[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: welcome to the "the young turks." i'm here in new york. i even have the l.a. newsroom behind me. how fancy. what are we could go on tonight's show? they double down on that welfare line and the president hammers them again. >> on august 30th mitt romney stars in the "doover." critics have called his previous work wildly misleading four pinocchios, pants on fire. >> cenk: that ad is awesome. get a load of how mitt romney tries to relate to the average guy. terrific. that's coming up in a little bit. and then camden, new jersey,

lays off their entire police department. what in the world is going on? how much tax cuts do the rich need? what is chris christie's excuse? >> the city of camden has a $92 million deficit. i sent them $60 million to bridge the gap. they asked unions to bridge the $24 million gap? no. >> cenk: unions, my ass. it's all the tax cuts you gave to corporations. that's why they don't have a police department any more. that's later in the program. and then in the newsroom, tackle tackling voter i.d. laws. >> dorothy cooper is a 96-year-old woman of chattanooga, tennessee, and has been voting for the past 75 years. this year she has been told she can't. >> cenk: we'll tell you how it is in the real newsroom as we do every monday. it's new york, and it's go time!

[ ♪ music ♪ ] >> cenk: the republican national convention started today--kind of. they tried to start but then isaac is in the area. instead, they did business for about 33 seconds. let's show you most of it. >> so it is my privilege to proclaim the 2012 republican national convention in session and called to order. [applause] >> the 2012 republican national convention stands in recess subject to the call of the chair

chair. [applause] >> cenk: perhaps the most anticly mattic opening ever. they were thinking of bringing the convention down to one day. turns out they want won't go in that direction. why? they were very concerned about isaac and where it would make land full. >> in florida being. ed by wind and waves. isaac is becoming more focused that center becoming more clear. it's expected to pick up steam, and when it hits the gulf coast it could an category 2 hurricane. just days before the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina, the city is on edge, and officials are warning to be ready for anything. >> cenk: well, now here is the interesting part of this story. now as the republicans are

getting together and having trouble with this hurricane you know what their proposals are on policy grounds on this issue? the people who would tell you all about that hurricane and maybe protect you to get out of its path would be the national weather service and the national oceanic atmospheric association right? well, they would love to cut both of those things. they want to propose a $454 million cut to the national oceanic atmospheric operations including $126 million cut to the national weather service. that's not all. in case they got stuck there as happened during hurricane katrina in 2005. if they got their way fema might not be able to help them. this is the cuts they're proposing. in 2013 there would be a $13.5 million request that would be cut. $364 million below the 2012

budget, and then for disaster relief fund it would be $6.1 billion. that's a decrease of $987 million from 2012. so, it's possible that if the republicans got their way at their next convention if this kind of disaster happened again that they might get their asss stuck there. with no help and partly they got it stuck because they didn't know it was coming. their lack of belief in the government might effect them this time around or next time around. they're lucky in time, of course, because we have a democratic president so they know exactly what they're getting and the government still functions. think about that why in the world do they want to put people in charge of the government who do not believe in the government. they're anarchist. they will cut everything.

they even want to cut the irs so you can't collect and there would be no funds for anything. mitt romney getting crushed in favorability rating by bo 30 points. 12,347 governor, does it bother you that according to the polls people don't like you more or is that not important? >> all i can do is be i am. remember that popeye line, i am what i am and i'm that's all i am. i'm doing my very best. >> cenk: i'm richie rich, i want to give tax cuts to my billionaire friends. i am what i am. president obama's team has a devastating ad. it's like a movie trailer.

it's fantastic. and they already preemptively hit him on the popeye defense. >> in a world where thousands of jobs were destroyed by corporate takeovers. >> one day we had a job. the next day we didn't. >> this is a battle for the soul of america. >> he has tried it all. >> i love this state. it seems right here. trees are the right height. >> corporation are people, my friend. >> i stand by what i say. >> mitt romney stars in the "do over." critics have called his work, wildly misleading, four pinocchios, pants on fire. >> cenk: that is awesome. by the way i love that line if there, i stand by whatever it was. isn't that mitt romney to a "t"? nevertheless mitt romney will say, i can relate to the average

guy. how can you do that? ann and mitt will explain that to us. >> we both love costco. i love costco. >> why? >> you take a sharp right and you go to the back of the store and shop the outside of the aisles. >> we got one of these three-packs of shirts and they're very nice shirts. >> kirkland shirts. he's wearing them all the time. i got it at costco. >> cenk: come on, come on, come on you shop at costco? you have a minimum of a quarter of a billion dollars. you shop at costco, and you thought that would be a good idea to mention it on television? stop lying. it's so obvious. you don't have to shop at costco. who gives a damn where you shop. we get it. you're rich. that's not the problem. the problem is the policies saying i'm going to take to the middle class.

you will take $500 from every middle class family and give it to the rich. you're giving $87,000 tax break to the average millionaire. that's the problem. with that $87,000 they'll never have to go to costco again. who are you kidding with this nonsense. now, let's go to our convention coverage to a convention that has not been very epic nevertheless, we sent our own epic politics man. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> cenk: all right michael shure is down there covering this in tampa. michael, we'll be talk to you today. this whole ann romney and costco thing. it appears their strategy is ann romney is going to humanize mitt romney. good luck. second of all what about that

strategy. >> one of the things they've been concentrating on most in terms of the scheduling, and it has been a nightmare without knowing where the storm is going, where it's headed. but ann romney's speech is what everyone is focused on, and it goes to what you said. humanizing mitt. this may be the only person alive who can humanize mitt romney. i would love to see mitt romney's costco card. >> cenk: jimmy dore made a great point about this. a friend of the show, and he has been on many times. they're using ann romney to humanize mitt romney. her hockey is teaching horses to dance. which average guy is going to relate to that. >> you know, you asked the question in a very interesting way. it's not the average guy they're looking for. they're looking for the average woman. the woman who can--because they

see even in a florida pol poll today they see florida is up four points in florida. not only that, the margin with women is 12 points. there is a lot of room that mitt romney has to make up between he and president obama when it comes to the women's vote. that's what they're looking for. that's what we're they're looking for. >> cenk: when they see ann romney they do not see an average person. they're seeing, perhaps the richest woman in the world. let me ask you about healthcare. supposedly they committed a faux pas that people caught on to. tell me about the platform. >> something happened today that they didn't want to have happen. the republicans released their platform online just for a moment but it was enough for people to get it and it's

radical. what they're talking about in their platform is the idea of privatizing medicare, of making it a contributor-based system rather than an entightment. if that's the case, that's a radical difference from the way the way seniors have become it know medicare. this is a major change, according to what their platform said, part of their platform for this convention. >> cenk: all right fascinating. michael shure down in tampa, and he'll be covering this convention for current along with david schuster for an entire week. thank you, michael. that's part of our "politically direct" coverage when we come back newt gringrich claims that the democrats are the ones who

are doing the lying at "newt" university. >> we tell the truth less effectively. we are startled by their dishonesty we're tongue-tied. >> cenk: and the republicans new platform on porn, totally against it. >> i want to make sure that every new computer sold in this country after i'm president has installed on it a filter to block all pornography. [ ♪ music ♪ ] [spanish vo] but it was the jfk campaign that ran the first tv ads in spanish.

[spanish] >> in 1960, it's not that the hispanic vote was not that big but it was concentrated in a few crucial states. (vo) but it was 40 years later that another presidential candidate really spoke to the hispanic voter: bush: gracias! >> as the governor of texas, he understood the growing political power of latinos. (vo) and now more than ever, candidates have to both walk the walk, and talk the talk. [spanish] (vo) current tv's look at campaign ads that changed history, is brought to you by spiriva handihaler.

//////////////////////// ///////////////////////////. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: well, you know the convention got a little soft.

here's one of the things he was saying. >> i think one of the great failures of the hen republican, we tell the truth less effectively than the democrats. and we're so startled by their dishonesty we're sort of tongue-tied. [ chuckling ] >> cenk: tongue-tied. these guys are unbelievable. the problem with newt gringrich he's just too damn honest and he can't compete with the democraticdemocratic lies. >> if you're over 55, nothing in the republican plan effects you and president obama has taken $716 billion from you. it's that simple. >> cenk: yeah, except it's not that simple. he didn't take $716 billion from you. that was according to the fact checkers, weighs and abuse from the system, and and it helps us that he got rid of that $716 billion and used it to getting you healthcare. that is not true what newt

gringrich is saying, unsurprisingly. i mentioned the fact checkers because i think the role of the media is incredibly important because they have to tell you whose side is right and wrong. often times they don't say that. author brisbane did the republican service a huge favoring, i don't think the new york sometimes has it all. quote, across the pain heirs many departments though, so many share a kind of political and cultural progressivism for lack of a better term, that this world-view virtually bleeds through the fabric of the times. as a result of developments like occupy movement and gay marriage seem almost to erupt in times over loved and causes like new subjects. the fact that tremendous wealth and inequality is overloved by "the new york times" is his version of reality, it's not a version that i share. i think "the new york times" has

a massively pro establishment whether it's a republican government or a democratic government. but oh oh, my god, they are in favorer gay rights, they must be liberal. and they were opposed to segregation, and that's why they were called the liberal media. i guess that's an equal and legitimate point of view and they should be segregateed from white people. that's not the kind of journalism i'm interested in. a reporter with npr for over 14 years is andrea seabrook. she had enough. i want to give though quote it's great. it has become such a complete theater, referring to washington politics, that none of it is real. i fool like i am, as a reporter in the capitol, lied to every day all day. there is so little genuine

discussion going on with the reporters. now that sounds like the truth to me. and we've brought her in right now. she has been covering washington for about a decade for npr. she's doing a new project called "decode d.c.." also with us our regular here, michael hastings, a correspondent for buzzfeed, of course, and contributing editor of the "rolling stone" and does about 28 other jobs, waits on tables down the street later. andrea, let me start with you. it seems to me that media has lost track of the fact that they're supposed to call out the politicians, they're supposed to be watchdogs. they see the politicians as one of the few legitimate sources of news and others are to some degree ill-legitimate.

