it's just a reminder that even if things look bleak during the match, don't worry too much. no tears, because even if they lose, there's a good chance they will advance. we'll have to see what happens. >> we'll check back with you. thank you very much. that's for me. thank you for watching. join us in the situation room monday through friday. watch us live. dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." after two weeks of trying, hillary clinton finally came up with a decent answer about her wealth. will anyone buy it? the debate starts right now. tonight on "crossfire", hillary clinton tries to explain her wealth one more time. >> my inartful use of those few words doesn't change who i am. >> are voters buy iing it? and does just about everyone agree with her on this. >> you have to be a little bit crazy to run for president.

>> on the left, don na brazil. on the right, kevin madden. did the tea party scare mississippi democrats into voting republican? plus the outrage of the day, tonight on "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." both clintons are trying to spruce up the hillary clinton precampaign campaign tour. and the results, i think it's a draw. bill was able to defend the clinton wealth in a more natural way, i'm not sure running to her rescue did her any favors. in a brand new interview she said, my husband was very sweet today. but i don't need anybody to defend my record, i think my record speaks for itself.

and her third attempt at sounding relatable despite a lifestyle that one prominent democrat called my downton abbey than america went pretty well. >> i shouldn't have said the five or so words i said, but my inartful use of those few words doesn't change who i am, what i have stood for my entire life, what i stand for today. >> donna, this is, as the kids say, this is a thing now. this narrative isn't a republican invention. it's due to some unforced errors by hillary clinton. it's a narrative that democrats are hoping to cement and the media is hoping to cement. is this something she can get away from or is this now the narrative going forward for the next two years for her? >> the kids also say get over it. i think it's important we stop litigating the clintons' wealth. clearly she's given us something

to talk about, but i believe that what she's trying to talk about and pivot to in addition to being blessed in the fact that the clintons give a lot of time and money to charity, she's trying to give back to the growing inequality if our society and how we combat poverty. perhaps if we can stop focusing on whether or not she was wealthy or poor, we can get back to those subjects because most americans want to talk about how we grow the economy. >> we all want to get past it, but it's hard to do when she keeps discussing her wealth. >> you were on team romney. you have been through this yourself. what is she doing wrong? you're probably having flashbacks. >> i actually have had flashbacks. especially when i hear the way she talks about it. one of the big problems is that she's trying -- she's never going to get past this to an argument about economic inequality when she's talking

about herself. that's the main problem. every time hillary clinton is trying to talk about an issue that she thinks is relevant to the american people, she does it through the lens of herself. and voters have self-interest. they are not interested in hillary clinton's economic status. they are more interested in how it's going to affect them. that's one of the problems that candidates often have. they feel the need to talk about the american people and the economy. but they don't relate to the daily day-to-day struggles that americans have. >> she's trying to pivot back. she somehow manages to screw it up. >> she's a really bad candidate. she's always been an overrated candidate. and the obama folks found that in 2008. here we are eight years later -- >> it's a little uncomfortable talking about her wealth. >> she's going to have to talk about it every single day on the campaign. >> she's comfortable, today she talked about youth unemployment. she talked about an initiative to get major companies to hire

disadvantaged kids. she's always been comfortable talking about children, bringing people up the ladder. that's good. >> it's whether or not people find it believable. attributes are important in how people judge candidates. right now, she doesn't answer the question in the affirmative. this candidate understands the problems of people like me. >> here's what might be a problem. again, it's not republicans push ing this narrative. i don't understand, and maybe donna i can get your insight, i don't understand why democrats are piling on. i mean we've got scores of unnamed obama advisers coming out of the woodwork. what's going on in the white house? >> i picked up the phone and called about 12 of them i know personally. >> you know who the unnamed folks are? can you just tell. >> clearly i didn't reach them because no one knows them. the fact is i think reporters who -- by the way, i cannot go

one day without five or six questions about hillary clinton. i love hillary clinton. . i have known her for over 30 years. i think she's dynamic, remarkable, phenomenal. i don't know if they are bashing her, but this is the way of them saying they were better. she's no mitt romney. >> mitt romney had more dynamism. you look at the answer in the recent clip we saw, there's not a dynamic fresh face candidate who is going to transform the american economy. >> she was at least in the open. >> first of all, don't you think to a certain extent she's had a couple bad weeks out of a 30-year career. most americans have a lot more to say about the world cup than any of this stuff. don't you think we're getting too excited? now we have her in a box. >> first of all, i think the

fact so many people are ta paying attention about hillary clinton says a lot about president obama. the big problem she has is exactly what you said. this is not a fresh face on the scene that's going to bring new energy. she's been on the scene for 25 years. she hasn't driven a car since 1996. nothing but secret service protection. >> we get all excited about her saying a little thing. if you're the average person, you think hillary clinton, you know who she is. you don't think she doesn't care about anybody. >> it's been three weeks and we have seen a lot of her thanks to all the various networks and everyone else and all the ink we have been spilling, but she's still relevant. . she still has a vision of how america should grow not just as an economy, but how america can help those in the 21st century. you don't get that from republicans today.

