staying on the road. tonight, our awards for what happened in that gop debate. >> was it -- he was before -- >> no, governor perry. it's tonight. joining us on planet reality, political strategist bob shrum and mark mckinney. plus meet the candidate. he made his debate debut last night, and he shot to number one on google search today. he's former new mexico governor gary johnson, and he joins us live. also, shutdown showdown. john boehner's gop is at it again, and this time disaster

victims are at the center of another storm. >> this is why people don't like washington. >> you got that right, eric cantor. and fear and loathing republicans claim to support the troops. so why was there booing for a soldier at last night's presidential debate? "politics nation" starts right now. welcome. i'm al sharpton, live tonight from washington, d.c. republicans make believe in the land of makebelieve. things got crazy during the presidential debate in orlando last night. >> now, let's meet the

candidates. >> it's not the first time that mitt's been wrong on some issues before. >> so you better find that rick perry and get him to stop saying that. >> i didn't make that claim, nor did i make that statement. >> we need to be reminded of what ronald reagan told us so beautifully. >> you could take herman cain and made him up with newt gingrich. >> in fact, the candidates in this debate were so outrageous, so over the top, so fact-free, that we decided the only way to talk about it was with an awards show. so i present to you the first time ever, the revvies. to help me present tonight's revvie awards, let's bring in bob shrum, democratic strategist and senior adviser to john kerry in 2004, and mark mckinnon

"daily beast" contributor and cofounder of no labels. guys, thank you for being with me tonight on this big night. >> glad to be here. >> good evening. >> now, first contest when it came to the award for foreign language performance. without further ado, we present and the winner is rick perry. here's the moment that really clinched it. he was asked what he would do if pakistan lost control of its nuclear weapons. take a listen. >> you have to build a relationship in that region. that's one of the things this administration has not done. just yesterday we found out through admiral mullen that haqqani has been involved with -- and that's the terrorist group directably associated with

the pakistani country, so to have a relationship with india, when we had the opportunity to sell india the upgraded f-16s, we chose not to do that. we did the same thing with taiwan. >> wow, that response want really in english. in fact, i haven't seen such a strong foreign language performance since the 2007 miss teen competition. >> people out there in our nation don't have that, and i believe that our education, like such as in south africa and iraq, everywhere such as. >> terrorist group directly associated with the pakistani country -- >> should help the u.s. -- or should help south africa. >> -- to have a relationship with india. >> -- should help iraq and asian

countries. >> well, bob and mark, there is a serious point here for governor perry. the debate did not go well for him. did he go from hero to zero last night? >> well, superman got his cape taken off. it appears that debates are his kryptonite. he's been up to the plate three times, swung three times and missed three times. there are three times really in a presidential campaign when you have the opportunity to move the needle. when you announce, when you do your nominations speech, and debates, they are really critical. you have to play an a game when you're on that stage, and it's really clear. we gave him a pass on the first debate, but you would expect improvement by the second, certainly the third. he looked unprepared. you only get so many shots on this, and mitt romney shows with what comes with having been through this before. he seemed have been smooth,

consistent and prepared. >> bob, mark said something i agree with. first time we want, well, he's not been on the national stage before. second time he's just adjusting. but now he's just starting to look like he's not ready for primetime, at least not in the debates. >> i agree, with one caveat. he was unprepared. he sat out to give romney a tongue lashing, numbed he biffed and far ables his way. i think we have to see how the primary voters react. in a way, this is a race between perry and his defense of the hpv vaccine, and his saying that republicans are heartless on immigration, and romney's record on obama-care -- excuse me -- on romney-care and flip-flops, i don't know which will make the tea party site more, but i'm sure of one thing. if after that performance perry

