn't want a handout. it scares you. >> bob: i give him credit for military service but he has worked for government. >> andrea: he's a hero. >> bob: i gave him credit for military service. >> andrea: shame on his opponent murphy not denouncing tha

"politicsnation" with al sharpton starts now. >>> welcome to "politicsnation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, the choice. in 85 days, more than 130 million americans will head to the polls. they'll decide not just the direction of this country but what kind of country we want america to be. we will remain a society that takes care of its own. or will we turn and have everyone pay their fair share? we will be a place where fairness, not privileges is the order of the day. starting now that will be the big debate we're going to have. and the contrast between the two parties couldn't be greater. >> this weekend my opponent mr. romney chose as his running mate the ideological leader in the congress. he is a spokesman for romney's vision. but the problem is that vision is one that i fundamentally disagree with. >> this is the vision president obama fundamentally disagrees with. he disagrees with gutting social programs while increasing military funding. he disagrees with a plan that gives huge tax breaks to the wealthy. bigger than the bush tax cuts. but offers no way to pay for th

torrow, the outspoken reverend al sharanton sharpton.made possible by warner bros. domestic television distribution] >> today on "tmz" -- >> some good has come out of this who prince harry thing. >> some good has come out of this who prince harry thing. chippendale nts him.

first, the reverend al sharpton. >> this is big. >> joins us here on set. good morning.u doing, buddy? [ male announcer ] now you can swipe... scroll... tap... pinch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. and also to build my career. so i'm not about to always let my frequent bladder urges, or the worry my pipes might leak get in the way of my busy lifestyle. that's why i take care, with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pai

i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >>> newt gingrich.d evening. i'm chris matthews. let me start in mitt romney's look for a running mate. what's he looking for? does anybody believe he's out there looking for someone to share the burden and grander of office? does anybody believe romney's the kind of guy to share the decision making power of the presidency? so what does he want? someone to help win the election, obviously. someone to get him a state he's unlikely to get otherwise. perhaps portman of ohio or rubio of florida. someone to offset his rich guy stiffness and remoteness. then pick a regular middle class guy like pawlenty of minnesota. how about someone to show conviction the kind people don't associate with romney himself. then paul ryan would make the case. i've got an idea. how about he makes a running mate decision that shows who he mitt romney really is. someone who has the right stuff to be president. that would show character, judgment, true patriotism all important to any president no matter what his philosophy. let's s

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, 83 days until voters hit the polls. and the president is laying it all on the line. in a passionate speech today, he made it kris kal clear who's fighting for america's seniors. and he lashed out at congressman ryan's radical proposal to gut medicare. but folks, someone else suddenly seems unsure of the ryan plan too. someone who wouldn't think. >> doesn't your budget also kind of play very major savings on medicare for the same amount? >> only president obama raids $716 billion from medicare. >> you make savings. how much? >> the point -- i joined the romney ticket. >> the romney ticket. huh? someone suddenly isn't so proud of his bold plan that turns medicare into voucher programs? raising eligibility age to 67 and forces seniors to pay $6400 more for health care. mr. ryan only wants to talk about the romney ticket? he's flipping and flopping on his own legislation? well, that makes him the perfect running mate for governor romney. on the day ryan unveiled his budget, mr. romney couldn't stop gushing. >> i applaud it.

"politicsnation" with al sharpton starts now. >>> welcome to "politicsnation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, pau ryan's big mistake revealed. we've learned a lot about mr. ryan this week, but the latest news on his stimulus flip-flop could be the worst yet. and he's hearing about it on the campaign trail. here's what happened in virginia just moments ago. >> epitomize what the american idea's all about. >> why have you lied about accepting stimulus funding? >> there it is, folks. ryan's been asked why he lied about accepting stimulus money. this is more than hypocrisy. it's about whether paul ryan has trouble telling the truth. remember earlier this week we told you about this boston globe report? it showed that in 2009 at the same time he was bashing president obama's stimulus program, he was writing letters to the energy department asking for stimulus money for his own district. look at this one from december 2009. it begins dear secretary chu, i'm writing to express my support for the wisconsin energy conservation corporation's grant application. it ends, thank you for you

i'm al sharpton live from los angeles. tonight's lead, on the attack.resident obama stepped up his critique of mitt romney today drawing sharp contrast on everything from health care to immigration to taxes. in particular, he slammed mr. romney for his tax plan that would literally take money from the poor and give it to the rich. >> mr. romney, his friends in congress, they believe -- they've got two ideas. one, tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. two, they want to get rid of regulations that help keep our air and water clean. regulations that protect our consumers. regulations that make sure that wall street doesn't do the same kinds of things that created the financial crisis. the center piece of mr. romney's entire economic plan is a new $5 trillion tax cut. a lot of it is going to the wealthiest americans, but last week we found out he expects the middle class to pick up the tab to pay for it. they have tried to sell us this trickle down tax cut fairy dust before. it did not work. it did not work then. it is not going to work now. it is not a pl

