PoliticsNation, Tuesday, November 12th, 2013

POLITICS NATION
November 12, 2013
Guest: Jim McDermott, Dana Milbank, Michelle Cottle, Dave Wilson>

REVEREND AL SHARPTON: Good evening Ed. And thanks to you for tuning
in.

I`m live tonight in Miami. Tonight`s Lead Americans want a fair
shake. Republicans want a December break.

Today it`s clear American voters of every strife, one action on income
inequality. Look at this new poll, 91 percent of Democrats support raising
the minimum wage, 76 percent of independents support it. And here comes
the big one, 58 percent of Republicans support it. Yes, a big majority of
Americans including Republican voters want it. And this comes a week after
New Jersey residents voted to raise minimum wage.

And in Washington state, a $15 per hour minimum wage appears to be on
the verge of passing. President Obama wants it and so do Senate Democrats.
They`re all pushing for a minimum wage hike. So what are Republicans in
Congress doing about this? Nothing. In fact, they`re hardly working at
all.

Just six legislative days left on the house calendar this month. And
they`re scheduled to work just eight days in December. And today we
learned Speaker Boehner joked to reporters, the House shouldn`t even remain
in session in December.

That`s a great idea, Speaker. Take December off. While real
Americans struggle to make ends meet. You and your six figure salaries
could go to Hawaii. Get a nice suntan on the beach, have some umbrella
drinks, or, I don`t know, maybe a little holiday European vacation. Go to
Paris, have an espresso, fine wine. Live it up. They might as well
because they just don`t care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I don`t think
raising minimum wage doesn`t actually accomplish those goals.

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: I`m not speaking to
the minimum wage issue because right now, we`re trying to provide more jobs
for everyone.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: A lot of people who
are being paid the minimum wage are being paid that because they come to
the workforce with no skills.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: So who cares if the American people are all but screaming
for a minimum wage hike? Who cares when you have a far right ideology that
demonizes workers. And it`s not just a minimum wage. It`s letting 1.3
million unemployed Americans lose benefits at the end of the year. It`s
working to slash $40 billion from food stamps. So Speaker Boehner, take
that vacation. And maybe we`ll finally get something done for real
Americans.

Joining me now are Congressman Jim McDermott, Democrat from Washington
who represents SEATAC where they`re fighting to raise the minimum wage and
MSNBC contributor Goldie Taylor.

Thank you both for coming on the show tonight.

GOLDIE TAYLOR, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.

REP. JIM MCDERMOTT (D), WASHINGTON: It is good to be here.

SHARPTON: Congressman, even Republican voters want action on minimum
wage. Why on earth would they not act now?

MCDERMOTT: Well, really, Al, if you look at it carefully, there`s a
full scale war going on against the working people of this country
especially against the working poor. And they`ve cut food stamps and have
done all this. If you raise the minimum wage, you bring people up to a
chance to actually make a decent living. The minimum wage at the federal
level has been frozen for four years at $7.75.

In the state of Washington, we`ve raised it to $9.15 and people there
took it in their own hands and said let`s go to $15 because people have
gotten fed up with Washington, D.C. They don`t expect a thing to come out
of Congress. They`re going to do it themselves at the local level. That`s
the only way they`re going to survive. On $7.75 you can`t even make half
the poverty level. You`ve got to have two jobs. You have to work 80 hours
a week.

SHARPTON: Now, Goldie, the Republican agenda is having an impact on
millions of Americans. 1.6 million workers are earning the federal minimum
wage right now. 3.8 million Americans could lose their food stamp benefits
if Republicans get their way next year. 1.3 million long-term unemployed
workers would lose benefits starting January 1st. And Republicans are
joking about taking December off?

TAYLOR: You know, the ironic thing about this, Reverend Sharpton, is
that, you know, the mass of growth happening in terms of the welfare rolls,
in terms of those people who are stuck in minimum wage jobs is happening in
red states. If you look at the concentration of growth, how many new
people have enrolled in food stamps, how many new people are qualifying for
public entitlement programs, it`s happening in red states and it is
happening because this minimum wage has been frozen.