still leads the polls, the republican party is headed basically in a direction that will make it very tough to be competitive in the election. >> now, mark, did, in your judgment, the other candidates under a platform last night, did they take advantage of the clear bad performance and at times indough herein of governor perry, who is the front-runner? >> well, yeah, i think rick santorum took advantage last night and had a very strong performance. you know, if perry is starting to bleed a bit. if he bleeds in iowa, you have to look for herman cain, rick an storm or michele bachmann to take advantage of that. there's still an open race in iowa, if perry doesn't get as much traction as we thought he might. santorum had a good performance. i was glad to be gary johnson on the stage. he deserves to be on the stage,

as does buddy roemer, and others who have been shut out. he stole the night with his one-liner -- >> we'll have him on later. >> okay. good many. >> i think maybe, bob, that governor perry's team is assisting johnson and others beyond, because that means he has less time to mess up. >> that wouldn't be a bad idea. it's not just that he had a lack of preparation. they don't seem to be sure footed. their excuse afterwards was, well, gee, he's like ronald reagan who wasn't a great debater. first of all, that's true. if you're a republican don't compare yourself to reagan. if you're a democrat, don't compare yourself to jfk. the comparison won't stand up well. he telegraphed, and if you do that, somebody will be prepared. i thought it was amateur hour.

the next up, best award for best editing. this goes to willard mitt romney, because once again, last night he was forced by the other candidates to edit his history on romney-care. >> your economic adviser talked about romney-care and how that was an absolute bust and it was exactly what obama-care was all about. as a matter of fact between books, your hard-copy book, you said it was exactly what the american people needed. in your paper back, you took that line out. >> it's clear that romney appeared stronger than the other candidates last night, but won't this history of flip flopping hurt him in the end? mark? >> well, actually i think the one thing that's been remarkable is he hasn't taken more water over his health care plan. he's done a pretty good job of

blowing through it, and as he did last night, so -- and the one thing i've been impressed by, by the way, is the extent to which he's gone to some of these tea party forums, and he hasn't kissed the ring. he hasn't turned himself into a pretzel, and has been more of the romney i think he is, the jobs creator, the governor, and he's not making the same mistakes as last time, which was to show those inconsistencies by gen fleuflecting by the folks o the far right. >> let's take the point, if you have a candidate, say he's a standardbearer in a party, in a hardcover book, he praises the health care plan, and goes to the soft-back print, and he takes it out. this kind of blatant editing and flip flopping and playing to the

public is almost intellectually insulting to voters, don't you think? if it's brought out? >> listen, it's going to hurt and he's going to face more scrutiny if he's the nominee on the flip flopping, but i agree with mark, he's largely handled this pretty well in a very difficult situation for him inside the republican party. the party's heart is never going to be with him. he's trying to get this nomination by appealing to the party's head, convincing that maybe he can win this election. by the way, mark will recall, you don't even need to look at his book. he sad in a debate with john mccain and said romney-care should be a model for the nation. the perry people obviously don't do their research, they don't prepare their candidate, and he's not prepared for the second-level response. all right. before you go too far there, i've got to keep going with my awards next, we come to the

award for best makeup. wait a second. we don't mean makeup. we mean literally making it up. tonight we present michele bachmann with the makeup award. she was living in a land of make-believe when it came to the facts. >> president obama has the lowest public approval ratings of any president in modern times. >> michelle, that's true if you leave out truman, johnson, nixon, ford, carter, reagan, bush 41, clinton, and bush 43. how long can this fact-free campaign go on? >> close to it. she's really having a problem with consistency of her facts.

that has stripped her of the credibility. she had a great breakout performance in the first debate, actually pretty good last time until her comment about the hpv woman and the mealsles. there's a consistent pattern of her not talking about facts and -- with any sort of credibility. and so i think her campaign is running out of gas, she's running out of money and running out of steam. >> a and there's not a gas station in sight. >> is this down to a two-man race, perry and romney? >> fundamentalally, yes, but last night you saw some republicans very upset with perry, who still don't trust romney a column was yikes, chris christie has to get into this. i imagine they want a candidate who didn't make the mistake of writing a book before he

