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PoliticsNation, Monday, November 04, 2013

Read the transcript from the Monday show

POLITICS NATION
November 4, 2013
Guest: Cynthia Tucker; Jonathan Capehart, Krystal Ball, James Peterson,
Joe Madison, Bill Press

REV. AL SHARPTON, POLITICS NATION HOST: Good evening Ed. And thanks
to you for turning in.

Tonight`s Lead the GOP`s agony of repeat. Republicans keep running to
the Right and they keep losing the fight. Exactly one year ago today, just
two days before the election Mitt Romney was in the great State of Virginia
telling voters, he was going to win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks so much, you
guys. Virginia is the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Virginia is the best. And it`s also the state Barack Obama
won. One year later after a GOP autopsy and a vow to rebrand, they haven`t
learned anything. Any moment, dozens of Senate Republicans are expected to
vote against a gay rights law that would ban discrimination against gay and
lesbian employees in the workplace. That`s 39 Republicans who didn`t get
the memo. Why? Because they haven`t learned anything. What about women`s
rights? Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is now launching a new fight
against a woman`s right to choose calling for a 20-week abortion ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I`ve been pro-life member of
Congress since day one. I`m proud to lead this charge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Todd Akin was once proud to lead this charge. How that
work out? Again, they haven`t learned anything. And this extreme ideology
is particularly bad. Just look at the very state where Romney was a year
ago today, Virginia. The Republican candidate for governor, Ken
Cuccinelli, is as far right as they come. He thinks same-sex relationships
are immoral, wants to ban abortions with no exception, and once said it`s
possible the president was born in Kenya. And he`s plunging in the polls,
12 points behind. So why is that? President Obama was in Virginia over
the weekend with the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You`ve seen on extreme
faction of the Republican Party that has shown again and again and again
that they`re willing to hijack the entire party and the country and the
economy and grind progress to an absolutely halt if they don`t get 100
percent of what they want. Now --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: The extremists are hijacking the entire party and one year
later, they haven`t learned anything.

Joining me now are Joan Walsh and Cynthia Tucker.

Thanks for joining me.

JOAN WALSH, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, SALON.COM: Good to be here, Reverend.

SHARPTON: Joan, the president talked about hijacking the country. A
year later, they did not learn anything.

WALSH: It`s been a lost year for the Republican Party. And we`re
really feeling it as we sit and watch what`s going on in Virginia, Reverend
Al. They`ve nominated somebody who is just a total extremist. They`re
blocking action on immigration reform, so they`re doing nothing to appeal
to Latinos. And you know, they`ve really -- Cuccinelli continues to insist
that this is a referendum on Obamacare and rollout problems aside and we
know we`ve seen those, Rev., we know that women love Obamacare.

So, not just abortion, not just all this rhetoric and action if he got
elected on abortion is problematic for women, but Obamacare as well.
Obamacare has really helped women by making sure that women are no longer
paying more than men for the simple fact of bringing the next generation
into the world. And Republicans hate this. But women love it. So they`ve
really -- they spent a year in the wilderness and they`re not getting out
any time soon.

SHARPTON: You know, Cynthia, in line with that, the House speaker
John Boehner today said he`s opposing the non-discrimination act. His
spokesman issued this statement saying quote, "the speaker believes this
legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs."

CYNTHIA TUCKER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: It`s stunning, Reverend Al. It
is absolutely stunning to see the Republican Party running away from
modernity basically. This is a party that is embracing every right wing
nostrum that they can think of even as the nation grows more progressive.

The vast majority of voters support gay rights. Certainly, they
support the right of people to be able to have jobs, not to be
discriminated against in the workplace. The vast majority of Americans
support a diverse America. And even with the problems that Obamacare is
having, most Americans believe people ought to be able to get affordable
health care.

So, you know, in 30 years of covering politics, I have never seen a
political party that time and time again, embraces the things that most
people do not want. It`s a surefire losing strategy.

SHARPTON: Over and over and over again, it seems they are doing that.

