. >> john: good evening, president obama held a press conference today where he made a strong forceful statement that he might possibly conceivably close down guantanamo bay prison maybe, perhaps, one of these days, we'll see. it could happen. while, according to the neocons president obama is a weak leader because the man just doesn't have the will to turn syria into a full-blown american military quagmire. jason collins came out as gay and is receiving warm wishes of support from most americans, in other words our country has never been more immoral. hey, today's the birthday of oscar winning filmmaker james campion, lars and today willie

nelson turns 80. seriously, somebody should warn him that weed is a gateway to heroin before it's too late. this is "viewpoint." >> john: good evening, i'm john fuglesang. this is "viewpoint." thank you so much for joining us this evening. president obama marked the first hundred days of his second term today with a white house news conference. with foreign policy specifically syria on top of the agenda, now at least 13 people were killed and 70 wounded today by car bombs in the capital of damascus in that country's bloody on-going civil war while at least one child was killed and several people wounded in what witnesses describe as a syrian government air strike on a refugee camp near the turkish border. meanwhile, the guardian reports syrian rebels and the government of bashar al-assad are blaming each other for that chemical

weapons attack monday. president obama had previously said the assad government would cross a "red line" if it used chemical weapons. and he sort of repeated that today. >> obama: the use of chemical weapons would be a game changer. not simply for the united states but for the international community. >> john: but mr. obama also seemed in no hurry to move. >> obama: with a we now have is evidence that chemical weapons have been used inside of syria but we don't know how they were used when they were used, who used them. and when i am make decisions about america's national security and the potential for taking additional action, in response to chemical weapon use i've got to make sure i've got facts. that's what the american people would expect. >> john: the american people would prefer the president not do anything at all. according to the latest "new

york times" cbs news poll, less than a quarter of adults think the u.s. has a responsibility to do something about the fighting in syria while nearly two out of three say we don't. president obama said he would try again to close the prison at tbawn tawn mow bay where at least 100 of 166 alleged or confirmed terrorists are now on hunger strike. >> obama: the idea that we would still maintain, forever a group of individuals who have not been tried, that is contrary to who we are it is contrary to our interests and it needs to stop. >> john: the president admitted that would not be easy. >> obama: i think for a lot of americans, the notion is out of sight, out of mind. it is easy to demagogue the issue. that's what happened the first time this came up. >> john: between you and me, mr. president, it is likely to happen in congress if closing guantanamo comes up again. at fox news, ed henry had a

question on the alleged cover-up and the alleged questions of the attack. it seems the president isn't exactly glued to fox news. >> obama: i'm not familiar with this notion that anybody's been blocked from testifying so what i'll do is i will find out what exactly you're referring to. >> john: to help sort this all out, i'm delighted to be joined by p.j. crowley professor of george washington university and former assistant secretary of state to president obama and assistant to president clinton. p.j., what a pleasure to have you back. >> thank you john. >> john: is president obama trying to smudge that red line that assad was trying to cross and if he is, what could that do to u.s. credibility as it tries to manage adversaries like iran and north korea? >> as the president said, we have to be prudent and get our facts right. take some time to sort through

this. he's absolutely right about that. i think i prefer to have him on the other side of the line where to acknowledge that chemicals have been used in the battlefield in syria. regardless of whether it is by the assad government or the rebels and be leading a conversation about how do we make the weapons more secure so they can't be used or they can't be stolen. >> john: in other words you're saying this is a president unwilling to commit troops to war on inadequate intelligence. >> well, i think a lot of people have interpreted the red line as meaning that we have to take military action. i think there are still some prettiual prerogatives here. one of the most urgent requirements is to break the logjam within the u.n. security council, see if we can't as the president said in terms of changing calculations, changing the calculation of russia and china. and chemical weapon weapons and the urgency they bring to the issue is one potential opportunity to say regardless of who is going to win or lose,

