all right. at top of the show we asked you, why are you awake? our producer, john tower, the man who just gave me a tie, has got some answers. john? >> looks good. >> is this 100% rayon? >> i think that's a >> we have one twitter here. john writes "can't sleep, going to the doctor to find out if i have to have surgery, titanium rod and screws in my leg." >> john, ow. the entire "way too early" team is pulling for you. hope everything goes the way you want. they gave me a choices are the one with the blue. i'll see you on "morning joe," which starts right now.

>> now to show he's a regular guy, president obama, you know what he does? hebrews his own beer at the white house. >> no, you're kidding. >> no, that's true. he and i guess the cabinet buddies get together. he's like a regular samuel adams. >> smelling the hops. >> mitt romney is also quite a brewmeister. take a look. >> to connect with working class americans, barack obama has been drinking beer with voters at campaign stops and has even begun brewing his own white house beer. not to be outdone, mitt romney has come up with his own signature drink. take four ounces of cold tap water, dilute it with four ounces of luke warm tap water, allow 20 minutes to settle and enjoy. just remember, don't overdo it. >> i'm mitt romney and i approve

this message. >> while they're doing damage control, maybe he should shave that mustache. >> it's tuesday, august 21st. welcome to "morning joe." with us we have political analyst john heilemann. weren't you here yesterday? >> i was. >> i asked him to come back. >> why? >> i told you him and brian sullivan are not a good mix. it's way too much. >> who do we bring? >> chief correspondent of cnbc, it's okay, you can walk in front of the shot. it's no big deal. it's all about you anyway. >> a leveling wind, brian sullivan complete with tie out of his engelbert humperdinck

outfit. >> i was impressed with mitch mcconnell. i thought the entire republican establishment got suitably aggressive for once. >> they geared up in a big hurry. there's some worry they won't have him out of the race by 5:00 today. they've done a good job of trying to get the party on record against what congressman akin said that was song wrong and inappropriate and offensive to people. there's still the challenge to get him out. heap has a new ad he's going to put on the air to try to save himself. some republicans think he's still in denial. for governor romney, for the national party, they did move pretty quick. >> congressman akin, you're in denial. you're going to lose if you stay in the race. by the way, your laws could make

the difference between a supreme court justice that could make all the difference in the issues that you claim you care about and having a barack obama fifth appointee for majority. you think about that today while you do your little commercial and think about destroying the republican majority. >> okay. >> my big complaint about the republican party has been through the years that they don't -- they don't look inward, right? >> right. >> winbeck says horrific things, everybody's quiet, you have extremist statements left and right. yesterday i think was the first time you've seen the republican party turn on one of their own when one of their own did something really stupid. >> i think that's a really good point. let's lay the groundwork. >> even hannity. >> everybody spoke up. >> on akin, which is pretty shocking. >> so let's give people the groundwork here. missouri senator todd akin is vowing to stay in the race despite an uproar over his

comments on the subject of rape and abortion. should akin pull out of the race before 5:00 missouri time, the republican committee could still replace him on the ballot. yesterday congressman akin vowed to fight on. >> the good people of missouri nominated me and i'm not a quitter. my belief is we're going to take this thing forward and by the grace of god to win this race. and to quote my old friend john paul jones, i've not yet begun to fight. >> the controversy -- >> how old is akin? >> i think he's actually talking about the bassist for led zeplin. >> the controversy made it all the way to the ticket where mitt romney was asked if akin should remove himself from the race. >> his comments about rape were deeply offensive. i can't defend what he said, i can't defend him. >> do you think for the benefit of the party, sir, he should

drop out? >> the thing he should consider is what's in the best interest of the things he believes most deeply, what will help the country at this critical time. >> why do you think he didn't just go further and say he should drop out? >> everybody is working behind the scenes now to put some discipline -- but, you know, nicole wallace, when he was talking to nicole about six months ago when we were so despondent about the state of the republican party. sheep goes everybody talks about do i want it to be a conservative party, a moderate party? she goes i'm just tired of it being the stupid party. i'm tired of us being stupid and having stupid people saying stupid things and scaring off independent and swing voters. so yesterday they were smart because they allow romney to go out, pull back and not say get out of the race. if he says get out of the race and then this idiot stays in the

race, it makes romney look weak and then everyone says he can't even control the party. but behind the scenes people like karl rove like we predicted yesterday are going we're going to grind your bones into dust if you don't get into this race. we're going to kill you. you are finished. that allows romney to take that position. you know, that's how things used to be run in the republican party. we used to know what we were doing. and for a brief shining moment yesterday, john heilemann, it appeared that way again. >> yes, the republican, as you've said, reacted with lackrity and force. >> that's the word i was going to use was force. >> the most thing that happened yesterday was the dog that didn't bark.

although rove did not come out publicly and attack akin, the act spoke for himself. without the money, there is no race. >> back in 2002 i called rove on behalf of friends that needed money for governor races, i was really impressed because he was really tough. i was like so and so needs this because -- and he was going, no, listen, this is the reason this is a good investment or not a good investment. rove is not going to spend any money on this race and he's got the money. that sends as strong a message to akin as mitt romney saying get out of the race, right? >> sure. we have to note this is an entirely opportunistic reaction of course. >> of course. >> their concern is politics. it's not what akin believed. it's the fact that he stupidly said what he believed. >> threw the race away. >> said out loud what he --

>> romney's initial statement, i disagree with akin. sort of weak. >> i thought it was. i thought it was. >> the thing is, though, again, we're talking -- sunday night when all this broke, when i was looking at all this, mark halpern said, oh, my god, i know how this is going to happen. monday they're going to get out there and they're going to say something weak and then they're going to get killed in the press and tuesday it will be a little bit stronger and by thursday they may actually stop the bleeding but by then it will be too late because they will have lost the week. well, guess what, they behaved like barack obama's campaign behaved four years ago when it was time to throw people under the bus. they behaved like george w. bush did and karl rove did for eight years. you know, senator lott, yeah, you're the majority leader, guess what, you're not anymore. you're right, this was very convenient.

but it's about time. >> mark halpern? >> they don't have an out yet. they still haven't figured it out. we haven't heard from roy blount, the republican senator from missouri. he could be decisive in this. i will say -- i take a little bit of exception with john. i think some republicans have reacted not just out of political expediency but because they're offended by what congressman akin said. the importance for the republican party here is from an electoral point of view is the female vote and the romney campaign can say this doesn't really concern us, this isn't part of what we're talking about. they is to close the gender gap. the voters will decide this if you were to pick one group, it probably slightly older women and the republicans need to get right with this as quickly as possible and move on. as long as akin's there, the senate seat is in perily a peri they're going to have to keep

talking about this issue. they're going to have to move on and not sacrifice the key senate team. >> if i'm on romney's team, i want to win the missouri senate. but the truth is guys running for president aren't worried about anybody else but themselves winning, right? so if you really look at it that way and you look inward at the romney campaign, this is a -- i don't want to say this is a -- this is -- if akin stays in the race, he is a reminder every day, every single day of a bill that paul ryan sponsored. >> that, too. that's the real problem. >> every single day. they have got to get him out of this race because you will see democrats between now and election day running ads about paul ryan, akin and this bill. it's going to make a bad situation with women even worse. >> two quick points on that. number one, many of the people i

respect the most on wall street, and i'm sure john can add to this, believe the senate race, not this one but believe all the senate races to be more important for the direction of the economy than the presidential race. so the senate races are key. secondly, if you're mitt romney, paul ryan, you've got to be beating your head against the wall right now because when you came into this election, you wanted to talk about a still fragile recovery, 14 million unemployed, weak, anemic growth, millions underwater on their homes and now what are you talking about? you're talking about todd akin, you're talking about abortion, you're talking about skinny-dipping in the sea of galilee. >> i do have to say timing is everything. if i had gone skinny-dipping at the sea of galilee, i'd be so

thankful! that has been completely wiped from the pages -- >> okay, i just got a little sick. >> do you wear a tie or no tie? >> i'd wear a suit. >> speedo. >> john has a question. >> no, just to expand on your -- you want me to stop? >> no, go ahead. >> look, it's just a very, you know, that's exactly right. mitt romney, though, by picking paul ryan, they knew he had these problems with some social issues and the obama cam ppaign was going to run a lot of stuff about ryan being too far to the right. you can't -- romney can't move the young vote, the african-american vote or the hispanic vote. he might be able to move the women's vote. ryan is a huge story with that. >> they're going to run those

