the ku klux klan had three to five million members in the one nine hundred thirty s. of course we had numerous groups modeling themselves on the fascists in europe so this is not new but there has been an upsurge in recent years i think it is absolutely tied if not entirely due to the election of an afro-american president many of these groups i would say most of them are teenaged with racism and obviously this is a spur and an impetus to them and the tea party movement while not violent in and of itself but if the rhetoric had been but its rhetoric. its rhetoric it can be very explosive though. the tea party had or it can always be explosive absolutely the tea party's rhetoric did verge on extremism certainly not blaming the tiepolo for any upsurge of right wing violence but you know there are some some suggestive inspiration here amy you want to jump in there go ahead yeah well let me i mean actually obama is a great example of the way in which there was an intersection between what happened after not what happened in nine eleven and over the two thousand it's not o

organization, and they were considered nut cases, and there was conflict between them and the ku klux klanere more anti-seminettic than latest even those their rhetoric was quite similar. the klansmen were aware that they weren't one of them. a lot of the neo-nazis came from backgrounds of privilege, and on some levels the klansmen were wondering why they were hanging out with them. >> michael: all right. diane, you talk about fred troublesworth. i recommend to anybody who wants to know more about this important part of american his, that they read this book "carry me home." thanks so much for being in "the war room." up next from the birmingham of 50 years ago, to the birmingham of today, a new fight and a new set of leaders. ♪ >> michael: last week the supreme court considered a pair of laws preventing same-sex marriage. some believe marriage' quality is just over the horizon. the latest abc "washington post" poll show 58% of americans support legalizing it. 31 states still have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. but people are fighting back. in alabama, 1992 law actual

. >>> a former ku klux klan member apologized as he beat up john lewis.georgia congressman won an award for reconciliation. next, that moment remembered after his death. you can part a crowd, without saying a word... if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts... well muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour one on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour three. zyrtec®. love the air. >>> a form ku klux klan member who later apologized for his racist ways and violent beatings has died. back in 1961, elwin wilson beat up freedom rider john lewis in a south carolina bus station. 48 years later he wept as he apologized to congressman john lewis, and i spoke with wilson and lewis after the 2009 apology. >> i didn't think i'd ever see the day when i find out who i beat up at the bus station. my daddy always told me that a fool never changes his mind and a smart man chang

the ku klux klan. the ku klux klan is known for burning crosses, a christian symbol. we all know that, you know, there have been people of the jewish faith who've committed acts of terrorism, too. this should not reflect on the community that these fanatics come from. and the fact is, is that we've just got to remind people of that. timothy mcveigh does not -- did not -- was not representing christians or catholics when he did what he did. and -- but we also should point out that, you know, a lot of muslims have been involved in thwarting and preventi ining acf terrorism. >> yes. >> just in canada the other day they thwart an act of terrorism. muslims were involved in tipping off the government there. this has happened to a very high degree here in the united states, too. it's just one of those situations where we got to keep on talking until we don't need to anymore. it's not an enviable position, but as long as americans want to talk about issues of security and religion and faith, i'm going to be here to talk about it. i feel a certain responsibility to help people

several dozen members of the ku klux klan rallied in memphis on saturday to protest the renaming of three city parks that had honored confederate soldiers. the demonstrators carried signs bearing swastikas and engaged in chants of "white power." it was the first klan rally in memphis and 15 years. tens of thousands of people attended the wsf for nearly 130 countries, the first time the forum was held in an arab country, once considered the birthplace of the arab spring. on top of the forms longtime slogan of another world is possible, local host's indonesia added the word "dignity." a new tally puts the combined cost of iraq and afghanistan war between $4 trillion and $6 trillion, the most expensive conflict in u.s. history. the figure from harvard bilmes ty's linda updates a previous study estimating a cost of $3 trillion. the study concludes the bulk of the war's cost has yet to be paid off, meaning their legacy "will dominate future of our budgets for decades to come." those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman

