trump is at it again claiming falsely that president obama admitted to a book publisher that he was born in kenya and raised in indonesia. also, gas prices when they were going up, republicans were blaming president obama saying he was engineering the price increases to coerce the nation into fuel efficiency. so what are republicans saying know that the prices have come way down? plus, the president reminds voters that this man, mitt romney, invests that corporations are people. here is a question. if mitt's experience makes him a job creator, why was massachusetts 47 in the job creation when he was the governor. and etan patz. finally, shooting the messenger, chris christie explodes when

finding out that the budget is way off of estimates. with me now are two msnbc political analyst, joan walsh, and david corn, the author of "showdown." is there a constituency for donald trump? a group of americans waiting for a trump endorsement so they know what to do or trump involvement so they know to whom to write checks? >> i really hope that's not the case, michael. i do think he is playing to part of the republican base which just won't give up the ghost on making and portraying barack obama as some foreign other entity. it just won't go away. and whether it's that he doesn't get america, or doesn't understand america as mitt romney says or that he wasn't

born here, or doesn't understand the country they're so engrained in the view of the president, even after three years plus of his presidency -- >> but david, anybody who would be motivated on that issue is already in the romney kamp. that's the part i don't understand. let me show you so everybody knows what we're talking about. in an interview, donald trump would not back down from questions about the president pointing now to a photoand biography written by a literary agency in 1991, covered by andrew brightbart said that it was in the written synopsis of his wook. his mother never spent a day in the hospital. the literary agency calls it a mistake, a fact checking error on her part. he said that's what he told the

literary agent, that's the way life works, he didn't know he was running for president so he told the truth. the literary agent told the truth. he said he was born in kenya, raised in indonesia, and said it's a mistake. his grandmother said he was born in kenya, and then she said here you can see that the 1991 literary agency photounearthed by the folks at brightbart. they say we don't buy the birther argument. we are putting it forward as evidence of the shoddy job of the media four years ago to vet the now president. >> they're bottom feeders. my god, i didn't think it was possible to get lower, but tis spawn have gotten lower. you put that out there you know

that you're aiding and abetting birtherism. we have better things to do on a holiday weekend than to talk about donald trump but we're doing it because mitt romney lacks the spine to stand up and say i'm sorry, i'm not going to have a fundraiser with you. it's really an important moment. i think the romney campaign slogan is leave no obama hater behind. people that love trump will vote for romney or stay home. there is no great love for romney in the crazy crack pot republican base, that part of the base, they're not all crazy crack pots. so maybe his campaign thinks there is a percentage in him standing by the orange haired bully, and talking to him and having his hug and having his endorsement. >> what's the proper response?

>> joan, what's the proper response. i know we're thinking of recent incidents on the campaign trail, the hillary rosen incident where there was -- if it's taken place in the birther business b i'm unaware of it. nobody came out and condemned him in the gop. >> the campaign jumped out. i like kevin madden, he said it doesn't matter we don't endorse his views. john boehner said it's not my job to tell people what to think. they aid and abet them because they're afraid of them and that energy in their own party. this is a moment when mitt romney would could i like donald trump but this is the politics i don't want to trump in. one of the saddest days in the last four years is when barack

obama our first black president had to stand up and show papers to that wealthy white believe. mitt romney should want to distance himself from that humiliation. >> david, i will let you jump into this, the one observation i put forth is this election is about the few undecided. i cannot believe as a political proposition it benefits the romney campaign to have this issue relitigated, david your thought? >> i think you're right. i don't think this plays to the suburban voters. once this does happen, what is mitt romney do about it? it reminds me of a couple weeks ago when he was confronted by a supporter who said the president should be tried for treason. john mccain said to a woman that

called barack obama an arab, he just laughed it off. >> allow me to show you this in advance of next tuesday's fundraiser, kevin madden told andrea mitchell that trump's support of the campaign doesn't mean that rol any subscribes to what trump believes. >> what's most important to remember is when you support somebody running for office that you're signing on to their views. romney made clear that he disagrees with comments like that. he made it clear every time in the media or in the blogs. he made it clear that he disagrees with that. >> so he will stand next to only did trump? >> yes, and talk about why he wants to be president and why the economy needs to be turned around. >> i think that argument would hold more water if trump wasn't

still out there joking about this subject. if he didn't continue to drive it home, he would say you can't hold a candidate for his supporters. >> you go, david. >> thanks, joan. the point here is he is using truch to raise money for his own campaign. you don't have to renounce everybody that says i support you and believe this crazy thing. that's not a game i don't expect candidates to do is that. when you're using that person and making a prominent argument against the president president and your opponent that's crack pot, and you're legitimatizing it. so, this is not just, well we don't have to talk about crazy supporters. this is someone they're using to raise money for mitt romney when they don't have to.

