clinton's tax hike was $30 billion. reagan's tax hike was $37.5 billion. because it was ronald reagan who levied the biggest in american history, it's sometimes hard for conservatives to remember that. that's the truth. i'm grateful senator inhofe was here tonight. i hope he'll come by. he said at the interview he enjoyed it and thought it was fair. which is a nice thing. talking to people with whom you disagree is healthy. i find it fun. bob mcdonald, please call me. it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." have a great night. okay, republicans, spring training is over, and the president is ready to play ball. >> the president's re-election team unleashed its top attack dog today. >> i'm back, you're back, and the industry's back. >> vice president biden hits the campaign trail in ohio. >> the vice president is heralding the auto industry. >> the verdict is in. president obama was right and they were dead wrong. >> the president is talking

about gas prices. >> there is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to high gas prices. >> we are really getting a kickoff to the democratic side of the campaign today. >> we're starting to see a lot of politicians talking a lot but not doing much. >> he didn't have to name names. >> they're going after the three guys by name right now. >> because vice president joe biden did. >> mitt romney, rick santorum, newt gingrich. >> newton leroy gingrich. >> should newt gingrich get out of the race? in order to unify conservatives? >> i don't think newt's going to get out. >> he needles at rick santorum and divides the conservative vote. >> this is his last hoorah. he's having fun. >> this is personal between him and mitt romney. >> guess what, i made a lot of money. i've been very successful. i'm not going to apologize for that. >> oh, now he's talking about how rich he is. >> i've got money, so what? >> just like al gore, mitt

romney's taking too much advice. >> at the end of the day republicans want to beat barack obama and we're going to rally behind him. ♪ it's going to start raining mitt ♪ ♪ it's raining mitt martin short, ladies and gentlemen. if you think the republican clown car of republican presidential candidates had problems before today, well now the "a" team is coming after them. president obama and vice president joe biden delivered speeches at exactly the same time today. the president's speech was to a community college audience in maryland addressing the latest campaign issue, gasoline prices. the president gave a colorful, easily understandable speech, but still is not comfortable naming names when it comes to his opponents. >> a lot of the folks who are, you know, running for a certain

offi office -- [ laughter ] who shall go unnamed, they've been talking down new sources of energy. if some of these folks were around when columbus set sail, they must have been founding members of the flat earth society. they would not have believed that the world was round. >> for once, the vice president's speech was actually the more important political moment of the day because it took place in the battleground state of ohio and it was joe biden unleashed. he was obviously authorized to kick ass and give names. >> mitt romney, rick santorum, and newt gingrich. these guys have a fundamentally different economic philosophy than we do. simply stated, we're about promoting the private sector. they're about protecting the

privileged sector. we are for a fair shot and a fair shake. they're about no rules, no risks, and no accountability. i want to tell you what's real bankruptcy. the economic theories of gingrich, santorum, and romney. they are bankrupt. if you give any one of these guys the keys to the white house, they will bankrupt the middle class again. >> the biden speech was in toledo, where thousands of jobs were saved by the obama administration's support of the auto industry. >> governor romney was more direct, let detroit go bankrupt. newt gingrich said, quote, a

mistake. but the guy i work with every day, the president, he didn't flinch. this is a man with steel in his spine. he made the tough call, and the verdict is in. president obama was right, and they were dead wrong. america is coming back. workers, worker by worker, home by home, community by community, this country is coming back. because of you. go build those cars. >> joining me now, "game change" co-author and msnbc political analyst, john heilman. former virginia congressional candidate and msnbc contributor, krystal ball. and author of "who's afraid," teray. gentlemen, this seems like a major turn in the ticket. the democratic ticket couldn't sit in the dugout waiting for

the guys to get the game started and they just ran out. >> here we go. there's nothing better in the world than joseph biden on fire. you know, he's -- he's -- you know, he's in ohio today. i think, you know, ohio, pennsylvania, florida, he might as well take up residence in the three states because they're the places where he's going to spend a lot of time. part of the reason they're getting ready to get going because it's abundantly clear to them that for all of the things on the republican side that mitt romney is going to be the nominee and there's no point in waiting. they can't wait. >> biden is talking about romney today. let's listen to biden talking about romney and bain capital. >> governor romney says, the market, wall street, quote, will help lift them out. wrong. any honest expert will tell you, in 2009, no one was lining up to