. >>> a former ku klux klan member apologized as he beat up john lewis.and the georgia congressman won an award for reconciliation. next, that moment remembered after his death. e night britta e about a tradition in denmark, "when a person dies," she said, "someone must open the window so the soul can depart." i smiled and squeezed her hand. "not tonight, britta. not tonight." [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. >>> a form ku klux klan member who later apologized for his racist was and violent beatings has died. back in 1961, elwin wilson beat up freedom rider john lewis in a south carolina bus station. 48 years later he wept as he apologized to congressman john lewis, and i spoke with wilson and lewis after the 2009 apology. >> i didn't think i'd ever see the day when i find out who i beat up at the bus station. my daddy always told me that a fool never changes his mind and a smart man changes his mind, and that's what i've done. >> lewis and wilson accepted the common ground award for reconciliation in 2009. he

. >>> a former ku klux klan member apologized as he beat up john lewis.he and the georgia congressman won an award for reconciliation. next, that moment remembered after his death. heyyy, you're going out like that? yeah, why? well, what would the neighbors think? i see you! c'mon, get mister feather! look what i have. mister bird. remember? quack quack quack! we're just playing! we're just playing! i'm trying to get you out of there! even still... announcer: you don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. there are thousands of teens in foster care who don't need perfection, they need you. >>> a form ku klux klan member who later apologized for his racist was and violent beatings has died. back in 1961, elwin wilson beat up freedom rider john lewis in a south carolina bus station. 48 years later he wept as he apologized to congressman john lewis, and i spoke with wilson and lewis after the 2009 apology. >> i didn't think i'd ever see the day when i find out who i beat up at the bus station. my daddy always told me that a fool never changes his mind

memphis park and health scientists park much to the chagrin of those opposed to the change like the ku klux klanlly in protest. civil war buffs say it is important to understand history and not censor history by removing its civils but for civil right advocates to give us an incomplete history of the civil war and our painful reminder of the racial violence that was also part of the confederacy. is it racist to celebrate confederate war symbols? facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me @carolcnn. d had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin,

murders of jaim cheney andrew goodman, and michael shruner were care rid out by members of the ku klux klanheriff's office, and the police. the killings sparked national outrage and helped spur the signing of the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 196 5. yet despite all of the attention this case received its history is somehow not filtering down to children in mississippi philadelphia coalition in 2004 in an effort to bring those responsible for the murders to justice. the coalition also educations new generations of mississippians about their history. he joins us tonight from jackson, mississippi. welcome to "the war room." >> thank you very much. >> michael: tell me a little bit about the philadelphia coalition. what are the goals of the coalition. >> it was threefold. acknowledge and recognition of what happened -- also it was also accepting that acknowledge, and us being able to move together and move forward as a community to say that you know, what was done in 1964 is wrong, and it needed to be righted. and our final goal was to make sure that our young people were

that's like calling the ku klux klan in the 19 twice in the south, oh, there were racial clashes in alabamalast night, 25 people were killed. it's not. violence, there may be retaliatory violence but the aggression is going one way. how many have been burned or attacked? to my knowledge zero. broad numbers of churches begin numbers of churches but again i do want to say that all muslims are attacking all christians or anything of this kind, but in terms of the violence it not -- it's not just a clash between two forces. radical islamists, and christians are one of the principal targets. >> one of the cases we talk about in the book is the massacre in october 11, and come in cairo. a group of copts that got together, mostly coptic youth they got together, some muslims, to protest the burning of churches that had been going on with the government failed to come to the rescue or to give them any protection. and the government set out to break up this protest by opening fire with live ammunition on the protesters and running them over with tanks. and the pictures are up on the internet today. t

african-american and they might not want to visit a park named for bedford former wizard of the can you ku klux klan. by now, i know a few of you are screaming at the confederacy quitting america to start their own country. it is about state's rights, right? of course it was. the state's rights to quit america to keep people livestock. under the old law slaves who couldn't vote counted as 3/5 of a person which allowed the southern states to have a disproportionate amount of representation. when america did away with this, it made some southern whites feel like they were being moved it the back of the bus. the state's rights argument is just what the rich slave-owning elite told the poor whites as they handed them uniforms and rifles to fight the yankees. under the 20 negro law slave owners with at least 20 piece of human property were exempt from military service. that, my friends is the real scandal and why this issue is still very contemporary because poor southern whites went to fight for the wealthy plantation owners sort of like underpaid kid rock fans canvassing for mitt romney. most southern

