PoliticsNation, Friday, June 14th, 2013

POLITICS NATION
June 14, 2013
Guests: Frank Schaeffer; Faith Jenkins, Clarence Page, Victoria DeFrancesco
Soto, Joe Madison


REVEREND AL SHARPTON, MSNBC ANCHOR: Today at Ralph Reed faith and
freedom conference, it was clear that their talk of change was just talk.
Now that Paul Ryan himself didn`t try, he took center stage to say the
party is not so extreme, really is not. Just trust him on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: The left likes
to think that we are the fringe. Guess what? You, us, we are the
mainstream. When you take a look at what is happening, the goal we have in
front of us is to reclaim the center of our politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: The mainstream? Really? Even by wrong way Ryan standards,
that`s off base. Just listen to the parade of speakers at this big
Republican meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: Big government is undermining our religious liberty. It
undermines all of our liberties.

PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY, EAGLE FORUM: Pray every day that god speaks to them
and preserves enables them to preserve traditional marriage.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: Why are you getting engaged in the
political discourse simply when you disagree with someone on what the
definition of marriage is you`re called a bigot or hater.

KATE OBENSHAIN, YOUNG AMERICA`S FOUNDATION: Our college camps are
indoctrination camps for the abortion industry.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R), WISCONSIN: When I hear talk about restoring
faith in government, no, no, no, no, no. That is the strong solution.

ALLEN WEST (R), FORMER FLORIDA CONGRESSMAN: See, the decimation of
the progressive socialist policies that have broken down the family unit.

MICHAEL MEDVED, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: We lost because Barack Obama
won crushing, lopsided majorities, landslides among Americans who are
single, poor, and irreligious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: How`s that whole change thing going? It`s anti-gay, anti-
abortion, and anti-debate. But congratulations on order tonight for the
Republicans.

Speaker Boehner, confidence in your Congress is at an all-time low.
Look at this free fall, a steady drop down. Just 10 percent say they have
confidence in Congress, the lowest numbers since 1973. I guess it`s time
for more Republican autopsies.

Joining me now is Karen Finney, host of "Disrupt" on MSNBC, and Frank
Schaeffer, a guy who was on the inside of the religious right, a former
evangelical who wrote about the experience in his book "Crazy for God."

Thanks to both you have for being here.

FRANK SCHAEFFER, AUTHOR, CRAZY FOR GOD: Thanks.

KAREN FINNEY, MSNBC HOST, DISRUPT: Thanks, Rev.

SHARPTON: Karen, let me go to you first. They say this conference is
about family and protecting the dignity of marriage. But what is it really
all about?

FINNEY: You know, I`ll tell you what. It seemed to be about to me
was seeing all the fractures within the Republican Party, because on the
one hand you have people like Jeb Bush talking about why they should
support comprehensive immigration reform, and then you have people like
Michele Bachmann talking about why they shouldn`t. So it raises the
question. So where are your values? What is it? You know, not only are
we no tearing positive ideas and solutions, I don`t know what those values
are. That seems very conflicting to me. And I think that`s what we`re
really seeing in this conference.

SHARPTON: Well, Karen, but let me follow that up with you before I go
to Frank. Paul Ryan literally tried to link Obama care to abortions.
Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: Obama care says that if you believe in the social teaching of
your church, if you disagree, you know, with abort a patient with abortion-
inducing drugs, it doesn`t matter. You, if you`re a church or a charity or
a hospital, you have to buy insurance that offers your employees these
things that are in contradiction to your beliefs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Wrong. There are specific exemptions for religious
employers like churches. It that not right, Karen?

FINNEY: Well, there are. But also how about the hypocrisy of
respecting the beliefs and traditions of the individual? Simply because
you work for that institution, what if you`re a janitor for an institution,
does that mean you have less rights by the constitution than the
institution itself? I thought we were supposed to be protecting individual
rights and freedoms here, not standing by big institutions.

SHARPTON: Now Frank, you are inside the evangelical movement just as
a right-wing religious group. And the amount of misinformation and venom
for people that don`t think like them is alarming.

