hurricane relief funds made for a hot topic on the premiere of "politics nation" with reverend al sharpton last night. the reverend asked texas republican joe barden if he agrees with eric cantor's stance that the government should only provide emergency funding for victims of hurricane irene if it can be paid for by other spending cuts. >> my assumption is that some point in time you headed a congregation and you passed a collection plate around and then you as a reverend for your congregation spent that money and what was best for the congregation but if there's no money in the collection plate you have to make decisions what needs to be paid and what doesn't and nobody on the republican side is saying we shouldn't help the east coast recover from the hurricane, recover from the earthquake, but we need to begin to come up with a process that we get the budget balanced so that there is a special fund or funds and enough money that as these things occur not just now but in the future we can handle them without having just borrowing more money and that's a good thing for everybody, regardle

back with us onset, mark halperin, pat buchanan, nicolle wallace and reverend al sharpton. y, some of rick perry's comments, not just the tree sonnous comment about the fed but i don't know if the president loves america, go ask him. are you troubled by the president's response yesterday? >> i saw some progressives saying fight back. the president kind of gave perry a pass on those comments yesterday. do you wish he had condemned them more than he did. >> i think what he says is he gives him some slack. i don't know a lot of people that are progressive, including me, would give him that. i think that for him to say that he cannot affirm that he believes the president loves the country, or for him to say the statement about bernanke, i think was way over the line. particularly when the republicans have created a political climate where even those that you are connected to you have to answer what they say. let's not forget now that the republicans ran against this president on things his pastor said. and things others says, not that he said. so if perry is entering the race sa

more politics ahead with al sharpton. >>> mitt romney says corporations are people. and folks, that may be his best campaign slogan yet. tonight, as president obama talks jobs in michigan, romney talks gibberish in iowa. nice going, front-runner. and senator jim demint says the obama administration is anti-america and proves he is just anti-making sense. plus, florida governor rick scott's healthcare hypocrisy hits a new low. >>> and another sarah palin bus tour. another chance to meet the people. i mean, corporations. >>> welcome to the show. i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, good news america, the republicans finally offer a jobs plan. the bad news, it consists of attacking president and sticking up for big business. today, president obama went to michigan and blamed partisan politics for blocking job growth in this country. >> the only thing keeping us back is our politics. the only thing preventing these bills from being passed is the refusal of some folks in congress, to put country ahead of party. there is some in con gresz right now who would rather see their o

eric deggans, al sharpton on the verge of getting an msnbc job.st african-american with a nightly show on cable news in years and yet he's not a journalist, he's a liberal activist and candidate. >> exactly. that's what worries some black journalists. we have been pushing hard to try to have diversity, particularly in cable news prime time. we don't have a person of color hosting the show on any of the major cable channels in prime time. to have that one slot go to someone who is more of an activist and not a journalist. >> not a journalist by any stretch of the imagination. >> i also think it's a larger problem. when you see someone like eliot spitzer and he has to cover the peck dill lows of a politician caught in a sex scandal. there's a resonance there if you had someone with a straight journal iflt bach ground. >> sharpton was supposed to appear at an event but canceled because some of the members criticized the fact he was about to get the gig. what does that tell you about his attitude toward journal listic credibility? >> what we also saw

and right in the book al sharpton didn't want for his participation and he later agreed to work for free. >> guest: not so much he agreed to work. i'm not so sure how much working in the doing for free. >> host: juan gonzalez road april 1st from a 2009, sharp and's organization, the national action network received half a million dollars from a hedge fund to secure his involvement in the educational quality project. was found that education reform now, which is another -- >> guest: he is a great reporter. >> host: she acknowledged the transfer took place -- >> guest: great piece of reporting. >> host: is one of the things that really puzzles me, and i guess this is just personal to me, is having been involved in these concerns and think tanks for many years and having switched from the conservative side to the union's side, but as the liberal or concerned more about social equality and the effect of poverty on education and i do think it matters -- it strikes me this agenda of education reform is the same one the worst pushed by my colleague at the hoover institution, and i know tha