lend general motors or chrysler any money or for that matter, to lend money to anybody. that includes bain capital. they weren't lining up to lend anybody any money, either. >> why is this so much fun, krystal, just hearing them say the names and bain capital? >> it's exciting, especially for political observers to be like, okay, finally we're coming to a place. i think this is the signal that they recognize. the republican nomination battle is drawing to a close. mitt romney, battered, bruised, crawling across the finish line as he is, he looks like he's likely to get there. we're seeing what the line of attack is going to be, and it's an attack, quite frankly, thank you very much, that newt gingrich warmed up for us. that's effective. he fits with romney. he fits as the financier, plutocratic out of touch guy in contrast to joe biden, for example, who i think really has a gift at connecting to folks in ohio and the midwest. >> he did today. fascinating thing about the

schedule. you send the vice president out to give the hottest political speech of the year so far for their team. at the very same time, you schedule the president of the united states, making sure to -- to give a speech -- making sure all of cable news will not zero in on biden, what, in case he makes some kind of biden mistake or something? was that like a little protection scheme for keeping biden off live coverage? >> absolutely. he's trying out the lines. he's trying out what we're going to do, what we're going to say, what is going to work. the thing that jumped off the page for me is the line, a man with steel in his spine. it's visual, it's a little bit of poetry. it is also very deep sort of in a way that the democrats usually give the spine issue to the republicans, that we're the smart ones, they're the tough ones. that doesn't usually work. when we have a democrat willing to say we are the tough ones and things like killing bin laden bolster that line of attack.

and propping up detroit bolsters that line of attack. you know, we're the tough ones. we're talking about romney, it works for santorum as well. >> it's in contrast to obama's position in 2008. frankly, in 2008, hilly waary wd to project the image of strength. i would say she actually came off in some ways as stronger than candidate obama. so now he is in because of his record of accomplishment, he is in a great position to position himself as the strong one in the field. >> and the steel in the spine thing comes on the same day that they release davis guggenheim's little documentary showing that decision making process that went in to going after osama bin lad laden. we're going to show that later in the show. i want to get biden on rick santorum. we have to hear this. >> senator santorum said it was, and i quote, a payoff to special interests, end of quote. you know, it's kind of amazing,

gingrich and romney and santorum, they don't get the facts get in their way. nobody knows better than you and your families the real price you paid to allow this reorganization to take place. plant closures, wage freezes, lower wages. they know, everybody knows. these companies would not be in existence today without the sacrifices of all of you in the uaw that you made. >> joe heilman, would the republicans be well advised to just, you know what, let's shut up about the auto bailout thing, this payoff to special interest thing provokes biden to come back like that? >> man, it's a good advice, i think. they are going to lose that argument. you know, on this show we previously talked about the fact that michigan, a state that, you know, in an ideal republican world is a state that should be

a state that's contestable is pretty much off the table for them. you're seeing joe biden going after rick santorum. rick santorum, there's a possibility mitt romney will have to put rick santorum on his ticket in order to get the nomination if things are tight by the time we get there. rick santorum has a supposed blue collar appeal. joe biden has something president barack obama doesn't have, blue collar appeal. he's saying, huh-uh, that's not right, aisi'm the guy that can k about white working class sacrifice, anxieties, fears, in ohio, in pennsylvania, in indiana, in illinois. it's, if you put joe biden up against rick santorum, i think i know who i like in the fight. >> he's the star of the day today. i want to get one more bite of biden outlining what is basically his closing argument. this is the choice you face with these candidacies. let's listen to this. >> it's a choice, a clear