syria people have already lost the civil war that's going on there. but let's work together to find a way to secure these weapons so that they don't pose an increased danger to the syrian people. >> john: of course, the wild card in this is vladimir putin. do you think the use of sarin gas would be a deal breaker to him when it comes to assad? >> i'm not sure about that, john. obviously, that's a conversation the united states has to have but only in the context of syria but obviously in the context of cooperation with respect to the investigation in boston. the president talked to vladimir putin the other day and let's see where that goes. i think that the united states, one of the calculations that can be changed is to bring the issue back before the council and either force the council to back some sort of resolution that calls for accounting for and securing dangerous chemicals within syria or creating more leverage with respect to russia and china on the one hand or, you know, national mandate that

puts more pressure on bashar al-assad on the other. >> john: one hopes secretary kerry's meeting with putin will yield some common ground this week. let me ask you p.j., about the politics of this and about diplomacy as well. how much of this talk about chemical weapons is an effort to potentially keep assad from using chemical weapons? >> well, certainly that is one of the game changers. chemical weapons you know, a scourge, their use is illegal. and you know, this is one of the more significant elements of the tragedy in syria. of course, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that 75,000 people have been killed in syria but i think this is an issue that could happens be used to create greater political leverage and movement in the days and weeks ahead. >> john: the president of course, said he was going to revisit the guantanamo bay prison issue and said as he did when he campaigned for his first term it should be closed.

how damaging in 2013 is guantanamo to america's image overseas? >> it has been damaging to u.s. standing in the world and obviously it is becoming more compelling with this hunger strike. as the president said today the current situation is not sustainable. you've got to break down guantanamo into different parts. obviously one is what to do about a confirmed terrorist like sheik mohammed. he has to be incarcerated somewhere. you have some that have been cleared for release. some of them from yemen and there is a dilemma of whether you insert these people back into yemen where al-qaeda and the peninsula it is at war with the enemy governments, at war with the united states government. there is a contest going on over governance and leadership in yes, ma'am and yemen does not have the kind of rehabilitation program or resources to lend to that effort that you see in saudi arabia. so there is a danger there. you also have a group like the

wegers that pose no threat to anyone but they can't return to china for fear of being persecuted. they're still at guantanamo. so getting all of these things, you know, moving in the same direction at a time where obviously we continue to see the threat that's manifest from terrorism, it is a very difficult political lift. >> john: p.j., almost out of time. i can't let you go without asking what you make of the continuing fox news obsession with the benghazi consulate attack. does it seem to get to the bottom of failures or about embarrassing the president and smearing secretary of state clinton if she runs for president. >> probably all of the above. i was surprised benghazi was asked today before boston. certainly, we should not diminish the fact that several americans were killed in benghazi and getting to the bottom of that and trying to do everything we can to secure our soldiers and diplomats going forward. vitally important but i think as

captain said in casablanca, we're shock shock of this politics going on. >> john: p.j. crowley professor at george washington university and former secretary of state for public affairs and special assistant for national security affairs many thanks for coming on the program. >> thanks, john. >> john: for more on the politics of the president's foreign policy, i'm pleased to be joined by the one and only charles pierce, contributing editor to esquire and author of "idiot america." charlie, welcome back. >> it is good to be back, your eminence. >> john: thank you your grace was idiot america on display at the news conference? >> i think to a lesser degree. you have to remember that you know, the third grade premise of idiot america which is fact that enough people believe and truth is measured by how fervently they believe it. certainly on the case of the benghazi, benghazi event the third premise was in play.