So, not only is it not moral not to pay people a living wage, but it`s
good for business if you do pay people a living wage. If you pay people a
living wage, they have an opportunity to invest in themselves. They have
an opportunity to pursue educational opportunities, new training
opportunities. They have an opportunity to get on that road to economic
mobility that we call the American dream in this country. And so to cut
them off, to cut them off from access to that American dream is saying
that, you know, you deserve to be among the dispossessed in this country.
That you don`t deserve to be part of the American fabric. And I think the
Republicans are really cutting off their nose to spite their own face in
this.

SHARPTON: You know, Congressman, when you look at it really from a
perspective of who is talking here, who are the ones that are speaking
here, you find -- you know, it`s really easy for Paul Ryan and Cantor, Eric
Cantor and John Boehner to oppose an increase in minimum wage because
here`s what they`ll earn per hour next year. This is based on their own
legislative calendar of 113 days.

Paul Ryan will make $192 per hour. Eric Cantor, he`s majority leader
so he makes a bit more, $213 per hour. And since John Boehner is the
speaker of the House, he`ll pull in nearly $250 per hour. And they`re
opposing minimum wage for $10.10? This is incredible.

MCDERMOTT: It is incredible. It`s hard to believe that in a country
where we pride our self on taking care of one another and caring about
those people who haven`t had had the advantages as we have, that we could
have a Congress who never meets, has never taken a job vote in a whole year
in the House of Representatives. We`ve done nothing. They have fought
extending health care security to people, and they cut food stamps by $40
billion.

Now, you tell me where the heart is in that group of people. They
have simply lost their soul. They are a soulless bunch that could look out
there at what`s going on in this country. I went to a church food bank and
when you look at the people who are in those lines, it isn`t just what we
would consider the downtrodden. You see people there that you think -- I
saw them -- I`ve seen them on the street and in church and other places.
The whole country is suffering under this squeeze of the middle class and
these people just say, you don`t need to do anything.

SHARPTON: No, Congressman. You`re right. It`s all over the country.
The homelessness is at an increase. Churches that have feeding programs
can`t get enough resources and supplies. I mean, in the face of this
they`re joking about vacations. In the face of this they`re saying it can
wait.

I mean, when you look at the fact, Goldie, that on top of being in
need you have to now be denigrated and demonized. The ugly rhetoric around
this is so incredible. Like Sarah Palin said that dealing with this and
she compared the economy to the federal debt to slavery. And when it was
questioned by me and others yesterday, today she did it again. The federal
debt to slavery? Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You compared it to
slavery.

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To slavery, yes.
And it`s not a racist thing to do, by the way.

TAPPER: Don`t you ever worry that by using that kind of lane you risk
obscuring the point you`re trying to make?

PALIN: There is another definition of slavery and that is being
beholden to some kind of master that is not of your choosing. And, yes,
the national debt will be like slavery when the note comes due.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: I mean, first of all, slavery in the American context was
based on race. So you can`t talk about slavery in American context without
talking about race. But second of all, the whole ramifications of slavery
and a debt that, by the way, has been reduced every year for the last five
years under this president, Goldie.

TAYLOR: You know, our national debt is as low as it has been since
World War II. And so, the notion that our national debt is growing at some
astronomical rate really is a misnomer. There are so many counterfactual
things about what Sarah Palin has to say.

You know, first of all, our national debt and the debt that we have
really -- our public debt takes the weight off of our private debt. And
so, it really does free individuals to do more. Now, the second part of
this thing, sure, you could might compare this to slavery if you included
rape and murder and, you know, the killing of children and slaughter and
chains and some of those other things.

You know, to make these kinds of hyperbolic statements really aren`t
about making an argument. It`s about scaring people for votes. It is
about keeping people divided on substantive issues so that you can get them
into your ballot box come Election Day. And so, that`s what this is about.

