up for recall. we will keep you posted on wisconsin politics as we have all year, of course. happy to say senator dave hansen who just won his attempted recall election tonight is going to be a live guest on "the ed show" which starts now. thanks for being with us. good evening, americans, welcome to "the ed show" tonight from new york. breaking news from the house of representatives, republicans have somehow managed to pass a bill even more radical than the ryan plan. meanwhile, the president is warming up to the gang of six in the senate, their plan to reduce the deficit. there are major questions about taxes and possible cuts to the big three. and in wisconsin, we have a result in the state's first recall election since the scott walker union busting law was passed. the democrat, dave hansen, has defeated the republican challenger, another major victory for workers rights in wisconsin and in america. this is "the ed show." let's get to work.

>> we now have a bipartisan group of senators who agree with that balanced approach. and we've got the american people who agree with that balanced approach. >> the gang of six plan rides again. bernie sanders gives the plan a huge thumb's down. he's here tonight. rupert murdoch plays dumb in front of parliament. >> i don't know. >> reminds me of a scene from the godfather. >> i don't know nothing about that. >> we have more on the news corp. dog and pony show. and the election results everyone is waiting for out of wisconsin. we will talk to the first member of the wisconsin 14 to face a recall election. good evening, americans, thanks for joining us tonight. with less than two weeks before the united states defaults on its obligations, president obama and the gang of six in the senate think that they have come up with a plan that might save the day. the president made a statement in the white house briefing room

after a group of 47 senators were briefed on the plan by the gang of six. the plan would cut the deficit by 3.7 trillion over ten years, including a trillion dollar hike in revenue. i don't know how the republicans are going to go along with that. the president wants republicans to just understand just how much he's giving up to get them to take the deal. >> here's where we stand. we have a democratic president and administration that is prepared to sign a tough package that includes both spending cuts, modifications to social security, medicaid, and medicare that would strengthen those systems, allow them to move forward, and would include a revenue component. we now have a bipartisan group of senators who agree with that balanced approach. and we've got the american people who agree with that balanced approach.

>> the president understands where the american people are. look at the numbers. washington monthly put together this chart of five most recent national polls that show more americans want a deal with a combination of cuts and revenue increases than a deal that just has cuts alone. the president is spot on when he asks for shared sacrifice from americans who can afford it, but he seems to me anyway to be word smithing the cuts. take a closer look at what he said. >> here's where we stand. we have a democratic president and administration that is prepared to sign a tough package that includes both spending cuts, modifications to social security, medicaid and medicare. >> the keyword is modifications. just what does that mean. as liberals, we need to know what modifications he's talking about when he talks about changing, saving, strengthening

the big three. there needs to be a fair trade, if there's going to be a trade, when it comes to tax increases and benefit cuts. i don't think there ought to be any changes to the big three at all. the gang of six is not the most respected group in washington. they spent the last six months trying to figure out how to decrease our debt. most of the time, none of these guys were on the same page. the president, that he can get excited about the gang of six but still has to deal with republicans in the house. earlier tonight, the house passed the tea party par of that at all. >> speaker boehner and the republican house caucus felt it necessary to put forward the plan that they're going to be voting on today. i think everyone's estimation is that that is not an approach that could pass both chambers. not an approach i would sign and it's not balanced, but i understand the need for them to

test that proposition. the problem we have now is we're in the 11th hour and we don't have a lot more time left. >> and the tea party is becoming the failure crowd. if they don't get their cut, cap and balance bill, which they didn't, then the tea party will never go for the gang of six plan. so where does that leave us? it is crunch time, and washington is playing a dangerous game with our economy. the president knows what the stakes are. >> i think it is very important in these next couple days to understand we don't have any more time to engage in symbolic gestures, we don't have any more time to posture. it's time to get down to the business of actually solving this problem, and i think we now are seeing the potential for a bipartisan consensus around what that would take. it will be hard. it will be tough. there's still going to be a lot of difficult negotiations that have to take place in order for us to actually get something done, and as i said, we have to have that fail-safe that senator

