so clearly it is a statement about a candidate that would stand with nugent and what nugent has said and therefore represents than in wendy davis standing with the president who may be controversial because they disagree with him on policies like affordable health care, minimum wage, not because he says such unbelievably offensive things. >> it says the abbott campaign is willing to run on hate. andt that is dangerous. as an american we should all be offended by that. this is a country that is about -- we are supposed to be one country. it is one thing to disagree. you may not like the president. you may not like his policies. talk about that. this language about mongrels and other horrible things he said about the president, not just the president -- he is a pretty equal opportunity offender, but particularly talking about the president of the united states of america there needs to be some level of respect. some try to say democrats talk like that, too, sometimes. not to this degree and not when we are talking about campaigning on hate. >> greg abbott and rick perry are not the onl

but the nugent caucus says no. and there is a direct line between the events that greg abbott held with ted nugent today and the fact that millions are still waiting for their congress to finally do something on immigration. nugent was there because the most passionate, committed, turned up part of the republican base views him as a hero and it is that same base that promises all hell will break loose if john boehner and house gop leadership does the right thing and brings up the senate immigration bill for a vote. i suppose we can at least be thankful no one in the house is as of yet proposing ted nugent's actual immigration policy. >> would you just shoot anybody coming over the border who you suspect of being illegal? >> in an unauthorized entry, armed like they are right now, invading our country, i'd like to shoot them dead. >> shoot them dead. >> reached out to ted nugent about appearing on the program tonight. he was unavailable. joining me now, matt angle. okay. i want to give you the greg abbott aide's com

but the nugent caucus says no. and there is a direct line between the events that greg abbott held with ted nugent today and the fact that millions are still waiting for their congress to finally do something on immigration. nugent was there because the most passionate, committed, turned up part of the republican base views him as a hero and it is that same base that promises all hell will break loose if john boehner and house gop leadership does the right thing and brings up the senate immigration bill for a vote. i suppose we can at least be thankful no one in the house is as of yet proposing ted nugent's actual immigration policy. >> would you just shoot anybody coming over the border who you suspect of being illegal? >> in an unauthorized entry, armed like they are right now, invading our country, i'd like to shoot them dead. >> shoot them dead. >> reached out to ted knnugent about appearing on the program tonight. he was unavailable. swro joining me now, matt angle. okay. i want to give you the greg abbott aid

nugent has moved on. in this clip, flagged by media matters -- >> there was an incrementalism to what happened in germany and other places historically where they came in slowly and they started, you know, the power struggle between the different races and the power struggle between different elements of society. i really believe that what we see with the irs can be compared accurately and historically to the early maneuvers of people like jack-booted thugs like the brownshirts. i think he really wants to destroy america. >> comparing the obama administration to nazi germany? that's disgraceful. but what is more disgraceful is the party's coziness with talk like this. joining me now are joe madison and dana milbank. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. >> dana, what does the gop's tortured relationship with ted nugent tell us about the party? >> well, look. ted nugent has just stepped in it again. if he had any sense, he would be goose stepping his way away from

ted nugent says he's a changed man. even his own brother doesn't believe him. he's "outfront" tonight. plus the president says the rich are getting richer. is that the government's problem? and rush limbaugh blames the "the homosexual lobby for bulling the arizona governor on a controversial bill. for real? let's go "outfront." >>> good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. ted nugent says he's a changed man. at least that's what he told me last night in an interview that got a lot of people talking. i confronted him about calling president obama a subhuman mongrel, and his response was pretty shocking. >> live on "erin burnett outfront" cnn, ted nugent remember the alamo, february 24th, 2014. i'm not going to call people names anymore. >> i think that to me, i know you're trying to make slightly light of this, but to me these things are not light at all because in a country you talk about -- >> no, i'm not making light very serious, very serious. >> create more polarization is a horrible thing to do. >> you're right. my

ted nugent says he's a changed man. even his own brother doesn't believe him. plus the president says the rich are getting richer. is it it the government's problem? and rush limbaugh blames the "the homosexual lobby for bulling the arizona governor on a controversial bill. for real? let's go "outfront." >>> good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. ted nugent says he's a changed man. at least that's what he told me last night in an interview that got a lot of people talking. i confronted him about calling president obama a sub human mon grew and his response was pretty shocking. >> live on "erin burnett outfront" cnn, ted nugent remember the alamo, february 24th, be 2014. i'm not going to call people names anymore. >> i think that to me, i know you're trying to make slightly light of this, but to me these things are not light at all because in a country you talk about. >> no, i'm not making light very serious, very serious. >> create more polarization is a horrible thing to do. >> you're right. my children, my brothers