commercials anyway. the flip side of joe's point about the presidential candidate not caring about the senate race, todd akin doesn't care about anybody else either. this goes to mark's point about they haven't gotten him out yet. if he digs in his heels, if some of the conservative christians in missouri say he's very powerful, everybody is piling on this guy, "morning joe" is like going to town, doing a number on his head, maybe they stick in. >> if they want harry reid to be majority leader again -- it's not like a lot of stupid people, he's not the same as he used to be. i am the same as i used to be. i used to like winning and i like winning now. it's not like we didn't say this when the delaware republicans had a choice or the nevada voters had a choice. republicans throw away senate seats, seriously, like they're

disposable like trash bags. and here's another great example. >> what about principles? >> it is. on your point about ryan and women, while romney stopped short publicly of calling for akin to drop out of the race, plenty of other republicans did fearing the cost of elections beyond missouri. and the super pac, we're talked about that. paul ryan is the point i want to get to. he called akin personally, this is what i've been told, asking him to leave the race point blank. i think that's paul ryan trying to separate himself as quickly as possible. >> hold on a minute. i know everybody wants to connect these people -- >> they're connected. >> have you ever heard paul ryan talk about legitimate rape and illegitimate rape? >> no, but he did co-sponsor

legislation that would outlaw all abortion, in the case of rape. >> that's not responsive to my question. >> there are a lot of people who doesn't believe in the exception. but don't compare paul ryan to a guy who says i've been talking to doctors -- hold on. i've been hearing this crap for 24 hours. you've never heard paul ryan say i talked to a doctor and a doctor told me when a woman is being raped there, are biological devices that shut down her system so she doesn't get pregnant. if anybody in the mainstream media can show me a place that paul ryan has said anything that even closely resembles this, then i will say i'm sorry. >> that's a wonderful deflection. >> it's not a deflection. >> you're very good at this.

>> if todd akin said a couple days ago on tv i'm against abortion, even with the exception, guess what? we wouldn't be talking about it today because we knew that was his position. >> and now you've done this three times. it's a great deflection to ride out the clock here. my point is they had paul ryan call him because paul ryan really needs to separate himself from this guy because he co-sponsored that legislation. never said what you said. never. >> you're right. he's not dumb enough to say something like that. whether he believes the biological thing is not the point. they co-sponsored legislation that tried to define rape. it wasn't they tried to outlaw abortion in all cases of rape. they tried to carve out and make a distinction between some other form of rape and something they called forceable rape.

for most women rape is rape. i'm sure -- >> the plit clal problematic thing for ryan was they co-sponsored a bill that tried to make a distinction between two different kinds of rape. >> what year was that? >> i don't know. >> it was a while back, right? >> come on, joe, don't. >> i'm asking a legitimate question, mika, just relax! >> people at the table right now will tell you you don't want to go there. >> i don't want to know what year this bill was sponsored? >> no. >> i'm asking what year the bill was sponsored. when did the jets win the super bowl? can i ask that question? when did the germans bomb pearl harbor? can i ask that question? >> it was another great job belushi movie. >> if paul ryan was 85 years

old, that would be a legitimate question. he's not. he's like 42. >> to quote "animal house", the republicans should be asking themselves "what the hell we supposed to do, you morons," because that's how we're acting. can i ask you a question there, joe? >> no, you can't. >> the republican party -- >> it was 2011. a long time ago. a long time ago. back in the distant past. >> president obama yesterday stopped by the briefing room making a rare and unannounced appearance to take questions of the press corps. this is what our president said. >> the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're

talking about doesn't make sense to the american people and certainly doesn't make sense to me. so what i think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn't have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women. >> we have the bumper sticker for the fall "rape is rape, vote obama." >> we haven't seen the president come out and talk for a while. obviously he chose a purpose to talk on that issue and some others. to go back to what mika is saying about ryan calling, i think mika is right. they wanted to put the word out for distance. the challenge is he was difficult to reach yesterday. a lot of republicans are going with the stick approach to get him out, no more funding. some say they might need more

carrots to get him out. they might try to get him out of the denial he's in to realize you're not going to be that but let's find something else for to you do. they need to get him on the phone, make him some offer. >> ambassadorship. make him ambassador of what? >> something. they got to -- the people who are trying to game this out and figure out how can they induce him to leave the race are politicians who recognize this guy thought he was going to be united states senator in january, what can they find for him so he can see fit to say i've got a different path to go in? >> the latest nbc news/wall street journal poll shows obama with a 15-point advantage among women voters. i expect that to grow. i mean seriously. they kind of have a problem over there. >> look at how happy you are. >> no, i'm not. >> yes, you are. yes, you are, claire. >> did you call me claire? i consider that a compliment. >> i know.

>> claire mccaskill was completely credible and legitimate and not performing yesterday like a bunch of. -- >> i'm asking what you -- >> you know better. brian, you're trained well. >> what did brian say? >> i didn't say anything. >> that's the point. that's called trained well. >> hey, happy wife, happy life. that's my view. >> i also have respect for the process. we must abide by the process. >> the republican primary has voted. >> they replaced -- >> we got to stick with this guy. >> it that looks bad, too. >> can we identify a time when the republican party was completely hijacked by this stuff? whatever happened to small

government and fiscal conservatism? why are they on this complete conservative bus? they're isolating millions of potential voters, women and money alik-- men alike. >> they got hijacked by wh they were building -- >> do you know who they're going to lose? people like me who are fiscally conservative, pro-choice, whatever, how can i get on board with something like that, these kind of comments, small government and mifiscal conservatism. what the hell happened? sorry. >> they don't want conservative christians, people who believe what akin believes. >> that's my point. who are they going to vote for? >> i don't know. >> yes. >> if you are a ceo of a

company, you look at the last quarter of earnings the last year and you're judged by that. as we talk about the republican party moving to extinction, john, i think it is good to remind everybody that the republican party in the last election won the largest legislative majority nationwide in the history of american politics, if you combine congressional and legislative races, no political party has ever won as many seats as the republican did or swung as many seats as the republican party did. so, yes, we trash their brand but it kind of also like trashing a couch. i hear everybody on the new york radio stations flashing rex ryan saying he's the worst coach ever. we quickly forget these evangelical christians have

helped cobble together a coalition that has won a lot more than it's lost, a lot more than they've lost. >> that's exactly my point. that's how their national majority came to be. so if you, you know, you have what todd akin said about legitimate rape but you've got a lot of people who agree with him on no exception and from what i was reading yesterday, there are a lot of people who shared the views he expressed out loud. you throw those people under the bus and offend those people, you have a problem in the republican coalition. >> you're going to stay frustrated. >> i'm going to restart the bull moose party, too. i'm going to wear a damn tie, too. >> he only did that preemptively too early. >> oh, really? lot of chest hair? >> all the way down to the belly button. >> no, really --

>> hey, hey, keep your clothes on. >> yesterday you looked like engelbert humperdinck today you look like -- >> he's a big, strong man. >> i'm a sensitive guy. i pay the harpsicord. i quilt. >> will you stay with us, mark halpern? >> for now i will, yeah. >> for now? >> he's going to write a sonet during the break. brian, will you leave now? >> i've got to go to the new york stock exchange for two hours with cnbc. >> all right. thank you, brian. >> and when you come back, will you -- oh, he's giving you his

tie. look, he's walking off. >> thank you. >> i'm going to lumber off. >> you could wear a tie. >> in honor of my probably last appearance on "morning joe." >> no, no, brian you're coming back. >> don't go in anger, just go away, right? >> why do i feel like we need to go to break with like oasis. >> coming up, we have al sharpton, former nfl lineman warren sapp joins us. he's an actor, man, look at him. >> i don't know where he's going! >> he's about to pull the fire extinguisher. >> now here's a man who never embarrasses us. >> you guys have asked me to jump before but never, ever to leave.

not yet. >> you've kept your tie on. what's the weather look like? >> actually, we have some concerns out there. you and mika could be having a little tropical action down in tampa come monday, tuesday next week. all eyes on this storm. this will be the first really big, important storm for the united states we have to watch closely. this is only tropical depression number nine now before a strong hurricane in the days ahead. classic path heading through the northern caribbean over the warm water, going to be very close to puerto rico, the dominican republic, haiti, jamaica and cuba. it's almost a category three with 110 mile-an-hour winds on sunday. that's only a day or two away from florida. it's not etched in stone but it looks very likely florida will have to deal with that storm come monday, tuesday of next week.

