farrakhan in the film, key figure in the '60s. quickly how hard was it to get that interview?wanted to distinguish this film from all the other ali films that are out there, one was to focus on his life outside the ring, but only to have interviewees that were there, a small number of principal eyewitnesses and minister louis farrakhan is the most -- the best person to speak now to ali's affiliation to islam. it took me more than a year and a day -- i say that because i was trying -- ultimately khalila, ali's wife at the time, led me to minister farrakhan. >> thank you for being here. stick around. up next we have chris hays biking, mika running, you know hose the nbc hosts get where they need to go. where will abby's road take us? you're find out, next. tiny changes in the brain. little things anyone can do. it steals your memories. your independence. ensures support, a breakthrough. and sooner than you'd like. sooner than you'd think. you die from alzheimer's disease. we cure alzheimer's disease. every little click, call or donation adds up to something big. [ female announc

that is coming from civil rights activist louis farrakhan.ake a listen to this. >> the government of america can not solve our problems. the fact is that when president obama was sworn in on january 20th, 2009, the black unemployment rate was 12.7%. it now stands at 13.8%. charles: well, liz, he said the government's not doing enough to fix the problems. of course he had the numbers to back it up. >> black unemployment rate is double what it is for whites but it is trending down. it was 16.5% in 2011. but the fact is, the government can not fix anybody's unemployment rate. the economy is bad for everybody. charles: what i think is interesting, is that, essentially what i think what he's trying to say, at the end of the day you just said it. we have to fix it, we, individuals. start with yourself and you work through the community. ultimately the government can't do what you are supposed to do for yourself. >> that's right. but his point is black unemployment rate has always been very bad for the last 50 years, at recession levels. that is wha

we need to simply turn to louis farrakhan and we will find truth. >> rahm emanuel is the current mayor of chicago. part of that generational change is mayor daley step down after a long legacy in chicago. there have been a lot of parallels between what it chicago is dealing with and what michael bloomberg has been able to do in new york. what is the difference? if bloomberg and his police commissioner would say their ability to use stop and frisk has been a major element in reducing crime, the democratic candidates and many of the critics would say that is not the case. there are more complicated factors that have led to the continued decline in crime. one of the interesting things about the poll about bloomberg's only a minority of voters believe that crime has gone down under mayor bloomberg. even though, in fact, it has. it may be contributing to the debate over stop and frisk and the fact that the republican candidates or somebody or arguingg are doing -- that pulling back from stop and frisk will increase crime. that is running up against this reality that people do not think crim

i called this the farrakhan factor. back in 84 jesse jackson campaign manager and reverend jackson would be moving up and doing some things that were quite interesting and opening new possibilities for african-american leadership in and all of a sudden the farrakhan would make some outrageous comment. he would make an outrageououtrageou s comment and immediately you get the predictable groups saying he must be denounced. and you can't whatever and reverend jackson was in a bind because they want him to denounce the senators and the people in the press work and he would say are not going to turn against my community. i'm not going to get into a fight here but why is farrakhan doing this? at one point ron walters at the time had african-american studies at howard university and went on to the university of maryland and passed on your sicko. unfortunately referred to the leading analyst of black politics and i actually think ron was deleting -- i said ron what is going on here? ron said reverend farrakhan understands the g

but why is farrakhan doing this? at one point ron walters who at the time that an african-american studies at howard university and went on to university of maryland and has passed away a few years ago, unfortunately was referred to as leading analyst of black politics. i think ron was the leading analyst of american politics but he was tight cast and was unfortunate because he never got direct nation deserved. i said, ron, what is going on? ron said, reverend farrakhan understands the gap that exists between black and white perceptions. and he is the measure of the alienation of black america from white america. so he knows. if he is outrageous and people attack him, there will be a tendency to support him. because he is now being deleted by the very people who are being viewed as the people who are oppressing. he would make these outrageous comments, he would be attacked and they would come into town without advertising a draw 20,000 people to a rally because people were rallying around the attacked brother. it's m