SCHAEFFER: Yes, you have to understand there are really three things
going on here, not one. First of all there is Ralph reed`s pet project.
He is the Bernie Madoff of the religious world. He almost got himself in
jail through scamming an Indian tribe casino deal that actually did put
lobbyists in jail. He was part of that. He now comes back and resurfaces
with a group of people who talk about morality. But apparently will allow
themselves to be convened in a meeting by someone who in most cultures
would have been criminally prosecuted, except in America where we give a
lot of latitude to people who fly under the banner of religion.

The second thing going on, is this is an evangelical fundraising fest.
These people need to stay relevant to the folks back home, even though they
know what they`re doing publicly will lose them the next election because
they have divorced themselves from mainstream America.

The third thing that is going son a denial of the Christian faith.
It`s no coincidence that they picked out poor and single people as the
enemy. These are the folks that they no longer represent. So what is so
odd is if you actually go to the teachings of Jesus Christ, you will find
the exact reverse, and that is the people that supposedly evangelical
Christians if you look them at their word would be most interested in
reaching out and folding into their party would be poor disenfranchised
single moms, for instance, stuck with no child care because of the
cutbacks, and all of the rest of it.

Instead of that, they speak for corporate America. They speak for
big-time religious organizations that rake in billions of dollars off
gullible lower class middle Americans who have no idea that people like
Ralph Reed are just con men. And they meet together once a year not to win
elections, but to advance their own agenda within a subculture that no
longer represents mainstream America.

And as you know, if you read "Crazy for God", my memoir and why I left
this group, it`s because any right thinking person who has any vestige of
honesty cannot be part of this con machine that uses words like Jesus
Christ, religion to do the opposite, disenfranchise the poor, wok for to
the Koch brothers, allow people like Ralph Reed to grandstand perpetuating
no matter what he does or how many time he fails, keeps coming back and
I`ll run another conferee and hope you win next time. Everything they`re
saying is the opposite of fact.

SHARPTON: But Frank, I think also Karen, to Frank`s point, Rush
Limbaugh, he knows the truth. He said exactly who they are, and attacked
the established Republican party. Listen to what Rush Limbaugh had to say
today on to the GOP base.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The Republican party is
embarrassed of its base. They accept the Democrat caricature of the
Republican base: southern hayseed hicks, pro-lifer, pickup driving gun rack
in the back window people, chewing tobacco and going to church and talking
about god all the time. But they really see them as a bunch of zealots
when it comes to abortion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: So, he is telling Karen, the base, these people are ashamed
of you, and you`re the real people of the party.

FINNEY: That`s right. And I mean, that`s part of Rush Limbaugh`s
overall mantra, which is, you know, us versus them and hate in general.
But, you know, the other piece of this, again, there is a fracture within
the Republican Party, and I think part of -- it was interesting listen to
Paul Ryan talk about the center, because the truth is the majority of
America on everything from access to the legal procedure of abortion to
same-sex marriage to immigration reform, majority of America has moved on.
And to what Frank was saying, what these guys are talking about is not
where the majority of America is anymore. And that`s the piece that Rush
is trying to cling on to is, you know, that portion of the country that for
maybe a lot of different reasons doesn`t agree with those policies, but for
some reason, Rush thinks we have to be at war with each other rather than
accepting our differences.

SHARPTON: But the problem, Frank, is they`re almost like in an echo
chamber. They`re talking to themselves. They are not recognizing this
shift in terms of the majority of Americans.

SCHAEFFER: Yes, but you know, what I said before and what Karen has
been talking about this division, this is where it all comes down to
something that I don`t think most people realize.

There are serious believers who are conned by these people. But the
people in leadership positions know exactly what is going on. They know
they will never win another election on these platforms. They also know
that in certain southern states and certain mountain states, they can keep
churning this stuff out and get elected even though they will never be in
the majority or have somebody in the White House and meanwhile they can
keep raising the money.

SHARPTON: Frank, I want to ask you something directly on it. You`re
saying the leadership knows that they`re blowing elections. Then why are
they doing it?