announced. >> is it too late for chris christie or sarah palin whose p.a.c. is raising money? >> absolutely they could. it's a different environment today, and people can get in late given the after large of media. look what happened with rick perry. he became a sensation overnight. sure. the republicans are looking at the on-deck circle for palin or christie. you know christie could clear the bases. it would be great if he got in. he would be formidable. >> well, gentlemen, i'm going to have to let it go here. by the way, to any of you award winners tonight, if you want to pick up your trophy, get in touch with me. i'd make sure we make those arrangements. bob shrum and mark mckinnon, thank you for joining me tonight. have a great weekend. >> thank you. this one is worth no award. a gay soldier booed at the debate, but nobody on stage said

a word. plus you will not believe what governor mitch daniels said about the president today. it was over the line, and it needs to be addressed. but first i'll talk to the most searched person on google today, former new mexico governor gary johnson. can he turn a one-liner into a movement? that's next. so i took my heartburn pill and some antacids. we're having mexican tonight, so another pill then? unless we eat later, then pill later? if i get a snack now, pill now? skip the snack, pill later... late dinner, pill now? aghh i've got heartburn in my head. [ male announcer ] stop the madness of treating frequent heartburn. it's simple with prilosec otc. one pill a day. twenty-four hours. zero heartburn. no heartburn in the first place. great.

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the number one trending topic on google is this man, former new mexico governor and current republican presidential candidate gary johnson. he stole the show last night, but now comes the tough questions. stay with us. [ venus ] what are they doing to stufy?

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most folks agree that the best line belonged to the new face on the stage, gary johnson. >> my next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration. >> it's a good line, even if it isn't really true. the lines got gary a lot of

great buzz. he's even the number one trending topic on google. joining me now, the trending man himself, former new mexico governor and current republican presidential candidate gary jauntsen. he just got a glowing profile in "gq" asking, quote, is this the sanest man running for president? governor, thank you for your time tonight. enks reverend, great to be on with you, the jobs plan is to throw out the entire federal tax system and replace it with the fair tax, which is a federal -- which would be federal consumption tax by all free market economists' reckoning, it is what the name implies, it would be fair, would eliminate all federal tax, income tax, i.r.s., corporate tax, business tax, in a business environment with no corporate tax, that's

where in my opinion you see the business community creating tens of millions of jobs in this country, because why would you grow, nurture, develop a big anywhere in the world other than this country given that environment. >> well, let me start with your line last night. first of all, where did the line come from? >> you know, i was in -- everybody that i knew yesterday before the debate e-mailed me with suggestions on what i should do. maybe you've had that same phenomen phenomenon, but a radio personality in new mexico sent me suggestions of some zingers he had invited listeners to call in and talk about the last couple days. help gary out. this was an organic effort.

>> i understand rush limbaugh said something similar. i didn't know if you had the same next-door neighbor, but the other thing if i had your e-mail, i would have sent you how the stimulus really brought 2.9 million jon. so unless your next-door neighbor's jobs is doing a whole lot of digging, i don't think factual factually touch 2.9 million jobs. we can have difficult opinions, we cannot have different facts. we cannot say -- >> one of the unique perspectives i think i bring to this job is i started a one-man handyman business in albuquerque in 1974, and grew it to employ over 1,000 people. as governor of new mexico, i

never claimed to create one single job in the state. i don't think government creates jobs, i think it's the private sector. let's say 2.9 million jobs were created by the current administration. what is real job growth? now i come back to implementing the fair tax, throwing out the entire federal tax system, abolishing the i.r.s., and coming up with a way that's really fair it will really set the groundwork for the private sector being able to hire tens of millions -- creates tens of millions of jobs that perhaps otherwise aren't being created here. >> that's cute, governor. i asked you about the jobs, i go to your next-door neighbor's dog and talk about the jobs he created, and the dog and you

start telling me about fair tax and what you're going to do, but let's go to another point. i think you are unique in the party. how do you feel about the intolerance, the mean-spiritedness that's coming out in your party. you seem to be much more of a person that wants to deal with ideas, whether i agree with them or not, and deal with a different continued of tone, but look at the statement in july. i want to put this statement up and have you respond. this is what you said to family leader pledge. the party cannot afford to have a presidential candidate who condones intolerance, bigotry and the denial of liberty to citizens of this country if we nominate such a candidate, we would never capture the white house in 2012. i mean, i think that's a very

