>> against prohibition. thanks both very much for joining me tonight. >> thanks, guys. >> secret servicing, lets play >> good evening, i'm chris matthews back in washington. leading off tonight, sex, drugs and audio tape. where it send social security is anyone's guess, but as of now, as many as 20 secret service personnel are suspected of bringing prostitutes back to their rooms in columbia. that means they were allowed into the security zone of the president of the united states. making this the biggest security breech in the history of the secret service.

next, mitt romney spent a lot of time talking about president obama and very little on the record about what he plans to do were he elected president. we learned a lot last night when an nbc overheard and taped legally romney speaking to money people at a fundraiser what he will ax if elected and who he will not tax. also about romney losing the election because of the lost latino vote. and drugs, should they be legalized? with prodding by me, the president of columbia suggest that we should take a look or take the profit out of the drug running to starve the terrorists. and we all remember how offended ann was over hillary rosen's stay at home comments last week. thanks to that that tape last night, we now know what ann romney really thought when she

heard that remark, she thought she just haefrd the lottery. let me finish with great news, things are looking up south of here. we start with the secret service sex scandal. ron kessler, and ron was assigned to protect president obama, he is running for the united states state as a republican from the state of maryland. let's start right now, the secret service continuing to investigate one of the most alarming scandals in history involving prostitutes ahead of the president's arrival this weekend. the congressional investigators are looking into the possibility that as much as 20 secret service agents were involved. that's nine more than the secret service has acknowledged so far. two supervisors, three from the

elite team. and more than five members of the military may have been involved. ron, tell us what you know as of the depth and breadth of the scandal. >> if one of them decide'd to blackmail one of the agents that could have been led to terrorist led into secure areas to assassinate the president or russian foreign intelligence let in to plan bugs with devices. it's not the first security breech. we had the party crashers, and in my book, the president's secret," guy into corner cutting with secret service management.

ranging from letting people into events without screenings, it's like letting passengers on to an airplane without screening them, all the way to not asking agents to comply with regular physical finance tests and firearms testing. so there's dishonest. >> here is the president, ron, let's take a look. here he was giving his personal reaction to the unfolding scandal yesterday, let's listen to the president. >> what happened here in columbia is is being investigated by the director of the secret service. i expect that investigation to be thorough and rigorous. if it turns out that some of the allegations made in the press are confirmed then of course i'll be angry.

we're respecting the people of the united states. and when we travel to another country, i expect us to observe the highest standards because we're not just representing ourselves. >> thank you and congratulations for your service, and good luck in your race for senator. is there a macho man culture where there is normal behavior? >> no, this is not normal. this is a high stress high results job, but it's an agency of human beings that make human mistakes. nobody is running from this. the secret service said all the right things to this point saying they're embarrassed, they apologize. i'm a republican, this is not a partisan issue. >> i agree with that, i don't think so. the problem is here is is not a bad apple, it's a bad dozen apples, who would organize this? 10, 15, to 20 prostitutes being

aloe cased to different agents, who put this together? it's not like one guy got drunk and found himself with someone behaving professionally, it looks like an organized event. >> it looks there is tremendous, and that's an understatement, lapses in judgment. i'm personally involved with a lot of the agents in this case, i heard what happened over there, i heard the story, and no one is running from this. it is an awful lapse in judgment. their embarrassed, the president of the united states is embarrassed. it's a disgrace, there's no way around it. so you can say wheels up and rings off is not a phrase heard around the agency?

>> no, there are stories about wheels up parties, these are very informal events. i've been to a few of them. they're very boring, most people leave early, not saying that's every party, but i can speak in totality it's a very regimented and dedicated group of guys, i almost missed my daughter's birth for this -- >> i mean this, i'm trying to get to the bottom of this. i heard the opposite, i heard the people are monkish. they go to bed early, work out, and they don't behave like this regularly, your view? >> yes, as dan was saying, they're very dedicated agents, i know they admire them more than any other law enforcement.

but the management under mark sullivan tolerates corner cutting. >> when did this start? >> when the department of homeland security took over, that's when the corner cutting began, and these particular agents are emulating the example of the management which is is cut corners, wink and nod. >> why was the treasury department better for these? >> when it became immersed in the homeland security dth, there were 22 other national security agencies competing for budget, and that contributed to this. it's always so hard to pinpoint why would nub allow this to happen park sullivan doesn't know how to manage the agency. it's barack obama's life at

risk, and agents i talk to say that, you know, there could be an assassination given all of this corner cutting. the only way to fix it is to remove him and bring in a director from the outside as bob muller came in, who has no interest within the agency, who will restore the standards that the secret service has always been proud of. >> he had some strong words for the credit service today, let's listen to congressman hies from california, he is red hot on this one. >> it's larger than 11 individuals. it's part of what was told to us as a pattern of behavior. the wheels up parties and the like. we need to get that confidence back by knowing the system will be changed.