it's they're decision and choice and they're making the wrong one. >> allow me to show you what took place this morning when joy behar tried to have a little fun. >> i have something for you, my birth certificate -- >> don't believe her. >> i would like to see obama's. >> joan, it's an issue that's not going to go away so long as trump is on the stage in a presidential context. >> right, and trump is using romney too. if he wanted to morph into an elder statesman of the party he would shut his trap and enjoy the limelight and enjoy that they're raffling off a dinner with him. that's what obama raffled off to his supporters, but if he were trying to rehabilitate himself

he would shut up, but he's humiliating mitt romney. he knows he is making trouble and he doesn't care. he wants to float this issue and he will use a presidential campaign to do it. he knows romney doesn't have the backbone to stand up to him. >> chris asked newt gingrich why some republicans can't let go of the birther talk. >> i don't think you believe a word of this, but why do some people in your party including donald trump who i have mixed feelings about, and i like him in some ways, but he's not stupid enough to believe this birther stuff and he keeps playing it. barack obama has a birth certificate the same as ours. she clearly locally born in hawaii. why do some people in your party push that he's not an american? >> beats me. >> thank you. >> david corn, it it beats the

former speaker. >> let's not let the speaker off easy here, last year he said that barack obama, the only way to understand this guy, is if you realize he has an kenian perspective. they act like he is a foreigner without a american mentality. he did it in a more sophisticated way, but it's the same bologna that the birthers are passing. it's really a disengeniustivity. >> have a great memorial day weekend, we appreciate you both as always. >> coming up, when gas prices were going up, republicans blamed president obama, now that they're down, do you think they're giving him the credit?s] . really?

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welcome back to "hardball," about 41 million people will hit the road this memorial day weekend. today the national average for a price of regular gasoline is $3.67. for months, reasonable cares could not talk about anything but gas prices. they accused the president of

causing the spike in prices this spring, and say he alwaysment alwaysmented -- always wanted the prices to go up. it doesn't take a political genius to debunk that. why would a president in the middle of a reelection want americans to feel pain at the pump. does the president deserve credit now for lower gas prices. we have two guests with us tonight. list let's me start with you, the republicans have been accusing the president of a environmental agenda to make gas prices go up, here was hailey barber last summer. >> they want to drive up the price so americans use less of it. that's their policy. they think it will give you less pollution, make these

alternative energy sources, excuse me, bob, more competitive. >> and newt gingrich earlier this year tied gas prices directly to the president. >> you believe he wants to see more expensive gas you said? >> of course he does, you know that. he said it himself, his policy has been outrageously anti-american energy, and the high price is directly a result of obama. >> mitt romney misquoted the president to make it seem like he wanted higher gas prices, here is that tape. >> there's no question when he ran for office, he said he wanted to see gas prices go up. he said prices would skyrocket under his views, and he selected three people to help him implement that program. and this gas hike trio has been doing the job and gas prices are

up. >> he never said he wanted to see higher gas prices. he said that curbing greenhouse gas emissions would cost electricity prices to skyrocket. domestic oil production has risen each year of obama's presidency. is it fair for me to call it a conspiracy? >> i would call it cynical politics as usual. everybody knows that the u.s. president cannot, in the sort term, affect the price of gas at the pump. as it happens, the high prices in the spring were about politics, but not u.s. politics. they were mostly driven by iranian politics and markets were factoring in what looked like the very high risk of a war with iran because of it's nuclear program and that's what set the prices high. analyst were predicting the

price would go as high as four or maybe five dollars. this will be an election chiefly about the economy, and you can talk about gdp and other statistics all you like, but if the price at the pump is high, that is an economic number people feel, so they went for it. >> does the president have some vulnerability on gas prices? >> i don't think so. i think most people understand as you said that the president can't do anything short term to lower gas prices in the immediate. and i do think that when people look at president obama's energy policy he has had a all of the above strategy. so, no one can actually say that he isn't pursuing all avenue views to create -- increase our energy production, and i think it's really cynical for the republicans to have jumped on it back then and i'm waiting to

hear all of the credit now that gas prices have gone down. typically now is when prices are at their peak and it's lower than it's been in months, so where look at this chart if you would that debunks the notion that policies of any president can have a major impact on gas prices. if you look at the prices in europe verses the united states, they're in lock step. american prices are lower because taxes on gasoline are lower. pretty clear, is it not, that it's one of those subjects where if it goes well the president gets credit, and when it's poorly he gets blame he doesn't deserve. >> we all know that the price of oil is set on the world market and that is not a market that the u.s. president controls. i do disagree with the keystone