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, democrats, it's time to take stock. republicans have been having the conversation they want to have. now it's time to have our conversation, a conversation about creating jobs in america. the debt fight is over, the senate has passed the bill, the president has signed it, the debt limit will be raised. but for months republicans have tried to get away with all kinds of false statements about how the country got into this financial mess and what we should do to fix it. despite what we have heard from these republicans, facts matter. the truth matters. let's not forget where so much of our country's debt came from. fact -- when bill clinton left the white house, america had a $236 billion surplus. here's what that democratic president said at that time. >> through our last four budgets, we've turned record deficits to report surpluses. america must maybe tain our record of fiscal responsibility. >> but just five months later, president george w. bush destroyed that clinton surplus with a stroke of the pen. >> surplus is n

he will be with me tonight. >>> welcome to the show, i'm al sharpton. tonight, we are all watching hurricane irene's path where it might make land fall and win. as preparations of being made all along the east coast, it reminds us of how essential our government is and how our front line government workers are to all of our safety. we will talk about that later in the show. but we start with tonight's lead. rick perry's troubling weekend bothers me. americans from all over the country will gather to honor martin luther king, jr. in the coming days. we will march on saturday. rain or shine. we will unveil the monument. sunday. but texas governor rick perry will be spending time with man who believes dr. king believes no credit for civil rights. despite receiving an invite as governor to the ceremony honoring dr. king this weekend, rick perry will not be attending. he will be at a retreat. among others, david barton, founder of the evangelical group known as wall builders. now, he was part after group of texas conservatives who tried to make some radical

now, al sharpton. >>> welcome to the show. i'm al sharpton. a lot to talk about tonight, a lot on my mind. the president seems right that he was able to bag nato in getting gadhafi's empire to fall. i was one that questioned him and was not -- but it seems like the gop on the right and some of us on the left may have underestimated the leading from behind and what it would cost in human life. we'll see and we'll talk about that tonight. we're getting ready for the weekend rain or shine, we're going to memorialize martin luther king in a monument. first non-president, first of color, now all of a sudden mitt romney says he's going to make a major jobs speech. we're going to give mitt romney and the rest of them something to say with our march for jobs this week. we'll talk about what that is with an outstanding union leader, gull first the big news in new york today that literally shook people up. it wasn't my announcement. it was the ground literally moving. you know pundits like to talk about political earthquakes, but today they got a real o

i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now.

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead -- the big night in wisconsin is also a major moment for the progressive movement. we're just three hours away from the polls closing on an unprecedented recall election. six republican state senators are facing recall, if democrats can flip three seats, they win control. seven months ago, governor scott walker with the support of a gop state senate majority cut collective bargaining rights for public employees. [ chanting ] >> this recall election tonight is not just about wisconsin. it's about an assault on workers and the middle class that has gone nationwide. similar laws have now popped up across the country in maine, michigan, ohio, florida, wisconsin. so tonight in wisconsin, they're expecting a massive turnout. whatever the outcome, it would be a defining moment for the progressive movement. i know, because i've traveled through ohio. i've traveled through indiana and others. in the wake of the midterm elections, as these new governors and state legislators real

welcome to the show, i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, gadhafi's last stand. as libyan rebels take control of tripoli, celebrations are erupting around the can tole city, can has lived under the dictators iron grip for 42 years. the whereabouts of moammar gadhafi remain unknown. nbc's richard ing el has been reporting through tripoli throughout this historic revolution. he was there last night covering the reaction from the crowd. >> we are hearing from people here over and over and this is a historic day. he says today we live in freedom. that is something we are hearing over and over again. people are saying god is -- they are just thankful and thankful that this day has come and new a new future may be coming for libya. >> joining me my phone interest tripoli's green square is richard engel, richard, good evening. what is the latest there at green square? >> the crowds are not very big in green square. this city has mostly fallen to the rebels. about 10% of the city is still controlled by gadhafi loyalists. in particular, gadhafi's own compound. that is a v

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, the republicans find themselves in an uncompromising position once again. this s&p situation warned this country that political brinkmanship got us into this mess. well, that political pinkmanship sent the market down nearly 520 points again today. the dow has now lost 2,004 points since july 21st. you would think this would get republicans focused on helping this country. well, it hasn't. and in the pinch for the bipartisan committee is further proof of that. all six of the gop picks have signed grover norquist's anti-tax pledge. all six of them. and the senate picks alone are enough to make you laugh. senator john kyl pulled out fd biden talks because of what he said was the job killing tax hikes. senator pat toomey voted against raising the debt ceiling because cuts didn't go far enough. and senator bob -- or rob portman, spent a year as george w. bush's budget director. that's not exactly a glowing resume for someone on a debt reduction committee. this is their ide