choice. a choice between a system that's rigged and a system that's fair. a system that says everyone will be held accountable for their actions, not just the middle class. a system that trusts the workers on the line instead of listening to the folks up in the suites. folks, that's the choice. it's a stark choice. and in my mind, it's not even a close call. >> who better to send out there to give that speech? >> i mean, you know, when we're running against mitt romney, the guy from the suite, i mean -- >> the guy who owns the suite. >> who owns the suite. my question is, why does biden keep referencing gingrich who clearly has no chance to win and is just sort of a dead man walking and in it for his last chance to run around the track one more time? why not also mention ron paul and herman cain and rick perry? >> gingrich is such a fun boogeym boogeyman, though, honestly. i lived in ohio for a while and

i was there recently, and you know what i was struck by? parts of ohio have not had good economic news literally in decades. and their unemployment rate has gone from 10.6% down to 7.9%. and people are feeling not like, you know, we're done and mission accomplished, but they are definitely feeling like things are headed in the right direction and the president's policies are a big piece of that us. puzzle. >> that's where we have to leave it. teray, john heilman, krystal ball. thank you for joining me tonight. ohio senator nina turner fighting the republican crackdown on contraception, introducing a bill that would require men to pass certain tests in order to obtain viagra, including a test of exactly how hard it is for them to function without viagra. and what hath limbaugh rot? rush limbaugh highlighted a need for a women's voice in our

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why won't gingrich quit? because if you think about it, he's actually kind of winning. >> the fact is in both states, the conservative candidates got nearly 70% of the vote. between santorum and myself, we will get over two-thirds of the delegates and the so-called front-runner will get less than one-third of the delegates. >> right, but you don't get to add santorum's to yours to make it sound impressive. it means that between me and lebron james last night, we scored 36 points. you know when i grow up, i'm going to own my own restaurant.

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zblunchts within one of my opponents recently said -- that it would take an active god for me to win this primary. i agree with him. >> rick santorum may be betting that god is on his side, but not if god is a moderate republican according to a new poll released by the pew research center. rick santorum has a problem inside his own party. 20% of republicans who currently support romney say that if rick santorum wins the republican nomination, they will likely switch sides completely and vote for president obama. that is almost double the 11% of santorum supporters who say that they would vote for president obama if romney is the republican nominee. that's why the red, white, and blue superpac that supports rick

santorum doesn't dare say anything specific about what rick santorum would actually do as president. >> meet the real mitt romney. supported the wall street bailout, putting america trillions in debt, raised job killing taxes and fees. leaving massachusetts over a billion in debt. his health care takeover, the blueprint for obama care. mitt romney, more debt in taxes, less jobs, more of the same. rick santorum, a bold plan for the middle class. create dynamic jobs and cut wasteful spending. rick santorum for president. red, white, and blue fund is responsible for the content of this ad. joining me now, bob vander plaats, president and ceo of the family leader who endorsed rick santorum before the iowa caucuses. bob, you were onboard early for the santorum surge. do you fear that rick santorum has already gone too far in a conservative direction when you hear these polling numbers about romney supporters that would

abandon the party over rick santorum? >> no, i really don't. what it is, we're in the midst of a heated primary battle, and so people are lining up with their candidate and they're doing so vigorously. i think what people are finding out with rick santorum, why he's doing so well, is that they trust him, they like him. he's a great family man. he's experienced. he's knowledgeable. and i think he'll win in those tossup states of pennsylvania and ohio, and i think has why people are giving him that shot he needs to be the nominee of our party. >> now, everybody's saying you guys need gingrich out of the race to get the one-on-one and the gingrich support. we showed last night you'd probably get 57% of the gingrich support, but romney would get pretty much the rest of it. i think there's another reason to keep gingrich in, which is when you get to those gaffes that the candidates commit, and i'm going to play you something that rick santorum said in puerto rico. let's listen to this. >> they'd have to speak english. that would be a requirement. it's a requirement we put on other states. condition for entering the union, if you're going to

participate as a state in the united states, then you need to participate in the language that people speak in the states. >> see, now, with this crowded race, when he says something as completely wrong as that, and i'm being charitable when i phrase it that way, it will go away faster. there is no requirement that any state have an official language of english in order to be admitted to the union. there never has been. puerto rico could be admitted to the union without that. and what he doesn't know, what he doesn't know, and what you could have learned in this makeup room here tonight, is that all students in puerto rico are required to learn english in order to graduate. it is a mandatory school curriculum now. >> first of all, we applaud puerto rico for doing that. english, as you know, makes us a melting pot of the country. i come from the dutch heritage, even though my ancestors spoke