the ku klux klan is another manifestation to prevent black people, achieving economic and political independence. >> i am surprised the grandson and many of their descendants would be disappointed to find the truth is a far more fascinating story. he had memories of his father telling him, the grandson, and his sister this kind of story over the dining room table. but it's also a telling story because the idea that they hit origins in the native american tribe is something that comes up in history fairly often. henry louis gates jr., the eminent scholar of harvard has been getting a lot of work on the genealogy recently as well as dna analysis, and he says the data show that maybe 2% of african-american heritage is actually needed american in fact whereas in terms of the family stories it is much more prevalent. the explanation that he offers makes a lot of sense that is less painful for them to believe his or her ancestors were freed of americans said there is a kind of revealing psychology to the family oral history that is perpetrated by this particular family. >> do they know more about his

violence comes from many different forms and we don't say, for example, perpetrators members of the ku klux klanchristians to distance themselves and say that's not part of christianity, but we're equating falsely terrorism islam or muslims, we do deep damage to innocent people and we, i think, hurt the ability of -- >> do you think that equation has been made a lot in the last few days? >> i think that -- >> i feel like it's been largely better than, i think people have been very careful with some real notable exceptions about that. >> i think that's exactly right and that's actually where i was going is that we have been more responsible right now, and that is the exact right approach, but that must not change regardless of who the perpetrator is. >> don, let me just show you this chart real quick, gun deaths versus terrorist deaths. when you look at that chart, think about where our priorities are, what we think about as a society that we need to guard against to secure people, like, does that match to what the priorities and resources of the federal government, for instance, are? >> well, if

it's been nearly 50 years since four young girls were killed after members of the ku klux klan bombedbirmingham alabama church where they were worshipping. the pictures of these four girls puts a devastating new face on the country's racial terrorisms. today in washington, the house of representatives will move one step closer to posthumously awarding them with the congressional gold medal. joining mess is congresswoman terry sewell, also joining me is diane braddock, the sister of carol robertson, one of the girls who was killed in that bombing. ladies, good morning. congresswoman, i want to start with you. explain how this measure came about to want to move ahead with this ceremony? >> you know, it's a long overdue recognition, in this the 50th anniversary year, the alabama delegation came together, both republicans and democrats, we thought it was very important and befitting that we acknowledge and honor the lives of addie mae, carol, cynthia, as well as denise mcnair. so that's what we wanted to do. it's the 50th anniversary, a long time overdue. i'm just honored that dianswer an

sent behind lines and allowed to stay in columbia, tennessee, and he would eventually run the ku klux klan out of murray county but sarah polk, i've heard, somehow, kept him from going to union prison camps when any other confederate prisoner would have been sent to union prison camps. i heard she was afforded power because the union people just respected her so much. >> heath, thank you. i'm going to jump in because our time is short and it's important to say james k. polk announced he would be a one-term president and we will get to your question because the civil war does come and sarah polk is a widow. how long does james k. polk live after leaving the white house. >> three months. >> three months. and so what happens to sarah polk and especially during the civil war? >> she becomes a widow. she wore widows weave for the next 42 years until she died practically at the age of 88 and the house they purchased and fixed up for retirement was a shrine for her husband. she was reclusive, only went to church,but received people. during the civil war, she did not take sides. the mayor came to

justice was long delayed because it wasn't until 37 years later on may 18, 2000, that all four ku klux klan members who planted the bomb were finally brought to justice for their crimes. these innocent girls lost their lives much too young. addie mae collins, 14, was a reserved and sweet little girl. she liked for people to be at peace around her, they said. denise mcnair, 11 years old, was a living and friendly child who already exhibited a take-charge and generous spirit. helping others as she went along the way. carole robertson, 14, was a vivacious young girl who was an avid reader and played the clarinet in the band. cynthia wesley, 14, was an honor student who enjoyed playing the saxophone in her school band and on that fateful sunday was going to be her first day serving as an usher in church. although there are many individuals and events of the civil rights movement that rightly are worthy of recognition, the selection of the four little girls was emblematic of so many who sacrificed and lost their lives for the cause of freedom. medgar evers, emits till, jimmy lee jackson, as well

