hague, luke russert, peter alexander, jamie gangell, helping us behind the scenes, the entire team. we've been covering the big announcement, mitt romney's big vice presidential announcement is taking place 9:00 this morning in norfolk, virginia we'll have it live here on msnbc. our coverage will continue live on msnbc. our coverage will continue in seven hours. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 88 days until the 2012 election. mitt romney is in desperation mode. conservatives are turning on him, and he continues to lie about welfare. the obama team is hitting back. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> seen this -- mitt romney claiming to end welfare requirements. the new york times calls it blatantly false. >> the president exposes romney's welfare ad for the lie it is.

meanwhile, the romney camp goes all in on their welfare whopper. >> president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare region. >> paul waldman and dr. michael eric dyson are here with the latest. continuing to slam the hard-hitting joe soptic ad. >> the president of the united states makes accusations -- >> you can talk about that, but i am not -- >> from what mitt romney did -- >> bill burton of "priorities usa" put the ad. he's here to respond. the catholic bishops called his budget immoral, and the republicans want him as the vice president. >> i worship the ground that paul ryan walks on. >> richard vickery thinks the young gun has a laundry list of problems, and he's here to explain. >> this rumor, i think the science that we'll get is amazing. the pictures are beautiful. >> and the rover "curiosity" sends back stunning, color image of the martian surface.

astronomer derek pitts has the latest on the most advanced spacecraft ever sent to another planet. good to have you with us. the romney campaign is spending half its advertising resources on a commercial that is a total lie. romney's welfare attack on president obama is the latest false hood republicans are going to ride. today, the obama campaign hit back. >> seen this? mitt romney claiming the president would end welfare's work requirement. "the new york times" calls it "blatantly false." the "washington post" says "the obama administration is not removing the bill's work requirements at all." president clinton's reaction to the romney ad -- it's just not true. >> the obama camp wants to nip this in the bud. they see what the romney camp is doing. you see, folks, it's august. and mitt romney figured out that he cannot win on a platform of cutting taxes for the rich, deregulating industry, and just getting rid of health care reform because all three of those are losers in the polls

with the people. instead, romney has to make things up to scare people about welfare queens coming to take their money. in this instance, the romney camp is completely ignoring the fact it the waiver policy. how many of you across america know what the waiver policy is? hasn't been much detail about it. let me explain. the department of health and human services, basically they're giving states more latitude to meet the work goals of the federal welfare program. this is what the states have wanted for a long time. for example, the state of nevada wrote to the hhs department in 2011, "nevada is very it interested in working with your staff to explore program waivers that have the potential to encourage more cooperative relationships among the state agencies." meaning, let's get more people to work. the nevada director suggested installing a six-month work exemption. well, the federal government has worked directly with states on this for more than three years to meet many of these requests

by the governors. oh, by the way, one of those governors was mitt romney of massachusetts. these waivers, they have not been granted yet, but it's in the process. republicans like newt gingrich have said that you should really be worry good this waiver rule because you really don't know what president obama might do with it. >> the ad sets up what i think has not yet happened, but you have to ask yourself the question -- why would they waive, why would they put in place a waiver if they don't intend to waive it? clearly it's going to happen if he gets re-elected. otherwise, why would you set it up? >> what's happening? republicans are basically relying on dishonest attacks like this because mitt romney, he can't get any traction. he is plagued by the one big unsolvable problem, and that is his tax returns. today, romney's former finance chairman, john huntsman sr., became the latest republican to ask for more of -- more information on romney's tax

returns. he says, "i feel very badly that mit won't release his taxes and won't be fair with the american people. i've supported mitt all along. i wish him well. but i do think he should release his income taxes." there is mount be pressure for romney to come clean. 63% of the american public want to see more return. nearly seven out of ten independent motors say the exact same thing. the gop, they are struggling with how to deal with this, and it really shows. this is what rnc chairmen said today when ask about the birther movement. >> as much a distraction as it is for people to ask for more and more tax returns and all of these other issues. >> really. so he's now comparing 67% of independent voters to birthers. their logic is flawed. how's he going to win swing states talking like that?

