PoliticsNation, Friday, October 25th, 2013

POLITICS NATION
October 25, 2013
Guest: Jim McDermott, Ed Rendell, Michael Eric Dyson, Goldie Taylor, James
Peterson


REV. AL SHARPTON, POLITICS NATION HOST: Good evening, Ed. And thanks
to you for tuning in. I`m live from Los Angeles tonight. Tonight`s lead,
still mongering (ph) over ObamaCare. Creepy Uncle Sam is back and so is
creepy Uncle Ted. Remember those anti-healthcare ads? The ones founded by
the billionaire Koch brothers trying to scare young people to opt out of
healthcare? Will they`ve returned to the small screen? And this time
they`re Halloween themed.

And while creepy Uncle Sam is trick or treating in these new ads, Ted
Cruz is trick or treating out in Iowa. It`s his third trip to the key 2016
state. Later tonight he`s expected to receive a hero`s welcome at the
annual Reagan dinner. And here`s a cliff notes version of what to expect
from his speech. More fear mongering and more lies about Obamacare. It`s
driving his party into free fall. But they don`t seem to care.

Today, we learned they may vote again to delay Obamacare. This comes
as Congressman Darrell Issa is threatening to subpoena records about the
health care Web site. So are we supposed to believe this party is all of a
sudden interested in making the health care law work? Aren`t they the same
votes that held 46 votes against the Affordable Care Act? The group that
tried to shut the government down 16 times over it. And that`s trying to
terrify people about the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Men and women have looked me in the eyes
saying I`m scared for this country. I`m scared for my kids. I`m scared
for my grand kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds of e-mails and phone calls expressing
real fears from folks about Obamacare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Businesses hate it. Individuals fear it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fear is that only the sick will pay to join
the exchange.

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Which health care
plan will you afford so you can see your doctors? This is what keeps
doctors awake at night, fearful that life is not going to work out the way
they hoped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: What`s scary is that this crusade of his isn`t about the
health care law. It`s about scoring cheap political points. Even creepy
Uncle Sam knows that.

Joining me now is Jim McDermott, Democrat from Washington and Melissa
Harris-Perry, host of "the Melissa Harris-Perry."

Thank you both for coming on the show today.

MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY, MSNBC ANCHOR, MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY SHOW: Nice
to be here.

SHARPTON: Congressman McDermott, let me start with you. Why is the
GOP trying to scare the American public about this law?

MCDERMOTT: Well, they were scaring the American public for the last
three years. They took a short break while they shut the government down
and made such a mess in the country that they`ve now got to go back to
their same old tune and hope that they can scare the American people into
voting for Republicans. How you do that by telling people that they
shouldn`t get health insurance for their children or for their family or
for themselves is beyond me.

It is a crazy message they`re trying to push on the American people.
They`re doing it because they don`t want Obama to have any success at all.
If it gets him which is getting in a lots of places, it is going to be the
lasting legacy for the presidency and it will be a legacy for the
Democratic Party. And we`ll move forward fixing it just as we`ve done with
Medicare and Social Security and all the others.

SHARPTON: Melissa, you know, what is interesting is we found out
yesterday that even though Senator Cruz has been railing against the
Affordable Care Act every chance he get, he also has been trying to pretend
he`s a populist. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: Millionaires and billionaires are doing just great. I think
one of the, in fact, the biggest lie in politics is the lie the Republicans
are the party of the rich. The American people are hurting. This is a
difficult time. Look, the very rich, they`re doing fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: So he likes to pretend he`s this populist. But yesterday
we learned he gets his own personal health care from his wife`s Goldman
Sachs plan. It`s a Cadillac plan at that. It`s worth $20,000. Now, to
put that in perspective, a Texan working a full-time minimum wage job just
makes $15,080.