>> the problem is that news is what lawmakers do every day. what they say on the floor and what they say in rebuttal to someone else on the floor what they say in a press conference organized by them and completely full of other media people, what happens in those places is news. the ideas honed that this is what your government is doing america. you should know what your government is doing. that is unless that discussion has any bearing on reality. it has become a fact-free universe in the capitol. it is all the time. when someone says, andrea, let's talk off the record. i got to tell you x y z i know in my head now they're trying to to manipulate me by

saying, let's talk off the record. trying to convention me that this is going to be a really worthy thing and i should cover it for npr which has 27 million listeners. i got to the point where you know what none of this stuff is worth telling the american people. >> cenk: do you think reporters have lost tract that it is not real? i think there was a time that they knew it was talking points. but now i think they report it so earnestly that i'm not sure that they realize it. >> as andrea said, we're trying to keep up with the 24-hour news cycle. that puts on tremendous pressure to write down one source and then go to the other source. it is not pulitzer prize journalism, but it is the nature of the beast. i have sympathy for journalists who have to do that on a day-to-day basis. one question i have for andrea,

was there any time on the hill, look, you're lying to me. stop lying or did you just play the game and make your stand later. >> there were plenty of times when i said, yeah, sure, i understand that, congressman but let's talk reality. there is a little bit of decorum to be had and i don't want to be adolescent about it. but often times the lawmakers have a problem talking about the reality of the situation because they come under the punishment of their own party's leaders. it's not the party rancor but within the party. and getting anything done and the party winning the next election cycle, that's all they care about. >> cenk: i got to ask you guys one final question. are they under a second problem

which is if you keep calling out lies, you'll call out a bunch of democratic lies, but it appears to me that it would be a disproportionate republican lies. and then you get gun shy because one side lies more than the other and then you have a problem. >> it is very real. whenever you write something that seems positive of obama then you're called an obama lover, i think for the fact. based side, it comes in one side and out the other. >> cenk: what do you think an three i can't? >> i say it's true that the dynamics are at play. i challenge the premise that republicans lie more than the democrats. this is a whole culture in which the entire game is meant to get a party re-elected. i think perhaps it's just

dependent on your point of view. but frankly i don't care if someone wants to call me leaning one way or another. i have no allegiance to political issues. they can say whatever they want to say. >> cenk: yeah, i know, but as you've demonstrated with your actions you're not the norm. i think the press gets cowed by that in a big big way. >> it's true. absolutely. >> cenk: we call out democratic nonsense all the time on this show. >> yes. >> cenk: and we get heat for that too. but you have to call it as it is and not get a fake balance. you have to handle reality even if it loons to one side or leans to one side or another. >> absolutely. >> cenk: andrea, thank you for bringing this out. her new project is called "decode d.c."." michael hastings, thank you. we have an entire police department that has been fired.

>> put more boots on the ground patrolling the neighborhoods in the community. >> unproven, untested, members who don't know the community. >> cenk: and then "newsroom" does what we were just talking about. real newsrooms not being able to do. call the republicans what they are. >> call themselves the tea party. they can call themselves conservative. they could even call themselves republicans but we should call them what they are. the american taliban. >> cenk: there go. be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

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sign up at rid-x.com. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: now you probably heard a lot about chicago and all the violence going on there nine dead again this week, and then 28 shot, but chicago is not the only city experiencing this problem. camden new jersey, is still the second worst murder rate in the country. what are they doing in response? by the end of 2012 they're going to layoff their entire police force. insanity. here is a local report on it. >> we're having a problem internally with the existing force, while we rehired everyone on the 168 officers that were laid off we have a high absentee rate. we cannot continue with this trend and expect to keep our city safe. >> they intensified the crime problem when they laid off

officers last year. >> not only are you playing with the public's future but their lives 12,347 they. >> they call the police plan untested and risky. >> bring in 300 people who don't know the city, don't know the people. that's a recipe for disaster. >> cenk: they say, hey don't worry. we'll get the county to bring cops in so it won't be like there's no police at all. when they cut the police force in half crime skyrocketed, to which i say--of course! of course it did. oh let me show you some numbers here. now in 2012 there has been 41 homicide in camden. for a city that size that's gigantic. 13 in july alone. on pace to break the 1995 record of 58 killings. that's not good news. chris christie says, there's nothing like do, the goddamn

unions. you think firing these guys and moving their jobs to the county is not part union related you don't know anything about american politics at all. that's what the unions charge. chris christie vetoed a tax on millionaires three different times. you protect the millionaires and the guys in camden don't vote for you you leave them without cops. in 2009, we had 666 579 cops. now we only have a little over 610,000. you know what that means? we have 56,000 fewer cops on the streets. you know what this is? this is an an an an di abdication of the core responsibility of the government. it's also jobs. we're losing the jobs, and we're losing comes on the streets, and we're not getting any safer.

chris christie, tell me why this had to be done. >> u.s."usa today"," our government was bloated and too big at every level. in new jersey, we're not trying to break the unions. the unions are trying to break the middle class in new jersey. they're close to doing it. >> cenk: okay, the unions. it's always the unions fault. what he didn't tell you is that he okayed over $1.5 billion tax cut for corporations that just so happened to donate to his campaign. you don't donate to his campaign in camden? too bad for you. he'll take the money for the cops and give it to his friends. it's sick what he's doing. we have tricia rose from brown university. professor rose it seems like the

idea that the republicans are pushing that you don't need government at all has gotten to an extreme where they take away our cops. it doesn't get to be a more core function than that. >> they really do think that the government is important to veto any tax bill on the rich. apparently that's the job of the government. this seems to be a pretty clear example of moving one set of public unions to another in an effort to balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable in society. whether it's poor people, working people, every day people, working for the city in jobs like teachers and police and fire. and it seems to me that we need to remember that budgets are moral documents. they tell us who matters what matters, and what doesn't matter. i think we need to take these kinds of things seriously. i will make one recollection to

my own point. there are some union organization have it real issues. i'm not suggesting that unions be given a free for all, but this is destroying the fabric of camden and other places as if there is no other reasonable way to create social stability. >> cenk: i love what you said there. we call you the professor because you are a professor, and you correct yourself. no one is saying that the pensions are perfect and no one is saying that we shouldn't have a discussion about that. but when you're giving $1.5 million to the richest corporation in the country while you claim you you haven't any money that's absurd. the media to me, seems like they're not doing a job saying,

hey, wait a minute chris christie is not being often with you. he's not getting votes from camden, so he doesn't give a damn about camden. that's what this is about, and not because they don't have money for it in the budget. >> this is a classic case of using race to help justify a project that may not be about race. whenever you deal with urban crime, especially in the late 1960s when there were was place brutality unemployment, and all the things that are now currently going on. you could say say, and encourage people to pull away imagining this is a race problem. what it is a problem is problematic responses to discrimination.

humans are so encourageed to behave appropriately when the situation is set up. we're in a big storm and the crime is at a level unprecedented and yet it's all about personal individual player. but only those at the bottom. they are the only wind who are seemingly the criminals. the invisible crime seems to be go on and the media doesn't spend enough time on this. the media doesn't spend time addressing what the background is to mistakenning the condition. >> cenk: professor tricia rose, thank you for helping us. when we come back on a lighter note the sex block the republicans will block all porn. and a strike, that's

fascinating. and then here at home, the amish sleeps with someone's wife and then cuts his beard. he's more upset about cutting his beater. >> his wife with one of the suspects involved with what is called sexual counseling. bobby? bobby! what are you doing, man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: so the g.o.p. platform committee has included language from the family research council and they say they will aggressively go after all porn in the country. now, morality president patrick truman has this to say about it. young males are spending 10 to 12 years looking at porn on the internet and masturbating to it, so when they're getting married they're dysfunctional sexually because their brain maps are changed. they enjoy what they've been doing for 10 to is it years and

normal sex is if the something that gets them excited. i don't know if he's refer to go other males or to himself. it seems pretty explicit. this is what they're going to rely on to change laws in the country? if i ever heard of losing platform, it's to outlaw porn. have at it,hoss. they just may have lost the male vote. inin the african nation they're changing the electoral laws to their advantage. they're already arrested 100 people in protest and one of the protesters decided what is in in order is a sex strike. we have many means to oblige men to understand what women want in togo. well, that certainly would get their attention. and they said, if men refuse to hear our cries we'll hold more

that is more powerful than a sex strike. i don't know what is more powerful than a sex strike. other people on her side said this is a pretty good idea. my husband will agree during the daytime but not agree during the nighttime. another person challenged the president said, i would like to do it. a week seems long. it we do it for two days. that's an unique idea. try it and see how it turns out. when it comes to the united states well, the amish have their own problems with sex. there is a man charged along with 15 others. one of the things he wanted to do was have sex with other people's wives. that was for sexual counseling. he also made them cut their beards. what made them more anger? angry? >> four of the seven suspects face a federal judge for detention hearings. after five hours of testimony the judge ruled that these men

pose a threat to local amish communities and must remain in jail until their trials. the lead fbi agent on the case say he witnessed sam in bed with one of the other wives and on top of that, marijuana seeds found in a barn. >> cenk: damn, i didn't know that the amish rolled like that. the cocaine and all. i love "sexual counseling." husbands they're more mad about the beard cutting. they're calling it a hate crime. he's also being charged with. fascinating turn of events with amish counseling. i think i would feel more upset about the counseling, if it was me. the "newsroom" calls americans

taliban, and they take on the media for not covering the right thing. how is it in the real newsroom, we'll break it down for. >> you they believe that they have objective and deliberate motives. [ ♪ music ♪ ] (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

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the "newsroom" our own ben mankiewicz is a critic, and he has been in many newsroom. the perfect guy to analyze it. ben, what happened this week? >> this was the season finale, i know i'll be sorry to see it go, except i won't. the lead character jeff daniels he plays the big anchor, he is in the hospital. he has had a life-threatening accidental overdose of anti-depressants. so this first clip we're going to show you he's thinking of quitting. the nurse who has been taking care of him, she comes in, and by the way i'm pulling for him quitting. and she rallies him to where he's still excited working on the show because she tells him about the republican attempts to disenfranchise black voters, poor voters, latino voters and say that is a story that has not been covered enough. that was the show's best show.

>> my aunt has been voting for 5775 years. now the state of tennessee is saying she can't vote. i want to know what you're going to do about it. >> well, i don't know. >> i want to see it on the news. i want to know why she can't vote because she does not have a car. and i want to know this has not been on the news every night. >> it has been an unreported story even so. >> cenk: i love topics like that and embar embarrassing the news. but a nurse is going to go in to a guy like tom brokaw and god bless her. >> 21 million americans don't have a government-issued i.d.

and the actions of legislature this year could disenfranchise potentially 5 million voters and in competitive states it could make a big difference. in the next clip, we see him anchoring the show. and he is discussing what the tea party people call rinos republicans in name only. he's saying they're the real rinos. he lists the tenants that he sees represents the tea party qualities and lack of qualities that they have and then brings it around to voter i.d. it was another great moment. >> ideology purity, a fundamentalist belief. a hostile fear of progress demonization of education.

a need to control women's bodies they can call themselves the tea party. they can call themselves conservatives. they can even call themselves republicans, though republicans shouldn'tcertainly shouldn't. we can call them what they are. the american taliban. the american taliban cannot survive is dorothy cooper is allowed to vote. >> good stuff. >> cenk: absolutely. but i take slight issue with this, because again i relate to the character because i used to be a republican. you're one of the guys who talked me out of it. it's not really true that the republicans are the good guys and the tea party is dragging them into a place they shouldn't be and there are real republicans who can stand up to the tea party. no i left the republican party because as it turns out all republicans are frauds. >> that's a totally fair point,

but if you go back, if we talk to gerald ford, ronald reagan, rockefeller, if those guys are around, it seems that they're referencing republican style that doesn't exist any more. >> cenk: they just became extinct. and he's absolutely right about that. you can see that in senators who are still around but though longer senators. >> those moments made the show great unfortunately those clips were 2 minutes and that leaves 58 minutes left of the "newsroom"." in the next clip he's in the hospital. he nearly died. we see his executive producers producer who is allegedly in love with him. he's had this condition. he's been lying down, he's sleeping, and this is the manner which she greets him when he wakes up. again, he was near death.