that's their problem. mitt romney would do anything to make this issue if away. in fact, he told chuck todd he hopes the obama campaign would stop talking about it. >> our campaign would be helped immensely if we had an agreement between both campaigns that we were only going to talk about issues, and that attacks based upon business or family or taxes or things of that nature, that this is just -- this is divergent -- >> are you going to throw out a pledge or something? >> i would love that. we only talk about issues. we could talk about the differences between our positions and our opponents's at positions. >> are you formally going to offer -- >> our heads haven't gone after the president personally. >> mitt romney said his business experience is central to his presidential campaign because president obama doesn't know how the economy works. he really knows how the economy works. he knows the private sector. now he says it's off limits to talk about his business and his finances. the republican party, do you know had they've got? they have got an identity

crisis, and mitt romney is a big part of it. when they panic, they go back to the old attacks about welfare queens and freeloaders taking your money. another reminder of just how weak a candidate mitt romney is and why he has had such a bad summer, and it continues. get your cell phones out. we want to know what you think. tonight's question -- will mitt romney's welfare lie backfire? text a for yes, b for no to 622639. go to our blog and leave a comment at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later. i'm joined by political analyst and georgetown professor michael eric dyson. also with us, paul waldman, contributing editor for the "american prospect" magazine. paul, good to have you with us, along with you, doctor. paul, you have said that this is one of the most dishonest campaigns that you have ever seen. what about this latest ad about welfare that the romney camp has put out?

>> usually when a candidate misleads about his opponent or about a policy, there's some kind of tether to the truth. either the the -- they said the words but they were taken out of context, or something is exaggerated. in this case, they really do appear to have not lost any concern about whether or not what they're saying is true. you know, in the ad, after they get through talking with -- the part about bill clinton, pretty much every sentence in there is false with the exception of "i'm mitt romney, and i approved this message." it really -- this issue is an old story for republicans. goes back to the 1960s. it really exists at the nexus of class and race. you know, mitt romney's biggest political problem is the perception that he's a candidate of, by, and for the 1%. so he's doing, i think, what republicans have done for a long time, which is to send a message to middle-class voters that your resentments shouldn't be aimed up at the wealthy, they should be aimed down at the poor. and even though they're not making explicit racial argument,

you can't ignore the fact that there is -- there is always a racial element to this in the minds of voters. that's something that the romney campaign is not naive about. they understand the kinds of reactions people have when you start talking about welfare and those freeloading welfare recipients who are taking your hard-working money and using it so they can goof off. >> well, there is a big difference between a pac ad and mitt romney saying "i approve this ad." the "i approve this ad" portion is backing up a falsehood about welfare and the waiver program which is just totally out to lunch. michael, why do republicans always run back to issues like welfare, and as paul mentioned, the racial end up it? >> ed, both you and brother waldman have been talking about the race of nexus and class ever before us. when you get weak, as the romney campaign is, it has no arguments to make substantively against the president. it just creates out of thin air all of these kinds of

allegations that appeal to the racial subtext that can be effectively appealed to without explicitly taking responsibility for it. it's that plausible deniability. here they're trying to suggest it that again, as newt gingrich said, that the president was the -- you know, food stamp president, even the food stamp president accuser is saying that this is going too far. mitt romney is doing what he has always done -- denying his own history here. the obama campaign showed that when he was governor, he was for these same kind of waivers. not only that, he put forth legislation that would pay for free cars for welfare recipients and their insurance. let's have that old mitt romney who could acknowledge that he was much more humane and compassionate. but now he's employing the race card in very subtle fashion, that is a strategy that the republicans fall upon when they have no substantive argument to make against the president. >> i think that romney has run this campaign so far into the ground anden ate -- and alienated so many people, i