. >> ted nugent. >> ted nugent. >> ted nugent. >> suddenly greg abbott, texas attorney general, republican candidate for governor, has a bit of a ted nugent problem on his hands. earlier this week, when abbott signed up to do a campaign event with ted nugent, i think he thought he was going to get away with it. why else would he invite nugent to appear with him on the first day of early voting in the texas primary? in fact, we even led our program with it tuesday night. seemed to me notable someone running as governor in a state with 26 million people would campaign with a man who recently called the president a subhuman mongrel. but usually politicians get away with it. heck, rick perry campaigned with and has been friends with the guy for years. this week, something broke. greg abbott wasn't getting away with it. suddenly texas republicans were asked to weigh in on ted nugent and that has led to very uncomfortable conversations. >> you know, i think it is a little curious that, to be questioning political folks about rock stars. i got to tell you, listen, i'm not cool enough to hang out

>>> and ted nugent called president obama a subhuman mongrel. so why are some republicans coming to his defense today? >>> and it's the rap i never thought i would see, but i'm glad i did. stay with us. ♪ ♪ go by the code of the doctor of the -- i'll tell you why, you see i'm 6'1" and tons of fun ♪ alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ hi boys! i've made you campbell's chunky new england clam chowder. wow! this is incredible! i know. and now it has more clams! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. what? [ male announcer ] it fills you up right. >>> after the michael dunn verdict, more and more americans are looking at stand your ground. and self-defense law, wonde

why does it have to be ted nugent? >> what was the question? >> that was the question. >> so then greg abbott started answering some other questions from a small handful of reporters there. we were told it would be a media event so other reporters asked some questions. i tried to come back to the issue of ted nugent. that's when it got really tense. it ended up with the campaign communication director standing between me and greg abbott, getting in front of our camera. watch that. >> mr. abbott, you could have found a lot of people to talk about gun rights. >> thank you so much. >> mr. abbott. >> i appreciate it. >> you could have found a lot of of people to talk about gun rights. this is not a press conference. you know that's not a press conference. one question is not a press conference. [ inaudible ]. >> we said specifically what we wanted to talk about. >> you asked the question. everybody asked a question. >> that's not a press conference. you know full well. >> it was interesting, the communications director went on to accuse me of ambus

abbott, will you give as a chance to clarify on ted nugent? why would you associate yourself with someone who describes a sitting president as a subhuman mongrel? has described female politicians in vile ways? will you use him again in a campaign? >> sorry. >> reporter: and that was it, anderson. so greg abbott simply saying at this point they used ted nugent as a way of pointing out what they believe is wendy davis's flip-flopping on gun issues. and clearly they want this issue to go away. they were not happy we were asking these questions today. >> ed, appreciate it. >>> let's get to the true politics. joined by chief political analyst gloria borger and anna navarro, a republican strategist. >> calling the president of the united states a subhuman mongrel and gangster just last month, should republican candidates like greg abbott hanging out with this guy? >> he said that he did not know that ted nugent had made these remarks. >> he knows now. >> i think it is not hard -- he does now. i think the right thing to do frankly is for him to conde

ted nugent lives here much. he talks here. he's a fixture of some republican local republican events. so he knows. and the politics of this is crazy, it seems to me. if you analyze the race. abbott is likely to win the republican nomination, the front runner to win the election in november. and so you wonder, wendy davis needs to attract a great number of democrat-based voters, plus a lot of women, ann richards in 1990 got 60% of the vote. wendy davis has to do the same thing. this is the kind of language the davis camp understands could absolutely cause a problem with the moderate, suburban women voters and others who won't find it funny or find it terribly offensive. and frankly, i don't understand the politics of having him on stage with greg abbott. >> yeah, i suspect they're going to be running away from him fairly soon. but we'll see. we'll see what happens and you'll monitor it for us as you do all things political in the great state of texas. wayne, thanks very much for joining us. >>> and later this hour, a defector f

. >> and i think it's because he understands the context of ted nugent that ted nugent is a cra crazy, outlandish rock star who loves a camera in his face. he says crazy and outlandish things. he's not going to look at him the same as i said yesterday a pastor or pope or police director or politician. you look at democrats and they will sit on stage with rappers and they will sit there with people who make horrific movies, depicting beating women in a movie role and put their arms around them and break bread with him for $2,000 a plate dinner. >> ben -- >> let's look at it from -- >> those are really nice, but the reality -- final words. >> what we're talking about is this situation. if we want to talk about rappers and stuff like that, that's a great discussion, let's have it. at the end of the day, ted cruz and in this case, ted nugent. ve very simple why he wouldn't do it, inflame the people who wouldn't support him. republicans in this situation do not condemn what is, obviously, something that should be condemned. >> i condemned it. >> ted cruz said that he wouldn't relate to it.