given, the again, the rnc is in tampa for the convention next week. a very quiet day across the country. all eyes will be on the forming storm isaac as we approach the rnc convention next week. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] after years of celebrations, marie callender's gives you a way to make any day a special occasion. new mini cream pies for one. real whip cream and a cookie-crumb crust. marie callender's. it's time to savor. real whip cream and a cookie-crumb crust. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money,

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the first plan of its kind. share everything. only from verizon. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr. it is 32 past the hour. time to look at the morning papers. "the washington post" said rebels have been forced to smuggle communication gear like satellite phones across the border because they haven't received equipment promised from the federal government.

earlier hillary clinton announced a $35 million pledge in nonlethal aid to competition. >> i wish brian were still here to talk about this. apple now officially the largest company in the united states. the company's value at the close of business yesterday was over $200 billion greater than its nearest rival exxon mobil. the price for one share of apple stock is now less than $2 away from the retail price of an apple computer in 1976. that's a remarkable story, isn't it, mika? >> it really is. also from the wall street journal, facebook's earliest investor has sold 20 million shares of the company. the venture capitalist invested a half a million dollars in facebo facebook in 2004 and as soon as then has earned more than $1 billion on the company. >> and the university of alabama

is the number one college in all categories. but the list willie geist is most interested in, the top party schools. he's taking a survey. topping the survey is west virginia. really? >> for years in a row that place has been number one. >> number two and i've heard they're crazy, out at ohio university. and the most stone cold sober school is utah's byu. i seriously have no idea how that college held jim mcmahon for four years. >> i don't know how it holds anybody. who goes to college without being able to drink. i think it's just sacrilegeous. >> why don't you go skinny-dip in the sea of galilee. >> here with suss plus is polit

jonathan martin. we'll start with bumbling candidates. >> the head bands and drinking beers is stuck in my head. in most cycles like this one, candidates really matter. 2006 democrats had a wave election and in 2010 when republicans had a wave election, both parties could get away with some mediocre candidates and some folks were swept in who had no business being in candidates. this is not going to be one of those wave years. both parties have their bases turned out. candidates really matter. akin is not the only candidate that has had problems. shelly burkely is under investigation, rick berg is having trouble. bill nelson should be vulnerable down in florida.

they cannot find somebody who can beat bill nelson and the most glaring one, a lot of democrats thought scott brown was a goner. that scott brown race in massachusetts is very, very close. candidates always matter in non-wave cycles. todd akin is only the last candidate here. >> thank you very much. he's sounding a little crazy, too. he'd like to put his finger in a socket. >> why are you so mean? you're yelling at me. >> you deserved it. >> you're interrupting me. why do you interrupt me all the time? >> no, you really -- when you make an argument, make a salient point. don't go around the in circles. >> you are so boring. >> when you go around in circles, it's boring. it's been done. >> you're a bully, mika. >> i was doing my best. >> you're usually better. >> i hate when she calls me out

for being so dumb. >> no, you're very smart but not today. today you -- >> you need to be, you know. >> by the way, if that hurricane hits that bill was talking about, just watch for todd akin supporters to -- somebody is going to say that's vengeance -- >> from the almighty? that kind of vengeance? >> i would expect that to pop up in somebody's sermon. >> guess what's up next? we have former lineman warren sapp here on "morning joe." >> that's exciting, baby. ♪ staring blindly into space and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up.

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welcome back to "morning joe." >> are we on the air? >> the tampa bay buccaneers and raiders, warren sapp, the author of "sapp attack ", my story." mika was noting you were voted most flirtatious in high school. >> i saw that. >> don't look at me, look at him. >> is that what happened? >> apparently according to sapp

attack. >> yes, it was. i was voted most athletic and most flirtatious. >> how did that happen? >> when you're the big man on campus. i'm not bad looking, am i, mika? >> no. >> you watch "morning joe" every morning. you watch mika. >> yes, i do. when you bring your father out and he comes out and gives good love, here puts it down. >> yes, he does. >> and my man eugene comes down with the voice of god. >> makes me thrilled. >> you have a good voice. >> not like eugene, though. >> talk about putting people down, sam weis. you didn't really like sam a lot. he said you were from different planets. why is that?

>> he was a players coach, let the guy does whatever they want to do. when i got sam, we used to fly into a city. normally you get a couple hours in a city -- the 90 minutes. he never let us how the. >> what about tony dungy? you liked him. up sa you said he put the cake in the oven. >> you have to build a foundation. when he came in, he let us know exactly what he wanted from us. he put two signs up "no excuses" and "be a pro." >> you love that guy? >> i'd take a bullet for him. >> i'd take a bullet for him if i didn't have to take a bullet for him. i wouldn't think that's something you would invite.

>> finally, do we have -- gruden just turned 49, this week or something. but john gruden, he's a little crazy, too, and he watches the show all the time. >> birds of a feather flock together. >> you say that he put the icing on the cake. dungy -- >> dungy had the foundation, put it in the oven. gruden just walked in, you know how you have a souffle, you can't walk in and make a lot of noise and make it drop? those guys have been holding you all up. we're not the crutch of this team so we got it done. >> was chucky a little crazy? >> yeah, he wanted to drive the car 150 and it only went 110. he used to always talk about coming to work at 3:15.

i called the wife and said i'm going to be a little late, have i to see if the 3:15 thing is real. i'm in the parking lot, blasting the music, he pulls up right about 3:15. what are you doing in my spot? i said i just want to see if the myth was real and i drove off. >> i'm a redskin fan. sam wyche plays for the redskins. you're much better at your position. >> let's not kick sam around. i didn't expect a coach to drive off and leave me in north carolina and change the script. carolina was playing at south carolina at the time, death valley, that one-lane highway, he was so afraid we were going to be late he left me and the two others at the hotel. >> are you saying miami was so

strict? >> miami, 3 to 6. you were working on the field. after that you could do whatever. >> you had a great college career, great pro career, most flirtatious. i see it embossed like fake ring on your hand. >> i don't think any championship ring is a fake. >> the one on this cover is. >> you have a lot of accomplishments. what's your biggest disappointment? and don't say when you lost "dancing with the stars" by a hair. >> .36% of the vote. >> i'd are v to say 1985 draft pick. i took my mom and brothers and

sister to new york and did something stupid at the combine which made it a horrible time for my family. >> what did do you? >> marijuana. and then it turned into a big drug test. i had my grand mom mom and -- >> what did she say to you? >> it's going to be all right. you know the lord won't give you anything you can't handle. >> so what do you think about this year? >> who's your team? >> i was born in atlanta. >> don't go there. >> the first super bowl i remember was '69 and namath. >> just end the season. >> why do you think the jets -- they have sanchez who has trouble running a team. he just does.

he's not a natural born leader. instead of writing a big check and getting peyton manning, they decide to get tim tebow, another guy, how just don't think is ever going to take you to the super bowl. >> but he's a leader of men. here's the dilemma you have in new york. i've never seen a two-quarterback system work. >> lou holtz's favorite quote, if you've got two quarterbacks, you have no quarterback. >> the thing about it is setebo has the least amount of skills for the most scrutinized position on the football field. and they moved up sanchez but tebow's got magic. >> can you explain to people quick we got tebow.

stephen h. smith trashes tebow every day. >> you think he should be cut? >> no, i don't. go with mark sanchez. tebow has the least amount of skills. but we love the guy. he's a wonderful guy. there's nothing wrong with tim tebow the man but tim tebow the quarterback leaves something to be desired. >> what do you think of rg3? >> oh i love this guy. he's a can't miss guy. they're both special. they're going to light this league up for a long time. i'm happy they're around. i love quarterbacks. >> this was so much fun. it was very good to have you.

>> you're special. >> she is special. >> the book is "sapp attack." >> you're dying to say it, i know you are. anti-bullying is going down. >> i don't know why your hand on that cover looks so much lighter than the hand on the set. >> i got a little tan before the season started. >> thank you so much. >> makes you look more bad.

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this is kevin yoder. he's apologized for swimming naked in the sea of galilee. here are his excuses. number ten, what's the big deal, i was naked the whole trip? number nine it was spring break, chill out. in my defense i was drinking

heavily. number six, trying to take the focus off mitt romney's taxes. number five, it had been days since the republicans had done something embarrassing. number four, it was president obama's fault. >> number two, i can't swim naked but barney frank can look like this? and number one, that's how we party in kansas. >> it was quite an hour, wasn't it? >> we had a lot of action. a lot of volume. >> a lot of volatility. >> and you were tough. more than tough. you're not going to take it anymore, are you? >> do you think she owes me an apology because she interrupted me and called me stupid?