>> let me go back to dan, you have experience guarding president obama, do you think there is a problem of structure? do you buy the argument there is a loss of discipline since the shift in the department to homeland security? >> no, i there was for the transition. i'm sure at the management level there may have been hiccups, there always will be when you move a massive federal agency, but i don't think that filtered down to a discipline level. the guys that i knew were as regimented a group of human beings, and i'm proud to say i was a part of them. >> let's look at the spread of this problem. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff talks about the scandal that increased to include five people from the defense area. let's hear what he said about letting the president down. >> i can speak for myself and my

fellow chiefs we're embarrassed by what occurred. we know that we distracted several of our members, from the issue of what was an important regional engagement. so we let the boss down because nobody is talking about what went on in columbia other than this incident. so we let him down. >> ron kessler, do you have anything on the military's conduct? >> it's not nearly as important because they don't have access like the secret service does. an agent could tell a possible a assassin where the president could be and bring them in. president obama's comment about if the allegations in the press are proven to be true,ly be angry. we already know that the secret service as confirmed there was misconduct.

and i'll be angry is not the way to reform this agency. that is something that -- >> i can only imagine knowing the president. i imagine there will be steps taken that might be including beheading of people. thank you for your service to our country. mitt romney has not said much about what he plans if elected president, but it has gotten out. he was heard talking about his plans and we will hear them in just a minute for the unmitigated reality of what he talks about, what agency he wants to cut, who he wants to ax, and who he wants to protect from taxes. he is is worried about losing the latino vote, he thinks he'll get one in five and that is is doomed for him. [ male announcer ] that. right there -- reminds you

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>> with under seven months until election day, president obama has a healthy lead according to a new projection by the associated press. here are the states that are solid or leaning towards the president, all good for 242 votes. now in the red, the states solid or leading thwart mitt romney are good for 192 electoral votes. that leads nine toss up states. consider this, based on the projection, president obama would just need to win florida. that's all he needs. back to "hardball." your hane got savings whiplash. you know, from car insurance companies shouting, "save 500 bucks over here!" "no, save 300 bucks over here!" "wait, save 400 bucks right here." with so many places offering so much buck-saving, where do you start? well, esurance was born online, raised by technology, and majors in efficiency. so they're actually built

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back to "hardball." did nbc news catch a glimpse on tape of the real mitt romney last night for the first time? mitt romney won't be the last one to say something in a room full of supporters that he wouldn't say to the government.

a politician, romney, acknowledged rather nakedly how he's playing the game. mitt romney acknowledged, for example, that if he were elected he would most likely say goodbye to the department of housing and urban development his father once ran, he acknowledged he's far from being offend bid hilary rosen's comments about women who work in the home. his wife ann was pretty much thrilled and saw it as a gift. can and said unless his party does something serious, he's going to lose the hispanic vote 4-1 and he's got problems there. our msnbc contributor, his new book is "showdown" and what a book. the fundraiser was closed to the press, but not really. gerald hack overheard from his position what he heard outside the home. he recorded the statements here's what romney said about hud. quote, i'm going to take a lot

of departments in washington and is agencies and combine them. some eliminate, but i'm probably not going to lay out just exactly which things are going to go, things like housing and urban development, which my dad was head of, that might not be around later. but i'm not going to actually go through these one by one. here is what he said on the department of education, the department of education, i will either consolidate with another agency or perhaps make it a heck of a lot smaller. i'm not going to get rid of it entirely. he is talking to a bunch of fat cats. if you think i'm a moderate, i'm getting rid of all these agencies. >> mitt romney naked and unplugged is kind of a scary thing. it just goes to show you that everyone knows that mitt romney is not being level when he comes in the public, when he talks out. whether it's immigration or anything else. fred barnes had a piece in the wall street journal a few days ago saying he was talking to a private adviser to romney

