gutierrez, thanks you so much. you're more than welcome to come back. thank you, sir. thank you for watching this afternoon. "hardball" and chris matthews are ready to go right now. "new york times" to anthony weiner, get out. let's play "hardball." \s >> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. new york has twos historic mayors in a row now, rudy giuliani and mike bloomberg. they are not without controversy, of course. but in the end, both stand today as public figures of renown. they can travel the country and be treated with great applause by broad audiences of the american people. that's a fact. anthony weiner is known nationwide for one thing that he sent pictures of just himself across the country.

now he wants to bathing in public attention of another kind at the expense of new york's dignity. i think new york is back as a great city, surviving not just 9/11 but years of high crime and low expectations. i hope new york knows that it has a lot going for it. i think this race for mayor is going to come down to two people, christine quinn and bill thompson. quinn is a serious public servant who has operated at the highest levels of new york city politics. she's a political heavyweight as is bill thompson. spectacularly came close to beating bloomberg himself. why would the city of new york want to drop in class now when it's in the middle of a winning streak? who are these new yorkers who would feel good knowing they hel something to do with making weiner their mayor? is there something else this guy can do where we wouldn't be talking about him? i forgot. that would defeat the whole purpose of this guy. i'm joined by political analyst howard fineman with the huffing post and new york dailinous

reporter annie carney. "the new york times" has come out strongly in its lead editorial against weiner saying in the race. the paper rote the serially i evasive mr. weiner should have his marital troubles and personal compulsions out of the public eye away from cameras, off the web and out of the race for mayor of new york is he city. he says he is staying in the mayoral race. to those who know his arrogance and grown tired of his saga he has dragged the city into, this is not surprising. that's pretty strong for the gray lady. >> i think it probably captures the sentiment of all but whatever strong supports he has, which i think is a rapidly diminishing number. and i think part of it is what you said, the dignity of new york, the pride of new york, the desire for a world class figure is number one. number two, his -- he had told a narrative that this was all behind him, that he had learned and gone through therapy, that he was a better man, a stronger

man. because of his pain, he would be a better politician and leader. not only was he doing the selfies last summer. >> the what? >> selfies are pictures of yourself, chris. this is the age of the selfie. >> i need you for this, howard. >> this is the age of the selfy. it depends where you're directing it also. >> go ahead. >> but he was doing it as recently as march according to some reports of this year. and the family saga is what's under pressure, not only his evasiveness, but sort of the dignity and the pride of his wife huma who was seen as standing by herman in a sort of dignified way. at the press conference yesterday, came off as a figure who was almost a sort of psychological, either a psychological prinner of her husband or somebody who has some other motive than standing by herman. >> let's cut to the chase on that. we're going to talk more about that with women guests. it seems she's made such a life investment in this fellow. you're on the train.

you're going to get off the train or go where it's going. >> it is a tough choice. >> it depends on how honest he had been with her in recent months, as well. as the times says, do you really want to spend the mayoral race unpacking the relationship of these two? and you have to ask questions about her that you might not have asked a few days ago. >> let me go to andy carney. i was looking at "the new york times." if you don't watch me, i don't behave like a media critic. i think the times may have felt some investment in this guy because they gave him the big puff piece last summer, the big magazine puff piece that he was all cured and he was wonderful. and they were sort of rooting for him i thought in that piece. i know it was an individually signed piece. start with "the new york times," lead editorial saying get out, no think it through. you're going, buddy. >> the problem is i think that you know, weiner said that i,

you know, he knew stuff was going to come out. now it's come out. the problem here is that the stuff that came out yesterday happened after he resigned from congress as late as last summer. this is another lie. and we don't know what else will come out if he becomes the democratic nominee. who knows what could come out further when he runs against a republican. i think that's the concern here. as for "the new york times" editorial, the daily news had an editorial also saying the same thing and i don't want to comment on an editorial he is not jumping out of race. he sent an e-mail to supporters saying, new york, i'm not going to quit you. >> isn't that from broke back mountain? why would he bring that uple? anything goes i suppose. anthony weiner continued campaigning today. here he is defiantly refusing to drop his mayoral bid. i didn't know he used that phrase.