mcconnell and senator reed are working on. the hope is that everybody sees this opportunity. >> there's a good chance neither of those would pass the house. but see the president as i see it along with the democrats need to seize this opportunity and hold firm on taxes. they also need to be sure that modifications, if there are going to be any, aren't massive cuts to families on fixed incomes and the government has to live up to its obligations. they paid into this. the president can love this gang of six all he wants. he still has to play cards in the house, and he may not have the votes for modifications to the big three. in fact, the president almost disregards the house democrats, leaving them out of the conversation, almost taking them for granted that he can peel off some of the 77 house dems who signed the letter, telling him hands off, no cuts. this is high stakes poker, no doubt about it. what about just a clean bill? what about an up or down vote on

what we should do with the debt ceiling. right now, the democrats ought to be pushing big time for that, because that's where the american people are, okay? you can always come back and do something else. but the tough thing about this, folks, is that this is ugly politics for liberals right now. nobody wants to fish in our boat. nobody likes our bait. nobody wants our deal. they act like we have algae on the bottom of the boat, they don't want us in their lake. the liberals in this country are losing out on this whole thing. we've had two wars, now four. we've got bush tax cuts, big farmer, that's why we're here and having this big discussion about entitlements, about how they're the problem, when the program is paid for for the next 25 years. i don't think it is a fair deal. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's text question. should democrats vote for any modifications of the big three? text a for yes, b for no.

go to the new blog at he did.msnbc.com, results later in the show. for more on tonight's meeting, sam youngman, correspondent on the hill joins us. tonight your newspaper reports that dick durbin, a member of the gang of six, says their plan, it is not ready. he went on record saying the gang of six plan has not been drafted, nor has it been scored by the cbo, it's not ready for prime time. so did the president kind of jump the begun today or was he overoptimistic? how do you read it. >> i think the white house is optimistic they can despite senator durbin's pessimistic outlook on the package that they can get it scored and voted on before august 2nd. i think that might be unrealistic. it reminds me of saying let's get healthcare and do it in two weeks, before you went through the drama of committee meetings and scoring. monumental. we're talking close to $4

trillion in cuts, and that takes awhile to figure out, just to dot the is and cross the t's. >> also takes a long time to figure out how the republicans go along with a trillion dollars of revenue increases, which is billions of dollars a year, where they are going to come up with $100 billion a year the next ten years. what republican is willing to sign onto that? >> well, it's really washington deal making at its finest. on its face, yes, about $1.3 trillion in increased revenue, but actually cbo would score it as $1.5 trillion tax cut, because basically what you're talking about is abolishing alternative minimum tax and lowering top tax rate to 29%. essentially it is an overhaul of tax code. so i think it gives house republicans some wiggle room, but from all indications we have seen so far, they are still seeing it as a tax hike. >> sam, good to have you with us.

thanks for joining us. let's turn to bernie sanders and congresswoman donna edwards from maryland. senator sanders, how can the president expect the congress to make a quick decision on $3.7 trillion in debt with very little deliberation. what do you make of it? >> you can't and you won't. there are two separate issues. number one, obviously we can't default on our debt, it would be disaster for the country in one way or another, with wall street understanding how significant it is for them, we're into the going to default on our debt. the second separate issue is how you move forward sensibly on deficit reduction. in my view, this gang of six proposal is a disaster. it lowers the tax rate very substantially for the wealthy, and it will make devastating, this is not modification, devastating cuts in social security, medicare, medicaid, education, nutrition. you name the program that are

struggling, working class in this country desperately needs, it is going to be cut. i would estimate if the gang of six proposal were ever to pass, that i will do my best to see that doesn't happen. it would -- >> it would do what? >> it would be absolutely devastating to working families. we have to do everything we can to rally the american people to prevent it. you're giving the republicans about 90% of what they ever dreamed of. >> congressman edwards, you signed on with other liberals in congress, 77 of you got together and said no cuts to the big three. and this deal of the gang of six and what they've come up with, there would be no benefit cuts for five years, would exempt ssi for five years, but how they do the consumer price index, would that change your position. are you willing to go with the president and take your name off that list or are you going to stand strong and protect the big