welcome to the show, i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, now the american people are demanding to know where the jobs. take a look at what happened when republican congressman fred up ton of michigan trotted out the gop talking points of cuts, cuts, cuts. >> you can see on this part of the pie chart -- >> you need jobs on your chart. >> medicare is $519 billion out of 3.5 trillion. >> where's the jobs. >> bring back jobs. bring back jobs. bring back jobs. bring back jobs. >> it's a cry that's being heard throughout the country. today in atlanta. where unemployment tops 10%. thousands waited in the heat to attend a jobs fair. the good news, the american people have someone in their corner. and is message, it's time to get people back to work. >> understanding that ultimately the private sector is going to be creating jobs but also understanding that government can be an effective partner in that process. >> our job is not finished until every single american looking for a job can find a job. >> to put our country back to work

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, republicans putting 74,000 jobs at risk. folks, this is incredible. house republicans have skipped town for vacation. but not before putting thousands out of work. before they left. they refuse to fund the federal aviation administration unless it includes a provision that makes it harder for employees to unionize. the results of their stubbornness, 74,000 construction workers and faa employees, have had to stop working. airline safety inspectors are working without pay. the government is losing more than $28 million a day. and stands to lose $1.3 billion by the time congress gets back in session. president obama talked about it today, almost like a repeat of the debt fight. >> this is a lose, lose, lose situation. i'm urging the house and senate to take care of this. this is s an exam of a self-inflicted wound that is unnecessary. >> the worst part is this should be routine. congress has passed 20 faa funding bills since 2007. even transportation secretary ray lahood, former seven-term republican congressman, says just get

more now with al sharpton. >>> welcome to the show, i'm al sharpton. needless it say, we are all watching the path of hurricane irene. and we will spend a lot of time on that tonight. also, the desperate race to get ready and keep people safe. remind us all how essential our government is. and that all the talking down of our government this year misses the point of how important our first responders and other government officials are to millions of citizens now for this storm. we do begin with our breaking news, hurricane irene, is barreling up the east coast with 65 million people standing in its path. north carolina is just literally hours away. this category 2 hurricane is expected to carve a path of the entire eastern seaboard, potentially causing billions of dollars worth of damage. ten states have already declared emergency. ten states. today, the president urged people to take this storm very seriously. >> i cannot stress this highly enough. if you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don't wait. don't

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, reality versus unreality. that's the actual choice in this presidential campaign. it looks like the republicans have their top three set, rick perry, michele bachmann, and mitt romney. but they are all from the party of unreality. they are planning it create jobs, we weaken government, dismantle the safety net. and take from the poor and give to the rich. that's their plan. their gender will drive the economy off the cliff. while president obama is dealing with reality. today, he started a bus tour across the midwest with the town hall in minnesota. and he went right after the republicans in congress. >> but some in congress would rather see their opponent lose than america win. we ended up creating more uncertainty and more damage to the economy that was already weak. now, we can't have patience with that kind of behavior any more. >> there is no shortage of ideas to put people to work right now. what is needed is action on the part of congress. a willingness to put the partisan games aside, and say, we're go

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, instead of helping create solutions to deal with the economy, republicans just pile on the blame. after yesterday's plunge on wall street, the economy got a little better. some better news today, the markets finished up. and the monthly unemployment rate dropped slightly to 9.1%. the economy added 117,000 jobs in july. but the gop all news is bad news. and all bad news is the president's fault. john boehner, the man who got, what he said, 98% of what he wanted, in the debt deal, he took no blame. he said today's numbers showed that the democrats have created more fear, more uncertainty and more debt. meanwhile, eric cantor said, quote, the president remains out of touch on these tough economic issues. today only the president urged both parties to come together and get the people back to work. >> what i want the american people and our partners around the world to know, is this. we are going to get through this. things will get better. and we're going to get there toge