>> why did you do this! what is wrong with you! i've been waiting two days for you. >> i appreciate your patience. >> so she beats him and then a couple of minutes later it gets worse when she does this. [ click-click ] aah. >> i was just checking this. i'll fix it. >> who creates these characters? who makes these people? she's in charge. he's the executive produceer. >> cenk: last word on "newsroom" because it was the season finale. that might be unrealistic and we pointed it out all season. but the way they cover newsroom

and the way they're principled and care about the news is even more unrealistic. >> i agree. >> cenk: thank you for covering it for us. we appreciate it. when we come back, president obama, what is he going to do in the second term? he told us over the weekend. and you know what, i'm not sure it's good news. we'll talk about that when we return. an energizing fruit or relaxing mint flavor. new 5 rpm gum. stimulate your senses. it's like chicken and crunchy stuff

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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] knee all right, president obama spoke to the associate press and he said that he thinks the republicans will work with him to compromise next year if he is re-elected. [ smack ] have we learned nothing from the last four years? he also said this. >> obama: for me to be able to say to the republicans the election is over. you know longer need to be focused on trying to beat me. what you need to focus on and

what we should have been focused on from the start how do we advance the american economy. i'm prepared to make a whole range of compromises, some of which i get criticized from the democratic party, in order to make progress. >> cenk: why? why are you willing to make all those compromises? and why are we getting all motivated to vote for you if you tell us before the election, i'm going to give these guys what they want. don't do that. that's a bad idea. that's me being an aggressive progressive. and we have governor eliot right here. >> eliot: i don't get it, the lesson of the past couple of years is he has been outnegotiated because every time he went to capitol hill to talk to republicans he began by giving something away. you begin negotiations by saying i'm right. if he's re-elected, that's the

manifestation of the public will? he then goes to speaker boehner you're in a corner. alternate argument, maybe he feels he needs to do this for the election. i don't think so. he needs to get those who already want him to win to turn out rather than worrying about the tinyviller whosliver might turn out. >> cenk: i agree with you. eliot spitzer is next. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening i'm eliot spitzer. this is "viewpoint." the republican national convention is not exactly going to plan. true national committee chair

reince priebus got things rolling today more or less on schedule. >> my privilege to proclaim the the 2012 republican national convention in session and called to order. [ cheering ] >> eliot: but about 20 seconds later preibus wrapped it up. >> the 2012 republican national convention stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. >> eliot: if that isn't a picture of efficiency, i don't know what is. 20 seconds and they're done. tropical storm isaac has grazed the tampa convention site, and emergency management officials say they're prepared in case it comes to shore. but with isaac expected to hit wednesday morning the first wasn't was rescheduled for tomorrow giving mitt romney a chance to polish his acceptance speech in new hampshire.

>> i hope that they're spared any major destruction. >> we have a great convention ahead. >> eliot: a convention without rick scott of florida, robert bentley of alabama, and bobby jindal of louisiana but with new jersey governor chris christie. he told blue state delegates to work hard for romney despite the long odds against him back home. >> now listen, we know california is an uphill climb for mitt romney. the same new jersey is an uphill climb. >> eliot: christie feared romney's uphill climb was so steep christie passed on becoming his running mate. an anonymous source wrote i quote, christie felt at one point that obama could loss this. and look, there is still that chance but he knows right now it is unlikely. christie responded by calling the storied sogy reporting. shocking it was news corp. president obama picked up an

endorsement from florida's governor charlie crisp. right now mitt romney leads president obama by a point. while 81% of his supporters are enthusiastic about his candidacy. president obama is beaten by five. >> the takeover of our healthcare system called obama-care is a problem for most americans. >> let me tell you something about history teddy roosevelt pushed for that. truman-- >> eliot: you got to love chris matthews. let's go to tampa and david schuster. david, fill news. what is going on there? the hall behind you is empty. i've never seen a convention

like that. i've been to a bunch. what's happening. >> it's earth. right now the weather forecaster issued an alert of a tornado. this is a spin off from hurricane isaac. there is a warning here and if there is anything like a news god, he'll rip the roof off the rnc. right now you hear them say we're moving forward. the convention will be as scheduled. tomorrow we're continuing with our themes. tomorrow is "we built it" but they're keeping things flexible in monitoring and the impact of of isaac on the gulf course. >> eliot: they orchestrated one presumes carefully timed to present a different image of mitt romney to, some how articulate what has been impossible so far and the notion he believes in something.

and so far we've only got an empty convention hall. and we could go on forever. still, katrina and new orleans this is a disaster for them. >> it is. down on the floor you can't see it from this vantage point, but there is a sign that says "we can do better." that's the theme of the opening night. the republicans may be thinking that it's not such a good idea to plan a convention in tampa at the height of hurricane season. they'll move on. they believe they won't have to worry about the split screens and there will be media attention on the mitt romney story. the goal is to bash president obama and to portray mitt romney as a softer, family sort of guy who is likable and can appeal to the moderates and independence and swing the election. >> eliot: of course, the convention is in florida.

they need to carry that state. they say we're going to gut medicare, because there are no seniors voting in florida showing the republican strategy to be right on top of things. what is their plan tomorrow, might they have to cancel another day. >> it's possible. they should be able to start in the evening. they'll have a pretty good idea of how it's doing. they're confident that it will miss new orleans it won't be that powerful even if it does hit. they'll move forward and have ann romney tell the story of mitt romney the family man and all the adverseity that she'll say their family went through. then they'll pound on president obama's record. a lot of people paying attention to accuweather and the tampa bay times forum making sure that the storm does not cause all the attention to go to new orleans.

>> eliot: there is tension, you can't be having balloons dop drop from the ceiling of your convention sister going rah-rah-rah when there is a hurricane. i don't really feel sorry for mitt romney. i think the public likes him more the less we see him. but the republicans have got to be worried there will not be a boost or a bump coming out of the convention with all this going on. >> it's difficult to make a chicken salad with what they're dealing with. they have a republican reporters saying, they have a republican governor now and that's what they're saying to the media here at the convention, that's awfully thin. it doesn't get them to the main point. they want complete and total attention on their message which is president obama has not handleed the economy. mitt romney can do it better and

oh by the way he's a likable guy. getting that message through is not going to be easy. >> eliot: and continuing your metaphor of chicken salad it's thin soup they're serving gruel at best. look forward to reporting on the convention if there is one. sam cedar, host of ring of fire richard zachary di thank you for showing up. richard chris christie think he's a tornado. he's something. he didn't want to be on the ticket because he said you'll lose. how is that for confidence. >> that is something right from the new york post which sometimes we can't believe everything we read in the new york post. but sometimes they get it right

and they get stuff that nobody else has. if it's true, it's devastating. if christie was a real option, it speaks to the issue of whether or not romney was really going for a right-wing person or just picking a personality. >> cenk: that's important. >> eliot: -- >> eliot: sam, pick up on that. >> there are also belt-way darlings in their own way. i'm skeptical of the report. first off i think christie is not as popular as the establishment as the press likes to think he is. and look, this isn't really that much of a story. chris chris knew this was going to be a very unlikely win for the republican. that's why he didn't jump in the race. >> this sounds like something he would say. this is just the kind of thing he would say he's too important for this. >> eliot: he does speak his mind. he's unfiltered.

he speaks instantaneously what comes out of his mouth. sometimes you like it, sometimes you don't. >> that's a very nice way of saying it. >> eliot: tactless i sympathize with him at that level sometimes. having said that, it is affair assessment of the romney campaign of success. charlie crisp, speaking at the democratic convention, how important is that to the votes does charlie crisp still sway votes in florida? >> i think so. he's still around 40% 45% favorability. and remember those people who liked him, they liked him as a republican. i think this will have some-- >> they are independent thinkers. parties hate this when the other party does this to them. when you get a republican to turn--this is very painful stuff. it just has not been a good couple of days for romney.

>> eliot: poaching the convert causes pain within the other party. there is no question about that. the thing that we've got to acknowledge. >> this isn't just simply a question of psychologically hurting, we've seen joe lieberman coming out for mccain. this is going to have real impact in florida. it's going to be very tight and i think this is really going to help the obama campaign. >> eliot: i don't agree disagree with you when i say this, but folks may need to know the history he has been a shade of republican, that's. known for some time, and i don't know if that's political force is a changing view of where he stands. >> i think it will make a difference in the independence. the republicans and democrats have lined up with who they're going to vote for to the extent there is anybody in the middle, those are the people who voted for charlie crisp. >> it seems that the public likes mitt romney the less we

see him. we haven't seen him in the past few days, and polling coming out this race is in a dead heat. with mitt romney ahead by one. what explains that? is there anything that we're not seeing? >> boy, it's really hard to understand. this is all been going for obama. i think it just speaks to people's unhappiness with the economy and really feeling that the country is not really hitting on all cylinders yet. >> massive unhappiness about the economy. massive uncertainty that either one of these candidates can change thes were protect but we saw todd akin, legitimate rape issue, negative for the republican party. is it possible that they're veering hard write. this is todd akin's platform, it might not possibly be working for them? >> no, i don't think so. first off you have to understand that president obama was doing so well with women relative to mitt romney that a lot of that

was built, baked into the cake to a certain extent. and beyond that frankly i think you got to look at not just one poll but across the spectrum. there are polls that have president obama up by four. there are sampling issues, and i think there will be real problems. when we get to the convention and hear more about paul ryan's social views which i think most people in the country don't know about, and then when they find out that todd akin has a cosponsor in the house and that was paul ryan. >> the democrats cannot take this if for for granted. i think the obama people are way too confident. this is a close election and president obama could lose and it's a scary moment. >> mitt romney will be there to see ann romney give a speech to humanize mitt romney. if she had run one theme to hammer home, what would it be?