HARRIS-PERRY: Yes. Look, I think part of what`s going on here is a
surprise about what the Republican Party is. So, I think Ted Cruz is not
completely wrong when he makes that point that they are not necessarily the
party of the wealthy. And all that I mean by that is that the tea party
arm of the Republican Party now is actually making policies. And it is
behaving in a way that is, in fact, not good for the economic engines of
Wall Street, of health insurance plans, of kind of all of these sort big
economic interests that we normally would have seen a Republican party
bowing to.

So, let`s just take, for example, the Medicaid expansion in the
states. Look. Many private hospitals, many doctors and physicians, and
much of sort of the economy of many of these states would prefer for those
Republican governors to take the Medicaid expansion because they want to be
able to serve those additional people. So what we do see is not so much
populism, but a kind of ideological rigidity that says we don`t care if it
hurts people. We are just going to have a very strong and consistent
stands that we want government to be so ineffective, so incapable of doing
anything that it can`t even help people who need the most help.

SHARPTON: Well, that`s true, but Congressman, part of the reason I
played that tape is that they have energized a lot of this tea party crowd
with this I`m one of you guys, the millionaires and billionaires. Like
they`re over there, when, in fact, a lot of those tea party members don`t
know they are personally, I`m talking about family wise, connected to
Goldman Sachs and others that some of these tea partiers are anti some of
the policies that have benefited these businesses. Nothing wrong with
these businesses. Nothing wrong with your family being involved, but you
can`t do this and that. You have to do one or the other. You can`t rail
against things when you know you are, in fact, part of that.

MCDERMOTT: Goldman Sachs was part of the junta that drove us over the
cliff in 2007 that President Obama has been helping us get out of the hole
they dug. And for him to be taking his health care from Goldman Sachs and
then talking like he`s just one of the folks is simply, it`s laughable. I
don`t know how he can do it with a straight face. It really doesn`t make
any sense at all.

SHARPTON: That`s my point.

And also Melissa, another thing that I`m very interested in is that
they`ve been all over this myth that the healthcare.gov Web site cost $634
million. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You pick any big business. If they
spend $634 million and it failed this dramatically, why wouldn`t that
person be fired?

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: That Web site, by the way, the
original projected cost $93 million. The end cost, $643 million. I kid
you not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: American taxpayers have spent over $600 million
on a system that isn`t working.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At some point Democrats will say we screwed up.
We spent 600 million bucks of your money. We had plenty of time to do it,
and we blew it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Now, even though the right wingers are saying this cost
$634 million, the non-partisan sun life foundation says the cost is
estimated at $70 million. So here you are almost ten times more projecting
an amount ten times more than the estimate of a non-partisan group. More
of this scare tactics, more of this trying to brush the whole effort around
Obamacare to be outrageous and outsized in terms of what they really are.

HARRIS-PERRY: Look. I mean, healthcare.gov has some real problems.
Right? That is one of the things that the administration stood up, took
responsibility for. I mean, we`ve seen this administration over and over
again behave in a way that we would expect appropriate responsible adult
elected officials to behave which is when the president starts down a road
and then says you know what, I think something is wrong here as we saw
Syria and he backed up and did work with the national coalition and he
didn`t work with his own Congress. We know in this case they have said
very clearly we`ve made some mistakes around healthcare.gov. Here is our
plan for how we are going to address those.

But there`s an enormous difference between talking about the health
care Web site and talking about the health care law. And so what`s
happened at this point is that Republicans and conservative commentators
have put those two things together. And said because there are technical
glitches on a Web site, that is a failure of the policy. And that is
simply intellectually as well as, you know, as sort of politically
dishonest.

SHARPTON: Congressman, don`t you feel that they`re trying to use the
glitches in a way we had glitches when they had Medicaid under Mr. Bush
moving forward. We clearly say that it was wrong, whatever happened in
terms of glitches. But aren`t they trying to make that the issue rather
than getting health care to the people that need it?

MCDERMOTT: You know, the biggest problem, Reverend, is this. In this
day and age everybody expects everything to happen right now. They punch a
button, they expect something to happen right now. And they have no
patience, whatsoever. It takes awhile to get something like this started.
When they put Social Security together, they had 21 million people in this
country that they had to give a number to. And the guy came back and said
I can`t do it. They said yes, you can, go back do it.

