down to where we are casting more light than heat. all of us, me included, have said things we regret. but when you go into talking about chopping people's heads off, and that he would be dead or in jail, that's way beyond something that someone should say in a presidential race. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. the secret service lowers the ax. let's play hardball. good evening. i'm chris matthews down in washington. leading tonight, secret service scandal has claimed its first victims. the secret service announced that three employees are out. one supervisor is being allowed to retire, another supervisor is being removed for cause. and an agent is resigning.

we'll have the latest at the top of will show. also, paging joe mccarly. you would think the republican party would have learned its lessons from mccarthyism but allen west doubled down on his claim that roughly 80 members of the united states house of representatives all democrats are communists. where is john boehner? and where is eric cantor? where are the republicans saying this is over the line? and while we're at it, why isn't mitt romney condemning ted nugent's comments while even the secret service will interview nugent for what he said. plus, let's say obama beats romney. will the senate turn republican and do everything to stop him? a look at who might control the u.s. senate next january. you might not know its name but you know what it does opinion the group known as alec, a-l-e-c, drafted laws including stand your ground laws. now alec's opponent won a big victory. fear over the trayvon martin's case cost the group so much

corporate support that it decided to get out of the stand your ground business. let me finish with a tribute to the man who brought us the sound track of our youth. dick clark. we again with allen west doubling down on his crazy claim. let's talk about the three employees. are these the first three to be punished? >> one of the supervisors is effectively proposed for being removed. another is being allowed to retire and then another one is resigning. secret service is in pull damage control mode. they're acting far more aggressive will not than any other investigation gau of the attention, because of the heat. and i thought it was remarkable in their statement tonight just how aggressive they are

confirming they are being in this investigation. polygraphing the agents, sending investigators down to cart cart gene in a. >> it will take two weeks for a full review. it looks like the white house or somebody is pushing this. >> basically, chris, what they're trying to do is get ahead of the story. because it was a huge embarrassment for the the white house to be on a foreign international trip and have this bad behavior surface. what he wants to do is try to get at whether sr. nor not this part of a pattern. the fact that this seemed to be so widespread and so many people involved, indicates that this is not the first time this has

happened. and typically in a scandal of this nature, you find out that that's so. so in order to get ahead of this, get it off the front pages, which is probably won't happen at least for a while, and show that they're taking decisive action in defense of the white house, which is of their ultimate mission, the secret service is trying to get rid of will thing and get rid of it in a hurry and show they're taking the right steps to make the story go away and to show that they're acting in a responsible matter. >> i wonder if it passes the smell test. you may have 20 women involved, sex workers they're called these days, 11 agents involved perhaps, it all happened at one hotel. the all of a sudden somebody organized all the transportation of these women at 3:00 in the morning, all of a sudden somebody is make sure they're all paid except for one. it doesn't seem like the thing that never happened before. >> exactly. and people -- and you talk to people who have been with the secret service for many years, all of them say they are stunned

by this, but none of it adds up for precisely that reason. that suddenly a this this trip for the first time on this scale this kind of activity could have been going on. one of the things we're learning today from the briefings that are going on is that the secret service is telling people on the hill that they didn't all go to one club en masse, they went separately and it may have been several places. but that does suggest that at least the behavior was being -- wasn't the first time these people had done this. >> obviously it's a scandal to us, but in the country of colombia, it's legal to have prostitution for women of a certain age. but they have a procedure down there where you check the women in, you get them out by 7:00 in the morning, it's such an organized thing.

