thank you tonight for being here. have a great weekend. happy father's day to the fathers. thank you for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. dream a little dream. let's play some "hardball." good evening. i'm michael smerconish in washington for chris matthews. leading off tonight, dream act lite. for years democrats have tried to pass the dream act and for years republicans have stopped them. today president obama issued an executive order that would stop the deportations of most illegal immigrants who arrived here as children. is this a political play for the latino vote?

you bet ya. we'll break down the politics. plus, president obama and mitt romney offer starkly different visions for fixing the economy. romney says trust the private sector. president obama says that's another way of saying let's try those bush policies all over again. my question, can barack obama win re-election without offering some new vision? also, could race be a bigger factor in the election than we thought? using google searches, a harvard researcher says racism cost barack obama three to five points in 2008 and could sink him this time. and the sandusky trial. one thing we're learning is that many people knew what was going on for a long time. so why did it take so long for people to speak out? finally, mitt romney's bus tour got underway today and with it, someone with a sense of humor driving an suv with a fake dog strapped on top. it of course is in the side show. we begin with the president's announcement. howard fineman is with the "huffington post" and both with

msnbc political analysts. let me get you caught up by hearing exactly what was said first by the president on this matter. the president had the following to say when he made this announcement in the rose garden. >> effective immediately, the department of homeland security is taking steps to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people. over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not present a risk to national security or public safety will be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings and apply for work authorization. this is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people. it is the -- it is the right thing to do. >> and then late this afternoon, mitt romney reacted to the

president's announcement. >> i believe the status of young people who come here through no fault of their own is an important matter to be considered and should be solved on a long-term bases so they know what their future would be in this country. i think the action the president took today would make it more difficult to reach that long-term solution. i'd like to see legislation that deals with this issue and i happen to agree with marco rubio as he looks to consider this issue. he said that this is an important matter. that we have to find a long-term solution, but that the president's action makes reaching a long-term solution more difficult. if i'm president, we'll do our very best to have that kind of long-term solution. >> howard, i think i know how it plays with the respected basis of the parties both the rs and the ds. but how does it play with the is? the independents? >> that's one reason why mitt romney was being as careful here

as i thought. he was saying long-term, not short-term. he wasn't denouncing it. i think that's important. if you're talking about swing voters, a lot of those are latinos and i think this is very important for them and a plus for the president. if you're talking about white working class americans, in states such as ohio and north carolina, in nevada, and elsewhere in florida that are swing states, also, then i think it's a closer question. it's obviously a very political thing obviously, it's not about the number one topic in the country and election, which is the economy. and some of those independent voters don't like moves that look too political. for them it could be a turnoff. >> you heard governor romney's invoke of rubio's name. was his stock going sky high today? >> i think his stock was already going sky high and i think in part that the obama campaign

sees that and they want to get in there ahead of the possibility of rubio becoming the running mate. they don't want to look like they're reacting to rubio and the president needs forward motion on something. it's kind of like the thing in case of emergency, break glass. okay? this was kind of in case of emergency, break glass. let's do this hispanic thing now. >> this hispanic thing. i love it. it's fair though. >> a cynic would say let's look at the states that would be impacted by this. i mean, it's half of those that are the swing states. >> i think howard is right. had president obama done this six or seventh months ago, the latino community would have remembered and the moderates would have forgotten. now, they say wait a second, i don't have a job. this is uncomforting for me. why are you talking about jobs and providing special privileges. however what the obama campaign has done smartly is basically saying we're going out before rubio, before romney and own

this media campaign and media messaging. whatever rubio or romney does now, it's going to be difficult for them to own this issue. >> speaking of rubio, he issued a statement himself on this issue today. we've got it to put up on the screen today. i called it lukewarm statement. there is broad support for the idea he wrote that we should figure out a way to help kids undocumented through no fault of their own, but there's also broad consensus in a way that does not encourage illegal immigration in the future. the announcement will become welcomed news to many of these kids desperate for an answer but it's a short-term answer to a long-term problem. what does this mean politically? >> i think he's right. the legislation he wants to propose is creating a path to legalization and residency. president obama's does neither. it just basically provides the opportunity for a kid to get a job or go to the military.