>> john: i know you're saying benghazi in all caps. >> first in lower then all caps then italics. >> john: ed henry who brought up benghazi. he's guilty of getting along with the president a few nights ago at the correspondents' dinner. was this saving face with the base of fox news? >> i have no -- i'm not going to spend my time trying to figure out what goes on at the correspondents' dinner and why. you might as well ask why the fish in the big tank at the new england aquarium swim counterclockwise. they do it because they do it. i think this question came right down the pike from the people who run his organization. because they have a real vested interest in keeping this particular balloon in the air. >> john: do you think it's going to work for them? >> i think it will work to an extent. i'm fascinated by the sudden appearance in the benghazi story of joseph and victoria who were two of the real stars of the

anti-clinton legal community in the 1990s. when you want to keep -- when you want to keep a scandal ginned up, you go to the pros eventually. >> john: what's your take on the president's reluctance to take action in syria? like the republicans senators mccain and graham who insist he should take action without saying what the action should actually be. >> i think there is a reason why they don't say what the action should be. almost any action he takes will be fraught with peril. you want to establish a safe corridor. that means you have to have somebody who guards the safe corridor. put somebody in the way of the advancing armies of the advancing military on either side o. create a no-fly zone, you have to take out syrian air defense and it is pretty good. you will be taking out some syrians along with the air defense. i think there is a reason why mccain and graham are saying don't just stand there do something but not telling us what the something is. >> john: what do you think vladimir putin's role is in all of this?

>> i think vladimir -- you know, once kgb always kgb. if he can get the united states to take the heat on this and not come down on his client too hard, i think that's what he'll do. >> john: we just cited a poll that showed that most americans aren't interested in any engagement. i think that that's probably true of most people in the world. how do you see the syria conflict playing out unless the americans get involved in some way? >> i don't think there's any scenario by which the syrian conflict ends peaceably right now. i think it ends badly and the question is does it end badly with the united states involvement or not? >> john: president obama says he will re-engage with congress over closing the prison at guantanamo bay. charlie, this guy ran in 2008 on closing guantanamo and the american people elected him then he seemed to be hamstrung. at times it seems like this is

his don't ask, don't tell. how do you expect his negotiations and his reengagement with congress to go especially when 86 of the inmates have been cleared for release? >> well, there's the reason why i think it is going to go nowhere because guantanamo right now is turning into what the prison in belfast used to be. you have people on hunger strike and while it is not getting the attention bobby sands did if you're force-feeding them, you're torturing them. force-feeding has been used for torture in the past. it happened to the i.r.a. prisoners and it is happening in gitmo. but i think p.j. made the most interesting point on the basic absurdity of keeping gitmo open which is the wegers who everybody agrees, have no -- have absolutely nothing to do with terrorism. you can't send them home. but they can't get -- that, to me if you're looking for a prism to look at the absurdity of keeping gitmo open, that's the prison.

>> john: countrymen care back home. charlie pierce of "esquire" magazine will stay with me after the break when we look at what the president said on domestic issues today. if you helped block the gun background bill in the senate, you had a pretty bad day and you deserved it.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> john: today's thing of the day is the plan nine of the day. the national press club in d.c. hosted ufo conspiracy hearings. this is the type of somewhat goofy event that attracts crazy fringe element of our society like four former u.s. congressmen and one former u.s. senator who were paid $20,000 each to attend this event. and one of the attendees roscoe bartlett, a tea party republican from maryland who served ten terms in congress said "extraterrestrials are not anti-biblical. read the book of job. it's all there." it's true. right there in the text, you can see the prophecy states j.j. abrams will direct episode seven. now back to more serious politicians. one thing president obama did not really address in his press conference today was the issue of guns. but that didn't stop the rest of our country from talking about them. out in warren, new hampshire

erica laverty, the daughter of the principal killed at sandy hook confronted kelly ayotte at a town hall meeting and asked why senator ayotte helped filibuster the bill expanding background checks for gun buyers. >> you had mentioned that day the burden of the owners, background checks would help. i'm just wondering why the burden of my mother being gunned down in the hallway of an elementary school isn't as important. >> john: senator ayotte's answer veered, you won't be surprised, off of the issue on to mental health. but that probably won't help her much. she and five other senators who held a block having a vote on background checks have seen their poll numbers drop. senator jeff flake of arizona specifically blames his vote for helping him become the least popular sitting senator in america. it also probably didn't help that he told the mother of an aurora shooting victim he supported background checks before helping to block the bill.