We have a functioning Social Security system in this country that had
all the problems at the beginning that this one had. Except they didn`t
have computers. And so, my belief is that in two or three months, you`re
not going to remember what was going on in October.

SHARPTON: Well, the patience you`re talking about is the patience I
again say that they asked us to have through the Medicaid under Bush.
Seems like maybe we should play some of their tapes to them.

Congressman McDermott and Melissa Harris-Perry, thank you both for
your time tonight.

And catch Melissa Harris-Perry weekends at 10:00 a.m. eastern right
here on MSNBC.

Ahead, President Obama throws down the gauntlet to Paul Ryan and the
other Republican who want to cut the budget instead of creating jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This obsession with
cutting just for the sake of cutting hasn`t helped our economy grow. It`s
held it back. Don`t tell me we can afford to shut down the government
which costs our government billions of dollars, but we can afford to invest
in our education systems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Plus the GOP`s Jesse Helms problem is back in a big way. A
top Republican is exposing the truth about their so-called minority
outreach.

Plus, Rush Limbaugh is hopping mad about the color pink. We`ll tell
you why he`s seeing red. And why some women may be pretty upset.

And friend or foe, I want to know. "Reply Al" is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Republicans are focused on cuts. President Obama`s focused
on jobs. Today he threw down the gauntlet for the next big fight in
Washington. That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: By the way, I just said it on the lesson called real world
math which got me thinking whether it`s too late to send Congress here for
a remedial course, but --.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: President Obama cracking a joke while giving a speech on
the economy today at a high school in New York City. He was setting the
stage for the next big budget fight in Congress calling for a new
investment in jobs and ripping Republicans for making cuts their top
priority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This obsession with cutting just for the sake of cutting
hasn`t helped our economy grow. It`s held it back. Don`t tell me we can
afford to shut down the government which costs our economy billions of
dollars, but we can`t afford to invest in our education systems. There`s
nothing more important than this. That`s a message worth sending to
Washington. No more games. No more gridlock. No more gutting the things
that help American grow and give people the tools to make something of
themselves. That`s what this is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: The president wants to build the economy. But the GOP is
determined to gut the safety net. Congressman Paul Ryan can`t wait to
start hacking away at these vital programs saying, quote, "if I can reform
entitlement programs where the savings compound annually, that is more
valuable for reducing the debt than a one-time spending cut." Make no
mistake, when a Republican like Ryan says reform, what he really means is
cut. And the allies over at FOX are doing all they can to help with a new
series demonizing the poor called "entitlement nation."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States has spent $3.7 trillion on
welfare programs over the last five years. Do numbers like this suggest
that America`s on the road towards socialism?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Helping the poor isn`t a road to socialism. It`s doing
what`s right.

Joining me now is E.J. Dionne, "the Washington Post" writer. Thanks
for coming on tonight.

E.J. DIONNE, COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good to be with you,
Reverend.

SHARPTON: E.J., after all we`ve been through, how can Republicans
justify cutting even more from the safety net?

DIONNE: WELL, you know, you talk about the effect of all these cuts
on the economy. If we keep this sequester going with all these deep cuts
in it, the congressional budget office did a request to Chris Van Hollen
did a report and we could be throwing away 1.6 million jobs. That`s at a
moment when we need jobs.

If you look at some of the specific things they`ve done, particularly
in the food stamp program, the food stamp program is in many ways the most
bipartisan program we have. It was created in alliance between Bob Dole
and George McGovern after a series in one particular documentary on CBS
about hunger in America. And it`s worked. So why throw 3.8 million people
off food stamps when the unemployment rate is still over seven percent?
These are the kinds of cuts that have to be fought because they are bad for
people, but also they are not good for the economy. Food stamps have a
multiplier effect in promoting growth. So we got to keep both those things
in our head at the same time and resist some of these cuts.