>> she's going to talk about him and what he's like as a husband as a father, a businessman. i think she's a very compelling figure. i think she'll do a great job and i think it will help them a lot. >> eliot: is she the unsung hero who will come out of this convention? >> i don't think it's too hard, frankly, to outshine mitt romney. you know, she may give a great speech, but sadly a couple of days later he'll come out and i think there is a high bar that is going to be set for him. just relative to other people speaking frankly for him to make a connection with normal people. >> eliot: we got to break, it may not be a bad thing to let her outshine him. she is natural. people like her as we all should given what her story is. samuel cedar richard zacaridis. great to have you both on the program. starting tomorrow at

7:00 eastern join us right here for current's politically direct coverage of the republican national convention. we'll be here for the next three nights, i'll be joined by chairman of current tv, vice president al gore. that's tomorrow. coming up on tonight's room? what would mitt romney do in his first 100 days? perish the thought. stick around for "viewpoint." but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

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>> eliot: we haven't heard much about the libor scandal with the convention and the start of the nfl season around the corner, i guess it's easy to figure out why. if you're not in the banking industry, it may be hard to appreciate what a mess the libor scandal is. more and more lenders and investors have decide they got ripped off, which brings us to the number of the day $88 billion. that's how much the banks that make up the libor panel could end up paying in regulatory fines and lawsuit for manipulating the interest rate behind all other interest rates. this could be conservative. the australian form of maguire research which compiled that number said libor fraud could have cost investors 17 billion $176 billion and it comes even

close to that, you can be pretty sure tax payers are going to be in line to help out the banks once again. ñ1p

>> eliot: three storm clouds hover over the republican convention. one real, the other two figurative. as isaac barrels towards

new orleans along a trajectory that leaves tampa drenched but not in the direct line of fire republicans nonetheless have to deal with the even worse prospect isaac's approach to new orleans raises the specker of katrina, and the issues of bush failure all over again. the republican disdain for government is apparent and most evidently dangerous in the government's failure to respond to the needs of the public at a time of crisis. second cloud is the reality of the right wing social agenda as the g.o.p. has embraced and put front and center in their platform. i called into a radio show hosted by geraldo rivera today and had an impromptu debate with senator ron johnson from wisconsin. he tried to focus on the economy exclusively, referring to the republican social agenda as essentially irrelevant to most voters. i think it's fair to say that issues of choice and immigration

are not minor issues to many of our population, nor should they be. to the republican effort to be dismissive of the extreme positions they have embraced make no mistake this is a todd acondition platform. third cloud the most serious for them. when it comes to the issues of federal budget and the economy the republicans have embraced paul ryan. the ryan budget would not even survive sec scrutiny if it were in offering document. it is flimflam and smoke and mirrors. nothing more than an unsubstantiated rehash that brought no good at all. so while i wish the republicans a jolly good time in tamp tampa, any political party can be fun i suppose. their agenda for the nation is bleak and gloomy, only made

darker by the actual storm clouds swirling around them. that's my view. (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

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sign up at rid-x.com. >> eliot: we all know it's the economy, stupid. that's confirmed by "washington post" "abc news" poll 72% of votes said that obama's handling of the economy will be a major factor in their election decision. it's not good news that 58% of the registered voters say

they're not confident that the economy would improve in a second obama term. his saving grace however, is that 53% of registered voters don't believe the economy would improve under mitt romney either. that means the public does not think it matters who wins. joining us now former romney spokesman on foreign security and policy and to understand romney's thinking and will be speaking at next week's convention, governor jennifer granholm. thank you both for joining us tonight. rick, let me throw it to you. mitt romney has been throwing it in circles. he makes no sense to me. half the public saying they have no idea if he'll make the economy better. what will he do to change the voters minds in the backdrop of

the storm in new orleans. >> i don't think it's enough just to be able to say that under barack obama we've had a really dismal four years and that people aren't improving and the unemployment rate is increasing. all those things are true. but governor romney will have to put forward a philosophy and agenda that gives people hope. the good news in this poll is that people are frustrated with the president. they don't want to elect him. but much like we saw in 2004, a frustrated electorate does not always mean that the other guy wins. governor romney will have to come forward and give us reason to vote for him, and i think that's what the convention is about. >> eliot: look there is a thirst for hope and change and it's deep seated in every voter and you and i have been through a whole bunch of them, but i don't see mitt romney--i don't see this as a partisan run, but i don't think mitt romney speaking to that vision of a

different america. >> i see him speaking to a vision that takes us back to the first decade of this century under george bush. i would be curious richard from your perspective. i know mitt romney has a 59-point plan, but so much in there is similar to what president bush had as part of his plan. i think that's where he'll fall in trouble. if everybody sees us going backwards, that's not going to be the ticket to success. >> eliot: let me ask that a slightly different way. when mitt romney embraces paul ryan when mitt romney embraces george w. bush, i do not think that mitt romney is speaking to 50% of the american public. i think he's speaking to 30% maybe the tea party. how is he going to persuade suppose voters in florida who are worried about medicare that mitt romney is the guy to vote for. >> i think it's clear that the

republican brand and mitt romney's unique brand within that republican idea is really about smaller government. it's not saying that we shouldn't have any government. it's saying we should have smaller government. we can't afford the government we currently have. we can't afford to make promises to people and not be able to fulfill those promises. having a long-term look at exactly what our--where our budget is headed i think is exactly what congress ryan and governor romney are going to do. i think the answer, governor, is a philosophical belief that people should be able to determine their future more, but we still clearly have to have some government. nobody is saying that we shouldn't have any government. just smarter government. >> well, i think that's not what people are hearing and i don't know if you ask people whether they believe that smaller government is number one on their list. they care about the economy. they care about jobs. if government can help to bring that about i think they would be supporting an active

government if not a shrinking government especially when our economic competitors are always being very active. i'm not sure that the republican ticket has acknowledged that our competitors are much more active than we have been. >> what i would say-- >> eliot: rick, go ahead. >> if i can just jump in there. i don't totally disagree. people clearly want a government that is helping to meet their needs or give them opportunities. there's no question about that. but we have to look at what we can afford. that's the question of the estate party in many ways, we have limited resources. we can't do everything. we can talk about all the greatest programs in the world but if we can't afford them, we can't afford them. >> eliot: you're certainly right. as governors both jennifer and i had to balance budgets but we want fairness in how we share the burdens. the conversation that perhaps some people went too long about

mitt romney's taxes is that there is an element of unfairness in the way burdens are being shared and parsing out and governor romney is talking about cutting. this is why katrina is such an unfortunate metaphor or image with the backdrop of katrina one of the government's worse moment of competent. >> and we had a democratic governor down there. and when you pick up the phone and dial 911 an emergency you don't expect to get the white house. you expect local responders. we had a democratic mayor and governor down there. you can't put the full blame of katrina on president bush. but let me say on this tax fairness idea, i'm all for that. but i don't hear from liberals enough saying let's make sure that everyone is paying some form of payment. we have reports of 49% of americans are not paying taken

taxes. we can talk about taxing the rich and trying to get more from the wealthy, but we're not going to get there we're not going to be able to achieve the revenue that some liberals are talking about spending if we just tax the rich. >> eliot: let me correct you on that. you said 50% don't pay income taxes but virtually everyone pays sales tax payroll tax consumption taxes. it's just a conservative bugaboo and it's flat out dead wrong that 50% don't pay taxes. >> but if you want to count the sales tax for others who aren't paying income tax then you should count the sales tax for the wealthy and what they're paying for their boats and mansions. all i'm saying let's make it sure and makes sure that everyone is paying something. >> eliot: i couldn't agree more. but i'm going to be cruel and let jennifer crush your argument

at the top of the hour. rick grenell and governor jennifer granholm, thank you for your time tonight. >> you bet. >> eliot: jennifer takes over the desk right now. stay here to enter the war room. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> jennifer: tonight's show is so big we had to move the whole thing to new york. i'm just saying. so we are going to live to tampa for the latest from the rnc. we're going to dissect another one of mitt's secrets and lies and we have a top she shelf round table to talk about the g.o.p.'s war on women. we're going to start with team romney's decision to double down on attacking president obama's

welfare to work requirements. and in effect its decision to double down on something much more sinister. if there were an olympic event for racial fear mongering in a campaign ad, the one you're about to see might have won the gold. >> you needed that job and you were the best qualified. and they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota. is that really fair? what makes the color of your skin more important than your qualifications? your vote on this issue next tuesday. four racial quotas, harvey gantt. against racial quotas, jesse helms. >> jennifer: incumbent north carolina senator jesse helms aired that spot just a week before his 1990 re-election when

he trailed charlotte mayor harvey gantt in the polls. it would have been nice that we got past racialized ads since the years of that odious commercial. but after all race is still woven sometimes with the subtilty of a sledgehammer. after staying mum on the birther issue, governor mitt romney went there on friday putting him in lock step with donald trump and tea partyers. >> no one has to ask for my birth certificate. everybody knows that this is the place where we were born and raised. >> jennifer: it goes beyond president obama's roots to squeak out a win. mitt romney will have to get 51% of the white vote. that's assumeing that president obama carries 80% of the minority vote. team romney is releasing a

series of patently false ads. take a listen. >> do you support work for welfare? >> barack obama has a long history of opposes work for welfare. >> i was not a supporter of the federal government plan signed in 199. >> on july 12th obama quietly ended the work requirements for welfare. you wouldn't have to work and you wouldn't have to train for a job. >> jennifer: there are five such commercials out and they're clearly meant to tap into white voter fear that african-americans will exploit the social safety net to their detriment, presumably. romney doubled down in an interview with "usa today" saying that the president wants to quote, shore up his base." i wonder what that means? and a republican strategist told the national journal reporter that due to rapidly changing

demographics this race is the last time that a presidential candidate will be able to rely almost exclusively on the white vote to win-win an election. the romney camp is getting it while they can trying to play upon fear, anger and resentment to win the white vote by using the oldest and nastiest trick in the book--race baiting. jesse helms would have been proud. joining me here in new york to discuss why race still matters is david paul kuhn and tanehisi coates. david is an author and political analyst and tanehisi is a senior editor with the atlantic. thankthank you for being in the war room. in june you wrote an article saying that you don't believe

that president obama had enough white support to win. >> president obama is roughly 35% of white support. he's been that way in gallup poling week after week since springtime. but romney needs about 60%. both candidates do not have enough white votes and this is roughly the white vote, that coveted swing vote. >> jennifer: and la times poll that said that romney had 55% but obama had 7 percent of non-white votes. ta-nehisi i wants to play a clip of a conversation with a session with chris matthews. take a listen. >> i'm just asking you, do you think that mitt romney is playing the race card? >> on that one yeah. >> do you really? >> yeah, and this work

requirement fits right into it. >> you gotlet him respond. >> you know what's going on. >> no, no. >> you got your monday monologue in, so congratulations. >> jennifer: so on your blog today you can see how the other panelists are by this exchange, and you said it was disturbing that the other panelists were trying to prevent the uncomfortable moment from happening. >> i thought the most telling part of that clip is when he said, he was just trying to say it's just a joke. he said, what's the joke? what is the actual joke that he was making? that question was deflected and never really fully answered. every time i've seen that clip, which has been played ad nauseam over the past few days, the thing that i always look at is the crowd. the response of the crowd. what are they laughing at there?