SCHAEFFER: Because they earn their living in a religious environment
through essentially conning people from the pulpit, on the radio programs,
through their publications and literature into believing that they are the
majority and we speak for the real America. And every election somehow has
been stolen by Chicago politicians or whatever it is. There is this black
man in the White House who is not a real American. One of these days the
truth will come out and we`ll be vindicated. They always kind of move the
marker further down the road. But the fact is they do not represent the
majority of Americans. The demographics terrify them, because this is
turning into a brown country, not a white oligarchy any longer.

And who they truly serve is not the people. They serve corporate
America by keeping our government off-balance as the Republicans have shut
down the presidency that we`ve had our first African-American president.
They haven`t been interested in working with him. Their agenda has been
obstructionist.

SHARPTON: We have to leave it there, Frank. Thank you, Frank
Schaeffer and Karen Finney. Thank you both for your time tonight.

SCHAEFFER: Appreciate it.

SHARPTON: And watch Karen this weekend. "Disrupt" is live at 4:00
p.m. eastern right here on MSNBC.

And let me say this. I`m in Phoenix tonight where I keynoted the
National Baptist Congress and went to court around immigration. What I say
now I said before. The Christian right needs to meet the right Christians,
people that believe in tolerance, even though they firmly believe in
whatever their faith dictates.

She is back. She is back! You`re going to be seeing a whole lot more
of Sarah Palin. I`ll tell you why.

And an 11-year-old is taunted with racist insults after singing the
national anthem.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

SHARPTON: How he and his supporters shut the critics down, and what
that means for intolerance in this country.

Plus, President Obama`s father`s day message. You don`t want to miss
it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Have you joined the "Politics Nation" conversation on
facebook yet? We hope you will. Everyone had something to say about Sarah
Palin`s return to FOX News.

Gail says, I bet late night comedians are licking their chops.

I`m sure they are, Gail.

Lanay says, who is next, Michele Bachmann?

Why not, Lanay. And we have much more on Palin`s return to TV coming
up later in the show. But first, we want to hear what now you`ve 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)

SHARPTON: Just moments ago a judge ended the first week of jury
selection in George Zimmerman`s murder trial for the death of Trayvon
Martin. Mr. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims he shot Trayvon
Martin in self-defense.

Lawyers questioned seven potential jurors today, grilling them on what
they learned about the case from the media. At least 87 potential jurors
have been dismissed since Monday, 28 have made it through the initial
questioning and are moving on to round two. They will face more questions
on Tuesday morning.

The court will try to reach a pool of 40 potential jurors for the
second phase of questioning. Many of the jurors moving on to this second
round of express firm opinions on the case. Some express views that seem
sympathetic to the defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The opinion of basically regarding the -- what I
heard about Trayvon being up here because he was on -- expelled from
school. I don`t want to judge, but I just want to say that this could have
been prevented had Ohio he not been up here. That`s all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a terrible accident that occurred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Other candidates had opinions that seemed more helpful to
the prosecution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything else you can remember about either the
picture or the conflict that has now come back to mind?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That he was in the neighborhood, and that Mr.
Zimmerman followed him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It seems to me at the time that a presumption
was made, whereas instead of taking George Zimmerman in and asking him
additional questions at the station and booking him, that did not --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Joining me now is former criminal prosecutor Faith Jenkins.

Thank you, Faith for being here tonight.

FAITH JENKINS, FORMER CRIMINAL PROSECUTOR: Thank you.

SHARPTON: Faith, we`re getting a real sense of what this jury might
look like. And it is significant to you that so many potential jurors seem
to have specific knowledge of the case, even if it`s not accurate info,
like when the juror said about Trayvon had been suspended from school,
which is not -- that he was expelled from school, which is not true. He
was not expelled. But it seems like they know specific things that have
been floated out there.

JENKINS: It`s not surprising that most of these jurors have heard
something about this case and they`re expressing what they`ve heard in
court. But all of them that are moving on to round two have been asked the
ultimate question, can you be fair and impartial? Can you judge this case
based on the evidence presented to you and not based on any media reports
that you have heard.