>> let me play one other clip from back when i interviewed her which struck a weird tone. >> you have to be a little bit crazy to run for president. let me just put it like that because you have to be so totally immersed and so convinced that you can bring something to that office. >> you know, tell me if i'm reading too much into this, but it sounds to merks i get she was trying to be folksy, but maybe that was humble hillary clinton. but it seemed a little like she was belittling the opportunity. to call it crazy to want to serve the country in that honorable capacity -- >> this is what's wrong. you're taking it literally. i have worked on seven

presidential campaigns. i'm having a problem getting it together. but you got to be just a little bit. but because it's such a great opportunity, such an awesome opportunity to serve the american people. no question about it. >> can i make a quick comment? she's right to a certain extent. it's grueling, very difficult process. i always joked if i wrote a book about running for president, begging pr the right to be humiliated. but to your point, you have to love it in order to really be good at it. you can tell through her body language and the way she talked about it that she didn't love it. mitt romney loved every minute of it. you could tell he did. she doesn't enjoy campaigning. that's going to be a huge problem. >> you must have watched the first half of the democratic primary because i watched the entire season and she loved it. she went down to texas and she kicked butt. she was in ohio.

she kicked butt. >> hold on. >> she can still walk on main street. she still has street cred. >> that's her problem. >> next, we're going to come back after the break. the tea party finally got what was coming to them. you're going to be surprised at who it was that thought them the lesson they needed. first, name the u.s. senator who has the most seniority? is it harry reid, patrick leahy or thad cochran? answers when we come back. [ male announcer ] this is the cat that drank the milk... [ meows ]

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welcome back. here's the answer to it our quiz. it's patrick leahy with the most seniority. donna knew that. but also mississippi's thad cochran is number three. as you probably know, senator cochran just won his republican primary in large part because black democrats showed up to vote against his tea party opponent chris mcdaniel. hello, mr. mcdaniel. maybe you didn't notice this, but mississippi has open primaries. that means everybody can vote, so everybody matters. there's a big lesson for republicans like mcdaniel who, by the way, voted against civil rights museum in mississippi, keynoted an event for the sons of confederate veterans, and said a whole bunch of offensive comments on his radio show. if you disrespect people, they will find a way to be heard.

to you kevin, i think there are some republicans that have just continued to misunderestimate the black vote. in 2012 there was enthusiasm gap, romney was going to keep it close. we put a million more african-american voters because of voter oppression that we thought was coming from republicans. don't you think it's time for republicans to rethink the way they relate to the black vote? >> the easy answer is yes. politics is about addition. we have to do a better job of engaging those communities. the funny part is it's not just about you're going to increase your african-american share of the electorate from 8% to 5%, judge parties based on their ability to have a more inclusive message.

>> i found it strange that mr. mcdaniel said he was a little angry. we just elected some liberal loving guy who is going to be compromising. isn't that what we elect people to do is to find common ground and find ways to solve problems versus all of a sudden it's back bad to work with the other side u? >> both of you at the table, democrats at the table, are talking about the guy that lost. he lost the election. he's not going to the senate. doesn't it worry you that the candidates that you guys label as extreme, they have lost their elections. >> not all of them. >> first of all, i'm very glad you have a lot of democrats saying, we should have stayed back and let mcdaniel become the nominee so we could beat him up more.

i don't think we should play that kind of games. when you have somebody that extreme. >> they feel their goal for was campaign was to have extreme republican candidates to tie to a national republican brand. that's not happening. >> the brand is what you have made of it. you have allowed the most extreme voices to be the face of the party. we didn't do that. >> that's not fair. let me just tell you in this election cycle, you had a maryland gubernatorial dand candidate who said an iraq war vet saying they couldn't hold a real job. you had an iowa senate candidate saying farmers aren't as smart as lawyers. they are not the face of your party. >> let me just say this. he was wrong to say that. i'm glad senator feinstein corrected him. >> but those are the face of your party. >> they are not running in congress. let me just say this on behalf

of the african-americans who might have crossed the line yesterday and voted for thad cochran. i think they went out because he has a good constituent service operation. he represents all mississippi in the united states senate, not just the tea party faction. all mississippiens. the reason why i say that is because i have family in mississippi. i can tell you after hurricane katrina, the thad cochran office was back open helping people in the gulf coast and other places that lost at home. and people remember that. and also thad cochran has a history of getting black votes in the general election. >> we had this conversation before, but one of the ways that republican candidates have flourished during the cycle is they haven't allowed democrats to frame them as being only against things and instead talked about what they are for. what their vision for economic growth and the approval rate was only 20%.