there was the gruesome, inhumane and consistent acts by the ku klux klan. the act of terrorism that devastated the neighbors. the 16th street baptist church, killing four precious little girls. or the holm city bombing that left 168 people dead and hundreds more injured and on and on throughout our history. each of these events had different responses and outcomes. certainly 9/11 was the moment that america at large recognized we were thrust onto a broader terrorist stage. an age that demand new responses. and it was president george w. bush who cast what was possible in black and white with the mentality of either you're with us or you're against us. that's not to say there should have been leniency for, or there should have been no sort of response to what happened in boston, but 12 years after 9/11 it should be known the way we respond to terror may in fact require multiple shades of gray. at my table is bob herbert, senior fellow at the left leaning organization. and executive producer of moral courage television. james carrafono and david ziron, who is

on the air in 1970 the only radio station in the country whose transmitter was blown up by the ku klux klan klan. they went on for a few weeks and they blew the trend -- transmitter to smithereens. the silver lining was that it is not as if pacific and had the money to advertise the station but it blew it into the consciousness of there back on their feet to rebuild the transmitter and the klan blew it up again and to remember the results of the band a dragon or the cyclops but he understood how dangerous independent media is because it allows people to speak for themselves. when you hear a palestinian child or israeli grandmother , an uncle from afghanistan telling their story and makes more difficult to caricature or stereotype. it begins the process of understanding to find common ground. you don't have to agree. how often do we agree with family? but you understand where they're coming from. i believe the media to be the greatest force for peace on earth instead all too often used as a weapon of war and that has to be challenged. >> host: one more question from amanda. >> guest: i don't

if you're going for the ku klux klan you don't look in harlem.or islamist jihaddists you have to go into the muslim community, make whatever contacts you have, if it turns out certain mosques are being radical find out what is going on in the mosques. martha: thank you. we'll see you soon. bill: a tiny in texas known as west was rocked by a huge explosion. what residents are being told about possibly returning to home based on wh is left there and what is being done to figure out how this happened. bill: more residents in the town of west, texas now being allowed to go back to their homes, what is left of them, anyway after last week's deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant killed 14, injured more than 200 others there. our boston affiliate back live on the scene there with more today. how is the re-entry process going now for so many? >> reporter: good morning, bill. it's slow. two of three zones have been opened up by authorities here, so over the weekend folks started to go in to see what was left of their homes. the damage really ranges, you'

no different than having the ku klux klan claiming to represent christianity. >> appreciate your timer. >> an honor, sir. >>> as the people in boston mourn the dead and tend to the wou wou wounded, they are also starting the process of moving on. i'll talk about what they're doing now, how they're going to go about doing that. and some are suggesting what happened in boston should cause congress to slow down things on immigration reform. we'll take a look at the connection straight ahead. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. >>> the patience and cooperation of our residents of this area have been a critical factor in the success of law enforcement's investigation and will be equally important as the city works to reclaim and restore our history. >> that was boston mayor tom menino, moments ago, reopening copley square there. of course, the square has been closed ever since last monday, when those bombs went off at the end of the boston marathon. you know what, we're going to actually dip in right now. i think we can dip in and listen a little bit later. i understand the mayo

sent behind lines and allowed to stay in columbia, tennessee, and he would eventually run the ku klux klanut of murray county but sarah polk, i've heard, somehow, kept him from going to union prison camps when any other confederate prisoner would have been sent to union prison camps. powerd she was afforded because the union people just respected her so much. >> heath, thank you. i'm going to jump in because our time is short and it's to say james k. polk announced he would be a one-term president and we will get to because the civil war does come and sarah polk is a widow. how long does james k. polk live after leaving the white house. >> three months. >> three months. and so what happens to sarah polk and especially during the civil war? >> she becomes a widow. she wore widows weave for the next 42 years until she died practically at the age of 88 and the house they purchased and fixed up for retirement was a shrine for her husband. she was reclusive, only went to church,but received people. during the civil war, she did not take sides. saidayor came to her and the union is coming into t