>>> response to our interview with ted nugent. will the texas gubernatorial candidate ever campaign with nugent, again? he answered. let's go "outfront." >>> good evening, everyone. i'm a i'm erin burnett. the president launching an initiative, one very personal to him, about young men as color. the president actually talked about growing up without a father figure. >> i didn't have a dad in the house. and i was angry about it, even though i didn't necessarily realize it at the time. i made bad choices. i got high without always thinking about the harm it could do. i didn't always take school as seriously as i should have. i made excuses. after i was finished the guy sitting next to me said, are you talking about you? i said, yeah. and the point was i could see myself in these young men. and the only difference is that i grew up in an environment that was a little bit more forgiving. >> the new initiative that the president is launching is called my brother's keeper. founations and businesses that now pledge to donate $200 million

it was ted nugent that called abbott his blood brother. i believe i said it the other way around. >> ted nugent called me that, too, because i'm a fellow hunter. so i wouldn't overreact about that. to me, why do you associate with a guy like that? >> paul, i've got to say -- >> ben, how many guns do you have? >> five or six. >> you're telling me that a democrat is 16 and a republican is five or six. >> paul begala has been known to have some fuzzy math out there. >> when he said that number, i had to ask you. >> come to my house, brother. i'll show you all 20. >> thank you very much, both of you. >>> still to come, a white man fired a gun into an suv full of black teenagers. some think he may have gotten away with murder. tonight, we hear from a juror about what happened in that room. and is kate upton so hot she can defy gravity? jeanne moos has that story. change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy.

to campaign with nugent? >> it's funny how the reactive davis campaign is to this. it shows that he's driven a wedge and exposed the fraud that they have displayed on second amendment based issues. so ted nugent was a way to expose wendy davis for her flip flopping on gun related issues. >> this is texas. finding someone who is pro guns is not that hard. why does it have to be ted nugent? >> neither abbott or his campaign would answer questions. the rights aren't in question. greeters show the candidate next to his hunting trophy says it all. when we tried to follow up on the nugent question, a campaign aid stepped in. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. >> you could have talked to a lot of people about gun rights? that's not a press conference. one question is not a press conference. that's not a press conference. come on nothing. we told you specifically what we wanted to talk about. >> we tried one more time to ask if greg abbott would appear with ted nugent? >> would you give us a chance to clarify? why

on the other hand, ted nugent can be loud and shocking. but with the proper audience, he can be enormously popular and that carries a political punch. ♪ the motor city madman is making plenty of people furious with voters who allow -- >> a communist chicago raised subhuman mongrel like barack hussein obama to weasel his way into the top seat. >> reporter: describing jews in that same interview, nugent invoked a racial slur using the word chimpanzee, an apparent reference to the president. >> i think america will be america again when barack obama, eric holder, hillary clinton, dick durbin, michael bloomberg, and all of the liberal democrats are in jail. >> my friend, greg abbott. >> reporter: yet, none of that stopped gubernatorial candidate greg abbott from welcoming nugent to the campaign trail. a move that wendy davis quickly called an insult to every texan and repulsive. >> it's offensive. deeply offensive to voters. but his support of the second amendment, for at least some republican base voters is so strong it trumps all of that.

ted nugent calls the president a subhuman mongrel. let's go "out front." >>> good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. breaking news. military forces and ukraine on the move ready to defend bases and weapons depots. there is word of a truce after bloody and violent clashes in kiev. how fragile is this? take a listen. that was the scene less than 24 hours ago in kiev. as you can see, this violence and bloodshed has been incredibly difficult could control. 26 people have been killed since the government's decision to align with russia instead of the west. president obama made it clear where the united states stands. >> we hold the government primarily responsible for making sure that it is dealing with peaceful protestors in an appropriate way, that the ukrainian people are able to assemble and speak freely about their interests without fear of repression. we'll be monitoring very carefully the situation recognizing that along with our our r european partners that there rb consequences. >> the secretary of state john kerry said the unit