don't think it matter who he picks as v.p. i don't think there is a game-changer out there. i don't think anybody can turn this around in 88 days. paul, i want to get back to the waiver thing. i want our audience to understand how there's a lot of governors out there that want this waiver because, you know, they don't want to have federal control when it comes to welfare. how hard is it for a state to get a waiver? >> it can be difficult. you need to be within the letter of the original statute. then you need permission from the department of health and human services. and you know, all of the -- all that the obama administration is saying to governors is, if you have some innovative programs that will move more people into jobs, we'll listen, and we'll look at them. as long as they're carefully constructed and they have measures to make sure that they're producing what we want them to produce, then we'll consider granting you those waivers. to say that they're ending worker crime is just absurd. it's nothing -- nothing of the sort. >> michael? >> what's something is that the republicans aralways crying for states' rights.

always crying for keeping the federal intervention in their local autonomy clear. now here's a clear example where they are arguing against their own principles. why? because they hate obama so badly that they would rather subvert their own principles were ra tell the truth. >> so the romney camp is spending the majority of their money on this falsehood. >> yeah. >> paul, do you think this is going to go through all the way to november? >> i don't think. i mean, this does have a whiff of desperation about it. keep in mind, you know, republicans won the policy argument about welfare all the way back in 1996. this kind of comes out of nowhere. and as i said, i really think that his biggest problem is this perception that he's only going to do what's in the best interests of the elite. so they are kind of pulling out this argument that goes all the way back to richard nixon and to reagan talki ing about welfare queen and talking about midnight basketball. the idea that your tax dollars are being taken to give to

undeserving poor people and black people, it's an old song, but it doesn't have quite the same ring anymore. it's hard to imagine that it's going to be that effective. >> great to have you with you tonight. thank you very much. >> thank you. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter and facebook. we want to know what you think. coming up, the romney campaign is hitting pack at the president. has the damage already been done? bill burton of "priorities usa" weighs in talk to about the big commercial this week.

coming up, the commercial that's been in the news cycle all week long. the romney campaign is finally responding to the joe sopic ad. they're still missing the point. bill burton of "priorities usa" on the right-wing response coming up next. more and more republicans are hoping paul ryan will be on the romney ticket this fall. not all conservatives are on board. i'll ask richard vickery who he would choose and what's wrong with paul ryan. and more amazing shots coming in from mars "curiosity"

rover. derek pitts of the franklin institute on how the project is -- do you know how it's doing? it is really reigniting the country's speciinterest in the program. share your thoughts on facebook and on twitter using the hash tag edshow.

welcome back. good to have you with us tonight. mitt romney is fighting back against a pro-obama super pac ad featuring steelworker joe sopic. today his campaign is hitting back at the president with an ad of its own. >> what does it say about a

president's character when his campaign tries to use the tragedy of a woman's death for political gain? >> the romney camp can try and attack the president but can't deny the facts. the decision by bain capital to lay off folks like joe sopic had consequences. in his case, he lost his health insurance and his cancer-stricken wife didn't have a fighting chance. joe soptic is not alone. when you don't have hit and run, you're playing russian roulette with your future, no question about it. that's what americans grab right now. you don't have to take my word for it. just ask romney campaign spokeswoman andrea saul. >> to that point, you know, if people had been in massachusetts under governor romney's health care plan, they would have had health care. >> republican need to ask themselves a fundamental question -- does obama care save lives? last night on this program. more than contributor jonathan alter made the case yes, it

does. >> instead what the press should be focused on is what are the consequences of repeal of obama care. and the consequences, as mike just indicated, are death. repeal equals death. people will die in the united states if obama care is repealed. if you have pre-existing conditions and you are thrown off of hit and run, you're not going to go -- of health insurance, you're not going to go to the doctor and assume your cancer -- your disease is not going to be caught as quickly. your odds of die regular much increased. >> bill burton, senior strategist with "priorities usa action" joins us. good to have you with us. you are responsible for the ad that's caused so much conversation this week. and speaking of that, is this the conversation that was really the mission of this ad? and -- an outbreak of conversation about health care and priorities in this country. >> well, the point here was to talk about what mitt romney himself has said that he wanted to talk about which was his

