chris matthews and "hardball" is next. able. >> weiner snitzal. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start this story mazes me. i've worked in politics for a long time, and that said, i've never stuff like this that's coming out just tonight and i think in politics, left right and crazy and never heard stuff like this coming out of the weiner operation. it is unbelievable. we'll try to explain the lingo coming out of the campaign as it crashes and falls apparently. what people are talking about, the language they're using, i've heard bad language. this is just lightning years ahead of it. the american politics does have a measure of true nobility. we all know that, certainly at times. you have to judge tonight for yourself when you think of this

latest stuff coming from inside the weiner operation. howard fineman joins me in this incredible fest. i don't know what it is. he's a "huffington post" media leader and maggie haberman, senior political reporter from politico. maggie, at some point we just have to laugh. i refuse to give in to this as a tragedy. i know it has tragic elements. more trouble for weiner in the script tonight. yesterday in the "new york daily news" an ex-entirn criticized staffers in the campaign and said some are connect to his wife huma in order to get themselves a job with the hillary clinton campaign for pez. they're willing to put up with it as long as they get a chance at a job with hillary clinton's presidential campaign they hope. that letter elicited unbelievable response from weiner's communications director barbara morgan to the web site talking points memo. most of it is impossible to repeat here on the air filled with language i guess you've heard somewhere.

but it's unbelievable. here's a small slightly cleaned up portion of how they talk over with. i'm dealing with like stupid blanking interns who make it on the cover of the dailinous even though they signed nondisclosure agreements and or proceeded to trash me. by the way, i tried to fire her but she begged to come back and i gave her a second chance. man, see if you ever get a job in this town again. this is the way they talk. this miss morgan later apologized saying she thought the conversation was off the record. off the wall maybe. let me try to get to you on this, maggie. because you've got a job to do. is it the sign of inner combustion and perhaps blaming everybody, hating everybody because the ship's going down. >> i think it is a sign of tremendous strain on a campaign that has been having a lot of problems over the last week and a half including seeing let's not forget the campaign manager walk off the campaign last friday after the latest disclosures about anthony weiner and his life after he resigned

from congress. i will say, and this is no defense of the language, the language was clearly bad and sexist. this is not the first time at least this new york reporter has heard language like that from a president aide. there have been notoriously rough and aggressive and really colorful press aides in and around new york city and state government over the years. this was obviously a mistake by barbara morgan. this was obviously a mistake where she believed she was off the record or thought she was off the record, tpm says she was not. she shouldn't have been saying even if they thought she was off the record in general but especially given the circumstances of this campaign. i think that yesterday, i saw anthony weiner's 5:00 event in midtown. they seem like a campaign having a very, very hard time this is not a surprise. they don't quite know what to do at this point. >> anyways, you wrote it seems weiner is trying to channel the

spirit of ed koch who wasn't a bad guy. last night we saw a side of him come out when a voter challenged him on the question whether he could ever be trusted. of course, he gave a self-interested answer. it's interesting to watch. let's watch. >> i'm not going to go into the corner and curl up because someone found something embarrassing about me. if you become mayor of the city of new york, you've got to put up with this every single day. people saying to you, you did something we don't like. cameras in your face, change your mind, back out, quit. that's not the kind of mayor i'm going to be. sir, i say to you with all due respect, if you don't like to vote for me, do not vote for me but don't deny these people the right to vote for me if they want to. i'm voting for -- >> i have a question. >> yes, i did. you know who i decided to vote for, anthony weiner. i've got good ideas. i decided i'm not beholding to the political class. i have shown a level of independence in standing in

front of you today. >> attica, attica. it's dog day afternoon. i'm sorry that performance was meant for the cameras. three people clapped. i think they had the megaphone up next to them. howard. >> a few of them looked frightened perhaps. >> by that performance. >> i knew ed koch. he wasn't a friend of mine necessarily but i knew him. >> he was restrained compared to this guy. >> not only that, ed koch would love to fight on ideas. he loved to take people on. he loved to engage people. but i think people sort of found him to be a kind of profoundly normal person. i mean, he was just a guy. he was your average new yorker who somehow became mayor. that's not an average guy that we just saw right there. i don't know what he is. but average he ain't. >> get into the campaign. i was asked before my old show, i always ask maggie tell me something i don't know. what's the smell of the campaign when you get in close? the people you talk to?