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, tea party congressman said they would listen to the american people. well, they've turned a deaf ear. luckily, their constituents won't be silenced. just look at what happened to republican congressman who wasn't holding three town hall meetings in the biggest city in his disstrict. >> what do we want? >> can i talk to you for a second? >> what do we want? >> town hall. >> you guys want a town hall? >> yeah. >> you want a town hall? >> yeah. >> okay. be at the airport tomorrow, 4:00. >> now, congressman held that town hall. about an hour ago. of course, he gave just 28 hours notice. held it during work hours. and everyone today pay for parking. but at least he held one. that's more than can be said for four other congressmen with strong tea party backing, nonetheless. in fact, paul ryan called police for a group of peaceful and unemployed constituents protesting outside of his office. how is that for representation? but i can see why they are so hesitant to meet with p

i'm al sharpton, tonight's lead. the house is about to hold a critical vote on the deal that would finally end the fight over debt limit. the plan is likely to pass, despite opposition for both progressive democrats and tea party republicans. the white house says it will let president obama turn the focus back to jobs. >> it has one overwhelming redeeming feature. it says this debt limit issue cannot come up again until 2013. we had to get this out of the way to get to the issue of growing the economy. >> what's in the deal? president obama and the democrats got the debt limit extended through the 2012 elections as you heard the vice president say. republicans won their key demand, budget cuts greater than the debt limit increase. but democrats protected social security, medicaid, and medicare benefits while republicans kept new tax revenues off the table. democrats won the first big defense cuts since the 1990s, while republicans got another vote on the balanced budget amendment. joining me now, democratic strategis

al sharpton is on tv now, so now we have al sharpton and -- well, oprah is gone, so we have al sharptonnd roland martin at the same time. give it up. we're going to be all right as a people. we have al sharpton and roland martin on the same television. if i say something that sounds familiar, make some noise. if you are married and happy, make some noise. [applause] if you are married and barely making it, let me hear you too. [laughter] ladies and gentlemen, reverend jesse jackson has just entered the room. the rev. jesse jackson, hope is still alive. make some noise for our leaders. give it all you got. now the roll call. everybody from the west coast, make some noise. everybody from the south, make some noise. everybody from idaho, makes a noise. black people from idaho, are you here? there are three people here from idaho, ladies and gentlemen. we also have another rule this afternoon. we want to ask you to make sure your having the best possible time. if you are hungry and you know it, clap your hands. there is food coming out. we are going to ask any woman who has a bottle of hot

as its leaders and you write about the campaign to persuade al sharpton to act as joel kline's partner. you write in the book that sharpton wanted to be paid $50,000 a month for his participation and he later agreed to work for free. >> guest: i'm not sure how much he agreed to it. unnatural how much work he ended up doing for free. >> host: one gonzÁlez wrote in the new york daily news that sharpton's organization the national action network received a half a million dollars from a hedge fund to secure his involvement in the education equality project. it was followed by education reform which is another group -- i will give you a copy of the article. >> guest: i believe you. is a great reporter. >> host: sharpton and college of the transaction took place. >> guest: misted, great piece of reporting. >> host: one of the things that really puzzles me and i guess this is personal to me is, having been involved in these conservative think-tanks for many years and having switched from the conservative side to what i see not as the union site that is the liberal who are concerned more about

is i know al sharpton has a feeling for the people. i am hoping he will raise up the issues, talk to some of the people who have issues or problems and deserve to be heard. we all need to be clear about the way we deserve to be heard and we will create our own strategies. again, probably not the place to be as vulnerable -- this hurts me. it hurts me to see people of african descent at the periphery of our economy understanding the many ways we have been central. understanding in so many ways to work that we have to do and understanding no one is going to do it for us. there are a series of demographics that are frightening. we are not the biggest minority any more and we are now the fastest-growing. the latino population -- we are not mad at them but they are where they are and who they are and how they are and we need to figure out how to work with them. we also need to figure out how to get our fair share of this economy that we have created a foundation for. that is what part of the challenge is. i look at the next five years for t

back with us on set, the reverend al sharpton, new york "daily news's" s.e. rom the huffington post, sam stein. let's start with that clip. reverend sharpton, an exclusive interview with dick cheney, jamie gangel going to appear on dateline on monday, we're getting clips ahead of his new memoir. he's going to make some people angry as he said. he goes after colin powell, goes after condi rice, goes after george tenet and in the clip we have -- do we have the waterboarding clip? he comes out and says again i believe in what we did with waterboarding. i do it again. here's what he said. >> in your view, we should still be using enhanced interrogation? >> yes. >> no regrets? >> no regrets. >> should we still be waterboarding terror suspects? >> i would strongly support using it again if circumstances arose where we had a high-value detainee and that was the only way we could get him to talk. >> even though so many people have condemned it, people call it torture, you think it should still be a tool? >> yes. >> reverend sharpton, what do you think about dick chene