business record. and when you look at the individual stories of people who were affected by the decisions that mitt romney made, you see that his business record isn't all that great for middle-class americans. a lot of people -- >> they say the ad is inaccurate. is it? >> no, it is not. this not a thing in that ad that is not accurate. and you know, today i noticed that in an interview with chuck todd, mitt romney's begging and pleading that people stop attacking his business record and taxes. that should be off limit. we shouldn't talk about that. and i understand that mitt romney is a -- to say he doesn't want to talk about thing that actually ought to be central in this campaign was stunning. >> the response by the spokesperson, andrea saul, to this ad has created quite a firestorm this week in the conservative camp. did you anticipate that? >> no. they really fumbled the ball on that one. i mean, to have a romney campaign spokesperson basically saying that if mitt romney was

there, he would have been able to save folks from people like mitt romney, i mean, it's -- so incoherent, but to watch the ann colters of the world and republican establishment freak out about it was really surprising. but it just speaks to the abject incoherence that you get from the romney campaign. >> senior adviser eric finstrom says that the president has lost his credibility over this ad. your reaction to that? >> i think it's -- you know, it's typically overstated, and hyperbol hyperbolic. we made this ad independently of anyone else. we're fully responsible for it. and the fact that they can't take a conversation about mitt romney's business experience says much more about mitt romney's business experience than it says about our ad. this is about having a conversation about the thing that mitt romney says is his central qualification to be president. he can even have the conversation. >> when you went to interview

mr. soptic about his experience about losing his job and being outsourced, did you know it his situation with his wife? did you know about his situation of losing health care, or did he offer that up to you? >> he offered that up. you know, we talked to a lot of folks around the country. places where they were affected bithese layoffs. and -- by these layoffs. and we sat down and let them tell their stories. the truth is, a lot of it is sad. a lot of it is tragic. you know, some of it we won't even use, to be honest, because it's so emotional and devastating -- >> your response to the accusation by, first of all, romney saying it's inaccurate, but also that the ad should be pulled. >> well, i mean, i don't see why we would pull an ad that's fully accurate, that tells an important story of the impact that mitt romney had on a community. people lost their jobs, they lost their health care, their community are still recovering in many cases.

i think this is an important part of the discussion. >> is it -- about that, is this the discussion that the obama camp wants? >> well, i can't speak to what those guys are doing. as people who want to see the president re-elected, i think it's a very important discussion that we're helping to have on a national level, to make sure that people are taking a hard look at what were the decisions that mitt romney was making. what is he responsible for? >> bill burton, good to have you with us. thank you very much. coming up, more and more republicans are pushing for paul ryan. but not everybody thinks he's the right choice for the far right wing. a long-time republican makes the case next. and new evidence that republicans have been out to sabotage the president since day one. the source -- joe biden. our panel will weigh in.

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welcome back to "the ed show," thanks for watching tonight. mitt romney's getting more and more pressure from the right wing to put wisconsin congressman paul ryan on the ticket. >> the smartest strategic thinker in republican elected office today is paul ryan. >> i think paul ryan would be a great selection, not the only one but in part because he's done such tremendous work and shown such courage. >> i worship the ground that paul ryan walks on. i think he's an enormously thenned individuthen

ed -- talented individual. he's tried to do the right thing. >> karl rove said he would be a good choice. even grover norquist put in a good word at c pac. >> we want the paul ryan budget. we want the president to sign this stuff. pick a republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the united states. >> congressman ryan has been a top contender in the mitt romney veep stakes. he's in the running with senator rob portman and minnesota former governor tim pawlenty. in the last 24 hours, ryan's stock has doubled on in trade. a site based in ireland that takes political bets. so far, traders have reportedly bet almost $18 million on romney's pick for vice president. paul ryan's gained almost ten points in the trading so far. but not all conservatives think ryan would be the best pick and the best bet. a republican stalwart is calling for much more conservative vice