a republican candidate for governor is keeping ted nugent by his side, even as anger grows over nugent's calling president obama a quote, sub human obama a quote, sub human mongrel. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. we start with the worsening situation in ukraine. a situation the white house now calls, and i'm quoting, completely outrageous. president obama is expected to address the recent killings later today. he's reacting to clashes yesterday in the ukrainian capital of kiev. 26 people were killed. hundreds more injured. in the latest crackdown by government forces against anti-government protesters. those demonstrators have been entrenched in the city's independent square since november. our phil black is in kiev. first of all, what sparked these latest violent clashes? >> reporter: wolf, it's really something of a surprise, because they came at a time when the general mood was thought to have relaxed just slightly after months of crisis here. but ultimately, what triggered it? it was a group of opposition, a grout opposition prot

ted nugent continued on your show. he said if you had the chance to talk to president obama, what would you tell him now. he went off and called him a liar, and called him a idiot before, and so greg abbott was fine having a guy who called the president a liar and other things. the tone of what ted nugent said is no different than what he said before. >> this is what ted said today. he said the president of the united states of america walked out there when people died in benghazi and made up a video about a fake video and made up a story about why the protests happened to cover his rear in the election, and he says that is lying, and even hillary clinton lied, and that's when he talks about being a liar. he said i don't trust him on being stories like that, and put it in the context of that, and it's not like he is saying the governor is a liar, he is specifically talking about that incident and saying i can't trust him -- >> he called him a gangster and idiot and a lot of other things. >> sure, he is a rock star and

ted nugent. he's now "outfront." ted, great to have you with us. i want to get to tissue of whether you apologized or not. you were on ben ferguson's radio show and you said, i do apologize, not necessarily to@. people got upset on twitter to say that was not a real apology. ben asked you again, specifically are you apologizing to the president of the united states, you said yes. a lot of people still say you didn't apologize. did you mean it? >> erin, can you see me? >> i can see you, ted. >> all right. i can't see you, so i'm at a great disadvantage because i glow and i know you do, too. erin, come on, you have this english language down really well. i bet you understand that the question is, do you apologize and i answer yes. you don't really have to ask that question again, do you? >> well, i just wanted to know because a lot of people felt that the first opportunity when you said, well, not necessarily to the president, but you know a lot of people picked up on that. so i wanted to give you

. >> james, ted nugent is one thing. but aren't there plenty of right wing politicians whose views are nearly as extreme? >> absolutely, rev. we've seen the e-mails from certain congress people circulated about this president. we've seen joe wilson in a state of the union address refer to this president as a liar or say that he lies. we've seen this kind of rhetoric coming from multiple people there. but the reality is, rev, is that the policies match the rhetoric. and so, you know, you can't talk about a mongrel and say that's it not about race. by definition, calling someone a mongrel is about a racial epithet. but when you look at the sort of terms of reference a host to a woman who is pregnant, that sort of speaks to the policies that republicans favor in terms of women. when you look at the congress person who called or referred to latino immigrants as wetbacks, that reflects the kind of policies that they want to have represent to immigration. and when you look at terms like mongrel, that reflects the ways in which

he didn't denounce anything that ted nugent had said. i think this really goes at the issue of abbot's character and his judgment that he would appear with someone who is so divisi divisive. actually, there was a dallas morning news article that said that this is actually -- abbott's given texas voters reasons to doubt him. >> i think that's absolutely right. there was a cover of his 2007 album "love grenade" featuring a naked tied up woman on a food platter with a grenade in her mouth. it's so offensive we can't even show it. so robert, my question to you is, it strikes me that the voters who would be attracted to that -- you can say it's about second amendment gun rights, but that sounds like a dog whistle to me. but the people who would be attracted to come to an event with greg abbott with ted nugent, if greg abbott doesn't already have those voters in the pocket, he has much bigger problems. so why do this? >> that's why this has been such a subject of perplexity among the texas political world, karen. because you're right. he's got

abbott deeply regrets bringing ted nugent on. i take it at his word that he may not have known the previous comments made. >> when did he begin to be -- did he begin to regret it at 11:00 last night? when did the regret set in? >> as soon as somebody said it. i heard that he is a thoroughly decent guy. had someone said everybody loves ted nugent and so they brought him on. >> what do they mean this guy has courage because he brought me in here. he was chuckling about the fact he made offensive comments. >> i think it was a terrible mistake. >> you say it is a mistake. >> i think republicans have a problem in associating themselves with people like nugent. he is one of a kind surely. there are people who do certain things, say certain things and represent certain things that they still invite to the table and they need to separate themselves. >> you have to figure out where to draw the line. texas is packed with these people. this guy elected congressman, they will not say the president was legitimately elected. rafael cruz, texas