he used that fraid with al sharpton. he was discussing president obama political strength when he referred to him as your boy. he said he was using a boxing analogy and no slur was meant or intended. >>> with got them and i got her -- after i -- i pushed her to the side. >> a boy who plucked a girl from a swimming pool where she was drowning, what he wants to do next. >> we will look that forecast highs for your furs, includes cooling temperatures as much as 5-8 degrees. okay, kids, we can record one more show. who should get it? i really love jennifer. yeah, she's great. yeah. yeah. kyle's got that thick head of hair. and that should be rewarded. okay, moment of truth. on "three," say which kid you love the most. ooh, fun, yeah. one, two, three. jennifer. jennifer. whoa. wow. she's so pretty. yeah. or we give it to kyle. it's really all he's got. [ male announcer ] switch to at&t u-verse and record four shows all at the same time. just $29 a month for 6 months. at&t. just $29 a month for 6 months. . >>> officials say th

. >>> lastly up, for those of you who love the reverend al sharpton, he has been namemethe permanent that show, "politics nation." so, he will have a weekly forum for his sometimes outspoken political views on the nation. filling in for several weeks. but now, it's official. he's the new permanent host there. so, congrats to the reverend. >> a controversial figure. but he probably has good things to say. >> leading up to election year next year. you can imagine he will have fun on that show and making some headlines. >> he will be on fire. >> yes, he will. with the perm and everything. yes, indeed. >>> we'll be right back. >>> we'll be right back. >>> here are some stories to watch today on abc news. relatives of an airline passenger that died on 9/11, are due in court today. hearings resume in their wrononul death suit with united airlines. and a security company. >>> the african funding comes up with $1.5 billion to help feed famine victims. >>> and facebook updates its privacy settings today. users have asked for better ways to protect theirironfidential information. >> and i am o

candidate al sharpton and not anymore but now he wasn't in the race until about two days ago why suddenly do easier this rhetoric rhetoric the fact that people are talking about that they don't believe in the federal reserve the idea of having a central bank anymore if they don't believe that maybe we should go back to the gold standard this used to be only ron paul just to say it right when you have terry said that we say that we shouldn't have the federal reserve anymore or go back to the we'll start in the federal reserve currency in that we should be put more money to also prop up the economy things move the election so there were only . some. false when that or the flop you know you break right up economy based on printed money printing more money i mean that's where perry saying i want to see repairs not say to do way with the federal reserve like ron paul is saying you know if you actually really contrary is the only thing this now and i believe if we can agree to disagree because obviously we're not getting anywhere is that the only reason rick perry is saying these types of thing

i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >>> the east coast gets rattled. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening i'm chris jansing in new york tonight for chris matthews. leading off tonight. if you've been watching tv, or listening to the radio or following social media, you already know the headline, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit the east coast just before 2:00 this afternoon. tens of millions who think the quakes as something who happens -- were jolted into a rare and nerve rackic reality. it was centered in mineral, virginia, felt in 22 states as far west as illinois. while there are no reports of major damage, there may well be hidden structural damage. we'll have the details and bring you live reports throughout the hour here on "hardball." in that libya, where rebel troops overwhelmed pro-gadhafi forces and poured into his compou compound. they fired their reps in celebration and grabbed what they could, but colonel gadhafi's whereabouts remain unknown. no one was injured in the cathedral, and there was no damage to the stained glass windows, but t

al sharpton will be the host of the 6:00 hour which is called politics nation. we were hoping it was going to be called reved up. whatever the name, we'll not only take it, we will watch it. congratulations to iman and reverend sharpton on their new gigs here. i think it is great news for both of them. i'm telling you, it is better news for those of us all the more proud to work here because of really, really impressive new colleagues like this. very exciting here. >>> best new thing in the world today is an act of kindness from improv everywhere. improv everywhere are the people that threw a wedding reception for a random couple getting married in new york city. they organized mass high fives to amuse subway riders and who brought the no pants subway tried cities around the world every january. 200 people froze in place inside new york's grand central terminal. they also do mp3 experiments. they gather in a prearranged location and press play simultaneously and then do whatever the voice in their ear buds tells them to do. the latest gig in connection with the