saying, don't worry. his real immigration stances are a lot different than what he says in public. so when he used to be a moderate back in massachusetts and now he's severely conservative during the primary, nobody knows where he stands so it's not a surprise, but hats off to your imbed who caught him red-handed. joe, it's always fascinating to get a peek inside, or as i always say, you pick up a rock and all the bugs are running around underneath the rock. it's a good image, because you see the rock, if you get inside politics, you get to see the bug life. here's the real guy, not just a pleasant businessman, but the guy is really talking turkey here. >> well, he's saying things that the donors are going to open their wallets for. this is not really that much of a surprise, those of us who have followed mitt romney or at least seen him up close and personal. when i was in massachusetts, sort of same deal. we knew he was coming from a more conservative background

then compared to massachusetts, and all of a sudden he's a moderate, he's a liberal, he's a guy who can get with planned parenthood, who can talk about abortion or pro choice. but one of the things you have to remember is that some of these statements have real impact. talking about consolidating the department of housing and urban development as well as the department of education, those are agencies with very real impact, particularly on middle class and poor families. going forward they set policies for education, they help people get homes. that's the real agenda at work here. >> just to be completely crass about the way he sounded in this conversation, he's not exactly hurting republicans when he screws hud. but because it's a lot of moderate income people. but when he talks about education, doesn't that sort of grab the antenna of people who care about their kids going to college, of getting competitive in the world ahead? >> particularly for those whose parents can't open their checkbook and fund their college.

>> pell grants. things like that. >> right, pell grants and things like that. speaking of the republican version of the dream act, goose job getting that through congress, number one, and number two, and it's a little too late to try to get on the side of the latinos dependent on all the stuff that was side in the primary. >> here's the raw stuff. here's the way they really talk dirty. here's mitt romney calling the episode with hilary rosen last week a gift because it allowed his campaign to show contrast with the democrats in the general election. and his wife also spoke about rosen. here's what ann romney was overheard saying. >> it was my early birthday present for someone to be critical of me as a mother. and that was really a defining moment and i loved it. today ann romney told abc news she thought it was a birthday gift. here's the spin because she loved that it created a dialogue about motherhood. whatever that is, i won't call it bs. here she is admitting she's sharp enough politically and the

wheels were off the other side for a couple days because they got caught making fun, it seemed, of women working in the home. she knows what's going on. >> they saw an opening and they pounced on it because they know that mitt romney is looking at a 20-point deficit between him and obama when it comes to women. this january when he was campaigning up in new hampshire, the boston globe has written about this, he got out there and said, you know, when i was governor of massachusetts, even if you were a single mom with a kid under the age of two, you still have to work. here they are being hypocrites. they're talking about choice now. >> you've got an argument here, but i'm telling you, hilary rosen must wish she never said it. >> of course, of course. it's a door opener because i've said things -- joe, get in here. if you fully understood what i meant, it really was less offensive, but most people don't fully understand what you mean. they get the point and they go after you. >> that's all they're going to see is the headline, the top line of that statement.

you dig a little deeper, you find out what she meant and you dig even further as a lot of people were doing on twitter over the weekend and in some political web sites, and you find that romney has made contradictory statements to the statements that he made that was outrage about the statement in the first place. so it's all a house of mirrors. >> and when the debate comes up with the president, president obama who is very quick and comes up using these things, he will find a way, if romney tries this number about making fun of women who work at home, the president will come out quickly, right, and say let me remind you of something you said earlier this year. right? >> that's where the democrats were talking most of the primary season that a lot of the ads wrote themselves. this is one of those examples. you don't have to go too far back to find something contradictory in his statements. >> that's a general statement. if you don't like what he said this week, check next week. here's mitt romney acknowledging what most people already know about his problem with the hispanic vote.

and i love this. i love when they talk turkey. here's romney: i think it will become a much bigger issue. i mean, we have to get hispanic voters to vote or our party. he acknowledged the polls showing a huge gap among that group and says, that spells huge doom for us. he even knows the number. he said they could be getting 20% of the vote. they do have a profession. it's called politics. whether you're left, right and center, there's romney admitting these screwed if this thing stays where it is. what's he going to do about it? >> you showed that obama can win with just florida. he can still win. >> what i heard this week, they're talking rubio again as a running mate >> rubio keeps saying, i'm not going to be veep. and you saw what gonzalez said today, too, the former a.g. it shouldn't be rubio. >> you also have to keep in mind that something like this is reminiscent for me, anyway, for 2008 when you had president obama behind closed doors talking about people clinging to their guns and religion.

