you wrote a letter use some grammar! he was denied because of a law he passed in 1992. i love the irony. "viewpoint" is next. ♪ [ theme music ] ♪ good evening. i'm eliot spitzer this is "viewpoint." originating from the nation's capitol, washington, d.c., this should be a triumphant moment for mitt romney unless he is struck by a bolt of lightning, he should win the republican primary. but romney also has a las vegas gas fund raiser planned for tonight, and what happens in vegas, rarely stays in vegas,

especially when donald trump is involved. and trump's brought a special gift with him, one that should embarrass romney if anything can, his latest revival of birtherism. >> despite the fact that the press has covered and repeatedly debunked the desperate conspiracy that president obama wasn't born in the united states, mitt romney saw no need to connect his new best buddy. >> i don't agree with all of the people who support me, and they don't believe with everything i believe in. but i need to get 51.4% or more. >> the media had pounced on this

and produced this ad. >> i have read about him. he is an arab. >> no, ma'am. no, ma'am. he is a decent family man, citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with. >> he doesn't have a birth certificate. he may have one but there is something on that certificate. >> other republicans including conservative columnist george will are not quite as excited. >> at the cost of appearing that this ignore ray mouse is obvious, donald trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough your iu can be very low and you can imtrued on american politics. here to discuss mitt cozying up

with the donald. thank you so much for coming out here tonight with the sheer drop of 500 feet behind you. >> you are just trying to terrorize me. it's a beautiful view as long as the tornado doesn't come along. >> why does mitt romney bring back birtherism instead of giving a grand speech to the nation? >> etch-a-sketch right. >> mr. etch-a-sketch, why not tonight? >> it befuddles me. i cannot come up with a rational explanation for why this is a good move, not just tonight but on any night. there is -- there might be much to gain by using donald trump as a fund-raising tool -- dinner with donald --

>> casinos lose money as far as i know. >> well, he perhaps is a draw like a car crash or something, but you can alien nate a lot more people this way. >> joe this is the night when he should be out there as the nominee. instead of déjà vu all over again, with the most ridiculous issue of all. what are we missing? >> i'm like ruth. the closest thing i can come to is the fact that he is looking for some kind of sheen of celebrity, and donald trump, people can't take their eyes off of him. it's like standing in the middle of a square with the pen of a hand grenade. but it's the wrong type of attention. he should be talking about that speech he could be giving to the nation tonight and his prospects for being the 2012 candidate to

the white house. >> there have been primary nights where he has won where he has begun to sound like a candidate. but now we're talking about birth certificates again. ruth, is bit -- birtherism just ridiculous. >> it is so ridiculous. there is a more legitimate question about what is on mitt romney's birth certificate. >> breaking news. ruth said -- "washington post" tomorrow will say where is mitt's birth certificate. >> that's more of a mystery at this point than what is on president obama's birth certificate. because we have seen president obama's birth certificate. we have seen story over. trump said it was over, but

apparently he can't stay away from that flame. what is more ridiculous is not trump talking about it, but romney responding to it. maybe the campaign made a mistake of scheduling this at this time, but when he goes back on the birther edge why doesn't mitt romney say after he has gone through his thing with rush limbaugh and the slut and the prostitute after a couple of other things like that why doesn't he say this is idiotic and unacceptable. >> that's because that's not who he is necessarily. he is a very cautious guy and he was talking about this himself, and also on the sean hannity show, and it's not in his nature to stand up and say something like this. and there is a lot of currency too with the birther issue. >> who is mitt romney not in terms of substance, but emotionally. and ruth you wrote a fascinating

article in which you discussed him emotionally -- him being mitt romney vis-a-vis his parents, sort as a harbinger of what he will provide. >> my psycho babel analysis -- >> not psychotherapy -- >> that helps too. [ laughter ] >> there were two very good articles about george romney, his father who was the governor of michigan and lenore who was also a politician. she ran hugely unsuccessfully for senate. one was in the new york magazine, the one about lenore on the cover of time magazine this week by my former classmate and your classmate -- >> yeah. >> the years seem smaller and smaller as we go on, and one of the things that really came through there, was actually in their own ways what terrifically