You know, in Virginia, President Obama talked about how voters
remember actions of the extreme, Joan. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If you embrace the very politics that led to this shutdown,
then I guarantee it`s not in the rearview mirror of voters in Virginia,
they remember. They understand that that is not how you govern and that is
not how you move America forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Voters are going to remember, particularly Virginia with so
many government workers, but all over the country voters will remember
tomorrow the shutdown that we just got over within the last 30 days.

WALSH: Well, and Ken Cuccinelli, maybe he doesn`t even want to win,
Reverend Al. Because, you know, he knows that the shutdown hurt his
chances. He knows it was very, very unpopular in Virginia. So what does
he do? He brings in Rand Paul and Marco Rubio who both voted to continue
the shutdown.

So on the one hand, he made some noises about maybe it wasn`t the best
way to solve problems, blah, blah, blah. But he brings in heroes of the
shutdown to try to win.

SHARPTON: But at the same time, Cynthia, that he brought in heroes of
the shutdown, he tried to have it both ways when Ted Cruz came into
Virginia. And the vice president and the democratic candidate that he`s
opposes Terry McAuliffe, they linked Ken Cuccinelli to Ted Cruz. Just
listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Someone who wants to
govern in what they hope to be a new tradition of Ted Cruz. Remember, Ted
Cruz just gave us the shutdown that Terry talked about.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE IN VIRGINIA:
Could you imagine if Ted Cruz, Ken Cuccinelli, and the tea party actually
ran the Virginia government?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Now, let`s not forget, Cynthia, just last month Cuccinelli
shunned Ted Cruz at even a photograph in Virginia. He avoided being
photographed with the shutdown king. I mean, so even with Cuccinelli
realizing that Cruz was toxic, he hangs out with the other guys that voted
for the shutdown. What does this tell you of the overreach of the extreme
right?

TUCKER: He can`t run away from this record. He has a long record of
embracing the most extreme positions. So he might as well hang out with
Ted Cruz. But the other thing the Republican Party is stuck with, Reverend
Al, is its own base. There is a verse in the bible that talks about sewing
the wind and reaping the whirlwind. And that is exactly what the
Republican Party has done. It has spent decades pandering to extremists.

People who hate the federal government, people who want to destroy the
social safety net for the poor. People who are not comfortable with the
diverse America. And they can`t run away from those people now. Those
people are the tea party. They are base voters. And the party can`t run
away from them. The establishment thought that they would just be able to
use their votes and control the tea party`s energy, but they cannot.

SHARPTON: Reaping the whirlwind.

TUCKER: Exactly. They`re reaping the whirlwind.

SHARPTON: You know, Joan, when you look at that fact that about a
year ago when we had the election almost a year ago exactly in a couple of
days, if you looked at 2012, in the ratings, the opinion polls, the ratings
of October 2012 a month before, the Republican party was doing 26 percent
in approval. After all the talk of change, what h happened? They`re now
down to 22 percent. The lowest on record. It`s an unbelievable slide for
a party that pledged to rebrand and have an autopsy. They`ve gone down to
22 percent.

WALSH: Yes. And the other thing you see in the Virginia race,
Reverend Al, is the Democratic Party is amazingly unified. There are
differences at the margins, but you have Bill and Hillary Clinton there in
Virginia. You`ve got President Obama. You`ve got vice president Biden.
People are coming out. It`s a unified party that knows what it stands for
and that is really trying to make Virginia a wakeup call to the rest of the
country that Republicans learned nothing from their drubbing in 2014.

SHARPTON: But you know, Cynthia, a lot also in the year, the
Republicans really haven`t changed their agenda. I mean, when we look at
the fact last year Mitt Romney`s 47 percent comment defined the election,
now Republicans in Congress are pushing a measure to cut $40 billion from
food stamps.

Last year Republicans pushing a variety of voter I.D. bills. This
year their big plan, to push new voter I.D. bill. Last year they vowed to
defeat the Affordable Care Act. This year, drum roll, they`re vowing to
defeat the Affordable Care Act. They haven`t changed anything.