dutch, they wanted us to learn english to be the melting pot. as far as newt gingrich getting out of the race, that's newt's call. newt and i are very good friends. i've always said mitt romney does not want a one-on-one especially with rick santorum. we said that in iowa. as long as conservatives divide up the vote, it's going to prop up romney. i will say this. had gingrich been out of this race, michigan's in santorum's column, ohio is in santorum's column, alabama and mississippi are 2-1 santorum and this race is completely different. >> i agree if you just do the math. a clip like that shows you there's a difference. you know, romney i think has been reasonably well prepared to be a front-runner. he does have those crazy gaffes about $10,000 bets. all the rich guy stuff is what he's constantly doing, right? basically he runs pretty smooth. the question is, is rick santorum really ready for the focus he would actually get in a one-on-one race, which is greater than the press and media focus he's getting now? >> i think completely. and the reason, as i wrote in an

opinion editorial your the "u.s. news and world report" is because of the trust factor. people trust rick santorum. if he makes a mistake, they still trust. they know where he's at. mitt romney has been running for president for a long time. he'll morph himself into the candidate he needs to be depending on the campaign he's in which sends a message to us, we probably can't trust him. that's why mitt romney can't close the deal. i mean, with conservatives, he can't be trusted. and so, therefore, until he does that, and i don't think there's enough time to it, that's where santorum's besting romney now. >> bob vander plaats, thank you for joining me. >> i appreciate it. coming up, a woman who entered a bill in the senate, that would require men to pass embarrassing tests in order to obtain viagra. in the "rewrite" how behavior of rush limbaugh was the best reminder possible of how important the voices of women are to the american political process. and how some oscar winners have found a way to say that with music. and later, a "last word"

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nina turner is an ohio democratic senator fighting back in the attack against contraception by introducing a bill that would require men to pass some very embarrassing tests to prove just exactly how hard it is for them to be men without viagra. senator turner joins me next.

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many of us women have come to this floor so many times over the last few weeks to fight back against attempts to turn back the clock when it comes to women's health care, as the senator from california just talked about. i'm disappointed that these issues keep coming up, but i know i stand with millions of men and women across the america who remain ready to defend the gains we have made over the last 50 years and think we should be moving forward, protecting and supporting more women and families, not moving backwards. that's what this bill does. >> the bill senator murray is talking about is the violence against women act. she and six other women senators took to the floor today to demand quick action on its reauthorization. created by then-senator joe

biden, the act was first passed in 1994 to provide states with funding to combat domestic violence and sexual assaults. since then, it's been reauthorized with bipartisan support. last month, it passed the judiciary committee with only democratic support. all eight republicans on that senate committee voted against it. the latest outbreak of republican insanity is in the arizona state legislature where a bill has passed the house and is moving to the senate that would allow an employer to fire a woman for using birth control. it would actually allow that. and in order for her to obtain birth control, to be covered, the woman would have to prove in arizona that -- to her boss, prove it specifically to her boss -- that she is actually using birth control only for a

medical condition. all of this madness has inspired ohio state democratic senator nina turner to introduce a bill in the ohio senate that would require men who want viagra to have one of their sexual partners certify that there's a problem. undergo a stress test. and meet with a sex therapist. among many other delightfully embarrassing requirements. joining me now is the woman who wrote that bill, ohio state senator and minority whip, nina turner. and from washington, d.c., new hampshire democratic senator jeanne shaheen. thank you both for joining me tonight. >> thank you, lawrence. >> thank you. >> senator turner, first to you. with all due respect, this is the single funniest piece of legislation i have ever read. i want you to brief the audience on some of the requirements you have in here. men will have to prove, it seems

