women on the stand in the criminal courtroom. why would he do such a thing? that's the question he needs to answer. voters of missouri are going to keep asking it as long as this guy stands out there as a candidate. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks for joining in tonight. tonight's lead -- the gop's extremism problem. congressman todd akin vows to stay in the missouri cincinnati race. and the republican party is in full freakout mode. despite a firestorm of criticism for his comments about legitimate rape, mr. akin says he's not getting out. >> we are going to continue with this race for the u.s. senate because we are going to continue because i believe there's a cause here and that there is a part of the message that's missing and a lot of people peel left out of the parties.

>> republicans are desperate for akin to quit the race. senator mitch mcconnell said today akin made a deeply offensive error and said sorry is not sufficient. national republican committee chair rich priebus called the comments biologically stupid. and maine senator olympia snowe said akin's comments were repugnant and outland i shall. karl rove's crossroads gps pac announced it would pull millions of dollars in funding for akin telling cbs news that the act speaks for itself. and there were many other republican voices who are now calling for akin to get out. the reason -- well, this isn't really just about todd akin. it is about these guys. mitt romney and paul ryan who share extreme abortion views with congressman akin.

ryan and akin co-sponsored legislation that limited what could be considered rape. the no-taxpayer funding for abortion ad said public funding could only be used for, quote, forcible rape. and ryan also co-sponsored a bill in a would force a woman to receive a forced ultrasound before having an abortion. akin was with them on that one, too. and together, again, akin and ryan were co-sponsors of a -- amendment that would define life as starting at conception. that would ban abortion in any circumstances even in rape and incest. and it would ban some forms of con are a exception and ban in vitro fertilization. mr. romney agrees, life starts at conception. >> would you have supported the constitutional amendment that would have established the

definition of life of conception? >> absolutely. >> absolutely. but it wasn't until this afternoon that romney joined a chorus calling for akin to get out of the race saying his fellow missourians urged him to step aside and i think he should accept their counsel and exit the cincinnati race. and paul ryan's spokesperson tells nbc news that the congressman agree was the governor. yes. the congressman agrees with the governor even though mini pro life policies the congressman agrees with congressman akin. but we don't really want to talk about that. and that's the gop problem today. the longer akin stays in the race, the more the nation will learn about t far right abortion views of akin and his colleague, paul ryan. joining me now is congresswoman louise slaught ir, democrat from new york. co-chair of the congressional pro-choice caucus.

and laura basset, journalist who covers women's issues for the huffington post. thank you both for being on the show tonight. >> happy to on it thank you for having me. >> congresswoman, does paul paul ryan have a todd cane problem? >> he does does. as a matter of fact the whole gop in the house has that problem. hr 3 was passed with every single republican voting for it. that's the bill that redefined rape. >> when you say redefined -- paul ryan was the original co-sponsor. >> when you say redefine rape paul ryan and akin co-sponsored, that's when they said forced rape. explain to me what rape is that is not forced? >> reverend, i can't fathom those minds. obviously if there is an oxymoron it is legitimate rape. i -- absolutely cannot tell you what the thing about. can you believe that congressman

akin is on the science committee? >> no. that -- that i didn't know. let me go to you, laura. they are saying legitimate rape, they are saying forced rape, i mean, it is -- total -- not only misconstruing of what rape is, but is an insult to women who have already been traumatized and victimized. it is somehow making the victims some kind of a -- i don't even know how you would describe it, it is the ultimate insult of women. particularly women that suffered this. >> absolutely. and it reflects a fundamental distrust for women. if you look at what he said, what he said had two components. the first is that there are -- such thing as legitimate rape which means there is such thing as illillinois will he -- illegitimate rape.