everybody knows the rules. it's such a systemic thing. you wonder, first time they all did did it and they all did it right except for this one guy got into a dispute over money? >> exactbly. and that's part of the problem. you're talking about a legitimate security breach or the potential of a legitimate security breach happening here. not just the fact that they were able to cover their tracks and able to have a system set up to keep them as low profile as possible and there but for one mistake by one agent, one guy who didn't vlt correct amount of money that this would have all gone away. certainly this speaks of real problem inside the agency that they've got to get a handle on. any one these people could have caused some information to get out. and could have caused a very serious problem for not only the president, but for the country. as it stands now, we just have an embarrassi ining national

incident, buff tt you have a reputation of an agency in real jeopardy. i always might add even though you've had three heads roll already, i suspect this is not the end of it and that it's probably going to go higher. >> what about the taking of polygraph tests, the fact that they're being offered that? >> the statement tonight says they have been polygraphed. at some point if you're a serving agent and they asking to take a polygraph and you don't, you got to take. >> so what's that tell you, is that for people who -- self-incrimination? >> also imagine these agents, you can -- we can presume are being interviewed separately. so they all tonight know what the other guys are saying. that really puts the heat on somebodytonight know what the other guys are saying. that really puts the heat on somebody who nigmight want to minimize this or give an account

that might be con aretradicted somebody else. and you can pretty much guarantee that they'll be asked the very questions that we're talking about today. have you ever done this before, have you ever heard of this being done before. and that's -- >> let's try to put some dimension to this. i was told as we first started to cover this this, there were hundreds of agents septembsent president's trip. we didn't come in contact with the agents, but i was told there were hundreds of them down there. and in in terms of theky mention he dimension here, is this a small group compared to a much greater number of agents involved even in this one trip? >> that's right. typically there are contingents that are much larger sent to secure the place ahead of schedule, make sure everything is smoothed out, all the routes are understood, all the procedures are gone over once, two

twice, three times. certainly that involves a large number of team. so far there is very little evidence that it goes beyond this group of 11, 12, 13, but that still has to come out in the investigation. we just don't know. so probably everyone on that security detail will have to be talked to and who knows if that is going to result in charges brought up against other agents for other trips. >> this could be like pulling a string out of your trousers and seeing how the pants survive. interesting metaphor. >> i figure about 160 secret service agents were on that trip. so this 11, less than 10% of the total, but still pretty bad. >> last question. is mark sullivan solid? >> it's interesting that no leading members of congress have called for his resignation. >> he has a lot of respect. he may well survive. thank you for joining us tonight. coming up, republican

congressman allen west doubles down his crazy claim that 80 members of the u.s. representatives are card carrying members of the communist party. do you believe it? and why won't mitt romney condemn the violence comments made by rocker ted nugent? that's ahead. i'm an expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there.

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the republican party isn't disavowing allen west's claim that roughly 80 house democrats

are ckocommunists. but where is john boehner, why hasn't he come out there saying west is over the line? david cohn, author of showdown. great book on politics. and columnist for the "washington post." last tuesday in a town hall, this will florida constituents allen west told a voter there that there are about 80 communists in the u.s. house of representatives. let's watch. >> what percentage of the american legislature do you think are card carrying communists or socialists? >> about 78 to 81 members of the democratic party that are members of the communist party.

>> oh, the precision. 78 to 81 card carrying members of the communist party. yesterday congressman west said of those comments, quote, i don't regret it whatsoever. there is a thin line between communism, progressivism, marxism, socialism. it's about nationalizing production, it's about creating and expanding the welfare state. ate about the idea of social and economic just justice. >> it's about justice. it's miles. it is oceans wide. first of all, it's a lie but there is something cynical about this. you know, allen west raises a lot of money by saying crazy things earning $7 million by doing this kind of clown show. >> absolutely. that's why it is tolerated.

>> you and i are old enough to remember, went through the hell, right? in the '50s. he came out in a west virginia meeting of republican women back in january of '50, i got 250 communist in the state department. >> he had a list. >> he had a claim to a list. he didn't have a list. >> he didn't have a list. what's in it for the republicans to say stuff like this? why is that red meat for these people? why does it sound so good? >> it sounds good in the way that when ted nugent gets out there and saying america hating administration. michele bachmann whose been on the show -- >> she made her bones here. >> saying anti-american. what they want to do is basically drum barack obama and the democrats out of acceptable american society. they are different. they are not real americans.