stand-up people george and lenore were. >> so the apple supposedly doesn't fall far from the tree -- you are telling me the apple got thrown off. >> the apple learned from the tree. he learned the pieces of both -- he learned from his parents mistakes to be very careful about what you say. remember george romney and brainwashing, and not to get too far out there. >> they stood for principal and loss, his take away was forget the principal, i'm going to win. >> 50.1 baby. >> yes. joe is this the message? >> i think it's more of what we're seeing than we'll see ever again. certainly it's very common to a 2008 campaign, where he is not the kind of guy to be forceful or stand up. in 2008 he had very many

problems with conservatives. >> yep. >> they doubted him, and mistrusted him. this is almost the flip side of that equation. >> now that he has the nomination, he has the opportunity for a sister soldier moment, referring back to your own base and saying, no i won't go that far. mitt romney says to everybody i stand for principal. let's switch gears for a minute. he made some fascinating comments in a time magazine interview, he said frpt -- : this is classic [ inaudible ]. i read that and others have read it and said wait a minute this is not supply side economics. again another contradiction or how do we explain this. >> i think richard nixon said

we're all caneseeans now. >> it's ancient history, but he understands the real economy and he understands if you hit the brakes as hard as the miscall cliff would have us hit the cliff that you are going to have a problem in the economy. he knows that. i think it's a glimpse of the other mitt romney who is a very smart, sensible educated man. >> that's not what he is telling on the stump, though. >> yeah. >> he is trying to play the smart guy, i understand it wink, wink is this multiple personality disorder? how do you explain that? >> it is doing what you have to do to win. donald trump gives me x. although x is open to

interpretation. looking about keensian economics. and in 2012 with the republican side a lot of stuff got out, and this is his attempt to bring it back. >> if i'm paul ryan and i read this, i say wait this guy doesn't get what i believe. >> well, give the republicans their due. there has been a republican argument for years that you can't allow the tax cuts to expire in the middle of a recession. so that's not contrary to the republican party. i don't think it was that he was trying to appeal to anybody i just think he is a sensible guy who understands economics -- >> we have got one minute. real quick. i want to challenge perhaps -- or raise an argument the white house should be making.

barack obama is a better private investor that mitt romney. it's something a lot of folks have been saying. the investment in gm was the best private equity investment that anyone has seen in years, why not stand up and say mitt, i'm better than you? >> it goes against the 99%. >> and it simultaneously makes him look like, yes, we is give mr. government takeover. >> i think he could say i understand investment and capitalism, now to do it for a public purpose and get a return. i do it for the right reasons. i just think it is an argument that would thread the needle and be correct. any way. "washington post" columnist and editorial writer ruth marcus, and white house reporter for "politico," joe williams, thank you so much for your time

tonight. a financial crisis just four years ago, and banks can still lose billions. here is an idea a safety board that understands the risks and how to control them. more "viewpoint" coming up. >> we're not through just yet, mr. vice president. >> they're swimming against the tides. (vo) brought to you by pradaxa.

there is a mess in texas, and hence the number of the day, nine. the votes are still being counted, but of those nine two really matter, and those two reflect the two sides of the gop. in the lead is lieutenant governor david dewhurst, but right behind him is ted cruz the tea party man backed by club

for growth south carolina senator, and the unavoidable sarah palin. the chasm between the conservative and the really conservative has grown worse. >> the dallas morning news says does hurst has served as a moderate republican. >> the houston chronicle says dewhurst is generally considered a moderate. >> a moderate at heart says the texas observer. >> that's right. now it's an insult to come somebody moderate as in reasonable or balanced. what does the tea party want? apparently the opposite of that. the opposite is excessive and wild. that's the mess and the choice in texas and a lot of other places. jennifer granholm is politically