and in saying this, as a defense, for a policy that would -- that would oppose abortion in cases of rape is saying if a woman goes into a abortion clinic and says she's been raped, and that she is pregnant as a result, she is lying. this is -- this is -- basically saying women aren't tells the truth when they are have been raped and inconvenient -- an inconvenient thing for him to say but not an inconsistent thing for him to say in terms of what the rest of the republican party has said before. and has codify flood law. >> congresswoman, on that particular point, the -- platform committee of the republican party, took a vote in tampa this month. approving an thank you abortion language in the party platform. the platform will, quote, contain language endorsing a new constitutional amendment, protecting human life. language that's silent on the question of whether the party believes abortion should be allowed in cases of rape and

incest. so the party is big on this issue. >> yes, they are. we voted on it 12 times in the house of representatives in this term. and i -- i will tell you that it is a part of the war on women. they are trying to push us back to the 1950s. i represent western new york where women's rights movement began and we are not going back. >> let me go back to you. the -- sorry, republican national committee chair. priebus was on this station, msnbc, this morning. he said the republican party is a pro-life party. and even before this akin controversy, the obama campaign produced an ad that really hit ryan and romney on women's health and abortion. listen to this. >> he's made his choice. but what choices will women be left with? just like mitt romney, paul ryan would get rid of planned parent

hood funding. in congress ryan voted to ban all federal funding for planned parenthood. and allow employers to deny women access to cancer screenings and birth control. and both romney and ryan back proposals to outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. >> so, laura, with the akin controversy would all of this coming up, will this become a major issue and decisive issue in this race, the president and the vice president on one side of this discussion and clearly the other side represented in the most extreme ways by mr. romney and ryan? >> this section absolutely going to be a major influence in this race. it is romney's personal nightmare because he and ryan and the republicans have been trying to change the conversation from social issues, so-called women's issues, back to jobs, back to the economy. and this has highlighted the fact that abortion is something that the gop cares deeply about. we see from their platform today

which is the same as their platform in 2008 and in 2004 and it has a constitutional ban on abortion without an exception for rape victim, exception for incest victims. bedrock of the republican party platform and i think that romney wanted to distract voters from that and he no longer can. >> congresswoman, he has reason to distract him. if you look at people on running on the extreme platforms they lost. christine o'donnell tried to run for delaware's cincinnati seat with firm stances against abortion. premarital sex, she lost. and sharon engel tried to get the nevada cincinnati seat with the campaign opposed abortion under any circumstances. she lost. can buck ran for the colorado cincinnati seat opposing abortion and including the case -- in the case of incest or rape and supported a state constitutional amendment that gave rights to fetuses and he lost. not a good track record for

these extreme views in -- when they face voters. >> i gave -- i believe that they are saying that the party is pro-life is going to be very damaging to the party. numerous republicans, large numbers of republicans, that i know, are not. and republican women basically who started planned parenthood. while the democrats in the house were trying very hard to get middle-class tax cuts and to do bills that would create jobs voted over and over again to repeal health care and these kinds of bills that redefine rape of all things. i can't imagine any family in america that has any interest in redefining rape. they have a lot of interest in making sure that there is going to be a job for themselves and for the children in the future. we have to stop this nonsense. i want america to take a good look at the people who serve in the congress of the united states. this is not new to me. i have been hearing the same thing. notion that women can't get pregnant if they are raped.

that's going to be news to about 39,000 women a year in the united states. it is one of the most insane things i have ever heard in my life with absolutely nothing to bear. do i not understand this moment. why we have not heard more from the medical profession telling the country the nonsense of that entire notion. don't believe it is just akin. remember what i said. when this bill came to the floor every republican in the house voted for it. and even though i know many of them, some of them that i have worked with there for many years, did not believe that. >> congresswoman, you are right. every republican, including paul ryan, voted for that bill. >> absolutely including paul ryan. >> i'm going to have to leave it there. >> okay. >> thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> coming up, big announcement by the white house today has joe biden hitting the road again next week. and republicans won't be happy.

paul ryan's medicare plan is not going over well with the american people. new numbers on that tonight. all that. plus this gives new meaning to sit-in protests. we are hitting this beach in our summer break.

