and john avalon. john, i'm going to start with you.est, everyone's had a different reaction to it. >> i think it's such a reveal. i think really you have a highly scripted political pro and a very unscripted emotional moment. and that's what i think made it news. plus in the wake of the whole north korea questions, a lot of beltway gossip about bill clinton being the envoy for a successful mission. i think that ended up stirring the pot. >> i saw that as her making a statement about women, i did, and women's rights. i saw her in an african country in the congo where women are treated poorly and her saying i don't -- this isn't about my husband, this is about me and that's how it should be in your country. hillary clinton to me, and james, i think she's too smart to snap as some people suggest she did. i don't care how much jet lag she had. what do you think? was it a good moment for her? >> i don't think it was necessarily a bad moment. you've got to remember too in the congo has one of the worst records in the country of mutilating wo

john ridley and john avalon as well. three weeks ago today, three american hikers seized by authorities in iran. how did they end up crossing the border? tonight their families are with us talking about their struggle to bring them home. >> every situation is unique. every country is unique. and we don't know how this is going to be resolved, but we'll take any help we can get. we're kicking back, now, havin' a cuppa tea. gecko vo: takes lots of sweat to become that big. gecko vo: 'course, geckos don't literally sweat... it's just not our thing... gecko vo: ...but i do work hard, mind you. gecko vo: first rule of "hard work equals success." gecko vo: that's why geico is consistently rated excellent or better in terms of financial strength. gecko vo: second rule: "don't steal a coworker's egg salad, 'specially if it's marked "the gecko." come on people. this is my verizon small business specialist, tom. now, i know the catering business but when i walked in here i wasn't sure what i needed. i'm not sure what i need. tom s

. >> friday, john avalon's wingnuts of the week.ng out people on the left and right taking the political discourse to a whole new level. he'll join us in a couple of minutes. ♪ yes, you're lovely... ♪ what do you think? hey, why don't we use our points from chase sapphire and take a break? we can't. sure, we can. the points don't expire... ♪ there is nothing for me... ♪ there's no travel restrictions... we could leave tomorrow. we can't use them for a vacation. you can use the points for just about anything. i know... ♪ the way you look tonight ♪ chase what matters. get your new chase sapphire card at chase.com/sapphire. there's no way to hide it. sir, have you been drinking tonight? if you ride drunk, you will get caught... and you will get arrested. ♪ we can work it out we can work it out ♪ >>> a beautiful shot today. the sun coming up over long island sound. looking east from the time-warner center here over central park. 79 degrees right now. try the thunderstorms later on in the day. lit be up in the high 80s. keep that in mind

john avalon joining us as well.en, i want to talk to you for a minute and get a better sense of what's going on here. as we mentioned, you helped organization nice the event we just saw there. i'm all for civic engagement. explain to me what the point is of shouting down your congresswoman or congressman? yelling at them? what does that really get you? >> the point is not to shout down our congressman. the point is to be heard by our congressman. >> i'll let you finish. nobody was being heard there. i mean, that was total chaos. everyone yelling. >> right. well, you mentioned that we -- why did we organize that? that was spontaneous. our group is a spontaneous group. we're a grassroots organization. >> grassroots organization is what i meant. you organized at the grassroots level all these people to come together, right? >> right. i created a meetup page for $10. and organized the event osa and move-on and the democratic executive committee put on. i posted the same thing for the same amount of time. we outnumbered

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we also have with us here in studio today, john avalon.g show a little bit of the -- let's take a look at some of the moments of the two town halls. >> okay. okay. okay. we have just -- we just had a demonstration of democracy. >> i don't understand the rudeness. what is this? >> you hear senator really seem to just throw up her hands and say she asks do you want me to leave? why is there a lot of shouting where people can't get answers on either side? >> it is really amazing. you think really what is happen something that the public is getting angry. obviously, and taking it out first and foremost on the congressmen and senates. we will get into that. but the bottom line is the recession is so deep right now and when congress recessed there were no details about how the plans would be paid for. i think it is creating unrest. there are a lot of people prohealth care. most people would like to see reform. there are some who are loudly oppose opposed where will the money come from? people are getting scared out there? >> and john, i want to

each friday, john avalon called out someone on the right and left who he says has taken political name partisan politics to the extreme. john is a columnist for the daily beast.com and he's the author of "independent nation" and he joins us for the picks of the week. >> good to see you. >> who are you calling out this week? >> well, on the left, former congressman william jefferson of new orleans indicted for corruption for taking $400,000 in bribes to african business adventures. but most infamously, $90,000 in cold hard cash found in his freezer by the feds. he played the victim card and tried to run fore re-election, but it looks like jefferson will be spending a lot of time in the cooler. >> this thing that you say makes him a wing nut, okay, we understand he was convicted of the crime. but where does he go to wingnut territory in terms of how the thing is played out? >> part of what makes them a wing nut is when they confirm the worst stereotypes of their own party. big city democrat corruption from ross tweed to rod blagojevich is one of the most basic stereotypes. he confirms it

john avalon calls on someone from the left and the right taking political name calling to the extremelumnist for the daily beast.com and the author of the book, independent nation and he's here with this week's dishonorees. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> you're reading that story. john said, i didn't hear about that one. >> wow. that's -- that's a new look. congratulations on that. >> we've got other ones. >> who's the wingnut on the right? >> a great actor moonlighting lately as a conservative commentator. jumped the shark this week jon voight gave an interview to "the new york times" saying president obama is provoking the war -- good man. here's the thing. a lot of revolutionary talk -- civil war. this is not a metaphor, a colorful turn of fratz. president lincoln provoked the civil war and 600,000 americans died. we've got to get a grip on this, people. and the rhetoric is starting to proliferate around the country. someone like voigt who carried the mantle and the celebrity will be more influential. >> he was liberal in the 1960s. so what happen? >> dennis hopper is the