i also want to bring in tom fuentes with us former fbi assistant director ben ferguson cnn political commentator. ben, what do you make of what we're seeing unfold here? this is the american system at play right? this is what we want to see lawmakers debating, right? maybe not up against the wire on something, but it's extraordinary. >> this is big-boy politics. in you look at the people there, orrin hatch, roger wicker presiding over the senate. you saw his colleague from mississippi sitting right behind mitch mcconnell. mitch has people around him right now that are really trying to push this very hard. saw john mccain down there. rarely do you see this many senators on the floor during a debate unless it's something at this magnitude. they all understand how important this is. and they're all going to be a part of it. i also think you can tell they really don't know how this is going to end tonight. you could hear that in what mitch mcconnell was saying. rarely do you have someone like that going toe to toe with a colleague and what many would say a friend from the same exact state

cnn political commentators ben ferguson and marc lamont hill are with me. guys good to be with you. ce to have you here in new york with me. >> i know. >> marc is this racism or frustration that boiled over in a way that it shouldn't have? >> i've been to a lot of graduations where people are rude. i was at one yesterday where people were sort of loud and it's frustrating. i understand that someone left before the valedictorian can give the speech. frustrating again. saying you people are being rude is probably not the best way to handle it, but i can understand it. when you say look who's leaving the black people pointing out the fact they're black is interesting. saying someone is black per se but context matters. look who is asking me questions the white people. why is white relevant to the conversation. that's why it's racism. >> it struck me hearing it like that and context is important. ben, what do you think? >> i think this woman should be forgiven but shouldn't keep her job, and i think there's no way if you're a student and you hear that come from the principal of the schoo

joining me for more on this, ben ferguson, cnn political commentator, also lives in dallas. ben, i guess you're following the news of this and the weeks leading up to this event and it was very controversial. >> incredibly controversial. i mean, ever since pamela geller and her group said, you know what, you have the stand with the prophet muhammad event in the same building in january, we're going to hold our own event and it's going to be an event we're going to publicize to the world and that's what they did. they wanted people to make cartoons. depicting the prophet muhammad in a negative light, send in those drawings, have an art exhibit and was going to win thousands of dollars and the community, local community did not want this event because of these security concerns and they said -- have it in the same building they had a controversial speaker come that was very pro-al qaeda extremism. they were speaking in this facility and said we're going to show our freedom of speech and we will not be back down. we will not cancel this. even spent reportedly $10,000 of their ow

earlier, i spoke with ben ferguson about what motivated the group to hold this event. >> they wanted people to make cartoons depicting the prophet mohammed in a negative light, send in those -- those drawings, have an art exhibit, and the winner was going to win thousands of dollars. and the local community did not want this event because of these security concerns. and they said we're going to have it. we're going to have it in the same building where they had a controversial speaker come that was very pro al qaeda extremism. they were speaking in this facility and they said we're going to show our freedom of speech and we will not be backed down, we will not cancel this. they even spent reportedly $10,000 of their own money on add vantsed security. this event was very controlled. you and i could not have gone without prepurchasing a ticket. that's how tight the security was. so they knew exactly who was in that building. exactly who the people were in that building. and they were having this kind of in a closed way. but the artwork was very controversial. >> no one would ever dispu

cnn's ben ferguson has more. >> reporter: people did not want this close to their homes.ght now probably 12 miles away from it you have a walmart, a sam's club you have grocery stores you have houses. it's close to a school. this is a convention center for the community on a smaller scale than major city convention center. this is a mom and dads come together for art shows and basketball games. people in the community are concerned. they did not want this. >> now this attack comes on the heels of similar attacks in france and copenhagen. we do not know exactly who did the shooting here in texas, but we know the attacks in europe did have terror connections. we are joined by cnn's nic robertson. put us in the international context, nic. >> reporter: attending the event in texas, he is on the hit list. a cartoonist was on the al qaeda hit list he was killed in paris at the "charlie hebdo" magazine where two brothers burst in and started shooting over the magazine drawing the prophet muhammad. they were later to have connections to al qaeda in yemen. if you look at the attac