in the meantime, senator pat toomey of pennsylvania, a republican a conservative republican, saw his numbers go up, my friends after he cosponsored the bill. are you sensing a pattern here? let's bring it back to our guest, charles pierce of "esquire" magazine. charlie, what do you make of the fact that senator ayotte didn't address the question. like many of our nra friends she just changed the subject to mental health? >> because that's the default position of the people who are opposed to even the most minimal attempts to regulate our absurd affection for our firearms. i think kelly ayotte is in a lot of trouble. i don't believe jeff flake is. i don't believe mark begich is. the poll numbers are interesting. they're also about two and a half years premature. kelly ayotte is a rookie senator from a purple state. she might be in trouble over this. i can't imagine, for example that jeff flake is going to get in trouble because he's going to be attacked from the left on

guns in a state where jan brewer just signed a law mandating that all guns and gun buyback programs be resold. >> john: i respect jan brewer as i would respect any governor serving on an outpatient basis. do you think there is a chance that politicians are learning from this? >> no. because i don't think -- we haven't seen an immediate consequence yet. the mule has not been hit between the eyes with the two by four yet. you show me a midterm election where somebody loses on this issue or in which this issue becomes an important part of an on-going narrative of the tendency and if you show me somebody who loses an election because of that, then you've got something. right now, as far as they're concerned, it is business as usual. >> john: democrats paid a political price after the assault weapons ban. it might actually work the other way. let me ask you charlie, do you think the bill for background checks is going to be coming back soon?

>> soon, i'm not sure about. we've got all kinds of economic stuff coming down the pike. but i don't think it is dead. i don't think the people who are behind it, meaning the families and friends and loved ones and the people lobbying on behalf the victims of places like aurora and sandy hook, they won't let this die. they become media savvy as was demonstrated by the confrontation from ayotte in new hampshire. i do think it is going to be eclipsed coming down the line by other things. >> john: the only time guns came up in the press conference was in a question about the broader relationship with congress. obama's answer was mainly about the sequester and congress's responsibility. take a listen. >> obama: jonathan you seem to suggest that somehow these folks over there have no responsibilities and that my job is to somehow get them to behave. that's their job. >> john: is there anything president obama could have done

better with congress on a sequester besides not pitching the idea to them in the first place? >> i think not pitching the idea to them in the first place. i think it was bad policy and really somebody's really going to have to explain the strategy behind this from a progressive point of view to me because at the very least, it seems you're giving the very conservative republicans exactly what they want which is to demonstrate two things. number one, that they can cut the budget and two, the government doesn't work. either one of those is a win for them. other than not do this jerry rig thing, he's absolutely right in his answer there. the most interesting phrase that's been introduced in the political lexicon today was permission structure where he says he's trying to construct -- he's trying to make a permission structure that will enable these guys to do what he believes is the right thing. the problem is he's differentiating, for example the house republicans from the base okay. the house republicans are the base. all of these guys started as state senators and state reps. they work their way up through

the base. their world view is formed by the base. their world view is formed by the kind of bell jar of history and science and politics and economics that is shaped by the base. that's where they come from. they're not looking for a way to get out from under this stuff. this is what they really believe. >> john: the president said the real hurt from the sequester is starting to sink in. charlie, who is suffering the blowback here? >> well, obviously the kids who can't get into headstart and the people whose food stamps will get cut and people who are being delay and frustrated at airports is a good visual. i think the people who are really really in trouble are the people who don't get noticed on the news very much. >> john: charles pierce, author at "esquire" magazine, thank you for sharing your esteemable brilliance with us today. >> thanks, john. >> john: dave zirin joins me to talk about the reaction to

collins, the good, the bad and the surprising. political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room monday to thursday at 6 eastern