mature adult statement. are you disappointed with the attorney of some of your opponents? >> the booing that occurred last night at the event is not the republican party that i belong to. it happened. it's a group of individuals that booed. i was chomping at the bit to be able to respond to that. you know, in retrospect i regret not putting down nigh fist and pounding it, but i've been excluded from these debates and feeling a bit like i'm walking on eggshells. i shouldn't have done that. if i have one regret from last evening, it's that i didn't stand up and say, you know, you're booing a u.s. serviceman who is denied being able to express his sexual preference?

that's not right. that's not right. there's something very, very wrong with that. when it came to don't ask/don't tell, i think we should have repealed that a long time ago, and we can look from supports that notion, really a through z. >> i respect you for saying that. would you also have said when they booed and talked about a person dies if they were -- didn't have their health insurance and people cheered and one -- a couple people yelled out let them die, or when they applauded of the people killed under governor perry in the state of texas, whether you agree with the death penalty or not, i mean, cheering for people dying, would you also say those two incident each debate has had these kinds of incidents. don't you think this is ugly to the american public?

>> i do. i'm a different voice in that debate. i changed my opinion on the death penalty as governor of new mexico. it was very high profile. naively, reverend, i really didn't think the u.s. government put innocent people to death, but as governor, i came to recognize that i don't think there's any question that we put innocent people to death, and i'm not in the camp that wants to punish or putt to dun put one -- it's flawed public policy. it costs more money to put a person on death row than it does to put them to death. when you find out that an attorney gets someone off death row because they're absolutely innocent, the fees to that attorney are really priceless. that's what actually happens in this country.

talking about health care and let him die? no, that's not this country. we're a country of compassion these are the people that we want to help. i'm in the camp that really believes that government is perhaps the only entity that's available for those that are truly in need. now, the notion of truly in need i think we have gone way overboard when it comes to that and i am advocating a balanced budget. if we don't balance the fell -- and if you want an example for monetary collapse, it's russia, so i'm promising to submit a balanced budget to congress in the year 2013. i'm promising to vite ooh legislation or expenditures that exceeds revenue, and i'm promising to advocate on the part of throwing out the entire federal tax system and replacing

it with the fair tax. for more details for those watching, get online, fairtax.org to check it out. >> well, governor -- >> it's been around for a while. >> i thank you for being with us tonight. you said some things that are very different from your opponents. thank you for coming on the show. i hope you'll come back again and we'll elaborate. when i hear you talk, it makes me wonder, maybe there is some hope for some real bipartisan discussion if there's at least a sane discussion and adults in the room. thank you again. >> thank you very much for for having me on. coming up, we were just talking about the worst debate moment i have seen in a while. >> do you intend so circumstance come vent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?

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welcome back. live tonight from washington, d.c. as we mentioned last night's republicans debate gave us another glimpse at an ugly side of the gop. steven hill, a gay soldier, serving in iraq was introduced with this taped youtube question. >> in 2010 when i was deployed, i had to lie about who i was because i'm a gay soldier. i didn't want to lose my job. my question is, under one of your president sis, do you intend to circumvent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military? >> yeah, i -- >> but not one candidate on that stage spoke up. not one candidate told those people not to boo a soldier. but the crowd cheered after rick santorum said he wanted to rein125i789 don't ask/don't tell. so these are the things cheered

at debates. reinstate don't ask/don't tell, capital punishment, and letting an uninsured 30-year-old with cancer die. it might not be the entire party, but these people are no longer the fringe. they are driving the republican party. joining me now jonathan capehart, msnbc contributor. jonathan wrote a powerful piece about the booing today. and alex wagner, msnbc analyst and reporter for the huchb ton post. >> that was a low moment. >> it really wasn't. at each one, when you think it couldn't get any lower, it does. for the republican party, which has used patriotism as a cudgle,