ben ferguson, marc lamont hill. we'll be right back. >>> first this.s week we head to the supply chain, the sunshine state. when you think of florida, you naturally think of sunshine and oranges. this may surprise you. a whopping 95% of florida oranges are squeezed into juice. and then one-quarter of that is exported to places like south korea, canada, and japan. almost 100 years ago in 1922 a florida farmer hunt, planted a single seed that would lead to a business that would change a family tree forever. today they are one of the largest orange shippers in the state, producing nearly 2 million cartons per year. proving that oranges don't fall far from the tree today hunt brothers is run by the hunt cousins who take pride that their family business has expand expanded from its humble beginnings to selling beyond borders. with about 10% of their fruitful commodity going overseas. one challenge to overcome was how to transport this perishable product to the other side of the world in 30 days and avoid spoilage. >> we're picking the fruit and trying to st

ben ferguson is with me as well as tom fuentes, thanks to both of you for being with me. you're from texas. did the community expect there could be violence? >> i think they were very concerned about it. when this first conference that happened in earlier this year three months ago, came about, they were very concerned that this was nothing more than a conference to basically find the next lone wolf. many people thought they're trying to recruit the next boston-time terrorist bombing. home groan terrorists because the speakers at that event were on the record as saying they were in support of different tactics that al qaeda had used in the past. and so you now fast forward three months later and this group said hey, we are going to have an event in the same venue, in the same place, and we're going to show that in america, we're not going to be silenced. we're not going to allow you to recruit people and extremists in our own communities. we are going to have an event that's about free speech because you may want to silence it around the world. you may attack cartoonists

ben ferguson host of "the ben ferguson show" is with us mark lamont hill also with us, professor at morehouse college. guys, why is this question so hard? >> look i don't like republicans that much but i'm going to do them a favor today. chris christie you're going to run for president. mr. trump, you might be out there. listen as soon as you announce, someone is going to tell you is iraq a mistake or not? here's a pro tip, say it was a mistake. there's no extra charge for you. nobody will be mad at you. say iraq was with mistake and you win. you're welcome. >> ben -- >> that was easy, right? >> ben, to you, though, seriously, do you think that rubio's republican opponents are going to use this against him or is this a true case of like it's really just semantics here and, you know he's saying i was answering the question that was i was asked and they're not the same thing? >> i think they're not the same question. i think what every candidate should to now is -- i don't think the republicans, other republicans are going to come after him for this. it's two simple questions. if i was advising

joining me now is mark lamont hill, cnn political commentator, and ben ferguson.does this photo offend you? >> yes, it unsettled me and offends me and conjures a whole history of white supremacy, violence this isn't an abstract and metaphorical thing, violence against black bodies. i understand the confederate flags means different things for different people. and there are people in the south who it just means good old days but the good old days wasn't so good to black people in our nation. it troubles me people still have it. >> i doubt they had as much context. listening to this mom, i believe her, when the kids say, i don't understand why it's a big deal. she's definitely going to teach them why it's a big deal. was it young stupid kids being young and stupid? absolutely. should it cost them a summer internship or a summer job or not allow them to get into college? no. sometimes kids take really stupid pictures. and there are a lot of people i'm sure, who are watching this tonight who took really stupid pictures before there was social media. and they never ha

let's talk about this more with our political panel, ben ferguson and marc lamont hill. or hopefuls? >> i hope not. there are a millions of reasons to criticize republicans and democrats. standing next to a television star you had no way of knowing was involved in these disgusting disturbing and illegal acts i don't hold them accountable. i hope instead we focus on how to get this person treatment, how to right the wrong and how to find justice for the victims. that's what we should be doing right now. >> ben, i think it's interesting mike huckabee came out with this really long facebook statement, an extensive one yesterday. he wrote, josh's actions when he was a teen are inexcusable, but that does not mean unforgivable. he and his family dealt with it and were honest about it with their victims and the authorities. no purpose is served by discrediting josh. >> to see a presidential candidate come out so quickly to support someone who has apologized for child molestation. >> i totally disagree with mike huckabee on this one. i don't know why he thought this was a reason

cnn political commentator, ben ferguson told john vause earlier that a lot didn't want this type of event in their backyard. >> you have a wal-mart, grocery store, houses, close to a school. a convention center for the community. on a much smaller scale than a major city convention center. this is more of a, you know, mom and dads come together, have little events. art shows, galleries, basketball games. this is a true community. the mass majority of the people in the community very conservative by the way. didn't want this t the texas governor, issued a statement about the shooting. we quote him now. texas officials are actively investigating to determine the cause and scope of the senseless attack in garland, texas. our thoughts and prayers remain with those affected tonight. next here on cnn, an enraged community takes to the streets of tel aviv. what was behind their rage and about this protest that turned violent. >> also people's homes and belongings lie scattered and deep stro destroyed in nepal after the earthquake. our team traveled off to the epicenter and along the way felt the