These are all people who have replied yes, they can do that. And both
attorneys have agreed that they can now move forward to round two, which is
going to be more specific substantive questions about some of the
underlying issues in the case.

SHARPTON: But let me understand, as we end in this first week.
Lawyers on both sides will be allowed to strike potential jurors from being
seated. They get ten peremptorily challenges each. That means they can
dismiss up to ten potential jurors without giving any reason. After that,
they must request someone not serve on the jury for a specific reason. And
the judge must agree, that correct?

JENKINS: Yes there are two ways that the lawyers can strike jurors,
potential jurors from the case. For cause, which means for whatever reason
they can`t be fair or impartial, so they`re going to be removed. There are
an unlimited number of for cause strikes. Peremptory say, each have ten
for this first group. And you can strike a juror for any reason or no
reason at all, except based on race, using your peremptory challenges. So,
they will each have ten, and they want to use those carefully because they
will apply to justice first round of jurors. Now, after you use all your
strikes, if you have at least ten jurors left, that`s your jury.

SHARPTON: Now Tuesday, the lawyers will go back to questioning and
resuming their questioning. The potential jurors that made it through the
round two, they will cover topics like gun control, whether the potential
juror owns a gun, their opinions on self-defense, their opinions on drug
use, whether they have a bias for or against police or experts, and whether
they should hold it against Mr. Zimmerman if he does not testify. Now,
what will lawyers be looking for in this next round of questioning, Faith?

JENKINS: So, in this next round of questioning, you`re going to see a
more traditional approach to jury selection. The jurors are going to be
seated as a group. And the lawyers are going to ask them questions as a
group and initially may say how many of you own a gun? And they will raise
their hands. They`ll go to them one by one and ask them follow-up
questions. So the jurors will actually be able to hear what other
perspective jurors are saying when they`re answering these questions and
the lawyers will then decide who, if any to eliminate based on their
answers.

SHARPTON: Now last, the judge still needs to rule on whether the
audio analysis of the 911 call is admissible at trial. And the hearing I
understand starts Monday at 4:00 p.m. We know they will play the tape, but
we don`t know if the audio analysis from experts would be permitted. That
right?

JENKINS: Yes. And the judge is going to make this decision before
opening statements, because the prosecution is obviously going to tell the
judge if this evidence is going to come in, we want to be able to present
to it the jurors from is the very beginning. So Judge Nelson is aware of
that. She is going to make this decision far enough in advance to give the
prosecution time to prepare their opening statements, and the defense time
to prepare theirs as well if they choose to open.

SHARPTON: All right. So it`s going to start digging deep down in it
next week. We`ll be watching it and covering it.

Faith Jenkins, thank you for your time tonight.

JENKINS: Thank you.

SHARPTON: And full disclosure. In civil court, George Zimmerman has
sued NBC Universal for defamation, and the company has strongly denied his
allegations.

Still ahead, an 11-year-old singer shuts down his racist critics and
proves how far this country has progressed.

Plus, Sarah Palin and FOX News back together again. Why these two
darlings of the right couldn`t quit each other.

And President Obama has a message for all the fathers out there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a great way for
us to celebrate father`s day and to just remind ourselves those of us who
are fathers how lucky we are. It`s the best job I`ve got.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: More on this father`s day message from the president,
coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: We`ve talked a lot on this show about voter suppression,
and few tried harder to block voting in 2012`s election than this guy,
Colorado secretary of state Scott Gessler. He is the one who sued Denver
County for sending ballistic people who have not voted in the election.
Then he sent letters to almost 4,000 Colorado voters, questioning if they
were eligible to vote. In the end, Gessler`s office found problems only
with 141 people, or 0.004 percent of the state`s voters. And he didn`t
even prove that number. But now the guy who was so worried about election
integrity is running into ethics problems of his own.

Colorado`s ethics commission has decided Gessler improperly used state
funds for a trip to Florida. He has been fined for spending about $1400 in
public funds to go to a conference put on by the Republican national
lawyers association. Now, Gessler claims this was a partisan witch-hunt
and he didn`t do anything wrong, but the ethics commission is bipartisan,
and the Republicans voted against him too.