>> no. does anyone? we'll be right back. >> this is going to be great! ♪ [ male announcer ] it started long ago.

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taking the work requirement out of welfare, which every single person here who looked at it says is patently false. they can run the campaign they want but the truth of the matter is you can't just make stuff up. that's one thing you learn as president of the united states. you get called to account. >> you can't just make stuff up. >> you might want to take that to heart. >> just sit there and let that breathe. >> let it breathe. >> do you think bill burton believes that? >> do you think the romney campaign believes that? >> um, i think both the romney campaign with the welfare ad and one of barack obama's closest aides from four years ago -- >> the super pac, not his campaign. you know what? that's getting hold. >> he's so connected to it. >> i'm just saying, if i'm living in a glass house, i'm very careful about what stone i

pick up and where i throw it. >> i would take offense if an ad that never aired except for repetitively on cable television receives continued criticism. >> what the president said on welfare reform is absolutely right but he has allowed a major bag door to open, which is social security disability, where the rules have been expanding rapidly with the same people that used to be on welfare. and a lot of this is low-level federal bureaucrats just saying yes to anybody who walks in the door. this is a big problem. >> it could be a big problem but for the fact that i was talking to a very loyal republican over the weekend and usually the republican will say, hey, joe, you've got this wrong. mitt's this and this, that.

and so i said to him, i said can you help me out on something? because i've been looking for a week and a half to try to figure out the basis of this welfare reform ad. i've scoured the wall street journal editori iaial pages. could you -- he said oh, that's completely false. it's just completely false. and i -- i was pretty stunned. >> does it make a difference what comes out of of the candidate's mouth versus this other stuff? >> well, if it's bill burton, that's one thing. >> when the candidate is out on the stump saying this stuff, do voters treat that differently? i would say there should be a higher bar. a successful bar -- he had his people out here landing the punches. when he got to talk, he'd do it with a bit of humor, make his

points, keep it general. it was people's money and that was how he stumped. romney's taking it in a different direction. that's not what presidential candidates have done. i don't know l we're seeing getting punished for this or how is this shaping people's opinions for this. >> is mark still in washington? >> yes, sir. >> when you talk to the romney campaign, what's the justification on the welfare ad? >> that some republican officials don't like it. i would say the democrats have run some ads, not just the super pac. >> no, i'm talking about what is the legal basis of the welfare reform ad? >> that the republicans made changes that some republican governors say open the door. but i don't -- i don't think that ad is justifiable but there have been democratic ad, one on governor romney's position on abortion that also is not accurate. both campaigns have done it. in the current system, there's no good way to get them to stop.

>> joe, you covered a lot of campaign. look how stupid this campaign has become. >> it is stupid. it's an emmy, empty, empty campaign. >> a couple weeks ago -- i always quote mika. she said it's a seinfeld campaign, it's a campaign about nothing and it just keeps getting dumber. i was. >> out for the ryan/romney rollout. still no details about anything. i was surprised by how there was no red meat. there were no -- it was really an upbeat kind of talk and he's back to doing -- romney is back to doing what worked for him in the very beginning, talking about the economy, talking about jobs, talking about small business, that sort of thing. he didn't say one word about any social issue. and heap said practically

nothing about foreign policy until he was asked about it. >> did he sing? >> did he sing? >> no. >> i used to love when romney would sing "america the beautiful." >> that's what i wanted to throw up. that's when his stump speech completely collapsed. now it's empty of any facts or details. but at least it's kind of uplifting. he tells the stories of entrepreneurs who have made it. i mean, it ain't -- >> what about singing davey crocket like he did in tennessee. ♪ born on a mountaintop >> i will say this really quickly about romney. we were watching in new hampshire his speech -- >> in the primary?

>> in the primary. and we were impressed. everybody in the room said, my god, this guy may have it. he looked that way when he launched ryan. he had a good day or two there. >> and they separated. >> and they said he was pretty good in new hampshire. this guy may end up being a little bit stronger. i'll just put it on a maybe. i may be underestimating his potential. >> well, we'll see. the thing that everybody remembers from 2008 is both barack obama and hillary clinton throughout that long primary, every tuesday they both raised their game every tuesday. and they both were -- so that by the time -- and each speech was better than the last for each of them. by the end you knew whether braush or hi-- barack obama or

hillary clinton -- >> romney, he needs to spell out a big positive vision for the country, he needs to draw contrasts. he's got a very, very high bar. it's the most important moment of the campaign for him so far and could be the most important -- other than the debate. there's just been no evidence so far that he can do what he has to do. but we'll see. >> he needs to drive the brinks truck up to peggy noonan's building. he's in a similar position to george h.w. bush, who gave one good speech in hissin tire life. that's what romney needs to do. >> we're talking about the convention of 19 8. i remember watching george h.w. bush and that one part about i may not speak well but i hear --

mitt romney's problem is four years ago the democratic primary, mika, it was olli frazier, every week, every tuesday. and hillary and the president -- the way mitt romney has won since new hampshire was by writing ads for 30-second ads and while those 30-second ads were destroying his opposition, he was singing -- and i'm dead serious -- "american the beautiful" and giving the most inane, stupid speeches. so now he's got to fight and we'll see if he's ready. >> the primary was not helpful to him. it was disastrous. >> it didn't make him better. >> no, it didn't. that sort of preseason workout

comes back to you. either you have it or you don't. let's get to the news really quickly here at 11 past the hour. missouri senate candidate todd akin is vowing to stay in the race despite his comments on race and abortion. should he pull out of the race today, the republican executive committee could still replace him on the ballot. yesterday congressman akin vowed to fight on. >> the good people of missouri nominated me and i'm not a quitter. and my belief is we're going to take this thing forward and by the grace of god, to win this race. to quote my old friend john paul jones, i've not yet begun to fight. >> oh, lord. >> if i were the congressman, i wouldn't bring god into this. he got into this trouble talking about biology. >> that's a completely of the human body, how it functions.

>> how god made the female body. >> and mitt romney was asked whether akin should remove himself from the race. he said -- >> his comments about rape were deeply offensive. and i can't defend what he said, i can't defend him. >> do you think for the benefit of the party, sir, he should drop out? >> he should consider that's in the best interest that he believes in deeply. >> i don't get why he jnt just say -- even if he doesn't, he hud have his own convictions about this. if his party is going to be stupid, that's fiend. >> but this is like the first time i've seen republicans play it smart because karl rove and mitch mcconnell and all theser people were doing the right thing and sort of flexing their muscles and basically letting people know we're going to kill

this guy, romney is allowed to sit back and say i'm offended by it. it seems like they sort of managed this. they haven't managed well in a while. >> they should have done it publicly, not just privately. there should have been a parade of people at the steps saying this is not what -- i understand mitt romney saying -- but he could have gone farther and said -- jorng w. bussai said -- george w. bush, when it came to tom delay and the rest of them, he said no balancing the budget on the backs of the poor. he could have said he should get

out for the good of the party, for the good of the country. gr but he hasn't done that once in this campaign at all. >> it seemed to me that people who were looking for him to not mince words. rch was listening to romney's answer and again you saw him being very careful. i disagree. i think to be careful would be what mitt romney has done in the pa past. i think here we have more of a situation that we had in 2002 when george w. bush and carl loaf allowed trent lott to twist in the wind. they never said, "trend lott, you must quick because we are offended." the first time i saw the white house's non-defense, he was done.

you can see here -- >> it's usually kind of surprising because normally republicans stand by their own no matter what. it was slash and burn yesterday. they cut the legs out from under the guy. >> he deserved to have his legs cut out from under him, many times. >> maybe i'm asking for too much here. but i would have loved to have seen mitt romney or paul ryan say those comments were demeaning to women, they were insulting to our intelligence and they completely don't represent this ticket and the republican party and he should step down. >> except for the last part, i don't know that that's so far from what he said. >> want to play it again? i'm serious. i didn't see any of that. i saw him being very careful. >> it was more on the interview where he said -- where he was more vehement, i think.