three. where do you stand tonight? >> ed, there's nothing to go with. what we got was a lot of verbiage about what could be done. but we are too weak to defaulting on the nation's obligations. it is time to pass the debt ceiling increase. and also to say to the american people by the polls you showed earlier, the american people want deficit reduction and want a balanced approach. they want to make sure they protect medicare and social security and medicaid, and i still stand by the letter that we sent to the president, and it wasn't just liberals that want to protect these programs for the american people because they deserve it, and especially while there are some out there that want to give away all kinds of tax loopholes and benefits to corporations, to big oil, to millionaires and billionaires, and then try to balance the budget on the backs of our seniors, working people and the disabled, it's just not fair, the american people know it's

not fair. this shouldn't even be in the conversation. >> okay. so where are the allies that the president is going to be counting onto get this passed in the house? he may get it done in the senate, but in the house, it's really going to come down math-wise to many of you that signed that letter, whether you jump with the president or protect the big three. what else could it be? >> as i said, i think both chambers right now, at least the senate now is work on a plan that would get us the cleanest possible debt ceiling increase so we don't default on our obligations, and we need to focus on that. i mean, it is ironic that this was thrown in, kind of at the last mipt as a monkey wrench, but it is not ready for prime time. there is no legislative language or committee action. let's take this off the table and do the business of the american people. >> senator sanders, seems to me the best available option for lefties in the country is what

president clinton is talking about. former president says he would invoke the constitutional option to raise the nation's debt ceiling without hesitation and force the courts to stop me to prevent default. if entitlements aren't the problem what got us here with tax cuts and big pharma, isn't this one of the best option sns. >> the president indicated he is not sympathetic to it, but i think we can figure a way to pass and to raise the debt ceiling, but i got to tell you something else, ed. while we're talking about social security, understand if the gang of six proposal were to go through, we're talking about immediate cuts to social security so that somebody today who's 65, when they're 75 would see $500 cut, when 85, $1,000 a year cut and more proposals in there to keep social security

solvent for 75 years, which means even greater cuts in years to come. this is devastating and we should not minimize what this proposal is about. >> the sound bite played earlier, the president said here is where we are, we have a democratic president. he is emphasizing to the independents and republicans this is a moment they might not want to pass up, at the political cost of losing his base. i find it pretty amazing. what about the mcconnell plan with harry reid. he is thinking this is some kind of backup plan. do you think this has a chance in the senate? >> yeah, i do. i do. you got to understand our friends in wall street and corporate america understand how devastating it would be to this country if we defaulted. they are now putting pressure on right wing republicans and i think republicans are hearing this message. so i think we are going to get through this immediate crisis and raise the debt ceiling, but most importantly what we need to do long term is engage the american people in long term

deficit reduction and say you know what, we're not going to lower the tax rate for the wealthy, we are going to ask them to pay their fair share of taxes, do away with corporate loopholes, take a hard look at military spending that tripled since 1997 there are fairways to do deficit reduction and the gang of six proposal is not one of them. >> congresswoman edwards and bernie sanders, senator from vermont, great to have you both here tonight. lots going on. no doubt. remember to answer tonight's question, i want to know what you think. next, a brutal attack on a democratic congresswoman. and election night in wisconsin. you are looking live at the hansen campaign headquarters, first of nine recall elections happened in green bay tonight. democratic dave hansen thought to be one of the most vulnerable democrats. he won a major victory tonight, and they are dancing in title

town. senator dave hansen will join us later on, with john nichols. stay with us. access in an instant every patient's past. and because the whole hospital's working together, there's a family who can breathe easy, right now. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest healthcare questions. and the over 60,000 people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers.