let's watch. he knows his movies. >> this whole campaign on a bet. and that is that at the end of the day, citizens are more interested in the challenge they face in their lives than anything that i have done embarrassing in my past. and you know, i'm fine. i've got an amazing wife and child upstairs. i have a comfortable life. this is not about me. >> in a letter to supporters today, weiner try odd cast himself as a david up against goliath. "now with 47 days left till the primary, some powerful voices are making it clear they still don't want me to run. yesterday's news has given them fresh fodder. i was clear these relationships took place over an extended period of time with more than one person. i regret not saying when these exchanges happened. this comes less than 24 hours after weiner admitted in a press conference his online activities continued well past his

resignation in 2011. this is hard to follow his dishonest before. >> it's happened before. my as sig nations some of them happened after. that was also the time that my wife and i were working through some things in our marriage. >> when was the last? >> i can't -- i can't say the exactly. sometime last summer i think. >> was it after you told "people" magazine or your wife it took a lot of, work to get where we are today? >> yes. >> i think he assumes everybody's i know he's bright. he thinks of's really stupid. what he said at the time when he quit congress and went through this public bath of public knowledge, he said basically i'm not telling you when these happened. but he didn't tell us it wasn't going to stop. now he'sing as if he was perfect little honest back then. he never said this is going to keep up, annie, howard, first, then you. >> absolutely. als i say, there are stories

rattling around there are more recent incidents than the one from last summer. it's leclear he's lied about it continuously. he's become an sbairsmeembarras that i don't think he fully understands. sometimes smart people are the dumbest when it comes to themselves. i think whatever hope he had of getting old line senior liberal jewish democrats ie grand maz out there, whatever shred of hope he had of getting them he just lost. >> the i don't know if that's completely true. i had i huma standing at his side yesterday means a lot to people. i talked to people today in passing who said that that would be a reason they would still consider him. i mean, this is a huge setback for his campaign, no doubt. i think that huma is carrying this thing and her coming out there is something making voters

think twice about him. >> last question. did they see her as exonerated here or is she an enabler? is she just a stepford wife standing by herman or part of this political movement to get him in the mayor's chair at all costs? >> i think she's a political powerhouse i think. one thing, she didn't do the standby your man woman, wife things. she spoke. that was different. she's brought in $150,000 to his campaign. she's the powerhouse in this thing. she is making this happen. >> don't underestimate her role here. >> she's going to become the story and that's not necessarily a good thing for him. >> people are getting very scrutinizing now when you look at the spouse and how they behave. please keep reporting, annie karni. the quinnipiac poll coming out today was ukt conducted before the allegations got out there

and the problem surfaced. still in a tight race yesterday with 26% of the likely democratic voters council speaker kristin quinn is behind him there in that poll by four points. she's at 22. city controller bill thompson is at 20. they're all roughly in the pack and all eyes will be on the new marist poll coming out tomorrow which will show where he stands since the new allegation came to light. here's weiner today discussing his opponent. let's watch. >> there have been people since the moment i got in the race who doesn't want me to run. there have been people who didn't want me to run at the beginning. a lot of people have been trying out for people to talking about issues important to the middle class. a lot of people now want me to get out including opponents. >> one of his opponents is bill thompson. thank you for joining us. i was rooting for you last time.

i respect bloomberg. i think you're a good guy. i tried to get my kid to vote for you up there in new york. let me ask you about this race. can you talk about weiner's problem that seems to have continued after he decided to run for player alt of new york? he still kept doing this recently as whenever. do you believe his problems are behind him? >> it's not a question do i believe his problems are behind him or mot. this race for mayor is about the future of new york city. anthony has made it about him. i think the people of new york city want to have a discussion. >> is there room for his problems in the future of new yorking? can they coincide? >> he's become a distraction. the consensus is he needs to get out and i would agree with that. >> what do you think he did wrong that justifies the times, you and the daily news saying he should get out? his dishonesty, his strange pro clibity? what is it you have to focus on? what makes him a nonplayer for new york's future.