>>> ted nugent is finally here. last week he was booked on the show and we wanted to ask him about his now infamous comment calling president obama a subhuman mongrel. as you know, nugent canceled on us, but we still wanted to do this interview. here's why ted nugent's words have gotten attention. he's politically vocal. and his support is seen as a big win for gop candidates, even those running for president. here's what mitt romney's son tweeted during the election, ted nugent endorsed my dad today. ted nugent? how cool is that? he joins kid rock as great detroit musicians on team mitt. steve stockman appeared with many big named republicans and performed for texas governor rick perry's inauguration in 2007. he was on the board of the nra, a position voted on by some of the organization's members, which are more than 4 million americans. he's delivered speeches at the nra annual conventions and, of course, all of you know him as the rocker ted nugent. he's now "outfront." ted, great to have you with us. i want to

if he is good enough for ted nugent, he's good enough for me. that's from sarah palin. how is that going to play in texas? >> it's going to play great. the truth of the matter is -- and there is, as i mentioned before, something a big dark about this -- there is a portion of the electorate, very conservative, second amendment, anti-abortion rights people on the republican right and the republican primary who think sarah palin is wonderful, who think ted nugent is wonderful, and who frankly think this whole thing is nothing. so -- the republican right. >> ted nugent is also firing back at cnn's coverage of all of this as well. he's sent out a couple tweets here in the last day or so saying, "cnn, joseph geshls, the propaganda minister for nazi germany and hitler, propaganda ministry mongrels. wolf blitzer is a journalist and i'm a gay pirate from cuba. there's your halloween costume. >> thank you very much. good reporting from all of you. >>> up next, an american base hit by an american bomb. we have a gripping piece of video of a major military mistake. the day we rescu

he said that abbott -- that -- he said that nugent should apologize and nugent sort of apologized. >> leadership. i like that. >> rand paul did the right thing. >>> up next, climate change controversy. sent for ted cruz talks exclusive to cnn and calls out the secretary of state john kerry. >>> plus, venezuela is being cr down on cnn as we try to cover the growing political unrest. what one lawmaker is now calling an assault on the news media. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ and better is so easy withrning you cabenefiber.o something better for yourself. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with bene

they had about 100 rsvps before they invited ted nugent. it is 300 after they invited ted nugent. they know it is controversial, the things he is saying, not just that but many other things. they say he is a draw and that's why they are doing it. >> pretty candid. as cynical as it is, at least it is candid. >> they aren't backing off at all. i have been watching the tweets coming from his campaign. they are very, very proud of this. they are promoting it. the democrats in texas are jumping all over this. the democratic party chairman responded, texans deserve better than a state-wise candidate running for governor who welcomes ted nugent and his repugnant comments. abbott is defending it saying is a forceful advocate for constitutional rights, specially the second amendment. let me ask about the democrats here. this is a very charged election right now. it looks like it will be wendy davis up against greg abbott, the attorney general. gender issues very much at the center of this campaign. >> right. there are two things you have to do to win high public office in texas. that's kno

what do you think of all the commotion with ted nugent in your state? stand by and we'll discuss that in a moment. >> most telephonely. [ male announcer ] there is no substitute for experience. for what reality teaches you firsthand. in the face of danger, and under the most demanding circumstances. experience builds character. experience builds confidence. and experience... has built this. introducing the 2014 glk. the engineering and the experience of mercedes-benz. see your authorized dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. cozy or cool "meow" or "woof"? exactly the way you want it ... until boom! your mattress a battleground of thwarted desire. enter the sleep number bed. an innovative design that lets couples sleep together in individualized comfort. he's the softy: his sleep number setting is 35. you're the rock, at 60. as your needs change, you can adjust your sleep number bed, so you can sleep better together. visit one of our 425 stores for the the largest closeout event of the year with 50% savings on innovation

by now you've probably heard what nugent said about president obama. but if not let me play you the clip. >> i have obviously failed to galvanize and prod and not shame enough americans to be ever vigilant not to let a chicago communist raised, communist educated, communist nurtured subhuman mongrel like the acorn community organizer gangster barack hussein obama to weasel his way into the top office of authority of the united states of america. . >> somehow nugent managed to stick every paranoid right wing rant against the president into one sound bite. let's put aside politics for a moment and talk about journalists. shouldn't journalists call this for what it is? not some ramblingings of a colorful texas character but hate speech. that's what it is, hate speech. one journalist did stand up this week and i found what he said to be inspiring. here's what wolf blitzer said. >> do they know the history of that phrase, subhuman mongrel? that's what the nazis called jews leading up and during world war ii to justify the genocide of the community, they cal