>> okay, a tribute to dick clark. here is michele bachmann here on "hardball." doing this stuff. how many in the congress of the united states do you think are anti-american. you already suspected barack obama? is he alone or are there others? how many of your colleagues do you suspect of being anti-american. >> what i say is that news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. i wish they would. i wish the american media would take a look at the views of the people in congress and find out are they pro america or anti-america. i think people would love to see an expose like that. >> actually, i've done that investigation. 435 members of the house of representatives. i think they are all pro america. just a casual survey. >> why does this message connect with anyone? i think when people are anxious, if things aren't going well for them, you know, you create a villain. there has to be like a bad person.

>> but gene, don't they have to be credible bad guys like communist? >> for most people they have to be credible bad guys. >> this is asymmetrical. when you look at the left. the left is attacking george bush or dick cheney or mitt romney. >> but they don't say anti-american. they may say pro corporate, may say they favor the rich. but they don't say anti-american. >> but they are called stupid. >> there is something distinctive about this idea? >> what. >> a conservative trick it goes back to the 1920s. >> here is what he had to say about the original alan west comment. not even joe mccarthy would say something so stupid from reality. someone else calling him stupid. this is the republican party as the responsibility entity that

an ignorant mean guy like allen west is considered one of their stars. i ask people, when you hear mb and vicious as that, how do people expect us to be able to work out some compromise with him? well, barney always finds a great example. he is so smart. i hate to see this guy leaving congress. he is so smart. it is a pretty good thing. whenever i or someone pushing for middle of the road solution between the guys, they say you got to deal with him? come on. we brought up ted nugent. a rock musician known for right wing views. in march, a month ago, he is facing heat for remarks he made at an nra convention in st. louis this weekend. he was planned on being interviews this weekend. let's take a look at what he said on saturday.

>> i'll tell you this right now, if barack obama becomes the president in november, again, i will either be dead or in jail by this time next year. if you can't galvanize and promote and recruit people to vote for mitt romney, we're done. we will be a suburb of indonesia next year. our president and attorney general, vice president, hillary clinton, they're criminals. we are patriots. we are brave heart. we need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in november. >> well, i would say that chopping the heads off is probably a hyperbole. what does he mean when he says, i'll be in jail or dead. does that mean what? >> that's what the secret service wants to know. >> that's usually what happens to people who do dangerous things to our president. >> some sort of apocalyptic thing that he will be protagonist of. and leading a revolution into that. >> the interesting thing about the nugent -- >> it is against the law, by the way, to threaten the president. >> yes it is. the nugent thing is no surprise.

in 2007 he held up machine guns at a concert and said, barack obama should suck on this and hillary clinton should ride this into the sunset. it seemed like a sexual assault reference. even doing that, he still sits on the nra board. this is an official meeting he was at and mitt romney still sought his endorsement. >> here is a romney spokeswoman in perhaps to this sentiment said in response to nugent's comment, the language is offensive no matter what side of the political aisle it comes from. mitt romney believes everyone needs to be civil. let's's get closer to home. i think john boehner is responsible to some extent for members of his -- >> yes. >> i called the office. i know he doesn't have to respond to everything. but when one of your guys calls 70 members or 81 members of the other party commies, shouldn't you say, i think he is a little over the top or -- because somebody night believe it.

>> when you are speaker of the house, you are not only responsible for the caucus were you are responsible for the house of representatives and capitol building. and you're in the line of -- >> yeah and drawing -- >> or commies. >> and to allow the suggestion they're anti-american communists -- >> you know what he said, i think you and i agree on this. somehow the right has done this. the charge that if you are a liberal, you believe in a role for government, mixed capitalism, then you are a slippery slope away from stalin and camps and everything else. but if you are a moderate conservative then you are really on a slippery slope to extreme rightism and you are over there with mussolini and hitler. >> people don't do that. and if they do do that, there would be an uproar for asking people -- if hillary said something like that, that mitt romney is a fascist, then she would be in hotter water.