the big difference between romney and obama is romney has only wanted to support dream act only for the military. that really ruffled some feathers. not only just latino feathers. also a lot of moderates and progressives saying these young people can sacrifice our life for the country, but can't be doctors or accountants or engineers? that doesn't make any sense. >> i thought of newt gingrich when i heard the announcement today, it reminded me of what i thought i heard the former house speaker saying on the campaign trail that incurred the wrath of his opponents. >> what the white house is doing here is trying to keep mitt romney in the corner that mitt romney put himself in during the primary season in order to outflank rick perry and others on the immigration issue. and they're trying to back him into the corner by going as far as they have. i totally agree it's a halfway measure. and if you read the three-page letter of order from secretary napolitano, you can see it really isn't a sweeping thing here. and they can slow walk it to the

extent they want. but politically, i think it was a, overall, it was a pretty shrewd stroke on the part of the the president. >> maria, let's watch because in a republican presidential debate, newt gingrich and mitt romney sparred over immigration policy with gingrich portraying romney as heartless. romney saying he's enforcing the law. >> is he still the most anti-immigrant candidate? >> i think of the four of us, yes. >> go ahead. >> that's inexcusable. >> you tell me what language you would use to describe somebody who thinks that deporting a grandmother or a grandfather from their family -- just tell me the language. i'm perfectly happy for you to explain the language you'd use. >> i think i described following the law as it exists in this country, which is to say i'm not rounding people up and deporting them. what i said was people who come here legally get a work permit. people who do not come here legally, do not. those who don't get work will tend over time to self-der port. >> what the president put forth today, does it really change

things? maybe this is a naive question on my behalf. sort of folks he's talking about acceptable really being deported as things stand now? >> it does give relief to a lot of biggest advocates within the immigration movement, which have been young dreamers. young people. they're the ones that have been staging hunger strikes, walking around the country. they're the ones who have created this media swell that has been very difficult for the obama administration to back away from. what i really caution romney with is again, he's the one that says he's for some sort of immigration. but he has strange bedfellows. chris cole battle in the sb-1070 legislations is one of his largest supporters. the fact he has pete wilson, the one that is basically chairman of the california caucus, of his campaign in california, that's a dirty word among the latino community. he's saying one thing, but the folks he's moving his campaign along is very anti-latino,

anti-immigration. >> speaking of bedfellows, steve king from iowa has said he wants to sue the administration over what the president just announced today. iowa is a swing state. now, everybody in iowa knows steve king already. no news there. but to the extent that the obama campaign in iowa can tie romney to steve king on immigration with this latest play, it's marginally helpful to the president in that state. >> quick question for you, howard. the timing of this. why today? this is a serious issue. politically speaking, this the time to drop it? >> i think there's a big political meeting next week involving the latino community, that's one and i think the president wants to change the subject. don't forget, to some extent, the president is running a cultural campaign against the romney's economic campaign.

he's got a big gay rights event going on at the white house today. he made this announcement on latinos. so he's going cultural to change the subject from the economy. >> was today the time to do this? >> absolutely because the supreme court is going to come out on their decision of sb-1070. basically today, that immigration is congressional issue, so they're forcing the supreme court to say wait a second the state's can't be deciding. >> the days of waiting for labor day for the starting gun to be fired are long over. thank you, howard fineman. thank you terre rest is a. coming up, president obama and mitt romney offer two different visions of how to fix the economy. mitt romney wants to leave it to the private sector. president obama says that's what got us into this mess. this is "hardball." the place for politics. john mccain is [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink?