Is this guy who is always talking about fraud think we wouldn`t notice
he billed taxpayers to go hang out with a bunch of Republican lawyers in
Florida? Nice try, but we got you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: That was 11-year-old Sebastian de la Cruz, a mariachi
singer who performed the national anthem at the NBA finals earlier this
week. He charmed the crowd. But online he was met with racism and hate.
One person tweeted nine out of 10 chance that kid singing the National
Anthem is illegal. Another said this kid is Mexican. Why is he singing
the national anthem?

And yet another said is this the American national anthem or the
Mexican hate dance? Get this little kid out of here. After these and
other tweets went viral, Sebastian got a huge outpouring of support. Many
others online called out these tweeters for their cowardice and ignorance.
Sebastian showed the kind of class that his critics lacked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN DE LA CRUZ, MARIACHI SINGER: My father was actually in the
navy for a pretty long time. And I salute him today for that. And I just
want to -- I want to thank him. And just to be able to sing the national
anthem, people don`t know, they just assume that I`m just a Mexican. But
I`m not from Mexico. I`m from San Antonio, born and raised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: And last night, the San Antonio Spurs invited Sebastian
back to sing again in the finals. President Obama tweeted don`t miss his
encore performance of the national anthem at the NBA finals. Sebastian got
a huge ovation from the crowd, and his performance was a slam-dunk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DE LA CRUZ (singing): Of the land of the free and the home of the
brave

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: In the year of 2013, the true minority are people who
preach intolerance and hate.

Joining me now, Clarence Page and Victoria DeFrancesco Soto. Thanks
to both you have for being here tonight.

CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE COLUMNIST: Thank you, Reverend.

VICTORIA DEFRANCESCO SOTO, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: Thanks Rev.

SHARPTON: First Victoria, you in Texas. What does this outpouring of
support for this young man tell us?

SOTO: Well, I mean, he is the pride of Texas. Sebastian is a
reflection of the new Texas. He is a reflection not just of being American
or Mexican, but of being Mexican American and putting into the diversity of
the United States. We talk a lot about the U.S. being a melting pot. And
we talk about Ellis Island. But when we talk about this new generation
coming up, Latinos, this new generation of immigrants, that fuzzy feeling
about immigrants starts to wane.

And I think in the case of Sebastian, we`re seeing case in point when
that ugly tolerance raises its head. But on a personal level, I feel that
backlash against that intolerance speaks of the larger feeling in the
United States of an acceptance of the changing demographics of our country.

SHARPTON: You know Clarence, it`s 50 years since the march on
Washington, and we see this amazing backlash, this outpouring of support
against the hate that was demonstrated online to this young man. We`ve
seem to be coming a long way.

PAGE: Well, yes, you know. What strikes me about this, Reverend is,
first of all, Sebastian just makes me choke up. He`s just -- we`re going
to hear from that young fellow again. He is just a really bright, very
talented and an inspiration to all of us. And you know we can see how
hatred has been marginalized. But amazes me in this age of social networks
of how twitter and cell phone cams and all have become an avenue for
sociopaths now to feel like express themselves or like for that Jekyll and
Hyde personality to show itself.

This isn`t the first time we`ve seen pinheads just come off with
racist diatribes over the internet. What really encourages me, Reverend, I
know you and I come a long way, you know, to see so many people rising up
to just show their indignation for that kind of behavior and to show, you
know, don`t associate me with that kind of hatred. It`s a wonderful thing.

SHARPTON: And I think that we do see other examples of hate. But we
also see examples of people rising up and giving a tremendous backlash.
Let me show you, Victoria, a video posted by disgruntled Dunkin Donuts
customer in Florida that features racist language. And it went viral.
Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Guess what? This is (bleep) about to go live.
(bleep) right on Facebook, because I already posted what you (bleep) last
night. So I hope you`re happy with your little (bleep). Because I`m about
to nuke your whole planet from mars. You think you all are tough, big bad
Arabs bombing the Trade Center? I`ll show you tough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Now this woman pointed -- posted this video herself,
thinking she would get a sympathetic reaction this woman. Instead
thousands of people slammed her online, and the Dunkin Donuts has praised
how its workers handled the rant, Victoria. So, we`re seeing that there is
a lot of people still out there trying to hate, but there seems to be a
backlash that they don`t understand. A lot of attitudes in this country
has changed.