cnn political commentator, ben ferguson, told my colleague, that organizers chose this venue outside of dallas because it hosted an event denouncing islamaphobia. >> ever since they said you have to stand with the prophet mow haemd -- prophet muhammad event. an event they will publicize to the world. that's what they did. wanded people to make cartoons, depicting prophet muhammad in a negative light. wanted to have an art exhibit. the local community did not want this event because of these security concerns. they said we are going to have it. going to have it in the same building where they have a controversial speaker come. that was -- very appropriate al qaeda. extremism. they were speaking in this facility. we will show freedom of speech. we will not back down or cancel this. they even spent $10,000 of money on advance security. this event was controlled. you and i could not have gone without prepurchasing a ticket. how tight the security was. they knew who was in the building. exactly who the people were in that building. and they were having this kind of in a closed way. the ar

joining me now, host of the ben ferguson show and mark lamont hill, cnn political commentator.n't know -- something. [ laughter ] all right, let's get into this. duke university professor, jerry ho he wrote that the "new york times" was wrong and politicians in baltimore have failed them. he said the blacks get symbolic recognition in an utterly incompetent mayor who handled this so badly from beginning to end that her resignation would have been demanded in she were white. the blacks get awful editorials that tell them they should feel sorry for themselves. mark i'm going to start with you. do you think that racism cited in the "new york times" editorial was an excuse for blacks to feel sorry for themselves? >> absolutely not. dr. ho is absolutely -- >> or is it ha? >> i thought it was huff, but i was going with the flow. in ferguson, you had a white mayor, a white police chief and you had incompetence and they managed to survive a whole lot of time without any significant pressure to lose their job. people asked for it just like in baltimore. so it's not true. what this profe

. >> joining me, cnn political commentator and host, ben ferguson. nice to be here. >> i know. happen every day. >> so she was well received by the students at tuskegee, but not everybody is happy. this is rush limbaugh. here it is. >> michelle obama is on a roll. she is playing the race card she's doubling down on it. >> you were clearly not voted in until just your race. white people in droves went out to vote for you and you were somehow or another invisible so much that you became the president and first lady of the united states of america. >> twice. >> tell me about the troubles that you have seen. [ laughter ] >> why does the right always get ticked off when the first lady or the president talks about race? >> because it happens a lot. it's happened a whole lot. >> but they're black! >> part of the issue -- >> you think the president and the first lady talk about race a lot? >> i do think he talks about it a lot. i'm not saying it's a bad thing to talk about it some but does it always have to come up? >> always? [ all speak at once ] >> i think sometimes it comes up. >>

i want to continue with cnn political commentator and ben ferguson. got to hear the conversation before the break, right? >> yeah. >> yes. >> okay. and ben, you're in garland tonight. so what's the reaction from the people there? >> you know early on when this event was announced, there's a lot of people that were very concerned about it saying i don't really want this to be in my backyard. it's actually changed since this attack happened because people are proud that freedom of speech is alive and well and they're very proud of law enforcement for being so well prepared and the organizers for footing the bill really for the security that was needed here and they're very proud of law enforcement and the people there. they said, you know what i may not agree with this event, i may not have gone to this event but in america, you are not a bad person when you have freedom of speech even if it's saying something that i don't agree with. and that's what makes this country great. >> is this about freedom of speech or is this about taunting and bullying or a

joining us to debate this cnn political analyst john avlon and host of the ben ferguson show ben fergusonrning. >> gentlemen, great to see you. john bill clinton is treating this az a tempest in a teapot nothing to see here this is all going to go away. is this the right tact for him? >> the guy's a master politician and that's a very good former deflection sounds real folksy. but you want to find the truth in politics you follow the money. there are a lot of allegations here. there's a lot of smoke. so people would be really digging into it. and as the campaign progresses and money becomes more of a factor there's going to be a lot more things to follow. so it's a perception issue at the very least. >> nobody's going to get the high ground ben, when it comes to raising money in politics. as "clinton cash" has had its life span and this early edition of it it's not about how it's illegal it's how they handle situations. how big a hammer do you think you can use on this issue? >> i think it's going to be big especially if you look at the clintons own words. they're the ones that have attac