there's a reason ted nugent, people listen to him. he has been fighting passionately for second amendment rights. >> would you campaign with ted nugent. >> i haven't yet and i'm going to avoid engaging in hypotheticals. >> so he's not going there. clearly he doesn't appear to know ted nugent well, unlike other politicians here in texas because he is such a staple on the political scene here. kate and chris, one of the reasons i wanted to bring this up with him is because the controversy it sparked kind of is -- frankly, it's disturbing the kind of things he said and the reason why the gubernatorial candidate asked him to campaign is because he understands that he's a popular person, not despite the kinds of comments, controversial comments that nugent made. but even because of those comments here in the lone star state with many in the republican base. and so it really does go to the heart of why politics is broken because these kinds of comments in some parts of the elect rora are applauded and it helps some candidates. >> the defini

. >>> and ted nugent shooting from the lip, taking aim at the president. many republicans now shying away from him. cnn political director mark preston has more on that. good morning. >> good morning. nugent himself is under fire from conservatives and republicans for these very strong comments he made about the president. more coming up after the break. transferred money from his before larry instantly bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america. it says here that increases at the age of 80. helps reduce the risk of heart disease. keep heart-healthy. live long. eat the 100% goodness of post shredded wheat.

>>> ted nugent said some of the most vile things you can imagine about president obama. and then he was embraced by some powerful leaders in the gop. but some republicans are speaking out. that's next. [ male announcer ] legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. >>> tonight some republicans are finally coming forward to denounce ted nugent, even as he himself issues the worst kind of phony apology. the controversy exploded this week when the republican candidate for governor in texas invited nugent to campaign with him. despite these recent comments about the president. >> a chicago communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel like the a.c.o.r.n. community organizer gangster barack hussein obama. >> that kind of talk has no place in our political debate, and no elected official should associate himself with those vi

so ted nugent knows how to shoot a gun, he is not going to criticize him. and i will criticize the man running for governor on the republican ticket. the same thing with barack obama on the other side, that is why i say this fake moral outrage on either side, that is all it is. it is fake. nobody cares, they only care when you slime somebody on your team. they don't care when you slime somebody on the other team. and these conservatives who have these family values and are so concerned about civility and decency, let me tell you something else ted nugent once said. and feel free to [ bleep ] anything you want. he is on stage with two machine guns in his camouflage outfits two years ago, he said obama is a piece of crap, but didn't use the crap. then he says i told him to suck on my machine gun. and then he says hey, hillary, you might want to ride one of these machine guns off into the sunset, you worthless [ bleep ]. and what happens in the conservative media? oh, they welcome ted, he says he has family values, he is one of us, they're a bunch of hypocr e

ted nugent is not the only one. but, yes, the position on benghazi, many people feel the way he does to be sure, but you can't debate it this way. you can't brick ugliness -- bring ugliness into it and this should be the bottom. your take. >> i agree with you. i think ted nugent, i said, look are you going to stop using it because it seems to be marge liezing the opinion. >> he said, yes, i'm going to stick more to the issues and not to the name calling. the big take away is, can you debate politics without getting personal and nasty and the answer is we should be. i think both sides can learn from this and realize you can have a grand debate, but as soon as you start using name calling, that you're stupid or an idiot, that is when we lose, i think, trying to move forward on these issues. i bet you money, moving forward, ted nugent will probably never say things like this again. i think he's learned from that. he also told me i'll never use the terminology sub human mongrel ever again. he, like many others, didn't r

yes stance in a new game bridge refused to condemn nugent when pressed by wolf blitzer to take a look at this. phrase subhuman mongrel you're familiar with this because you're a student of world war two when the genocide that occurred during work when the nazis reported to jews mr speaker as subhuman mongrel zz there is a history do not have races. you cannot have it both ways you can't say on how not saying this is how this does is raised mr speaker what i am saying is that the republicans so in the minute we have what is really wanted ted nugent representing the republican party on television doesn't represent the republican party but to dream represent some conservative perspectives and we're not going to call all the people that said bush equals hitler and all. the swastikas that were placed because they opposed his position on iraq we're not going to have that discussion and when i'm going to condemn those people i don't want to add this to them in america if you don't like the president you can call it whatever name you want that's all right i'm not a republican so i can frankly