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john mccain is condemning the dirty angry money flowing into the presidential campaign. the arizona republican said sheldon adelson's contribution to mitt romney's allies meaning foreign money from adelson's casino is pouring into the campaign. >> mr. adelson's casino profits that go to him come from his casino in macaw. >> which says what? >> says that maybe farm money is coming in to a campaign. >> he added we need to have a limit on the flow of campaign money and that corporations are not people. we'll be right back. sorry. sore knee. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. gives that instant cold sensation. that's chilly. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists.

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if you want to give the policies of the last decade another try, then you should vote for mr. romney. >> he's been president for three and a half years. and talk is cheap.

actions speak very loud. >> welcome back. we may have reached an inflection point in the campaign when president obama and mitt romney faced off against each other yesterday in dualing speeches in ohio. mr. obama tried to frame the election as a choice between his economic policies and republicans failed agenda of the past. mitt romney for his part tried to make it a referendum on the president's last three and a half years in office. joining me know, joan walsh and john feehery is a republican strategist. thank you for being here. president obama held up governor romney's economic policies as carbon copy of a failed george w. bush agenda. >> the economic vision of mr. romney and his allies in congress cousin wested just a few years ago. we tried this. their policies did not grow the economy. they did not grow the middle class. they did not reduce our debt. why would we think they would work better this time?

>> joan wal ch -- walsh, is blame bush still potent? >> i think polls show and voters blame bush, michael, but i think he did more than that. an interesting thing the president did, he's making the case i'm not just speaking out of eight years of republican leadership lsh -- lack of leadership. i'm digging out of 30 years and he really told quite a telling story. we had wages begin to decline. we had moms going to the workforce, families trying to keep up. families borrowing against their houses because their wages weren't keeping up. starting with reagan, we disinvested in public education. here in california, the system was free until ronald reagan. we've seen college tuition costs double and triple. so it's a long-term story that kind of culminates in the crash of 2008 when things really fell

apart. he's trying to make people understand that this is not something that just started. >> i guess what i'm asking is even if americans buy into that portion of the logic, at this stage of the election, aren't they looking for more that's forward looking? john feehery, i guess i'm making your argument for you. >> the big problem i have with this, first of all, george bush is not on the ballot. about how has the president done and what is his vision for the next four years. this is a curious time to blame george bush. it's a long end to his administration. he could have made that the next -- first year. but this is three and a half years into his administration. and job growth has been so stagnant and remarkably lousy that i just don't think it works with most voters. i know what joan's saying. there's a poll saying you still blame bush. bush is not on the ballot and i don't think it's going to work for president obama. if he wants to win, he's got to

hope for two things. that the economy improves and he gives a vision for the future. >> the president laid out his ideas for moving the campaign. the slogan says forward. here's that audio. >> i believe we need a plan for better education and training and for energy independence and for new research and innovation, for rebuilding our infrastructure. and if you agree with me, if you believe this economy grows best when everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules, then i ask you to stand with me for a second term as president. >> here's the the part that i'm not getting from him, joan. the part that says if the gop maintains control of the house and if there's continued i'll say the word, intransigent on the part of the republicans who will provide the leadership in the house, then how is he going to get any of these things

accomplished. i haven't heard it from romney either. neither of them have addressed the partisanship. are you hearing something i'm not? >> the one thing i did hear, michael, is he said it's up to the voters to break the stalemate. and he pointed back to ronald reagan. at the end of the speech did something important which said look, our post war america was strong. because we had a bipartisan consensus about the roll of the government and in growing the economy. it wasn't the government did it alone. it wasn't the government controlled everything. it was that we built roads and we funded rnd and funded schools and public universitys. because that made smart people and it made businesses strong. and we are stuck because this republican party has moved so far to the right they won't

even -- they won't meet me where ronald reagan met democrats or where nixon met democrats. so he's saying his goal -- the three of us can disagree about whether or not this is going to be effective. you have to break the stalemate. you have to tell the republican party. why have you gone off a cliff and why have you lost your minds? >> but, john, we don't have a parliamentary system. if the status quo is maintained, i'm not sure anybody on either side of the aisle will be happy with where we are standing come january. >> last time democrats had control of everything, there was an overwhelming rejection of president obama and the democratic leader policies, it was hork. the 2010 elections were historic. i'm glad joan mentioned ronald reagan. reagan used to say the most nine terrifying words are i'm from the government and i'm here to help. that is the beautiful thing about the speeches in ohio. they give us a philosophical divide here.