michele bachmann and her tea party buddy steve king are using devastating flooding on the missouri river as an excuse to rail against the settlement that involves payment to black farmers discriminated against by the federal government. here is what they had to say yesterday after going on a flyover of the flooded missouri river. in response to a question about cuts to the department of agriculture. >> when money is diverted to inefficient projects like the pigford project where there seems to be proof positive of fraud, we can't afford $2 billion in potentially fraudulent claims when that money could be used to benefit people along the mississippi river and the missouri river. >> that's $2.3 billion, a large percentage was paid in fraudulent claims. now we have them opening a similar one for women farmers

and hispanic farmers. another $1.3 billion. i would like to apply that money to people underwater now. >> i agree. flood victims should receive aid. but it shouldn't come out of the pockets of farmers that have been victims of discrimination and their accusations of fraud, flat out bogus. bachmann and king are using the flooding as an opportunity to push their anti-pigford agenda, and should be ashamed of themselves. but i did. they said i couldn't get elected to congress. but i did. ♪ sometimes when we touch ha ha! millions of hits! [ male announcer ] flick, stack, and move between active apps seamlessly. only on the new hp touchpad with webos. and move between active apps seamlessly. with olay challenge that. regenerist day and night duo. the uv lotion helps protect skin and firms during the day.

the cream hydrates to firm at night. gravity doesn't stand a chance. regenerist, from olay. having the right real estate agent on your side is more important than ever. at remax.com, you can find the experts you need, whether you're trying to sell of hoping to buy. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. it is crucial that the american people understand that this plan would require even deeper cuts than under the ryan

republican plan we saw in april. incredulously, the gentleman from florida that represents thousands of medicare beneficiaries as do i is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for medicare beneficiaries. unbelievable from a member from south florida. >> that was debbie wasserman schultz from florida, speaking out about the radical cap and cut bill that passed the house tonight. she was calling out her fellow floridian al enwest for his support of the flan. he responded with a letter to democratic leadership. in it, he called wasserman machine schultz the most vile, unprofessional, and did he say pickable member of the united states house of representatives. he also called her a coward. he said she was, quote, not a lady. and al enwest told him to shet the heck up. jane, debbie wasserman schultz

responded to that quote saying the truth hurts, that's the point, right? the cuts the gop are putting forward really are going to hurt a lot of americans. why would they go down this road. i think that exchange there that we just had really underscores just how intense this whole thing is and how divided our lawmakers are when you come to start talking about how to balance the budget and using the big three and not having any tax increases. what's your natake on the gop a after they hand the democrats the medicare issue with the ryan plan. what do you make of it? >> the irony is they are unable to control the tea party members. the banks want them to raise the debt ceiling and pumped money into these tea party candidates to get them elected and can't get them to support anything, so

you're seeing things break out between al enwest whose comments about debbie wasserman shumts were inexcusable and the democrats who have responsibility for passing that debt ceiling increase. >> how is president obama fairing with people that read your material and go to your website, jane? this is pretty dividing stuff for the democrats, isn't it? >> today was a really bad day i would say for the president. he officially came out and backed the plan for social security. i think you explained that chain cpi means there will be benefit decrease for people on social security. it was calculated by nancy aultman, who was one of president obama's advisers on the transition team.

so it is pretty drastic. up until now, people said well, he doesn't really back this, or he's only doing this to challenge the republicans, but today he came out and backed it, and it is unconscionable to ask senior citizens, veterans, the disabled, the elderly to pick up the tab after this huge hole was punched in the deficit last year when they passed the bush tax cuts. basically they are trying to makeup that money. but instead of going to banks or insurance companies, they are doing it on the backs of senior citizens and it is really a bad thing and people are not responding well. >> given the numbers out there, american people feel they are willing to compromise when it comes to spending cuts. what are democrats facing if there are entitlement cuts in the polls next november. is this going to be a lingering issue for democrats that you can't trust them and the basers will be frustrated and do a no show? >> you have to explain to me, ed, why mitch mcconnell offered