direct on current tv. >>the dominoes are starting to fall. (vo) granholm is live in the war room. >> what should women be doing? >> electing women to office. (vo) she's a political trailblazer. >>republicans of course didn't let facts get in the way of spin. >>do it, for america. there's a reason that the ceos of airlines don't sit on the national transportation safety board. so why is the big banks ceo sitting on the board of the fed. simon johnson says it is about time to consider establishing an equivalent for wall street. writing this past sunday, and i quote:

senior fellow at the peterson institute, professor at mit's sloan school of management and co-author of "white house burning" burning", an absolutely spectacular book that i was fortunate enough to get a copy of. simon thank you for joining us. give us the structural problem and what you think you can do about it. >> there is a problem at the heart of the federal reserve system. we have bankers, and big bankers, and too big for sale banks, like jimmy dimon. >> just so it is clear to folks when jpmorgan chase is lobbying regulators to loosen the restrictions, he is lobbying himself. >> in part, yes. it is complicated with a lot of

players, but he is absolutely overseeing the budget. they do keep him a little bit buffered away from supervision, but he is directly overlooking the research department that has a say on capitol requirements taking bigger leveraged bets. >> since this issue has arisen and you have been driving the notion that there is a structural problem, the fed has been saying, well it's an appearance issue. it is not the board that makes these day-to-day decisions, but not only do you choose the president of the new york fed, but the folks who work there know they report directly and indirectly to you, so it this is a general structural issue. >> it is a huge issue. where else do we allow the governing body to sit on the board? >> right. that is exactly the issue they want you to focus on on.

the national transportation safety board, you say look, we wouldn't let the safety of airplanes be governed by the airlines themselves. why would we do this? >> well there was a deal done between woodrow wilson and the bankers, and this is the deal. it changed a little bit in the past, and it can change again. the bankers could become part of an advisory committee. have some genuinely independent people on the board of the feds. >> the ceo of ge was in fact sitting on the board of the new york fed at the same time that ge was getting tens of billion dollarses of dollars of commercial paper. so this biplay seems to be continuing, and has been continuing for some period of time. >> it actually has gotten worse

recently. since the very big banks got this unconditionable guarantee. we now call them too big to fail for a reason. >> i want to make it clear to folks -- it is starting to lightning and thunder at the very time you suggested this. is that because your idea is shaking the foundations of our financial system? >> absolutely. the governor structure of the new york fed is out of sync with the rest of american society with expectations of what we regard as best practice. >> couple of minutes before we got to wrap you have written also very persuasively about the fiscal clip we're facing at the end of the year, john baner who has been raising the issue of not raising the debt ceiling. what will happen as you get closer and closer to that deadline without resolution. >> it's not good for consumer confidence, and destabilized

bond markets here and around the world. if you want to push the euro countries over the presspus, have a big debacle in the united states. >> it is clearly the republican argument they love to make. uncertainty is unsettling the markets. and the uncertainty last year was the failure to raise the debt ceiling, so john boehner is raising that once again. >> it's the argument the way it is done. our politicians insist on this crazy discussion which really just destabilizes markets and really hurt consumer confidence. >> last question -- i just don't want to let you go -- you heard the last conversation about john -- excuse me, about mitt romney and the statements he

made to time magazine. is he in fact an [ inaudible ]. >> everyone is a caneseeian? >> they are very mechanical. gorge w-- george w. bush was the ultimate kansian. it's more important to focus on funding the levels. >> in your book "white house burning," going back through the history of what has happened at various points and then you give us the wisdom of what we the peterson institute, professor at mit's sloan school of management and co-author of "white house burning," sitting here in what is an incipient huge thunderstorm. thank you so much for coming out

tonight. >> sure. >> if you thought birtherism was bad, wait until you see wiverism.