And for Sarah Palin specifically, this is about selling a book. This
is about speaker fees. This is about time in front of the camera for her.
This is about her personal gain. So, if anybody is a slave here, it`s
Sarah Palin (INAUDIBLE).

SHARPTON: Congressman McDermott and Goldie Taylor, thank you for your
time tonight.

TAYLOR: Thank you.

MCDERMOTT: Good to see you again.

SHARPTON: Coming up, how ugly is it getting for Republicans? Sarah
Palin is going after Chris Christie for his weight? Yes, they`ve got
issues.

Plus, Rand Paul is talking about why Hillary Clinton can`t hold higher
office. We`ve got our own footnote for this one.

And this Republican man from Texas won an election by pretending he
was black. Today he`s blaming someone else and he`s going to join me live
tonight.

And first lady Michelle Obama gets very personal today with students.
Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Tonight, the entire world is racing to help storm survivors
in the Philippines. More than 1,700 are confirmed dead from this massive
typhoon. Though many fear the death toll could rise to 10,000 or even
more. Nine million people are affected by the storm. Many of them
homeless and hungry. Children orphaned by the storm. There are many ways
to help. Please go to redcross.org or go to our page at
politicsnation.MSNBC.com.

The people of the Philippines need your help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: The GOP has a big idea. It`s huge. It`s the game changer
Republicans have been waiting for. Big, big, big! Are you ready?

"The New York Times" has the details. Quote, "after months of
deliberating over how to better appeal to Hispanic and other minority
voters, some Republicans believe their party is overlooking another dire
demographic challenge, women."

Genius. Genius. This election how about we don`t overlook half the
planet? And get the crack political team behind the brilliant idea.
They`re the same folks who brought you this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I went to a number of
women`s groups and said could you help us find folks? And they brought us
full binders full of women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: That`s right. The Romney advisers who gave us binders full
of women are now working on women`s outreach for the GOP. What could
possibly go wrong?

Now, I`m not big wig political consultant, but here`s an idea. If
Republicans want to appeal to women, maybe they should stop listening to
so-called expert who is want to deny women coverage for birth control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: The Obama care contraception mandate
now being dealt another striking blow after a Chicago court of appeals
blocked the mandate. So will this controversial issue go away and will it
go all the way to the Supreme Court?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reality is the founders saw us with an
aggressive ability to live our lives according to our faith. That`s why
the pilgrims came here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: The pilgrims were taking and talking -- they were talking
about birth control over thanksgiving dinner? Really? I knew the GOP was
full of turkeys, but this is taking it to a whole new level.

Joining me now are Krystal Ball and Richard Wolffe.

Thank you both for coming on the show tonight.

RICHARD WOLFFE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, MSNBC.COM: Thanks, Rev.

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

SHARPTON: Krystal, there are 55 million single women eligible to
vote. But why is the GOP now just realizing that these 55 million women
exist?

BALL: That is an incredible question. And I would have to think that
last week`s election results in Virginia in particular have to be even more
of a wakeup call. Terry McAuliffe won single women by 42 points. I mean,
you can basically looking at the results and attribute McAuliffe`s win to
single women who were terrified of Ken Cuccinelli`s extreme policies.

And on this, Republicans are delusional if they think they can just,
you know, do things like oppose birth control and the contraception mandate
within the health care law and be able to do it without talking about it
which is sort of what they`re proposing. We`ll do all these things under
the table and we just not focus on it. And then women will be fooled into
voting for us.

On the contrary, Democrats are going to be able to message and are
going to be able to get the word out to women voters as they happen.

SHARPTON: You know, Krystal touched on two things, Richard. And she
talked about abortion, but in addition to pushing abortion measures, the
GOP is obsessed with fighting contraception coverage. They tried to attach
anti-birth control demands to a highway bill. The party included
contraceptive measures in a government shutdown bill. They`re taking the
contraception mandate to the courts, and they`re fighting birth control
access at a state level and they want to appeal to women voters?