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>> john: today on wtf michigan we throw aside partisan politics to point out certain democrats are every bit as being racist dimwits as certain republicans. gloria platko is a democratic township clerk in buena vista michigan. she was caught on tape calling township supervisor duane parker "an arrogant n word." she went there and dropped the "n" bomb and wasn't able to use

the excuse she hired quentin tarantino as her speechwriter. she came up with a classic defense. i can't be racist. i have black friends. unfortunately, none of her black friends could be reached for comment because she hasn't met them yet. she went on to say she's eaten thanksgiving dinner with black friends. she was actually eating dinner and they were serving it. wtf, michigan! don't make me hate you. i have always loved your state and motown records and the mc5 and iggy pop and jen granholm. in fact, some of my best frienders are michiganders. inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> john: welcome back. it's day two since nba center jason collins came out as gay and fortunately the lord did not

smite last night's playoff games with locusts or hellfire. collins, former teammates won. go brooklyn. the reaction has been one of support and tolerance. backing up collins' assertion in his first televised interview this morning. >> i know in my personal life, i'm ready and i think the country is ready for supporting an openly gay basketball player. >> john: one person who was definitely ready was our nba loving commander in chief who weighed in on collins' announcement at the end of the press conference this morning. >> obama: jason collins, i had to chance to talk to him yesterday. seems like a terrific young man. and i told him i couldn't be prouder of him. >> john: joining us now is the only straight guy i wanted to talk about this story since it was announced, the one the only

sports editor for the nation, dave zirin. >> great to be here, john. >> john: great to have you. dave, how would you grade the overall reaction to jason collins' announcement and what stands out to you the most? >> oh, my goodness. a triple plus as a grade. it is like legendary rock group jesus jones said, i feel like the sports world is wake up to history, right here, right now. if you ever wanted a story that brought together chelsea clinton, kobe bryant and the rock, this is it! that's what makes this so special. yes, you have jason collins coming out of the closet and make history. yes, we finally can say that an active male athlete has come out of the closet in a north american sport finally after all of these years after all of the waiting on the edge of our collective seats. but beyond all of that, what we've seen is that there are a lot of straight supporters out there. and so if you're a young kid you're 14 years old you're gay

you're bi, trying to figure out if sports is for you or whether life is something that you can bear, all of a sudden, you're seeing some of your heroes, some of the people most lauded by american culture would have your back too. just like they have jason collins'. >> john: in the footage you're showing of jason he's wearing lots of uniforms. he's not the gay superstar we wanted to see in professional sport but is it still fair to say this could be a jackie robinson moment in our culture? >> absolutely. mark twain once said history doesn't repeat itself but it sure does rhyme. certainly the jason collins story side by side with jackie robinson has notable differences. jackie robinson broke the color line eight years before the start of the civil rights movement while jason collins came out of the closet after years of a civil rights movement. it took ininter-- inspiration. jason collins is 34 at the end

of his career but the similarity, the place where it rhymes as mark twain said, it is because by the act of coming out, jason collins is forcing his teammates forcing opponents and forcing the broader nba community and fans to really confront their own bigotry. to confront their own idea of masculinity and confront the idea that guess what? there are gay people in the nba. >> john: i couldn't agree more. only big difference i think is that jackie robinson wasn't pretending to be white as this young man certainly has. as you know, dave, not all of the reaction has been positive. most notably espn's chris broussard. here's what he said yesterday when asked if collins can consider himself a christian. >> personally, i don't believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly premarital sex between metrosexuals, if you're openly living that type of lifestyle,

the bible says you know them by their fruits. it says that that's a sin. if you're openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality adultery fornication premarital sex between heterosexuals, i believe that's walking in open rebellion to god and jesus christ so i would not characterize that person as a christian because i don't think the bible would characterize him as a christian. >> john: dave, coming up shortly in the show, we'll have an epic commentary about how broussard doesn't know the bible all that well but he's a great guy. everyone likes him. he supports collins' coming out. should broussard be fired or sanctioned by espn for those comments? >> well, espn has already said they wouldn't and look, let's be clear about something. the only an be om nation -- abomination here of chris broussard's comments, you call him a great guy a great journalist.