to me, a great deal, that they will actually not want to prove in order to obtain viagra. >> well, lawyrence, i want to make sure, far too long female legislators have beena advocatig we show men the same thing in the productive health category that we've been shown over the years. included in this bill besides the things that you just named is that they will have to have a deep and long conversation with their physician about the possible side effects and risks of such drugs, and including alternative therapy such as natural remedies or celibacy. they would also have to undergo a cardiac stress test every time, every 90 days as long as they are on the medication. and then they would also have to make sure -- that record would stay in their medical files just so they would have a keen understanding of all the risks

associated -- possible risks, i should say, associated with erectile dysfunction drugs. >> it sounds like you want to just take better care of them. a stress test every 90 days. i mean, that sounds like you're just keeping an eye out for them. >> just frying to guide them, lawrence, because obviously they can't make the right decisions without government telling them what to do. >> exactly. in the senate today, senator lisa murkowski was the only republican to take the floor today and speak in support of the violence against women act. let's listen to that. >> madame president, i, too, believe the senate needs to take up the violence against women act. i do feel strongly we need to it on a bipartisan basis. i'm a co-sponsor of this bill. i know some of my colleagues have some concerns. i've said we need to take these concerns into account so we can have, we should have, an overwhelming bipartisan bill. this is too important an issue for women and men and families that we not address it.

>> senator shaheen, has the violence against women act gotten caught up in this crazy gender politics that we've seen break out on capitol hill ever since darrell issa would not allow sandra fluke to testify? >> well, i hope not. the fact is, the violence against women act has been very bipartisan. when it was first signed in 1994. when it was reauthorized in 2005. as you pointed out, senator murkowski, who's a republican from alaska, came to the floor today to speak with us in support of the legislation. it has republican co-sponsors. so this is the kind of issue that we all ought to be able to agree on. >> and senator turner, in what you've been watching around the country, what provoked you, what pushed you to the point where you said, i have to get out there with this bill about viagra? there's a point that i have to make here because you were pushed to it. has it been coming from what you've been seeing in

washington, what you saw in arizona, these other states that are taking these actions? >> all of the above, lawrence. all of these regressive tacts that our right-wing republicans are taking, particularly males who don't have a clue about what it takes to be a woman. obviously they have some type of hate going on with women. i would say to men who have mothers, men who have daughters, men who just love and respect women, that this track that we're going on in this country is absolutely outrageous. so, yes, i was motivated by the greater sex, and since poverty doesn't matter to them, and educating our children certainly doesn't matter to them, only the regulation of a woman's womb, i thought, my goodness, we need to spread the love to men and make sure we guide them to make the right decisions. lawrence, we should be absolutely embarrassed as a nation that we are going backwards in time instead of forward. and to treat women as if we're feebleminded and uncapable of making decisions for our bodies

is shameful. >> let's listen to the global p perspective that secretary of state hillary clinton gave this over the weekend. >> why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. but they all seem to. it doesn't matter what country they're in or what religion they claim. they all want to control women. they want to control how we dress, they want to control how we act, they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and our own bodies. yes, it is hard to believe, but even here at home, we have to stand up for women's rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us, because america needs to set an example for the entire world. >> senator shaheen, do republican senators who often have cooler heads than

republican house members recognize that the worst republican political mistake made on capitol hill this year was darrell issa in the house not allowing sandra fluke to testify? >> well, you know, it's not clear to me. i think the fact is that most women, most families in this country, believe that health care decisions should be made by women, with their families, with their physicians, that government should not have a role in that beyond being supportive and setting in place policies that help with women's health and the health of the people of this country. so i think what we've heard from in states like arizona, those people represent an extremist point of view and hopefully they don't reflect where most people are in this country. >> new hampshire senator jeanne shaheen, and ohio state senator nina turner. thank you both very much for joining me tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming up, the obama

campaign has just released a short documentary about the president's first term. the academy award winning director of that short film will join me in a "last word" exclusive. and next, in the "rewrite," rush limbaugh has made it clearer than ever how important it is to have women's voices in politics and government. and some academy award winning musicians have found a way to say that in song. that's next. [ male announcer ] the game of life with the prius c! ♪ oh, my maltipoo's depressed. but my affordable prius c means i can pay for his acupuncture. whew. i love my pooch. oh no! my homemade sushi... turned p-ushi! use estimated 53 mpg to find a gluten-free alternative. look, this means i'm a chef. [ male announcer ] be a winner with the all-new prius c from toyota. ♪ hello? [ sea ] hello, this is the sea calling. [ laughing ]