is it just the innocent fact that he was born in michigan? i don't think it's wrong to consider that it is something much more. >> jennifer: he's just taking a imagine out of donald trump's playbook. >> right. >> jennifer: so this strategy, given what david's numbers show, you've got mitt romney, who is below 60%. he knows he has got to get 60% to 61%. this is a way to bring up his white vote, is it not? >> definitely. the thing to remember mitt romney would, these feelings are out in the country. that's the truth of. that's the fact of it. it's the sector of the market in the hunt out there for votes. somebody would be profiting off of it if it were not mitt romney. >> it's a good point. if it was another democrat, then barack obama these issues have been present in politics since the 1960s. so we're really talking-- >> the 1860s. >> especially since lgj's great

society and the shift from fdr welfare state, etc. so i think in some sense we can get lost in the actsers and i think you're emphasizing the fact that these are really much deeper played, and they're tapping into them with these ads. >> jennifer: i feel personally so infuriated by this because mitt romney who served as governor at the same time as i did, and was one of the republican governors who was so strongly pushing for flexibility at the state level to bloc grant, whether it medicaid you name t they were strongly pushing. i find it so utterly offensive knowing that he signed a letter in 2005 saying we must have flexibility in worker training and then look. we go to the poll in florida the racial divide interest, president obama has 41-point lead among non-white voters and

romney has 18 point lead among white voters. do you think there will be or can be any strategy, and i would ask this of either of you that romney takes on at this convention to up the number of his non-white voters? >> if you're g.o.p. strategist you would hope that they're keeping him on the latino vote. romney does have to get above 30% with latinos. he does not have to mirror george w. bush's numbers in 2004 when bush got maybe 44%, but he has to get mccains' numbers. romney needs to get inroads for latino. just modest enroads. if they don't do that then they likely can't win. they're playing for those latino votes. >> jennifer: if the g.o.p. platform has a push towards self deportation. >> i think given the radicalism of the platform, i'm not sure what form that would take.

i agree the math is there. we've all talked about the future the math is going to continue to be there. you wonder what the legacy is. >> i would agree with all that. there is roughly a third of the latino vote that despite hard-line stances on the right of immigration that still votes republican generally. that swing vote. that could still be won for republicans. but romney will have to do that. >> jennifer: he'll have to do more than what he did with the platform, and te-nahisi you wrote about the platform embracing--they don't call it voter suppression they call it voter i.d. we all know that it's a form of opposite progression for those who cannot access government--their narrow form of i.d. does that continued push concern you? >> yeah, it does. we'll have to see if it impacts

the election, from where i come from, people literally died for the right to vote. there was a story a few weeks ago about 80-year-old grandmother in pennsylvania, voted all her life. >> yes. >> even if it's one, that's enough of a violation. >> jennifer: well, it's certainly--i mean, it's certainly a violation. but the manipulation of the structure of voting to achieve an outcome that is so utterly offensive. just last question, and i'll ask you, david if you had to project forward and imagine what would be the next shoe to drop on the republican side if they continue to push this, what would it be in terms of ads in terms-- >> they could double down on these welfare ads. >> they've done five. >> that's right. and its disproportionately on

mitt romney's website. i think if they're smart they won't go further. they're racially loaded ground. they're running against the first black president and i don't think they gain much much electorally. it's election-dubious. i don't think it will happen, but if it does, they'll go to a greater extent because welfare has surrounded the division of the two parties for decades and its coated in racial politics. >> jennifer: i hope this is the last time they could pull this rabbiter out of the hat is accurate. i appreciate you guys coming into the studio to talk about it. that's david paul huhn and ta-nehisi coates. the coverage of the republican national convention beginning tomorrow night and i promise you the way we're incorporating media is nothing

short of groundbreaking. eliot spitzer, john fugelsang change uygur myself, and former vice president al gore will be right here providing analysis and insight and you can imagine that al gore has a few things to say having been there. whether you're a political junkie social media aficionado or someone who loves your country, it you'll want to be there. darn those republicans, they always find a way. and mitt's secrets and lies. the latest what he's not telling the irs and the american people. i'm telling you this guy and his taxes and later we're going to head down to tampa to give you the latest on the weather-delayed rnc. you're watching "the war room." stick around.

of sununu, you're wrong. mitt romney, you're wrong. we need more teachers, not fewer teachers and more cops and more firefighters that support our

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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> jennifer: you're back inside "the war room." i'm jennifer granholm. now to my point. the republican party mat form includes support for the human life amendment, which is also known as hr 212. it gives the fertilized egg inside the womb the same rights as the person outside of the womb. it's designed to ban all abortions. we all know how deeply the issue of abortion hits people in both parties. it's very hard sensitive and personal. there are no easy answers but even if we were all divided over the question of when life begins, one thing we should agree is this:vulnerable children outside the womb deserve as much focus and care as those not yet born. shouldn't those who are concerned about the lives of the unborn be equally concerned about the lives of the recently

born? i'm honestly really troubled and perperplexed. a woman should bepro-life versus pro-choice. democrats have allowed the republicans to frame the issue and they have ceded the territory of, quote/unquote life. republicans are definitely pro birth. they'll do everything that they can to make sure that the baby comes out regardless of how it got in but are they pro-life? you can be pro-life, i suppose but you can't be pro-life and vote to cut funding that supports the life of a child. paul ryan's cut at all costs

that budget would gut the funding that supports at-risk babies and children. food stamps, temporary assistance to needy families, daycare, head start early childhood education child health care. at the state level g.o.p. governors are cutting child protection workers who handle abuse cases and neglect cases. programs that would benefit at-risk children outside the womb are all on the chopping block. for example republicans have introduced hr 3803 the bill called the pain capable unborn child protection. the pain capable unborn child protection act. the bill to protect children were pain is--take a listen to whatwhat a nun said on bill moyer

said. >> i think if you're pro-life, if all you want is a child born but not a child fed not a child educated not a child housed, and why would i think that you don't? because you don't want any tax money to go there. that's not pro-life. that's pro birth. we need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is. >> jennifer: preach it, sister joan. i say democrats should not be afraid to talk about the morality of life, of caring for children who are born. it seems that the republican obsession with being pro-life lasts about nine months at after that it's each baby for herself. so democrats let's be clear and strong. being pro birth is not automatically the same thing as

being pro-life.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> jennifer: how badly does mitt romney want to appeal to women? and put out the firestorm brought on by todd akin's abortion comment? enough to bring up his massachusetts healthcare law. take a listen. >> romney: well, first of all with regard to women's healthcare, look i'm the guy who was able to get healthcare for all the women and men in my state. they're just talking about it at the federal level. >> jennifer: now he's proud of it. it's so hard to keep up with this guy. romney continues to say that women really care about the economy, as if we can't multi task and consider both the economy and social issues, and if the republican budget which disproportiondisproportionately cut women's programming, as if that cut is a selling point.

they want to push all of those issues into view at the convention this week, and focus on, wait for it, martinis and makeovers. the young guns action fund is sponsoring a woman-up pavilion in honor of wife of hell of sheldon adelson. they'll have woman up with hair and makeup touch ups. >> a come can come in get a little makeup touch up, a hair touch up, an up-do for the festties. >> jennifer: that's marianne carter she told "the miami herald" that this is a place where women can come, relax chill out, learn a little suffrage and do a little work.

sure sure, learn a little sufferage and raise your martini's for the right to vote, the only right your party seems to care about at all. joining me now are a couple of great chicks in charge. liz winstead, the cocreator of the daily show and author of "lizz free or die." she has been working for planned aroundplannedparenthooded go, girl. and lea goldman features director marie claire magazine. >> what about those martinis. >> what do they call it. >> jennifer: the young guns. >> it's like the women's auxiliary of eric can't for mcmccanter mcmccarter.

12,347 do you think that will win women over. >> i have not met a cocktail, no, i have had a couple of cocktails that won me over with a couple of bad guys-- >> we won't talk about that, this is family show. what would up win them over, a prime target for republicans and democrats. >> we hear from a lot of our readers that they're sick and tired, frankly of this agenda being the agenda of the right. women's magazines are often dismissed as being propaganda on the left. we hear from women on the right conservative women who say they agree that these are not the issues they want to talk about that's all well and good. these are the only issues that

the republicans seem to be talking about. they've been backed into this corner where even if they would have voted for romney, they have no interested in voting for that party because these debates are so retro. >> jennifer: i find that interesting because before we came into this program, eliot spitzer had a pull-up that showed either way both candidates, the population doesn't think that either one of them will improve the economy. now if that's the case, if it is somewhat of a wash, more favorable to romney but somewhat of a ross, don't you think these issues of taking away women's contraception health choices that's the thumb on the scale, don't you think? >> i think too i don't understand the separation that they keep saying. why do you keep talking about contraception and abortion when women worry about economics. i feel like these issues are the six degrees of kevin bacon lead

where everything leads back to if and when you have choose to have kids. >> jennifer: contraception is not an economic issue for women--of course it is. >> they say it with a straight face. we should be focusing on these other things. what other things, this is the same thing. women hear that and think you're so out of touch and then combine it with this mad science about women and crazy things. >> jennifer: who knew. we didn't need to worry about contraception the whole time. will it away. you've been doing fundraisers for planned parenthood. what do you hear on the ground. >> what is so interesting on the ground, when you go to these different states, a, how much women don't know what in "s" in their own legislature in each of these own states, hundreds of bills that they've tried to get past and 1100 in the past 18 months. what i learned and saw are

things you go to mississippi and one of the planned parenthood clinics is three motel rooms linked together because no one will rent to them. you see it, and this is 2011. >> there is only one left in mississippi. are women concerned about access and what is happening in the states. >> regardless of where you sit on the party line some of these issues are so entrenchinged and we take it for granted. in 20s and 30's talking about contraception. these are issues they can't wrap their head around because it's just a given. when you try to broach these subjects, it's a utter turn off. more power to the democrats. >> jennifer: you've got women who are speak together republican convention, like

condoleezza rice, who is pro-choice, and ann romney, who is an appealing figure. women like that, i'm talking about your demographic, would it appeal to women who read your magazine. >> i'm enthralled with condi rice. there are few women who can be he would up as an emblem of the right, the moderate right. conservative women who speak to this middle ground of women who could go either way and respect her as an authoritative figure yet this is not a talking point. these social issues are not her talking point. shy has been utterly silent until now. throwing her up and then giving her air time is not going to do it. they should have been doing it all along. she, herself, is so alienated by these issues she would not touch them. >> we have to look at if you put

condy rice in the for forefront then you appeal peel back the layers of condy rice. >> these people who are saying right here, right now in this election she's appealing figure. a lot of people would prefer the bush years to the prospect of the romney years. for some that is a palatable scenario. >> jennifer: she's such an accomplished person you have to respect her no matter what side you come down on but the reason why she has been silent is the issue of choice. this is an interesting editorial. a must-read kevin williamson wrote this, from an evolutionary point of view, mitt romney should get 100% of the female vote. all of it. he should get michelle obama's vote. the leads do tend to flock to

successful entrepreneurs. >> i think evolution has skipped kevin williamson. >> come on, aren't you guys going to vote for mitt romney because he's an entrepreneur and he's rich. >> wow. >> while you toast him with your woman-tini. >> hey hey. >> we got martinis and the rich guy. why don't they just have dating. >> jennifer: separate from the presidential stuff this was a statement made today by another republican. he said that abortion--this is pennsylvania congressional candidate tom smith. he equated pregnancy out of wedlock to pregnancy from rape. i'm wondering if we're seeing so many of these statements that the republicans will not be able to recover from this. it's not just todd akin. >> the train has left the station. if you read those comments, in

fact you could certainly make a case that he hedged, he hemmed, he hawed no, no, yes the real issue is he went down that path. he could not help himself. he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. he could not help himself which adds nothing to his constituency. >> we need to stop saying they're crazy because they're not. todd akin--this is mainstream of the republican party. they are representative. >> jennifer: to our woman-tini--water. up next we'll head down to tampa for the latest from the republican national convention, and then the latest installment of mitt's secrets and lies. it is going to be a doozy. you're watching "the war room." stick around.