he has a great reputation for being great at reporting other people's stories. he's also someone who has his lips permanently affixed although in a nongay way to the behind of lebron james somebody who had a child before he was married for all i know, he's never condemned lebron james and said he was burning in hell. on that note, we talk about jacki robinson. one thing he didn't have to deal with was a 24 hour sports network that gave somebody airtime to say he was going to burn in the netherworld. so this is -- the idea that monday was such a day of celebration and good feelings and this is my take on it. frankly, this is my take why espn shouldn't fire him. i think they set him up for this. espn was caught flat-footed on this story. this was "sports illustrated" story and for two hours, they were leading with tim tebow leaves the jets which nobody cares about whatsoever outside of bristol connecticut. this was a way of espn to then become part of the story. they had a homophobe on staff

whose ideas were very well-known and they put him in front of a camera. but no, i'm not for espn sanctioning or firing him because they completely put him in this position to do it. i do call deeply into question espn's motivations for putting him in front of a camera on monday in the first place. >> john: i do want to point out he did call jason brave for coming out of the closet. that's where i give him credit for it but you're right. >> you're so brave, the way you're going to hell. >> john: he buys all of his -- all of those church clothes he got are paid for by guys in the nba who i believe have occasionally indulged in premarital sex. rush limbaugh said if tim tebow came out as gay, he could guarantee himself a spot in the nfl. do you think that's really the case and what do you make of some cynic suggesting this was a career move for mr. collins? >> no. two things. one, tebow can't find a job in the nfl because tim tebow can't throw and this is a very important thing when you're trying to be a quarterback in the nfl is the ability to throw

a football. whether or not jason collins has a job next year in the nba will be whether or not somebody wants a 7 foot, 260 pound guy with an immaculate reputation as a locker room leader in their locker room. i mean that's really -- really stunning we're discussing whether or not he will be able to find a place in the nba because there will always be a place in the nba for people like jason collins and so if he's not fined, i think it will raise questions about whether people were uncomfortable about bringing in us, a media circus into their locker room. i hate this argument about the media circus that somehow it will be a distraction. there was once a player named bill russell who was as political an athlete as you could ever have. he won 11 championships in 13 years. that was not a distraction. >> john: dave zirin sports eder tar for the nation and author in "game over." pleasure to talk with you about

it. >> thank you. >> john: the congressional race between elizabeth colbert busch and mark sanford has everything. sex, comedy and argentinian hiking. my panel of nonexperts joins me next. heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room monday to thursday at 6 eastern

(vo) later tonight current tv is the place for compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege.

>> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> john: what happens when you hold a high profile political debate between a political novice debating for her first time ever and a former three-term congressman and former two-term governor? if you guessed, she would wipe the floor with him, you would be correct! and so it was last night in charleston south carolina when democratic businesswoman elizabeth colbert busch faced off with disgraced former south carolina governor, republican mark appalachian trail sanford who is attempting to make a political comeback four years after revealing an extramarital affair with his argentinian mistress, now his fiancee. with the special election eight days away, this debate had no shortage of memorable moments. here to discuss them all i'm pleased to be joined by my

nonexperts comedian author, lizz winstead. editor in chief the contributor.com, miss tina dupuy and actor and comedian sherrod small who has appeared on every tv show in the history of the medium including ambulanceky's blew theties. >> no small part. small role. [ laughter ] >> john: anybody under 50 didn't get that. i don't get it. a lot of good moments in this debate. not the least of which it shot like a snuff film. i don't think they're used to having televised debates in south carolina because there's never a democrat running against a republican. none are getting more attention than this moment in the debate. >> when we talk about fiscal spending and we talk about protecting the taxpayers it doesn't mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose. [jeering] plus a. [ applause ]