>> this winds up being a question of leadership and judgment. i think in the long run, that's what the people of new york city care about. they want a leader who puts ideas forward that they can at least it will help lead new york city to higher heights. they want to have somebody who will stand up and that they can trust in. somebody who leads new york city who can talk about the issues, not about themselves. i think that becomes the problem. >> i want to hold you on that word "judgment." should i put out tweet pictures to myself or naked or not, what do you judge? do you have to judge that? it's a quiz for yourself? tell me yes or no, does this guy have a problem? >> it has become clear that he has many problems. and i think that in the end, this is about, this is about judgment. this is about leading new york city. this isn't a game. it's not about ones self. this is about the people of the city of new york. anthony has made it about himself. it's about new york city and voters and the people who live in new york city who care about education and jobs and house package.

that's what it's about. >> hope we have you back later on in the race. i love new york. we work up there a lot. all the people that work with me work in new york. we want this to be a good mayor with the best person winning it could be you, christine. >> ask your son to vote for me again. >> i think you did a good run last time. it was a courageous run against the unbeatable mike bloomberging >> coming up, the good wife. what is huma abedin thinkinging? is she simply now in survival mode? i think that's the answer. plus, president obama basically declared war on a republican congress today that has decided it will do whatever he can to destroy him in his presidency. he's positioning himself as the leader to wants to kick the government into high gear and make it work. and u.s. congressman steve king set a low standard for offensive speech. his comments will illegal immigrants in this country are exactly the reason why some in the republican party want to get past this fight over immigration

reform. during anthony weiner's news conference, did you notice the man in the cubicle behind him? today he came out of the cubicle. this is the place for politics. [ male announcer ] what?! investors could lose tens of thousands of dollars in hidden fees on their 401(k)s?! go to e-trade and roll over your old 401(k)s to a new e-trade retirement account. none of them charge annual fees and all of them offer low cost investments. e-trade. less for us. more for you.

>> caroline kennedy will soon be headed to tokyo. the white house announced today that president obama will nominate the daughter of the former president to serve as the next u.s. ambassador to japan. caroline kennedy was an early supporter of obama's along with her uncle, the late senator ted kennedy when they endorsed the illinois senator at a campaign event right across the street in here back in january of 2008. kennedy had briefly considered running for the united states senate in new york before taking herself out of consideration. "hardball" back after this. from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do.

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well, from hillary clinton to wendi vitter to silda spitzer, wives of politician who's screw up if you will,

always fascinate the public. what are they really thinking inside that head? why do they stand by their husbands who clearly go out to embarrass them snell ever since weiner admitted to sending messages to women on mine, his wife huma abedin has faced questions. a very respected official working with hillary clinton says seize forgiven her husband and strongly backs his candidacy for mayor. yesterday, she again stood by her husband. >> anthony's made some horrible mistakes. both before he resigned from congress and after. but i do very strongly believe that that is between us. and our marriage. we discussed all of this before anthony decided to run for mayor. so really what i want to say is, i love him, i have fibben him.

i believe in him. and as we have said from the beginning, we are moving forward. >> well, in an article in the september issue of harper's bazaar, she writes why am i doing this? because anthony has always been a smart, dedicated and caring person. he is now something else, a better man. she talked about him changing. new yorkers have to decide whether or not to give him a second chance. i had to make that same decision for myself, for my son and our family and i know that i made the right one. kimberly cutter is editor-in-chief of harper's bizarre and kelly goff a special correspondent for the root. i don't have a judgment. this is one time where i'm watching not deciding yet. but i do think that men, maybe women too, make this gut judgment, well, it's all about loyalty and love, not about self-direction and independent thinking and independent judgment and independent sort of direction setting in a public

manner like running for mayor of new york. where do you put it, kelly, this judgment? is it judgment, love, ambition? self-protectioning? survival? where do you put it. >> can i choose d, all of the above? as i said in my column for the she the people blog on the "washington post," look, i many an a huge admirer of huma but for her to say this is between us, it would be if he weren't running for office right now. they've decided to make it between all of us because as a new york voter and taxpayer, i would be his employer if he became mayor. he's one big long job interview. the questions becomes for me, the only analogy i can draw is lindsay lohan. when she kept doing film after film as her life became a bigger train wreck, we asked why is her family enabling her and not pulling her back from the public eye. that's how huma is starting to look here. the issue of ambition is starting to creep into our minds

when you ask his life is a train wreck. why is she supporting pushing him out there instead of helping their family get their lives together. >> kimberly? >> i think as she said in our piece for bizarre, i think she believes in her husband and loves him and believes what he wants to do for new york. she's sort of sticking with that line. >> so are you endorsing weiner for mayor? >> no, i wouldn't say that. i'm a curious observer. >> it sounded like you just endorsed him. >> i don't feel that way. >> would you vote for him in new york as mayor. >> luckily i don't have to make that decision yet. i haven't made it yet. >> would you support him. >> if i had to vote tomorrow. >> i would consider is, sure. >> after all this? >> yeah, i would. i -- >> i wouldn't. >> we have a long history of politician who's had very messy private lives. that didn't mean they were