but you're right about the slippery slope idea. because mitt romney doesn't talk this way. but what does he say? he says barack obama doesn't understand america. he apologizes for america. he doesn't really believe in america. >> he is not the home team. >> not the home team. >> don't think that this is going away between now and november. >> no. >> i think on the -- on the road to a very rough campaign. i'm not saying that democrats are above doing some rough stuff. but along the road to november, we will hear this alienation number on obama. maybe that he is not a birther -- >> we have been hearing it for four years. we will hear it intensify until november. >> he is a secret muslim. he wasn't born here and he doesn't get america. he is not one of us. even after being president for four years. >> let's see if this commy line continues. i think john boehner, who i do respect, i certainly respect his office and the way he's gotten to it. he is a fair man.

he has got to say something very soon about a member of his caucus be a star in his caucus raising this money as this nut. >> a breach of house decorum. >> he wouldn't say this on the house floor. >> that's different. >> thank you david corn and thank you eugene robinson. up next stephen colbert takes on the blame obama crowd on the right. you're watching "hardball." [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar,

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go national. go like a pro. back to "hardball." now for the side show. first up, the recent spending scandal involving the gsa has caused a congressional investigation to be launched largely focusing on gsa commissioner jeff neely. but the folks of the colbert report notice the most recent upheaval seems to spark a familiar blame game from the country.

guess who tops the list of their targets. >> i haven't talked about this story much so far because i knew my buddies at fox news were on it. >> we will tell you about the latest gsa spending outrage. >> the latest outrages from the gsa. >> if you're not outraged, there is really something wrong with you. >> watch california congressman and darrell american darrell issa. pull the stopper on jeff neely's lies. >> did you attend the 2010 western conference in las vegas. >> on advice of my council i respectfully decline based on my fifth amendment constitutional privilege. >> who is he protecting? >> it happened under president obama's launch. >> that blame has to go right to the president. >> the president is responsible for anything the government does while he's in office. >> notice, that there are two wine glasses in that photo. who is the other one for? and come to think of it, who took the photo? someone else had to be in that

bathroom. there's only one person it could be. barack obama. >> they blame him for the mess over tsa, but won't give him credit, even a smidgin of it, for catching bin laden. when it doubt, blame the president. now in search for the vp. romney weighted in on what it will take to make the cut. >> i can tell you that the one quality that comes to mind immediately is that you want someone would without question could lead the country as president if that were necessary. i think all of the political considerations pale in comparison with the consideration of who has the capacity to lead america at a critical time and i hope if i'm the president that eventuality would never occur but that has to be key consideration. >> there's a man taking notes during game change. republican senator tea party

supporter jim demint of south carolina launched his own search for romney's running mate. that's right. the website is conducting a poll asking for who romney should pick for vp. marco rubio got off to an early lead but he is not exactly a shoe-in based on the ground rules for romney for being president. how is this for a timing snafu. rick santorum is out of the run for president. but his campaign showed up in some iowa mailboxes this week. according to the des moines register a letter from team santorum reads in part, there is still time for conservatives if we act now to win the primary to make sure our party doesn't nominate a massachusetts moderate. it frightens me to think what might happen if mitt romney is the nominee. little late with that one. late hit you might say. a spokesperson for santorum says they were printed up and sent to a direct mail company before santorum bowed out of race.

he hasn't made an endorsement since dropping out, still holding out on mitt. up next, even if president obama wins reelection, will democrats seek control of the senate. we will look at the hottest senate races. can he keep the hold of 53-47 in the u.s. senate? you're watching "hardball." crea] hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals. could you hold on a second? it's your money. roll over your old 401(k) into a fidelity ira and take control of your personal economy. this is going to be helpful. call or come in today. fidelity investments. turn here.