>> i mean literally the smell, is it burning, dying, is it rotting? >> it is like. >> is there something going on there. >> it's like being at the carnival. it's not like there is something that you're seeing behind the curtain that you're not seeing up front here. there is not much of a staff. anthony weiner is notorious for running his own campaign. what you see is what you get. a carnival like atmosphere at every event. i do not disagree that performance was for the cameras. that is the message he is running on. this is the person who came up as a political operative under chuck schumer. >> where is schumer. >> he's been very quiet on this. >> i think you could google him now and not find him in the same line as weiner right now. he is smart. isn't he? that's a judgment. he's smartly staying away from this >> he doesn't want to go near this. most politicians in new york do not want to go near this. the governor does not want to go near this andrew cuomo. the clintons have yet to talk

about this despite the fact their names keep getting thrown into every story in parse because weiner's wife works for hillary clinton. the smell of the campaign is chaos. it's not completely unfamiliar. it is a bit similar to what went on when rudy giuliani was having his divorce from his wife in 2000 and then in 2001. there was this constant sort of rolling sense of crazy going on. this is a bit like that. but look, there was a feeling a week ago or two weeks ago that weiner had a chance of being in the runoff. and there was a thought he could win. that seemed like a long shot. but it's very hard to see him making a runoff now. >> look at this, weiner release aid new web ad. with a simple message. he's not quitting. watch him in action. he's paid for this. >> sometimes people say to me, this campaign is pretty rough. you may want to quit. i know there are newspaper editors and other politicians that say boy, i wish that guy

weiner would quit. they don't new york. certainly don't know the me. quit isn't the way we roll in new york city. >> he's identifying hichz about the people of new york and the music is somewhere from the -- i don't know the mormon tabernacle choir. nothing to do with anthony weiner's life. >> i hate to say this, but i was relieved he didn't pan down in that thing. did i just hear an oi? peb for new york though. >> i'm sorry. it's -- are we complicit in this? let's take on the media part of this. >> no. >> go ahead, howard. >> it's his fault. it's his fault we're talking about this stuff. it's not our fault. and. >> no, he's in the spotlight because he chose to be in this spotlight. >> let me tell you something else. his press secretary was calling talking, discussing talking points memo some other topic. talking points memo is a serious web page that has serious substantive stuff. what is that press secretary

doing even off the record which she wasn't? let's say she was off the record. why is she responding in that way? she had a chance to talk about something completely different, something substantive and didn't do it. that's the kind of campaign this is. they're transfixed by their own image. it's this narcissistic. >> the word b-i-t-c-h wit i wouldn't like to pronounce was the nicest word in that fuselage. >> let's go some of the comments. kathleen parker wrote in the "washington post" today, she's a moderate to conservative writer. look at what she said. here's how she handled it. weiner's stubbornness is likely based on two probabilities, first is that he can outlast the electorate's attention span which gnats regard with envy. a second pertains to daniel patrick moynihan's observation that we're going lower and lower normalizing the deebant to the

accommodate our moral decay. divorce, pornography, unwed parenthood, sexting, whatever. if everyone's doing it, it can't be wrong. that's a little moral. i'm not sure i'm comfortable with that one. your thoughts on this. this whole idea that weiner might just fit in after a couple weeks of this. he puts up with this for a couple weeks, maybe makes a strong third, maybe tries for third but is in a position of endorsing thompson when we get into this big fight over stop and frisk which is inevitably coming from weeks from now between christine quinn and thompson, he'll just jump in on the side of thompson and play the underdog again and somehow come out of this thing ahead. i'm sure that's the light at the end of the tunnel he sees, maggie. >> i think right now the light he sees. i don't know that i agree with what kathleen parker wrote in the sense i don't think what weiner is doing is hoping to define social values down. i think he genuinely believed he should not have resigned the first time. he mishandled this in terms of

explaining to people what the time frame was. people are generally loath to judge what goes on in other people's personal lives. >> is this personal? >> the issue. >> is this personal? he said in his redemption comeback story in the "new york times" magazine, the clear impression was this was all in the past. and the time frame was very much a piece of it. that is the main reason according to sources that his campaign manager quit was he felt he was not dealt a clear picture of what happened. and so that is the big problem for him is the truthfulness issue. i think wien weiner is hoping number one, this is going to die down and that he can get to a debate and do well there. there are going to be a couple of mayoral debates. this is a field wide lid described by every paper in the city as lackluster. this is not a mayoral campaign that is -- >> all those things. let me go back to the point i