famous statement. dinged him a lot. it also harmed him in a couple key states. let's remember, pennsylvania was turbulent for him, et cetera. even though these statements were made behind closed doors and even though they probably have a shorter shelf life, they're going to get dredged up and they could make a difference in these swing states. >> now hear this, when you talk to anybody, you're talking to everybody. thank you, david corn ever wonder what it would look like if mitt romney, santorum and the other clowns in the clown show got together for some reminiscing? saturday night live has nailed them next on the side show. [ female announcer ] gross -- i'll tell you what's really gross:

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♪ i can see clearly now ♪ the rain is gone children's claritin chewables relieves kids' worst allergy symptoms for 24 hours. plus, it's the #1 pediatrician recommended non-drowsy brand. ♪ gonna be a bright ♪ sunshiny day ♪ back to "hardball." now the side show. snl paid tribute to all the great players in the 2012 gop --

dare i say it? clown show this weekend what would it be like, they decided, if romney, santorum and the rest of the gang got together and began to reminisce at some bar. let's watch. >> hey, can i admit something to you guys? >> sure, you're among friends. >> romneycare is just obamacare. there you go. >> i knew it. i can't believe none of us could beat you. >> and i can't believe it took so long to win. hey, one more time. ♪ another turning point, a fork stuck in the road ♪ ♪ so make the best of this test and don't ask why ♪ ♪ it's not affected but it's -- die ♪ ♪ it was always unpredictable, but in the end was right ♪ ♪ this campaign was the time of my life ♪

>> what a reunion. let's say goodbye finally. speaking of letting loose. secretary hillary clinton was having a little fun in the night life area, enjoying the beer, there she is putting it down, and hitting the dance floor. this wasn't exactly a new thing for clinton. during her african tour back in 2009, she got into it in south africa as well, getting to know everybody. finally tonight, moveon.org has a a new advertisement going after mitt romney for his opposition to the well-known buffett rule. you've heard the term fat cat, right? here he is in the flesh. >> president obama's buffett rule would require millionaires and billionaires to pay the same tax rate as the rest of us. the romney rule lets fat cats rig the system so they pay less and pass on the burden to hard-working americans like you and me.

so tell mitt romney kittens are cute. 1% fat cats who won't pay their fair share? not so much. >> anyway, romney already had a problem with dog lovers putting his shamus on the roof. movon.org will play during shows on animal planet for example, big cat diary and my cat from hell. get the picture? what president obama heard a lot over the weekend about down in cardarena. you're watching "hardball." [ woman ] i was ready for my trip. but my smile wasn't. [ female announcer ] new crest 3d white intensive professional effects whitestrips. it goes below he enamel surface to whiten as well as a five-hundred dollar professional treatment. wow, that's you? [ female announcer ] new intensive professional effects whitestrips.

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welcome back to "hardball." we're going to take a look at the worldwide look at drugs right now. >> i was in columbia this week speaking to leaders about about the drug war in this country. i asked columbian president santos and president obama about the future of the so-called drug war in this country, specifically should drugs be

legalized here in this country in an attempt to put an end to the narco terrorism in the south. you have a chance to sit next to president obama now. do you want to ask him about ways the united states could help your country in the drug war? >> chris -- >> don't you have a simpler question? >> how can we improve north-south relations, generally speaking? >> we have the obligation to see we're doing the best that we can do. if there are other alternatives that can be much more efficient, on one side it can be to put all the consumers go to jail. the other extreme, and the conversation on the middle ground, we may have more practical policies. >> i think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are ones that are

doing more harm than good in certain places. i personally, and my administration's position, is that legalization is not the answer. that, in fact, if you think about how it would end up operating, the capacity of a large-scale drug trade to dominate certain countries if they were allowed to operate legally without any constraint could be just as corrupting, if not more corrupting, than the status quo. >> just as corrupting or worse than the status quo. kevin sabat is a senior adviser on drug policy for the white house.