president. and joining me tonight is richard viguerie. the man we're talking about. he is the chairman of the conservative hq.com. good to have you on the program. you have been -- >> always good to be you, ed. >> you bet, sir. you have been quoted in "the new york times" that you're not a real fan so to speak of paul ryan as the choice of mitt romney. if it turns out that way. saying that he is too close to washington, d.c. does this disequal him? >> i think most -- disqualify him? >> i think most conservatives are in favor of ryan. he's done yeoman's work for our cause. i think governor romney needs something that's going to bring more energy, frankly, than a washington insider. he's got an image that he's trying to overcome now of being a big government type from governor of massachusetts. the fortune 500 capitalist. and there are millions of people

who became disaffected with the republican party during the bush years. they left the republican party in 2006, 2008, they came back in 2010. when the face of the republican party of not mitch mcconnell, john boehner, karl rove, george bush, but the tea party. mike lee, rand paul -- >> paul ryan doesn't fit in that category? >> no -- not at all. i mean, he's a good man. he's -- his budget is not as bad as obama. but it's bad. he's going to increase spending, $4 trillion in the next five years. he doesn't balance the budget for 28 years. america is looking for something more serious than that. we know we've got serious problems. and anybody that proposes that congress, this congress commits the next 28 years to been the budget, that's not serious. >> who would be the best pick, mr. viguerie, for mitt romney? who would be the best pick? >> well, i knew you were going

to go there, ed. and i don't -- i'm uncomfortable with giving anybody the kiss of death and saying the conservatives really want this. we have a -- fortunately a deep bench. avenue got senator mike lee of utah. senator marco rubio of florida. senator pat toomey of pennsylvania. former senator from pennsylvania, rick santorum, who -- >> any of those are better than paul ryan? >> bobby jindal of florida -- i think so. yes. i think so. they don't bring the inside washington culture that paul does. paul is a good man. he's carrying yeoman work in terms of reforming the entitlement program. but he's not going to bring the excitement that's needed at the grassroots level to bring these millions of disaffected right of center voters back into the republican party like the tea party did in 2010. >> is romney doing enough to support the tea party movement? some suggest that his campaign

is really in trouble. your friend laura ingram today, a conservative talker, says that she doesn't want to be the skunk at the garden party. but romney's losing. do you believe that? >> well, campaign does seem to be running like a dry creek, ed. you know, this is a vulnerable president. he should be able to be beaten and beaten fairly easily. but romney is -- seems to be surrounded by washington insiders, business as usual republicans. and people don't like those. they don't like the bush wing of the party. they want something new, something fresh. somebody that's going to come in and excite them and say we're not going to continue crony capitali capitalism. we're not going to continue business as usual here. we're not going to grow the government massively as republicans and democrats have done for far too long. and you want somebody from out in the grassroots that's going to be convincing that they can bring change to washington. i don't think these washington

insiders, rob portman, tim pawlenty, paul ryan, chris christie, they're establishment republicans and are going to continue business as usual. nobody's going to believe they'll come in with an axe to the tap root of government. >> good to have you with us. appreciate the time tonight. thank you very much. there's a lot more coming up in the next half-hour of "the ed show." stay with us. oh, my god! it's sabotage. >> shocking new proof republicans wanted to sabotage president obama before day one. the panel weighs in on the number-one goal of the republican party. with this rover i think the science we'll get is amazing. the pictures are, of course, beautiful. >> and the mars rover "curiosity" sends back its first color images of the red planet. astronomer derek pitts will update us on "curiosity's" progress.