raised. do you think this could be described as a personal affair or a triangle or any kind of marital problem when you're out there sexting all around the country and this has been going into the thousands? i mean -- >> no, i think that putting out ow -- >> this is broadcasting. >> yeah, the pictures with people he doesn't know and right, i mean, i think that there is no question that that is going to be something that voters will look at. >> it's public. >> and he has made it public. and he has made it public as howard said by running for mayor. it's not like people broke down his door to find out about this. he ran for mayor and described this as in the past. that turned out not to be the case. >> howard, can he win? >> i don't think so. i think he can make noise at the end. thank you howard and mag irhabberman. coming up, republicans are trying to use the scandals involving weiner, eliot spitzer and san diego mayor bob filner to argue it's the democrats

waging war on women out there. when it comes to policy questions, this war is very one-sided. first the gop at war with itself. ted cruz going after fellow republicans for shot supporting a government shutdown over obama care. he's a political terrorist on this one let's just say. and weiner's sexting scandal has been very good for the tabloid business and late night comedians. finally i'm going to talk about cruz, paul and lee and this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] the biggest news in breakfast is actually tiny. new kellogg's raisin bran® with omega 3 from flax seeds. plus plump juicy raisins. flax seed? who are you? i still got it. [ male announcer ] invest in your heart health with kellogg's raisin bran® cereals.

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larger. now look at what he said. that's mccain about hillary clinton. she did a fine job. she's a rock star. she has maybe not glamour but certainly the aura of someone widely regarded throughout the world. pretty good stuff for an endorsement there. based on those two quotes, his choice may not be all that tough. we'll be right back. sounds like he likes hillary a hell of a lot more. let's play:

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the american people prefer not to have this law implemented and enforced. >> i'm hearing that this law makes it harder for people to create jobs. this bill is going to make it harder on the middle class. >> this isn't working. and congress should defund it. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was the republican's tea party faction speaking on the senate floor just yesterday. as you saw there, thames senator ted cruz is leading the group which launched an all-out war to defund basically kill obama care of in its crib. they are currently rallying around the party's base to

threaten a government shutdown if any spending bill funds a penny for the elementation. members of the party called the strategy insane here are a few examples, senator ted coburn warns cruz it's not achievable. richard burr of north carolina calls it the dumbest idea i've heard. and karl rove says the strategy gives the president the bully pulpit and a gigantic stick with which to beat us. that won't stop cruz. this is cruz on glenn beck. there's a meeting of the minds radio show responding to his republican critics. >> there are a lot of republicans in washington who are scared. they're scared of being beaten up politically. harry reid and president obama will scream at the top of their lungs. the evil mean nasty republicans are trying to shut down the federal government. that's when we need to respond and say no. >> oh, my gosh. it's not just the issue of obama care and a government shutdown.

in addition to their vowshut do american government, the government wouldn't be able to pay its debts and would go into default. it would destroy the united states credit rating and send us spooirg into default. this is cruz's operation. this is more than obstructionism, this is political terrorism, a strategy of mass destruction and demolition with a hope after the rubble is settled they'll be the ones left around to pick up the pieces. david axe rod and steve schmidt is a republican strategist. david, first your view. i believe it's terrorism. this is the first time i've seen a political party or even a fraction of it saying their number one goal is a, to shut down the american government, it is the american government. kill a bill already passed by congress and refuse to pay bills already run up by the congress in an attempt to basically risk default. this is an attempt to destroy

all we know of as the republican form of government in this country with the purpose i don't know the purpose. what is it? >> beats the hell out of me. but i think that the probably the best explanation is that these guys are catering to the most strident voices in their party. i think cruz is a very ambitious guy. he's been in iowa, got a great reception there with this kind of rhetoric. and you know, i think that he sees a niche and that group sees a niche for themselves in this kind of you know, apocalyptic approach to government. you can look at your own polling and see that the american people are not with him. it's that kind of rhetoric that has driven congress down to the lowest standing it's had in the history of the nbc poll. but among their little group, within the republican party which is not that small a group within the republican party, they're playing to a very