he was interested in joining the ku klux klan. his band rehearsed in front of the nazi flag.re much about wade. >> clearly a form of domestic terror whether it met the specific, you know, law enforcement definition, he pulls up outside the temple and just starting mowing people down with a semi-automatic pistol and eventually killed himself. on prime time on fox i went back and looked. basically no discussion of it. a couple of passing references. but then on the five, on the fox show the five, there were actually complaining. one of the hosts said andrea tanner torah, how do you stop a lunatic? this is not a political issue. when people go on shooting rampages or specifically right wing nuts, extremists go on shooting rampages, the response is how do you possibly stop a lunatic? when a muslim on fox, you know, is accused of an act of terror, fox news definitely knows how you're supposed to stop that lunatic and they're definitely interested in assigning political blame. so they have two completely standard they used and two complete program choices they used. one, shooters a

it's the only radio station in the country whose transmitter was blown up by the ku klux klan. they went on for a few weeks and based the trends and blew it to smithereens. to advertise the new station certainly put into the consciousness. i can't remember if it was the exulted cyclops because a confuse the title but of the proudest fact and they understood how dangerous independent media is. they were allowed to speak for themselves and when they hear it palestinian children and other and an uncle from afghanistan telling their story it makes it much more difficult to character or stereotype. it begins the process of understanding of finding common ground. how often do we agree with our family members. but research to understand where they are coming from. instead, it is all too often as a weapon of war and i think that has to be challenged. >> host: one more question from amanda. >> guest: i don't know if i said the name of jeremy. jeremy and i went to nigeria. i almost -- so jeremy was a producer with democracy malcolm and then he wrote the book the world's most powerful mer

the air in the spring of 1970 and it is the only radio station's transmitter was blown up by the ku klux klan. they blew the transmitter to smithereens. silver lining of this was that it's not that pacifica had the money to advertise this new station. they blew it into the consciousness of the potential listening audience. i got back on their feet, they rebuilt their transmitter and the clan blew it up again. i cannot remember the title. but they said it was because we understood how dangerous the independent media is. dangerous because it allows people speak for themselves. when you hear a palestinian child or an aunt or uncle from afghanistan telling her story, makes it much more difficult to character or stereotype. he begins the process of understanding and finding common ground. you don't have to agree. but you start to understand where they are coming from. i believe the media can be the greatest force for peace on earth. but it is wielded all too often as a weapon of war and i think that has to be challenged. >> host: one more question. >> guest: jeremy was a producer with "democracy n

training that evangelical christians and mormons were list together with hamas, al-qaeda and the ku klux klanligious beliefs, is under religious extremist and they're all the same. if you can't make distinctions between mormons and al-qaeda, how can you fight to protect the united states from crazy people? >> well, that's a great point, but the other thing is, tucker, remember, this pentagon also has issued express orders to commanders for the first time ever that they can't even disclose aperfected accessible programs under the chapel's office. so of we've got a two step process, one relates to faith at all where you can't even talk about it, but secondly, we're putting the groups that support faith situations, we're putting them in the category of extremist groups and that's just wrong. we put a provision in, the defense bill that would protect it and the secretary couldn't give us an answer whether they're going to enforce it or not. we're attacked by extremists and lose our religious liberty. that's unfair, congressman, appreciate it. >> thanks, have a great day. >> tucker: more "fox & fr

and stopping violence that we know about, like the fbi used undercover agents to infiltrate the ku klux klann the 1960's. and the black panthers. it is a real dilemma for a democratic society. if we believe madison, to bring all these groups into the open and rather than send police into the groups. host: from our democratic line -- kathy is in wyoming. what is the role of protest groups and the political conversation? caller: the role is exactly what they are supposed to be doing. they are saying we are the people. the government is supposed to be working for us, not corporations, not the military- industrial complex. they are working for us, the people. they are supposed to be standing beside us, the people. the people are crying out and begging them to understand, we do not want to be -- military bases all over this globe. we have over 700 bases. and we are infiltrating everything and everybody that we can because we are paying the corporations that run the military-industrial complex. we are supporting them. we're not supporting the people. we should not be telling everybody. and all of