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and she suggested i try boost complete nutritional drink to help get the nutrition i was missing. now i drink it every day and i love the great taste. [ female announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to help keep bones strong and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. and our great taste is guaranteed or your money back. learn more at boost.com. [ dad ] i choose great taste. i choose boost. to you think romney suburban moderates can hold off the downstate tea party conservatives? >> seriously, stephen, you see, i don't talk politics. i'm an amphibitarian. we're not partisan unless it comes to pigs. >> don't act like you don't know these candidates. you worked with mitt romney for

years. okay?

if tonight's rewrite, thank darrell issa for creating limbaugh's firestorm of bad publicity and exit stampede of his advertisers because it was only after darrell issa made the

colossally idiotic mistake of refusing to allow a woman's voice to be heard at his hearing on contraception that rush limbaugh felt compelled to attack georgetown law student, sandra fluke. rush knew nothing about sandra fluke other than a republican committee chairman suppressed her voice. that was good enough for rush to go on the attack. rush and darrell issa inadvertently gave the country a much needed reminder of the importance of a woman's voice in our political and governing decision making. when barbara boxer started running for the senate, there was one democratic woman and one republican woman in the senate. and when barbara boxer was sworn in as a senator, suddenly there were five democratic women in the senate. on one election night, the senate was transformed into a place where women had a real shot at getting elected and earning power. today, there are 12 democratic

women and 5 republican women in the united states senate. barbara boxer would like to see that number go up to, oh, say, maybe 51%? which is the female percent of the population in this country. senator boxer has created a video with a little help from her friends to emphasize the importance of a woman's voice in our politics. the video's soundtrack is a song composed by music oscar winners marvin hamlish and the husband and wife team of alan and marilyn bergman. by the way, this is not the bergman's first venture in song writing for free that's about empowering women. they actually wrote the very best school song i've ever heard for the archer school for girls in los angeles. their new song is entitled "a woman's voice." ♪ a woman's voice can sing any

song ♪ ♪ a woman's voice can be sure and strong ♪ ♪ it can touch your soul and it can clear your skies ♪ ♪ singing battle hymns or lullabies ♪ ♪ for the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rocks the world ♪ ♪ so when we sing together, listen and rejoice ♪ ♪ for there's nothing like the sound of a woman's voice ♪ ♪ it's a

it's speaking out ♪ ♪ when we hear it sing ♪ whether raised in protest or raised in prayer it's a sound you hear echoed everywhere ♪ ♪ yes the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rocks the world ♪ ♪ so when we sing together listen and rejoice ♪ ♪ for there's nothing like the sound of a woman's voice ♪ wake up!

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as president, the tough decisions that he would make would not only determine the course of the nation, they'd reveal the character of the man. the first decision, where to begin? >> which is one, which is two, which is three, which is four, which is five? where do you start? what i love about the guy, he says, we're going to do them all. because we got to do them all, we don't have a choice to pick. >> that is from "the road we've traveled" a video released tonight on the obama re-election website. joining me for an exclusive interview, the director of that video, davis guggenheim, academy award winning director of "an inconvenient truth" and "waiting for superman." thanks for joining me tonight, davis. i want to go to the scene where you tell the story of how the president approached the decision to go after osama bin laden. let's look at that. >> and they say, well, 49%

chance he's there, 51%. it's a close call, mr. president. as he walked out the room, it dawned on me, he's all alone. this is his decision. if he was wrong, his presidency was done. over. >> today, at my direction, the united states launched a targeted operation that killed osama bin laden. the leader of al qaeda. a small team of americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. no americans were harmed. >> they've been planning this operation for more than eight months, but in the end, it came down to a period of just 40 minutes when it could either be a major success or a disastrous failure. >> a lot of people have asked, how did you feel when you first heard that it was bin laden and