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try both and pick a side. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> so it is my privilege to proclaim the 2012 republican national convention in session and called to order. [applause] >> jennifer: that's republican national committee chairman reince priebus opening his party's convention. and just a minute later he got a jump on mitt romney and put the convention into recess. maybe the registering the first flip flop of the week. in with me to does the convention schedule david schuster. >> to do to be on the program.

>> jennifer: well, great to have you here. we started our show with mitt romney playing the race card. i'm really interested in what you're hearing there. are delegates saying anything about this welfare attack? or race? is it an initial there at all? >> no, not at all. the sense is that president obama is giving things away to free for people who don't deserve it. they see the welfare part and parcel. they don't see it with the sensitivity that many others might. some may conclude that it's racist. you can't see it, but it's the giant debt clock, the message that the government is providing services that our country afford, that's the big message of this campaign and the message that everyone has got loud and clear. there is president obama trying to give things away for free to people who don't deserve it. >> jennifer: it sounds like they are continuing, which is what they've done on the campaign trail, to conflate and push

together the debt and economy and they believe addressing the deficit and debt is a way to bring the economy back. do you think that the deficit is an umbrella since they have a clock there of the messaging throughout the convention? >> yeah, there are two clocks. there is one with the listening of the 16 trillion-dollar in debt that the united states is in. there is another one that they started up today that has how much has gone since the convention was gaveled in, that is up to $250 million, something like that. it's very orwellian. gigantic numbers. the debt is going up. they've also got these message. the message today is "we can do better." there was no one here to enjoy the message. but tomorrow is we can built it.

and thenwe built it.and then they'll say we believe in america that can solve problems and president obama doesn't want to solve these issues. >> jennifer: they all believe the hurricane and the recycling that they've had to do, it's all going to work out. there areare there people who are going to be bumped from the program. >> there will be people who are going to be bumped. that's one thing that the rnc has been doing. they've been paying attention to accuweather, making sure that the storm is not as powerful as some have feared. they'll move forward and they'll count on the media to pay attention to what is happening inside here and hoping there won't be damage. now their contingency plan is if the hurricane strengthens and and causes damage they don't want to drop the balloon when people are having difficulties in

new orleans. right now it's full steam ahead and they trust that the media will be here to cover what they have to say. >> jennifer: obviously it has been a delay getting there from many people. have you seen any superstars? >> i had an interesting interaction with karl rove. >> jennifer: i don't know if i would characterize him as superstar. >> make for republicans he's a superstar. and i can you him walking one way and i was walking the other i said karl, he never responded i said hey karl. he said, are you still on tv some place? i said, yes, i am. and you? he didn't like that and he walked on. i thought it was a good comeback. i thought it was good. >> jennifer: it is a good comeback. just quickly, just quickly, did the medicare platform leaked out

briefly. is there anything that the republican party is afraid of making public. is that why they pulled it back right away. >> it may explain why they're not willing to talk about any of the language in the platform until they vote on it tomorrow evening. they're not--they pulled it back but the basic thrust is that someone leaked out the medicare language and it gets to the ryan plan. it chips away from a defined benefit model. it pulls away from defined benefits from paying for your medical care as opposed to the define contribution model. it gets to the whole idea that paul ryan wants to put together the vouchers. and it's not the doctors and hospitals, their bills will be covered, but the seniors will get a certain amount in vouchers, and they use it however they want. but those costs do not go up at the same rate as inflation and

they put the language in there and they didn't want to talk about it. >> jennifer: unfortunately, i got to run but i'm not sure how it differs from the ryan plan, so i'm going to dive into that as we discuss this tomorrow we'll have plenty of time to talk about it in covering the convention. a reminder that current tv will cover the convention tomorrow night. al gore with eliot spitzer, john fugelsang, cenk uygur and myself. and we'll roll out a new way covering these political events. it will be history making night. you have to tune in. up next, he has more secret and lies than a paperback spy novel and none of the cool factor. he is mitt romney, and he'll expose his latest moral failings next. this is the war room on current tv. [ ♪ music ♪ ]

cover the convention. but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

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means back to school germs. that's why lysol partners with schools all across the country providing resources designed to help teach healthy habits. so make sure you add lysol no touch hand soap and lysol wipes to your "back to school" list. that way, the healthy habits they learn in school will reinforce the good habits you've already taught them at home. to learn more, visit lysol.com/schools. lysol. mission for health. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> jennifer: mitt romney is going to tout, of course, his business experience at the g.o.p. convention, but that strategy has not always worked so well for him. in a series of effective ads that you're all aware of, the obama team has painted him as the outsourcer in chief, which is a businessman who cost americans their jobs and sending them overseas.

throughout his campaign mitt romney has insisted that he had nothing to do with bain capital after 1999. key date. you know, after 1999 was the time when bain was doing most of its lay-offs and outsourcing so mitt romney wants to distance himself from that period. but his 2010 tax returns shows that he deducted more than $500,000 in business expenses from bain-relateed income that year, 2010 because his role at bain was, quote, active. that's a key distinction in the irs. that's according to a new "huffington post" report. mitt romney was not involved enough to make business decisions, this is what he wants us to believe but he was just involved enough to make a whole lot of money at a very low tax rate. that's convenient. joining me from syracuse, new york new york is pew list deris pulitzerprize winner, how much

of involvement does one need to have to deduct expenses on their tax returns? >> well, in a normal company making a company that makes widgets you have to be running the business. but under the rules of private equity funds like bain capital management you could be retireed thanks to a 2005 regulation, not a law but regulation the bush administration put in place. so what romney has here is a sweetheart deal. it's a no-show job and he gets to be taxed as if he were an investor rather than a recipient of compensation. >> jennifer: this distinction of

active and passive does not indicate how involved he was? >> as with most of the tax laws it's a term of art. it's designed to in this case confuse and furthermore the irs does not have the resources any more to enforce rules like this. assuming that romney were violating the rule. >> jennifer: so he's using the tax code in a way that benefits himself from writing off business lawsuits. now there is another issue as well that he was paying 15% tax on what is essentially business income and not necessarily passive investment, at least that might have been the case. what does that tell you? >> well, normally profits are taxed at 35%. romney is being taxed at 15% or less. one of the effects of this is if he has losses he can take them at 35% but if he has profits he only pays 15%. that's a pretty nice little deal

there. the taxpayer sub subsidizes you, we wouldn't call that welfare would we. >> jennifer: well, on the day that he's launching all of these welfares. just to be clear for people out there listening is this one of the reasons why he won't--that we can imagine--we don't know, but we could imagine this is one of the reasons why he won't release his tax returns. he doesn't want to get caught lying either to the irs about how active he is or lying to the american people about how lack of involved he was at bain. is that the tension here? >> maybe. under the 2005 2005 treasury regulation he may be treated as active when he's not. what a great deal. you're retired but you keep getting paid. you are not taxed at 35%, but

you take losses at the 35%. it does not operate the same way for the rich people as it does for the poor people. the one that showers favors is the one that mitt romney is benefiting from. >> jennifer: a question of the tax code and how it's structured to benefit people like him. how much of an issue do you think that tax benefit will be? not just this little one we're talking about tonight, but the overall failure to release, just quickly. >> i think this is a real problem. and romney will continue to be tortured about this right up to the election. because it's clear more and more questions are coming out. more documents are going to leak out and there will be more questions about how he's running his life financially and the burdens which he bears, which is very light and the burdens that the rest of us bear, which is usually much heavier. >> jennifer: thank you for breaking it down for us, and after the break feel free to

decline, but brett erlich is offering up a preview of the republican national convention next. (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

[ ♪ music ♪ ] >> jennifer: so i was just telling a friend that for the next three days i'm pretty sure the rnc is going to be full of non-stop heart-pounding jaw-dropping mitt moments. and as if on cue question get this from troy new man, he said, heaven sent a hurricane to hold off governor romney's coronation so today we're urging pro-life g.o.p. delegates to abstain from any voting on romney's nomination until all g.o.p. financial support for todd akin is reinstated and details of romney's income tax returns in connection with bain's

stericycle investment has been made public. and so it begins. three days of mitt-related infighting, secrets and lies, and for good measure crazy town. that's not even ron paul delegates. brett erlich is here to make your rnc watching experience as enjoyable as possible. so shh brett's talking now. >> so after a temporary rain delay of the big monday event the rnc is really happening. better late than ever, honestly, have you ever really considered never? the show must go on. be prepared. one, get pumped and get in the mindset of someone at the rnc. this is a big party put on by republicans. so essentially it's like the mtv

motivemtvmovie award put on by people who never heard of the mtv movie award. the hashtag these days is tcot which from far away looks like toot. it is not toot although most rnc on twitter are old farts. and then the patriotic outfits. this minuteman this gesture and this is a dead ringer--uncanny. finally play the rnc drinking game. you pour a tall glass and you drink every time you think man this, is terrible, i need a drink. i'm done talking now. >> jennifer: thanks everybody so much for joining us inside "the war room." we're going to see you back here

tomorrow night for current tv's wall-to-wall convention coverage. i promise you you've never seen anything like it. good night from new york. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: welcome to the "the young turks." i'm here in new york. i even have the l.a. newsroom behind me. how fancy. what are we could go on tonight's show? they double down on that welfare line and the president hammers them again. >> on august 30th mitt romney stars in the "doover." critics have called his previous work wildly misleading four pinocchios, pants on fire. >> cenk: that ad is awesome. get a load of how mitt romney tries to relate to the average guy. terrific. that's coming up in a little bit.

and then camden, new jersey, lays off their entire police department. what in the world is going on? how much tax cuts do the rich need? what is chris christie's excuse? >> the city of camden has a $92 million deficit. i sent them $60 million to bridge the gap. they asked unions to bridge the $24 million gap? no. >> cenk: unions, my ass. it's all the tax cuts you gave to corporations. that's why they don't have a police department any more. that's later in the program. and then in the newsroom, tackle tackling voter i.d. laws. >> dorothy cooper is a 96-year-old woman of chattanooga, tennessee, and has been voting for the past 75 years. this year she has been told she can't. >> cenk: we'll tell you how it is in the real newsroom as we do every monday. it's new york, and it's go time!