our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny president obama a second term. >> well, he means it. that's no secret. mitch mcconnell want president obama to fail. over the past three years, we've watched the republicans put partisan politics ahead of the american people. look at the number of filibusters. and the proof is if the pudding -- record number of filibusters. no jobs plan, and a tax proposal that helps millionaires at the expense of the middle class. a peculiar called "the new new deal," confirms what we've known all along. mcconnell is leading the charge against president obama. vice president biden tells author michael gruenwald that early on, several republican senators told biden upon to expect any cooperation on major votes. "the way it was characterized to me was, for the next two years we can't let you succeed in anything. that's our ticket to coming back." former senators pop bennett of utah and arlen specter of pennsylvania, both retired, have

confirmed that these had these conversations with senator biden -- vice president biden at the time. former senator george voinovich of ohio tells gruenwald mcconnell ordered troops to oppose everything president obama proposed. "if he was for it, we had to be against it." explains a lot. our panel, ari melbourne, "nation" magazine. kelly goff of the root.com. and michael mezlanci, the author of "the language of trust." welcome to the program. good to have you here for the first time. what do we make of this? there's an offer there that has gone out and spoken with former senators who said they were told directly by mcconnell we're not doing business. how do you defend that? >> i'm not going to defend it any more than democrat should come out and defend harry reid for talking about how mitt romney hasn't paid any taxes without any proof. i think it's another example of the political debate in this country getting to the point where there's no accountability

for things. if it's true, it's not something we should defend. i think that we can go back to the end of 2008/2009 and remember where we were. obama was a new president. he had big majorities in both houses. he promised a bipartisan approach it the world. he came in with a very liberal agenda. whether mcconnell set out to do this or not, he was going to republican policy principles. the outcome would be the same whether he set out to do it for purely -- >> you're defending it -- if it's per policy purposes. the point is that this journalist is pointing out through two senators that there was a stop obama at all costs. this is how we're going to come back in 2008. ari? >> michael says if it's true and you're in the school of communication so you've got a neat trick there, we know that it's true. we have a record number of filibusters. there was about an average of one filibuster a year through most of the history of the senate when that was on the table.

and under the first two years of obama's administration, there was a record 132 filibuster votes. thousands more that never reached a cloture vote. we know from the facts that this has been the most recalcitrant congress in history. a lot of folks understand it deals with a supermajority. you have the jobs act that got a majority of votes. but because it was blocked by a filibuster, you never had that majority pass the thing. and that's the problem. >> 60 votes. >> exactly. >> with all due respect, there's a false equivalency talking about harry reid potentially floating a rumor it a campaign and members of the senate and congress actively saying we are going to stop getting anything done in the name of politics. people whose salaries we are paying. to be clear, this book, while what they did is very bad news for the president in terms of getting some of the things accomplished that he wanted to, it's good news for his re-election campaign. here's why -- because every poll that gallup has taken since president obama was sworn into

office has shown one thing -- a lack of trust in congress. an all-time low. two decade low. americans have blamed congress for the skrbs act not getting passed. congress for the economy. meanwhile, president obama has not faced the same level of scrutiny. poll after poll has known. you know -- has shown. you know that. >> everyone puts politics ahead of policy. on the left and the right. to suggest that it's not happening on both sides is to be ignorant to what -- >> the left said we don't want to get anything done, we can talk about that. republican senators have said that was their marching orders. >> at the ends of the day the republicans filibustered, certain things didn't get passed. why? the american people didn't support it. because -- do you know how we know that? in 2010 there was a massive shift to the right, two years after those policies happened. so the american people had the opportunity to speak. to either say they want more of what the republicans are doing

or they want more of what obama's doing. guess what they chose -- >> president obama wasn't up for re-election. >> he was -- >> to say he was -- [ all talking at once ] >> in '09 and '10, only a couple of republicans voted with the stimulus package to start with. they were all against health care. had to go reconciliation for the health care package. the fact is -- but their strategy was to stop everything. and so where does that leave the republican party right now in this campaign season, kelly? >> the other thing i would challenge, too, is to say that they spoke loudly -- a referendum on his administration. yet you're conceding the point that things weren't getting done because congress was actively working against him to make sure things weren't getting done. it's not fair to say that this administration -- that they want more -- >> they wanted more -- >> they wanted the obstruction -- >> apparently because they voted to support it. if they didn't want it to happen, they had every opportunity -- come on. they had every opportunity to shift congress in favor of the democrats, right? did that happen? it didn't happen because the