necessarily bad politicians. sometimes they've been excellent ones. i'm not dismissing it out of hand on ha basis. >> chris, can i say -- >> let me stick with kimberly. i'm hearing something i'm surprised to hear. do you think the fact that this continued long after he had confessed gone through all the remorse in public rehabilitation that they attempted through all their pr with very nice pieces written about him including one in the times magazine, all that effort built on the idea of redemption. is that theme still credible when it comes out the fact that he lied that it continued and he's been covering it up ever since maybe right through this year? does that fact hinder your willingness to vote for him? >> he's made me think he's a much more reckless person than i did before and it's definitely made me concerned. i just haven't made up my mind to be totally honest with you. i like to think these things through before i make a firm decision. i'm still in the phase of watching to see how it all

unfold kelly, the huma thing is where we want to focus. the stepford wibs are physically affected through sci-fi to say yes, dear. it's not exactly they want to live with somebody who would say just yes, sir, yes, sir. sometimes in politics, you the feeling that the woman's job is the yes. >> she doesn't strike me that way. >> my job is to say yes. pat nixon with the mink coat. all those references used as sort of a problem. why did he for the first time in this campaign bring his wife into a press conference and have her talk. >> why on this particular issue? because on this particular issue, she was damn useful. >> that's right. because she has substantially more credibility than he has. let's not forget, she's better liked and respected than he is. so he was absolutely. >> why is that hope to?

why is she better respected? >> she hasn't sent naked pictures of herself across the country to strangers. >> it's a hard one to delineate here? >> not at all. i just think we all respect her because he's an intelligent strategic thinker. if she's out there speaking on his behalf, it's because she decided to, not because someone is forcing her to be a prop in front of a camera. >> anyone who's met her knows she sell very much her own independent woman. this is a choice she's owning. the question some of us have is why is this the choice he's owning >> i have that question too. >> she's not going to be mayor. i'm sorry. she can be a character witness. there's a reason why wives don't testify about their husbands in court. just a minute. i think that's the question. who goes into the winner's circle should go into the winner's circle, but he would make the decisions as mayor, his brains, his judgment. her judgment's probably impeccable, kimberly. she's not on the grill here. >> except for picking men.

>> she chose in every instance to send something out in many cases to thousands of people. at one point, 45,000 people on twitter he's sending indecent pictures of himself. that's the kind of decision he makes. the kind of decision she makes is one hull of a confidential supporter of hillary clinton around the world. she hasn't made a mistake in her life except maybe one. maybe one. >> picking him. my previous column was titled the wrong weiner is running. i think that kind of says it all. >> thank you. you're a strong supporter. kill berle we'll check back with you over time to see if you decided on this race. i've made a call on this one. up next -- good luck with your magazine. the guy who keeps popping up at weiner's press conference. anyway, we're going to talk about him. he's become a viral figure. this is "hardball," the place for politics. there he is.

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i love this. this time anthony weiner used the name carlos danger. that was the name. he was sexting women under the name carlos danger. see, this is weiner's way of getting more latino support. i'll be carlos danger. yeah. >> that was jay leno poking fun at anthony weiner's alter ego, carlos danger. it sounds like a jekyll and hyde story. the mayoral candidate and his wife weren't the only ones making headlines. many couldn't help but notice a man peeking over from a cubicle in the background. cubical guy is an unlikely viral sensation. here he was in a montage posted by "the daily beast" last night. >> while some of the things that

have been posted today, ♪ >> i was watching him the whole time. he was later identified as jeff mckinney, a rao reporter at wor in new york. the peeping tom reminded some of wilson, the mysterious character from the '90s from the sit-com "home improvement" whose face was always obscured by tim allen's fence. it seems kate middleton is raising the bar for expecting mothers everywhere. take a look at this when report from the colbert report last night. >> it's time for yet another installment of the stephen colbert presents royal after birth, labor party, fetal

attraction, birthing hips hip raw, the prince of wales, it's a boy 013. >> this afternoon, the royal couple finally emerged holing the yet as unnamed new prince of cambridge, of course, kate's a trendsetter. so ladies, this is the new standard for what you must look like less than 24 hours after giving birth. smiling, glamorous, hair perfect, radiant and fresh. okay? step up your game. >> that's ridiculous. finally, this is a heartwarming story. former president george herbert walker bush shaved his head in a show of solidarity with the 2-year-old son of a member of his secret service detail who is battling leukemia. this photo tweeted out earlier today by the former president's spokesperson says it all. incredible. ...so you say men are superior drivers?