[ ♪ music ♪ ] >> cenk: the republican national convention started today--kind of. they tried to start but then isaac is in the area. instead, they did business for about 33 seconds. let's show you most of it. >> so it is my privilege to proclaim the 2012 republican national convention in session and called to order. [applause] >> the 2012 republican national convention stands in recess subject to the call of the chair

chair. [applause] >> cenk: perhaps the most anticly mattic opening ever. they were thinking of bringing the convention down to one day. turns out they want won't go in that direction. why? they were very concerned about isaac and where it would make land full. >> in florida being. ed by wind and waves. isaac is becoming more focused that center becoming more clear. it's expected to pick up steam and when it hits the gulf coast it could an category 2 hurricane. just days before the seventh anniversary of hurricane katrina, the city is on edge, and officials are warning to be ready for anything. >> cenk: well, now here is the interesting part of this story.

now as the republicans are getting together and having trouble with this hurricane you know what their proposals are on policy grounds on this issue? the people who would tell you all about that hurricane and maybe protect you to get out of its path would be the national weather service and the national oceanic atmospheric association right? well, they would love to cut both of those things. they want to propose a $454 million cut to the national oceanic atmospheric operations including $126 million cut to the national weather service. that's not all. in case they got stuck there as happened during hurricane katrina in 2005. if they got their way fema might not be able to help them. this is the cuts they're proposing. in 2013 there would be a $13.5 million request that would be cut.

$364 million below the 2012 budget, and then for disaster relief fund it would be $6.1 billion. that's a decrease of $987 million from 2012. so, it's possible that if the republicans got their way at their next convention if this kind of disaster happened again that they might get their asss stuck there. with no help and partly they got it stuck because they didn't know it was coming. their lack of belief in the government might effect them this time around or next time around. they're lucky in time, of course because we have a democratic president so they know exactly what they're getting and the government still functions. think about that why in the world do they want to put people in charge of the government who do not believe in the government. they're anarchist. they will cut everything.

they even want to cut the irs so you can't collect and there would be no funds for anything. mitt romney getting crushed in favorability rating by bo 30 points. 12,347 governor, does it bother you that according to the polls people don't like you more or is that not important? >> all i can do is be i am. remember that popeye line, i am what i am and i'm that's all i am. i'm doing my very best. >> cenk: i'm richie rich, i want to give tax cuts to my billionaire friends. i am what i am. president obama's team has a devastating ad.

it's like a movie trailer. it's fantastic. and they already preemptively hit him on the popeye defense. >> in a world where thousands of jobs were destroyed by corporate takeovers. >> one day we had a job. the next day we didn't. >> this is a battle for the soul of america. >> he has tried it all. >> i love this state. it seems right here. trees are the right height. >> corporation are people, my friend. >> i stand by what i say. >> mitt romney stars in the "do over." critics have called his work, wildly misleading, four pinocchios, pants on fire. >> cenk: that is awesome. by the way i love that line if there, i stand by whatever it was. isn't that mitt romney to a "t"? nevertheless mitt romney will

say, i can relate to the average guy. how can you do that? ann and mitt will explain that to us. >> we both love costco. i love costco. >> why? >> you take a sharp right and you go to the back of the store and shop the outside of the aisles. >> we got one of these three-packs of shirts and they're very nice shirts. >> kirkland shirts. he's wearing them all the time. i got it at costco. >> cenk: come on come on, come on you shop at costco? you have a minimum of a quarter of a billion dollars. you shop at costco, and you thought that would be a good idea to mention it on television? stop lying. it's so obvious. you don't have to shop at costco. who gives a damn where you shop. we get it. you're rich. that's not the problem. the problem is the policies saying i'm going to take to the

middle class. you will take $500 from every middle class family and give it to the rich. you're giving $87,000 tax break to the average millionaire. that's the problem. with that $87,000 they'll never have to go to costco again. who are you kidding with this nonsense. now, let's go to our convention coverage to a convention that has not been very epic nevertheless, we sent our own epic politics man. [ ♪ music ♪ ] >> cenk: all right michael shure is down there covering this in tampa. michael, we'll be talk to you today. this whole ann romney and costco thing. it appears their strategy is ann romney is going to humanize mitt romney. good luck. second of all what about that

strategy. >> one of the things they've been concentrating on most in terms of the scheduling, and it has been a nightmare without knowing where the storm is going, where it's headed. but ann romney's speech is what everyone is focused on, and it goes to what you said. humanizing mitt. this may be the only person alive who can humanize mitt romney. i would love to see mitt romney's costco card. >> cenk: jimmy dore made a great point about this. a friend of the show, and he has been on many times. they're using ann romney to humanize mitt romney. her hockey is teaching horses to dance. which average guy is going to relate to that. >> you know, you asked the question in a very interesting way. it's not the average guy they're looking for. they're looking for the average

woman. the woman who can--because they see even in a florida pol poll today they see florida is up four points in florida. not only that, the margin with women is 12 points. there is a lot of room that mitt romney has to make up between he and president obama when it comes to the women's vote. that's what they're looking for. that's what we're they're looking for. >> cenk: when they see ann romney they do not see an average person. they're seeing, perhaps the richest woman in the world. let me ask you about healthcare. supposedly they committed a faux pas that people caught on to. tell me about the platform. >> something happened today that they didn't want to have happen. the republicans released their platform online just for a moment but it was enough for people to get it and it's

radical. what they're talking about in their platform is the idea of privatizing medicare, of making it a contributor-based system rather than an entightment. if that's the case, that's a radical difference from the way the way seniors have become it know medicare. this is a major change, according to what their platform said part of their platform for this convention. >> cenk: all right fascinating. michael shure down in tampa, and he'll be covering this convention for current along with david schuster for an entire week. thank you michael. that's part of our "politically direct" coverage when we come back newt gringrich claims that the democrats are the ones who

are doing the lying at "newt" university. >> we tell the truth less effectively. we are startled by their dishonesty we're tongue-tied. >> cenk: and the republicans new platform on porn, totally against it. >> i want to make sure that every new computer sold in this country after i'm president has installed on it a filter to block all pornography. (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and

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//////////////////////// ///////////////////////////. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: well, you know the convention got a little soft. here's one of the things he was saying. >> i think one of the great failures of the hen republican, we tell the truth less effectively than the democrats. and we're so startled by their dishonesty we're sort of tongue-tied. [ chuckling ] >> cenk: tongue-tied. these guys are unbelievable. the problem with newt gringrich he's just too damn honest and he can't compete with the democraticdemocratic lies.

>> if you're over 55, nothing in the republican plan effects you and president obama has taken $716 billion from you. it's that simple. >> cenk: yeah, except it's not that simple. he didn't take $716 billion from you. that was according to the fact checkers, weighs and abuse from the system, and and it helps us that he got rid of that $716 billion and used it to getting you healthcare. that is not true what newt gringrich is saying, unsurprisingly. i mentioned the fact checkers because i think the role of the media is incredibly important because they have to tell you whose side is right and wrong. often times they don't say that. author brisbane did the republican service a huge favoring, i don't think the new york sometimes has it all. quote, across the pain heirs many departments though, so many share a kind of political and

cultural progressivism for lack of a better term, that this world-view virtually bleeds through the fabric of the times. as a result of developments like occupy movement and gay marriage seem almost to erupt in times over loved and causes like new subjects. the fact that tremendous wealth and inequality is overloved by "the new york times" is his version of reality, it's not a version that i share. i think "the new york times" has a massively pro establishment whether it's a republican government or a democratic government. but oh oh, my god, they are in favorer gay rights, they must be liberal. and they were opposed to segregation, and that's why they were called the liberal media. i guess that's an equal and

legitimate point of view and they should be segregateed from white people. that's not the kind of journalism i'm interested in. a reporter with npr for over 14 years is andrea seabrook. she had enough. i want to give though quote it's great. it has become such a complete theater, referring to washington politics, that none of it is real. i fool like i am, as a reporter in the capitol, lied to every day all day. there is so little genuine discussion going on with the reporters. now that sounds like the truth to me. and we've brought her in right now. she has been covering washington for about a decade for npr. she's doing a new project called "decode d.c.." also with us our regular here, michael hastings, a correspondent for buzzfeed, of course and contributing editor of the "rolling stone" and does about 28 other jobs, waits on tables down the street later.

andrea, let me start with you. it seems to me that media has lost track of the fact that they're supposed to call out the politicians, they're supposed to be watchdogs. they see the politicians as one of the few legitimate sources of news and others are to some degree ill-legitimate. >> the problem is that news is what lawmakers do every day. what they say on the floor and what they say in rebuttal to someone else on the floor what they say in a press conference organized by them and completely full of other media people, what happens in those places is news. the ideas honed that this is what your government is doing america. you should know what your

government is doing. that is unless that discussion has any bearing on reality. it has become a fact-free universe in the capitol. it is all the time. when someone says, andrea, let's talk off the record. i got to tell you x y z i know in my head now they're trying to to manipulate me by saying, let's talk off the record. trying to convention me that this is going to be a really worthy thing and i should cover it for npr which has 27 million listeners. i got to the point where you know what none of this stuff is worth telling the american people. >> cenk: do you think reporters have lost tract that it is not real? i think there was a time that they knew it was talking points. but now i think they report it

so earnestly that i'm not sure that they realize it. >> as andrea said, we're trying to keep up with the 24-hour news cycle. that puts on tremendous pressure to write down one source and then go to the other source. it is not pulitzer prize journalism, but it is the nature of the beast. i have sympathy for journalists who have to do that on a day-to-day basis. one question i have for andrea, was there any time on the hill, look you're lying to me. stop lying or did you just play the game and make your stand later. >> there were plenty of times when i said, yeah, sure, i understand that, congressman but let's talk reality. there is a little bit of decorum to be had and i don't want to

be adolescent about it. but often times the lawmakers have a problem talking about the reality of the situation because they come under the punishment of their own party's leaders. it's not the party rancor but within the party. and getting anything done and the party winning the next election cycle, that's all they care about. >> cenk: i got to ask you guys one final question. are they under a second problem which is if you keep calling out lies you'll call out a bunch of democratic lies, but it appears to me that it would be a disproportionate republican lies. and then you get gun shy because one side lies more than the other and then you have a problem. >> it is very real. whenever you write something that seems positive of obama

then you're called an obama lover, i think for the fact. based side, it comes in one side and out the other. >> cenk: what do you think an three i can't? >> i say it's true that the dynamics are at play. i challenge the premise that republicans lie more than the democrats. this is a whole culture in which the entire game is meant to get a party re-elected. i think perhaps it's just dependent on your point of view. but frankly i don't care if someone wants to call me leaning one way or another. i have no allegiance to political issues. they can say whatever they want to say. >> cenk: yeah, i know, but as you've demonstrated with your actions you're not the norm. i think the press gets cowed by that in a big big way. >> it's true. absolutely. >> cenk: we call out democratic nonsense all the time on this show. >> yes. >> cenk: and we get heat for