i'm reverend al sharpton in for ed schultz. you can catch me on msnbc live tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. eastern. thest >>> after brilt yantly making the republicans look ridiculous at every stage of the negotiations, after slowly but surely educating the opinion about the importance of raising the debt ceiling and after turning voters sentiment against the republicans, in the end the president blinked. >> it's only monday. >> it could be a long night on capitol hill. >> here's how the deal got done. >> for now it looks like crisis varietied. >> friday the house passed boehner's bill and then the senate killed it. >> the house of representatives has passed speaker john boehner's twice revised budget control act. >> saturday harry reid tried to round out votes for his bill. >> the spectacle is going on over in the senate. >> republicans voted down the reid bill in the house before he could get a vote in the senate. >> bipartisan opposition to senator reid's proposal. >> michele bachmann used the house of representatives to make a campaign speech. >> guaranteeing insane republicans blank c

i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead -- swiftboating the president of the united states.we've seen this before, the dirty that i that republicans do their differy business. we remember the attacks on the nominee back in 2004 -- >> gave aid and comfort 209 enemy. >> dishonored his country and more importantly the people he served with. >> swiftboat veterans for truth is responsible for the content of this advertisement. >> we saw similar hate-filled rhetoric at the republican rallies in 2008. >> our opponent is someone who sees america as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country. >> i hope americans know that is not what our brave men and women are doing in afghanistan. >> who is the real barack obama? >>> and, of course, we saw it with the poisonous birther attacks as well. now we're seeing it from the new republican star, rick perry. in the few days since he began his campaign, he launched a series of smears against president obama. first perry suggested that the military doesn't respect our commander in chief. o cf1 oer in chief. the

welcome to the show, i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead. tea party fallout. three days after the u.s. losses aaa rating because of banksman ship, the dow closes down more than 630 points. it is now more than a thousand points since the debt deal was signed into law. but don't worry, the republican motto seems to be political brinkmanships got us into this mess, so let's keep on using it. why change now? just one week ago, speaker boehner said, this is about the debt deal. >> when you look at the final agreement we came to with the white house, i got 98% of what i wanted. i'm pretty happy. >> 98% of what he wanted. that's what he said about the debt deal. but now that country's been downgraded, mr. 98%, isn't taking ownership any more. boehner now says, it is my hope this wake-up call will convince washington democrats that they can no longer afford to tinker around the edges of our long-term debt problem. tinker around the edges, speaker boehner? tell your tea party pals that we can't afford to deal with their tinkering. because even after the downgrade, they have shown they're unwill

i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. > a dope, a joke and a fraud. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm ron reagan. leading off tonight, looking for love in all the wrong places. rick perry has leapt ahead of the republican field, the economy is in trouble, people think the country is headed in the wrong direction action and president obama's approval ratings are in the tank. republicans should be thrilled, right? so why all the long faces? yesterday politico reported, and we're quoting here, that conservative elites consider rick perfectly a dope, michele bachmann a joke, and mitt romney a fraud. remember, that's conservatives talking. why republicans don't think much more of their candidates than you do? that's our top story. >>> also george w. bush called himself a war president when no mission was accomplished. yet mr. president bin laden is dead, gadhafi is out and al qaeda is on the run. why does the white house seem to reluctant to make the cases for obama as a successful war. president? >>> plus is the texas economy really the miracle

i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >> the best defense is a good offense. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. from day one of obama's presidency they have been coming from him. rush limbaugh wanted him to fail. mitch mcconnell says the number one goal was it make obama a one-term president. the tea party claimed obama was a big government socialist that there was something unamerican about his healthcare plan. the attacks became ethnic. even racist with birthers questioning whether he was born in the country. the u.s. congress got into the game spending millions to defeat him. same companies earning record profits by minimizing and squeezing their pay rolls. now, conserves are going after the poor saying they need to be taxed more while asking the rich to contribute nothing. all the while charging obama with engaging in class warfare. well, they accuse obama f creating divisions when they went after him and that's our top story tonight. the same republicans talk about the need to cut spending during tough economic time

i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. > show us the way. let's play "hardball." >> >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews up in new york. >>> leading off tonight, leadership moment. what's happening with barack obama? what's happening with the man who stood biff millions on inauguration day and offered to lead us and heal us? part of the answer is a republican party whose main goal, whose only goal, is to bring him down at all costs. >>> what about the president? his pattern is to wait for others to bring him solutions. another year of this and then what? could this be it? >>> now is the time for president obama to announce a jobs program, i think. a lot of people do. take control, show the world what needs to be done and call on congress to get to it. the dangerous bridge, bad roads, the whole shebang. it's time to lead. meanwhile, democratic defeat in wisconsin. the democrats managed to take back two seats, but they needed to take back three in order to win a majority. what does the wisconsin vote tell us about next year's vote in 2012? >>>