"politicsnation" with al sharpton begins right now. >>> thanks for tuning in. tonight's lead, governor romney's birther humor. he has been subtle and not so subtle in his appeals to the far right of the republican party. and today speaking at a rally in his home state of michigan, he ventured into the ugly fringe territory of this onry right. >> i love being home in this place ann and i were raised and born. ann was born at henry ford hospital, i was born at harper hospital. no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. they know this is the place we were born and raised. >> no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. the republican nominee lending his voice in jest or not to questioning if the president of the united states is an american. attempting to dance out of it, mr. romney's senior adviser kevin madden said in a statement quote, the governor has always said he has repeatedly said he believes the president was born here in the united states. he was only referencing that michigan where he is campaigning today is the state where he himself was bor

ultimately jesse jackson, al sharpton and others came on but i think clearly it was just a movement. realization by many that this was an african-american who had a legitimate chance to win an any people began saying, never thought i would see this in my lifetime. so it was just, it was a wonderful time in american history. people clearly, when i was going to campaign, i would be asking people, there was an opportunity that this person could be the first african-american president. >> can you compare his 2008 campaign to the campaign that he is running now? >> you can compare it because there is still a lot of similarities although some things have changed. clearly, at that point, we had for for the first time -- we did not have a president who was is running for a second term and the vice president was not running as well so you had basically in open seat as such for the presidency. however, he was able to sort of run on the record of the previous president, that being george bush. this time he is incumbent. it's a little different ballgame when you are in combat -- when you are dea

i'm al sharpton. not ready for prime time. this is simple. the budget plan put forth by governor romney's running mate would kill medicare as we know it. and gulf massive tax cuts to the rich. seems tough to sell, right? that's for sure. just ask these protesters outside of a romney event in ohio today. this comes after protesters went after paul ryan chanting -- are you going to cut medicare? no wonder the romney people are suddenly backing away from the ryan plan. here's one of their top surrogates today. >> but isn't the ryan plan -- romney plan? >> no, listen. >> let me read you a quote. hang on. >> but it isn't. >> it sounds awfully like the paul ryan medicare plan. >> but it's very different. if all you want to do is keep repeating the garbage that comes out of the white house, then you have a problem. >> coming out of the white house? we are get thing impression from governor romney himself. >> i'm sure there are places my bunt budget is different than his. the items we agree on, i think outweigh any differences there may -- we haven't

"politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. >>> welcome to "politicsnation," i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead -- the romney-ryan ticket has some legit imate problems when it comes to women voters. new offensive comments about rape, from a gop congressman, have their records under a microscope. here's the disgusting remarks from gop senator candidate todd akin. >> if an abortion could be considered in the case of, say, tubal pregnancy. what about in the case of rape? should it be legal or not? >> it seems to me, firstover all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. let's assume that didn't work or something. i think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist. >> legitimate rape? this appalling comment set off a firestorm of outrage today. here's president obama, waking in at the white house. >> the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talki

al sharpton is also expected at that conference. it concludes on saturday. >> 11 are dead after a u.s. blackhawk helicopter crashed after a firefight with insurgents. seven of the casualties' for american service members. the team may have been on a special operations mission. they could not confirm if the helicopter went down because of enemy fire or a mechanical failure. the taliban is claiming responsibility. at least 26 americans have been killed so far this month. the number of suicides reported among active-duty soldiers has risen to alarming rates. the number of army soldiers who committed suicide more tha doubled in june -- in july compared to gen. the marine corps and a force also s an increase last month. it is prompted pentagon leaders to double thefforts in finding new ways to help military members and the families cope in tough times. the emotions -- this group of local national guard members received hugs and kisses from family and friends. the soldiers returned after a year of deployment in kuwait. overseas, they were

