congresswoman corrine brown represents jacksonville where marissa alexander is from. here's how she reacted to the case. >> this is the beginning, not the end. >> that's right. >> this is the beginning. clearly there is institutional racism. there is no way. she overcharged by the prosecutor. period. overcharged. she never should have been charged. >> she sure shouldn't have. >> and how in jacksonville you shoot in the air and no one gets hurt, and you gets 20 years. >> marissa alexander's jury was out just 12 minutes before they convicted her. it's hard in the wake of the zimmerman verdict not to put these two cases up for comparison and come to some pretty awful conclusions about the state of justice in florida. joining me now at the table, jelani cobb, associate professor of history, director of the institute for african-american studies at the university of connecticut. barry shack, civil rights attorney, co-founder and co-director of the innocence project. and joining me from jacksonville is congresswoman corrine brown, democrat from florida. congresswoman, i'll

and joining me from jacksonville is congresswoman corrine brown, democrat from florida.esswoman, i'll begin with you and ask you why you've paid such careful attention to this case. what about this case has captured your imagination and precipitated your advocacy? >> first of all, let me just tell you that sanford, florida, is also in my district and my heart is just so heavy for the martin family. you need to know that. and i contacted the justice department as soon as this incident happened along with the congressional black caucus and asked them to investigate. now, the case in jacksonville, melissa alexander has a master's degree. never had any trouble with the law. and the case shows that she was abused, beaten, put in the hospital pregnant with a baby of this, her husband at the time. she shot a warning shot. she was overcharged and got 20 years. the week before, someone convicted of murder got 15 years. let me just say that the criminal justice system is not working for the people that i represent. it's not working for not just blacks, but poor people. something n

>> that zinger from florida rep corrine brown calling it a sad day in the house. the majority struck down the food stamp measure of the nation's farm bill. >>> newly minted san diego mayor making a stark apology amid sexual harassment allegations allege calls for him to step down. >> i am embarrassed to admit that i have failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me and that at times i have intimidated them. if my behavior doesn't change, i cannot succeed in leading our city. >> he says he needs help and is seeking it professionally. >>> okay. switching gears now. texting one president an apology to another. jay-z tells hot 97 that, yes, he does text president obama. jay says the prez likes sports metaphors, so here's what went down right before his re-election. >> hey, you know, fourth quarter, just give me the ball. >> word. and now a strange interaction between justin bieber and bill clinton. strange is right. e news reports the syringe called the former president to apologize for saying "f bill clinton" earlier this week. clinton reportedly say

although we had a tough day two weeks ago, still from the great state of florida, congresswoman corrine brown. [applause] i want to ask each of you, and congressman rush, if you would begin, for a personal moment in your life. i'm sure there are many, but one that stuck with you over the years of violence that brings you to this stage and brings you to the work that you do. >> well, i have two that kind of serve as bookends. the first one was on december 4, 1969, when 4:30 in the morning at an apartment at west monroe, the state attorney, states attorneys police raided an apartment and murdered two members of the black panther party, fred hampton, shot and wounded seven other people in the apartment. then the very next morning came to my apartment and shot my door down, looking for me over so-called search warrant for weapons. they came to fred's apartment, murdered him. after they had -- [inaudible] they said they the mobilize an elephant. december 4, 1969. and that night, that day, that event, that act of violence had shown me, had tremendous effect, and it still does, still does, the life

. >> congresswoman corrine brown wants the justice department to look at the police response. harris? >> harris: of course we heard from robert zimmerman, george zimmerman's brother and wendell we'll go on now. thank you very much. george zimmerman's lawyers have also reacting to the president's comments now. the attorneys note quote: it takes courage to talk about race and they say it took courage for our president to address the zimmerman case. white people -- why they are upset about the verdict, rather. the zimmerman lawyers went on to say quote while we acknowledge and understand the racial context of this case, we challenge people to look closely and dispassionately at the facts. we believe those who look at the facts of the case without prejudice will see that this is a clear case of self-defense and we are certain that those who take a closer look at the kind of person george zimmerman is will find a young man with a diverse ethnic and racial background who is not a racist. a man who is, in fact, sensitive to complex racial history of our country, end quote. now we wil

lee, congressman bobby rush, congressman danny davis, congresswoman robin kelly, congresswoman corrine brown who had to leave for being here, but most importantly as congressman davis said, i thank you all for being here. in the spirit of congressman rush and mr. davis' childhood story, on august 28th he asked us would we commit to a day of nonviolence in the city of chicago and across this nation. be and as congresswoman kelly said, sometimes you feel a reacher to the choir. i think we know the answer to that question. but in that spirit and leading us in a celebration of positivity for the end of the evening, if you will commit to that day and to every day, would you please stand up? well, let's have a safe evening this evening on friday. god bless the city of chicago, and god bless these united states of america. thank you so much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> there are 1e6r8 -- several live events happening today. the senate armed services committee will head a couple of nominations. we'll join that

i want to thank sheila jackson- , robin kelly,is corrine brown for being with us sittingbeing -- and here. i thank you all for being here. and his childhood story, on august 28 he asked us if we would commit to a day of nonviolence in the city chicago and across the nation. you are preaching to the choir. we know the answer to that western. in leaving us in a celebration if you will cut may to that day and to every date would you please stand up. let's have a safe evening. god bless the city of chicago. god bless the united states of america. thank you so much. ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> the senate gaveled an earlier to continue work on the transportation departments. they are also debating the nomination of james cone me to be next rector of the fbi. follow the senate live on c- span2. the house returns tomorrow. on the edge in debt, funding the transportation and housing department and a bipartisan compromise. it is live on c-span. my thesis is that the thing began this. carriedthis has been