whited leaders are turned over perceived leaders like a jessie jackson, al sharpton bar are bar barbara. pacify and keep the black community behind us regardless of the failures of our social ware fair policies. look at the devastation in the black communities. look what's happened in the inner cities of chicago and detroit. look toe riots. >> laura: the flash mobs? where is sharpton and jesse jackson barbara lee and maxine waters on the flash mobs? where are they on those. >> that's my point. that's the absence of this quote, unquote leadership in the black community which, as i say are nothing more than overseers of this 21st century plantation. the republican party has not done very well in reach out. that's where we have opportunity to show the corner stone and bedrock of the. individual responsibility and accountability. faith and family. hard work ethic. these are the things to reexcept and get a thriving economic community within our inner cities. >> laura: today the president recontinued the bus tour i guess it's mercifully coming to an end. he is continuing the bus tour. he tal

. >> reverend al sharpton, i want to get your reaction to maxine waters. she seems genuinely upset with president obama. >> i don't know if she's upset or what. i know all of us are upset about the numbers. there are many people that i talked to that had wished that the congress, when we had the majority democrat, including the caucus, they stepped up and pressed a bill. i don't know that we can get into who's -- i know that congresswoman waters expressed her feelings. she supported hillary clinton against president obama. i no el that others have expressed that feelings. i think people want answers and solution, not just a bunch the finger pointing. >> do you think what we just saw there from congresswoman waters, do you think that is just the beginning of what we are going to start to see? >> again, i think patients has warn thing. you must remember, most of the congressional black caucus didn't support president obama, so a lot of them come to the table, there's nothing new about you questions president obama. the question is where are you all in terms

i have a problem with waters' statement there and some of the things we've heard from al sharpton, asan't criticize the president. the reality is, from day one the president has been making sure he is doing everything he can to increase jobs for all americans. he knows he's not going to be happy until we see these numbers going down. it is 16% isn't good. the fact that it decreased in the last month is a good start. but we have a lot of work left to be done. >> sean: maxine waters said the unemployment rate for african-americans nationally 16%, almost twice that in detroit. she said the president's trip in the midwest didn't include any stops in the black community. we look at the demographics the african-american community voted 90% plus for barack obama. >> you can see his approval rating dropping dramatically. most dramatically in the african-american community and latino community. the reason is clear. yes, 16% unemployment in the black community. for black youth 40%. in big cities like detroit, 20% unemployment. obama his imposition of european style socialism is not working for

. >> i said the new reverend al sharpton show should be called revved up, so don't trust me on show names. >> it looks like you lost that battle, based on the press release. >> that's why the naming of my own show was taken out of my hands. appreciate it. >> thank you for staying with us. >> one of the weirdest visuals from the east coast earthquake yesterday was this short of the united states senate. we showed this on the show last night and i sort of have not been able to get it off my mind. this is technically the united states senate, just doesn't look like any other picture you've seen of the senate, because this was the united states senate in session at the postal square building, not the u.s. capitol. at a building four blocks away from the actual senate. the white house, capitol, pentagon, were all evacuated yesterday afternoon. so when the senate wanted to convene, their pro form ma we're only here for a minute or two session, they had to find some other place to do it. they tried to make this random room in the postal square building look as senatorial as possible, hence the f

more politics ahead with al sharpton. >>> a plan to create jobs, versus cut, cut,

. >> laura: where is jessie jackson and al sharpton on these issues. absent.or of philadelphia was terrific on it ladies, thanks so much. billionaire warren buffet says he wants to pay more taxes. why does he keep using the tax code to avoid paying taxes? the factor has answers. coming up. ♪ let me make you smile ♪ let me do a few tricks ♪ some old and then some new tricks ♪ ♪ i'm very versatile ♪ so let me entertain you ♪ and we'll have a real good time ♪ [ male announcer ] the new hp touchpad starting at $399.99. ♪ >> laura: in the back of the book segment tonight, last night warren buffet continued to tell americans he and his rich friends want to give more of their money to the federal government. >> i decided to look around to see if any of my friends were being effected my sacrifice and they like me are enjoying these extremely low tax rates and the very high percentage of the cases the very rich are paying less in the way of taxes than the people who clean their offices. >> laura: congressman woman michele bachmann had advice for mr. buffet. >> now the