for someone to boo a member of the military, who is in iraq -- let's not forget, he didn't just do it video from his living room. he is overseas in iraq fighting in a war that this country is waging. >> he's in danger's way. >> you had him booed? you didn't have any of the nine people on stage condemn the booing, not from the stage and certainly not after. to be fair, rick santorum on fox today -- >> let me put this up, rick santorum today did say this on fox. >> i skeen democrat the people who booed that gay soldier. he's serving our country. i thank him for my service. i have to admit i did not hear those boos, but when you're in that sort of environment, you're sort of focused on the question, formulating the answer and i didn't hear the couple booze that were out there.

certainly had i, i would have said, don't do that, this man is serving our country and we are to thank him for his service. >> alex wagner. we can debate whether he heard them or not. i was in presidential debates in '04. i heard everything in the audience, but notwithstanding that, the fact that none of them responded, all of them can't say they didn't hear it. they certainly heard it in the last debate the whole booing and reaction about an unshe had 30-year-old dying -- >> right. >> and we heard it in the first debate when they cheered -- when brian williams was just raising the question about 234 people executed under governor rick perry. perry hadn't even got to the answer, just the question, they started cheering. >> right. >> has this party gone so far to the right that they -- i mean, off the cliff to the right, that they are not concerned about the

moral tone you're sending to whether voters support you or not? there's a level of civility that people should have at this level of political engagement? >> i do think that it's pretty shocking the reactions we have seen from the crowd in the last few debates. you know, it's almost like the roman coal syam. they didn't address it. i would also point out, basically rick santorum called it social experimentation, is just a wild distortion of the truth. this is a policy that had months and months of studies surrounding its repeal. 700,000 active service members were asked about it. 70% of the respondents said the repeal will not danger the

united states military. you had the joint chiefs of staff signing on to this, secretary of defense i think there's an irresponsibility with the facts with a lot of this stuff that is quite shameful in a lot of respects. >> let me give you something else, jonathan and alex. mitch daniels, a respected member of the party establishment, governor, all of that, let me show you something he said today that to me was very offensive. >> his life has been so far removed from the world in which jobs and wealth and prosperity are made, that he doesn't understand and probably cannot understand how damaging his policies are. he just inhabits a different planet, i think, in that

respect. >> he being president obama, life is so foreign, so different to a life of wealth and jobs. i mean, this other person, you're different -- what does that mean? what do you mean his life is so different? >> if i heard that clip correctly, he was talking about the president's economic policies. >> but he referred to his life, his coming up -- are we back to where you're if a woman, if you're african-american, latino, if you're different than the are we back to while male landowners are models of the american life? what do you mean his life is so different? >> if that's what he said, i'm with you. i heard something different. >> wait a minute, let's be fair. let me play it again. >> terrific. because i wasn't there when -- i

wouldn't want alex to go back to the huffington post and say i got it wrong. >> his life has been so far removed from the world in which jobs and wealth and prosperity are made, that he does not understand and probably cannot understand how damages his policies are. he just inhabits a different planet, i think, in that respect. that's not policy, his life. >> and therefore his policy. >> it's not his policies. >> i got you, rev. >> no, i got him. >> you got him and i got you. it is actually rather surprising, because mitch daniels is supposed to be someone who is the

establishment, the grownup within the republican party, and he is espousing this line of argument that continues this notion that president obama is from -- he's the other. >> not one of us. who is us? this kind of language. this kind of trying to imply some other-ness it's polarizing. >> it's impugning his experience. it's in furtherance of there are uncomfortable strains of the birther thing, that obama is from so outside the mainstream he can't possibly understand the real concerns. i will say in his defense, he did rebuff talk of obama being a socialist in the same breakfast. i think that's important, talking about the people who are not part of the problem of the rhetoric, and mitch daniels to some degree was trying to do

that. >> this is different from what speaker boehner said last week that sometimes he thinks that he and the president, when they talked to each other, that the two of them are talking from different planets. >> he did say a different planet. alex said he said he wasn't a socialist, just that he was from another planet. >> they both are. >> jonathan capehart and alex wagner, have a good weekend. >> thanks, rev. coming up. a record here from damage from natural disasters, but republican leaders have no problem playing politics with relief money. stay with us. ♪ been torn apart ♪ got so many scratches and scars ♪ ♪ maybe time can mend us together again ♪ ♪ it's not what we've done but how far we've come ♪