'than is the director of the drug alliance. kevin, make the case for legalizing. >> well, you know, i think legalization would just make our problems worse. we would have more addicts, we would be spending more on our health care system. already illegal drugs cost us $200 billion in terms of lost social costs. and legal drugs cost us $400 billion in social costs and we only get about 35 million in revenue. the numbers don't add up for legalization. these cartels are dealing with drugs, human trafficking, piracy, on and on. it would be a small dent in their overall balance sheets, and we would be instead creating addicts here and abroad. >> why do i hear -- i was down this weekend listening to people like santos, the very impressive president of columbia. and the others. they seem to think what's going on here, the vast corruption is killing those countries with weapons, with murder, with horror and corruption. how do we respond to that by saying, oh, we'll keep going the way we're going? we'll keep going in the

so-called war on drugs? >> chris, we shouldn't keep going the way we're going. i think santos said it right. on one hand you have the legalization, on the other you have the blocking of policies, but there are other policies we can work on in the middle. we can work on straemting -- treatment. fighting for addiction parody to make sure health insurance companies cover addiction like any other health illness, looking at drug courts, matthew sheen fans of drug courts, make judges sort of intervene on an addict's life. that's the way to do it. >> let's hit the other side. ethan with the other side. it seems to me we have kids making careers starting at age 18 as drug salesmen. that's their great business plan, to go out and sell drugs to the neighborhoods. what would legalization do to that market? >> it would do the same thing that any alcohol prohibition did to that market. let's face it, what you're

seeing, chris, in mexico, in central america, columbia, other markets in the region, it's like al capone times 50. the violence, the power, the organized crime, the black markets. these are all consequences of a failed prohibitionist policy. the president is smart enough to say not to legalize everything, emerge a political mass that we need to put all options on the table, including legalization of drug markets and everything as well. >> how can you, let me try -- >> let me try the tricky question. ten people could have a glass of wine and maybe 1 in 10 or 10 in 100 would become quickly addicted to alcohol. but i'm told if you tried crack cocaine once, you're liable to be addicted. >> well, obviously, it depends on the person. we don't want to overstate the case. but there is a high addiction of crack, heroin one in four users

become addicted, so the idea we're going to wipe out these cartels if we legalize tomorrow, alcohol prohibition was over a 13-year period and they were wiped out, that underground market for that. illegal drugs over 100 years. they're operating on a host of other problems like guns and human trafficking and piracy. the idea we're going to wipe them out is ludicrous. we can have a smarter policy, and we should. we could focus on drug courts, on addiction as an illness, but one point ethan made about decriminalization, it may actually have a more perverse effect than legalization. if we decriminalize but kept the market in tact, but with no sanctions for users, you could have an increase in users but you wouldn't even touch the market, so we're actually going to be giving more money to the cartels. >> you're already stating things that aren't factually -- what

you're hearing from kevin is the same old-same old for decades. >> hold off, kevin. >> the evidence shows that decriminalizing drug possession will reduce the arrest of millions of poor people and people of color without increasing drug use. that's the evidence. we also know that 50% of americans say it's time to legalize marijuana like alcohol. that would make a significant effort in order to reducing the black market. kevin, stop. what's emerging right now is building on what president cardoza, many of the distinguished leaders not from the left but the center right, are saying we need a new bottom line. >> we're going to be back again and i'm sure this debate will continue on here as well. thank you, ethan. thank you, kevin. let me tell you those of you who find this debate important, 50% of americans now favor legalization of marijuana use. so this is right on the edge. look at the convergence in that

chart. this is the hot debate of the future. up next, back to that mitt romney audiotape. it turns out mitt romney and his wife ann were anything but outraged about hilary rosen's stay-at-home mom comment last week. we know because it was caught on tape.

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president obama. here he is over the weekend at the state convention of the wyoming republicans. >> i can't think of a time when i felt it was more important for us to defeat an incumbent president than today with respect to barack obama. i think he has been an unmitigated disaster for the country. >> the same old dick cheney. we'll be right back.

well, we had another dust-up in the gender wars. it was over hilary rosen's remarks last week about ann romney never, quote, working outside the home. it certainly put the focus on the women's vote, the gender gap which favors the president. as we told you earlier tonight, ann romney just last night told fat cats, quote, it was my early birthday present for someone to be critical of me as a mother, and that was really a defining moment and i loved it. we think men and women vote rationally whether they work at home or work in the office. great columnist for the "washington post." ruth marcus, we read her regularly. you made some points today which are fresh off the barrel about issues that unite women who work outside the home, inside the home only. >> exactly. the mommy wars, just as you said, are a little bit of a diversion and also a little bit

of a myth. because working women also juggle a lot of the same things that stay-at-home moms do, and people move back and forth. we're not in one basket or the other for all time. but there are issues that do separate women from men, issues like pay equity, issues like violence against women, issues like funding for childcare and issues -- not as much contraception as the democrats might hope, but women are more supportive of activists -- >> both side. i keep saying to the people, do you think it's only women who care about contraception? haven't you been around? >> men and women are split equally on abortion rights, but mitt romney the other day was talking about gun rights at the nra convention. guess what, you know who is much more supportive of reinstructions on guns, women voters. >> why is that?