pipeline, if i was a republican strategist, i would be hammering that issue. mitt romney pushed it this week, it doesn't have an impact on the price of gas at the pumps odd, but if the republicans want an issue where they can say con create lie that this president is not supporting getting more oil into the united states, the keystone pipeline is an issue they can do that and they can say that would also be american jobs. i think that was a misstep and they will pay for it. >> daniel, last month, political ads based on gas prices dominated the air waves. there were 17,000 negative ad in the country, 81% of them focused on energy. watch this. >> then, and now, the

difference, president obama's restriction of oil in the gulf. and obama personally lobbied to kill a pipeline bringing oil from canada. >> so, is this now an issue that's being removed from the table of those a-list issues we're going to be hearing and talking about from now to november if gas prices stay where they are or continue to decline, has it been pulled out of the gop arsenal? >> i think it has been. and to go back to the keystone pipeline, when you look at independent studies, it wouldn't reduce the price of gasoline. so i don't think that was their strongest argument and that's why they weren't going with it. i think it was tricky for them to put all of their eggs into the gas price basket. we'll hit back with the argument that the president cannot control day today gas prices. what you have to look at is what are the long term policies.

and when you look at mitt romney verses president obama, i think the american people will realize that the path that president obama wants to go on is the one that will actually create energy independence for us. >> thank you both. we appreciate you being here. up next, we have seen weird campaign ads this year, but we found one for a candidate in south dakota that might just beat them all. that's next in the side show. this is "hardball." uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently

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brainwashing, it was his initial support for the vietnam war. mitt got candid in an interview saying i don't think my father's comment figures into my thinking at all. it's his own mistakes that makes me want to quick myself in the seat of my pants. i've had a few of those in the campaign. so which gaffe did romney site as an example? >> i like being able to fire people who provide services to me. >> i can see why that would be a low light. how did a rubber chicken, chess set, and talk of perfect teeth end up in one campaign ad? we've all seen our share of out there campaign ads, this might take the cake. >> give me a second i'll tell you why i'm the right guy for the job. my dad got a job for the cia and

was a dip employee mate for the u.s. government. we lived around the world, and i learned clesz in iceland. we raised our two daughter who's have straight dooet, college degrees, and husbands. i served in the military with one of these. congress is broken. who is going to fix it? dc insiders? they have their horses in the race but they're heading north and all we see is their south end. >> he has ridden an ostrich, how are you not convinced? david roast in new jersey for the office of legislative services recently projected that the state's revenue might fall short of governor chris christie's estimates by over a billion dollars come 2013.

christie struck back, let the name calling begin. >> these people across the street are going through withdrawal. they're on the floor, sweating, shaking, they don't know what to do because they need to raise taxes. they have to. because they have to spend more. the only thing that makes them shake more is the possibility that we might actually cut taxes so they have to call in the dr. kevorkian of numbers. david rosen. why would anybody with a functioning brain, believe this guy? how often do you have to be wrong to finally be dismissed? >> you heard it, dr. kevorkian. rosen concedes that these estimates are anything but foolproof.

i doubt that team romney watching that outburst will think there is our veep. romney saying he knows how to create jobs, his record says something different. that's ahead. if you want to follow me on twitter, just figure out how to spell smerconish.

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i'm milissa rehberger, the confessed killer of etan patz was released from a hospital wing where he is on suicide watch and is charged with second-degree murder murder. a hostage stand off has now ended. and a commercial supply ship successfully docked with the international space station

earlier, it will be opened on saturday. back to "hardball." >> governor romney came to des moines last week. warned about a prairie fire of debt. that's what he said, prairie fire. but he left out some facts. his speech was more like a cow pie of distortion. welcome back to "hardball," in speeches this week, president obama made clear he's taking the lead in attacking mitt romney. here are some of the highlights. >> when you're president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not to maximize profits. >> those of us who spent time in the real world, know that the

problem isn't that the american people aren't productive enough -- >> why is he pedaling the same bad ideas that brought our economy to the brink of collapse. that was tried, remember? the last guy did all of this. he declared that corporations are people. >> so are questions if being his own surrogate is a smart move for the president. andrea mitchell is the host of andrea mitchell on msnbc, andrea, are you surprised he is his own dick cheney? >> not entirely. let's take a look at the track record of some of his best surrogates over the last couple weeks, joe biden and then cory booker. if you can't rely on your surrogates you have to be an