>> she went there governor sanford. >> i couldn't hear what she said. [ laughter ] >> repeat it. i didn't hear it. i'm sorry. >> answer the question. >> what was the question? okay. but anyway -- >> john: she didn't just go there. she went there bought real estate and sent him a postcard. she connected his scandal to a real taxpayer issue. was this an appropriate way to remind everybody what they're thinking about? lizz? >> all is fair in love and the appalachian trail. absolutely. the fact that he, in that debate, 16 times referred to her as if she was there. i was hoping elizabeth colbert would write i'm not nancy pelosi and tape it to the front of her podium. it would have been amazing. >> nancy pelosi as the pejorative. everybody in the crowd was like

boo, boo nancy. >> it was like a noun, a verb, a nancy pelosi. >> john: this was her trump card. everyone knew it. i think she actually executed it in an artful way. >> she played her hand well. but he is used to ignoring women who are not from argentina. [ laughter ] he played it like his wife and didn't hear a word. >> john: one questioner did bring it back to his affair, relating to former governor sanford's one-time vote to impeach president clinton. take a look. >> governor sanford when you were in congress, you voted for the defense of marriage act and to impeach president clinton for an extramarital affair. would you vote those ways again? >> well, i would reverse the question to you. and i would say this. do you think that president clinton should be condemned for

the rest of his life based on a mistake he made in his life? >> oh. >> john: that's the big question about hypocrisy. he didn't really answer it. >> he didn't really actually reverse the question because the question would be would bill clinton vote for me? it would be would bill clinton vote to impeach me? the answer would be no. >> john: the real question would be if bill clinton used taxpayer funds to see monica lewinsky, got caught, had to resign the presidency and left his wife and abandoned his child to get engaged to monica linesky then wanted you to vote for him again, would you vote. >> i think that like the thing here is sanford is a republican. it doesn't count when a republican does it. we're talking about bill clinton who is not a republican. david vidder still has his seat. it doesn't matter when a republican does it, the rules are different. >> completely different. he had opportunity right there to say back then, i was a hater. i hated on him.

i was wrong. i apologize, bill. >> i also think -- pile on whatever they're saying, it seems to me the conservatives if you say god has forgiven me, then you're forgiven. not the person who i did it to. >> john: truly not forgiven him. if you assume to speak for god will you win points just by your heresy. >> the people who aren't having affairs aren't doing a good job either. >> john: if you're a complete twit and you go overseas, you can score with a really hot foreign woman if she thinks your twittyness is because of a language issue. she has no idea what a dim bolt he is. >> john: criticize about changing his position on dredging the charleston port. sanford thought he could score a point on colbert busch and it

completely backfired. >> mark sanford my opponent, voted against dredging for the port, voted against the bridge and voted against everything and he was the only congressman to do that. >> i would just humbly suggest on that one that if it was not simply a political statement at this moment, i don't think that you would have written me a $500 check after i left the united states congress as i begin to run for governor. >> you said you would support trade. you said you would support the dredging. you said you would support all of the things that we needed. and in fact, you didn't tell the truth. you turned around and did the opposite. >> john: fight fight. trump card. you know that check that she wrote him was his adultery moment he could throw in her face and she completely turned the tables. lizz? >> i gave money to john edwards so i completely can relate. the only person i've ever given money to as a political

candidate. i usually give to charities. i just don't. and i gave to john edwards. i know where she's coming from. >> tina? >> this is the only guy who really benefited from michael jackson's death. like that was -- him dying seriously, him dying got him to shut up because he wanted to go -- he wanted to be a politician and go out there and start explaining himself. and start telling people why this is awesome because he's really in love. he was going to bring his mistress on national television with him but then the king of pop died and so it all went away. so that's why this guy is even able to go on television and we're even talking about him. >> him and tito benefited. >> where did they have this debate? >> john: in the 1970s. >> at a spelling bee at a junior high school? >> john: they used the transmission to send to the

future. she proved she was logical to vote for another party. he made her look bipartisan. it backfired on him in every way. >> john: can he lose, lizz? >> yes. i think what south carolina desperately loves and you look at fritz hollings and the people they have had in place somebody who is authentic. she came right out and said i'm pro-choice. i'm pro marriage equality. i am these things and then he lobbed on and i gave you money so i'm all in it. >> john: i know a lot of cool republicans in south carolina. we'll take a quick break and then one last word on jason collins now that he's helping people get over their sexual confusion. we'll try to clear up some religious confusion with a few espn broadcasters coming up next.