SHARPTON: I suppose, E.J., it also is about how one looks at the role
of government and what is important in our society. Because let me show
you, the what president talked about the importance of helping out the most
vulnerable in our country. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We should be doing everything to keep families from falling
into poverty and build more ladders of opportunity to help those climb out
of poverty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Now, these are things we rarely hear the Republicans or the
right wingers talk about.

DIONNE: Right. Where in fact, right home, the great theologian said
the real job of politics is to try to promote justice in a sinful world.
We know this is an imperfect world we live in. And we know each of us is
not as generous as we should be and that is why we establish some of these
programs. We got together and said people in our country should not fall
below a certain standard. A kid should not be punished just because he`s
born into a poor family. And government is the one means we have for doing
this.

You could not cover what the government does for poor people with all
the money we give to private charity in a year. God bless all those
private charities say do great work. But they can`t provide food for
everybody. They can`t provide health care above all.

SHARPTON: You know, there`s not just a war on the poor. What is
outraging to me is now FOX News is going after kids. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who says there`s no such thing free lunch. Some
schools in Florida plan to give out meals free, free of charge and sending
taxpayers the bill.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes kids more fat and it also has the
effect of making families deprives them of their ability and privilege to
enjoy of providing for their own children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: You know, more than 16 million children in this country
don`t get enough food on a regular basis. And she`s arguing that they`re
getting fat? I mean, this is outrageous. This is really outrageous, E.J.

DIONNE: I totally agree with you. It`s actually the opposite of
what`s true. The whole point of the school lunch program is to serve kids
healthy meals. Not meals that make them fat. And the kids on the school
feeding programs are kids who may not have breakfast when they go to
school. If you`re not well fed, if you go to school hungry how are you
going to learn? And that`s why we establish these programs.

And you know, why always focus on cutting things that are there for
the poorest people in our country, why is the focus there? Yes, there can
be more efficiencies in government, but cutting the poor in this way is not
the way to make the government or our country more efficient.

SHARPTON: No doubt about it, E.J. Thanks for mentioning (INAUDIBLE)
immoral man and immoral side. It was one of the first books I had to read
in civil rights.

Thanks for your time tonight and have a great weekend.

DIONNE: Great to be with you. Thank you.

SHARPTON: Ahead, Ted Cruz recently said we need 100 more like Jesse
Helms in the Senate. Well, tonight another top Republican is honoring him.

Plus, Dick Cheney is slamming President Obama over the bin Laden raid?
Nice try, but we`re about to get you.

And Sarah Palin`s conspiracy theory about a fainting woman is
spreading. Yes. We`ll show you who`s believing it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Who is the last person who should be giving any opinion on
President Obama`s foreign policy? Just think for a second. Any guesses?
It`s this guy. Former vice president Dick Cheney.

In an interview with a right wing radio host, he was asked about the
competence level of the White House. This was his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the
incompetence of this administration in the way they`ve handled these kinds
of affairs especially in the Middle East is one of the worst aspects of
this presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: The incompetence of this administration? This should have
been his answer. I pass. Next question. Why? Because Dick Cheney has
zero credibility on Mideast affairs. This is the guy who scammed America
into an Iraq war with false claims. The guy who brought diplomacy to new
lows and tarnished America`s image. So he`s not allowed to talk about
competence. The host then asked about the, quote, "victory dance" that
occurred after bin Laden was killed. This was Cheney`s response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHENEY: Well, my concern about the way bin Laden was handled, one, I
was glad they got him. Two, they needed to recognize as some have although
he never really has, all the work that was done by our Intel professionals
over a period of ten years to make that possible. And the other thing was
that by going public the way they did, they lost, I am convinced, some
opportunities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: So the guy that couldn`t get bin Laden is now criticizing
the president that did? And he`s talking about the work of our
professionals. I got to hand it to you Mr. Cheney, that takes some brass.
But when you`re talking about a victory dance, does this one ring a bell?
So, again, next time you get that question, just take a pass.