attack dog. i think they know the super pacs are coming at them double barrelled. he will be -- they do not have the facility to go negative and go hard as much as some of the republicans have. >> glenn, historically speaking, if one goes back the last supple cycpsyc -- couple cycles, you don't have the president invoking the name of his president. it's weird that we're getting to where we are so quickly. >> you're right we're in the postcitizen's united era here. i think with surrogates like cory booker and ed rendell, obama needs to do some of the work himself. with the acceleration of the news cycle, who will remember that obama was saying this stuff this early on. i think to a certain extent it's

better to make these direct attacks in may and june than in october and november. i think the calculation is do it now so you don't have to do it later. >> right, but i guess what i would respond to that, andrea, is by saying the best thing politically speaking that the president has going for him is his likability. even folk that's will not vote for him thinks he is a decent guy. doesn't he run the risk of driving down that popularity number if he is the attack dog? >> he does and he needs to worry about the independent voters and losing them. some of the bain attacks have lost him support in the business community. that said, if you look at the enthusiasm gap we now see where there is so much less enthusiasm on the part of the democratic base for president obama compared to the enthusiasm on the part of the republican base for mitt romney, then you have to really figure you are going to fire up that base and you

have to do it with this aggressive campaigning. that's the calculation, they're in the mode of getting their supporters out because it will be this closely fought, and they now have a lot of people who are pretty much sitting on their hands. >> glenn, let's talk jobs, rom sni argued his years as a successful businessman qualify him to fix the nation's economy. it's not like romney was not holding a government position ever. he was governor of massachusetts for four years. in des moines last night, president obama pointed that out. >> he doesn't talk about what he did in massachusetts. but he does talk about being a business guy. >> in a piece about how romney's governorship is playing in this campaign, you have written that no candidate in modern history has to aggress ily undersol the most desirable qualification for

the presidency since the 1970s, running a state. for the entirety of his term, massachusetts was 47 in the job growth -- >> how can a candidate, when you've had five of the last six presidents emerge from governor's mansions, can you imagine having a candidate who has that as a central part of his resumé and does not discuss it. the majority leader told me the other day that recruiters always tell you to look for the gaps in the resumé, and he thought there was a four year gap in governor romney's resumé. he will have to talk about this. the record is out there. the obama folks will hammer him. they might as well own it, and it is not an entirely terrible

record even with health care reform. >> andrea, i know that some people would say that it's because of health care reform that he doesn't talk about his massachusetts record because to talk about what he did as governor would immediately conjure up the record on health care. if he had been governor of one of the other 49 other states, would he will more apt to talk about his record? do americans associate massachusetts with liberalism? >> i think it's a combination, health care, the mandate, the rick santorum mantra about that, and maybe massachusetts, michael ducaucus, and it's the tea party and the way they approach being governor of massachusetts. that was truly the theme of the

campaign and of his challenges in the cam pin. >> thank you both. we had the a team, appreciate you being here. >> thank you, great to be with you guys. >> up next, how police in new york crack a cold case 30 years later.ia can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. [ male announcer ] why not talk to one of the six million people who've switched to the most highly recommended bed in america? ask me about my tempur-pedic. [ male announcer ] did you know there's tempur-pedic for everybody? and right now is the perfect time to buy. save up to $200 during our mattress set savings event and up to $600 on tempur-cloud supreme.

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log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. welcome back to "hardball" pedro hernandez is being arraigned today from his bed at a hospital. etan was abducted on his first ever solo trip to the bus stop

33 years ago today. jonathan deitz has been covering this case, and we have the mother of summer thompson, a second grader abducted and killed on her way home from school in 2009. is this a fella never interviewed, he was on the radar screen, but was never interviewed by investigators in the first go round? >> that's correct. that was detailed at a news conference yesterday. what led them to this suspect was a tip. appare apparently he had been talking about how he harmed a child in new york years ago. he suffers from a mental illness so perhaps they did not take them seriously until they began a new search digging for a body in that neighborhood, and one of

the relatives realized perhaps what he was talking about, about harming a child, that this could be a connection. so they alerted police. >> apart from his confession, his presumed confession, is there any evidence that we're aware of that ties him to the crime. >> just this confession, hours of written and audio and videotape confessions, and the claims that he made to three other earwitnesses over the years. there is no witness that says i saw him with that kid way back when, so -- >> i guess what i'm driving at is thinking of cases like the linberg baby case where multiple people came out and said i did it. so have the police ruled out the crack pot factor here? >> that's what the dlechbs be going after. some say it's like a dominic