enthusiastic crowd. that's all they care about i think. >> donald trump basically disgraced himself in many ways. i don't know why he does it, but for months and years he's been saying obama is an illegitimate president because he was born to an american mother in a foreign country. by that definition this guy can't run for president because he was born to an american mother in a foreign country in this case canada. why would he be running for president if by the definitions put out by somebody on his side politically, donald trump, is he still insisting on running for president? does that matter to anybody. >> not to him. there are so many reasons why he shouldn't be president before that one that i can barely -- >> i think he's eligible. i think trump doesn't know his history. >> interested to hear what steve has to say about this. i think he is a first class demagogue, very talented at what he does. he has the capacity to whip up

that strident tea party base in the republican party. and create quite a bit of havoc. >> you know, i compared him to mccarthy. i shouldn't get into what people look like. he reminds me so much when i look at him interrogating a witness on the hill, he acts that way with that somber indictive aspect. i will say he's a terrorist. what he's done is say my goals is demolition. blow up health care, blow up the continuing resolution. bring the government to a standstill. and then make us forfeit on the national debt. your thoughts, steve. i know you're not that kind of republican. i don't know what you make of this guy. >> i disagree with your use of the word terrorist in its application to him. why? >> he's a demagogue. when we use the word terrorist, we apply that to the boston bombers and apply that. >> a political terrorist. i've said political terrorist. that's what he is. >> i'm not comfortable with the word. but -- >> okay, don't use it.

use your words use your words. i'm comfortable with it. >> he's politically he couldn't be more irresponsible on this. this is as souped a political strategy as you could possibly conjure up. it will be a disaster for republicans who have a great chance i think of picking up seats in the u.s. senate. remember, we've given up five u.s. senate seats over the last two election cycles by nominating this cast of characters out there that have been rejected in states even republican states, missouri with todd ache. >> and let me go to war with you. >> this is about -- go ahead go ahead, chris. >> purpose of a terrorist and they use different means than blowing bombs is to cause chaos and bring down a government because of the chaotic situation where nobody has any trust in institutions. you tell me how that's not what he's trying to do here? bring the government to default, stop the government from functioning and bring down bills that have created institutions like obama care that have

already been decided upon, blow them up after they were brought into law, blow up the government's ability to pay bills it has already run up. if that's not causing chaos, what is it? and lack of trust. >> he is causing chaos. i'm not going to come off this. i don't like the use of the word in the way that you're -- in the way you're using it. >> because he's a fellow republican. >> no. he's not from my wing of the republican party. certainly. what i think he's doing is dangerous and wrong. and i think it will have terrible political consequences for republicans. >> just to support my friend steve because we share the same barber, i want to tell you that i also am uncomfortable with the word only out of respect for the victims of violent terrorists. >> i have the same respect. i make the point political.

shorthand i'll say terrorist. go ahead. >> here's another point which is this notion, and this is the point that coburn and so many conservatives have made, they're not going to defund obama care. obama care has a self-perpetuating funding source and it's funding is largely an accounted for outside of what they can affect. >> why are threw threatening to crash it if not for terrorist reasons? >> they're threatening to crash it, chris, because ted cruz has been running for president of the united states since the very moment the texas primary was called when he defeated dave dewhurst and he's running for president. he sees this as his running lane. he's going to whip up all the people on the far right in the republican party on this. and what is so demagoguic about ted cruz is ted cruz certainly intellectually understands that this is the wrong thing to do. he understands that we have to pay the bill on money that we've already spent.

he's smart enough guy to understand the consequences to u.s. financial markets, to global markets, to have a sense of the unease this is creating in the european union with our trading allies. it's terrible politics because republicans will pay a hev price for this. >> do you think that ted cruz who i've accused of being a political terrorist, do you think he fears default on the national debt and fears a government shutdown? do you think he fears those things in a reasonable way or he's playing with them because he doesn't care if they blow up? >> steve? >> i think his ambition supersedes his care about them. it's not conceivable that he doesn't understand the consequences of the united states defaulting on its debt. there are no small number of house republicans, for example, when we went through this two years ago that i have no doubt simply don't understand enough about global markets when they go out and talking fwhag there is rick free, no consequence

ability to fall on the debt. i'd put michele bachmann in that could the goer. >> pat robertson went to yale law. i wouldn't be caught up on academic pedigrees about people with great degrees like that. i wouldn't assume they're any better than the rest of us. do you think he might blow up the world and it doesn't bother him. >> i agree with steve completely. the question isn't what cruz does. the question is how many republicans in positions of responsibility are willing to march lem ming-like behind him over the cliff for this country and for their party. i think that's the real question here. we will know who he is. the question is how many people who truly do know better and who in the past behaved responsibly are willing to follow him. include in that the minority leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell. >> they're watching them plant the bomb and not stopping him yet. thank you, david. up next, anthony weiner has been very good fodder for late night