. >> coming up, we have al sharpton, former nfl lineman warren sapp joins us. he's an actor, man, look at him. >> i don't know where he's going! >> he's about to pull the fire extinguisher. >> now here's a man who never embarrasses us. >> you guys have asked me to jump before but never, ever to leave. not yet. >> you've kept your tie on. what's the weather look like? >> actually, we have some concerns out there. you and mika could be having a little tropical action down in tampa come monday, tuesday next week. all eyes on this storm. this will be the first really big, important storm for the united states we have to watch closely. this is only tropical depression number nine now before a strong hurricane in the days ahead. classic path heading through the northern caribbean over the warm water, going to be very close to puerto rico, the dominican republic, haiti, jamaica and cuba. it's almost a category three with 110 mile-an-hour winds on sunday. that's only a day or two away from florida. it's not etched in stone but it looks very likely florida will have to

let's bring in al sharpton, host of "politics nation" right here on msnbc.t are you going to do to try to get this law attempt to get this law overturned? >> we'll, one, we're supporting the appeal by the aclu. we're also moving toward backing those legislators that want to reintroduce a are revoking of this. we're going to go to pennsylvania, work with reverend kevin johnston and other church men that are at the same time trying to overturn the law that are going to ask for the i.d. you have to ask yourself, if this lady just given her i.d. who appeared on "politics nation," if miss applewhite had not been so visible, she wouldn't have gotten her i.d. so what happens to the possible 1.5 million that have not been on television, that have are not been the lead plaintiffs? it's a two-prong strategy to continue to protect people's voter rights by getting this law overturned. >> not only do we have pennsylvania to talk about, in ohio we've been talking about the early restrictions in voting there. the obama campaign has launched this new effort in federal court

we have national voices, reverend reverend sharpton is on tv.ng things done. >> what's the process of getting your listeners involved? they come to hear some music and relationships and you're talking about serious stuff. >> our ratings are the highest when things like that happen. >> really? >> yeah. we can be talk about the sexiest thing in the world, but when you have mothers and their children and real men and their sons and daughters, dude, you're going to tap into something that gets the emotions rising out of everyone when you talk about the children. >> now, another one of the projects right now is concerning missing children. >> yeah. >> talk to me about that. >> what can be more devastating than that? i think of my own daughter and the young men that i'm mentoring. imagine your child missing. it's hard to imagine. until it happens to you, and we have had the parents talk about it. it it's one of the saddest things you can imagine, my child is gone. for me, i have to do something about this. i have some time in the show i can mention th

the reverend al sharpton is one of the organizers of the movement. he calls it a symbol of the community's outrage over the bloodshed. >>> i'm randi kaye, i'll be back at the top of the hour. "sanjay gupta m.d." begins right now. ♪ >>> hello there, and thanks for being with us. a remarkable story about a big hospital chain, one that you've likely heard of, accused of doing heart procedures that were unnecessary just to make money. question for a lot of people -- what can you do to protect yourself. >>> first we want to make sure you're up to speed on an important fight over medicare's future. plans put forth by mitt romney and his running mate, paul ryan. one of the most divisive, important issues of the upcoming election. it's important for you to be educated so we're putting them under the microscope. >>> ever since it was signed into law by lyndon johnson in 1965, medicare has been the safety net for americans over the age of 65. it provides health insurance for 47 million americans. now big changes are on the table. >> the truth is we simply cann

thank you steve, ed shultz, reverend sharpton. chris hays.arting at 7:00 p.m. eastern. it will continue with the one and only chris matthews. stay with us. e the pressure poin my feet and exactly where i needed more support. i had tired, achy feet. until i got my number. my dr. scholl's custom fit orthotics number. now i'm a believer. you'll be a believer, too. learn where to find your number at drscholls.com. >>> well, good evening. i'm chris matthews in tampa still. a night at the national convention. three big speeches tonight. all with very different tone, we had the attitude and the soul. the attitude came from the keynoter christiety. his job was to give a little new jersey attitude and take the fight to obama. he delivered barn burner. >> there's only one thing missing now -- leadership. it takes leadership that you don't get from reading a poll. you see, mr. president, real leaders don't follow polls. real leaders change polls. >> well, earlier in the night, ann romney the wife of the candidate was tasked with the most difficult chall

i'm glad al sharpton and jesse jackson are still alive. >> the naacp. >> and the guy here. all of them. the people that get out there and march for this pep they have a voice for us when we don't. and some of the ones that beat senseless are still living. these type of people are what is paying the way, you know, for those cases. when they come down the line they can, you know, deal with them a lot better instead of being able too get away. but when something like this happens, the laws needs to be looked. they need to change things. there's a lot of laws that are outdated and too old. there a a lot of new ones that don't even make sense, you know. i look around, you know, sometimes in any neighborhood and i miss all the little friends i had. i had i didn't have horrible experience. i mismy own color. look around now and i don't even see -- i see just a handful of them, you know, it's like the -- it's a hurting feeling to go down the street knowing that your people had to move because of, you know, whatever reason they had to move and you don't see the own kind around anymo