ben ferguson. and mark lamont hill thank you, guys for being here. ben, let's start with you.n said that they have been practicing it. why do you think he fumbled? >> i think he honestly thought he was answering a question about would he have done his brother did at the time. that's why he said hillary clinton would have done the same thing. and for him, he probably was trying to be preemptive. a lot of people do that in interviews. sometimes they are too comfortable when doing it and didn't pay attention. that's really all it was. and the main thing is it did not hurt him with many republicans or conservatives because when they saw his answer saying hillary clinton would have done the same thing, they obviously realized he thought he was answering a question different than how it was posed to him. i think others are making a big. er deal out of it. it's not going to hurt his campaign. i don't think it's going to hurt his chances in the primary at all. i don't think it hurt his chances with gop voters. >> mark, when you talk about jeb bush he talks a lot about his family. i wa

and ben ferguson. gentleman, thanks so much for being here. christopher you were inside the venue, tell us what happened. >> yes. so as the announcement was made i was in the middle of an interview, i saw somebody try to exit the conference room as they tried to exit. the officer that padded me down earlier, he said, please don't come out. seconds later there was an announcement on the p.a. system by watching an officer, he basically said hey, there has been a suspect and a student outside the venue. we need to escort you out of the room. >> ben, you have been following the controversy about this event. wrong before it was held this weekend. what was the community saying about this event? >> yeah the community was not happy really about this event. they were very concerned about security around it in this neighborhood. i mean, this is a place where you have major shopping. you have a school next door. the building is actually controlled by an independent school district. it was in response to a pro prophet mohammed event if january, which had

. >> joining us cnn political commentator and host of the ben ferguson show, ben ferguson.ush have against each other? >> two different teams, two different mindsets two dimpt groups of people and karl rove has been to the big dance. jeb bush wants to get there. not surprising most people have their own team that get them there. george bush had a small tight team from texas. people thought he should bring in the big dogs and he didn't it and worked for him. i think this idea where, you should need more or if you don't listen to everything we tell you, we already got there once before we're not friends, i think that's just politics. >> little bit grows out of the relationship that rove had with the brother and jeb and george and how did he get in the middle. and that's going to be political intrigue. he also has the record. so now jeb bush comes out and says i see where my brother was on the iraq war. i support it. what does that mean to your side of the fence? >> well i think it's remarkable that jeb bush today knowing everything we know about the false intelligence we had

. >> let's break all this down with ben ferguson and former director of the congressional black caucusstrategy firm impact strategies angela rye. good to see both of you. >> good morning. did rand paul kill the collection program? >> no he certainly made for an incredible debate on both side. this is an issue where you don't have a consensus on the gop side on or the democratic side as well. that is a good thing in washington. are you seeing there is going to be a grand debate over this and rand has been very consistent if saying that he does not like this program and how it works and i'll give him full credit for that but ultimately i think you are probably going to see some sort of compromise on this issue to kind of rewrite some of what people said went too far with the nsa and with decisions that are supposed to keep us safe. some people say i don't know if i want all my data watched and checked by the government and showing the proof where this has helped to save american lives. >> show me the proofch you hear that. i want you to see chris christie released his statement saying th

let's talk about it with mark lamont hill and ben ferguson. ben, let's begin with you.what harry reid said today. quote, if senator mcconnell cannot convince senator paul to back off his filibuster threat then mitch mcconnell will have no one to blame but himself for allowing security tools to expire on his watch. is he right? >> i don't know if i would necessarily blame him for this. rand paul is a guy that has been about this issue and been very consistent. if there's anything to admire about him is he doesn't flip-flop on these type of issues, even when he's taking the heat. he doesn't make deals. i'm sure he could be in a bigger position in the senate if he was willing to play with others. but the same time, i do think this is a little bit extreme from him to claim that others help the rise of isis. i think this is going to end up being one of those days and issues that may hurt his real chances at the white house more than any other issue because, yeah he may have a core base that loves him for this but ultimately i think the american people are going to side i don