where he said these were insulting. >> offensive. >> you talk about the bush 2002 example. it's slightly different in that 2002 bush was obviously in the white house. i think the question here is whether romney missed an opportunity to actually do a full-blown sister soulja moment. was there an opportunity for him to come out more forcefully? >> so what happened to him? and, by the way, mika, you've got a note that for five years i sbrn trashing republicans and vice versa. i do think that this is one time where mitt romney has got it

right. i was challenging romney. you want to be the leader of our party, stand up and -- i'm not going to be told that i'm trying to cover for mitt romney. it's the first time romney got it right. what would happen if romney said i am offended by this, as he said, and get out of the race today! and akin goes screw you, i'm in the race. what are the headlines the next day going into the convention? if he can't even control a little congressman, we would all be saying it, nobody respects mitt romney, he can't even control a little congressman who is an extremist in his party. >> i don't think this is a close call, though, right? and i think the bigger question here is were akin's comment as complete anomaly, came out of nothing or is this part of the

bigger discussion that paul ryan and others have been comfortable talking abouts forible -- about forceable rape? or is it that i've been sitting next to a guy who is comfortable with being out of the mainstream. zip think he's emotional and reacting to the women in his life. that would impact the bigger picture -- >> it is an ideological fault line. democrats are saying that

somehow what todd akin said is tied back to this bill. i keep hearing it around the table. if todd akin brought up in bill on the interview, he would still be in the race and we would not be talking about him. this is a story not because -- let me finish. this is a story that gained traction not because of this bill that paul ryan co-sponsored, this is a story that gained traction because we saw the ignorance of a man just in clear view talking about the biology of women that somehow magically stops conception when they're being raped. what did he call it? >> legitimate rape. >> legitimate rape. this has nothing to do with a bill that was co-sponsored. this has something to do with an ignorant, ignorant man that is not worthy to be a united states senator.

>> that what you said at the end there, the ignorant, ignorant senator, not worthy, that's what i'd like to hear. >> what if he stays in and wins? that's not impossible. grass root republicans, even when they get attacked on something like this, they rise to his or her offense. in this case they may hate obama care a lot who are than they hate his position. >> remember back when rick santorum was on the rise and all of those statements were made? remember i was talking about my wife and her friends around the table who had never voted for a democrat in their life, ever, i don't think my wife has ever voted for a democrat in her life, she is pro-life and she lectures me on exception, the exceptions, they sat around the table going what's wrong with the republican party? they are crazy. they want to put us back in the

1950s. so i think there are times when the republicans don't rally to sheer ignorance and stupidity within their own ranks and i think we saw that yesterday. i mean -- >> you start from the top down, not from the bottom up. >> it seems pretty careful to me and sort of tepid, which tippy, tippy, tippy toe, which mitt romney missed an opportunity -- >> well we shall disagree. >> do you want to play it again? are we talking about the same sound bite? this is him on television for the first time talking on the record about this idiot, this complete idiot. there is nobody at this table or anybody that i could ever find in this building walking down the street who does not think that guy is not a complete stupid idiot. >> okay. well, i agree. i called him ignorant yesterday but i haven't heard -- hold on. i haven't heard president

obama -- if this is the standard we're going by, i haven't heard president obama condemn bill maher for calling republican politics the c word. in fact, he takes $1 million from him. so is this a standard that we're going to hold? i think mitt romney did what was i think politically best yesterday and he said -- what did he say in national review, joe? >> that it was insulting and demeaning and so on. >> who cares. if someone is as stupid as todd aiken to say what he said, he probably will stay in the race. it doesn't really matter. mitt romney and paul ryan aren't going to say what they really think about him. >> you think he's going to stay in the race? >> i i think he will. >> and, john heilemann, what do you think? does he stay in the race? >> i think he's going to be

gone. >> what do you think, mark? >> 40% chance he's out today, 70% chance he's out at the end of the week. >> 4 5.3 chance he's out by the end of the day. >> although that would be too precise. >> he has to legally do it by 5:00 today? >> the deadline is not as airtight as we all thought. the on thing about today's deadline is a judge doesn't have to be involved. after today there's several weeks up until september where he can get out after a judge sanctions it. republicans, trying to lose today as a deadline because they'd like a new nominee in tampa. >> i'd like to play mclaughlin now -- aw, he will be going today." it's kind of a difficult issue. i'm saying president obama does one thing very well. he speaks for the women in his

life and lets his voices to be reard. >> it's a calculation it seems to me. what does mitt romney get with the women vote by doing a sister soulja and it seems like akin went on the other side. >> the republican party has a real problem with this kind of social extremism. and, you know, it may well make a real difference in the general election. >> i think mitt romney has two huge problems. i think he has an hispanic problem obviously and he's got the gender gap. so i actually do think that he could be very aggressive on an issue like this and it would

actually help him. micee mika, i'm going to defer to you on that. >> you just did. >> i didn't but i -- >> no, you did. it's okay. is it time to go to a break. >> whatever you say, mika. >> okay. "the washington post's" eugene robinson will be with us.

we were actually talking -- >> the best concert i've ever seen. >> if you want to know what we talk about, joe klein, you were just recalling when the rolling stones were on tour. it's a great story, tell us quick. >> the warmup act was stevie wonder. he went on for about two hours. we're wondering why is he playing so long but it was terrific. and then kevin white, the then mayor, recently passed away, gets on stage and says, listen,

i'm going to have to ask for your patience here. the stones were busted in providence for marijuana possession, he said, but i sprung them! don't go crazy, they'll be here. they went on stage around 2:30, 3:00 in the morning and played till around 6:00. that was the best concert i ever saw. >> how stoned were they? >> i don't know. >> okay, eugene robinson -- >> warren sapp said he had the voice of god this morning. >> i know. >> thank him. warren sapp, that's a guy i'm really glad he likes me rather than dislikes me. i saw what he did to those poor little running backs all those years. >> so, gene, do you think akin is shoved out of the race today

or do you think he stays in? >> boy, he seems determined to stay in. i think the democrats are probably rooting for him to stay in. i don't know. the threat to not give him any money, karl rove says he's not going to give him any money. i wonder how long that holds if he stays in and it gets down to the wire and clearly the missouri senate seat is going to be crucial for control of the senate. do you think they're really not going to give him any money if he stays in? >> if they give him a cent, the ads roll in against romney. if he stays in, it's really bad for romney and if you give him money, it's even worse. i'm sorry. i was going to say mika believes mitt romney didn't go far enough yesterday. do you agree with that?

>> actually, i agree with you on that, joe. i think mitt romney did okay. he wasn't churchillian in his rhetoric. he didn't come out as strong as perhaps one would like. this is one of the most idiotic things i've ever heard a politician say. it was insulting and demeaning, the whole nine yards but for romney, i thought he did pretty well. i understood what he was saveyi, he was trying to push the guy out of the race. i think there's a legitimate line, legitimate rape and forceable rape that akin sponsored along with paul ryan and others and i think that's a larger problem. the gender gap is real and there's a reason for it and

that's one of the reasons for it. >> i do think there's a debate. i disagree with the bill, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. i think the reason we're talking about this, the guy making the statement about a woman's body somehow defending itself against pregnancy when being raped. >> so in what universe would you think that guys should possibly do what's best for the country? when do you say he should get out, get out, we don't need stupidity in the party. probably he's so dumb he won't. but in my opinion as the republican nominee i think he should get out, he's not welcome in this party. why can't you say that? >> well, i would say that. we're talking about mitt romney here. >> i know. >> i don't mean that negatively. mitt romney is temperamentally built differently than me, which

is why mitt romney is where he is. >> he's going to have to step out at some point on some issue. you mentioned hispanics and women. i would add a third category -- bankers. there are a lot of conservatives who have said the great sister soulja moments he could have it breaking up the five big banks who are in a position of moral hazard now. >> he has no problem talking about iran. he's ready to bomb them at a hair trigger. iran is a little more complex i would argue but -- >> when he talked about iran yesterday in new hampshire, he was very cautious. he didn't -- >> well -- >> let's go to war! >> i just -- there's got to be

very -- i'm very careful here. i have said this was ignorant from the second this launched. i am talking about the political maneuvering. that's all i'm talking about. i'm not saying what i would do. think think that's what gene was talking about as well. but, you know, what i would have called out going back when he said stupid things, i would have called out talk radio hosts, cable news hosts, republican congressmen, senators. but romney is not built that way. i do think yesterday was the first time i've seen my party rise up and call out somebody for an ignorant statement. ly also tell you calling the president racist and saying he hates all white people, that is a more dangerous statement and the republicans were all quiet when that statement was made by glen beck when he was the most

powerful voice in the republican party. >> joe -- >> gene? >> i agree with you. i thought it was a rather impressive republican display yesterday of unanimity about what akin ought to do. and it struck me, again, just the politics of it. they seem to be trying to do it in a way that would calculate it to actually get the result they wanted rather than to make a show. so they wanted to nudge and push and i thought that romney as now effectively the ahead of the party and as nominee perhaps felt his statement had to be measured, had to leave the decision up to akin when he clearly wants him out of the race. that was my reading of the politics about it, which isn't half bad. >> you're right.

the ryan-akin bill was going to come up no meert what. why? it's a pretty radical splaegs and feeds into this gp we've been talking about. the last potime -- we were goin to have this conversation about forceable rape whether this happened or not. >> i will tell you an example of why this issue has had legs. this has been educational for me. what have i always said about paul ryan? he's a numbers guy, a budget guy, the reason i get into congress. this is educational to me.

i didn't know he was connected to this bill. and if i didn't know it, then suddenly you can paint paul ryan as not a libertarian and then you add on top what i've learned about afghanistan and all these other things, the obama team has a good chance of building on this narrative, which is gone all the more reason they have to get akin out of the race. >> eugene robinson, thank you very much. we'll look for your column on "washington post." >> he does have the voice of god, doesn't he? >> coming up, reverend al. we'll be back in a moment with steve forbes. [ male announcer ] did you know all those screens

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coming up, the augusta national golf club finally comes into the 21st century inviting women in, including condoleezza rice. coming up, reverend al sharpton and steve forbes. so you brushed with colgate total and you didn't.