>> i think they understand that guns can kill and they're not toys. for whatever reasons they are much more supportive of gun control. this shows the tight rope that mitt romney has to walk between appealing to this group because he cannot win with a gender gap this size. he can win with a gender gap. >> somebody going to stand up for ann romney here. she knows politics. it made it look like the democrats were elitists. they were looking down on women at home. >> i love hilary rosen. she's a dear friend of mine. no one agreed with her. it's fake. ann romney's comments -- >> they made it about obama's best friend. >> she's been a good democrat and supporter of the president. she wasn't speaking for the white house. i think ann romney's comments i think underscore the fact it's political. they're jumping on this. they weren't really offended. it's a great opportunity for

them to talk about something. >> can i say something? this is not some elitist show. let me tell you this. my mom had five boys. she never worked outside the home and worked her butt off. it's unimaginable what it's like. she didn't know what maid was. >> i'm sure you were very easy. >> she didn't know anybody with a maid. it was hard work. my wife, i call her the queen. at midnight before the kids were home when they went onto greatness. my paper is done, it's start to start the editing process. it's the wife. >> we've been there. not that it wasn't excellent. look. it is just true this was a huge gift for ann romney and that is why not only the romney campaign jumped on it, but the obama campaign and the obama white house and the president and the first lady they were driving the bus back and forth ore hilary rosen. >> i heard the term beater.

men who beat up their wives, horrible people. i don't know if that's still around, but it must be because there's a violence against women act. >> sure. the white house just announced they're going to have vice president biden who was one of lead senate sponsors on the violence against women act. it's up for reauthorization. it's just like pay equity. after romney's campaign was asked whether he supported the lily led better act and they didn't know the answer, they came out saying we're for pay equity. everybody is for pay equity and against violence against women but in what contour. there's a big dispute over whether this law should be expanded to include illegal immigrants who are subject to domestic violence and include gay couples. >> when mitt romney was asked about the violence act women act, he doesn't know what it was. >> that was in 2008, to be fair. >> here is the issue about ann

romney. it's not that he's talking about ann romney about women, it's that he's only talking to ann romney. why is it when half the electorate is women, he goes to his wife exclusively. >> how about saying he was going to get rid of the department of education. >> he said that's dynamite. it's the politics that he's worried about. >> why would he say i want to consolidate or reduce the impact. >> i thought he was off the record. >> education, as it happen, i've looked at the poll numbers, it's another huge area where there's a gender gap. >> i'm not being judgmental, but i can be. ask any guy who the kids teachers are. the mother tends to be aware of every teacher. has an attitude about them. who are the teachers again?

>> i'm staying silent. i don't want to get in trouble with my spouse. >> today, after we have gone through four or five days of hilary rosen, the republicans are in no better shape than they were. >> thank you very much. when we return let me if i thinkish when why what's good for latin america is good for the united states. i was very impressed. things are looking up south of the border.

let me finish with this. we in the united states so often narrow our focus to what affects us directly. we think of latin network in the context of immigration. poor people coming north to find work. there's a much bigger story happening south of here than the problem that remins at the bottom of the pyramid. i felt the confident, upbeat zest in the air. >> i know you're a democrat and a populous hero, i do want to congratulate you on just passing united kingdom as the sixth largest economy in the world.

i can only imagine what it would be like in argentina did that, and i'm not talking about social work. >> president obama showed respect for this. he seems to show respect for our fellow democracies. the big good news down there is that what unites the america s a belief in free system and true. free markets are most important to progressives. a commitment that bring people up from the bottom. quote, the base of the pyramid. that's the quote that caught me down there. i heard this face-to-face from the leftist president of brazil and the president of colombia, president santos that was impressed as he was the host this weekend.