SOTO: Well, Reverend, these people are still living in the 1950s,
even in the early 1960s. We`re a very different country today even than we
were ten years ago, 15 years ago. Right now Texas is one of the five
states that is majority minority. Seven of the 15 largest cities here in
the United States are majority minority. So seeing black, brown faces is
normal. It`s commonplace.

It`s no longer the exception, but it`s rather becoming the rule. And
I think as we start to see more of that spread across the country, these
people will become more and more and the exception. And they will
understand that they are not in the right, that these comments are no
longer acceptable. Not just politically incorrect, but morally incorrect.

SHARPTON: And Clarence, we hope as we see the change in attitude, we
see a change in the institutions and other things that still have us facing
problems of inequality. But clearly there seems to be an attitudinal shift
among a lot of the American public.

PAGE: I think that`s important. You know, 50 years ago, even Dr.
King said that you can`t change the law. You can`t change what is in
people`s hearts. But we have seen by changing the law, by changing what is
viewed as the legal and political mainstream, the society comes along
actually society was ahead all along, and maybe they were restrained by Jim
Crowe laws, et cetera, from doing the right thing.

But we can see now that our current social standards have shifted
tremendously. And we now need to just be more candid about it. What
bothers me is how reluctant people are to talk about race candidly, because
they`re afraid they`re going to be called racist or something like that.

SHARPTON: Or do something about race. But you know in 2008,
President Obama, then Senator Obama, Victoria, made a speech on race that
I think really took the mainstream a little further up the road toward
really dealing with a real balance in terms of how we look at these things.
Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: I am married to a black
American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slave owners, an
inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers,
sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins of every race and every hue
scattered across three continents. And for as long as I live, I will never
forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: So the changing demographics of America, the learning of
people that are unlike you is something that has changed a lot of attitudes
and has put us on a path to complete Dr. King`s dream. We`re not there,
but we`re on a path, Victoria.

SOTO: Well, what we see is not just the changing demographics, but
we`re also seeing a blending of individuals. What we call the modern
family, as Barack Obama was referring to. His family is a blended family.
My family is a blended family. So it`s not just a matter of the statistics
that the people are changing. We`re seeing it in our communities, our
neighbors, our family members are also changing.

And additionally, we know from social psychology research that when
you interact with minorities or with people of a different group, you tend
to start to see things on a more personal level, and racial intolerance
starts to go down. So the numbers are pushing people to get to know one
another and be more tolerant.

SHARPTON: You know, Clarence, as we see these attitudes around race,
around gender, around those lesbian and gay, the tolerance level, is this
the climate that leads toward having more of a progressive legislative and
a progressive institutional shift in this country which we are still faced
with a challenge?

PAGE: That`s a heavy question, but I think yes. Is the short answer.
We`re seeing several things happen at once. You know, but I look at how
attitudes towards gay marriage, for example, have changed over the last
decade, much faster than I ever expected and most people I know. And yet
we felt well, it`s generational younger people just have very different
attitudes that older people do, which is a replay of the `60s when I came
of age in many ways. And I think now we`re seeing that race doesn`t mean
what it used to mean. Ethnicity doesn`t mean what it used to mean.

Mixed families are becoming more common. We`re seeing the population
shifts, it`s going by state and region. We`re seeing in the south that
traditionally the most conservative area, it`s still slow, but at the same
time you`ve got what, South Asian governors, republican in two states, and
I could go on and on about the changes happening there. So it`s like I
think we`re going to see changes happen, we`re seeing it already by region
and state by state.

SHARPTON: That`s right.

PAGE: And that`s going to be the new area of conflict I think as we
go through these changes.