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45 past the hour. here with us now, the host of "politics nation," reverend al sharpton and steve forbes, the author of "freedom manifesto, why free markets are moral and big government isn't." i'll bet this is what you wish the candidates are talking about. >> is it big government or a revived free market? this election is going to be critical in deciding which direction this country goes. >> is that what it's really about ultimately? because i'm hearing a lot of talk about co-sponsoring of abortion legislation and certain senate candidates that it's kind of hard to get around all the clutter. >> well, i think once labor day is over, the conventions are over, people are introduced to

the candidates, reintroduced to the president, the think the fundamental issue is what direction does this country go? i think the choices are stark and very clear. the president is a believer in big government, increased the size of big government. i think romney has to make the case and i think ryan will push him to do it that free market is the sensible rules of the road and made this country great and can make this country great again. >> reverend al, can he make that argument? >> i don't think he has, i don't think he can. ryan voted for every deficit inducing measure bush imposed. it's hard to vote for tax cuts from the government, to vote for wars from the government and other things and turn around and argue against big government. if anything you're arguing what type of government you're going to have. but there's no indication at all when you have the bush white house that his running mate, mr.

ryan, was doing anything to vote against what government should do other than help the poorest of our citizens. >> well, i think the key thing is big government versus government, james madison was right. what should the scope of government be? during the last decade ryan did put forth proposals on social security and medicare that would return power to a younger people, not take away any benefits for those who are on social or about to go on it where he went against the bush administration when they made those proposals in 2005. so the key thing is how do you create an environment for entrepreneurial activity to flourish again in this country? that's why we use symbols in this book such as apple versus solyndra. apple is about free market and creativity and solyndra is about

cronyism markets. >> how do you respond in the bush we had lower rates on the wealthiest and slower economic growth? >> in '93 when the president put in his tax increase, he slowed the economy down, was starting to revive in late 1992 and then slowed in '93, '94. it wasn't until '96 that people felt things were back on track. by then what we used to call hillary care was long gone, and that's why in the latter part of the decade we got the boom because we had a cut in the capital gains tax, had other tax cuts that revived this economy and the economy took off. >> it still happened with the highest marginal rates on the wealthiest, right? >> you it did but you had other things that helped ameliorate that, ease that. we would have had a boom sinner

had the president not increased taxes in 1993, '94. but we did have spending restraint which we did not get in the last decade and certainly not in the last came up and we about assumption tax and other things. george bush had two massive tax cuts, which i supported, and at the beginning of the century, you fast forward to 2008, and the economy is in shambles. and it's been in shamble ls for years. the republicans got the massive tax cuts. and ten years later you have an economy in free fall. >> the crisis of 2008 did not come from the tax cuts. the real tax cut was 2003, 2001. very ineffective.

when it was put into effect in 2003, the economy went off. when the economy went off the rails is when the government went off the rails. we never would have had the housing bubble if the federal reserve hadn't printed so much money. it was a massive failure of government by the federal reserve cheapening the dollar. cost of worldwide crisis. you also had fannie and freddie and other contributors. if government goes off the rails, the private sector goes off the rails. >> steve forbes, thank you very much. >> up next, a senior editor joins us when morning joe comes right back. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance,

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so the national golf club is working a historic change in the 80-year policy. announcing condoleezza rice and moore are the first women to join the club. mike, pretty surprising, a couple barriers coming down at once at augusta. >> i think it took people out of surprise. >> they haven't seemed to care about the pressure. why the change now? >> i think this position was

becoming so out of step with the rest of the country that it became almost embarrassing. this year the chairman took a very heated press conference with the media. the ibm ceo was a woman. it just seemed out of step. >> reverend al, they've been able to do whatever they wanted to do. i remember cbs saying back in '02, well, we just don't think we can. the ibm ceo being such a tight partner with them. >> i think that had a lot of influence. these guys had this aristocratic southern mentality that nothing reaches them and it will all

pass. eventually it got to them. i think it's a great thing. >> now, there's still all-male clubs in america. all white clubs in america. do you think this breaks down the walls for those? >> i think a lot of those take their cues from augusta national. same-sex clubs are legal. that isn't the issue. the club is saying they're out of step. it's a lot of ceos. for them they realize this is something that can't exist anymore. some clubs will take the cues. i don't think there's going to be an immediate change. it's something you'll hear about next year. >> what year is it? is it 2012? are we having this conversation?

just checking. >> it's fascinating we're talking about the headlines. condoleezza rice broke down two barriers. for these types of clubs the race barrier har much bigger than the gender. >> it's 2012. the masters letting in a black woman and a white woman. i don't know. >> this is silly. >> you can mar if you want to march. they wouldn't debt me in the club. >> well, that's a different reason. mike walker, thank you. >> thank you so much. >> and we love "golf" magazine. >> i don't know.

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good morning. it's 8:00 on the east coast. 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. time to wake up, everyone, as you take a live look at new york city. >> i'm feeling good today. >> now you're going to pretend

to be a chipper morning talk show host. >> feels good to unleash. i'm not perfect, either, trust me. and i hate the morning. in fact, i am the "b" word in the morning. >> the "b" word in the morning? >> blueberry? basketball? >>. >> well, mark, mitt romney has been muted in the past, and they were aggressive. i'm impressed with john cornyn being aggressive. >> what about mitt romney? >> i was impressed with mitch mcconnell. i thought the entire republican establishment got suitably aggressive for once. they have done a good job of cutting off the damage of trying to get the party on record.

against what akin said. he had a new ad he's going to put on the air to try to save himself. but for the national party, they did move pretty quick from a tactical point of view. it was pretty impressive. >> congressman akin, you're in denial. and your loss could make the difference between a supreme court justice that could make all the difference in the issues that you claim you care about. so you think about that today while you do your little commercial and destroying the republican majority. >> okay. >> so my big complaint about the republican party has been through the years is that they don't look inward. glenn beck something outrageous.

yesterday was the first time you saw the republican party turn on one of their own. >> here's a good point. >> everybody spoke up. >> which is shocking. >> so let's give people the ground work. missouri governor todd akin is vowing to stay in the race despite an uproar on his comments over rape and abortion. should akin pull out of the race today? the republican consecutive committee could still replace him on the ballot. yesterday he vowed to fight on. >> the good people of missouri nominated me, and i'm not a quitter. and we're going to win this race. and to quote my old friend john paul jones, i've not yet begun to fight. >> the controversy -- >> i think he's talking about

the bassist for led zepplen. >> mitt romney was asked if akin should remove himself from the race. >> his comments about rape were deeply offensive. and i can't defend what he said. i can't defend him. >> do you think for the benefit of the party he should drop out. >> the thing that he should consider is what's in the best interest of the things he believes deeply. >> why didn't he just go further? >> because everybody is working behind the scenes now. finally. to put some discipline you know, nicole wallace. when we were so dispondant on the state of the republican party. she says, i'm just tired of it

being the stupid party. i'm tired of us being stupid and having stupid people saying stupid things. so yesterday they were smart. they allow romney to go out, pull back and not say get out of the race. if he says get out of the race and the idiot stays in the race, well, it makes romney look weak. but behind the scenes. others are going, we're going to grind your bones into dust if you don't get out of this race. we are going to kill you. you are finished. that allows romney to take the position. that's how things used to be run in the republican party. we used to know what we were doin

doing. >> yes, the republican party, as you said, reacted with force. the most important thing was the dog that didn't bark. the money that was going to be put into the race, starting this week with a new ad buy, pulled. that's where rove did not come out and publicly attack akin. the act spoke itself. >> back in 2002 i called rove for money that my friends needed for races. i was impressed. he was really tough. he would go through all the reasons why. yesterday morning around the table we decided rove is not going to spend any money on this race.