TUCKER: And remember they spent a lot of time after their loss a year
ago talking about immigration reform. We absolutely must reach out to
Latinos. That is a growing part of the base of the country. We cannot win
unless we reach out to Latinos. What have they done on that? They`re
continuing to say they`re not going to vote for a bill that will give
Latinos a path to citizenship. So on every single point, they`re doing
exactly the same thing they were doing before.

SHARPTON: Well, I`m going to have to leave it there, ladies.

Thank you Joan Walsh and Cynthia Tucker. Thanks for your time
tonight.

WALSH: Thanks, Rev.

TUCKER: Good to be here, Reverend.

Coming up, the right wing`s Obamacare sabotage strategy strikes again.
But we have the facts.

Plus, they couldn`t buy the election. Now these far right
billionaires have a new scheme.

And a mom says this is a family tradition. Her son in a Klan costume.

Plus, live from New York, it was Saturday night and I made a surprise
appearance. I`ll tell you why.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Have you joined the "Politics Nation" conversation on
facebook yet? We hope you will. Today Mitt Romney got a lot of attention
for accusing President Obama of being fundamentally dishonest about the
Affordable Care Act.

Susan says, this is coming from the most fundamentally dishonest
person ever. He denies his own plan.

Joseph says, it`s sour grapes from a sore loser.

Robert says, this is what passes for a Republican elder statesman.

But Romney`s line is just the tip of the iceberg in the right wing
smear campaign against the health care act. More on their latest attacks
coming up next.

But first, we want to hear what you think. Please head over to
facebook and search "Politics Nation" and like us to join the conversation
that keeps going long after the show ends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We`re only one month into a six-month open enrollment period.
Everybody who wants to get insurance through the market place, they`ll be
able to get it. It`s not as if this is a one-day sale or something. All
right? So we`ve just got to keep on working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: President Obama just moments ago talking to grassroots
supporters about the GOP`s fight against his health care law. Right wing
spend machine has been peddling false and misleading information about
Obamacare using stories about the tiny fraction of people who will have to
shift their coverage. FOX News has pounced on people like Diane Barrette,
Florida realtor who surfaced with one of those stories. Just watch how FOX
used her to trot out their tired old talking points about the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Did this happen to you? A Florida
woman finds out she has to pay ten times as much for health insurance.
That is because she`s using her current plan to Obamacare.

I got a copy of your Florida blue insurance. And it is about $54 a
month. And now, I understand that under Obamacare it`s going to go up at
least they said that the policy they would offer you under Florida blue
would be $591. Is that correct?

DIANE BARRETTE, FLORIDA REALTOR: That`s correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: But all that spin hides the truth. A "New Republic"
reporter tracked Diane down and explained how Obamacare plans could provide
much better coverage and for just $50 to $100 more a month. Her response,
quote, "I would jump at it. With my age things can happen. I don`t want
to have bills that could make me bankrupt. I don`t want to lose my house.
I would jump at it."

As would millions of Americans who don`t have insurance or who have
insurance so bad it doesn`t really cover anything anyway. Right wingers
are hell bent on sabotaging Obamacare any way they can. But they can`t
stop Americans from learning how the law works for everyone.

Joining me now is "Washington Post" Jonathan Capehart.

Thanks for being here tonight.

JONATHAN CAPEHART, OPINION WRITER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Hi, Rev.

SHARPTON: Jonathan, your column today points out the GOP hypocrisy on
all this. You write, quote, "what the GOP gleefully calls a train wreck
was a self-fulfilling prophecy courtesy of Republican sabotage. So
Republicans have been fighting against the law for years, and now they`re
spreading lies about it?

CAPEHART: Yes. See, here`s the thing. Republican Party have been
trying to kill the Affordable Care Act since before it became the law of
the land. They thought the Supreme Court would do the work for it by
declaring it unconstitutional. That didn`t happen. In terms of trying to
implement the law first says "the Washington Post" (INAUDIBLE) reported in
yesterday`s paper, what they did was basically starved the federal
exchanges of money. So all those state exchanges that were all, you know,
applauding and cheering and working perfectly well, there was funding for
those exchanges.