>> john: were you all surprised a current active nba player came out of the closet? liz winstead? >> everyone's coming out or just supporting of gays. it was just like -- i think it was just somebody said nba's turn. who's the guy? all of the senators, everybody. i'm thrilled. more more, more. >> john: right on. tina? >> he's not an incumbent republican. [ laughter ] >> john: sherrod? >> i'm happy he came out. i would be happy if he played on a team now and wasn't a free agent on no team. he's really a current nba player when he's playing.

i'm a current comedian because i have shows. >> john: fascinating to see who picks him up. this week, jason collins became the first active nba player to come out of closet as gay. of some you all think that was dennis rodman, he was the first to come out as confused. all over the web our right wing troll friends accused all nonhomophobes of hypocrisy. this one was retweeted over 16,000 times today. tim tebow i'm a christian. keep it to yourself. media, you'ren inspiration with the hashtag i don't understand. well, since you don't understand, here's the difference. in america gay people have been persecuted for being gay just a wee bit more than christians have been persecuted for being christian. jason collins has had to hide something personal about himself for most of his career and tim tebow takes something about himself, his faith and flaunts it in stadiums full of thousands of people. in matthew 6:5 jesus tells us not to trust the guys who show off their faith in public and we

should pray in private. if every time jason collins scored on the rebound he made out with some guy on the basketball court. the most controversial criticism of jason collins however comes of course from espn analyst chris broussard who said... now, i think chris broussard's generally a good guy most the time and to be fair, he was asked for his personal opinion on air on a network that knew how he felt. he supports jason collins coming out. this is traditionally the fallback of many biblical literalists who don't know what the hell they're talking about. a lot of folks are demanding espn fire him. this backlash has spawned a

greater backlash of homophobes asking what's the problem with chris broussard expressing his opinions? here's the problem. personally, i support chris broussard's right to say whatever he wants. if his homophobic lifestyleoff involves using the bible to judge people, i believe he's a walking rebellion. i would like to tell him the good news. being a christian means you get to drop the homophobia because christ never said a thing about being gay. nobody follows leviticus and st. paul's letters are seriously mistranslated. take it out of context like the second amendment because i can't say that because chris broussard works on saturday. that's the sabbath which must be kept holy. so this guy works on the sabbath, that's breaking one of the ten commandments so i would not characterize that person as a christian. since jesus never mentioned gay people and he acts like he did that's bearing false witness. guys hook up with guys, didn't make god's top ten and the book of leviticus which calls gay sex

an abomination prohibits eating fish and shellfish. it makes him as bad as george michael knight at the ramrod bath house. jesus ofous said lest he also be judged. he just committed open rebellion against jesus. kind of ironic because of his anti-gay comments, we know him by his fruits. what's the problem with chris broussard expressing his opinions? the fact they're his but he claims they're the opinions of jesus because being gay is natural, condemning gay is a lifestyle choice. that's "viewpoint" for tonight. i want to thank liz winstead. how can folks follow you? >> follow me on twitter. >> john: tina dupuy? >> tinayoudupuy.com. >> i have a new show coming up, may 14th on fuse. >> john: brilliant.

can't wait. all of my favorite people in one aren't. thanks to charlie pierce, dave zirin and everyone else on the show. have a great evening. we'll see you tomorrow. i'm john fuglesang. we're current. we're still here. good night mom. >> joy: tonight, nba center jason collins shocks the world. the sports world anyway, by coming out as gay. he's become a household name and he didn't have to marry a kardashian to do it. plus the westside's yelp is now posting reviews of our country's prisons. i find that very disturbing. why did ryker's island only get two stars? i don't get it. an australian company is marketing men's lawner -- lingerie because what's sexier than a transit worker in a thong?