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next week is the republican convention. what are they planning? a rollback on progress. women's rights? check. gay rights? check. that's next. ♪

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ladies and gentlemen, meet chris. he's the secretary of state in kansas. he's better known as the author of the anti-immigrant papers please book. a law in arizona. and he practically invented that self-deportation line that romney loves. and he's also a romney adviser. or at least he likes to say he's a romney adviser. the romney camp clarified that back in april and letting everyone know he was just a supporter before ultimately deciding to call him an informal

adviser. but today kobach is not just advising romney but the whole republican party. he's in tampa helping the right gop policy at the republican platform committee meeting. that committee is headed by virginia governor bob mcdonnell. better known as a guy proposed forced ultrasounds on women. here's what he said about gay people at the republican national committee platform meeting in tampa. >> our government routinely judges situations where you may regard self-people completely affecting themselves like the use of controlled substances. like, for example, polygamy voluntarily entered into. we condemn this. >> romney, informal adviser, chris kobach comparing gays to poll i sxhi drug abuse. after this line the committee

reaffirmed their stance on gay marriage and rejected a motion to recognize civil unions. in their platform they made their voter suppression campaign formal and adding pro-voter i.d. and proof of citizenship at his behest. and adopt ad ban on foreign law after he complained of the threat of shariah law. we told you about their wildish strict anti-abortion. no exceptions policy. they are trying to roll back progress with women's rights, voting rights, and gay rights. this is the gop platform. this is your republican product. joining me now is alicia menendez, hufling ton post live host -- huffington post live. you this for bog the show tonight. >> thanks.

>> what do you think about chris kobach and the gop platform? >> at least now we know who is leading the gop. there was a lot of talk about whether or not the anti-immigrant amendments were actually going to make it in even some members of the gop saying that they were too extreme, too far to the right, and yet, most of them did, most notably in my opinion, the -- embracing of arizona-style laws important the nation. and then also, this -- this specific plank in the platform that says that any university that offers in-state tuition to undocumented students would then not be able to receive federal funding. it is spiteful and wrong and can parade as many latinos as then want out gop convention. if they keep pushing policies that are bad for the hispanic community, they are not going to see those voters in november. >> patricia, what will this mean for romney and ryan in the vote this november? >> i think that it means that mitt romney has slicing and

dicing to do. this is what's happening behind the scenes with the republican party. it is on c-span which i watched all day today. this is mostly done behind the scenes. what romney wants to do is appeal to independent voters. he will have to find a way to keep the base of his party together and t make no mistake, this committee is the base of the base. most conservative of the conservative activists in the republican party, passing the policy of the republican party much of which he is not 100% in line with. he needs to keep them with him and still win independent voters in november. it will be a very, very difficult dance for him to do. >> earlier today on the -- on msnbc, chairman priebus of the republican national committee went out of his way to point out that romney is not in lock step with this agenda. listen to what he said. >> as far as the -- you know, the details of some of the things like an exception for

rape or life of the mother, these are not uncommon differences that candidates have and don't share some of the detail on those exceptions. this is the platform of the republican party. it is not the platform of mitt romney. >> not the platform of mitt romney. platform of the republican party. how does he sell that one? >> i am not sure how he sells that one. when you go to patricia's point how he has to simultaneously court his, you know, extremists of his own base and at the same time court independents he's trying to make it through this convention. because once he does that, his base votes for him. there is no way, they are so upset about barack obama, they are coming out not to vote for mitt romney but vote against barack obama. the real question then becomes about the independents and there are so many different pieces of this platform that independents will reject, whether it be about a woman's right to choose, whether it be some of the anti-immigrant provisions that are in here and whether it be doma. this -- it will be really hard

to well patricia, let me ask you the same question. how does he sell this? not his platform, it is the republican party's platform. but he's the republican party's nominee and standing there. >> yeah. i mean, that's the $100 million question. he has to spend about $100 million to thread that needle. i don't know how he does it, to be honest with you. you look at really just who voted in the last election. majority of women were the -- voters in the last election. how do you sell yourself to majority of women when you have language like this about women's right to choose, certainly a number of women are pro-life. but this platform that they have passed is as restrictive as it can get, no exception for incest, no exception for the health of the mother. no exception for rape and then it gets you into this rolling controversy about what is rape? most women think there is no debate to be had about what is rape. certain there are a lot of republican activists that think there is a conversation to be had. mitt romney, good luck.