But the federal exchange, no money. And in fact, Juliette reported
that secretary HHS, secretary Kathleen Sebelius couldn`t find enough money
to keep programmers under her wing. And so what ended up happening was all
of the responsibilities were fragmented to several offices in different
locations. And so, what ends up happening is the train wreck that the
Republicans predicted would happen came true largely in part because of
what Republicans did to try to derail the law.

Now, that`s not to say that they weren`t mistakes, miscalculations,
political timidity on the White House`s part. But at least the White House
is trying to do something affirmative, do something positive for people who
don`t have health insurance. The Republicans that have been trying to
sabotage a law with no alternative to replace it with,

SHARPTON: No. And what you said just now, interestingly enough,
seems to be where the American people are, Jonathan. Because if you look
at the polls, the public still want to give Obamacare a chance.

Forty-seven percent want to keep or expand the law, only 24 percent
want to see the law repeal, and 13 percent say they want the law repealed
and replaced with the Republican sponsored alternative. Clearly, not a
vote of confidence for the Republicans, 13 percent. And clearly, 47
percent saying we want to keep or expand Obamacare.

CAPEHART: Yes. And imagine what the numbers would be like if the
Republicans actually had a viable alternative to the law that they`re
trying to kill, one. And two, wouldn`t it be nice if the Republican party
rather than trying to kill settled law worked with the administration,
worked with Democrats in the House and the Senate to make the law better.

No one`s saying that the law is perfect. But certainly it -- you
know, the way government is supposed to work is that the opposition looks
for a problem and tries to say here`s our plan to make it better. And
here`s why you should focus on what we`re doing. That`s not what the
Republicans are doing at all in this case.

SHARPTON: No. I think that`s telling. When you look at the
Republican plan, the only one we saw was Romney care, Massachusetts.
That`s right. That`s where Obama care emanated a lot of its ideas. So
they can`t quote that.

Going to have to leave it there, Jonathan.

Jonathan Capehart, thanks for your time this evening.

CAPEHART: Thanks a lot.

SHARPTON: Coming up, the billionaires right-wingers bank rolling
these creepy and misleading ads have a new plan to attack Democrats today.

And get ready. It`s almost time for tonight`s edition of Rand Paul
plagiarizes. No need to source this one. We got you again, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Republican Senator Rand Paul is in a big hole. And he
keeps digging himself in deeper and deeper. Last week Rachel Maddow
uncovered that he`d been lifting portions of his speeches directly from
Wikipedia. Then Buzz Feed and Politico both reported on further evidence
of him borrowing from other sources.

And over the weekend, Buzz Feed discovered even more several pages of
Senator Paul`s book are nearly identical to passages from a study in the
right wing Heritage Foundation. Word for word. This is a big problem. So
here`s how Senator Paul responded to the story this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: The footnote police have been dogging me
for the last week. I will admit that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Oh, no. The footnote police. Those guys are scary. What
will he do to protect himself?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: If dueling were legal in Kentucky, if they keep it up it`d be a
duel challenge. But I can`t do that because I can`t hold office in
Kentucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: The lost art of challenging someone to a duel. Of course,
that`s the answer.

But Rand Paul`s office might be a little too busy right now to prepare
him for a duel. Because the footnote police got to him.

Buzz Feed is reporting that the links to sources are suddenly
appearing on Senator Paul`s Web site. And that some speech transcripts are
disappearing altogether. Wow. Getting rid of the evidence, perhaps.

Senator Paul, did you think we wouldn`t notice you can`t duel your way
out of this one? Nice try, but we`re calling your bluff because we got
you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: They couldn`t buy the election. Now they have a new plan.
Charles and David Koch, the secretive Tea Party billionaire brothers, are
at it again. They spent $60 million to derail President Obama and secretly
funnel money to Tea Party groups at an undercover meeting in 2011. One was
caught saying this about the 2012 election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES KOCH, ENTREPRENEUR: This is the mother of all wars we`ve got
the next 18 months. For the life or death of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: They lost the mother of all wars. And after the election,
David Koch told Forbes, quote, "We`re not going to roll over and play
dead." And today we`re seeing what he meant. "The New York Times" reports
the Koch-backed Tea Party group Americans for prosperity is going local.
It`s trying to sway the mayor and city council races in a small town in
Iowa. The group`s also been involved in property tax fights in Kansas,
Ohio, and Texas. The news comes -- this news comes just weeks after "The
Times" reported the Kochs were, quote, "deeply involved with financing
groups that plotted the government shutdown." And gave millions to another
group that made the creepy Uncle Sam ads. Trying to scare people not to
get health insurance. Here`s how they got into the Halloween spirit.