farrakhan, farrakhan's mother was estranged from her father. she had a boyfriend.ent back with the father, got pregnant, didn't want the boyfriend to know, so she tried to abort louis farrakhan three times with a coat hanger. and in the case of sharpton, sharpton lived a middle class life until his father abandoned the family, and then down to the ghetto. they talk about racism, racism as opposed to the centrality of fathers even though in their own lives the lack of their dads, in my opinion, had a very profound impact of how they view the world. one of the reasons they're so angry, perhaps, is because they didn't b have a father in the house, and instead of talking about importance of fathers and policies that can encourage people to get married before having children, they talk about racism, racism, racism. in my opinion, they're doing a disservice to the community. i think they're being leaders to the best of their ability, don't get me wrong. i don't think they're doing it in bad faith, but i think they ought to rethink what they're doing. >> host: leroy, ham

that's our--our race--our race relations are--we go to louis farrakhan and give him a great deal more media time and attention than we do to thomas sowell or shelby steele, or any number of--of other--of other people. that's the--those are the ones who control the--the moral authority of the larger society, and keep--keep us in this sort of--frozen in this way. c-span: you write about a column written by cokie and steve roberts about j.c. watts. what's the point? >> guest: the point was that they wrote a--they wrote a column and--and they--where they sort of--after, you know--gave him a kind of backhanded compliment and where--i---the--where--i forget, i think it had to do with the republican convention and j.c. watts was giving a speech and he made the point that he had come up--his father had--had inspired him and how he'd overcome great obstacles and so forth. and they sort of used colin powell to--to sort of, i guess, wi--give a kind of black--backhanded slap to j.c. watts by saying that colin powell on the--you know, though he, too, had come up, he understood that there were peop

now, snake is not in the farrakhan sense calling other people demonic in this regard. [laughter] but what this is, is that the god who calls all of us god's children, thereby suggesting the democratic ideal, that the black church gets caught between listening to what the snake said versus what god has clarified about who we are. and when the black church is really being the church that in a sense god uses to refute what was said by the other church, we are likely to be sensitive to the democratic ideal and engaged in activities that lead us to a more democratic society. when we listen to the other voice about who we are as black people, we play the games of one upmanship, of god's having the outhouse and the in-house kind of folks or about postponing the gratification until the great by and by. so the real challenge today is whether the black church believes what god said about us all being god's children or whether we have lots of divine dna testing as to who is really an authentic offspring of god. and james washington, my te parted friend -- departed friend, used to

this march is a leader that has been incredibly effective, whether people were caught up, louis farrakhan, i came to this march in 1995 and there were men everywhere and it didn't matter that they weren't muslim. he focused on one principle, the principal bringing into the market, higher education especially the h b.c. you because they're under attack right now, lincoln university, my alma mater. i am coming to the cause -- >> what is the question? >> he came with a focus on atonement. what do you think of the message is that galvanize them from leadership? >> tamika mallory is doing the work of putting together, i think tamika mallory should answer the question. >> the message is action. that is why we are talking about. going back to your community, knowing there are midterm elections coming up and not having low voting rates. we need to be out there. 1.3 million people who are not registered in florida but yet we want to somehow or repeal stand your ground. power we going to do that if we are not able to vote for the person who will help us get it done? the message from this month is w

we need to simply turn to louis farrakhan and we will find truth. >> rahm emanuel is the current mayor change is mayor daley step down after a long legacy in chicago. there have been a lot of parallels between what it chicago is dealing with and what michael bloomberg has been able to do in new york. what is the difference? if bloomberg and his police commissioner would say their ability to use stop and frisk has been a major element in reducing crime, the democratic candidates and many of the critics would say that is not the case. there are more complicated factors that have led to the continued decline in crime. one of the interesting things about the poll about bloomberg's only a minority of voters believe that crime has gone down under mayor bloomberg. even though, in fact, it has. it may be contributing to the debate over stop and frisk and the fact that the republican candidates or somebody or arguingg are doing -- that pulling back from stop and frisk will increase crime. that is running up against this reality that people do not think crime has gone down. the complicated inter