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eliminated, yet lawmakers have done nothing. >> congress hasn't been able to do it. so i will. our kids only get one shot at a decent education. they cannot afford to wait any longer. given that congress cannot act, i am acting. >> we saw a very different approach last night at the gop, when candidates went after teachers and said they would abolish the department of education. we do not need to play the blame game. be need to bring everyone together and make education work. the future of our nation rests in how we develop and educate our young people. i think we need to concentrate and move forward, as the president showed today.

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republicans are once again using disaster re -- today senate democrats shot down a gop spending bill because it would have cut more than a billion dollars from job creation programs. but if congress fails to pass a bill, fema could run out of money by tuesday. this year is on track to set a record for damage caused by natural disaster.

fema says claims are still rolling in. democrats say this is not a time for republicans to play politics with people's lives. but today house speak john boehner refused to budge, saying that if democrats don't go along with his cuts, they'll be to blame. >> and any delay that occurs because of inaction in the senate will only imperil needed disaster relief. >> i wonder if john boehner remembers what he says just lack week, about the need to compromise. >> we want to create a better environment for job creation. politicians of all stripes can leave the, you know, my way or the highway philosophy behind. >> joining me now, congressman joe crowley, democrat from new york, he's a member of the house ways and means committee. congressman, can you believe that republicans are playing

games with disaster relief? >> i'm shocked. reverend, i can't believe it. it's mind-boggling. it's unfortunately par for the course. we've seen the republican party once again use a deadline, in this case the continued resolution to keep government running, and in this case really in such an obnoxious way, use the issue of disaster relief, and require a pay-for for disaster relief. when halliburton was building roads, bridges and schools in afghanistan and iraq, no one asked what the cost was, but we get hit by tornadoes, but hurricanes, wildfires, and all of a sit my republican colleagues say, how are we going to pay for this? these are natural disasters. we've traditional not paid for them immediately.

we just fix. we build it back. we build america back, and it really is unfortunate to use this as the linchpin here in terms of the last minute, and in fact, reverend al, it actually is a job cutter. they want to take money out of the green energy fund that we've created that is actually creating jobs in this country, and they want to shift that to pay for the disaster relief. it just is unconscionable. >> and then when you talk about job creation, and talk about taking care of the middle class and the poor, they call it class "new york times" that i think is worth noting, where he says, and i'm quoting -- he says it amounts to a demand that a small number of very lucky people be exempted from the social contract that applies to everyone else, and that is what real class warfare looks like.

and he was really addressing the statement that had been made by elizabeth warren that no one got rich by themselves in this country, yet they act as though everyone in the middle class, everyone in the lower class ought to lift themselves by their bootstraps when we've been left with no boots. >> that's right. the fact is, reverend al, that no country in the work allows wealth creation like the united states. in fact, the only -- have dictatorships, and you have to pick the right side. this is a wonderful country, and what the person people want us to see washington working together in a bipartisan way. i don't use the words shared sacrifice. i use the words shared responsibility. we all have a responsibility to contribute, to keep this country up, in its infrastructure, in its laws, structures overall. that includes paying our fair share, and i think that's where

the president so rightfully has done now clearly laid the demarcation down. they are for cuts to welfare, social security, and to medicare, and not for a shared sacrifice, or in this case not for a shared responsibility action, asking the wealthiest condition to pay their fair share. >> congressman crowley, thank you for joining us tonight. have a great weekend. >> you too, rev. one programming note, starting this sunday, nbc news education nation, starting live on rockefeller plaza moderated by brian williams. "hardball" starts right now.