Guests:
Rep.
John Lewis (D-GA)
Al
Sharpton
Sheryl
WuDunn
Doris
Goodwin
David
Broooks
Mayor
Cory Booker (D-Newark)
Gov.
Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
Raul Labrador (R-ID)
Gregory:
wow it's been 50 years since
MLK
gave some speech and more
importantly
appeared on Meet The Press
Audience: John McCain wasn't available?
Gregory:
welcome John Lewis
Lewis:
hi David
Gregory:
you spoke as a young 23 year-old
at
the first March and spoke again
as
an elder statesman – that's amazing
Lewis:
we were part of a non-violent revolution
Gregory:
you said forces want to take us back
Lewis:
I see people saying 'I want
my
country back' – back to where?
Gregory:
back to the future?
Lewis:
when I came to Washington
it
was segregated – not like now ha ha
Gregory:
do you see the same fears
Lewis:
I see fears of progress but
we
are changing as a nation
Gregory:
is there a backlash?
Lewis:
yes but let's not be afraid –
embrace
the change
Gregory:
black unemployment is still
twice that of white people
Lewis:
it's very troubling
Gregory:
who is to blame?
Lewis:
all of us – businesses, schools, government
Gregory:
Tavis Smiley wants Obama to propose
a bunch of liberal proposals
Lewis:
I met with JFK and LBJ and
we pushed and pulled
Gregory:
thanks for coming Congressman
Lewis:
thank you Fluffy
Gregory:
how does King's message relate today?
Sharpton:
it paved the way for a black
President
and black Attorney General
Gregory:
awesome
Sharpton:
but we still have voting rights
struck
down, economic inequality and
gun
violence in our community
Branch:
Civil rights leaders linked
their caused to
Lincoln and the Founders
Goodwin:
right – the Founders created
an
ideal that all men are created equal –
Lincoln
and MLK and others pushed
the
nation ever closer to that ideal
Gregory:
wow
Goodwin:
it was an amazingly hopeful time
– we
need that again
Brooks:
A Philip Randolf and Bayard Rustin
exposed
their enemies bigotry
through
their great dignity
WuDunn:
students at Tianamen Square
invoked
the King's speech
Gregory:
I love Colin Firth
WuDunn:
righty-o
Gregory:
at the time white people were
terrified
of large numbers of blacks marching
Sharpton:
we still hear those complaints today
[ break ]
Gregory:
Cory you are trying to become
only
the second black person in the Senate
– how
far have we come in 50 years?
Booker:
the challenge is equality –
we
still have too many people in poverty
Gregory:
you have expressed frustration
with
young people's apathy
Booker:
the power of the people is
greater
than the people in power
Gregory:
ooh
Booker:
sure politics can be depressing
sometimes
but you can't just sit on
your
couch – you gotta get out there
and
work for change
Gregory:
unemployment is high in
New
Jersey and in your city
Booker:
if Chris Christie and I didn't
work
together Newark wouldn't
be booming right now
Gregory:
is it?
Gregory:
yes and then I worked with the
right-wing
Manhattan institute on over-incarceration
Gregory:
so what will you do in the Senate?
Booker:
argue for strategic investment
in
education and young people
Gregory:
we tried that and America is a failed state
Booker:
we need Republicans and
Democrats
to work together
Gregory:
is the American dream still alive?
Booker:
we all need each other –
when
a child succeeds it benefits us all
Gregory:
We asked Snoop Dogg
and
Mitt Romney to riff on Martin Luther King
Dogg:
I have a dream of safe communities
for our children
Romney:
I have a dream that I didn't
call
half of America lazy and
was
actually elected President
then
I woke up darn it
[ break ]
Gregory:
OMG we might go to war in Afghanistan
Engel:
the rebels have just received
tons
and tons of weapons from Turkey
Gregory:
sweet
Engel:
also Assad was almost assassinated
and
it pissed him off and he personally
approved
spraying chemical weapons on the rebels
Gregory:
wow
Gregory:
Assad says he will allow
weapons
inspectors in Syria
Welker: yes but the White House
says
there is little doubt chemical
weapons
were used in Syria
Gregory:
Obama said we need to
address
inequality
Brooks:
inequality shows up by age 2 or 3
Gregory:
um okay
Brooks:
we need more love
Gregory:
what about the American dream?
WuDunn:
the civil rights issue today
is
thriving in an inner city with
bad
schools and poverty
Gregory:
and less opportunity than before
Goodwin:
the lesson of the civil rights
movement
is great change can happen
with
effort and commitment and we
need
to commit to fight poverty
Gregory:
is Obama blind to poverty
and
too focused on the middle class?
Sharpton:
Congress just cut Head Start!
Gregory:
Raul you became a mormon
and
a lawyer and a single mother
Labrador:
I was born poor to a mother
who
decided not to get an abortion
and
sacrificed to get me a good education
Gregory:
wow
Labrador:
my mother said I should speak English
Gregory: I've heard that's useful
Labrador:
your panel is bunch of depressing losers
WuDunn:
well sorry Raul but social
mobilization
is worse than ever and
while
Washington dithers America burns
Brooks:
Head Start is a terrible program
WuDunn:
wrong!
Brooks:
America has Juwan and
Pedro and Goldbergs
Goodwin:
my father was an orphan
but
succeded because of WWII
and
income taxes
Sharpton:
Martin Luther King directly
attacked
America's bad check given to blacks
Labrador:
King's principal message was
that
America is great and so everyone
should
have hope
Sharpton:
no his message was to fight injustice
Gregory:
the President says we don't
have
an urgent deficit crisis and
called
for more spending to
help
children – what do you think?
Jindal:
the debt is $17 trillion!
Gregory:
what else?
Jindal:
the reality in America is that
too
many kids go to bad schools
Gregory:
true
Jindal:
in Louisiana we have privatized
schools
and created Charter Schools
Gregory:
I love it
Jindal:
now we allow minority kids
to
take their dollars with them
Gregory:
I love you
Jindal:
thanks
Gregory:
Colin Powell says there is
a
vein of intolerance in the GOP
Jindal:
the left spent 8 years
attacking
George Bush
Gregory:
uh-huh
Jindal:
we shouldn't impeach Obama -
we
should repeal Obamacare and
anti-poverty
programs have made
people
poor so we should repeal them too
Gregory: Obama is not going to sign
a
bill repealing Obamacare
Jindal:
Obamacare is taking away
people's
doctors and raising costs
Gregory:
would you shut
down
the government over it?
Jindal:
why not?
Gregory:
what does the American
dream
mean to you?
Jindal:
my Dad came here knowing
nobody
and succeeded – its amazing story
Gregory:
and that's another
episode of Meet The
Press