Now the fear campaign could be coming to your local town. And just
like last year, the fight is on.

Joining me now are Krystal Ball and James Peterson. Thank you both
for being here.

KRYSTAL BALL, MSNBC HOST, "THE CYCLE": Thanks for having us, Rev.

SHARPTON: Krystal, a Koch-backed Tea Party group getting involved in
Iowa City Council race. What`s the strategy here?

BALL: You know, the Kochs have always been willing to push their
ideology at all levels. These are the guys who are also behind Aleck.

SHARPTON: Right.

BALL: Which was the American legislative exchange council. And they
pushed their agenda through model legislation that was anti-worker and pro-
big business at the state level across the country. So this is something
that they`ve been doing in different ways across the country. I think the
focus on the local, local level is relatively new, though, and particularly
insidious.

SHARPTON: You know, James, if you look back at just how involved the
Kochs were in 2012, they personally pledged to spent $60 million. A Koch
operative ran a secret bank that donated $236 million to conservative
causes. Leaders of the Republican Party go to their private events. And
Koch industry even sent a letter to thousands of employees telling them to
vote. Including a friendly reminder that the company endorsed Mitt Romney.
I mean, it was a multi-pronged approach. What does that say to you,
Peterson?

JAMES PETERSON, LEHIGH UNIVERSITY: Well, what it does is it outlines
for you the sort of self-centered and I would argue sinister intent of the
Koch brothers and all of the different sort of affiliates and pass through
lobbyists organizations that they fund. You know, what`s going on in Iowa
is particularly sort of important for us to focus in on. Because it may
look like small town politics, but actually the ideology behind their
involvement there is they really want to essentially pit big business
versus government. Right?

They`re much more interested in evading taxes for business and
privatizing different public entities than they are actually allowing
elections to unfold in the ways in which local elections should unfold.
They take that at every level, Rev. They want to do that at the very local
level of like cities and municipalities, they want to do it at the state
level. Remember Aleck is also responsible for supporting stand your
ground.

SHARPTON: Stand your ground. Right.

PETERSON: -- that`s regressive. And he also want to do it at the
federal level dumping millions, tens of millions of dollars into
presidential elections. Again, they`re the textbook case of why we have to
get money out of politics.

SHARPTON: You know, it`s also interesting, Krystal, as I said in the
opening of this segment that they said they`re not going to roll over and
play dead. And here we see it being demonstrated and manifesting itself on
local elections. But the president has lately been calling out
billionaires with an outsize influence on politics. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: There aren`t a lot of
functioning democracies around the world that work this way. Where you can
basically have millionaires and billionaires bank rolling whoever they
want, however they want, in some cases undisclosed and what it means is
ordinary Americans are shut out of the process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Ordinary Americans are shut out of the process, the
president says. How can this big money be countered?

BALL: Well, that`s the million-dollar question at this point given
what the Supreme Court has done.

SHARPTON: Pun intended.

BALL: Pun intended, exactly. I mean, given what the Supreme Court
has done, it`s given us very little -- very few avenues to actually address
the problem of money in politics without going forward with a
constitutional amendment. At this point the only thing you could do is try
to counter that money. As we did I think in 2012 with citizen activism.
There`s still nothing more powerful than people getting out and pressuring
their legislators. But I think what you see here is a sort of trickle-up
effect from the Koch brothers money at the local level, and from Republican
effort at the local and state level.

The reason that they have a sort of bulletproof majority in the house
right now is because they were so successful getting people in place to run
for state legislators across the country in 2013. So they were able to
draw districts and gerrymander districts to their favor which is going to
help them potentially keep control of the House in 2014.