strauss-kaun case where there was probable cause to make an arrest but it fell apart because the credibility of the accuser did not hold up. in this case, what's the r credibility of the person making this confession. the police took him back to the scene and had him do a walk through where he said he detailed what happened where he lured this little boy with the offer of a soda can to the basement of this bodega, and he strangled the child and left him on the sidewalk to be picked up with the garbage trucks. >> dina, my condolences to you and the loss of your daughter. you are sadly, uniquely qualified to tell us what kind of closure the family might be able to draw from this. >> you know, being able to find

out who did this to your chakt is always a breath of fresh air if you will. you want to know who it is so you're not under anybody's suspicion that you're involved. i'm sure they'reguilty, they won't be plus they know they have got the right person. >> what has been the significance of the etan patz case to make sure we're protecting the movement of children over the last several decad decades? >> i don't know that. i'm the same age he would be. when i was a child i didn't expect something like this could happen to me. i know he's the first child to be on a milk carton. it just exploded from there. >> isn't one of the ramifications of all of this attention that dumpsters were something that would not have

been searched when you had a missing child and now the whole thing has been altered be p. >> i don't think it was part of their procedures to look if the trash. we got lucky to find somer in the trash. it's ashamed to think of how many people are in our land fills. that's come a long way since then. >> you've received closure in your case in that the man is behind bar, life in prison. that was a decision you were comfortable. originally you thought a death penalty but you thought life in prison was the best outcome you would hope for. >> i wanted to make sure he paid for what he did. i didn't want to allow him to be in my children and our family's life for the rest of our life such as dragging us through court. i wanted to take care of him and put him exactly where he belonged. >> jonathan, now with regard to the gentleman suspected and in custody for the etan patz

course, what do he's had. >> he's had a pretty normal life. after working in new york city, he got off, married in new jersey. has children. had a normal life. no criminal history to speak of. that's what's baffling about this. police are scrambling to interview everyone he's come into contact with to find anything that will link him with this case. they have their work out. they will have a busy weekend pouring over over this case to try to find witnesses or thaefd will help corroborate the confession he's given. >>ive just barely a minute left. the why question. he lured him with soda allegedly. why? what was the motivation?

what transpired? do we know? >> we were told police asked him in the hours of questioning time and time again and he was never able to offer an answer. he never did give an answer as to why he went after that beautiful child that day. >> so darn sad. at least we hope that the family gets closure to the extent this is the guy and there's a conviction and so their lives can go on and be more fullfulinfulfil fulfilling. thank you for being here. >> thank you. when we return, allow me to finish over a big fight of free speech. should people be able to post comments anonymously online? [ sighs ] cut! sorry to interrupt. when's the show? well, if we don't find an audience, all we'll ever do is rehearse. maybe you should try every door direct mail. just select the zip codes where you want your message to be seen. print it yourself or find a local partner. and you find the customers that matter most. brilliant! clifton, show us overjoyed.

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let me finish with this. the blogosphere with be a vicious place. go on any website that allows posting of iftss stories and you will see what i'm talking about. the state of new york is seeking to ban anonymous comments from websites. it would amend the civil rights laws in order to protect a person's right to know whoa is behind an anonymous internet

posting. the definite includes social media. the attention is to combat cyber bullying. the supreme court has upheld anonymous rights. protection for anonymous speech are vital for democratic discourse. the court wrote, it's a shield from the tyranny of the majority. if anonymous speech had been unlawful at the time of the federalist papers than authors would have been forced to disclose their real names or the papers would perhaps have remained unpublished. still, i would curious to see what comments would be appended to the time.com story and see how many people would sign their name. some did and they framed the issue nicely. julian said this is no different from something that president jintao supported.

mobile weather.org said it's not freedom of speech to tear into people mercilessly. if you're going to do it, then have the blank to use your real name. steve blank said protection from bullying can be covered under speech. if i call you a blankity blank, that's my right. many is recognize a troll and report him or her to the moderator. the internet is not a form for free speech. it's not a free for all. there are rules. if you're unable to man up and identify yourself when you comment, then take your free speech and your soap box and go elsewhere. finally, freedom is not free. well, he's right. my heart likes the new york initiative to ban anonymous postings. my head says otherwise. it's doubtful that the

contemplated law could with stand constitutional scrutiny and is just as well. it's important to remember that many died to preserve the right for free speech even the offensive. that's sh that's "hardball." "the ed show" starts right now. good even, americans. welcome to "the ed show." republicans say the president's attacks on mitt romney's job record aren't working. as usual, they are totally wrong. let's get to work. >> there may be value for that kind of experience, but it's not in the white house. >> the president keeps dropping the hammer on mitt romney and has harsh words for his opponents lies. >> that speech was more like a cow pot distortion. >> tonight, senator bernie sanders on what mitt romney's cow pie of distortion will do to the country. i have something for you. >> my birth certificate.