and the meaning, if any, of ted nugent's not-quite-apology. our panel takes it on. >> what i feel about slavery, integration. >> scandals. black oscar nominations for filmmakers but he yearns for the colorblind casting call. this is "state of the union." >>> good morning, i'm candy crowley in washington. we will get to our governors in a moment but first to a historic change sweeping ukraine right now. a president ousted, a prominent opposition leader free, and a political landscape altered, all after a deadly week of clashes. ukraine media says this surveillance video shows the country's president, viktor yanukovych, fleeing the capital of kiev. his political archrival, ukraine's former prime minister, has been freed from prison. there are so many questions now, maybe some of them unanswerable. cnn's phil black is on the ground in kiev for us. phil, let me take advantage of your background covering moscow and russia for us. we haven't heard from putin. i cannot imagine that the ouster of the president is something that he is going to stay qui

. >>> republicans are distancing themselves from rocker ted nugent after he called the president names i won't repeat on the air. here is texas governor rick per perry. >> well, that is tough words. pretty tough words. we agree that it is not appropriate language to use for the president of the united states. >> and then republican senator rand paul said that ted nugent's derogatory description of the president has no place in politic, and he should apologize, however, knnugent is still out on the campaign trail with greg abbott who is seeking to e replace governor perry. and let's bring in a former special assistant to president obama who is now at the center for republican progress, and al daniella gibbs legett, and also david wynton, a republican strategist. and so now ted nugent has a h history of being political, and why would any politician want to be associated with him and especially those comments. >> the comments were beyond the pale, and he should apologize and no question about that. it is obviously up to abbott to decide what to do, but i am also going to suggest that it i

he is ted nugent and he is a flame-thrower. that's what he does. he also used the words subhuman mongrel earlier in the interview, which had nothing to do with obama when he was talking about anti-gun nuts. you may not like the apology. >> wait, let's get this straight. i don't really care about what he says. i have to talk about it because it's part of my job. it's in the public. i don't really care what he says and whether he apologizes or not. if we're being honest, that's not an apology. an apology is i'm sorry. you don't say i'm sorry but, you just say i'm sorry. and you don't go on with a caveat. you don't go on with certain things that you apologized for and go on to insult the person even further. >> let me say this. when you listen to him, has he ever apologized to anyone in public? >> that doesn't matter. >> ben, you're making excuses for him. it does matter. let me finish. it does matter. it matters because you are making excuses for someone who is i guegnorant. mark, do you think he's sorry? he said he's sorry he called the president a

they have to deal with a lot of figures like ted nugent this year. but at least for republicans this was not a candidate making these kind of statements. this was a surrogate. >> when you have silence, that is also an endorsement of what you are saying. and for greg abbott not to have stood up and not to have recognized that this was as despicable language as it was really speaks volume and people will look to his character. ted nugent not only speaks for texas, he speaks to those whoed a here to the second amendment issue. they'll use this as a foil nationally so it does have some implications. >> it also brings up the question, what are you responsible for as a candidate? >> right. you were saying they happened to be campaigning together. that was abbott's choice. right? he tied himself to knew gept and he didn't i think strongly and forcefully enough repudiate his comments and i think he could have done that and still had a strong position. i think he's had had a very good couple of months here, largely because davis is not a particularly strong c

newt gingrich refused to condemn nugent when pressed by wolf blitzer to take a look at this. phrase subhuman mongrel you're familiar with this because you're a student of world war two when the genocide that occurred during work when the nazis were one or two jews mr speaker as subhuman mongrel zz there is a history do not have races. you cannot have it both ways you can't say on how not saying this is how does this is raise mr speaker what i am saying is that the republicans so in the minute we have what you guys really wanted news you're representing the republican party on television doesn't represent the republican party but to dream represent some conservative perspectives and if we're going to call all the people that said bush equals hitler and all. the swastikas that were placed upon because they opposed his position on iraq we're not going to have that discussion and when i'm going to condemn those people i don't want to add this to them in america if you don't like the president you can call them whatever name you want that's all right i'm not a republican so i coul

nugent's comments. i think rand was seeing a potential rival out there so he hopped on board, too. >> we're giving people credit for being rational human beings. >> the standards in washington have fallen so low. >> i think one of the questions is can you keep all these pieces together or a at some point -- >> the thing that's great about rand paul is the authenticity and he does seem to make decisions issue by issue. then you go into a republican primary and how will that hold up when voters who are going to vote in a lot of these primaries are going to have a list of things that they want their candidate to have supported. >> the things that you say to the old caucusgoers in iowa are instantly transmitted to the young libertarians if california. it is not like you can say one thing to an audience. those days are long gone. that gauntlet for him is going to be even tougher because of this technology we are in now. >> but supporting ted nugent is probably not -- >> he's on safe ground there, we think? >