Did you think we wouldn`t notice that you`re the last person on earth
who should be talking about foreign policy? Nice try, but how`s this for
mission accomplished? Because we got you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: So what are your Friday night plans? Dinner? Maybe a
movie? Well, if you`re the Republican Governor of North Carolina Pat
McCrory, here`s what you`re doing.

Honoring Jesse Helms. Tonight Pat McCrory will be attending the 25th
anniversary of the Jesse Helms Center. Yes, that Jesse Helms. The late
North Carolina senator was notorious for his racially charged rhetoric. He
supported segregation. He called civil rights the single most dangerous
piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It was taking liberties away from one group of
citizens and giving them to another. I thought it was bad legislation
then. And I have had nothing to change my mind about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: And tonight, North Carolina`s Governor Pat McCrory is
honoring him. Honoring him the same week the national Republican Party
opened a new African-American outreach office in the state of North
Carolina. Amazing. This shows the problem the GOP has right now. Then
party pretends the reach out to minority voters but then supports
Republican leaders who says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: The very first political contribution I
ever made in my life was to Jesse Helms. When I was a kid, I sent $10 to
Jesse Helms. The willingness to say all those crazy things is a rare, rare
characteristic in this town. And you know what? It`s every bit as true
now as it was then, we need a hundred more like Jesse Helms in the U.S.
Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: A hundred more like Jesse Helms. And the people pulling
the strings behind the scenes, people like former Senator Jim DeMint now
the head of the Heritage Foundation, say this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JIM DEMINT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Jesse Helms was my kind of
conservative. He was tough. Wasn`t afraid to say what he was thinking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Jesse Helms may have been his kind of conservative, but he
isn`t most Americans` idea of progress. So you can`t claim to be for
outreach and support this vision for America. Actions speak louder than
words.

Joining me are Ed Rendell and Michael Eric Dyson. Thank you both for
being here.

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Reverend.

FMR. GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Rev, good evening.

SHARPTON: Michael, what do you make of the governor of North Carolina
honoring Jesse Helms tonight?

DYSON: Well, you know Reverend, this is a matter of the Republican
Party in North Carolina showing its true colors. Jesse Helms as you
indicated was an unreconstructed southern conservative, he was a man who
fostered in full minute all kinds of controversy because of his
identification with the confederacy. He filibustered for some 16, you
know, hours against the adoption of Martin Luther King, Jr.`s birthday as a
national holiday. Here was a man who was in the fundamental sense opposed
to the best interest of not only African-American people but this nation in
terms of its civil rights progress.

As Dr. King relentlessly pointed out, civil rights was not only good
for African-American people, it was good for the nation. It made us feel
closer to the line of our commitment to democracy. And as a result of
that, it helped not only black people but all of America in trying to come
together as e pluribus unum out of many ones. So Jesse Helms being
celebrated there, is a step back in the wrong direction.

SHARPTON: But you know, Governor, I`m not talking Jesse Helms as a
guy that may have made one or two statements that you regret out of for
whatever reasons that people may make them. All of us have said things we
would have want to take back. I`m talking about this was the core of his
whole political philosophy. This is who he was. This is how he
legislated. This is what he fought for. And we`re seeing these signals
now coming back that frankly are very destructive. In recent weeks we`ve
seen new reporting about right wingers wrapping themselves literally in the
confederate flag.

Earlier this month, a Tea Partier waved a confederate flag outside the
White House during a protest that was attended by Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin.
And this week, we learned about a Republican Senate candidate in
Mississippi who addressed a neo-confederate group. Where are the
responsible Republicans, the moderates that you`ve been able to work with
when you were governing? Where are they in terms of calling out and
denouncing things like this and things like honoring Jesse Helms?

RENDELL: Well, they`re in full retreat. And just like we saw in the
2012 election, nobody in the Republican Party, none of the so-called
moderates, none of the so-called sensible conservatives, have the guts to
take on this faction. And if somebody did, I think it would resound to
their own political benefit. I mean, Jesse Helms, unabashed racist. And
we`ve got people who pretend to be presidential hopefuls saying, he wishes
the Senate had 100 Jesse Helms. Well, Rev, they can hire a thousand
outreach coordinators into the African-American community and the Latino
community, but if they don`t change their message, they don`t change their
policies, they don`t change the things that they stand for, it doesn`t
matter. They can hire 10,000 and they`re not going to change any votes.