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here's what's happening. americans are mourning the loss of dick clark who died this morning of a heart attack.television icon was 82. peter king of new york tells nbc news that the possibility of drug use is part of the current inquiry into the secret service sex scandal. and president obama spoke to supporters in dearborn, michigan

including health care reform and the economy. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." with ten u.s. senators stepping down this year, fight for control of the senate is very much up for grabs this november. a very important fact. and right now, democrats holding razor thin edge in the upper body. 53-47 including two independents who caucus with them, that's 53-47. but the democrats are playing defense in a number of key races. look at some of the tossup races where much of the media attention will be focused this summer. from west to east, nevada, montana, new mexico, missouri, wisconsin, florida, virginia, and massachusetts, all have very competitive races and all but two of them, nevada and massachusetts, are seats currently held by democrats. we are going to take a close look at five of the contests. where do the democrats stand

their best chance to lose or win. and when will republicans possibly pick up seats in director of the u.s. of virginia center for politics. and staff writer for the great roll call. the most recent call from the boston globe up there in late march recently showed a very tight race between scott brown the guy in the truck, and elizabeth warren, who want to clean up wall street, they are in a dead heat. larry, what's your call? how does that look? >> well, it's april but i'll tell you the most important word, chris, in the senate vocabulary this year, coat tail. >> especially in massachusetts. >> we already know, it doesn't matter that romney was governor. president obama will win, i would say, 58, 60%, something like that in massachusetts. that's a giant problem for scott brown, whatever the preelection polls say. i think elizabeth warren has a good chance to pick up that seat. >> what do you think? >> i agree with larry.

>> because of the coat tail effect of the dramatic obama win. >> and i think massachusetts is inherently a democratic state. i think if the unemployment rate is high, scott brown by a little bit or elizabeth warren a lot. >> i think scott brown is a pure, and i don't mean this positively, a pure politician. people can read that any way they want. i mean, pure. this is what he is at, getting votes. with the truck and barber coat and he is so smart at not being an elitist. let's go to your state, larry, george is coming back after the problem he had a while back. he lost six years ago, he was heading for the presidency. now he is trying to get his seat back against tim kaine. popular moderate, i would say, recent chair of the democratic national committee. tim kaine versus george allen in your case. larry?

>> chris, i don't know if i mentioned the word coat tail. but this is a pure coat tail race. chris, think about it. how many voters who vote for president obama are going to turn around and vote for george allen? seriously. you can count on both hands and a lot of mistakes. tim kaine is not just known here as former governor. he is known as former obama dnc chair. so people who vote for mitt romney are very unlikely to turn around and vote for tim kaine. i think the winner of the presidential contest in virginia gets a bonus senate seat. >> wow. that powerful. >> yeah, i think it is definitely a nationalized race and i think the kaine campaign it looking at the obama campaign movement. how much do they plan virginia. does that help or hurt come november. if you watch kaine's campaign, he has been very careful to distant himself from president. >> i don't think he needs coat tails. let's go to missouri. what do you think, a very familiar face here on our show. we like her.

she has been a great open guest to us. she has a few problems. >> think she is the most endangered in the cycle. as larry mentioned, coat tails. they are not very strong, for the president in missouri. i think she will have tough reelection there. she does have a very crowded and negative primary in her favor on the republican side though. >> same question, but i want to hear from you about john tester in montana. another guy with a crew cut. looks like a regular guy. works on his tractor on weekend. he is known as a north eastern liberal. that's for sure. your thought on him, larry? >> i think she's right but i would call tester the most endangered democratic incumbent. that a race i see obama losing 7, 8, 9, maybe 10 points this time around. that should be enough to allow the republican to defeat senator tester.

>> let's go finally to the hot race in florida. bill nelson has been around a long time. he may well face connie mac. it's not sure yet. he is up over mac by 8 points. again back to you sheera, has he been around too long, bill nelson? does he have a reason to be re-elected. >> there is that old saying, would you rather be lucky or good. i think bill nelson is lucky. republicans have a primary problem. >> his dad had a great record. his dad is was popular. >> his dad was popular but that was many years ago. his son is not running the solid campaign. >> the great grandfather to this guy was the owner of the philadelphia as. this guy, does he have the magic name or something. >> he has a magic name but he doesn't have a magic campaign. the republican problem in florida is the same as missouri. they don't have an obvious candidate.