WOLFFE: Right. You know, They`re fighting two different urges. One
is to pander to their base, and their base is becoming more conservative
and more male and older and whiter. And they`re also trying out, at least
at the political consultant level, that are more interested in, you know,
having more candidates and therefore more cash to spend, they want to try
and win. And you know, it`s really hard to do this when not only are you
excluding more than half the population, but you`re also excluding the
fastest growing demographic group which is immigrants and especially
Latinos in this country.

The smart people in the party have not figured out a way in spite of
being smart have not figured out a way to reconcile these two ends. And
that`s why this party is not ready for power yet. It seems they haven`t
learned enough from their defeat and it does make you wonder how many more
defeats they have to go through.

SHARPTON: You know, just in the last two weeks, Krystal, the head of
the Republican party Rush Limbaugh has been really talking about the right
wing`s feelings about women. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: She`s a single mother, probably
the husband walked out on her or she kicked him out. McAuliffe said if you
want to be a receptacle for male semen and not pay a prize, I`m your guy.

On married women are looking at government for everything. Obamacare
is a giant goody bag for unmarried women. Look at what they`re doing to
women with their policies. I mean, they`re demeaning them. They`re
turning them into nothing but abortion machines. Buy your own birth
control pill. Buy your own breast pump. It`s not insurance. It`s
welfare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: I mean, this kind of rhetoric clearly is why they`ve had
such problems with the woman vote. Can they continue to have these people
be the guide behind the policies and the rhetoric and what is being sold on
the right and think they could every appeal to women voters, Krystal?

BALL: Yes, I don`t think that single women are going to vote for a
party that sees them as giant receptacles of semen. I don`t think that`s
probably the right messaging or the right direction to go in. But the
bottom line here is it`s not just about the messaging which has been
unbelievably offensive. The bottom line is that women have realized what`s
going on not just at the federal level but in states across the country
where legislature after legislature has been pushing extreme anti-woman
provisions.

I mean, just today, you have Greg Abbott, the attorney general in
Texas, the guy who`s running for governor of Texas on the Republican side,
asking the courts to go forward with shutting down a third of abortion
clinics in Texas.

In Texas, a state where a lot of women are already having to go to
flee markets and across the border to Mexico in order to have the legal
procedure of abortion.

SHARPTON: Yes. And when you look at the data, polls are saying that
when they were asked if it was a good thing for women to be elected more
women to Congress, Richard, 60 percent of Democrats said yes, just 23
percent of Republicans agreed. Not saying much for empowering women.

WOLFFE: Right. And that also speaks to having an older, more male
base, right? And this is how parties become increasingly marginalized.

You know, I do think there is a bigger issue for Republicans in
general which is if you`re going to say you`re the party of individual
freedom, of American freedom, then -- and small government, you`ve got to
ask yourself why are you trying to intrude on women`s lives so much?

People aren`t stupid. They understand this is intrusive. Intrusive
on their personal choice, their personal freedoms. And I don`t think these
things square up. You cannot appeal to libertarians and at the same time
say we`re going to tell you how to manage your own health and your own
reproductive rights and your own families.

SHARPTON: Well, it`s certainly the opposite of saying you don`t want
big government intruding in your life. Just your choices about your life.

Krystal Ball and Richard Wolffe, thanks for coming on tonight.

BALL: Thanks for having us, Rev.

WOLFFE: Thanks, Reverend.

SHARPTON: And be sure to catch Krystal on "the Cycle" week days at
3:00 p.m. right here on MSNBC.

Sarah Palin`s fighting the war on Christmas. But she`s also starting
a battle of her own against Chris Christie. And now she`s calling him out
on his weight.

Plus, this Republican won an election by pretending that he was black.
Tonight, he`s defending himself live on this show. You will not want to
miss this.