SHARPTON: But they have been counted in some ways in the State of
California, James, the state of California recently fined two groups. One
with ties to the Koch Brothers, a million dollars for violating campaign
finance laws. And the New York Times called the settlement a victory
against dark money. After Citizens United, do we have to rely on states to
be aggressive about requiring groups to disclose their political donors,
Dr. Peterson?

PETERSON: Well, I do believe that we have to -- until we`re going to
sort of repeal the supreme court decision or as Krystal suggests get some
kind of constitutional amendments to make a more robust model for campaign
measuring of finances, I think we do have to meet them both where they are,
both with mass movements, with citizens sort of engaged in political
processes coming out to vote wrestling with the issues of gerrymandering
and elections that have law turn outs. And yes at the state level.
Remember, you know, Democrats don`t control a whole lot of states. But
people have got to press their legislators to actually step up here and
make sure they`re paying attention to what`s going on. Otherwise
privatization, large businesses, and the one percent will continue to
dominate politics, Rev.

SHARPTON: You know, Krystal, President Obama`s speaking tonight to
the grassroots groups organizing for America. And they just put out this
ad. About a young man going home for the holidays. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: What the heck do they want to talk to me about? So
what`s so important?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Your dad and I are moving in with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Roomies!

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We know what you did in Vegas.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We know what you did at Mardi Gras.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We know what you did last summer.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: So what did you want to talk to me about?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We know you don`t have health insurance.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We love you no matter what, but it`s time to get
covered.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: That`s it? Health insurance?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Now, this ad is encouraging parents to talk to their kids
about getting insured. Is this a way to take on creepy Uncle Sam
commercials?

BALL: Well, it`s certainly, I would say, a more moral message versus
Uncle Sam who was apparently encouraging young people not to get health
insurance which I just think is outrageous that you would think it is OK to
try to convince young people that they should roll the dice and go without
health insurance rather than do anything to support this president. So, I
think this will help. We`re seeing numbers from the website in new reports
now that are showing young people are going to the website. They`re
interested in getting covered. So, if we could get the glitches worked out
on the website, I think we`re going to be set-up for success.

SHARPTON: Well, we`ve got to whatever to fight big money. That`s for
sure. Krystal Ball and James Peterson, thank you both for your time.

BALL: Thanks, Rev.

SHARPTON: Before we go, a note. We reached out to Koch Industries
today and asked about American Prosperity`s involvement in the race in
Iowa. In a statement, they told us, quote, "We`re not involved in their
day-to-day operations and we do not direct the activities of the
organization."

Coming up, how radical is Texas voter suppression law? Wendy Davis
had trouble, and today we have another very high-profile victim.

And a family tradition of dressing up like a member of the Ku Klux
Klan. That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Out of all the ugly and distasteful costumes this
Halloween, this latest one might be the worst. A Virginia mother let her
seven-year-old son dress as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Why would she
allow such an offensive outfit? Well, because of family tradition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: My brother has when he was in kindergarten and
when he was 13.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: That`s why Jessica Black`s seven-year-old son
asked if he could also dress as a member of the white supremacists group
the Ku Klux Klan, she made the costume for him.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Because it was cool.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: What was cool about it?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: The hat.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I did tell him that, you know, if you do it, you
know, there`s going to be people talking about you. There`s going to be
people that say bad things to you when you do wear it. It`s supposed to be
white with white, black with black, man with woman and all of that. That`s
what the KKK stands for. The KKK every year raises money every year to
donate to the St. Judes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: So because the KKK donates to charity, her son can wear
that hateful outfit? That makes no sense. But it`s that outdated logic
that we`re seeing spring up all over the country. We saw it recently when
a man waved a confederate flag outside the White House. And remember the
Mississippi Senate candidate who reportedly attended two events put on by a
neo-Nazi confederate group? Well, today the nation`s largest Tea Party
group announced that it will threw it support behind him. And tomorrow in
Colorado, voters in ten counties will vote to secede from the state.