SHARPTON: Michael, you know, the governor mentioned about the
African-American outreach office in North Carolina this week. But listen
to what a North Carolina state senator said this same very week about
President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STATE REP. LARRY PITTMAN (R), NORTH CAROLINA: I just don`t think it`s
right at all to call Barack Obama a traitor. A lot of thing he`s done
wrong, but he`s not a traitor. As far as I can tell. I`ve not come across
any evidence yet that he`s done one thing to harm Kenya.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: I mean, this kind of birther mixed with racial overtones.
This is the climate we`re dealing with, Michael.

DYSON: It`s horrible. It`s racist. It`s anti-American. It`s
unpatriotic. And I said Jesse Helms spent 16 hours. What I meant to say
was 16 days filibustering against Martin Luther King`s Jr.`s birthday in
the Senate. But this kind of vitriol directed against our president shows
exactly the true color of the North Carolina Republican Party. And as
Governor Rendell indicated, allowing the right wing faction to pervert,
pollute, and take over what seems to be reasonable Republicans, but yet the
Republicans who defer to this show that Martin Luther King, Jr. was right.

He said, look, it`s not that the actions of those on the -- who are
outright racist are problematic. It`s the silence of the people who are
good. Where are the moderate Republicans? Where are the Republicans who
would say as you`ve said Reverend Sharpton that this is wrong, that this is
anti-American, that this is unpatriotic, that this is against the best
interest of the Republican Party and certainly of America. As long as they
are complicit in this, silence is complicity as our best writers and
thinkers have taught us about as our -- reminded this.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. reinforced. Silence is complicity because
we refuse to raise up our voices in catching inches, repudiation of these
vitriolic birther notions again suggesting that Mr. Obama, President Obama
was born in Kenya, that he is not American. When indeed he is central to
the definition of America right now. And those who have proved themselves
to be un-American are people who -- this kind of hatred right here.

SHARPTON: Governor, you know, this in contrast to the Republican
national chair talking about how much they wanted to rebrand the party and
announced their big effort of rebranding. I mean, listen to how much the
head of the RNC Reince Priebus kept talking about the GOP`s need to attract
minority voters. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: More to make up ground in minority
communities. Real urgency of connecting with minority communities. Build
a recruitment program for minority candidates. Promote the minority
leaders in our party. Especially strong focus on historically black
colleges and universities. New national field program designed to engage
minority groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: I mean, it`s also schizophrenic. You`re having the
chairman of the party over and over again, minority, black voters, black
colleges. While you`re doing things like honoring Jesse Helms and no one
denouncing it. When you`re making racist statements about the president,
no one denouncing it. You can`t have it both ways.

RENDELL: Best thing that Reince Priebus could do Rev if he wants to
attract African-American voters, is he can tomorrow hold a press conference
and denounce that North Carolina state senator and say, look, President
Obama`s un-American. He`s a patriotic American. Let`s put an end to this
bs. That would attract, I think, some African-American voters. But, you
know, when you say you`re alarmed to hear this, I frankly although I`m
alarmed as an American, as someone who wants to see progressive in this
country, I am pleased to see it, he knows the biggest beneficiary of what
the governor did and what Ted Cruz said about Jesse Helms and what that
state senator said about that president, it`s Kay Hagen.

A terrific outrageous woman senator who`s going to be in a tough re-
election battle next year. She`s a democrat. She`s a great progressive.
She had the guts to stand up on gun control. Kay Hagen is going to
benefit. Because not just African-Americans are going to be outraged by
this, but why independents who care about decency. Absolutely. They`re
going to pay for this. And not just for the terrific African-American
turnout next year, but they`re going to lose independent voters who are
sick and tired of this divisiveness.