And Rand Paul, we got you. Suddenly Mr. Copy/paste is a moral
authority. That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Senator Rand Paul was out today giving his first major
speech since getting caught stealing other people`s words. Remember he was
caught lifting parts of his book directly from think tank studies and other
sources. And sections of his speeches were copy and pasted right from
Wikipedia and news articles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Under President Obama, the ranks of
America`s poor have swelled to almost one in six people. We are now at an
all-time high in long-term unemployment. Millions of Americans are
struggling and out of work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Well, today Mr. Copy and Paste is a moral authority. He
gave a big speech at the citadel. And I sure hope he checked for this
sources for one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Her failure to provide our ambassador and his mission with
adequate security should preclude Hillary Clinton from ever holding high
office again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Wait a minute. Come on, Senator Paul. Where`d you get
that one? Your first big speech since the plagiarism scandal that forced
you to say, if it will make people leave me the hell alone, we`re going to
do them like college papers. And you`re using that tired, old, false
Benghazi attack. This is your idea of being original? We`ve been hearing
this farce show on Hillary Clinton scandal mongering for over a year.

Senator Paul, this isn`t even a nice try and you can source me again
on this one. We got you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: The country`s most famous half governor turned reality star
is back. Sarah Palin`s fighting a new challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: It`s unquestionable there is an
attack on Christmas celebrate Christmas for instance. I refer to them as
scrooges. Really jolly Christmas ways of doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: But she`s not just battling the phony-baloney war on
Christmas. She`s also waging another war. On Chris Christie. Governor
Christie won re-election in a blue state by a huge margin. He`s just about
the only success story left in today`s Republican Party. But for Sarah
Palin, Christie is a failure when it comes to the right wing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Your thoughts on Christie.

PALIN: I just saw the clip of the sound bite there about the second
amendment rights. Little bit of a flirting with disaster when it comes to
trying to win over constitutionalists talking about some stripping of our
second amendment rights. That`s going to be a tough one to overcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: That`s right. Chris Christie vetoed three gun control
measures. But he`s too soft on the second amendment. For Sarah Palin`s
GOP, that may be so. But let`s be fair. She did give him one compliment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: Hey, New Jersey, a blue state has a Republican governor.
Right on. Beats the alternative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Beats the alternative? Ouch. But that`s nothing compared
to what she said about Governor Christie in a conversation about the
treatment of women in politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: You know, petty superficial things that the men don`t ever
seem to hear much about. But a woman candidate will.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Governor Christie hears about his appearance.

PALIN: That`s because it`s been extreme. OK? So it`s hard to --
it`s hard for some people not to comment on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Wait, wait. Did I hear that right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: That`s because it`s been extreme. OK? So it`s hard to --
it`s hard for some people not to comment on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

His appearance is extreme? So it`s hard for people not to comment on
it? What does that even mean? I know Governor Palin`s a veteran of
reality TV, but this is one alliance she must really not want to make.

Joining me now are Michelle Cottle and Dana Milbank. Thank you both
for being here.

DANA MILBANK, THE WASHINGTON POST: Hi, Reverend.

MICHELLE COTTLE, THE DAILY BEAST: Thanks, Rev.

SHARPTON: Michelle, what do you make of Palin saying that Chris
Christie has an extreme appearance?

COTTLE: Well, look, we got to give her props for not just coming out
and calling him fat boy or some other hateful name. She doesn`t like his
politics. She`s made an entire career lately of putting ideological purity
and sound bites over any sense of kind of electability. So, you know,
anything is fair game with her at this point.

SHARPTON: You know, Dana, I mean, what do you think about her
bringing this up? I mean, as a former extreme looking guy myself, maybe
I`m a little too sensitive.

MILBANK: Well, extremism in defense of obesity is no vice, Reverend.
But I think Sarah Palin is in an interesting position to be saying that
it`s fair to comment on somebody because they`re extreme which of course is
just the way we`ve been describing Sarah Palin these last many years. So,
I`m sure she now approves of the way people have characterized her extreme
ideology.