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i'm page hopkins. we have break is news to tell you about. at least 35 people are reported dead in northern spain after a commuter train derailed. 13 passenger cars toppled over. at least one of them tore open. 200 people are reported injured. it was headed to madrid. rescue workers are on the scene caring for the injured. and that death toll is expected to rise. we'll continue to follow this breaking story from spain. now back to "hardball." sfwhoonl endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony can dales, washington's taken its eye off the ball. and i'm here to say' this needs

to stop. as washington prepares to enter another budget debate, the stakes for our middle class and everybody fighting to get into the middle class could not be higher. a good education, a home to call your own. affordable health care when you get sick. a secure retirement even if you're not rich. reducing poverty. reducing inequality. growing opportunity. that's what we need. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was a hell of a speech today the president gave as part of a retooled mission to focus on the economy. as the president said there it comes at a time when the stakes couldn't be higher, the government is staring down a possibility shutdown and default on the national debt later this year if congress does its number which it seems headed toward doing. if you're looking for any of his economic vision to get through to republicans, dream on. the front page of "the new york times" reports "the house gop is setting a new offensive on

obama's goals. the new strategy isn't just to block agenda, as a suppression. they want to see his health care law gone and threatening a government shutdown if any spending bill gives a single penny to help in the implementation that have program. no increase in the national debt at all threatening default in the administration doesn't cut spending with are they want eliminating programs. obama wants to be clearly positioned in these battles where one side of republicans refuse to us accept an agenda. he wants to position himself as the leader to wants government to function and his opponents want to shut down government. today's speech was about a lot more than just the economy and jobs. it was about the president versus his enemies. joining me are two political analysts, jonathan capehart with the "washington post" and david corn of mother jones. let me tell you, when i saw the speech, up front, offensive. he wanted to do nor

infrastructure, education, good things but the beef in the speech was his admission he can't play mr. i love everybody. there's going to be a war and it's coming this fall and it's going to be fought by the republicans. he might, as well get in early. if they can't kill obama care, by defunding it, if they want to bring down the government to a halt by saying nothing debt ceiling increase and no revenues. they're setting conditions basically saying we're going to blow you out of here because when we're done there ain't going to be obama care. we're going to kill i politically. he admitted it today. >> right. what the speech does is lay down a marker for what he wants to do, where he wants 0 go. we've heard bits and pieces of this speech before. we know what the president wants to do. we can go to his budget and see what he wants to do and go to the american jobs act from 2011 to see what the president wants to do. i think the president is trying to remind the american people i've been trying and talking about these things for the last five years.

you know who's preventing me, preventing us from moving forward. it's the republicans. the republicans don't have anything to present in the alternative. it's stop, block and cut. but nothing to present. >> a great line he said killing obama care is not an economic program. >> no, it isn't. i thought this was a good speech. i didn't think it was great. listening to it, i thought about classic rock. all the great lines and ideas that he's been presenting for a couple of years now and that he based the campaign on. these are the things he wanted the public to decide the romney/obama question on. do you want government that's going to do something? do you want obama care or not? he won that fight. but he comes back to washington and he can't do anything. but i think to get -- to sort of really set the right context and have any chance of making it clear to those voters in the middle who may not be decided in general, about what's going on, he's going to have to come down even harder. this is a series of speeches

they say. you know, he can't just keep giving speeches. he has to act like he's fighting and doing things. >> what does he do? when they shut down the government? what does he do when they default? what's he going to do with words on national television when when he people like ted cruz who don't give a damn about his success or maybe the country for all i know or rand paul a flaming right winger or mike lee who is more concerned than anybody on the planet, they just want to bring government to a halt and humiliate this guy in history and they want to put a big asterisk to his name, he wasn't really president. >> good luck with that. i think there are two things here. there's defaulting on the debt and the government shutdown. when the president faced the abyss in 2011 with the debt ceiling crisis, that was the worst crisis the president and his administration ever faced. anything up to that is a walk in the park. so what i see possibly happening is the president, he's already

said i'm not negotiating on the debt ceiling but i wouldn't be surprised if the president said you know what? you don't want to do anything and want to shut down the government which is a few steps removed from defaulting your debt, go ahead and do it. that would be -- have an incredible impact and the american people, sure they'll blame him but turn to congress and say what are you people doing? >> let me give you a more difficult question. what does he do if they say we're not going to increase paying our bills? doesn't that screw the economy, screw wall street and it all gets blamed on him. >> exactly. >> they would love that. >> last time around the summer, the economy was fragile. his economic advisors and the president were very nervous about doing anything. they felt actually like the responsible adults. we can't let this happen. but as part of that negotiation, you know, the president and i wrote about this in this book, he kept telling aides i'm not going to go through this again.

