0 shattered cable tv records for reality shows 11.8 million people tuned in. half of those in the critical 18 to 49 demographic. the show also lights up social media and it has its own hugely popular product line. what explains the success? what's the allure of watching a bunch of long-haired rednecks sitting around teasing each other talking about their business, relationships and family lives? there is no nudity. pretty much no foul language. and no celebrity drop-byes. first, this is my theory. the duck dynasty characters are genuinely funny, but it's not always the obvious slapstick stuff. the dialogue can be really ironic, too. the robertson family comes across as unrehearsed, no nonsense, and warm. yet, there is another explanation for this mega hit. the show's focus on family, country and faith. each episode, in fact, ends with a prayer. >> let's pray. father, we thank you for this night and we thank you for the blessing of being in this place. thank you to mom and dad and commitment to each other and all the years they have served you. father we pray continued blessings on our family. amen. >> amen. bill about. >> laura: this isn't one big put-on for the cameras. this is their way of life. in fact, the family patriarch phil robertson was a preacher for decades before the tv show and he openly discusses jesus, the lord god in media interviews. how often today do we see families in prayer on entertainment television? as families have dissent grated in america, as our culture has become hyper sexualized, as kids are losing their innocence at younger and younger ages, i think it's undoubtedly a welcome relief to many tv viewers to just watch a program that doesn't offend their core values. duck dynasty depicts a colorful intact dare i say traditional family and they're leading a happy and really successful life. what a concept. wake up, hollywood. there is a huge audience out there that is tubing off and turning off the garbage. sex might sell. real love, love of family, neighbor, country and yes god that sells too. and in the end that's a lot more fulfilling. that's the memo. now on to top story oprah winfrey has now injected herself into the race controversy surrounding the george zimmerman verdict saying this: >> became a symbol for those times as trayvon martin has become a symbol for this time. a lot of people think they are not using the "n" word themselves they actually physically are not using the "n" word themselves and do not have harbor ill will towards black people that it's not racist. you know, to me it's ridiculous to look at that case and not to think that race was involved. >> laura: joining us now to react from los angeles, ucla professor mark sawyer and here in the studio who are was cooper he is a senior fellow at the heartland institute a conservative organization. all right, gentlemen. this is pretty interesting. i'm going to start with you, professor sawyer, because oprah winfrey obviously one of the most recognizable, most successful women in the world not just the united states. she is a billionaire. she came from very difficult upbringing. she has told her personal story. it's so compelling. and, yet, to hear her in this interview, you would think that racism is really still a fairly prevalent problem in the united states while we have a black president and oprah herself is a huge draw for white audiences. what's your reaction to what she said? >> my reaction to what she said is very accurate. it's an accurate description of the case the idea that there are some successful black people that do well doesn't mean that racism doesn't exist and people still don't harbor those views. we have seen the rodeo clown and saw the words of paula deen and bunch of other people. we see what people say on twitter and what they say in comments on columns. so, you know, we know that racism exists. their success is in contradiction to our ugly history of racism. >> laura: first of all the paula deen there has been some developments in that case number one. number the two rodeo clown that's a whole separate issue. i'm not sure if that's going to be a commentary on all of american culture given the fact that there are presidential masks all other the country at all points in time and people didn't really make a big deal of it number three, oprah winfrey knows more than the sitting jury in the trayvon martin case that actually heard all of the evidence all of the testimony and include minorities on the jury. how does oprah winfrey make that commentary when she didn't sit through the case? >> i mean one doesn't have to sit through every single moment of the case to conclude that race had something to do with it some the jurors said they couldn't identify with trayvon martin. they identified with george zimmerman. they couldn't feel empathy for him or or his loss. those things are part of what as social scientist i just know for experimentation tend to happen in people's minds when they interact with or see black people. >> okay. wait a second there. >> horace, go ahead. >> this isn't accurate. actually none of the jurors said anything like they couldn't empathize with travon martin. in fact they said just the opposite. the problem here is. this. the question isn't does racism exist or not exist. the question is how relevant in that in impacting what goes on in the real lives of most americans, black and white, and it is irrelevant if not the number one issue, not the number two issue. it's not even the number 10 issue. family formation and educational attainment have far more to do with what happens in the lives of not just black americans but everyone in america. >> laura: she also made a comment, who are was about the "n" word. she doesn't use the "n" word because she identifies with the pass use of it and what it means, meant historically to black people yet she says she understands while it's used currently i guess she was referring to hip hop and so forth. oprah winfrey could have enormous impact, i think on the hip hop community by leading the charge against the dehumanizing language ♪ just the "n" word but the c word, the w word, the s word, the f word. but she chose to say well, i understand although i wouldn't use it personally. >> there is a lot of cognitive dissidence what happens when the so-called n word's use. people like mr. obama, people like oprah winfrey if they were wanting to lead, they would help push that word outside of the scope of normal discourse. even if it means calling out the kanye west or other so-called hip people telling everyone it's never appropriate. but, again, even the use of the "n" word isn't a factor in deciding whether or not people are going to attain their objectives. it's not a function of the unemployment rate. it's not a function of the wealth and asset creations that are occurring in black and white america. >> laura: immitt thrill and the trayvon martin case. that kind of took me aback, professor. do you think the emit til case given what that meant to black people where a young man was systematically murdered for his supposed role for this controversy in the south in the mid 50s? that's the same as trayvon martin? >> first of all, let me correct some things. resume sites appear african-americans addresses less likely to get a job. disparity in income and wealth. this idea that race is irrelevant in people's lives is nonsense. we see health disparities. we see disparities in every single field of life. we see disparities in input in terms of education. whether the case not exactly the same. but it sort of similar. can you see how. >> laura: similar? >> the idea of a young black man, a young child, a young kid who goes out and is out and about, going about his business no criminal intent whatsoever. and doesn't come home and ends up dead resonates with the community. >> it's a sloppy analogy. >> it isn't even close. emit til was completely and totally innocent, having nothing to do with any of the incident whatsoever. in this case, mr. martin, mr. zimmerman, a lot of the choices made by mr. martin's family and mr. martin led to the outcome in that rendezvous that night. >> wait, what did mr. martin's family do to cause. >> laura: guys, we have got to go. i wish that oprah winfrey would address other issues. if she is going to get into this like the three black boys who beat up that white kid, and. >> absolutely. all these leaders. >> if. >> it's in every group. >> nonsense and horrible. >> it would be good for her to address those types of issues as well. she could lead on that. she would have a great role if she could. next on the rundown, as violence continue to spread in egypt. some say president obama's failed foreign policy is to blame. we have a debate. later, the new report shows the nsa broke privacy rules and intercepted the calls of thousands of innocent americans. we have a special report coming up. 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