SHARPTON: Yes, well, but we`ve never talked about her appearance.
You know, we notice she doesn`t like Chris Christie, Michelle. But here`s
who she does like. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: They threw the good guys under the bus. Ted Cruz, Mike Lee
willing to stand strong on the platform that they ran on in addition to so
many other politicians running on the idea of repealing and replacing
ObamaCare. Then they were thrown under the bus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Ted Cruz is a good guy who got thrown under the bus,
Michelle?

COTTLE: Absolutely. If you are looking at this from the Tea Party
position, which is Sarah Palin`s base, then you need to be outraged that
poor Ted Cruz didn`t get his way with his reading of "Green Eggs and Ham."
Now, if you`re living in reality, then it`s a slightly different story.
But that`s not really an issue for her.

SHARPTON: Dana, you know the Palin/Christie feud shows the largest
split in the GOP. The new NBC poll finds 32 percent of Republicans said
they`d vote for Christie in a GOP primary. Thirty one percent would vote
for another Republican. Now, the GOP split is especially stark in
different parts of the country. Fifty seven percent of Republican voters
in the northeast said they`d support Christie. But he only has 27 percent
supports in the south. And 22 percent in the west. Now, would it be
possible for Christie to win primaries in states like Iowa and South
Carolina which is early in the primary calendar at this point?

MILBANK: Well, it`s hard to say at this point state by state how
Christie would do. But the Palin criticism of him isn`t necessarily such a
bad thing. I mean, in that same interview she actually criticized the pope
for being too liberal. So he`s in fairly good company there. The idea for
Christie assuming he`s running is that there`s going to be a whole bunch of
Ted Cruzs and Rand Pauls, and Rick Perrys and Rick Perrys and whole bunch
of others in this race carving up that conservative vote which leaves an
opening for a mainstream conservative. And let`s remember that Chris
Christie is really a conservative Republican, he just not be a Ted Cruz
Republican.

SHARPTON: No doubt about it. You know, Michelle though, in line with
what Dana just said, Glenn Beck even had some strong words on the Christie
candidacy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I will not vote for another
publican like Chris Christie or Mitt Romney. I will not vote. I will skip
it. I will not cast my vote for that. If our choice is Chris Christie or
Hillary, we deserve it. We`re going down the road to slavery and we
deserve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: So he`d rather not vote than vote for Chris Christie. And
another day, another conservative comparing something to slavery, Michelle.

COTTLE: It is a favorite comparison these days. But this takes me
back to 2000 when Ralph Nader convinced America, you know, a good chunk of
his voters that there was absolutely no difference between Al Gore and
George W. Bush. Now, if Glenn Beck really wants to get out there and
peddle this, then once again we`re going to see a situation where there`s
just not going to be anybody pure enough for this particular wing of the
party. And they`re going to wind up kind of throwing the election to the
Democrats which is exactly what they don`t want. But you can`t make the
perfect the enemy of the good on this. You know?

SHARPTON: Talking about throwing the election to the Democrats, Dana,
let`s not get carried away. Christie according to polls would still lose a
2016 matchup against Hillary Clinton. The NBC poll finds Clinton would
beat Christie by ten points in a hypothetical matchup.

MILBANK: Well, sure. I mean, these polls are awfully early. If
anything, Democrats are in a difficult position now because of the troubles
with the ObamaCare rollout. And that would be the entire story now if the
Republicans weren`t eating themselves alive at this point. So sure we
think it looks very good for Hillary right now. It looked very good for
Hillary at this point before 2008. So I`m not going to put a lot of money
on that just yet.

SHARPTON: Michelle Cottle and Dana Milbank, thank you both for your
time tonight.

MILBANK: Thanks, Reverend.

COTTLE: Thanks.

SHARPTON: Coming up, why was this 19-year-old woman shot dead in
Detroit? Tonight, we have the autopsy report and new police tapes.

