mark potok, you had his group on the radar since 2000.talk about the organizations he was a part of >> he describes in the year 2000, essentially entering the white supremacist scene, talking about leaving colorado on his motorcycle with just what he could carry on the bike. essentially, heading out into the world these white power rock-and-roll bands. late in some very well-known bands, a band called blue-eyed devils, one called intimidation one. these are well known on the racist scene. in 2005, he went on to form his own band, which was called in that apathy. i think that is significant because he give an interview a couple of years ago in which he talked about the name of the band. essentially said what he was saying was the white supremacist scene was, a lot of people talked a lot and did not do anything at all. it is a common complaint to hear from people in that world. essentially, i think it's predicted what ultimately he did. the mass murder he carried out. >> don walker, in milwaukee, you have a very comprehensive profile of his

let's turn tonight to mark potok, southern poverty law center.ood to have you with us on "the ed show" this evening. your group has been reported tracking wade michael page for a decade. tracking him. what does that mean? >> well, basically, what it means is that we noticed him when he joined the white power music scene. in the year 2000, it turns out, he left his native state of colorado on his motorcycle, as he told one interview on a white supremacist website out there and basically headed into the music scene. he started to act as lead singer and guitarist for a number of these different of these hate rock 'n' roll groups. some of them very well known groups, groups like intimidation one and another group called blue eyed devils. what in some ways was most interesting was when in 2005 he started his own group, this group was called end apathy. and in an interview with white supremacist website, he talked about that end apathy meant. and basically what he was saying is people in the white supremacist world talk a lot but don't act much. and he

. >>> now, mark potok, senior fellow at the southern poverty law center. membership in two racist skin headbands. mr. potok joins me now. what have you learned about this man in the years you've been tracking him? >> well, basically, he is a guy who describes leaving his home state of colorado with all his belongings packed on to a motorcycle in the year 2000. and at that point, he goes directly into the white power music scene out there. he starts to play with racist rock and roll bands around the country. he played with several very well-known bands. bands like intimidation one and blue eyed devils as a lead guitarist and vocalist. ultimately in 2005 page started his own band which he called, i think significantly, end apathy. he gave an interview several years ago to a particular white supremacist website in which he talked about the name of the band. and basically explained it as a message to his colleagues, his fellows in the white supremacist world, essentially saying "we've got to act now." he really didn't go into any detail. he didn't talk specifi

mark potok joins me tonight. >>> good to have you with us. thanks for watching.ave a new public enemy number one and his name is harry reid. the senate majority leader started a firestorm in washington last week when he said he had a source that told him that mitt romney didn't pay any taxes for ten years. the chairman of the republican party kept the fire burning on the talking heads. >> i'm not going to respond to a dirty liar who hasn't filed a single page of tax returns himself, complains about people with money but lives in the ritz-carlton here down the street. so if that's on the agenda, i'm not going to go there. >> across the airwaves, republicans could not contain their outrage over what harry reid said. >> what he did on the floor of the senate is so out of bounds, i think he's lying about his statement. >> this is obama's modus operandi.

i think this is accelerating, not decelerating. >> some harrowing words from mark potok. secret service investigating after fighter jets were scrambled during president obama's visit to connecticut. take a look. this is amateur video of two f-15 fighter jets intercepting a small plane that is gone into the president's air space over long island. the pilot was escorted to the ground and questioned. half an hour later, another small plane was intercepted. this one near new haven, connecticut, that plane was allowed to continue to its final destination. >>> a raging fire at an oil refinery in california burned through the night. a huge cloud of black smoke has been flowing from the chevron facility since the fire started after 6:00 p.m. health officials are warning people to stay indoors or get out of the area. >> you have to worry about the air quality there. >>> firefighters in oklahoma reporting some progress in battling stubborn wildfires. a fire in the town of curbing has been contained. more than a dozen fires have scorched 100,000 acres. one woman died and 120 homes h

n rk potok, who tracks hate groups for the southern poverty law center, calls page a frustrated neo-nazi who had connections to multiple racist leganizations. >> my sense is that we are not talking about someone who was on the fringes of the scene but really someone who was in the usick of the white supremacist world and especially music epord. >> reporter: sources say several years ago federal officials came across page's name as they ignducted various investigations but page himself was never a target and no intelligence prcles suggesting page posed any threat. special agent terese carlson is running the temple shooting stvestigation for the f.b.i.. >> we had no reason to believe kn far as i know, no law enforcement had any reason to believe that he was planning or plotting or capable of such violence. >> reporter: page did have a minor police record-- convictions for criminal mischief and arrests for driving under the influence. and he was demoted then discharged from the army in 1998 for being drunk on duty and absent without leave. but whatever led up to sunday's deadly assault appa