A conservative block of Colorado is looking to break free. They want
to form their own state. Northern Colorado. And all of this comes as more
and more pundits compare the Obama policies they don`t like to slavery.
One whole side of the aisle is partying like it`s1860. Who`s going to tell
them? They`re 150 years behind the times?

Joining me now are Joe Madison and Bill Press. Thank you both for
coming on the show tonight.

JOE MADISON, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST: Thank you, Reverend.

BILL PRESS, NATIONALLY SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Thank you Reverend Al.
Good to see you.



SHARPTON: Before we get to the larger political discussion, let`s go
back to this shocking picture, Joe. Why on earth would a mother think it`s
OK to let her seven-year-old son wear a KKK outfit for Halloween?

MADISON: Because the mother is in one single word, very ignorant. To
sit up there and justify it because it`s white on white, black on black,
man/woman, that type of thing, maybe hopefully the teacher might step in
and say, you know, maybe we should show the PBS special on the real KKK.
By the way, that ended up being totally embarrassed in Indiana because they
were misogynistic. They were crooked. They went to jail. They lynched
people.

We all know the history. I have a seven-year-old grandson who quite
honestly has more common sense than that mother, and I would end by saying
quite honestly if I lived in the country, I`d have the child abuse
authorities on that mother. Because this is abusive. This is teaching
this child to hate.

SHARPTON: Bill Press?

PRESS: Yes, Reverend Al, I guess I`ve got to echo that. And you know
why I feel sorry for that kid, because he is going to grow up, he`s going
to be scarred for life, he`s going to grow up thinking that the KKK is
something cute, something joke -- some jokes that adults will see and laugh
at other than being told by that mother that what the KKK stands for is
fundamentally wrong. That was a teaching moment for her. She sure missed
the opportunity.

SHARPTON: Now, let me also raised this. The Mississippi State
senator with those neo-confederate links. I said neo-Nazi confederate but
it`s neo-confederate links. He`s trying to soften the scandal. Chris
McDaniel says he only attended one as opposed to two of the neo-confederate
events. Is that supposed to make things better, Joe?

MADISON: No. Of course not. So you attended one. But you know, it
might have been a Freudian slip on your part to say neo-Nazi. Can you
imagine if he had attended, let`s say, a neo-Nazi event, what the impact
would have been? Can you imagine if that seven-year-old had dressed up as
a Nazi storm trooper? What the legitimate response would have been? And I
think that`s exactly how we as common sense people are going to have to
look at this. But that seven-year-old will probably as Bill Press said,
grow up to be that state legislator or that elected official and carry on
this awful tradition.

SHARPTON: Yes.

MADISON: You asked the question early on, Al. Who`s going to tell
these people that they`re 150 years behind? We are.

SHARPTON: That`s right.

MADISON: And that`s what we`ve got to do.

SHARPTON: You know, Bill, the right wing conspiracy block World Net
Daily is now arguing that, quote, "Hitler would be pleased with President
Obama." I mean, why is this scary? Is because members of Congress read
this website. Congressman Steve Stockman is even handing out the copies of
the website`s Obama impeachment book to every member of Congress, Bill.

PRESS: Yes. There`s so much going on here. First of all, I`ve got
to say there`s a common thread here, OK? With this guy down in Mississippi
and with this Nazi talk on the World Net Daily. This is the Tea Party
mantra. Remember what the Tea Party is essentially a racist organization.
Let`s just be honest about that. We saw it from the very beginning with
the white face they used to wear at the rallies, with the posters that they
used to hang around, with the confederate flags that I saw at Tea Party
rallies here on the Washington mall, and the source of that Tea Party
movement is that they`ve never been able to accept Barack Obama as a
legitimate president.

The birthers are part of it. They`ve never been able to accept a
black man in the White House. And then we see all these different
manifestations of it. And I think that`s what`s going on here. With all
these different stories we`re telling. It`s all part of the same m.o.

SHARPTON: Well, when you look at the fact Joe that conservative
Republicans would say that the president`s a Muslim, there`s not anything
wrong with being a Muslim, but he`s not. Sixteen percent said it in
October of 2008, by July of 2012, that number has jumped to 34 percent.
The extreme rhetoric makes its way to average people who believe it.
Here`s part of an interview -- let me show you this. Here`s part of an
interview that MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capehart did in North Carolina.
Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN CAPEHART, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: You don`t think President Obama
loves this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Not at all. Not one bit. Not one breath that
comes out of his body.