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take the next step. talk to your doctor. cymbalta can help. back to "hardball." now to the sideshow. it's tabloid heaven, of course, up in new york as the unfolding weiner drama continues to put out for late night comedians and snarky headline writers. as the new york post has shown there's plenty of puns and innuendo to go around. the late show had some fun parodying that last night. this is a little something called a day in the life of a "new york post" headline writer. you know what i'm saying? this will be a rare glimpse behind the scenes, a day in the life of a "new york post" headline writer.

>> 9:00 a.m. arrive at work. 9:01:00 a.m., go home. thanks for watching a day in the life of a new york post headline writer. >> anthony weiner's fight against the odds have inspired at least one new yorker, theater star kristin chenoweth who was on the tonight show last night where she performed a rewritten of the song popular from her hit musical "wicked." >> ♪ popular the right kind of popular ♪ ♪ i'll teach you to zip your fly ♪ ♪ you won't be that guy with a camera down his pants ♪ ♪ i'll teach you what dwights to tweet, something clean and stweet ♪ ♪ we'll make sure you get your chance to be popular ♪ ♪ the rights kind of popular, ♪ thank think you've become a monk though they've seen your junk ♪ ♪ now you'll play a different

show so let's start because you've got an awfully long way to go ♪ ♪ long, well ---ing >> jay leno is pretty hot now. republicans are using the weiner elliott spitzer and the mayor of san diego, mayor filner todance honestly little say the democrats are waging a war on women. maybe they should look at the policies they're pushing. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. the financial crisis. we started to lay a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth. but we're not there yet. what we need is not a 3-month plan or even a 3-year plan. we need a long-term american strategy: job security with good wages and durable industries. a good education. reducing poverty. reducing inequality. growing opportunity. i'm going to keep pushing to make high-quality preschool available for every four-year-old in america

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i'm courtney regan with your cnbc mark wrap. the dow dropped 2 is points, the s&p down just under 1 and the nasdaq gained more than nine points. good news for the u.s. economy as it showed better than expected growth in the second quarter. gdp rose 1.7%. private sector employment also topped expectations an is employers added 200,000 jobs in

july. facebook broke through its initial public offering price of $38 a share for the first time since it debuted. it did close lower though at $36. that's it from cnbc. we're first in business worldwide. for now, back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." if you're a fan of this show, you're no doubt familiar with the so-called republican war on women from state measures to restrict abortion rights to national fights over equal pay, the republican agenda against women has been well documented. but anxious to the recent spate of sexual scandals among democrats, republicans are trying to turn that national narrative on its head. they're alleging the real war on women is being waged by democrats about last weekdays after weiner's new sexts were revealed the rnc tweeted a very

real war on women is happening within your own party, hillary clinton and joe biden. the rnc has been beating that drum when san diego mayor bob filner become embroiled in his own scandal righting here's the latest news on democrats war on women. the national republican senatorial committee picked up the narrative today running today on twitter soap operas, democrats struggle with their own war on women. they also wrote a blog post saying "democrats have absolutely no answer or strategy to combat their growing problem with women." just to set the fakes straight, in 2012, president obama beat romney among women by a margin of 1 points, a critical part of the party's victory. 66-44, that's a hell of a lead for a party that has a problem with women. the big quell is whether weiner, spitzer and filner could help

close the gap. john feehery and nia malik cag host of the new show on background. congratulations on that. let me start with john on that to see if there is an argument to be made here. could you think weiner, do you think weiner is something that will travel? do you think that it travels say to milwaukee or to nebraska or florida or texas where a democrat running for office would have to defend anthony weiner even if he wins the new york mayor's race which he probably won't? >> if he wins it, i think it has some legs. this whole weiner, filner, spitzer white liberal men behaving very badly and certainly doesn't help the democrats trying to get votes. republicans are not going to build their whole campaign strategy on these three guys. >> your party is doing that. what are all these tweets and stuff coming out of the rnc and congressional committees? >> tweets don't make a campaign.