american people basically spoke and said that they weren't upset with the lack of things getting done. and the bottom line is that the policies that they stopped, they weren't liberal policies that were out of step with the american public, they were about green jobs instead of good energy, it was it health care reform and a liberal approach to health care reform -- >> can i challenge -- >> it education where there's -- >> let me give you a turn. you're talking about the agenda. let's talk about the agenda. among items that were filibustered, the jobs act and 9/11 health care bill, pentagon spending, collective bargaining for emergency worker, the senior citizens relief act, paycheck fairness act, and offshoring the disclose act. several have supermajority support among public opinion. you're voting for the theory. your theory is that our democracy works really well and represents the public. i have a different theory. that is that you have item that are very popular from supporting our troops toupporting jobs to supporting public disclosure and campaign spending. and they're being blocked in congress because democracy's not working. i think that's the difference of opinion.

>> let's turn to this campaign now. we've got 88 days to go. the president running against the do-nothing congress. how does it work? >> it work well for him. a lot of -- especially hearing this. this book is like handing the obama campaign a gift. >> what should romney do? is this an acceptable strategy to run on for republican? >> it only thing i think he could do is denounce and say everyone should be going to the hill and working together. that's what he should say. the reality is this is -- >> i think we tested a series of ads on talking about working together. the fact is is that that ship has sailed. thanks to obama, the american public doesn't believe the line. whether it comes from democrats or republicans anymore. >> you think he -- >> well, i think on both sides there's been a real lack of desire to reach across the aisle. i also think just as a strategy from romney's perspective, it f i'm in his camp, i think from the obama perspective, running against congress is a great idea. from romney's perspective, this is a clash of two wildly different philosophies about government and governing.

his campaign has to be about that -- >> tax cuts for the rich, extending those for the wealthy, that's where romney is. that does not poll well at all. >> of course, when it's conveyed that way. >> it's fact. >> then why isn't obama polling at over 50%? >> there's also a clash between the fills fee of universal -- philosophy of universal health care and the biggest clash between the romney that was and the romney that is. >> great conversation. great to have you with us for the first time. republican lies ran rampant on the state level. karl rove's dark money group is busted running a false ad where -- in the middle of the country, in north dakota. we're calling him out next. stay with us. [ male announcer ] if it wasn't for a little thing called the computer, we might still be making mix tapes. find this. pause this. play this. eject this.

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up next, the romney campaign isn't the only one spreading lies when it comes to campaign ads. we'll show the lies that karl rove's superpack is spreading. and the mars rover sending back sunning picture from the red planet. what else can we expect some i'll ask derek pitts from the franklin institute. you can listen to my radio show monday through friday, noon to 3:00, and on progressive talk stations across the country. follow me on twitter at edshow and like "the ed show."

welcome back to "the ed show." this week we've been documenting the lives from the romney campaign on the presidential race. guess what -- they're lying all

over the place. house and senate races all over the country. let's go to flyover country, north dakota. karl rove's crossroads gps has been busted running a false ad in the prairie state. now rove's dark money group put out a tv ad hammering north dakota democrat heidi hydecamp, running for the senate. the commercial claimed that hydecamp, when she was north dakota attorney general, that she used taxpayer dollars to buy private planes. the claim is a flat-out lie. and the ad is no longer running. the planes were given to hydecamp for free by the federal government and used for drug trafficking surveillance. no money was ever spent, and the planes weren't for private use at all. hydecamp responded to the bogus commercial on my radio show earlier today. >> they accused me of securing a private plane with public money, which was completely false.