if you believe the government is going to help you with all of our problems, you're going to vote for obama. if you believe the private sector is going to create jobs, you vote for mitt romney. that is a philosophical divide there. i think the government is so completely unpopular with most voters right now. polls show at the bottom of all the ratings. this is a good place for the romney campaign to be. >> joan walsh, does the president need to offer something new? something more than we received yesterday? you know, he's been called the only adult in the room in the past on these issues. and i think that proposition's being tested now. >> yes. frankly, he does need to offer more than that. and i've said that to you for a lojs time, michael. i think he was not concrete enough about what his policies would do. what he did today with his -- you know, individual dream act maneuver is going to be way more important than any speeches he gives. he's got to and he should have been already looking for as many things he can do on his own via

executive orders that can move the needle for people and do it on jobs as well. i don't think that he is outlining a bold enough jobs plan. i don't think he's saying this is how we're going to put people to work in enough detail. even yesterday he talked about how we began to come out of the recession but didn't talk about his own recovery act which did help us get to a certain point. now, mitt romney -- >> i think you make an observation. unfortunately, john, i'm out of time. >> let me say something quickly. >> there's something to be desired. i have to say thanks. up next, mitt romney can't outrun that story of how the put the dog on the roof for the family vacation. well, find out what happened today on the campaign trail. that's next in the side show. if you want to follow me on twitter, figure out how to spell smerconish. this is "hardball" the place for politics. [ banker ] mike and brenda found a house that they really wanted.

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welcome back to "hardball." time for the side show. first up, jon stewart took on senate banking committee member jim demint yesterday. take a look at this. >> they didn't just haul jamie dimon in to tell him how good he is and huge he is. they also brought him in to talk about how terrible they, the senate are. >> we can hardly sit in judgment of your losing $2 billion. we lose twice that every day here in washington. >> did senator demint think that spending money is the same as losing money? i had $10 million yesterday and now all i see is this [ bleep ] highway. i don't understand.

where's my money? we're going to have to dig this up and find my money. >> stewart's right. there's a big difference between building something and blowing it. next, mitt romney just can't shake the dog on the roof story. romney's on a bus tour through new hampshire. guess who's with him? the romney mobile with a fake dog strapped to the roof. you can see it there. in michigan two democratic female state legislators were banned from speaking on the state house floor this week. one seemingly for referring to her vagina over an anti-abortion bill. here's lisa brown. >> i have not asked you to adopt and adhere to my religious beliefs. why are you asking me to adopt yours? and finally, mr. speaker, i'm flattered that you're all so

interested in my vagina, but no means no. brown later told the daily beast quote, if i said elbow would i have gotten in trouble? if you're regulating vaginas, i don't know how we're not supposed to talk about them. which would force men getting vasectomies to show their life was at risk or prove they had a medical emergency. a spokesperson for the speaker said the decision was about the need to keep the floor debate civil and mature. and lastly, florida governor rick scott tells the miami herald he voted by provisional ballot back in 2006. why you might ask? quote, you can't vote because you're dead. you passed away according to our voter rolls. scott says he was told. after providing his i.d., they allowed him to vote. it turns out he was born the same day as another richard scott who had passed away. up next, the race factor.

a new study says barack obama would have won even bigger four years ago were it not for race. what does it mean for november's election? that's ahead. you're watching "hardball" the place for politics. [ male announcer ] this is the at&t network. a living, breathing intelligence helping business, do more business. in here, opportunities are created and protected. gonna need more wool! demand is instantly recognized and securely acted on across the company. around the world. turning a new trend, into a global phenomenon. it's the at&t network -- securing a world of new opportunities. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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i'm milissa rehberger. he's what's happening. a person in the shooting death of her girlfriend was found dead in the woods. timothy jorden apparently committed suicide. destroying more than a hundred homes. the blaze is over 100 miles. found competent to stand trial. he's charged with interfering with a flight crew. back to "hardball."