he had been killed? and the truth is, i didn't have time for a lot of feelings at that point because our guys were still in that compound. and it wasn't until i knew that they were across the border, they were safe, everybody was accounted for including the dog, that, you know, i allowed some satisfaction. >> davis, it seems your mission was to create a piece for the campaign that tells a fuller story than they could possibly do in 30-second commercials. >> that's right. and, you know, i was a history major, so i, you know, in college, i was reading about all the great presidents and all the great leaders. i think the frustrating thing for a lot of us is we look at our candidates right now through a very narrow lens and often a very dirty lens. for me as a storyteller, the opportunity for this thing is to take a step back. let's look at his first term. let's look at the really tough choices that this president made and see how it reflects on him

and on his character and on his presidency. >> you get the feeling in the political media and to some extent possibly in the voters that there isn't really a functioning memory that goes beyond 90 days. it seems like all political references refer to something within that period and there's no credit earned for something you did a year ago, two years ago, three years ago in our politics. >> and in some respects it's the cable news phenomenon, but it's also, like, it's me, it's my life. you tend to read the newspaper, i watch your show, and you tend to just get -- tend to look at what's happening this week. and, you know, we go back to his transition and he's getting this -- in the first part of the movie, you go to chicago, he's won the election and he's meeting with his economic team and they're saying, everything's cla collapsing, the banks, auto companies are collapsing. you go, what is this young president going to do and how is he going to handle this?

my god, that was only three years ago, and yet, i, you know, as a pretty avid reader, forgot about it, how heavy it is and forgot we're still coming through the early part of a great recession. >> yeah, and the full crush of what was happening to the economy occurred after the presidential election. and it seems like our political memory went into some sort of hibernation in that moment and this film vividly brings it back. i want to tgo to a clip you hav of the auto bailout. joe biden out there today campaigning about it. it looks like it's going to be a very important part of the campaign. take a look at this. >> a lot of conventional wisdom wanted to do what mitt romney did, let it go, can't be saved, why put good money after bad? >> everybody, democrats, republicans, i mean, it was overwhelming. look at the polling number. do not rescue the automobile industry. >> the president faced a real

risk either way he went. he fails to invest in the auto industry, it implodes, the economy goes further down, and blood is on his hands. the president invests, and the auto industry just can't pull it out. that's on the president's hands as well. >> but he knew who it would hurt the most. and how devastating the loss of a job can be to an entire family. >> my grandparents taught me that a job is about more than just a paycheck. they grew up during the depression, so they tell me about seeing their fathers or their uncles losing jobs. even if you have a strong spirit, if you're out of work for a long time, it can wear you down. >> he decided to intervene. >> davis, the campaign limited you to 17 minutes, but when i'm watching this i get the feeling you got another two hours on the cutting room floor, as they say,

that you could easily put together. >> yeah, i mean, well, it was a challenge of putting everything in. i mean, i like to expand on things and really get into it. it's, again, easy to forget that the polling in michigan at that time, even among democrats, was don't bail out the auto companies, and, of course, the famous romney editorial. and you think, well, that seems so easy. in hindsight, it wasn't easy. and he -- you know, the polling people are telling obama don't do, it don't touch it. he says, no, i'm going to do this. time and time again, you see him looking past the quick political fix and saying, what is good for the country long term? and now there's millions of people who have jobs because he made that tough decision. and there's a great moment in the movie where you make a cameo at the end, declaring that gm is now the number one car company worldwide in sales. and you see how that finally

pays off. but, again, we have such a short-term memory. what's exciting is tonight there are hundreds of screenings of this movie in small, small screenings in homes and in campaign offices. over 300 of them, where people are getting to remind themselves and broaden their sense of who this guy is and what kind of president he is. >> academy award winning director, davis guggenheim. thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> thanks, lawrence. nice to be on your show. >> thank you. and as the clock approaches midnight, i want to be the first to wish this kid a happy birthday. jerry lewis' birthday is tomorrow and he will be celebrated tomorrow night at the fryer's club here in new york where he will surely be shown absolutely none of the respect that he very much deserves. the spark to all of jerry's work is that he has never lost touch. not just with kids, but with being a kid, himself.