i don't know how he going to do it. this makes his job a whole lot harder in november. it doesn't mean it is impossible. if he can get it back on the economy he has a place to go but if he will get muddled up in these very, very reek strictive social issues i think he has a very high hurdle to clear in november. >> also, he's tried to diminish his ties with the guy kobayh who is advising a lot of the platform trying to distance himself. that's not what he said when kobach first endorsed him. look at this. he said i'm so proud to earn kris' support. kris has been a true leader on securing our borders ask in stopping the flow of illegal immigration in this country. >> this is deja vu all over again. this is what mitt romney did to john mccain four years ago and now doing it to himself in order to win extremists in his own party during the primary he was willing to -- so far to the right on immigration he was out of step and even with mainstream

republicans when you went into the 2008 general election, it made mccain very -- much harder for him to win hispanic voters and that's going play out again in 2012. had is something we have seen from romney before. >> thanks to both of you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> coming up, the 93-year-old face of the fight for voter rights has her i.d. but what about the others in pep pen without voice? governor corbett is not playing nice with the department of justice. but first, the romney team has been pretty quiet about their plan. president obama is exposing them today in ohio. senator brown joins us on that up ahead.

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have you checked us out on facebook yet? "politics nation" conversation is going all day long. today the "politics nation" crowd is talking about president obama's campaign trail message. and imagining what they said to the president if they met him on street rope line. susan would tell him, quote, i have your back. kenneth would say, quote, take your gloves off. joseph would keep it cool, quote, nice tie.

who's your tailor? melody would ask him keep fighting for all of us, especially the least of us. we have got the president's fighting words from the trail coming up next. first, we want to hear what you think. please head on over to facebook and search "politics nation" and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. we hope to see you there. ble wih a car insurance claim. [ voice of dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ normal voice ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. are you in good hands? [ male announcer ] it started long ago.

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or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbaa.lt dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. well come back to "politics nation." paul ryan was supposed to energize the republican base. build excitement for the ticket. he has done some of that but he's done something else. he's exposed the gop extreme vision of how without it run this country. you don't need to look any further than congressman ryan's budget. it increases military spending at a time when we spend more money on defense than the next 17 countries combined.

it offers up trillions in tax cuts for the rich but no way to pay for them. and because of this, because of the upside down priorities, everything else suffers. medicare as we know it gone. trillions of dollars to help low-income americans, gone. even basic parts of our social compact like education suffer in this backwards math. and in ohio today, president obama made that point. >> we can't afford to help the next generation earn an education but we can afford massive new tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires? michelle and i are going to be able to send malia and sasha to college. we don't need an extra tax break. you do. their vision is wrong for moving america forward and it is not a vision you have to accept. >> that's a scary vision.

it is no wonder romney and ryan aren't talking about that plan. no wonder they talked about talking about anything of substance opinion it is too tough to sell. they are resorting to distortion, putting out false ads that claim president is taking the work requirement out of welfare. let's be honest. that strategy is not inspiring. and voters aren't inspired either. the new nbc poll shows that 54% of americans say that the ryan pick has no effect on their vote. so much for the ryan bounce. joining me now is senator sherrod brown, democrat from ohio. senator, thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> good to be with you, reverend sharpton. i'm sitting where you sat a week ago, broadcasting in cleveland. >> great. let me ask you a question. is the ryan/romney budget plan, especially medicare, a plus or a