what they have to do, they have a problem with the gender gap. they've got to recruit able female politicians to run for office and get them to win and have them be their spokesmen for the party. the republicans have a lot of good spokes wim, kelly ayotte is terrific, marsha blackburn is terrific. they've got to highlight these women when they're talking about issues. certainly having these three white liberal men that are behaving badly having them front and center and dominate the headlines is not good for the democrats. >> well, unlike yourself, my friend, apparently the party does think there's meat in this. a spokeswoman for the national republican campaign committee told "the washington post" just today "the best tools we have as republicans to recruit women candidates this cycle are those three democrats named bob filner, eliot spitzer and anthony weiner. democrats called this theory ludicrous. a spokesman for the democratic senate campaign told slate today

"this whole thing shows the republican party have no idea what the women are all about. the birth control access, vawa act. it's about issues, not cable operas in new york city and san diego. john feehery says it's not an opportunity for the republicans to win. the senate and the house, the rnc are spouting this out. they're going for it. >> they have no choice. it will get some legs in terms of people talking about it. it's a good way to turn the war on women that democrats talk about and use it for their own purposes. republicans, but again i think the war on women as framed by the democrats was all about policy. the policies that republicans were pushing. it just so happened there were a number of republicans like todd akin who said things and it was very easy for are democrats to

highlight policies around that, policies that republicans had around abortion, around violence against women act, violence against women's act. i just don't think it will work. for a couple days, they'll certainly push that. they have to be having something to talk about and something of a campaign. but i think it's very hard to make any sort of larger assessment or larger characterization about the democratic policy platform around these three men who are very isolated in terms of where they are in the party and what their chances are. >> here in new york, the media band box of the country. let me go back to john feehery. you say you as a campaign advisor at some future race, the next cycle or in 2016 would not use these people as pampls of personal behavior by public officials. >> no, i didn't. >> anti-women. >> what i said was i wouldn't base the whole strategy on these these behaving badly. i think the republicans can make

a very effective case that the economy has been -- the obama economy has been terrible for women. the fascinating thing about the last election is that the president was very effective in talking about the so-called war on women and kind of ignoring the fact that his economy has been terrible for women. >> why did women vote for him? why did 56% of women vote for him? >> it was a very effective campaign strategy. i saw the ads they ran in northern virginia with no response from the romney campaign. >> romney actually did try to sort of launch a campaign using that very framing that you just talked about, saying that the obama economy was bad on women. i was at some of those events where he had all sorts of charts and graphs. he didn't continue. it certainly never caught on. >> you're absolutely right. he did it terribly. the obama campaign was very effective in framing this. i think if republicans first they have to nominate and elect capable women which they've done to a certain extent and secondly.

>> like sarah palin, more sarah palins. >> no, kelly ayotte and marsha blackburn and others and focus on the economy. that's where they can make great inroads. >> at least i got a smile out of nia with that one. >> today an eighth women alleged sexual has. against filner, the mayor. >> he grabbed my left hand and looked at the wedding ring and twirled it around and asked if it was a real wedding band. and i said yes, it was about 25 years worth of wedding band. he then asked me if it could come off while i was in d.c. and if i would go out with him. i said i really didn't think so. at that point, he pulled my hand closer to him and he reached over to kiss me. i turned my head at that moment and on the side of my face, i got a very wet saliva-filled kiss including feeling his tongue on my cheek.

>> well, that's not a great advertisement for the democrats. that's not staying classy in san diego, is it? >> it's not. >> let me go to john feehery. have i more fun following up with him on this one. you know what i think? i'm sort of on the center left most issues. some issues very left on war. i'm good on other issues. i do think look at this, if weiner were to pull an upset, the best he can do i think is third. but i think if he were to win and a couple weeks ago that was possible with all this stuff hanging on as baggage, i think the republicans would use that to make him a laughing stock and turn him into a poster boy for what's wrong with the democrats. don't you agree, john feehery. >> i do agree. i also think that i remember when nancy pelosi talked about draining the swamp about all the republican scandals. these are scandals. the spitzer, weiner, filner

thing, they're disgusting scandals. that's going to reflect on the democratic party especially if they survive. i don't think that's good for the democrats. >> doesn't sound like a great law firm, the three of those guys. thank you very much, john feehery. you're so smart usually andnyia, you're great. up next, three top officials at penn state. this is a story we're covering because it's so big are ordered to stand trial today, accused of covering up for jerry sandusky, a national story about sports, jocks, about what we value and we have not done a good job on this one. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ whispering ] uh! i had a nightmare!