SHARPTON: Clarence Page and Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, thanks for
your time tonight.

PAGE: Thank you.

SHARPTON: Both you have a great weekend.

PAGE: You too, Reverend.

SHARPTON: And we must keep fighting for a better America. As I said
I`m here in Arizona dealing with immigration and racial profiling. But
nothing that I say says it better than Sebastian said last night, this
young man standing up against hate, singing the national anthem.

Ahead, father`s day came early to some dads at the White House today.
So what advice did the president gave him?

Plus, is Sarah Palin really headed back to FOX?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: You bet you, yes, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: The return of the Mama Grizzly. Don`t miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: It was an early Father`s Day celebration at the White House
today. The president hosted a Father`s Day luncheon with leaders from the
becoming a man program. And he looked very comfortable with some of his
little visitors. The menu included cheese burgers and fries, and each
table also had a bowl of apples. Before lunch, the president talked about
his most important job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: Obviously, this is a great way
for us to celebrate Father`s Day and just remind ourselves, those of us who
are fathers how lucky we are. It`s the best job I`ve got. And I know that
all the fathers here feel the same way. And the idea that we might get
afternoon ice cream?

(LAUGHTER)

Is always good. So I`m especially glad -- yes, I know. It makes
people happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Does the first lady know about this ice cream? Happy
Father`s Day, Mr. President. You set a great example for everyone. And
Happy Father`s day to all the dads out in POLITICS NATION.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: It was the celebrity breakup no one saw coming. The split
that shocked the world. No, I`m not talking about Katie Holmes and Tom
Cruise. And I`m not talking about Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore either.
I`m talking about this breakup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Sarah Palin says the door is wide open when it
comes to her long-term plans after parting ways with FOX News.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: It was the relationship that was supposed to last forever.
A match made in republican heaven. But in January, Mama Grizzly and the
mouthpiece of the Republican Party suddenly called it quits. But today --

(singing) Reunited and it feels so good

Yes, the former half term governor and FOX News are getting back
together. So, America, get ready for some more of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: Well, first off, Nancy Pelosi is a dingbat.

Go back to what our founders and our founding documents meant.
They`re quite clear that we would create law based on the God of the bible
and the Ten Commandments. It`s pretty simple. Independent patriotic
Americans who desire fiscal sanity in our beloved nation being called
terrorists, heck, Sean, if we were real domestic terrorists, shoot,
President Obama would be wanting to pal around with us, wouldn`t he?

His theme last night in the State of the Union was the WTF, you know,
winning the future. And I thought OK, that acronym spot on. There are a
lot of WTF moments throughout that speech. My buddy Joe Biden, besides his
penchant for just making stuff up.

Oh, Lord, are we just a bunch of numskulls out here?

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Apparently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Joining me now is Joe Madison. Joe, thanks for being here.

JOE MADISON, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST: Happy Father`s day to you also.

SHARPTON: Thank you, thank you. Now so the breakup lasted 139 days.
But they couldn`t stay apart. Why?

MADISON: I really don`t know. You know, but it`s interesting in the
last several weeks, maybe a couple of months, look at what FOX has done.
They`ve hired Mark Fuhrman, who`s going to be involved with a Trayvon
Martin, Mark Fuhrman who can`t get a job ever again in the state of
California as a police officer. They`ve hired Allen West, who couldn`t get
reelected to a second term as a congressman, and now you have rehired Sarah
Palin, who the country rejected in a presidential election. And as I was
told, probably has a 58 percent just disapproval rating.

Now, I don`t know what is going on at FOX, but when I compare it to
other networks and the intelligent conversations that we attempt to have,
particularly here on this network and other networks, I can only assume
that FOX has decided that they`re going to appeal to, you know the simplest
of thinkers, and that -- I just don`t know what they`re thinking about.

SHARPTON: Well, maybe, Joe, maybe they`re just going for what is
entertaining and popular to just a hard right base. I mean look at the
fact --

MADISON: Oh, it is hard right base, yes.