minus in your state of ohio? >> it is clearly a minus. the public understands that when you do more tax cuts for the rich and cuts to pell grants which -- or stafford loensz which hurt middle class college students, working class college students, when you cut -- when you -- turn medicare into a voucher system, when you jeopardize social security, congressman ryan wanted to do in the past, you clearly dash it is the kind of economics we had during the bush that took news the wrong direction. you are seeing that all of those money interests, all over the country, coming after people, the -- drug companies, insurance companies, and the oil companies, the outside groups, and it is -- really jeopardizes the direction of our country. >> if you look -- listen to romney and ryan say they are interested in a serious debate about all of this in the country, take a listen. >> look, the voters of america

deserve an honest debate. that's what paul ryan and i will gulf them. >> we are still waiting for the adult conversation. >> this is a time to have a debate about the direction of the country. >> we want this debate. we need this debate. >> now, the record doesn't seem like they are ined in that. they want to reduce taxes for the wealthy but offer no way to pay for them. they want to roll back regulation but they don't say what solutions they are putting in place. they want to repeal health care but give no idea on what they replace it with. what's interesting is that your opponent, josh mandel has the exact same stance. these are quotes from his website. he says, quote, reduce capital gains and corporate taxes. but no way to pay for them. he says stop all new federal regulations, re-examine every regulation. he says repeal government-run health care. i mean, it is almost carbon copy

from your opponent to the romney/ryan propaganda, let's say, or their statements. >> yeah. it is the same all over the country. you know, they say had want to debate but first of all, it is what we tried over the bush years when we got no real job growth in this country, no significant job growth. they weaken regulation which brought in wall street which brought on the terrible economic collapse. they really don't want to debate either when you look at that time way they are doing it. the -- huge amount of money that the oil industry, that the -- companies that outsource jobs to china, wall streeters spending in ohio, for instance, spendping 15 -- already spent -- in the next week, $15 million in attack ads against me and just this state alone, we are asking people to come to my website, sherrodbrown.com to help with us the citizens movement to fight back, sign up against citizens united and all this outside

money and build that kind of citizens movement to fight back because they say they want to debate. they want a one-way debate where the oil companies and wall street and the drug companies can wash across every -- every congressional district and state in this country with their propaganda and win the debate that way. >> on that particular point, the fact of the matter is that besides president obama, the gop is focusing a lot of the secret money on you. outside groups spent $15.2 million to be exact. including 2.6 million spent this month alone on the race against you, karl rove's crossroads gps and koch brothers. a lot of people -- lot of outside money that don't have to record who they are. why are they talking to you so heavily, senator? >> i no the wall street is going after me because i'm the sponsor of the bill that would break up the largest six banks on wall

street. banks that are too big to fail, too big to manage and too big to regulate. chinese money and the companies that outsource don't like me because of my china currency bill which would level the playing field and create real manufacturing jobs. and i -- i know the oil companies don't much like me and exxon and the koch brothers i assume in the state against me because of my support of legislation to take away the tax breaks and the oil industry gets. again, we need asy sense movement to fight back. the only way we fight back against this crowd is by coming to my website, sherrodbrown.com and helping others fight back and n a grassroots effort. it is the only way in the end-to-end this kind of special interests, trickle-down kind of government this crowd wants to bring to our nation's capital. >> well, between the citizens united decision and money going in states like they are going in yours, and would you have been dealing with on the voter suppression, they are really trying to have an uneven playing

field. citizens need to stand up for their rights. i think you have been on record of saying that clearly when you look at ohio, which -- doug p preisse saying between shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban read african/american voter turnout. we see where it is in ohio. i'm glad you are there. senator brown, thank you for your time. >> thank you for cleveland to speak, too, reverend sharpton. >> thank you. coming up, florida, florida, flori florida, ground zero in the medicare fight and could mean big problems for the romney team. and racing on garbage cans. it must be time for your summer break. [ male announcer ] this is the land of giants.

♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants. ♪ guts. glory. ram. we are back with a pause from the political battle of the day. a time to rest. relax and recharge. it is time for the "politics nation" summer break. we start on the streets of germany where taking out the trash has never been more fun. check this out. it is the annual garbage can world cup.

look at this guy. the rabbit racer. nice costume. he is showing solid form as he nails the tough turn. not all of the daredevils. this guy needs to pick up the pace. and number seven is all business. careful around that bend. i hope the winner doesn't celebrate with too much trash talk. hey, forget the congressional softball game. i want to see them riding cans next year. we con seriously freaked-out elephants. they are not happy about those visitors in the car. so there goes the car in reverse. the elephants keep coming up and coming at their pursuit. folks, this footage might be shown as a motivational video at next week's gop convention. there's no better place to end your summer break than the beach. and this is something you don't see every day. it is bring your own toilet day

in australia. a protest to add public bathrooms at this beach. and they are taking time to check out the day's headlines. they should be watching "politics nation." this guy even wore a scarf for the occasion. i always say it is important to stand up for what you believe in. these folks sat down for their cause instead. that's today's "summer break." you do this every morning? it's the only way to get fresh coffee. not in my house! this new flavor lock pack from maxwell house helps seal in freshness. wow! that is fresh! am i still yelling? [ male announcer ] maxwell house flavor lock. always good to the last drop. [ male announcer ] maxwell house flavor lock. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover.

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florida, florida, florida is ground zero in the medicare fight and it also happens to be the host of the republican convention next week. we learned today that vice president biden will go to tampa monday to first dash the first day of the gop convention. florida, as always is a key state and in florida medicare is the key issue.

here's nbc's chuck todd on that. >> medicare to florida, look at this. 237-266. romney can win everything else, north carolina, virginia, ohio, wisconsin, iowa, colorado, nevada, and look at that. he is too short. this is the power of medicare and power of the state of florida. >> the power of medicare. we know paul ryan's budget ends medicare by turning it into a voucher program. americans don't like this idea. the new nbc poll shows 50% of voters agree with president obama. and that vouchers are a bad idea. while only 34% agree with romney. and ryan. that's a good idea. something tells me we will hear vice president biden talk about that next week in tampa. joining me now is bob shrum, democratic strategist who ran senator kennedy's campaign against romney back in 1994.

and patrick murphy, democratic house candidate from florida who is running against republican congressman alan west. thank you both for joining me. >> thank you, reverend. >> bob, joe biden is heading to florida next week. what do you make of this aggressive strategy? >> i think it is a -- they have been aggressive all along. i don't want to give me self credit but i wrote in the daily beast romney lost the summer and obama had won the summer. they won it by being aggressive and destroyed the central rationale of the romney candidacy, a business value could create jobs. now they are going to move on to medicare and ryan nomination gives them a huge opening to talk about that. i think what you are going to see from vice president biden, who, by the way, is a big as net florida. the republicans last week had this fake campaign to try to say that the president wanted to replace him which is totally untrue. he is a big asset in pennsylvania and florida. he will talk about the two big

lies they are telling. one, that their medicare plan doesn't affect people over 50 5 5. it does in a whole series of profound ways. number two, the president cuts $7816 million from medicare benefits happen. he didn't. he cut underperforming hospitals and insurance companies. >> patrick murphy, when we raise on the poll who would do a better job dealing with issues of concern to seniors, president obama was ahead 46% to mitt romney's 34%. most voters, including republicans, say medicare is extremely or very important on how they are voting for president. 80% democrats, 74% independents. 61% republicans. how do you view this particularly in florida when you are running for congress? >> well, it is a huge issue. no question about it. i walk around and meet seniors on a day-to-day basis and they are scared. not only are they scared about medicare, but they feel that