the president a deal where there were no cuts and they would do a clean debt ceiling increase and the president rejected it. he's the one insisting now on cuts being made. he wants to run as a guy who closed the deficit in 2012, and the gang of six deal that he endorsed was fuzzy on cuts made other places, but very specific in that they were going after social security and medicare, so they are really targeting social safety knelt to make up for the money given to millionaires, absolutely unconscionable and destroys fundamentally what the democratic party stood for since roosevelt and the new deal. i went to 40 house offices and congress and they said they will not support any member of congress or the president himself if they try to cut social security and medicare benefits. >> and on the other side, tea party saying the same to the republicans in a different manner. >> you think it is equivalent, ed? do you really think that's an equivalent? >> i do think it is.

>> you think social security should be cut by reasonable people. >> no, i don't. look, where i stand is that there should be zero cuts because this isn't the problem that we have right now, it's not social security, medicare, medicaid. so i think that the tea party is not going to give the republicans what they want. boehner is going to eventually come in, try to cut a deal. wall street is talking to the republicans, saying dude, you guys are screwing up this economy if you do this, and the tea partiers if they hold the line like we had the gentleman on, mr. phillips last night, he says they are not going to budge. so i think there is an equal equivalent of what the liberals do on the far left and what the righties do on the right. we have four factions in this, and the president is trying to make sausage out of it all. >> i am glad you're a member of the unreasonable left with us then, ed. >> good to have you with us tonight. it was a day of apologies and denials for rupert murdoch.

but did his testimony to british parliament have any impact on the future of news corp.? and tonight, wisconsin republicans tried to take out a member of the wisconsin 14. they were so mad at him, right, that they left the state to protect the workers. guess what, they failed. you are looking at the headquarters of state senator dave hansen, he's keeping his job and joins me later tonight. and john nichols tells us what the republicans have up their sleeve now. >> announcer: this past year alone there's been a 67% spike

in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones, public, private, even hybrid. your data and apps must move easily and securely to reach many clouds, not just one. that's why the network that connects, protects, and lets your data move fearlessly through the clouds means more than ever.

certainly

stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

as for my comments, mr. chairman, and my statement which i believe was around the closure of the "news of the world" newspaper. >> i would like to say one sentence. this is the most humble day of my life. >> a humbled rupert murdoch apologized to british parliament over the news corp. hacking scandal, despite claiming he works 10 to 12 hour days, murdoch spent most of the hearing saying he has little knowledge of what's going on in his company. if banks are too big to fail, i guess murdoch is too big to know what's going on. here he is being asked what he knew about them hacking after he said they had a zero tolerance of wrongdoing. >> if you were not lying then, somebody lied to you. who was it? >> i don't know. that is what the police are investigating and we are helping

them with. >> a member of parliament asked murdoch about one of his top executives, rebekah brooks, who admitted to paying bribes in 2003. >> did you or anyone else at your organization investigate this at the time? >> no. >> can you explain why? >> i didn't know of it. >> he didn't know about that one either. murdoch's testimony was reminding me of another famous hearing. do you remember frank from the godfather? >> i ask you again, you are now under oath. were you at any time a member of a crime organization headed by michael corlione. >> i don't know nothing about that. >> i don't know anything about that stuff. when he wasn't suffering from amnesia, he was defiant. he claimed no knowledge of huge payouts to informants at "news of the world." >> surely in weekly

conversations with editor of "news of the world," paying somebody a million pounds or 700 thousand pounds, surely you would expect the editor to drop it into the conversation at some point during your weekly chat? >> no. >> you wouldn't expect them to say that. >> no. >> even though he said he was sorry for the scandal, he passed the buck when it came to taking the heat. >> mr. murdoch do you accept that you are ultimately responsible for this fiasco? >> no. >> you are not responsible. who is responsible? >> the people that i trusted to run it and then maybe the people they trusted. >> so mr. murdoch wants us all to believe that he's the head of a global media con glomer at who has no responsibility over decisions made by that corporation. i'll breakdown murdoch's answers with a guy that's extracted his fair share of testimony, mike pap entone i don't see joins me next. former oil executive arizona congressman trent franks is

trying to score political points by exploiting soldiers buried in arlington cemetery. this guy is tailor made for psycho talk. and in wisconsin, the democrats won a decisive victory over his republican opponent in the first state's recall election. workers rights alive in the heartland. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy developement comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing decades of cleaner burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self contained well systems and using state of the art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment we are america's natural gas. aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy!