they don't have a clear winner. unless you get one you will tip it to the incumbent unless florida goes heavily for mitt romney. >> let me ask you about coat tails. your theme tonight larry. i guess because i come from a state of ticket splitters, pennsylvania. i'm surprised that power you've given to the presidential line here. >> chris, we're in a polarized era, increasingly polarized. and because of that, fewer and fewer voters who show up at a presidential election are willing to cross ticket vote. they just stay in the same column. if they start democratic, they vote democratic from the courthouse to the white house. same thing if they are voting republican. the same is true in senate and white house this year. >> and you buy that? sounds like you do. >> i do for the most part. i think you can't underestimate at this point what ad wars will look like, especially in states like florida. florida will see campaign ads

like never before and they get a lot of traffic. it'll be very negative between the super pacs and campaigns. voters will be sick and tired of it and polarized. >> following your theorist coat tails, larry? >> if the president is re-elected by several percentage point democrat could end up with 51-49 or 50-50 with biden breaking the tie. if the president wins narrowly, i think the republicans are likely to take control 51-49, 52-48. >> and that's a bad situation, a president without a congress. >> well it is gridlock even with 53-47. but that's what they are good at, talking. >> what do you think, sheera? >> i think if the election was tomorrow, i think democrats barely hold the senate at 50-50 assuming if obama wins even by a little bit. >> it scares me.

here we go into two years and four years of divided government without a mandate on either side. without mandate how do you cut the deal to your side's favor. one last thought you from larry. how do you get government, with a government cut in half. >> i think we will have gridlock in all probability. >> okay, thank you very much. larry from university of virginia. well known and perhaps best guy out there. and sheera from roll call. what a great opportunity to have you on. >> thank you. the group pushing the stand your ground laws across the country are feeling the heat. they've lost so much corporate support, that's money behind them, as a result of trayvon martin case, they are getting out of stand your ground business. this is the political side of that case. that's ahead and this is "hardball." [ male announcer ] that. right there -- reminds you why you fell in love with her in the first place. and why you still feel the same. but your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right.

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[ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. we're back. that organization responsible for spreading the stand your ground law across the country is now standing down in the wake of the trayvon martin shooting. the american legislative exchange council, it's called, a group associated with promoting conservative causes generally is ending its work on social initiatives, including expansive self-defense laws like stand your ground. in the end the money talked. many top corporate sponsors as is often the case withdrew their support from the group called alec after the trayvon martin case. catch these big names. coke coal what, pepsi, kraft, and the bill and melinda gates foundation.

21 laws permit deadly force in in self-defense. lisa graves is the executive director of center for media and democracy which fought the laws of and steve kornacki writes for "salon". thanks for joining us, by the way. tell us what you believe the impact of the trayvon martin case in terms of funding this organization which has been pushing these stand your ground laws. >> sure. alec is a group largely funded by corporations. over 98% comes from everything but legislative dues even though it describes itself as a group focused on legislators. this group lost funders in the last few weeks as people learned about alec's roles and promoting stand your ground laws. there was a closed door meeting where this was a model. wal-mart was co-chair. alec ratified the bill to take it nationally and since then it spread across the country. >> let's go to steve on this. give me a sense if you can, the impact of this case you have been covering here.

trayvon martin, we don't have a jury yet or case even yet. we have an indictment. >> well, yeah, i mean, you mention that there are 25 states, give or take, that have these laws in the books. from sort of a legislative legislative standpoint, that's the question now. if alec is standing down and isn't going to push more for laws like this, the question is, what about the laws that are on the books now. can they come down? you run into two problems. you look at the states where the laws take place, they tend to be the more conservative, gun-friendly, nra-friendly states. you'll have powerful resistance from the gun lobby and republicans, because the republican party is sort of uniformly pro-nra. and that brings you to the broader problem, which is that you have a tragedy right now that's putting all of this in the news. eventually that tragedy will fade from the news. if you want to get these laws off the books, you need a concerted push, and to get a concerted push, you need a national party making this a