SHARPTON: After she left FOX, one of Palin`s biggest public
appearances came at the conservative conference, CPAC. She was a big hit.
Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

PALIN: Oh, Bloomberg is not around. Our big gulp is safe. Shoot,
it`s just pop, with locale ice cubes in it. I hope that`s Ok.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: I mean, she is clearly popular with the far right. What do
you see in her future, Joe?

MADISON: Well, I don`t see -- I tell you this. Maybe I see young
people, I see young people who are looked to the Republican Party, and not
one of these young people that have been polled name any elected official
in the Republican Party at the top of the list. It`s all these FOX
commentators, these people who just say horrible things who keep dividing
us, who keep accentuating the negative. And it`s something somebody told
me a long time ago.

A negative gets nine times the attention that a positive gives. So
what I see in her future is a lot of comedians at "Late Night" thinking
thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I also see maybe a network
that is gearing up for 2014 to get these Allen West, these Mark Fuhrman.
You`ve got a racist, an individual damn near drummed out of the military,
and a defeated vice presidential candidate. So clearly you`ve got a
network that just wants to continue to divide, divide, divide. That`s
really what is happening here.

Now you got to deal with the fact when you say comedians love her, she
did go on "Saturday Night Live" and make fun of herself. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINA FEY, AS SARAH PALIN: And now I`d like to entertain everybody
with some fancy pageant walking.

LORNE MICHAELS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE PRODUCER: I really wish that that
had been you.

PALIN: Lorne, you know, I just didn`t think it was a realistic
depiction of the way my press conferences would have gone.

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: You can`t let Tina go out there with that woman.
She goes against everything we stand for. Good Lord, Lorne. They call her
-- what`s that name they call her, Cara -- what is that name again?

PALIN: Caribou Barbie.

BALDWIN: Caribou Barbie. Thank you, Tina. This is the most
important election in our nation`s history, and you want her, our Tina to
go out there and stand there with that fat horrible woman. What do you
have to say for yourself?

MICHAELS: Alec, this is Governor Palin.

PALIN: Hi there.

FEY: The only pole I care about is the North Pole, and that is
melting. It`s not great.

What?

The real one? Goodbye!

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Well, she`s good for laughs, not for politics. Joe
Madison, thank you for your time tonight. I`ve got to go. Have a great
weekend.

MADISON: Yes. All right. Travel safely, and Happy Father`s day
everybody.

SHARPTON: All right. Ahead, your questions are coming in, including
one on my "Saturday Night Live" persona. Reply Al is coming up. Remember,
friend or foe, I want to know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHARPTON: Now it`s time for reply Al. And your e-mails are rolling
in. It`s great to hear from so many of you.

William asks, "How do our leaders find it so easy to give so much
money for war, but not to help the people here in the USA?"

Well, you know, that is why we must raise our voices. That is why we
must vote. Because it seems like when it comes to war, when it comes to
these battles, there is always some magical way they can find billions of
dollars.

But when it comes to our seniors, when it comes to our young people,
when it comes to ordinary vulnerable Americans, many of whom put their
lives on the line in the military, many who have helped build this country,
they always have to hear we don`t have any money, deficit, budget cuts.
It`s a misplaced priority by our leaders but it`s misplaced activity by us.

Bonne asks, "Have you seen SNL`s depiction of you? What do you
think?"

Well, Bonne, I have indeed seen it. And for those of you who have not
seen it, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENAN THOMPSON, AS AL SHARPTON: Good evening, I`m Al Sharpton.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Republicans are mad because the Tea Party has been targeted by the ers
-- I`m sorry, excuse me, the IRS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: Now that`s Kenan imitating me. And I love it. I laughed.
If you can`t laugh at yourself, then you take yourself too seriously. But
Kenan, you need to take about 30, 40 pounds off if you`re going to mimic me
now. And then we need to talk about a tailor, you know.

Well, let me wish everyone a Happy Father`s Day. We want you to
answer us by sending us your questions. E-mail me, ask rev@msnbc.com.
Remember, friend or foe, I want to know. One more time, Happy Father`s Day
to all you dads out there, and 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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