cnn political commentator ben ferguson and political commentator and host of huff post live lamonte hillhersh has in his reporting, and again his pedigree is long everybody's lying, ben, not just some people. >> i highly doubt the s.e.a.l.s are lying. they have a pretty big code of integrity when it comes to raids and what's happened and look at the heat those have taken from other s.e.a.l. members. i can't imagine they would allow this lie to be taken this far and to be a part of it. and also like you said you have multiple governments that would have had to lie for this to happen. i'm not buying it at all. i'm not saying they weren't maybe protecting it or some people in pakistan knew where he was on an area where he was, i think that's very very realistic, but overall, no. >> two of the big claims that seymour hersh is saying is pakistan knew all along where he was and that there was no firefight when the navy s.e.a.l.s rushed in. >> that's a tough claim. absolutely no firefight, because as chris said means a bunch of people are lying, but not just a bunch of people but a bunch of peo

hrapby davis, and host of the ben ferguson show.cution, and you are the defense. is there a bribe, where and how do we know? >> if secretary clinton was not secretary of state, would this many people have given millions from foreign governments during her time? the answer is no there is no way this many foreign governments would have given money to the clinton foundation and the proof is they were not giving money before she was secretary of state when the foundation was around. we need good relationships with the clinton foundation because that means we have a better relationship with the united states government which she represents and that's why they wrote serious big checks to the clinton foundation. >> mr. davis? >> no jury can accept my facts are i am speculating on motives who might want to do by giving money. so with all due respect to ben, that's not an argument a jury would vote on. i will give you facts and not opinions. let's take the iranian deal. fact. the body of people that approved that deal were nine governmental

let's talk more about this with cnn political commentator ben ferguson. and marc la mont hill.rguson. is this a red herring that this is about the first amendment and free speech? who's saying pamela geller didn't have the right to hold this event? isn't it about the quality of the message and what the impact is of the message? not her right to say it. >> well i think it's a little bit of both. and there are a lot of people that say, hey, you shouldn't do this because you're inciting other people. the fact is if we start limiting people that we disagree with or blaming those that are exercising free speech for the attacks, we're not the free country that we claim that we are that people literally try to sneak in to every single day because this country is so free. and there are people that say and do things that i don't like. there are things that people say all the time that other people don't like. but in america we allow them to have the right. and we also protect the right for them to exercise this. so when you saw this attack happened there was a lot of people saying well

joining me right now mark lemont hill right here in atlanta and ben ferguson. are you in dallas?p for sure. >> all right. so gentlemen, this was, i'm sure everybody agrees it was a pretty rough week for jeb bush. but ben, i'm going to ask you first and put you on the spot first. jeb bush should he have expected this kind of question and already have compartmentalized an answer? >> look i honestly believe that he really thought the question was a little bit different because the way he answered saying yes, i would have done that and so would hillary clinton, she voted for the invasion as well in the context that he responded to it most people that are going to be gop voters did not find this to be that big of a deal. he was, i think, defending his brother's decision and a familiar agriculture member and preemptive in talking too quickly. fault him for that. but most voters just did not -- and people that do not even like jeb bush in the gop are not jumping on this. you see other candidates running against him, they didn't come out to beat him down on this either because i think th

many is wondering if this is the next ferguson or baltimore? >>> a big win for ben carson.ictory overnight. but some democrats say it's not him they are scared of it's marco rubio. why they are worried. >>> and

many is wondering if this is the next ferguson or baltimore? >>> a big win for ben carson. republican hopeful picking up a victory overnight. but some democrats say it's not him they are scared of it's marco rubio. why they are worried. >>> and why chris pratt is saying he's sorry to the pc police. we'll read his statement. "fox & friends" begins now. ♪ ♪ >>> it is memorial day weekend. send your patriotic pictures at #pea tree yotic -- #patriotic american. >>> peter doucey and tucker carlson today. >> are you ready for some memorial day trivia? >> the ba bad thing is i come here for two days and people think i'm done. >> fourth of july of trivia. >>> flerts -- fox news alert nearly 40 people were under arrest in cleveland last night. more than 100 people swarming the streets after a judge acquitted a police officer in a 2012 shooting death of a an unarmed african-american couple. they led police on a 22-mile high speed chase. officer michael brelo was the only one charged. the victims' families want answers. >> whatever reason they didn't pull over we didn't know. what i c