point. republicans aren't going to do it and democrats decided the ten years ago after al gore they're not going to do it either. you need momentum and i don't see where it's going to come from. >> because al gore wants south carolina to secede. i'm a gun control person. people want to have a right to open carries into restaurants, open carry into bars. it's going back to the wild west. is that going to stop because of the trayvon martin situation? is that going to dampen the push for more and more guns on display where there's places where there's booze around and things like that going on? >> i don't think so. the nra this weekend gave scott walker one of its biggest awards for pushing conceal and carry in wisconsin. so the nra isn't going away, but the nra has exiled by alec. i think that's a pr move, because alec is not going to do anything to lift a finger to remove the damage that's already been done. >> let me go to you, steve, about this whole question. alec organization, that's an organization that's well funded,

but pulling back from some of its pro-gun offenses. let's talk about voter recession. it's been my sense that there's a pretty clear partisan aspect to this. that the republican party across the country, wherever it has legislative power to states, is pushing. here it is ending its controversial work on voter i.d. laws. since, 17 state legislatures have passed laws that would restrict the right to vote, make it harder to get up election day or even earlier and get out and do your voting, though some have not gone into effect yet and are still under review. as a reporter, what can you tell us about alec pulling out of this or are they still going to keep doing it? >> it's sort of like with the gun situation. the question is, how much damage has already been done. at this point, alec pulling out in a way, they can kind of declare victory because these laws have been enacted in so many states. to give you a practical example, the next major election on the u.s. calendar right now is going to be recall in wisconsin. well, wisconsin is one of the states that put up the voter i.d. law, thanks in part to alec. that law is -- this is going to

be a very close race. recall walker, don't recall walker. it's going to be a very close race and you've got a law on the books now that most people would look at objectively and say the practical effect of this law is to give the republicans an advantage. >> that's right. i mean, this is a bill that's been pushed primarily by republican legislators, primarily by alec legislators in state after state, and we know that what it's going to do is make it much harder for college students to vote and it's going to make it harder for people who don't have driver's licenses, but may have proof of i.d., who have their lease or utility bill who could vote before, it's going to make it harder for them to vote. >> does it have enough impact in a presidential election? >> i think it does. if you shave you have 1% or 2% in a close race, it could have a huge effect, state to state. >> lisa, steve, thanks so much. one more thought for you, steve. this whole question of the power of the boardroom. we're seeing it all the time. where these organizations, although they seem to be totally ideological, they take a lot of money from mainstream brand

names, coca-cola, not just the koch brothers, but coca-cola, how is that going to be a pattern? is this going to be a way for progressive forces to stop some of this? >> i think that's sort of -- the key to what alec was doing is they were kind of operating in the shadows. it was a backdoor way to pursue a national conservative agenda without going through washington, d.c., where all of this stuff gets noticed very easily. you go to the state capitals where you know there aren't big legislative staffs, the media has been severely cutting back how they cover politics in state governments, so you can slip these things through a lot easier and a lot of these corporations probably didn't even know what they were sponsoring. >> okay, your thought on that? >> well, it is the case that you can buy legislatures pretty cheaply in the state. some of these corporations are giving only $500 donations directly to a particular candidate -- >> they just got to you, didn't they? lisa graves, just kidding. a little poltergeist here. steve kornacki, thank you, as always. as we return, let me continue with a tribute that was said to

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let me finish tonight with this. i was thinking back on my paper boy days, back when i spent all those slow summer afternoons delivering the philadelphia bulletin, along the border between montgomery county and bucks county. well, it was a long, lonely route, about five miles, and i had to ride my bike a mile just to get to it, but there was something idyllic about it given all that's happened since, of

course. i was thinking today about that, because i remember standing at the door of somebody on a friday afternoon, that was collection day, waiting for a customer to get me the 30 cents for that week's of papers and listening to banstand on a tv stet. bandstand was a big deal back then, especially for teenagers, a place that each afternoon, kids like me, became celebrities, just for showing up after school to dance to music. the host of that show was, of course, dick clark, who died today. and i wonder where all those kids were when day got the news. probably over in jersey, most of them, some of them still hanging on now in their 70s and the old narrow streets of south philadelphia. dick clark had a wonderful way of connecting to those kids, us kids. he cared about our music, about our fun. he actually cared about us. he was a little older, but not a day less hip. so tonight, i want to say how much i share in all this. we philly people were very proud, really proud that bandstan