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coming up, negotiations with syria intensified but are their pointless. but first newt gingrich takes on newt gingrich, bill maher takes on the birthers and john mccain takes on a jerk. when it doesn't fit anywhere else we put it in the viewfinder. >> taking away the right to a secret ballot -- this microphone -- i think the obama administration -- do you think -- do you think -- there you go. see there is a republican microphone there. >> the media can keep giving this story oxygen but i think they are neglecting a much

biggest problem which is wifer-ism. how do ann and mitt romney have five kids and they are all 30 years old. what is mitt romney pointing to in this symbol. five rings. what else has five rings? five wives. >> most of them did well. there are specific cases that the "wall street journal" has reported who companies that were vested went bankrupt in unusual circumstances. it is a good company. it has a good track record. >> president obama, your husband. [ laughter ] >> you know -- >> does he come to bed at night? >> he does. it has always been a tradition -- ♪ i'm so in love with you ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> families in every place in

america have a relative of -- [ crowd shouting ] >> jerk. [ applause ] >> it makes you feel smart, healthy, green, and you are saving the planet. you feel better than others, you feel superior and therefore you can pass judgment, and therefore you don't have to help the little guy. organic ethers think that. >> jerk. >> sometimes you just have to love john mccain's authenticity. more "viewpoint" next.

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in 2012 alone. go to our website, current.com. up next it's out to the campaign trail. a surprising new poll, and that's next right here inside "the war room."

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massacred friday. the president's regime used heavy artillery against civilsians. the u.s. spokesperson said and i quote: and there was a meeting again in damascus, but several countries are expelling ambassadors. at least 10,000 people have reportedly been killed since the uprising began 14 months ago, and while the conflict over iran seems to be concluding inconclusively, the head of iron says it will begin enriching uranium. for more on the latest mideast

crises to morocco, deputy senior advisor for middle east policy to president carter and currently senior vice president at apco worldwide, and as well a blogger on many cites as well as huffco, and you have just written a very hard critique of the obama administration's policies in syria. tell us why you think they are so wrong and what we should be doing? >> the biggest problem we have in syria from my own interpretation, elliot is we have subcontracted, essentially a policy, first to the arab league then the turks and we're about to do it again with the russians what happened in syria will have far greatest interests than what we could possibly have in libya. >> we did subcontract libya to nato and the arab league. it was part of leading from behind, syria has not had any success so far.

what is the difference and what should we be doing? >> they are completely different situations. he had no real strategic interest other than humanitarian interest in libya, we have a far greatest interest in libya. and yet because of the way we approached this at the un we have in effect blocked ourselves from being able to do far more than we should have done in syria, and that is the administration's alibi. >> syria has had russia and china blocking for it so how can we get them to come over to our position, or even in defy answer of russia and china. and do you think we should? your article which is incredit ble powerful does not recommend

sending marines in syria. >> absolutely not. i am dead set against putting american forces on the ground in syria, however, we could be getting the european union to file an indictment. we could permit the turks and the arab league to provide covert resistance. we could be in effect helping to quarantine the shipment of arms that the russians are providing right now, as they claim to be supporting a peace plan, they are providing most of the arms -- >> how do we do that? >> put a resolution before the un security council and dare them to veto it. >> you were a diplomat, you played the game of cat and mouse in tough negotiations, there is a roll for public diplomasy where we say to russia we dare you to veto something that is

clearly in favor of the rest of the world. >> exactly. let them stand before the court of world public opinion to say we will continue to provide arms to syria. >> what does the white house say -- and why haven't we done that? >> because they essentially were hoping they would be able to get the russians to come on board with them in adopting what essentially is a yemeni resolution. and i don't think the russians will agree to that. >> certainly the track record thus far as you watch the number 10,000 they referenced a few minutes ago -- 10,000 sirrian civilians killed -- >> let alone those tortured and injured. >> he would not have been acting