that sends as strong a message to akin as mitt romney saying get out of the race, right? >> sure. the concern was not what akin believed. it's the fact that he stupidly said -- >> threw the race away. >> in the initial statement, i disagree with congressman akin, kind of weak. >> i thought it was. the thing is, sunday night when all this broke. mark said, oh my god. i know how this is going to happen. monday they're going to get out there and they're going to say something weak. and then they're going to killed in the press. and tuesday it will be a little bit stronger. by thursday they may have stopped the bleeding. by then it will be too late

because they lost the week. they behaved like barack obama's campaign behaved four years ago when it was time to throw people under the bus. they behaved like george w. bush and karl rove did for eight years. you're the majority leader? you're not anymore. you're right. this was very convenient of them. >> well, they don't have him out yet. one person we haven't heard from is roy blunt. this is a republican senator from missouri. he could be decisive in this. i take a little bit of an exception with john. some republicans have acted because they were offended by what congressman akin said. the importance is from an electoral point of view, the female vote. the romney campaign can say, this doesn't concern us. this isn't part of what we're talking about.

they have to close the gender gap. the voters to decide this is probably women. as long as akin is there, the senate seat is in peril. they must get him out to move on and not sacrifice the key senate seat. >> yesterday john was to pick up on a critical point. if i'm on romney's team, yeah, but guys running for presidents are not worries about anybody else but themselves winning. if you look inward at the romney campaign if akin stays in the race he's a reminder every

single day of a bill that paul ryan sponsors. they have got to get him out of the race. you will see democrats running on about paul ryan, akin and this bill. >> many of the people i respect the most on wall street believe all the senate races, the 33 seats can be more important for the direction of the economy than the presidential race. so the senate u races are key. if you're mitt romney and paul ryan, you have to be beating your head against the wall right now. you wanted to talk about a still fragile recovery. millions underwater on their homes, and now what are you talking about? you're talking about todd akin.

you're talking about abortion. you're talking about skinny dipping in the sea of galilee. you're not talking about the issues. >> timing is everything. if i had gone skinny dipping in the sea of galilee, we would be so thankful todd interview had the interview he had. >> what do you wear when you swim in the sea of galilee. >> i just got a little sick. >> a tie or no tie? >> john has a question. >> no, just to expand. >> go ahead. >> it's just a very. >> that's exactly right. by picking paul ryan, they knew that he had these problems with some of these social issues. the obama campaign before akin

was going to start writing a lot of stuff on ryan being too far right on the women's issues. kom knee can't move the young vote, the african-american vote or the hispanic vote. he might be able to move the women's vote. this exacerbates a problem that already existed. >> yes, they are. and todd akin doesn't care about anybody else either. if he digs in his heels say, hey, everybody is piling on this guy. "morning joe" is going to town, maybe they stick in. 4. >> you know, it's not like

there's a lot of stupid people. he's not the same he used to be. i am the same. i used to like winning, and i like winning now. it's not like we didn't say this when the delaware republicans had a choice or the nevada voters had a choice. republicans throw away senate seats, seriously, like they're disposable trash bags. >> it is. on halman's point on paul ryan and women, it might be why this information from behind the scenes was leaked out. plenty of other republicans asked him to run out fearing the cost of the election beyond missouri. and the super pac we talked about that. paul ryan called todd akin personally, this is what we've been told. >> hold on a second.

have you heard paul ryan talk about the difference between legitimate rape and illegitimate rape. there are a lot of people twho don't believe in the exceptions. if abortion is murder, they believe abortion is murder. i can see their position. i believe in the exception. don't compare paul ryan to a guy who says, well, i've been talking to doctors. >> oh, i'm not. >> hold on. because i've been hearing this crap for 24 hours. you never heard paul ryan say i talked to a doctor and a doctor told me when a woman being raped there are biological devices that shut down her system so she doesn't get pregnant.

if anybody can show me something where paul ryan says anything that shows me something close to this -- you're not going to find it. if he said a couple days ago on tv, i'm against abortion even with the exceptions, guess what? we wouldn't be talking about it today. >> right. and now you've done this three times. it's a great deflection. but my point is they had paul ryan call him because paul ryan really needs to separate himself from this guy because he cosponsored the legislation. never said what you said. never. they cosponsored legislation to redefine rape and try to say there was something called forcible rape. that's why it was controversial.

it said they tried to carve out and make a distinction between some other form of rape and something they called forcible rape. for most women, rape is rape. i'm sure he doesn't believe it. the politically problematic thing is they cosponsored a bill that tried to make a distinction between two different kinds of rape. >> what year was that? >> i can look it up for you if you want? >> it was a while back. >> come on, joe. don' don't. >> i'm asking a legitimate question. just relax. >> you don't want to go there. >> i don't want to know what year this bill was sponsored? >> no, he cosponsored it. when did the jets win the super

bowl? can i ask that question? when did the germans bomb pearl harbor? >> 1942. >> if paul ryan was 85 years old, that would be a legitimate question. he's not. he's like 42. the republicans should be asking themselves, what the hell are we supposed to do? >> coming up next, we'll bring in the first official white house videographer who is now sharing the unique perspective on the administration. that's going to be cool. >> talk about tropical action, here's bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> good morning, everyone. we have a lot of implications. the first significant storm that

could impact the united states over the next few weeks. also florida. first things first, the storm has to strengthen. it's now a tropical depression. it should become isaac this time tomorrow. this is why we're interested in this storm. it isn't going to be a storm that just turns out to sea and misses. it will like lick hit someone as a significant storm. first it has to sneak by puerto rico. and then cuba as we go through the weekend. so those are the immediate impact areas over the next five days. after that, all indications are somewhere near the bahamas or florida. even the entire east coast that has to watch this one. it could head due north. that's all next week. all eyes will be on the future storm isaac as we go throughout

the next couple of days. beautiful day in los angeles. 84 after we burn off the clouds. sunshine this afternoon. we're brewed by starbucks. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

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on sunday, may 1st, the west wing was abuzz with activity as a u.s. special operations team killed osama bin laden in a compound in pakistan at the president's direction.

before informing the american people, they called president bush and clinton as well as congressional leaders to give them the news. >> the reason i'm calling is to tell you we killed him. >> tonight i can report to the american people and to the world that the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda. >> that was a look blind the scenes at the white house the night osama bin laden was killed. >> i'm so glad you had to say that. the former white house videographer and the author of "first camerama documents the obama presidency in realtime." >> that's history, man. that's big. and the first videographer in the white house. >> there's always been a video

presence. i got to be the first guy to take a little camera up close. i do have a couple of questions that my sources have asked me to ask you. tell us about your favorite meal and go-to card game on air force one. >> go-to card game is definitely spades. and go-to meal is whatever they're serving. the air force does an amazing job maintaining the plane. the fries are often a soggy affair. >> you said i'm kind of like president obama's wedding videographer. explain. >> each day is super important. and everyone is a little he is ter call making sure it goes right. and you're not sure it's going according to plan.

u everybody is scurrying around and the president is like the bride. everything has to be perfect. >> and also the people who go to presidential events or people going to the websites. >> what was it like? you didn't get to peek behind the dpoor to look at history. you were there while history is being made. how do you explain that to your friends when you're sitting around having a beer? it was an absolutely amazing experience. what is overwhelming is how normal it is. people get together and talk it out. i tried to take what was normal about it and to bring those out to let people see the clunkiness of the real process.

>> he was omnipresent. and to know you're doing something as routine as you did is really historical. and you have to handle it like the staff balances the normalcy and it being historic. >> no matter how jaded you are. i see this person every day, that person. when you see someone experience meeting the president for the first time, it's such a special experience for them. >> do you have a special moment for yourself? what was the highlight? >> the moment i remember the most is not particularly flattering. we were in prague. no one has done a treaty in a while. there weren't as many rules as at a g-20. but i miscalculated my jet lag.

so during this long, beautiful ceremony at the castle in prague, i fell asleep. and my head went into admiral mullen's head. he woke me up and put moe to the sid side. >> so, will we ever get to see the stuff you couldn't put on the web? >> yes. every scrap of material that i film will end up in the archives and be released. as a pioneer of digital immediate y at the white house, i'm hoping to make this a more searchful data base for people to people to dig into it. >> mark halpren in washington. you hope this happens before your next book's deadline. >> i love video. you know the president is a

great and a half ral performer. who has potential to go from the white house to an on camera job. >> i do have to say josh earnest. i think the smooth midwestern personality also. and bill burton was a go-to guy if i needed something funny for the end and i didn't have anything funny. i was like, all right. get me barton. >> thank you so much for being with us. >> it was great. thanks so much for being with us. when we return, jamie foxx and eva longoria go behind the camera. [ gnome ] enjoying your holiday?