>> if we're going to talk approval ratings, i feel very good. >> where are the parties? >> kevin you're trying to brag on republicans how well you're doing on your positive vision. you know who disagrees with you? erick erickson. conservative erick erickson says as a result of this most recent rounds of fights in the republican party the party has no agenda now except no to obama and yes tore your own corporate interests. now ki have written that. that's in fact erick erickson. how do you respond to the fact that you may think your party is doing well on vision -- >> if you take it candidate by candidate and look at those who have won, they have gone out there and said -- look, even if there are big disagreements on immigration. we need to reform the immigration system. republicans have flourished in these campaigns talking about what it is they're for, on growing the economy, on education reform, how it is that they believe that we can create more economic opportunity. rather than saying against this, against that -- >> i'm going to shock you. i'm going to brag on one of your

republicans. >> yeah. >> cochran. cochran in mississippi twrael ran his last ads actually pointed out, guess what, if federal government's important. america's government's important. we need america's government for roads and schools. that's now become a democratic message. why is it now the case that you have to be -- you have to go outside the republican party to brag on american government? >> he actually had a campaign that had all the classic well oiled moving levers of a good campaign which is he had a message, he clearly drew a contrast with his opponent. >> yeah. >> he made sure that he identified voters. he went out and contacted them. >> mcdaniel didn't run a great campaign. but can i ask you this, i would love it if republicans would always work this hard to court the african-american vote. do you think we're going to see more of that? >> once upon a time they did. >> sure. >> one thing is we have nowhere to go but up there. we can't get any worse. and i do think that it's an important message it sends to

the entire electorate that we have the confidence in our message, our agenda that we can take it to communities that don't agree with us 100% but willing to take that message to the voters. you look at the leaders that emerge on a national level, rand paul, paul ryan, they're enga engaging those constituencies. >> you guys are great. stay here. we want you to fire back on another controversy in washington. should speaker boehner sue president obama over executive orders? tweet yes or no using # crossfire. we'll have the answers after the break. i'm outraged that a vasectomy can be a bargaining chip in a plea deal. ugh. heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

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welcome back to "crossfire." now time for the outrage of the day. have you ever looked at one of the couples you know and thought those two should not have kids? me too! well one virginia prosecutor took such matters into her own hands as part of a plea deal. jesse lee hair ald, the father of seven or eight children was offered time in prison, five years of probation and a vasectomy after facing child endangerment and hit and run driving charges. the prosecutor's reasoning, we felt it might be in the commonwealth's interests for that to be part of the plea agreement. now, i'm sure jesse's a pretty terrible parent, but i'm also sure what the state just did was tantamount to eugenics. i thought we solved the forced

sterilization debate a while ago. while i don't want jesse procreating any more than you do, it's chilling to watch the state make that decision for him. >> chilling, yes, like in the most chilling of ways. >> for more than one reason. >> get that guy an ice pack. >> this issue just saying keep your can in the wrapper. >> keep your kand ne the wrapper, donna brazile for the win. >> exactly. now, for our fireback results, should speaker boehner waste time and money suing president obama over his totally legitimate -- >> you added something to that. >> did i? right now 22% of you say yes and 78% of you say no. what do you think of the wonderful results? >> those numbers would be different if you ask should the congress be able to sue the presidency. because i do think that's what it's about, the separation of congress. >> the republicans are suing the president for doing his job, we should sue the republicans for

not wanting to work with the president. >> the only democrat trial lawyer, i'm sure you have plenty of people to do that. >> there's a kernel of truth to the argument that the president has both overstepped his bounds and underperformed in enforcing existing laws. >> the president has been cautious in using his -- we should send him some ink tonight. give up the pen. very cautious. >> then they enforce it. >> i'll give you this, on the aca, yeah, you can argue about how that -- >> that's how it is relevant. >> but beyond that he's had fewer executive orders than reagan, fewer than george w. bush. >> this isn't about volume. it's not about volume. it's about some of the steps that he has taken that have overstepped. >> you know what? >> this is not about. >> george bush was much worse. >> this is going to affect future congresses and future presidents. >> good, well, listen, i want to

thank both donna brazile and kevin madden, kind of. >> thank you, kevin. >> i'll thank kevin. >> as well as on facebook and twitter. tune in tomorrow. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >> we're all friends. next major political news breaking at this hour. we now know the name of a republican senator allegedly targeted by an irs official. plus a teenager who plotted to bomb his school and kill his family. the chilling audio that goes inside his mind. and how safe is your food? our exclusive "outfront" investigation will make you think twice. this is pretty terrifying, but you must see it. let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm erin burnett. so much to get to tonight, we want to begin with the war in iraq spreading