that way -- >> or to find a solution. >> so if the russians and chinese continue to play ball with rashard. what else can we do? >> i think we need to help provide the arab medical association the opportunity to provide relief. think of the cities that have been under tack. assad's forces are not allowing to medical help to arrive to these cities. i have no illusions that all of what i have recommended in this article is going to cause assad to pack up and leave, but if we do nothing the sirrian people will hold us accountable for not doing anything. at least go down with a fight chance here to put more pressure on this regime. >> is there any historical

situation bosnia or any other -- >> absolutely. the europeans refused to stop the shelling of sariavo for almost 15 minutes. >> look we only have about a minute left. we're going to take our quick tour around the middle east. the egyptian elections. >> i was dead wrong. this was a disaster that all of us missed coming. the fact that the muslim brotherhood was able to in effect put its candidate ahead of almost every other candidate means that i think he is going to win. so the brotherhood will end up controlling the presidency and the constitutional convention. >> this is a two-step process and the two candidates who have

moved on to the final, are they converging into u.s. politics in a different setting? >> no. >> are they converging to the mid-until >> no way. i have always said the military and the brotherhood may be in cahoots with each other, but in the end somebody is going to have to emerge as president. i don't see why the brotherhood now has its leading candidate prevail is going to wind up forfeiting this election. >> quickly, then where is that moderate center? >> the moderate center is going to disappear. it will be the silent majority that may not even vote. >> will the military maintain power over its troops? >> absolutely. no matter what happens here, the brotherhood cannot govern without the support, even if it's quiet support of the

military. >> this will be a fascinating story senior advisor for middle east policy to president carter and currently senior vice president at apco worldwide, thanks for your time and thought. >> thank you. >> president obama has increased government spending more than any president ever has or ever well. that's the republican talking point. it is not even close to being true. my view coming up.

tomorrow night on "viewpoint" for the first time ever you'll hear the chilling so-called logic of an american turned terrorist. even while he is under the threat of death from the american government and from his own cause. this fascinating interview sheds light on the twisted motivations behind his murderest actions. >> he is an alabama-born

jihadist. who joined an islamic group with chis to al-qaeda. he spoke exclusively to current tv while on the run from african troops and the very group he chose to join. >> i'm going to record my questions here on webcam, and he is going to record his answers on audio. >> your father told me that you love america and would never attack it. is that true? >> i think that's probably true back in maybe the sixth grade. how could i really think about refraining from attacking america. they are actually putting people just like me on the kill list with their drones. >> tune in tomorrow night for more of this exclusive interview. now let's head out west and check in with michael shure who is guest hosting "the war room."

>> thanks, elliot i'm filling in for governor grandholm tonight in "the war room," where we're all over mitt romney's blatant corpship of the donald. we'll discuss, and shift our focus to voter up presentation in florida and moves being made to prevent floridians from being able to vote in the upcoming lek we have those stories a a whole lot more right here at the top of the hour. >> thanks, michael. eleanor cliff is one of my favorite columnists. >> thank you governor. mine too, i just love her.

kill as many as we can... >>the story of the american born jihadist on the run for his life. an exclusive new interview only on "viewpoint with eliot spitzer." let's debunk one of the central myths about president obama being spread by mitt romney. the myth is that this president has boosted spending at a voracious rate and lead a renaissance of big government. a claim that mitt romney is trumpeting on his website and talks about all the time. except it is false.

obama has had the smallest budget increase in nearly 60 years. the budget for his first year of course was set by the previous government in congress. but after that spending fell 1.8%, next year spending rose by 4.3%, and then it kept up by 0.7%. spending since 2009 will have risen only 1.4% a year, a tiny amount, less than herbert hoover increased spending. compare that to the last year of president bush's tenure spending jumped 17.9%. we know there is a problem because the deficit is so big, but republicans want us to think spending is the problem, that way they cover up the real cause of the deficits enormous tax cuts that we could never afford. a recession caused by wall street's loss of reason, judgment and morals, and two

cars we had no plan to pay for. republicans want to hide some real solutions. if we think we're spending more then spending is what we'll try to fix but if we focus on the true source of these huge deficits, we might decide to do the rashal thing recalibrate our tax policies and cut spending for wars that should have ended long ago.