they are absolutely open that ted nugent helps bring republican voters. not becauin spite of what he sat because of what he said. that should be disturbing to everyone because it's the cynical politics that everybody out there says that they hate but it actually works for them. >> kathleen willey, who says she was assaulted by the president clinton in 1990s, told wabc radio that hillary clinton is the war on women. take a listen. >> she enabled his behavior instead -- and attacked all of the women who just made the mistake of walking in front of him, crossing his path. and this is the hillary that went right up to these women -- this is the stuff that people need to hear. this is of her doing. >> now, obviously many democrats and liberals have questioned willey's credibility but this comes at a time when we've heard a lot about the monica lewinsky scandal from conservative media. what do you make of all of this? >> i have to say, i am so surprised that this is continuing to be a storyline. you know, i think that those of us in our 40s should have the bene

and ted nugent is a mark on that. and ted cruz's refusal to distance himself from that is cowardice in my view. i felt rand paul standing up to the contrast is quite refreshing. i don't like the generalizations, all republicans are terrible. they like ted nugent, they're crazy. good on rand paul for distinguishing himself. and we need, frankly, a lot more republicans who stand up to the ted nug enents who have vitriol rhetoric. >> let's talk about arizona and the new bill passed by the legislature. and full disclosure. you're an official of super pac fund candidate who support same-sex marriage. governor brewer will sign or veto the bill that allows businesses to refuse businesses to someone or a group based on religious beliefs. the governor herself, a former business owner has said she doesn't believe, i'm quoting her believe that it needs to be statutory in my life or my business. if i don't want to do business or don't want to deal with a particular person or company, i'm not interested. that's america. that's fre

@w@g >>> cnn is in a big time feud with ted nugent. the rock star turned political activist said this a few weeks ago. >> i have obviously failed to galvanize and prod and not shave enough americans. the ever vigilant not to let a chicago communist-raised, xhubist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel like the acorn community organizer gang sister barack husain oh bam moo to weasel his way into the top office of authority of the united states of america. >> subhum humahuman mongrel, th offensive on so many levels. >> shockingly, abbott's campaign brushed aside the criticism saying they value nugent's commitment to the -- do they know the value of that phrase, subhuman mongrel? that's what the nazis called jews. >> nugent hit back on twitter. he wrote, cnn, propaganda ministry mongrels. maybe it's debatable whether abbott should be held accountable for the inflammatory remarks. but after senator rand paul called nugent's words offensive, the singer went on the radio show and sort of apologized, not necessarily to the president,

ted nugent said he's sorry. did he really? he called the president subhuman and more presicily a subhuman mongrel. his words caught fire and given conservative leanings, they brought pressure on certain republicans to condemn him. here's ted nugent with the radio show. >> subhuman mongrel is a derogatory term. most people agree with that. did you cross the line by calling the president of the united states of america that and if you saw barack obama, would you apologize to him for saying that about him? >> yes, i would. i did cross the line. i do apologize. not necessarily to the president, but on behalf of much better men than myself like the best governor in america, rick perry. the best -- >> rick perry by the way is one of the republicans who actually denounced slurs against the president. ben ferguson joins me now. that was a powerful interview. listen, was that an apology? it doesn't sound like an apology. here's an apology. an apology is ben, i'm sorry. that's an apology. >> it's also ted nugent. i doubt he will stay i'

nugent, a one-hit wonder four decades ago, called president obama a subhuman mongrel. for some reason, abbott, who doesn't have a primary challenge, and doesn't need to look to the fringe, has decided to make ted nugent relevant. >> greg abbott. and only greg abbott will keep texas free, will keep texas texas. my friend, greg abbott. my blood brother. >> well, thank you, ted nugent, a fighter for freedom in this country. >> joining me now, a texan and author and contributing writer for "the new york times" magazine, robert draper. well, robert, first, let me start -- before we get into wendy davis. >> sure. zoo you're a texans, and you wrote it in this way, you said texan are very proud, and expect texas-based campaigns. are either davis or abbott running a texas-based campaign yet? >> not a very competent one, that's for sure. for one thing, i guess greg abbott can be excused for basically, you know, playing very much the front-runner. this is an unforced error, this business of wedding himself to -- >> and prompted -- now two biggest endorsers are ted nugent and sara