And critics say this Republican won an election by pretending that he
was black. He joins me live to defend himself. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: We`re back with an update on that remarkable story we
brought you last night. It`s about this Republican named Dave Wilson who
just won an election for the Houston Community College Board of Trustees by
a slim 26-vote margin in a heavily African-American district. How did he
do it? By pretending to be black using radio ads and mailers to lead
voters on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Wilson sent out a bunch of these direct mail pieces
implying that he`s African-American. His fliers depicted smiling African-
American faces. The words said please vote for our friend and neighbor
Dave Wilson. The pictures, he admits were just lifted off the internet.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: All of these supporters are African-American.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: What a coincidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHAARPTON: Today Mr. Wilson refuses to admit he`s done anything wrong
saying, quote, "The people that said they`re deceived is my opponent Bruce
Austin and the liberal news media." This is not about skin color, black or
white. People lose elections all the time. But no matter what color you
are, black, white, green, yellow, blue, it`s not OK to mislead the voters.

Joining me now is the newly elected member of the Houston Community
College Board Dave Wilson. First of all, thank you for coming on the show
tonight.

DAVE WILSON, HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES: It`s my
pleasure. Thanks for letting me be here.

SHARPTON: Now, you`re blaming the liberal media. You don`t think
this campaign was deceitful at all, Mr. Wilson?

WILSON: Absolutely not. I did a lot of block walking in this
campaign. I knocked on over 2,000 doors. I attended one of the largest
African-American breakfasts over the last two years, and my picture`s been
on the internet and my picture`s been on the YouTube at the Houston
Community College and I`m very well known in the Houston community. I just
refuse to let race dominate this.

SHARPTON: Your ads do not have your picture. Your Facebook does not
have your picture. The radio ads said "Our friend." You have in most of
the literature that channel 11 in your hometown and we`ve been able to come
forward does not have any pictures of you. Walking, knocking doors, we
can`t establish. But your literature, your Facebook, your radio ad, your
campaign staff appears to have deliberately not let voters know who you
were.

WILSON: Yes, I`m kind of the 1960s era when I`m looking for the day
when a man is not judged on his skin color but judged by his character.
There were a lot of important issues in this race that needed not to be
confused with one`s race. And I think it`s important that we focus on the
issues rather than somebody`s skin color. So I don`t understand why you`re
so excited about that.

SHARPTON: Well, I`m not excited about the skin color being in the way
of the character. What I`m excited about is that if we`re going to try and
act like the skin color is different than it is, then we`re really not
getting by. We`re playing a cynical game. The objective was not to say
hide skin color and play games. The objective is it doesn`t matter
therefore let`s all be transparent.

And in terms of the issues that you say you raised, among the issues
you came out with literature saying you were endorsed by Ron Wilson. Ron
Wilson is a well known Texas politician who led the fight for Texas to
recognize Martin Luther King Day. But it ended up the Ron Wilson you were
talking about was your cousin in Iowa.

WILSON: And it was stated on my campaign literature that that`s who
it was. You know, if you misinterpreted that, I`m sorry you did. But none
of the voters have come to me and said they`ve been deceived.

SHARPTON: In very fine print you put it was your cousin. Let me ask
you a question. Why would you think anyone in Houston would care your
cousin in Iowa endorsed you? I mean, come on. Obviously you were playing
on Ron Wilson. You know and I know no one in your district would care your
cousin in Iowa endorsed you.

WILSON: If you look back at the -- how the campaign went, that piece
didn`t go out until my opponent mailed a piece out with my picture on it
and he mailed it out to everybody in the district. And brought the skin
color, the race into the contest. And that`s what I had to do. I felt to
come back and recover. Because he --

SHARPTON: Now I get it. I get it. Now it makes all the sense in the
world. Your opponent put out that you were white, so you came out and
pretended Ron Wilson endorsed you. You just said yourself you never put it
out until he put out your picture. So, I get it. You were trying to
counter him saying you were white by acting as if the real Ron Wilson who
fought for Dr. King holiday had endorsed you. And that you feel is
justified.