absolutely untrue. and we were able to push back and get them to pull the ad. i mean, that's the good news. the bad news is, they're going to continue to lie. continue to disport it. continue to say -- distort it. continue to say she raised energy taxes when that's absolutely not true. we have to get people to understand you can't believe a word out of these folks' mouth. >> rove's group had intended to spend over $190,000 running the false commercial in north dakotas. heitkamp told me she expects rove to spend $1.5 million attacking her. this is a tight senate race to watch. tonight, our survey, i asked -- will mitt romney's welfare lie backfire? 97% of you said across. 3% said no. coming up, the mars rover "curiosity" sends back its first color images of the red planet. astronomer derek pitts will update us on the mission's progress next.

and liftoff of the atlas 5 with "curiosity" seeking clues to the planetary puzzle about life on mars. >> welcome back to "the ed show." big finish tonight -- it was eight months and 350 million miles, the rover brief safetouc down on mars. it's been five days since the dramatic landing. nasa engineer say everything is going as planned. "curiosity" sending back stunning 360-degree pictures of

mars. shows the gale crater with mount sharp in the distance. scientists plan on taking the rover to mount sharp to study rock samples in the future. "curiosity" has captured the american public's attention, and its imagination in recent days. in fact, i think nasa hasn't seen this kind of positivek"apo space program. there's been a media frenzy nasa hasn't seen in a long time. >> 1:30 a.m. america standard time, nasa's "curiosity" rover touched down on the surface of mars! [ wild cheering ] >> nasa just hit a galactic hole in one. >> touchdown confirmed. we're safe on mars. [ cheering ] >> figugoing from 13 miles an h to zero. >> go on. >> a successful touchdown on mars. incredible pictures that nasa's

rover is beaming back from the red planet. >> "curiosity" is great news for nasa but even better news for the american public. derek pitts, chief astronomer at the franklin institute in philadelphia, he has been designated by nasa as an astrobiology ambassador. great to have you back with us again. these pictures, these high-definition pictures, absolutely fantastic and stunning. what can we learn from these pictures that we're getting back? >> well, the pictures are going to tell us a tremendous amount about the area where the rover is now. for example, we can already look and identify on the surface that there are lots of pebbles around on the surface. that tells us something about some mechanism of erosion for the rocks that are there. we can also see that from the blast from the landing rockets, underneath some dust on the surface there's bedrock there. that gives us another hint about the geology pretty easily. we can look at the color of the material. and that tells us there are different textures and different materials. and of course that all knows

toward the hunt for the environment -- that all goes toward the hunt for the environment for life on mars. >> what else will scientists learn from the rock samples? this is fascinating stuff. >> well, they're also going to learn from the rock samples how variable the environments have been in this particular area. so for example, things like if water was part of the environment that was here near gale crater, as the rover makes its way up toward mount sharp, how much water was there in the past? how long did that water stay there? how did it get around on the surface? did it have an effect on the geology? what kind of minerals are there, and what might we expect to find in other places like this, as well as helping us to identify the kinds of places that we should think it as targets for the very next mission that goes there. and ultimately, a place to send astronauts in the future. >> they're expecting dust storms pretty soon. what's this mean for the mission? >> in previous missions, having dust storms come along were --

that was a big concern because dust distributed on the upper solar panels would decrease the amount of sunlight coming in and thereby losing charge for the batteries. for this particular rover, it's nowhere near as much of a challenge as it was for the other rovers. this one has its own power supply. certainly good for the next two years of the primary mission. estimated to live probably for another eight years after that. so we'll be able to see what happens with the dust storm as it goes by. nowhere near as much of a concern as for the other rovers. >> are we going to dig down into the surface with this mechanism? >> the thing that's going to happen with this rover is not only are we going to dig into the surface, we're also going to drill into rock, as well. in doing both of these, either if we get the sample from a rock face or if we get the sample from on the ground, the material will be scooped up and dropped into -- into internal laboratories if you will that will examine the material to see what its composition is. this is a great step forward because all