army may have been involved in the plot joining me now to talk more about this is mark potok spokesperson for the southern poverty law center editor in chief of the s.p.l. sees intelligence report and eight watch blogs and gary berntsen president and of the concerned veterans of america thank you both for joining me tonight marc if i could start with you back if in the early days my recollection is the very early days of the obama administration a report which had been commissioned during the bush administration about the possible. the of domestic terrorism occurring in the united states was issued and it mentioned the possibility of domestic terrorism being fomented within the united states military and there was this big her fall fall and a lot of the conservative right wing talk radio just went nuts about it and i think d.h. has polled it or at least stop talking about it. what is the nature of what is the state of this. well first of all the t.h.s. report at that time i think what it really said was that extremists on the far right but were interested in recruiting people coming back

we're also speaking with mark potok of the southern poverty law center.ite supremacist and hate groups for a long time. latest on that front. certainly we're not going to ignore politics. and the latest name-calling that's been going on between president obama and mitt romney a romney hood versus obamalony. representatives from both cams will join us together for a serious debate. that's coming up in our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour as well. we're not going to ignore syria by the way. we'll go there. ben on the ground for us in a very dangerous suation happening right now in aleppo. we'll cover that story as well. so as usual, all the important news coming up right here in "the situation room." >> as usual. a packed show, wolf. i'll be watching. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> shock and loss this afternoon for members of a missouri mosque. this is the image that followers had of their mosque in joplin over the weekend. but come monday this is what they saw. a fire destroyed the building turning it into ashes, soot and charred rubble. our gary tuchman is in jop

. >> mark potok, thank you for joining us tonight. >>> coming up, it's the most advanced spacecraft everlanet. and a shining example of what government can do. astronomer derrick pitts will fill us in on the rover curiosity. stay tuned. okay, here's the plan. you have a plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my mother was so wrong about you. next, we get priority boarding on our flight i booked with miles. all because of the card. and me. okay, what's the plan? plan? mm-hmm. we're on vacation. this is no plan. really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with special perks on united. get it and you're in. >>> tonight in our verva, i asked you, is harry reid telling the truth about his source? 97% of you say yes. 3% of you say no. >>> still to come, a big moment for nasa today. astronomer derrick pitts will tell us what nasa hopes to accomplish with the mars curiosity rover. don't forget to listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. follow me on twitt

mark potok of the southern poverty law center says his group has been tracking the alleged white supremacistght. >>> good to have you with us. thanks for watching. good to be back with you. republicans have a new public enemy number one and his name is harry reid. the senate majority leader started a firestorm in washington last week when he said he had a source that told him mitt romney didn't pay any taxes for ten years. the chairman of the republican party kept the fire burning on the talking heads. >> i'm not going to respond to a dirty liar who hasn't filed a single page of tax ret

. >> more from mark potok now. mark, thanks very much for coming in. lay out for us the real influence -- the impact if you will, of this kind of music like those lyrics we just heard from the shooter, wade michael page? what's the impact potentially on young americans? you've studied the impact of the music on these white supremacist groups. >> well, what we found basically, wolf, is that this is probably the number one recruiting mechanism for bringing young people, generally teenagers, into the movement. typically what we see is kids getting interested perhaps because it's such a forbidden topic. and taking a look at this music or really taking a listen through their computers. the kind of into the world that way in a very private way almost like looking through a peek booth. but then the day comes when at least some percentage of those kids actually goes to a skinhead concert. and it's at that point typically that they are recruited. so the music is very important for bringing younger people into the movement. it's also very important because it re

here's what mark potok of the southern poverty law center told me in "the situation room" yesterday.> i really don't see any fault in law enforcement in this. i don't see how they might have prevented it. you know, there are just a number of people out there and some tiny percentage of them will ultimately act on those beliefs, but when they're lone wolf terrorists like this fella, page, it's almost impossible to predict. >> law enforcement always worried about first amendment rights. you can say anything you want. the question is, do you cross the line? >> yeah. in this case, in the case of wade michael page, it looks like he didn't cross the line. indications of major nadal hasan was in touch with the yemen american cleric in yemen and anwar to kill soldiers and i think in that case the fbi should have taken the pro-active stance. by the time he was in touch in asking for this kind of advice. but mistakes are made. obviously first amendment rights are very important to protect. >> peter bergen, as usual, thanks very much. >> thank you, wolf. >>> voters in some all-important swing s

. >> tomorrow, mark potok examines hate groups in the u.s. dan stein talks about the obama administration's plan for a reprieve on deportations. and joshua discusses his book the 18 day running mate. "washington journal" is at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. next, a discussion about the 2012 campaign. then a forum on state voter i.d. laws. and then a panel on voter rights by the end -- naacp. >> sunday, look for our interview with andrew nagorski. >> i had no idea about the experiences of people who were my predecessors in berlin. despite all of the comments, i have not spent a lot of time thinking, what would it have been like to have been a correspondent in the 20's 130's. how would you have operated? what would you have noticed? >> sunday at 8:00 on c-span's q&a. >> now i discussion about the mood of the american electorate. two pollsters offered their latest results at the annual legislative summit in chicago. you will hear from neil newhouse and peter hart. this is just under an hour. e certainly live in interesting times. the enomy, the el