>> what's that mean? >> he said this is unfair. >> what's he going to do about it. >> he's going to have to call their bluff. >> which he did the last time. >> what happens to the american people reading the front page america can't pay its debt. america can't pay its bills. america in default. what happens from that hour on? >> it depends. >> if that happens in november or december. >> the business community lands on top of the republicans to begin with. >> that will be the day. >> yes, they would have to. >> interest rates, everything else. >> i think the president is very worried about this to the point he wants to set this high noon fight up now on his terms. >> he told aides this is a constitutional issue that you can't let a few republicans hold the country hostage. and so to do that, you have to play "hardball." >> i hope so. >> i think this will be a fight he'll win. >> let's hope. i don't believe in shutting the government down every few years. leave it to the iowa congressmen

steve king to say something about immigrants that republicans are offended by. for once. finally. and this is "hardball," the place for politics.

well, president obama's big economic speech today comes at a time when the nation's trust in washington is in a serious summer slump. audioing to our new "wall street journal" nbc poll, the president's job approval slipped to 45%, his lowest reading since

august of 2011. but congress's job approval has tanked to 12% which is tied for the lowest reading on record in our poll which goes way back to the mid '90s. the 83% who an disapprove of congress is the highest number in the poll. we'll be right back. [ brent ] this guy's a pro, herbie. [ herbie ] there's no doubt about it brent, a real gate keeper. here's kevin, the new boyfriend. lamb to the slaughter. that's right brent. mom's baked cookies but he'll be lucky to make it inside. and here's the play. oh dad did not see this coming. [ crowd cheering ] now if kevin can just seize the opportunity. it's looking good, herbie. he's seen it. it's all over. nothing but daylight. yes i'd love a cookie. [ male announcer ] make a powerful first impression. the all-new nissan sentra.

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the all-new nissan sentra. help the gulf when we made recover and learn the gulf, bp from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger. welcome back to "hardball." congressman steve king, republican from iowa, has stepped into it once again. this time with vial comments he made about immigrants to conservativenous max tv. let's watch. >> and some of them are valedictorians. well my answer to that is, been by the way their parents brought them in.

it wasn't their fault. it's true in some cases but they're not all valedictorians. for everyone one that's a valedictorian, there's another 100 that weigh 135 pounds with calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling marijuana cross the desert sleet john boehner called his language hateful. we'll see what those words mean. this isn't the first time he's made offensive comments about immigrants. he referred to then senator obama as an urban senator. more recently compared immigrants to dogs. this is exactly what the gop tried to avoid in terms of image making. he karl rove wrote republicans must consider the impressions by what they say, their changes they propose. joining us are two strategists, steve mack man and john fury. gentlemen, how do you explain,

if you can the fact that you have a member of your caucus from iowa who has been elected by republicans again and again, despite comments that goes to sort of imagine native levels to make fun of a group of people saying they're all small, that he weigh about 130 pounds, they have big calfs. he's going into details here about the size of cantaloupes. there's another weird description because they're hauling huge amounts of marijuana across the border. it weighs 75 pounds and they weigh 135 pounds. such detailed derision of a people. the pounds of the drugs they're carrying, the pounds of the people involved. the fact they have wide calves as wide as cantaloupes. this takes thought. this isn't some slur out of anger when you're driving in traffic and yell at somebody. this is a guy who sits down and thinks through how he can describe in the worst way the people he has no respect for.