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stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. k. our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at penn state. the most powerful men at penn state failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who sandusky victimized. >> what a terrible story. that was lewis frede presenting the findings of his investigation into the conduct of penn state university officials and their handling of jerry sandusky's sexual abuse on campus. it was rape. graham spanier, former vice president gary shultz, and tim

curley were ordered to stand trial on charges of failing to cover up a report that jerry sandusky sexually abused a boy in the locker room. now one of the nation's most unpopular governors tom corbett has been accused of slow walking the situation. kathleen cain, the first woman to have that job, has won more votes than bob casey in 2012. to investigate corbett's handling of the charge. joining me now is radio host michael smerconish who is the expert on this kind of matter. michael, let's put it all together. you really know it and can carry it. it seems to me what the best question here is did graham spanier who i think was a great president for the school overall at penn state didn't ask the

tough questions. when he heard about molestation or horsing around or whatever the terms that were used, all those people up the line didn't ask the right questions. was this sexual rape? was this sexual really bad physical stuff? it wasn't calling a kid a name or towel snapping. it was horrible criminal behavior and these people should have been put under arrest. >> okay. so sandusky is now away for the rest of his life. for the past two days there's been a preliminary hearing regarding these three individuals. the prosecution has a relatively small burden that they need to show. is there sufficient evidence that would warrant a trial among other things as you pointed out perjury and a failure to report. and the testimony in the grand jury of these three individuals including graham spanier, the former president, is essentially that they were out of the loop. there are two incidents around which these charges now revolve. one in 1998, one in 2001.

and spanier says with regard, for example, to the '01 incident, that kwooerry witnessing something the the shower incident that this was all down played as horseplay. the response from the prosecution and this is largely because of judge lewis frede's report as you point out is to say wait a minute. look at the smoking guns. and the smoking guns in this case are the e-mails. they tell a dimpbt story of each of you being in the loop and essentially conspireing to keep this quiet. >> is that a crime? tell me about this reporting requirement. does that become a conspiracy charge or what would they get hit with if they lost this case? >> one, they would get hit with perjury because they allegedly said something at odds with what the e-mails suggest. but they've got a report here if minors are being violated and they know it and do nothing about it, they've got an

obligation to step forward and bring in the authorities. and to this we know none of them did so. so it's going to be another litigation next year of this same grisly set of circumstances. now the underlying conspiracy charges of who was in the loop. it's the baker charge of who knew what and when did they know it. >> last question. is the governor of pennsylvania exposed here? >> he was the attorney general and then running for governor of pennsylvania and then when a report came, a credible report of a sandusky victim, he chose to investigate and not to charge. he went the grand jury route. he would say i needed the grand jury to smoke out other victims. but others would say, me included, if you believed that kid why don't you slap handcuffs on sandusky especially given the rate of recidivism of these perpetrators. >> thank you. and thanks for taking my job

many times. >> thanks for allowing me. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. lucky charms?! ♪ yer always after me lucky charms! whoa. i forgot how good these taste! [ lucky ] ♪ they're magically delicious whoa. i forgot how good these taste! wit's hard to find contractors with the passion and the skill, and that's why we use angie's list. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time with honest reviews on over 720 local services. i want it done right. i don't want to have to worry about it or have to come back and redo it. with angie's list, i was able to turn my home into the home of my dreams. for over 18 years, we've helped people take

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let me finish tonight with this. they are political terrorists. like all terrorists including those who use bombs, their only goal is to blow things up. destroy obama care, drive the

country into default, destroy the u.s. credit rating. terrorists with one purpose. to bring down, not just this administration, but let's face it. the american government. just watch. and the fact is the likelihood out there is this crew could be the one that crashes the republican convention next time. and that fortunately could be the end of them. 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. tonight's lead, the boss speaks. it's been a question for awhile now. why do republicans refuse to compromise? to get past their own interests for the good of the country. now in an interview, the boss of the party explains why. the republican boss isn't speaker boehner. it's not senator mitch mcconnell either. the person calling the shots for the gop is rush limbaugh. and rush makes