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a handful of big time celebrities are jumping at the chance to direct their own film. the films will use photos submitted by people from around the world. and last week the host of msnbc's "politic nation" the reverend al sharpton sat down

with newly minted directors. i like that show. >> what show? >> "politic nation." >> what are you looking for? what image are you looking for? >> i'm looking for something that promotes an emotion from me. >> this is an opportunity to get people excited about their pictures being shown. >> i've always been involved in popular entertainment. and i try to use that bgt. and i enjoy it as a fan. but a project like this is a pure creative thing. and that's what it is. it's an exercise. it's an experiment. i was trying to say today, you know, trust that and build upon

that and take these photographs, as you said, from the anonymous sources. we have no idea where these images came from. they speak to you, they speak to you. and there's something pure about that. >> it's like a game of telephone. they take a picture of something because they see it differently than somebody else. then we make a film on that. which it seems like a no-lose project. >> do you think projects like this can help unite people. >> any time politics is not involved. we're all united. blacks, white, hispanic, brown. we root for america to win gold, silver, bronze. >> we live in a bloebl community.

we don't live in america. we don't live in england. we live in a global community that is touched by everybody. this is an opportunity for us to connect as human beings on a really creative level. so, yeah, self esteem and imaginetivity. >> i used to want to be eddie murphy. the whole laugh. i think i have some tight leather pants somewhere. that looks amazing. >> it started last year. ron howard directed it. people submit online photos. ron howard is now helping to

direct these stars where they direct and make a short film out of these. and i do a political show, but we wanted to do it to show this is something people can come together and show their best side i thought it was a great story. james murphy looking for a job. we'll see what he does. he's a brilliant man. you're a brilliant man. >> she's full of rage today. >> if she attacks me, it's righteous rage. >> i just said it was righteous

rag rage. >> i just am being honest. usually you're all fairly intelligent. but today not so much. i like both those. >> you do a good job. >> i never walked out on you. mika said i was short with him today. >> i do. making him walk away. >> you know why? >> why? because anybody next to him is short. he's very tall. [ female announcer ] the power of green coffee extract

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with the fidelity stock screener, you can try strategies from independent experts and see what criteria they use. such as a 5% yield on dividend-paying stocks. then you can customize the strategies and narrow down to exactly those stocks you want to follow. i'm mark allen of fidelity investments. the expert strategies feature is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. welcome back to "morning joe." it's time for business before the bell.

he's really tall. before we go to brian, really quickly, some news from the financial times. >> huge news. >> this is really surprising. >> big news. george soras, one of manchester united's biggest investors. just invested. the club just went and got listed on new york. you have to explain this one to us. what is going on? >> that's the money they were supposed to put in the sup super pac. but he is in soccer now. that's interesting. >> that's a big vote of confidence from manchester. the ipo is pretty flat here. it didn't tank. it didn't rocket up either.

i would rather talk about liverpool's fantastic start. losing 3-nil. >> i don't feel bad anymore. let's talk about apple. richard and i do not want to talk about the reds. miserable. apple is now, i guess, brian, the biggest company in america ever. >> it is on a sort of a nominal dollar basis. so the market capital of apple is the biggest ever. $630 billion. give or take a few billion. they surpassed microsoft, which was 620 billion back in 1999. hard to believe, but true. if you adjust for inflation, by my numbers, microsoft is worth 830 to $840 billion in today's dollars. still, hey, it's a nice headline. apple is still super valuable. facebook is not as valuable. but one guy, peter teal, who was the ceo and primary founder of

paypal, made a bundle. he was the first investor. $500,000 in facebook in 2004. he sold all shares of facebook. he's out. he made a profit of a cool $1 billion. $500,000, $1 billion, not a bad investment. >> facebook and forbes going down. we need facebook and groupon to emerge. i like your new tie, man. you have another tie on now. do you change by the hour? >> you know, down at nyc here they have rules. >> this is out for two hours. in the middle, that's really more of a -- that's more of a kudlow. >> i ran into larry last night. just because you guys gave me the business yesterday, i wore

my cheapest shirt. i blew my chance to anchor the show again anyway. it was like a $3 shirt from t.j. max. i wore it just for you guys. >> and mika told me i was too tough on you. >> and so, too, thinks robert teter 66. brian was cool and added a lot of fun to the show. >> you guys didn't do anything my parents haven't done. go to college. never come home again. >> that's better than what my dad said. he said, i'll see you in six weeks. i wasn't the best student. >> i'll see you in the national championshi championship. >> lots of luck. thank you so much. apple, the biggest company ever.

talk about a sign. when the first investor goes public and shares all of his shares. coming up next, we have the best. ♪ ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] zyrtec®. love the air. join zyrtec® rewards. save up to $7 on zyrtec® products.

this is kevin yoder. and now he's apologized to his constituents for swimming nude in the sea of galilee. it was an oversight or something. but here we have his excuses. number ten. what's the big deal? i was naked the whole trip. number nine, it was spring break. chill out. number eight, people in the middle east are pretty easy going about nudity. number seven, in my defense, i had been drinking heavily. number six, trying to take the focus of mitt romney's taxes. it had been days since the he did something embarrassing. number four, it's obama's fault. number three, putting the junk

in congressional junket. number two, i can't swim naked but barney frank can walk around like this? and number one, that's how we party in kansas. >> and so, i guess the question is which excuse will help him get reelected? >> three through six. >> i think so, too. so you have new reporting on the efforts of republicans to get him out of the race. the national republicans are feeling frustrated. not only do they not have persuasive arguments, but they're having trouble finding him or reaching him. they're not in dialogue with him. for a lot of them, the key is mike huckabee. they will get the nomination in the three-way fight. and he's seen as a possible bridge to the go to the congressman and say, look, you have to get off this.

it's increasingly likely, despite our predictions from earlier that they're not going to get him back today. he's got a poll that he's touting to people to show the race is still close. he wants to put a new ad on the air that shows him apologizing profusely. they can't reach him. they don't have any good arguments, and he's determined to fight on. >> he's busy campaigning. >> will they listen to him? >> that's the hope of national republicans who are having a hard time getting him on the phone. huckabee's support was so important to them, the hope is to make the case for the good of the party. thinking of the supreme court, the senate seat and the impact on other candidates to get him out. i don't know that they know that huckabee will do it or be persuasive. but it shows they're trying to find someone outside the establishment, like mike huckabee, who can be an

ambassador to him to get him to see this is not going to work. >> this year one senate seat is going to make all the difference. we forget in 2006 republicans lost the senate because somebody videotaped george allen saying mi michaca. and that made the difference. and this year if republicans lose missouri, they will lose the senate. and harry reid is going to be the majority leader, and paul ryan is going to be chased for the rest of the campaign. >> that's why this is a test on what mika said earlier this morning. on whether romney can aggressively -- what happens if it passes today? what does romney do? and ryan cannot separate the fact that he cosponsored legislation that redefined forcible rape. that's a fact. we can't have different facts.

>> i think this guy needs cut off. >> i wish they had in the first place. >> your father would be the first to say, and he says it when you're dealing with foreign leaders and the same thing dealing with politicians, if you need somebody to do something for you bad di, your first move is not to back them into a corner where they're not going to escape. give him an escape. and if he refuses to take it, you bury him politically. >> he has eight hours to take it. >> figure out a way for him to pick up the phone. >> not going to happen. then let him know he's on his own. >> up next. what, if anything, did we learn today?

here's a look at your business travel forecast. anyone doing any traveling out of the yids to the caribbean needs a close eye on what will happen with eventually isaac. it looks to be near puerto rico, dominican republic and haiti, possibly cuba and florida by the beginning of next week. travel around the country is looking just fine. (cat purring)

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atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. welcome back to "morning joe." >> when mika is taking names, it's something to behold. >> mark, in washington, what did you learn today? >> republicans should have intervened in the primary and kept akin from becoming the nominee in the first place. >> claire mccaskill intervened. >> i learned to look o