SHARPTON: That`s right. Well, I`m going to have to leave it there.
Governor Ed Rendell and Michael Eric Dyson, and Governor, the reason I
didn`t remember that Helms did 16 days rather 16 hours is it was before my
time. Michael Eric Dyson had a birthday this week, so maybe he remembers
it literally. I don`t know.

(LAUGHTER)

Thanks for your time tonight. And have a great weekend.

DYSON: Thank you, Reverend.

RENDELL: Great weekend to you, Rev.

SHARPTON: Still ahead, the right wing`s latest conspiracy theory.
The fainting lady. It`s spreading and Sarah Palin is leading the charge.

Plus, we`ve seen Rush Limbaugh go nuts over a lot of things. But now
he`s angry about a color. We`ll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: We told you last night about the latest right wing
conspiracy theory. The mysterious case of the fainting lady. A pregnant
diabetic woman nearly fainted during President Obama`s speech Monday, and
the right wing is convinced it was staged. We`ve had birthers and truthers
and now fainters. And since we first told you about this story, it`s
exploded. It all started with a quick joke on FOX.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Please don`t tell me this was a staged event. He
caught her. Out of all those people caught her.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: You are a good conspiracy theorist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Now, the FOX anchors may have been joking, but folks at
home took it seriously. Soon this video was posted on a right blog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: She`s very aware that this woman is fixing to go
down. She`s very much part of it, and she was the one who prompted it to
happen. Pay close attention to her. She never looks over and she smiles
when the president turns around. The question is, why would they do this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Seems pretty kooky, right? But the video got picked up by
FOX nation. It was on the right wing Drudge Report, and a conservative
favorite the weekly standard. Sarah Palin said it was no wonder people
thought the fainting was fake. Folks, I thought we`d heard every possible
crack pot theory about the president. There`s so many, it`s hard to keep
track of them all. But I`ll give you a shot. I`ll give it a shot. Ready?
Drum roll, please.

He`s a gay Kenyan Muslim with a fake birth certificate who didn`t
really write his memoir, lied about skeet shooting, fakes jobs numbers,
works with the Muslim brotherhood, was sworn in on the Koran, won`t say the
pledge of allegiance, and is coming for your guns and your gold. Oh, yes.
And he makes people faint.

Joining me now are Goldie Taylor and James Peterson. Thank you both
for being here.

JAMES PETERSON, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, Rev.

GOLDIE TAYLOR, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, Reverend.

SHARPTON: James, we should just be able to roll our eyes at this
stuff, but it`s actually having real impact on our politics. Isn`t it?

PETERSON: It is. And you`re right. We should still roll our eyes,
Rev. But we also have to understand the impact that this has. It`s the
politics of distractions once again. It also underscores the sort of wring
wing entertainment complex. I mean, the question of that person asking
that video like, why would he do this is the pervert question asked. Why
would he say something like this? What has to be gained from it? You`re
assuming that he some kind of messiah complex that he wants to play out.

But the thing is, if you want to talk about political theater, you
know, why don`t we talk about Bush on the aircraft carrier at this fake end
of the Iraq war. You know, why aren`t we talking about the Republicans in
white doctor`s coats after their realized that the government shutdown
actually impacts the lives of people who need cancer treatment.

SHARPTON: Yes.

PETERSON: I mean, there`s quite a bit of political theater in
Washington. But it seems as if we`re being disingenuous if we only look at
one way or trump it up around the president`s appearances.

SHARPTON: And Goldie, when we brought this out last night, you talked
about as someone who`s had children, that what happened to this lady is not
at all beyond what is normal.

TAYLOR: No, it`s not unusual at all. What is unusual, though, is
watching Republicans after they have done presumably an autopsy and created
this so-called rebrand campaign that they`re still investing in this kind
of nonsense. The fact is I saw some polls today that say, it`s beginning
to really cost them. That 63 percent of people in this country don`t like
the GOP.

SHARPTON: Yes.