CAPEHART: What about the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I don`t think that ever happened. There are so
many people within his administration that are part of it. They are
admitted members of the Muslim brotherhood.

CAPEHART: Who exactly?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I don`t remember their names. They`re not English.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: See, that`s the danger, of all this out there, it goes down
to ordinary Americans who really believe this stuff to be true.

MADISON: Because they listen to each other. They don`t. They`re not
critical thinkers, they don`t read, they sit there -- look. They listen to
FOX. They listen to Hannity. They listen to Rush Limbaugh. They sit
there and listen to each other and they don`t listen to anybody else to be
able to be a critical thinker. And all of this calling him Hitler and all,
this I what is called in a debate transference. I will call you what I am
before you call me what I really know I am.

SHARPTON: Bill?

PRESS: Reverend Al, just real quickly, I just want to get to your
question about who`s going to tell these people. I`ll tell you who I think
is going to tell these people, the voters of Virginia are going to tell
them tomorrow. Because they have three candidates. Governor, lieutenant
governor, and an attorney general who are all Tea Party candidates who are
all extremists and all three of them are going to be rejected by the voters
of Virginia tomorrow. And I think that`s going to send a message to the
Republican Party. You stay with these wackos, you stay with these extreme
people on the fringe and you`re going to cease to exist as a party.

MADISON: From your lips to God`s ears.

SHARPTON: I don`t think all Tea Party people were extremists. I
think we see a lot that are extreme, but I think some that joined the Tea
Party did so because they have genuine feelings that I may disagree with,
but they were not extreme.

PRESS: That`s true.

SHARPTON: But they haven`t done enough to quiet or to sever ties with
these extremists so they get painted with the big broad brush. And I think
that that is something that they`ve got to deal with like some of us that
are considered on the left have had to deal with extremists on our side.

MADISON: Well said. Absolutely.

SHARPTON: I`ve got to go. Joe Madison and Bill Press, thank you both
for coming on the show tonight.

MADISON: Thank you.

PRESS: Thanks, Reverend Al.

SHARPTON: Live from New York, it was Saturday Night with Kerry
Washington and yours truly. So why was I there? Stick around. We`ll be
right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: The unjust new voter ID law in Texas has claimed another
victim. This time, a man who was just heart beats away from the
presidency. Democratic Congressman Jim Wright was speaker of the House in
the late `80s. Second in the line of succession to the president. He
served in Congress more than 30 years, and he fought in World War II. But
now he has to fight for his right to vote. Wright told a Texas newspaper
that he was denied a voter ID card this weekend. Because he didn`t have
the proper identification under the state`s strict new voter ID guidelines.
This legendary figure in Texas politics is trying to get an ID again today.
We`ll see how it goes.

Tomorrow elections will be the first one in the state`s history where
the new law is in effect. And it`s having a huge impact on minorities and
women. Even State Senator Wendy Davis, the Democrat running for governor,
had to sign an affidavit to vote because the names on her driver`s license
and voter card didn`t match. Voters, voters, voters. Look, folks. This
is what voter suppression looks like. It`s the new Jim Crow. But we beat
it before and we`ll do it again. This year and beyond. Whatever they try
to roll back the right to vote, we`ll be fighting it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Finally tonight, this past Saturday night "Saturday Night
Live" tackled the issue of diversity head on by making fun of itself. The
guest host Kerry Washington opened the show playing multiple women like
Michelle Obama and Oprah. Then I made an appearance to open the show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: See, this is going to be a great party.

SHARPTON: Good evening. I`m the Reverend Al Sharpton.

(APPLAUSE)

What have we learned from this sketch? As usual, nothing. Live from
New York it`s Saturday night!

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)


SHARPTON: So now rather than duck the issue that had been brought up
by some about its cast, dealt with it head on and promised to rectify it.
For that I`ll show up live any night.

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.
END

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