welcome back. a new study makes a argument that despite conventional wisdom, preng diswas not a major factor in the election. he would have won by a larger if not for racial anmouse. using a google tool which tracks the frequency of search words. researchers found ouz the regions that used racist search terms. in this case, the n word. it was included in the same number of searches as "the daily show" or migraine or economists, but it's where those searches were done that makes a difference. seth stevens conducted the study. he's a doctoral candidate in economics at harvard. dr. james peterson is a professor at lehigh university.

i get people are prone to goo e googling god. we americans google porn more than weather? >> yeah. and smerconish is googled in pennsylvania, i hope you would like to know. >> let's talk about the political significance of what you've learned. there's a graph i want to put up on the screen if we can. this documents the research you have performed. there it is. it shows in media market with the highest frequency of racially charged searches were obama underperformed in the '08 election relative to predictions. would you expand on this for us. >> basically predict how many votes obama should have received based on how many other they received. john kerry in 2004. and democrats were more popular in 2008 compared to 2004. >> in what parts of the country? give me specific examples.

>> the point of the research is not to point out and put down any particular part of the country. the search rate was highest in west virginia, western pennsylvania, eastern ohio, upstate new york, southern mississippi. but it turned out to be relatively common throughout the united states. >> and the net of this is you say you extrapolate the data and say there was a 3% to 5% decrease in the obama vote in '08? >> from racial -- continuing racial prejudice of the united states, yes. >> professor peterson, does this make sense to you? the premise is built on the notion if you're searching for the n word, there's something that can be implied. i've scratched my noggin to think why you would search the n word in any circumstance and i can't come up with anything. >> seth can probably articulate this better than i can. most these folks are looking for sites that depict

african-americans in negative ways. tell racial jokes and things of that nature. i've got to tell you. i'm not surprised by this, but i think it's very empowering to have the quantitative data match up with the qualitative analysis we've done on shows like "hardball" and others throughout the years. we've been talking about some of these. we know racism is still out there. we tend to think of it as only existing amongst a minority. but this google search stat is important in erm thes of letting us know it has impact. not just on presidential elections. that's one way of thinking about this. but one of the most important pieces is that it still effects black folk all over the country. >> it seems from 3% to 5% of folks had gone for obama who didn't, we would be talking a reaganesque proportion. >> you have to recall how unpopular republicans were in

the 2008 election cycle. so george bush had one of the lowest approval ratings in history at the time. obama was consistently comparing mccain to george bush trying to tie them together. and also mccain made some big campaign blunders such as seeming to not be able to understand the problems of the economy. >> did you take into consideration that the president's race was an asset in certain quarters. whether there were white with liberals voting for more inclined to do so because of his race. or an african-american vote that perhaps boosted turnout in those communities. was that something you contemplated? >> i calculated he gained one percentage of the vote total from african-american turnout. i don't think there was a huge -- and i looked at the data a bunch of ways. i didn't seem to find a big effect from increased white support due to his race. as you mentioned, we think of that as more liberal a position.

and these individuals were likely to support any democratic candidate. >> professor peterson, do you think that seth's research comes as news in boston and in chicago? meeting at the romney and at the obama headquarters. meaning have they already factored this in? and are they campaigning in a way that takes into account his potential prejudices? >> yeah. i think both campaigns have already sort of factored in their sense about this data. i think if you look back at the republican presidential primaries and people were asking the questions which i think are legitimate, why is birtherism still around? why do we see the racial dog whistles being played? part of the reason we've seen that stuff is because of this data hasset has put on the table here. there's a significant percentage of the voting population that will be impacted and sometimes charged up by that kind of racialized politics. so i think on both sides they're aware of this.