social security is next for them. you know, alan west and paul ryan devise ad plan here that is balancing the budget, his new budget, on the backs of seniors, on veterans, children, and the middle class. it is not right and they are scared. >> now, you put out your first ad against mr. west and you really dealt with medicare in that first ad and west is one of the extreme right wing -- let me show you that ad. >> it is kind of amazing what comes out of allen west's mouth. >> do you support medicare the way it is now then kiss the united states of america good-bye. >> even worse is how he voted. to end medicare as we know it twice. >> bob, that's an effective ad in a district with a lot of seniors. and i might add paul ryan and

allen west voted a lot alike in the congress. >> listen, that's a great ad, whoever did it. i think patrick is doing a public service by running against allen west who is a disgrace to the congress of the united states. not just because of medicare but because of almost everything else he does and says. third, you know what amazes me? the republicans wanted to run on the economy. they ended up running on first bain and now they are running on medicare. they are running on wanting to destroy medicare and opened this whole debate up. romney endorsed the ryan plan. when he picked ryan he married the ryan plan. >> patrick, medicare beneficiaries in florida, there is nearly 3.4 million medicare beneficiaries in florida. and with states -- high senior citizen populations, florida has the most with 17.3%. this is not only where you are running, this is where the republicans are having their

convention. seems contradictory, doesn't it? >> it certainly does. and -- what is scary is the fact that they are lying. you know, allen west put an ad out saying that i'm supporting a plan that is cutting medicare by $700 billion. that's not the fact. it is scary what they are able to get away with. we have to get the facts straight and hold them accountable for their words. >> let me hold you there. the facts are you said that you are not supporting a plan that takes $700 million out of medicare. this is what they charged president obama with. explain to us what the $700 billion that the president has proposed cutting and i think bob just referred to it and with the ryan plan does with the $700 billion. >> well, allen west -- not only did he say that, he -- you know, supports the rye plan. voted for it twice. and went on to say suicide to oppose it. what -- you know, affordable care act does is adds life to

medicare and it added at least eight years of life to it. this is something that we have to get behind and will are some things we immediate to improve. this strengthens medicare as we know and it got to get behind it. >> bob, didn't cut one dollar in medicare benefits, the president's. they did cut underperforming hospitals and set tougher standards for insurance companies and that is how they saved the money. third, they use the money partly to close the doughnut hole so that seniors are no longer responsible f100% of the drug costs. romney and ryan repeals that and seniors have to go back to paying for all those prescription drugs. today's seniors, not tomorrow's seniors. >> will this appeal work? >> no. seniors are pretty smart. they don't want anybody monkeying with medicare. the ryan plan throws it out the window. number two, republicans are telling a lie. look, the whole romney campaign

has been one long march of lying. this lying is transparent and the president is going to be out there. he will call them on it. biden will call them on it. i think they are in deep trouble. >> the president is fighting back against the medicare attacks. listen to this. >> they are just throwing everything they can at the wall to see if it sticks. their latest approach is to try to challenge me on medicare. governor romney wants to turn medicare into the voucher system. congressman ryan wants to turn medicare into a voucher system. and i, on the other hand have strengthened medicare. their plan makes seniors pay so they can give another tax cut to millionaire and billionaire. >> thank you for being here tonight. good luck to you. >> go out and win that race. >> thank you all very much. we are going to win it. >> coming up, pop quiz.

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finally tonight, the fight for our voting rights with 77 days to go. right-wing voting suppression machine is working overtime. today in wisconsin, the attorney general again asked the state supreme court for a voter i.d. law. it can block more than 300,000 wisconsin voters. one judge's opinion wrote, quote, if a government that undermines the very foundation

of its existence, the people's inherent, pre-constitutional right to vote, imperils legitimacy. in pennsylvania, where voter i.d. laws could disenfranchise up 1.5 million democratic leaning voters, the governor is accusing the department of justice of playing politics on voter i.d. laws. and in florida, a state senator wants governor rick scott to block a law that cuts early voting for welfare to eight days. last week a federal court said it would unfairly affect black voters in five counties. >> no stifle, step on, kick people to the curb because they -- historically have a propensity to vote democratic. >> today governor scott threatened to remove a county election supervisor who plans to stick with the 12-day