and a shoutout from me, ed shultz, to my friend reverend al sharpton being named the host of the 6:00 show. he's a great friend. he's a great talent and he'll bring a lot of personality and insight to this network. test test t so we can help the people who still don't have access to healthcare. >> i want to point out that the folks that come to the healthcare clinics, 83% of them have jobs. this isn't about homelessness. this is about people who have got one, maybe two jobs, part-time jobs that simply can't afford and have no access to healthcare whatsoever. many of the people that come to the starts now. >>> there are now reports that just minutes ago moammar gadhafi spoke on the raid crow in libya. vowing victory or martyr come. stealing the attention back from the east coast quake. >> two big breaking stories. >> libya being the international story. >> i'm inside the town house. >> breaking news interrupted by breaking new it was very unsettling. south of atlanta. the only nuclear power plant that has been affected is the plant. the national cathedral has suffered quite severe dama

you've shown reverend al sharpton and karl rove who hates rick perry.he bush folks hate rick perry. it's interesting to see who is coming after him. this is more a product of the modern media age than anti rick perry. nowadays press, trackers, websites who weren't around five or ten years ago, so the scrutiny these candidates have. rick perry wants to talk about jobs. texas has created about a third of the jobs created, but when he slips up, they're there and that's what they show. >> it's not just commentators. this morning, as if to underscore my point, "new york times" front page story about perry raising millions from people he appointed to various state boards and positions. "washington post," front page story about how many of the jobs you mentioned in texas are actually government jobs. christina, when a lot of people start picking through your record, we saw this with bush 43 in texas and bill clinton in arkansas, it can seem prosecutorial. >> you asked a question about wanting to tear a candidate down. first you have to build them up. we saw mu

you are starting to see an effort by some african-american leaders by al sharpton who has gone down to arizona. they say we have to start to find these bridge issues so you cannot drive a wedge between the community and pet them against each other. that will be the challenge. as we get into a spiral of us versus them, you still have a 45% block of the population gets to run everything. >> yes, the latino vote has been a swing vote compared to the african-american vote but 67% of latinos voted for president obama, correct? when you look at the trends over time, you see the republican party has been garnering a smaller share of the latino vote in the past five election cycles. they've got a real problem with latinos because of their stance on immigration. unless they flip their script, my sense is that the trend looking forward is going to be that perhaps the latino vote becomes increasingly democratic. it slips back and forth. at this point, immigration is a real problem for the gop if they want to attract latino votes and latinos are the growing -- fastest-growing sector of the elector

more politics ahead with al sharpton. >>> the cowboy rides into the race and goes right to the old playbook

i'm reverend al sharpton. the house passed the bill that will raise the debt ceiling and cut trillions in spending. we actually got it back for now. this is "the ed show," and as ed would say, let's get to work. >> congressman cleaver said this was a satan sandwich. >> it probably is with some satan fries on the side. >> democrats are forced to come out in favor of that satan sandwich to save the american economy, but you still can't make some republicans happy. >> what we're doing here in washington is about to destroy the country. >> tonight, complete coverage from capitol hill including vermont senator bernie sanders and minnesota congressman keith ellisson and i take on one of the tea partiers effectively holding the country hostage, kansas congressman tim mulecamp. the only thing standing in the way of the most massive debt reduction package in american history is the united states senate. shortly after 7:00 p.m. eastern this evening, the republican-controlled house of representatives voted to pass $2.1 t

thanks for watching, i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. >>> hating government until you need it. let's play some "hardball." ♪ ♪ >>> good evening. i'm michael smerconish in tonight for chris matthews. leading off, good night irene. if you're ron paul, fema is a drain on taxpayers who shouldn't "go crawling to the federal government if you mess up." like paul says a lot of republicans are. the federal government is the problem and not the solution, but we at "hardball" have been calling republican governors and members of congress whose districts were in irene's path. none said they plan to reject government help. seems they understand the idea that people hate the government until they need the government. >>> plus, michele bachmann joked that irene and last week's earthquake are god's way of telling politicians to listen to the people. and pat robertson figures the quake's crack in the washington monument is a divine message. should we ask tougher questions about candidates' faith? >>> and aren't exploding ove