TAYLOR: That`s problematic that they`re rolling into 2014. That`s
problematic that they`re rolling into 2016. And so they really have to
take a very hard look at the kinds of things that they associate themselves
with whether it be this video, whether it be a state rep in North Carolina
calling the president lazy and referring to black people by the "n" word.
I mean, they have to begin to distance themselves from this and double down
on a more inclusive party or they`re going to find themselves really out of
favor for probably the next generation.

SHARPTON: You know, James, another new conspiracy making the rounds
is that the president is forcing all marines to wear girly hats. That
story started in the New York Post. Now, FOX News couldn`t wait to talk
about it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: The new look seen here screen left compared with
the current look is supposed to be more gender neutral. But some say it
would make the marines look too girly. What is the word from the inside?
What are marines saying?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Well, essentially every marine is furious that
they would either feminize the males or masculinize the women.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It sees though the commander-in-chief may have a
misinterpreted spending cap.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: You know, for the record James, the marines say the
president has nothing to do with the new uniforms at all. But female
marines are getting new hats because the old manufacturer went out of
business. Goldie, you served in the marines. I know you can`t believe
this. James, what do you think about this new conspiracy?

PETERSON: Again, this is the same thing. They`re grasping for straws
here. And I think what the GOP needs to understand Rev is that if you`re
going to be led by this sort of entertainment complex by the FOX News and
the Alexander Jones and the different sort of radio personalities, then
you`re not ultimately going to be a viable political party. Because they
need these stories to sell ads. But the GOP actually has to do what Goldie
is talking about which is look at the numbers, look at your ratings and
understand you`ve got to reach out and expand your tent if you`re going to
be viable in the 21st century.

SHARPTON: Now, it even goes further, Goldie. You know, they say
crazy stuff about just about everything. Rush Limbaugh thinks there`s an
assault on masculinity because the NFL is honoring breast cancer awareness
month. I mean, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I don`t know if there`s any
question. You don`t put the NFL in pink for a month. Otherwise. The
chick-ification (ph) of everything is taking place. Which what is that?
Rush, what do you mean? It means that feelings are triumphing over common
sense. Feelings and emotions are triumphing over thinking about things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: The chick-ification of everything? I mean, what`s weirder?
That statement or claiming that the president makes people faint? Take
your pick. What`s weirder there, Goldie?

TAYLOR: You know, I like the term. Chick-ification of things. You
know, Rush Limbaugh isn`t man enough to wear a woman marine cover on his
head. And so, let`s start there. The second part of this thing is the --
that men works with this on the football field or off the field football,
has nothing to do with his masculinity or lack thereof. To celebrate or
put your arms around breast cancer awareness month and I say this as
someone who is on air tonight with a lump in my right breast, I want women
to go out and get mammograms and understand what`s happening with their
girls. Take the girls to the doctor. So if it means I got a football pair
with a pink flag tied around on his rear end, so be it. Rush Limbaugh and
the rest of those guys need to take this poppycock and go on somewhere with
it.

SHARPTON: I mean, there`s no limits to it. Well, I`m going to have
to leave it there. James Peterson, Goldie Taylor. And thank you Goldie
for chickifiying this segment for us, we have a nice weekend.

PETERSON: You too, Rev.

TAYLOR: Thank you, reverend.

SHARPTON: Ahead, what about a little tap dancing on a Friday? The
video brewing up on the internet is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Up next is the video that had everyone talking today? Get
ready for a POLITICS NATION dance party.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Finally tonight, something to bring a smile to your face as
you head into the weekend. A preschooler free styling at her tap dance
recital. It happened this summer, but the video exploded in popularity
just this week. Going viral with nearly 1.2 million views so far. This
little girl goes her own way, and the crowd loves it.

The kid`s got moves. She`s amazing. And here`s the big finish.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Happy feet. You`ve got to love it. That`s the way to start the
weekend. Have a great weekend. I`ll see you Monday.

Thanks for watching. I`m Al Sharpton. "HARDBALL" starts right now.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
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