think about a state like michigan. if you take three to five points away from obama in that particular state, that's a difficult challenge for the president. so it's interesting information. it's very, very complex, but yes i think the campaigns are already on to it. >> you know, pundits often talk about the different paths towards success that the president might entertain. and if you apply seth's model, i think what it says because he bears down on wefst virginia versus colorado. it could mean the so-called western path is the path they should be pursuing. they being the obama campaign. a quick reaction professor peterson? >> i would agree. when you look at these states it seems the west coast, those areas that are more populated by latino voters are the way to go. i'm sure the obama campaign has multiple way of getting to 270 here. >> thank you, gentlemen.

we appreciate your time. . up next, the jerry sandusky trial. we'll meet an attorney who's representing one of the alleged victims in this case. this is "hardball" the place for politics. ♪ ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

there's a big election overseas this weekend. it could have a huge impact here at home. the elections in greece on

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welcome back to "hardball." the defense team for jerry sandusky is set to argue their case next week as he fights the 52 charges of sexual abuse he faces. charnls he denies. with me is tom kline. he's representing a 23-year-old man known as victim number five who testified wednesday. i should tell you he's a named

partner at the law firm where i'm associated. tom, big picture view. what did the prosecution establish this past week? >> michael, there was a compelling case established with eight victims, all young men, all who came into the courtroom who said that they didn't want to be there. buttressed by two independent witnesses. a janitor and the star witness michael mcqueary who went to joe paterno in 2001 and then to higher ups at penn state and told him he had witnessed a horrible incident in the shower room at penn state. it was a dramatic, compel b trial. i was there for every minute of it. >> what's to come next week in your estimation? >> well, as of 2:21 this afternoon, the judge entered an order which allows the defense to call psychological testimony.

this is a new and i think blockbuster event in the trial. it could represent a seismic shift in the defense of the case. i saw the defense shaping up to essentially trying to chip away at the credibility of various witnesses. now the defense appears to be red zi to say that jerry sandusky had something called histrionic personality disorder. someone who seeks excessive attention from others. a really major event occurred this afternoon while we were not in court. there was no court today and a lot of people were wondering why. and the judge was obviously considering this motion. and it appears to be a shift in strategy by the defense. >> how has penn state's credibility -- meaning the university's credibility been impacted by the testimony thus far? >> oh, penn state has suffered tremendously during the course

of this trial. it is now known that literally from 1998 and certainly by 2002 everyone from the janitor to the president of the university knew. in this trial it was established that janitors had witnessed events in the earlier period. and then mr. mcqueary had witnessed an event in the shower. it is terrible for penn state. >> and final question for attorney tom kline. how does your client fit into the big picture narrative? i'm not asking you to summarize his testimony. i think most of us know it. but how does he fit into the big picture narrative of this case? >> sure. he is what i would call a linkage witness. he was a one-time witness in the shower. but he establishes what so many of these young men establish. which is that repetitively there was a pattern which was systematic which involved grooming leading to getting these boys either in the shower or alone.

and then having some kind of forced compulsion on them. that's really what the story is here. it is a story that is sorted. >> thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> robert was for a neighboring county to where all this allegedly went down. you said something to me earlier this week on my radio program which i thought was great. you said there was a lack of professional witnesses. what do you mean by that? >> there aren't any police officers, no csi investigators, not a coroner, not a detective. and really there haven't been any experts come on who get paid to testify. this is all about victims and two eyewitnesses. and it's on like the o.j. case and casey anthony case. it presents a more difficult case for a prosecutor. you don't have those professional witnesses there to sort of lead the jury along.

you've got to do it yourself. that's what joe mcgettigan has done. he's taken this jury in center county as if he were a tour guide for the truth and they're on the journey with him he's us, the victims, if you will, to make his case. >> so tom just referenced, and this is today's big headline even though court wasn't in session, histrionic personality disorder. is that going to fly in your neck of the woods? >> it's not even going to come close to flying. when i heard this news today, michael, i immediately thought this is great for the prosecution because the jurors are now going to know a name for something other than pedophilia that jerry sandusky did with these boys. it doesn't mean he's incompetent, it doesn't mean he's insane, it just now has another label. i think when they cross examine whatever psychologists they put on, i think it will only enhance the prosecution. i see the jurors looking at this and just shaking their head.