[ quack ] oh yeah? what about your family? ♪ we added aflac, so we get cash! it's like our safety net... ♪ to help with the mortgage or whatever we need! so my family doesn't feel the pain too. ha! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. every day you live with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis could be another day you're living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you by asking your rheumatologist about humira. for many adult patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis humira has been proven to help relieve pain

and stop joint damage. humira's use in patients with ra has been evaluated in multiple studies during the past 14 years. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur such as, infections, lymphoma or other types of cancer, blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. make today the day you talk to your rheumatologist. and ask how you can defend against and help stop further joint damage with humira.

this terrible thing happened on your watch. mr. murdoch, have you considered resigning? >> no. >> why not? >> because i feel that people i trusted, i don't know what level, let me down, and i think they behaved discretionarily, betrayed the company and me. i think that frankly i'm the

best person to clean this up. >> murdoch isn't going to resign, but his issues are getting worse. department of justice says attorney general eric holder is willing to meet with families of victims concerned about allegations that news corp. employees hacked into victims' phones. let's bring in mike pap antonio host of ring of fire. great to have you with us. i am convinced he watched the godfather movie to prepare for testimony on this. talk about patent generic safe answers, i don't know anything, i mean, that was the word of the day. what did you take out of it? >> what we saw unfold is textbook game plan we saw with enron, world come, good defense lawyers do the same thing. if you took what he did today, ed, put it next to what ken lay and bernie sanders did, it is the same game plan because they use it universally. here is how it goes. we have a big company.

it was so big, i didn't know what was going on. or how about this. if i would have known then what i know now, i would have fixed it. or how about this. we heard this today. with 50,000 employees, there's naturally going to be a bad apple. we also heard both james and murdoch use this, it is somebody else's fault, not my fault, it is somebody else's fault. i can't answer your question because i don't know the details, or i can't answer your question because i don't have the knowledge. i wasn't there, how can i answer the question. i got to tell you, it is the same thing you saw with enron, tyco, health south, and so on. you know what they miss? they miss that they can be prosecuted for not knowing. they can be prosecuted for something called willful blindness. that's where you should know, you see it happening, there's so much constructive information around you that you should know your company is creating a criminal type organization, and then you just ignore it.

so no matter what he tried to do, if you take and distill what he did, put it next to a criminal defense textbook, it's going to look like exactly that textbook. >> and james murdoch said this about his father's company today during the hearing. listen to this. >> the end of the day, we have to have a set of standards we believe in, we have to have titles and journalists that operate to the highest possible standard and we have to make sure when they don't live up to that that they are held to account. >> so what kind of standards are they living up to over at fox news? what am i missing here? >> well, the standards that this committee was asking good old james about is james, why did you pay a million dollars hush money to somebody who had been a victim of this phone hacking? the problem james had was he couldn't say he paid a million dollars to the one victim and paid 20,000 or $30,000 to everybody else because we know that this one victim was a special case who could lower the

boom on news corp. he knew that. that's why he paid the money. then you have to ask yourself is it believable that daddy didn't know that his son james had paid out the equivalent of $2 million as he puts it to settle a civil suit and rupert just doesn't know about that? i got to tell you, this committee focused on some important things. the other thing james couldn't answer, i thought it was important, he couldn't explain why news corp. paid for the criminal defense of one of their employees after the employee had been fired, after it was clear this employee had engaged in hacking. >> isn't it just a hell of a lot easier to pay an attorney than it is to maybe run into other legal problems down the road if the guy turns into a rat on you, right? >> i think that's what they were worried about, ed. it is what they were worried about. they knew they had no contractual obligation to take care of this defense, they have never done it before or since.