they're all drug runners carrying big loads of illegal drugs. that's who the hispanic people in this country are. that's what he's saying. how do you say, that was just a bad day on steve king's king's ? >> it's amazing, isn't it? i think he's taken on the mantle from top ten credo from being the most anti-immigrant american in congress. he uses this language all the time. you served in the congress. you know there are 300 members of congress. it's a cross section. you know people say crazy things, things that are offensive. but that doesn't typify the republican congress. >> let me go to steve for a minute. i served the congress, i didn't serve in the congress. i did have a nice job. >> you did. >> here's the thing would a democrat survive 24 hours after saying something like that? >> no. here's what's amazing to me. the fact he survives at all. i went to university of iowa law

school. i don't know why iowans elected this guy because they're not at all like him. and the fact they would let him sit on a committee that processes immigration. and third that there's not -- >> i respect your judgment. would the leadership in the case when you were there say this guy's got to take a little time-out. you don't just throw a few words like that. you've got to shut him down, not shut him out. >> it's difficult to take someone off a committee just for saying something. pete stark was on the ways and means committee. he would say some of the most outrageous things. but you just don't do that. the fact is that steve king doesn't -- the leadership has condemned him. i think what this does -- >> john. >> go ahead. >> the leadership actually removed people from their committees for voting against john boehner from speaker. it was just a few months ago. the notion they can't do it was belied by the fact they did it

just a few months ago for something not as egregious as this. >> it's a completely different thing. and they didn't remove him. fact of the matter is that members of congress say all kinds of crazy things. and if you take them off the committees for saying crazy things, you know -- >> i agree with you about pete stark. he has made some comments. let me ask you about this. seems like the republican party has got a good chunk of the white male vote. fair enough. how big a chunk can you get and still survive? if you keep kissing off hispanics like this and kissing off women from probing and unnecessary legitimative debates on abortion rights. and making comments about voter suppression where you basically keep getting rid of early voting. are you sending a message now -- you're in charge of pr for the republican party. do you think you're doing a good job on women, hispanics, and

blacks? >> let me put it this way, i think we could do a better job. and we can do a better job by adjusting policies and focusing on things like john boehner wants to focus on. the president's abysmal past on creating jobs. and ultimately you do have to -- and aye said this consistently -- you've got to pass a legislative immigration reform bill. >> does every republican on this planet in this country, does the average republican want to give a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants? does the average republican? >> probably not. but i do think there's a way to finesse this. also you might have to include that in a package. ultimately that's what gets you into having a deeper conversation with hispanic voters and attract them to your party in the future which we have to do. >> do you or don't you believe you can get the vote.

you said most republicans aren't that way but you can get votes out there. >> you need to work on the votes. this is as you know, chris, this sausage making is not pretty. but we've got to make it happen. you've got to have that conversation. >> please join our party even if we don't like you. >> sometimes you got to do that. >> i love the way you talk. keep it up. john ferry, thanks very much. when we return, let me finish with what president obama said today. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet. thto fight chronic. osteoarthritis pain. also available in delicious peanut butter. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, you will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever

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let me finish tonight with what i heard in the president's big speech today. i heard an offense and i heard a defense. first the obama offense. he sees the economy not getting all that much better this year or later. and doesn't want to be blamed for it. what he wants is a battle, a national debate on the following question. did the people want to persist with the rate of growth we have now with higher than healthy jobless rate that is ebbing only slowly or push for infrastructure spending and other steps that will kick the economy into a higher gear? he wants this debate and he wants to be clearly positioned on one side of it. where the republicans refuse to support the agenda and he the president is seen promoting one. now to the obama defense. he also knows clearly the republican right ramrodded by cruz, paul, and lee are planning a showdown this fall. a manufacturing crisis that

risks national default. he the president wants to position himself in the national standup that coming this fall as the leader that wants government to function. his opponents those are the people that want to shut government down. he's admitting the reality that there are strong forces posed against him now. the republican right who says there will be no agreement. or pays for what the congress has already agreed to or that allows obama care to survive. the president knows he needs to win the first of these fights, the ones where he's taking the offensive or risks being a mediocre president. he knows he needs to win the second fight where he's clearly on the risk of outright failure. his opponents out to destroy not only his presidency but his place in the history books. they hate him. he knows that. hate him when he's progressive. hate him when he's moderate. hate him when he cuts deals with them. hating him most of all when he succeeds whether it's doubling

the dow, killing bin laden, or health care that republicans have been promising this country for generations. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks, chris. and thanks to you for tuning in. i'm live from miami. tonight's lead, president obama takes on washington. today the president delivered a major speech on the economy. he gave his vision for fairness in america. and showed a big reason why republicans attack him so much. because the president delivered a powerful message for a more fair, more just america. a case that is in direct opposition to the policies of today's tea party republicans. the presidentai