>> bob, if jerry sandusky couldn't handle bob costas on a mobile phone, how could he stand up to cross examination that would come if he took the stand? >> i think, to use a football term here, the only thing that's going to happen here, they need a hail mary. and if you look at the evidence so far and the testimony presented, especially thursday afternoon, the final victim coming forward and saying he was in the basement screaming as if it were soundproof and then the trial ended for the weekend, those jurors are going to be thinking about that all weekend long. they're going to hear those screams. and i think the defense has to do a hail mary. and that may mean putting sandusky on the stand. i think the jurors will want to hear that. >> doesn't that also preclude potentially mrs. sandusky being the hail mary, that the testimony that was offered, that ghastly testimony on thursday that she was present, that she was upstairs? >> and the victim said at that point, as if the room in the basement was soundproof.

what wasn't soundproof for those jurors. so i think sandusky was promised in the opening by the defense in their statement that he would take the witness stand. >> we have just a minute or so left together. you were a close personal friend of ray grigar. your friend didn't prosecute the case, your friend then disappeared, his computer was found, et cetera, et cetera. talk to me quickly about him. would he have declined for any reason to move forward against penn state. >> he feared no one as an nugs. he had many cases involving personalities at penn state. we used to kid him about it, as d.a.s tend to do that he would view that as a challenge and he would be aggressive in his pursuit. he was a champion for victims. if he felt there was evidence, he would take it and go wherever he went. >> you know the blogosphere is

going crazy with all sorts of conspiracy notions as to how it fits together and you don't think it fits together at all. you think his disappearance was unrelated to the sandusky case. >> completely. completely unrelated. there's no known causal connection between 1998 and 2005 when a guy is going out of office with eight months to go. >> at this clip, just 30 seconds left, this is the -- four days and the prosecution case is about to rest. this could wrap up next week. >> absolutely, i think it will. i think the jury will get it sometime in the midpart of the week and by next week this time we should have a verdict. >> and the way things stand now, he's presumed innocent. >> i think the testimony -- >> but -- thank you, robert. i appreciate it. when we return, let me finish with some father's day advice for president obama and governor romney. you're watching "hardball."

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let me finish tonight with this. sunday is father's day. we've all received good advice from dear old dad, sometimes the kind of counsel that stays in our head long after fathers have passed. it occurs to me that some of

those timeless nuggets would be good advice for our politicians, including our presidential aspirants. so today on the radio i asked my listeners what advice they received from their own fathers that they'd like to pass on to president obama and governor romney. i heard some pretty good stuff. wendy from michigan said she hopes whoever is president understands her father's advice. you're not going to like every job you have, but a job worth having is worth doing well, which she said sometimes meant being the president is thankless, but you still have to do your best in every aspect of it. phil in massachusetts said his dad told him your last suit will have no pockets, meaning you're going to leave office as you came in, and be sure to act in a manner that you can hold your head high. tony in indianapolis said nothing good happens after 11:00. that's what his father told him, when he said should mean that politicians not wait until the 11th hour to take care of the people's business or, he said, it might be a wear of those shin

digs. th via twitter i received great responses from people like peg whose father told her god gave you two ears and one mouth so that you would listen twice as much as you speak. i think that applies equally to republicans and democrats. and kevin told me remember what all dads have said. there's a time and a place for everything. i think that has a message as to timing and perhaps knowing when it's your turn to run for office. a friend told me that his father said praise in public, credit size in private. translated into political speak, that could mean how you treat your staff, your family, the voters and the media is critical. every word, every gaffe, every look will be analyzed in this 24/7 news cycle. and a producer of mine says his father told him if your friends jump off a cliff, you don't have to. what about if all your your fellow candidates are raising their hand on a 10 to 1 ratio of spending cuts to tax hikes. you don't have .