WILSON: Which the whole issue in this campaign is the issues of the
race. The problem with the Houston Community College was the fact that the
directors there had spent $45 million on a campus in Qatar. They voted to
turn down $6 million of grants to students in my district. And they said
they didn`t have the money because they were broke. They spent this other
money on the other issues. The enrollment is declining that the Houston
Community College -- the tuition cost is going up. There`s insider deals
on contracts with the insurance and the state reps are getting lucrative
deals. They bought property that for $8.3 million. It was appraised at
$2.1 million. Nothing but swampland. These are issues we need to focus
on.

SHARPTON: And that all sounds like issues that should be focused on.
But why not say I as I am want to focus on these issues rather than go
through a cynical kind of politics that you yourself said you came out with
the Ron Wilson ad after your picture was brought out by your opponent. A
white just won the mayor of Detroit in a city that hasn`t had a white mayor
in years. He didn`t go hide who he was. If you`ve got a legitimate issue,
why did you have to hide? Why didn`t you come out like him and say this is
who I am, this is what I stand for. Why play a cynical game?

WILSON: The -- if you look at the election results, on the early
ballot I had lost the race. I was 250 points down, 250 votes down. But
after that piece came out and in the Election Day, I picked that up. So,
when my picture was put out, you know, it might have been a bad strategy,
but it was a strategy that I started from day one because on Election Day I
took the race after people do --

SHARPTON: Well, at least I got you to admit it was a strategy and
whether it was bad or good politically, it was morally very, very, very
deceptive. And Mr. Wilson, those kind of strategies ought to be dealt with
openly in America.

WILSON: Well, let me point out that where I got that strategy was
from Grady Castleberry who had run for constable a year ago. And Grady was
a black Democrat and he put out pictures for the constable race in district
one of white policemen and white children in his brochures. And that`s
where I picked it up.

SHARPTON: Oh. I got it now. So now you`re saying that I played a
racially cynical game on voters because a black guy did it before. And
that we ought to applaud you for.

Dave Wilson, thank you for your time tonight.

Coming up, developing news about the death of a young woman that`s
drawing parallels to the Trayvon Martin case. New tapes reveal what her
shooter said to police just moments after her death.

And first lady Michelle Obama gets political. And personal. Talking
to high school students today. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Developing news tonight about the death of 19-year-old
Renisha McBride, the young woman who was shot in the face and killed last
week in Detroit. She`d been in a car accident. Her family believes she
was knocking on doors for help. One homeowner said that he thought she was
trying to break in and he shot her in the face. Just moments ago the
Detroit news posted audio from the police calls that night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DISPATCHER: Just received a 911 call from a male who thinks he just
shot someone on his porch. Then he hung up. We`re trying to call back.
Units responding. We have the male on the line. He states he doesn`t know
this person. Trying to get further information.

OFFICER: There`s somebody down on the porch. It appears to be a
black female.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Prosecutors are investigating this case and the shooter has
not been charged with a crime. We`ll be following this story very closely.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: First Lady Michelle Obama`s got a new cause. We know about
her let`s move campaign fighting childhood obesity by promoting healthy
eating and exercise. But today she was at a high school in Washington
kicking off her campaign to get more kids to college. And she got very
personal about her own fight to get into Princeton. And then came the
teachable moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: When people told me that I wasn`t going
to cut it, I didn`t let that stop me. In fact, I did the opposite. I used
that negativity to fuel me, to keep me going. And at the end I got into
Princeton. And that was one of the proudest days of my life. I am here
today because I want you to know that my story can be your story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Her story can be your story. A great lesson on fighting
for what you want. I talk about that a lot in my new book "The Rejected
Stone" about using negativity to fuel me. And lessons about never giving
up for what you believe in. And I invite everyone to my book signing in
Miami tonight.

Hope to see you at New Birth Baptist Cathedral Church in a half hour
at 7:30. Be there. 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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