the iraq war cost hundreds of billions of dollars and claim some 4,500 american lives, and much of our government's credible. peter van buren chronicled some of that waste and criticizes u.s. foreign policy on a regular

basis. in a recent book and ongoing block both . he says, and i quote: joining me now is department of state whistleblower peter van buren, author of "we meant well, how i helped lose the battle of the hearts and minds of the iraqi people." when were you there and what were you doing? >> i was in iraq for a year from 2009 to 2010 and i sent there as part of the reconstruction effort. the state department and the government in general realized the fighting, killing, and bombing was not going to be enough. we were going to have to win over the hearts and minds of the

iraqi people and the state department sent me and people like me to do that to win the war. >> for how many years had you been working with and in the united states government prior to going to iraq? >> i had been in the foreign service for 22 years, served overseas almost that entire time, mostly in east asia but other parts of the world as well, i was a very experienced person and not really shy of bureaucracy. but what i saw in iraq was so wasteful and over the top i had to tell someone. >> was it not only were we wasting money but failing in our ultimate purpose which was winning the hearts and minds of the public. >> we were failing and failed terribly. a chapter in my book is called everyone was looking the other way and that described what we

were doing. projects would be funded, money spent, no one would look at the results. the important thing was to have propaganda made, signs put up and then move on to the next thing. >> within the foreign service and the american diplomatic corps and the military that was at that point significant numbers in iraq, was there a conversation saying, hey, guys this isn't working? >> the conversation stopped at a certain point. on the ground level, we all understood what was going on. we understood that we were throwing money down dry holes, giving money to people -- pasting feathers together hoping it would come out to be a chicken one day. and the conversation stopped at a several level. and people started talking about impact in washington. the secretary of agriculture is going to make a speech we need an agriculture project to feature. go buy us one.

the people in the embassy stayed in the embassy, it was surrounded by high walls and air conditioning, and they were satisfying washington not the needs in iraq. >> give us tangible example of a program we funded, that simply weren't producing a result. >> $2.5 million to build a poultry processing plant out in the middle of nowhere. the people who specified the plant never bothered to look to the left or right of the plant. where would the chickens come from, and be sold to. when i walked in it was frightened about the smell of it being a slaughter house, and was overwhelmed by the smell of paint. we never processed a chicken there. >> and what was the desire to spending this amount of money without the lack of foresight

and planning? help in reconstructing a civil society. what went so awry. >> it was executed by giants. in iraq we had a hodgepodge of contractors and foreign service providers and other who were out there mainly to get their combat pay and bolster their own resumes and evaluations. >> could it have worked? >> it could have worked better, but it wouldn't have worked. the violence was ever ending, the issues that were left unresolved were not going to accommodate an economic boom, but could it have worked better? absolutely. >> the premise may not have been totally wrong that some investment would help rebuild a civil society. >> certainly. the people we dealt with

desperately needed water, clean sewage, suers, and instead of that we built the chicken plant and show piece projects that were designed to look good on the news in america. >> since you have written this book and continued to write on your blog what has hand to you at the state department? >> i have been shunned at the state department. back in october the state claimed that a leak on my blog meant that i could no longer have a security clearance. we then pushed me out of my job and put me on essentially house arrest, and since then i have been home as what is essentially a teleworker though my boss never seems to call. i have been shunned, but they haven't actually pushed me out

the door. >> there must be some rights where you need differing view to help arrive at good policy. why would they want to surpress an alternative view? >> it doesn't exist in the state department in the amount it should. the department is very much like the mafia. one doesn't talk about dirty laundry outside of the walls of foggie bottom, and until that let that out, i'm afraid things like iraq will repeat itself. >> what is next for you? >> continue to fight using the aclu to convince the state department to allow me to state. >> all right, department of state whistleblower peter van buren, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. >> that's "viewpoint" tonight state right here toer ten "the war room." have a good night.