if you don't think scotland yard and people answering these questions know something else about this story, i would be real surprised. >> mike papantonio, good to have you with us. thanks so much. >> thank you. a chicken hawk republican uses dead american heros to prove a stupid point about the economy. he'll get the special place in the zone next. and this is the scene in green bay, wisconsin, where democrat state senator dave hansen won his recall election, a major victory for the democrats and workers rights in the state of wisconsin. the state senator will join me live. stay with us. he'll get the special place in stay with us.

that was the crowd greeting governor scott walker at a new welcome center in wisconsin.

his union busting agenda has a lot of folks in the badger state fired up. tonight, they voted against the republicans' attempt to recall state senator dave hansen. he'll join me live from green bay, wisconsin momentarily. stay with us. g as a video game. i need to reach peter, who's falling behind. and push janet who's 6 chapters ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] with interactive learning solutions from dell, mrs. davis can make education a little more personal. so every student feels like her only student. dell. the power to do more.

in psycho talk, trent franks hasn't served a day in uniform, but thinks he can speak for our armed forces. last night, franks claimed dead u.s. troops would side with republicans on the economy. >> there are people lying out at arlington national cemetery tonight, and i wonder what their perspective would be if they could come back among us for a few moments. i would suggest to you that they didn't die so we could spend our country into bankruptcy, so that we could weaken the nation on all fronts, simply because we weren't fiscally responsible. and they didn't die so we could put ourselves so deeply in debt that we sent tens of thousands

for each little child born today so that they would have to carry that the rest of their lives. >> trent franks has no authority to speak on behalf of american soldiers. he was an oil executive before going into politics. but mr. franks isn't the only righty exploiting troops to make an unrelated political point. last month, struggling presidential candidate rick santorum used world war ii vets to attack president obama's healthcare policy. >> almost 60,000 average americans had the courage to go out and charge those beaches on normandy. the very americans that our government now and this president does not trust to make a decision on your healthcare plan. those americans risked everything so they could make that decision on their healthcare plan. >> nothing is off limits for

these guys, like santorum and franks. they will say anything to attack the other side. for them to exploit the sacrifice of american soldiers to score cheap political points, it is unpatriotic psycho talk. major victory for the democrats in wisconsin. state senator david hansen defeating his republican opponent. he is standing by and will join us momentarily. hey can i play with the toys ? sure, but let me get a little information first. for broccoli, say one. for toys, say two.

toys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 central standard time. he's in control. goodbye. even kids know it's wrong to give someone the run around. at ally bank you never have to deal with an endless automated system. you can talk to a real person 24/7. it's just the right thing to do.

msnbc and "the ed show" are teaming up to hold the next health clinic august 29 at the convention center in new orleans, louisiana. your past support has already helped thousands of uninsured patients get access to healthcare from routine checkups to life-saving cancer screenings. to donate or learn more about volunteering at the clinic, visit their website at

freeclinics.us. also text health to 50555 to make a $10 donation by phone. up next, a major victory against governor scott walker's union busting agenda. wisconsin state senator dave hansen joins me live, and also coming up, john nichols. stay with us. will roam the earth. that's seven devices per person. this will change how we work in ways we've never before imagined. what do you need to secure your people, their devices, and your business? a network that can evolve and grow to protect your human network. [ male announcer ] a moment that starts off ordinary can become romantic just like that. a spark might come from -- a touch, a glance -- it can come along anywhere, anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use.

cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right even if it's not every day. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. i'm more interested in the state senators losing their jobs. >> this talk of recalling these guys, they are out there at a

ritzy resort having a good old time. >> that was sean hannity and dick morris in february. wonder what they're thinking tonight. voters in three democratic districts in wisconsin heading to polls today, and at this hour, the results, they are definitely in. folks in the conservative green bay deciding for the first of nine recall general elections this summer. incumbent state senator dave hansen once thought to be one of the vulnerable democrats facing recall. tonight, he was able to knock off republican challenger. it is a major blow to his union busting agenda. we were monitoring results in two republican primaries. these are all real republican candidates. each winner goes on to challenge the other two democratic senators facing recall. wisconsin democratic party avoiding the otto yonkerman and not running any fake candidates. in a moment, john nichols helps

us analyze those results. first, let's turn to the man from green bay. the winner of the election, democratic senator david hansen. congratulations. great to have you with us tonight. you're from somewhat of a conservative area. are you surprised at tonight's outcome? >> well, it is pretty loud, ed. i want to thank you for what you've done for the movement. i hope the movement continues as we move into the next recall elections. we had tremendous volunteer help in northeastern wisconsin, throughout wisconsin, and throughout this country. people believe in what we're doing, standing up for working men and women of the state, seniors, veterans. we are going to continue to make a difference, ed. you be there with us. we will get the majority back in the state senate with your help. >> we are going to broadcast there august 8 and 9. this is one where many people thought maybe you weren't going to survive this challenge. the outcome tonight, how do you feel about it, how heavy a lift

was it? >> we are really, really excited. you know, we fought the good fight. we didn't take anything for granted. we went after it, won 2-1. hopefully this is the momentum builder we need for the next eight races where we get the majority back. we have to continue to fight for working men and women. they count for a lot. important consumers. that has been forgotten in walker administration. the fight must continue and we will get it done. >> senator, are you surprised in the dog days of summer when it is almost 100 degrees out consistently that people have such intensity in an off year election to go out and do what they did today? your thoughts on that. >> well, i'm not surprised because the enthusiasm in this area and the whole state of wisconsin behind us, we really do have the wind at our back, and we're going to make a difference. we just want balance in government again. wisconsin is a progressive state. we do not want to be mississippi. and that's what we are approaching now.

>> senator, congratulations. appreciate your time. let's go to john nichols in madison, wisconsin. your take on the results tonight. what does this mean and what does it mean for governor scott walker? >> well, this is a big deal tonight, ed. dave hansen was specifically targeted, the green bay area has been voting a bit more conservative in recent years, so they went after him. instead, he won a landslide victory. now, remember, in just a couple of weeks, one of the recalls of a republican state senator is taking place on the other side of green bay. this has to energize democrats in that area. but it is also significant tonight, ed, that if you look at the republican primaries, these were contested republican primaries in two other districts, in both cases, turnout was surprisingly low. so even though they had contested primaries, they had lower levels of turnout than the democratic primaries a week ago.

what i am looking at, ed, is a reality that the democrats appear to be incredibly energized for these elections. the republicans, not so much. >> and there's some other news out of wisconsin, the state senate, john. republicans passed their redistricting plan. what do they have up their sleeve. what does this mean? >> well, this is ugly stuff, ed. look, they are rushing redistricting. they are violating the law. the law says that municipal pats, local communities redistrict first. they are pushing it at the state level at super charged rate for two reasons. number one, confuse the voters. redraw the lines so you don't know where things are. also, they're scared. they are trying to rush through a new set of lines before democrats retake the state senate. i don't think it will sit well with people in wisconsin. >> how much money flows in wisconsin between now and august 9th? >> serious analysts say when these elections are done, we

finished the first tonight, something in the range of $20 million will be spent. we already have some races over in western wisconsin and in milwaukee area that are into the range of million dollar spending already. >> what reaction is governor scott walker getting when he said he made a mistake? >> not very good. yesterday he went down to deloitte, wisconsin, to open a welcome center. he was supposed to be making a big deal how wisconsin has opened a business. the place was absolutely packed with people who were saying quite loudly that they felt the mistake was electing scott walker. >> wisconsin state senator dave hansen and john nichols, washington correspondent in "the nation." thanks for joining us. big night for the democrats. we will be broadcasting there, "the ed show," august 8 and 9th. tonight in our survey, i asked should democrats vote for any modifications to the big three. 10% said yes,