. >> the only thing muslim about farrakhan is his last name.is a religion made up in detroit. they have nothing. >> exactly. the white man was made in a failed science experiment, things like that muslim i've spoken to in the middle east, they use the word "cult" see it as a bad substitute, a reverse islam. it's not remotely the same. i think at this point ampac is desperate for something that will work and rescue this thing. >> with 10 members they have a long way to go to get to their million marchers of stephen mansfield, thank you for joining us. >> great to be with you. >>> new allegations about princess diana's death surfacing 16 years after she died in the fatal car crash in paris. claims that have royal watchers buzzing and some people shaking their heads in disbelief. >>> first new research finds facebook is depressing you. how is that happen? the doctor is here next about your facebook depression. she's still the one for you - you know it even after all these years. but your erectile dysfunction - you know,that could be a question of

i even told farrakhan that. i said, look, if it is a 10- will get noh, you coverage. if it is in our speech, no one will touch it. it is a hard lesson to learn. >> julian bond. >> i remember the number for the associated press in d.c. -- i forgot it again. [laughter] >> martin luther king seem to ofe a special appreciation the power of the media, and i'm wondering how he got it. , but i know what his genius was. he was able to talk to white and black southerners in the common language of evangelical christianity and understand both audiences would understand what he was saying, the references he was making, the things he was talking about. manyd the ability that people do not have to talk to these disparate groups of people and make them understand. the beauty of the march on washington and the speech is they were talking to a large number of people who had never seen a black person speak before. all of a sudden there is this articulate man who is explaining why we are marching, why we are protesting. this is why we are doing it. we do not like these things that are g

that's an incredibly effective whether people were caught up in the dogma or not and that is louis farrakhan this march in 1995 and there were input men everywhere. the principal in bringing to the market is how your education because they are under attack right now. i'm bringing the cause. >> what is the question? >> what you think is the message to the people to galvanize them from the leadership perspective? >> i think the serious work -- >> the message is action. that is really what we are talking about is action going back to your community knowing that the hour midterm elections coming up and not having a low voting rights. we need to be out there and registered. there's 1.3 million people who are not registered in florida. yet somehow we want to repeal stand your ground. how are we going to do that if we are not able to vote for the person that would help us get it done? the message from the march is that we must have action and be active and be part of the process and there are many levels to do that on. as my sister said, the point is once we finish the march we must do the work. we

and the longer the speech -- in fact, i even told farrakhan that when he went to the march.id, look, if it's a ten minute speech, you'll get news coverage. if it's an hour speech, nobody will touch it. and it's a hard lesson to learn. >> julian bond, i remember the telephone number of the associated press in d.c., in the atlanta -- [laughter] >> 404-521-89 -- oh, identify forgotten -- i've forgotten it again. [laughter] anyway, ask me when this is over, and i'll tell you. >> the thing i'm interested in is that martin luther king seemed to have a special appreciation of the pervasive power of the media. and i'm wondering how he got it. >> i really don't know, but i know what his genius was. he was able to talk to white and black southerners in the common language of evangelical christianity. and know that both of his audiences would understand what he was saying, understand the references he was making, the things he was talking about. and he had this ability which many people do not have to talk to these disparate groups of people and make them understand. and the beauty of

we need to just simply turn to louis farrakhan for answers. >> okay. the current mayor of chicago. alexander burns indicated earlier, part of the generational change as well. there has been a lot of parallels. what is the difference? >> well, but bloomberg and is police commissioner would say that tre ability to use stop and frisk as they have done has been a major element in reducing crime. the democratic and its and many of the critics would say that is not the case. there are more complicated factors that have led to the continued decline in crime. one of the really interesting things about the polls that the the york times did is that actually only a minority of voters believe that crime is gone down. even though in fact it has. it may be contributing to the debate over stop and frisk in the fact that the republican candidates or bloomberg arguing that stopping are pulling back is going to increase crime. the running of begins this reality that people don't think the crime has gone down. it think it is either stayed the same and gone up. the complicated interactions between wha