♪ >> chaotic situation in see egypt. >> muslim brotherhood is claiming dozens of supporters are dead. >> this is something we've been worrying about. >> the united states condemns the use of violence against protesters in egypt. >> it was predictable but wasn't predicted unfortunately in washington. >> we very called on the military and security forces to show restraint. >> now you have this massive crackdown. >> the world is watching what is happening in cairo. >> this one looks like it is about to get very ugly. >> we begin with flash point egypt and cairo descending into deadly blood shed and chaos after security forces moved into to clear camped occupied by

supports of ousted president morsi. a nighttime curfew is now in effect along with a one-month declaration of emergency and with it a return to emergency law. egyptian health officials report hundreds killed, thousands wounded. at a white house briefing from martha's vineyard, deputy spokesman josh ernest called for restraint and con demtd the violence. >> the united states strongly condemns the use of violence against protesters in egypt. violence will make it more difficult to move egypt forward on a path to lasting stability and democracy. >> and just a short time ago, secretary of state john kerry joined the condemnation but said he believes there is a path forward. >> the path towards violence leads only to greater instability, economic disaster, and suffering. the only sustainable path for either side is one towards a political solution. i am convinced that that path

is, in fact, are still open and it is possible though it has been made much, much harderer. >> and in a sign of how difficult that path has become, just hours ago, egypt's interim vice president mohamed elbaradei a nobel peace prize laureate resigned in protest. there are reports that eight top political leaders of the muslim brotherhood have been arrested. as the muslim brotherhood calls for more protests the government says none will be allowed. let's get to foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin live in cairo. a curfew is now in force for cairo and ten other provinces. we suns right at this moment, health officials there will have just increased the numbers, the death toll. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's correct. . the curfew has been in effect for about an hour. it's 10:00 p.m. here. these streets would be bus ling

right now but it's deadly quiet. an eerie silence has settled in over cairo this evening. people are still being roved from some of the locations where these clashes happened. that is what is driving the death toll up sharply. it is expected to rise even in the coming hours. health officials now say they have about 235 boys they have recovered that are officially dead as a result of clashes. that is excludes the 43 members of the security forces killed in those clashes. that came out from the ministry of interior a short while ago. right now, that 235 are purely civilians killed in clashes with the police force throughout the course of the day. there are still by some accounts hundreds of bodies that are still in various field hospitals belonging to supporters of the ousted president that were at the scenes of some of these clashes. still the police and health officials with sifting through that rubble sifting through those scenes to try and recover those bodies and give a more

accurate sense of the casualties. the muslim brotherhood say the death toll is expected to rise by at least a few more hundred number of casualties. >> despite all the talk of democracy, doesn't today prove that the interim government in egypt is actually completely impotent, particularly given the resignation of the vice president mohamed elbaradei and that this nation is actually under military governance? >> well, there's no mistake about it. this evening emergency law is back in effect. that was the law that was used to govern egypt for 30 years under president mubarak. there won't be due process for citizens arrested during the next 30 days. that means there will be referred to possibly military trials. no civilian.oversight over the legal proceedings. that is a major concern. no doubt about it, it is a military imprint that has been put on egypt following today's events. going to the point you raised which is so important, the

interim government, many people hoped given the fact it included mohamed elbaradei and other liberal figures, it was going to be a truly civilian government. however, what we've learned today is that it is still the security establishment in egypt, security forces, the military still running the shots. today egypt's government seems to be a civilian face or civilian facade on a military government. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin in cairo. you stay safe. egypt, of course, is the recipient of more than $1.3 billion in united states aid annually. the white house faced questions today about whether that will aid is being reconsidered in the bloody aftermath of what many are calling a military coup. >> we have determined that it is not in the best interests of the united states to make be that determination. but as we've also said throughout that process, we are on a regular basis reviewing the aid that is provided by the

united states to egypt and we'll continue to do that. >> with us now from minneapolis is democratic congressman keith ellis son who is just back from a trip to the skreej. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon, how are you? >> good to have you. we've heard the administration condemning today's crackdown in egypt. senator lindsey graham just issued a statement "i fear that without a quick reversal of current trinds, egypt may be on its way to becoming a failed state." but do you agree that the west acquiesced too easily back in july when a democratically elected president, president morsi, was removed by the army? >> yes, i do. i believe it was a coup then. we should say it was a coup now even though we have not been clear on that point. we should suspendened aid to egypt and should have the moment the coup took place. that is in fact, american law. and we should follow our own law.