that too. but you have to call it as it is and not get a fake balance. you have to handle reality even if it loons to one side or leans to one side or another. >> absolutely. >> cenk: andrea, thank you for bringing this out. her new project is called "decode d.c."." michael hastings, thank you. we have an entire police department that has been fired. >> put more boots on the ground patrolling the neighborhoods in the community. >> unproven, untested, members who don't know the community. >> cenk: and then "newsroom" does what we were just talking about. real newsrooms not being able to do. call the republicans what they are. >> call themselves the tea party. they can call themselves conservative. they could even call themselves republicans but we should call

them what they are. the american taliban. >> cenk: there go. what makes hershey's s'mores special? pure chocolate goodness that brings people together. hershey's makes it a s'more... you make it special. pure hershey's. septic disasters are disgusting and costly, but avoidable. the rid-x septic subscriber program helps prevent backups by sending you monthly doses right to your door so you will never forget to maintain your system. sign up at rid-x.com.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: now you probably heard a lot about chicago and all the violence going on there nine dead again this week, and then 28 shot, but chicago is not the only city experiencing this problem. camden new jersey, is still the second worst murder rate in the country. what are they doing in response? by the end of 2012 they're going to layoff their entire police force. insanity. here is a local report on it. >> we're having a problem internally with the existing force, while we rehired everyone on the 168 officers that were laid off we have a high absentee rate. we cannot continue with this trend and expect to keep our city safe. >> they intensified the crime problem when they laid off

officers last year. >> not only are you playing with the public's future but their lives 12,347 they. >> they call the police plan untested and risky. >> bring in 300 people who don't know the city, don't know the people. that's a recipe for disaster. >> cenk: they say, hey don't worry. we'll get the county to bring cops in so it won't be like there's no police at all. when they cut the police force in half crime skyrocketed to which i say--of course! of course it did. oh let me show you some numbers here. now in 2012 there has been 41 homicide in camden. for a city that size that's gigantic. 13 in july alone. on pace to break the 1995 record of 58 killings. that's not good news. chris christie says, there's nothing like do, the goddamn

unions. you think firing these guys and moving their jobs to the county is not part union related you don't know anything about american politics at all. that's what the unions charge. chris christie vetoed a tax on millionaires three different times. you protect the millionaires and the guys in camden don't vote for you you leave them without cops. in 2009, we had 666 579 cops. now we only have a little over 610,000. you know what that means? we have 56,000 fewer cops on the streets. you know what this is? this is an an an an di abdication of the core responsibility of the government. it's also jobs. we're losing the jobs, and we're losing comes on the streets, and we're not getting any safer.

chris christie, tell me why this had to be done. >> u.s."usa today"," our government was bloated and too big at every level. in new jersey, we're not trying to break the unions. the unions are trying to break the middle class in new jersey. they're close to doing it. >> cenk: okay, the unions. it's always the unions fault. what he didn't tell you is that he okayed over $1.5 billion tax cut for corporations that just so happened to donate to his campaign. you don't donate to his campaign in camden? too bad for you. he'll take the money for the cops and give it to his friends. it's sick what he's doing. we have tricia rose from brown university. professor rose it seems like the

idea that the republicans are pushing that you don't need government at all has gotten to an extreme where they take away our cops. it doesn't get to be a more core function than that. >> they really do think that the government is important to veto any tax bill on the rich. apparently that's the job of the government. this seems to be a pretty clear example of moving one set of public unions to another in an effort to balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable in society. whether it's poor people, working people, every day people, working for the city in jobs like teachers and police and fire. and it seems to me that we need to remember that budgets are moral documents. they tell us who matters what matters, and what doesn't matter. i think we need to take these kinds of things seriously. i will make one recollection to

my own point. there are some union organization have it real issues. i'm not suggesting that unions be given a free for all but this is destroying the fabric of camden and other places as if there is no other reasonable way to create social stability. >> cenk: i love what you said there. we call you the professor because you are a professor, and you correct yourself. no one is saying that the pensions are perfect and no one is saying that we shouldn't have a discussion about that. but when you're giving $1.5 million to the richest corporation in the country while you claim you you haven't any money that's absurd. the media to me, seems like they're not doing a job saying,

hey, wait a minute chris christie is not being often with you. he's not getting votes from camden, so he doesn't give a damn about camden. that's what this is about and not because they don't have money for it in the budget. >> this is a classic case of using race to help justify a project that may not be about race. whenever you deal with urban crime, especially in the late 1960s when there were was place brutality unemployment, and all the things that are now currently going on. you could say say, and encourage people to pull away imagining this is a race problem. what it is a problem is problematic responses to discrimination.

humans are so encourageed to behave appropriately when the situation is set up. we're in a big storm and the crime is at a level unprecedented and yet it's all about personal individual player. but only those at the bottom. they are the only wind who are seemingly the criminals. the invisible crime seems to be go on and the media doesn't spend enough time on this. the media doesn't spend time addressing what the background is to mistakenning the condition. >> cenk: professor tricia rose, thank you for helping us. when we come back on a lighter note the sex block the republicans will block all porn. and a strike, that's

fascinating. and then here at home, the amish sleeps with someone's wife and then cuts his beard. he's more upset about cutting his beater. >> his wife with o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o rr

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: so the g.o.p. platform committeee has included language from the family research council and they say they will aggressively go after all porn in the country. now, morality president patrick truman has this to say about it. young males are spending 10 to 12 years looking at porn on the internet and masturbating to it, so when they're getting married they're dysfunctional sexually because their brain maps are changed. they enjoy what they've been doing for 10 to is it years and normal sex is if the something that gets them excited.

i don't know if he's refer to go other males or to himself. it seems pretty explicit. this is what they're going to rely on to change laws in the country? if i ever heard of losing platform, it's to outlaw porn. have at it,hoss. they just may have lost the male vote. inin the african nation they're changing the electoral laws to their advantage. they're already arrested 100 people in protest and one of the protesters decided what is in in order is a sex strike. we have many means to oblige men to understand what women want in togo. well that certainly would get their attention. and they said, if men refuse to hear our cries we'll hold more that is more powerful than a sex strike. i don't know what is more powerful than a sex strike.

other people on her side said this is a pretty good idea. my husband will agree during the daytime but not agree during the nighttime. another person challenged the president said, i would like to do it. a week seems long. it we do it for two days. that's an unique idea. try it and see how it turns out. when it comes to the united states well, the amish have their own problems with sex. there is a man charged along with 15 others. one of the things he wanted to do was have sex with other people's wives. that was for sexual counseling. he also made them cut their beards. what made them more anger? angry? >> four of the seven suspects face a federal judge for detention hearings. after five hours of testimony the judge ruled that these men pose a threat to local amish

communities and must remain in jail until their trials. the lead fbi agent on the case say he witnessed sam in bed with one of the other wives and on top of that marijuana seeds found in a barn. >> cenk: damn, i didn't know that the amish rolled like that. the cocaine and all. i love "sexual counseling." husbands, they're more mad about the beard cutting. they're calling it a hate crime. he's also being charged with. fascinating turn of events with amish counseling. i think i would feel more upset about the counseling, if it was me. the "newsroom" calls americans taliban, and they take on the media for not covering the right

thing. how is it in the real newsroom, we'll break it down for. >> you they believe that they have objective and (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> cenk: every monday we analyze the "newsroom" our own ben

mankiewicz is a critic, and he has been in many newsroom. the perfect guy to analyze it. ben, what happened this week? >> this was the season finale, i know i'll be sorry to see it go, except i won't. the lead character jeff daniels he plays the big anchor, he is in the hospital. he has had a life-threatening accidental overdose of anti-depressants. so this first clip we're going to show you he's thinking of quitting. the nurse who has been taking care of him, she comes in, and by the way i'm pulling for him quitting. and she rallies him to where he's still excited working on the show because she tells him about the republican attempts to disenfranchise black voters, poor voters, latino voters and say that is a story that has not been covered enough. that was the show's best show. >> my aunt has been voting for 5775 years.

now the state of tennessee is saying she can't vote. i want to know what you're going to do about it. >> well, i don't know. >> i want to see it on the news. i want to know why she can't vote because she does not have a car. and i want to know this has not been on the news every night. >> it has been an unreported story even so. >> cenk: i love topics like that and embar embarrassing the news. but a nurse is going to go in to a guy like tom brokaw and god bless her. >> 21 million americans don't have a government-issued i.d. and the actions of legislature this year could disenfranchise

potentially 5 million voters and in competitive states it could make a big difference. in the next clip, we see him anchoring the show. and he is discussing what the tea party people call rinos republicans in name only. he's saying they're the real rinos. he lists the tenants that he sees represents the tea party qualities and lack of qualities that they have and then brings it around to voter i.d. it was another great moment. >> ideology purity, a fundamentalist belief. a hostile fear of progress demonization of education. a need to control women's

bodies they can call themselves the tea party. they can call themselves conservatives. they can even call themselves republicans, though republicans shouldn'tcertainly shouldn't. we can call them what they are. the american taliban. the american taliban cannot survive is dorothy cooper is allowed to vote. >> good stuff. >> cenk: absolutely. but i take slight issue with this because again i relate to the character because i used to be a republican. you're one of the guys who talked me out of it. it's not really true that the republicans are the good guys and the tea party is dragging them into a place they shouldn't be and there are real republicans who can stand up to the tea party. no i left the republican party because as it turns out all republicans are frauds. >> that's a totally fair point, but if you go back, if we talk

to gerald ford, ronald reagan, rockefeller, if those guys are around, it seems that they're referencing republican style that doesn't exist any more. >> cenk: they just became extinct. and he's absolutely right about that. you can see that in senators who are still around but though longer senators. >> those moments made the show great unfortunately those clips were 2 minutes and that leaves 58 minutes left of the "newsroom"." in the next clip he's in the hospital. he nearly died. we see his executive producers producer who is allegedly in love with him. he's had this condition. he's been lying down, he's sleeping, and this is the manner which she greets him when he wakes up. again, he was near death.

>> why did you do this! what is wrong with you! i've been waiting two days for you. >> i appreciate your patience. >> so she beats him and then a couple of minutes later it gets worse when she does this. [ click-click ] aah. >> i was just checking this. i'll fix it. >> who creates these characters? who makes these people? she's in charge. he's the executive produceer. >> cenk: last word on "newsroom" because it was the season finale. that might be unrealistic and we pointed it out all season. but the way they cover newsroom and the way they're principled and care about the news is even

more unrealistic. >> i agree. >> cenk: thank you for covering it for us. we appreciate it. when we come back, president obama, what is he going to do in the second term? he told us over the weekend. and you know what, i'm not sure it's good news. we'll talk about that when we return. (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current coverage will put you at the collision of tv and social media. we'll provide unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct.

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