the fact of the matter is, that because we failed to live up to our own values we now are in a position where acquiescence may well be the appropriate term to apply to our position here. of course, the true blame of this thing is lies on the head of the mubarakites who ruthlessly and violently took military control and put a very thin veneer of civilian respectability on it. but it's clear today that this is, was and looks like for the foreseeable future is a military dictatorship. >> indeed. now, you are just back from the middle east as i said. you took a trip to israel and gaza. ry have to ask you, how is the united states' policy being perceived there? because the white house, as you know, has faced a good deal of criticism, some within congress, about its refusal to declare

what has happened in egypt, as you say, is a coup. >> well, i think a lot of people -- i think everybody knows it's a coup. it's really not seriously disputed whether it's a coup. people debate whether we should withdraw military aid or find some other way to stay in the game there but you know, whether it's a coup or not, it just hurts our credibility not to say it. the fact is though that the aid that we send to egypt almost none of it or a very tiny percentage goes to civilians. it's basically us propping up the military which in fact effected a coup. we are financing the coup leaders in effect which is something i don't think our country should be involved in. i believe president obama sen searly tried to turn a new page with regard to u.s., middle east policy. wonderful speech he laid down in cairo. now is where the tough part actually is where we stand by our values and understand that the short-term reality is that the coup leaders are not going

to appreciate what us withdrawing military aid. they got a whole buck load of aid from countries like saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. but at this point, we should not be signaling to the people of egypt that we approve of this way of changing government. if the african union can say it's wrong and europeans can say it's wrong, of course we ought to be able to say it's wrong and we ought to step up to the plate, condemn it but put real meaningful meaning behind the condemnation. we've got withdraw that aid. >> i mentioned earlier that you have been busy during this recess. have you traveled overseas. i wonder if i might turn your attention to some of the issues in this country and particularly with regard to the issue of immigration. now, marco rubio, senator rubio told a florida radio host on tuesday this, and i'll quote what he said. i believe that this president will be tempted if nothing happens in congress, he will be

tempted to issue an executive order like he did for the d.r.e.a.m. act kids a year ago where he basically legalizes 11 million people by the sign of a pen. a year from now, we could find ourselves with all 11 million people here legally under an executive order from the president." what is this man up to with this kind of wild speculation, sir? >> well, obviously, i think that the legal claims that he's making are certainly doubtful. i talked with my staff earlier. i said is there any legal basis for what he claimed. he we couldn't find any. i think he's trying to say that will recalcy transand objection and obstruction by the republican congress is not a good thing. he is basically trying to make obama a boogeymen to bully his side of the aisle into working. >> very convoluted way, ir, of

motivating your own party to cease with the gridlock and do something productive for the people who live here. >> well, you're right. but maybe he calculates that fear is more effective than reason. you know, i mean at the end of the day, i can only conclude that he was trying to get them to move more toward cooperation on immigration the way he does it, i think is legally specious and a scare tactic. but you know, i think it is a recognition that obstruction is a bad thing here. i only wish he would use a little bit more straight up and honest line of argumentationing >> we can only hope. congressman keith ellis son, thank you for joining us today. >> everythinging that you. coming up, newt gingrich asks the rnc to imagine what for some republicans may be the unimaginable. >> imagine you went into the poorest neighborhoods in your state.

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republican party officials are in boston today to kick off their annual summer retreat under the unifying theme of breakout. they're gathering to figure out how they became a party too old, too out of touch and too technologically backward to muster a 21st century campaign. who better to kick off the summit than newton leroy gingrich who for very brief parts of 2011 and 2012 was the

gop presidential front-runner. mr. gingrich began by explaining the concept of smartphones to some attendees and then in between bloviating about ronald reagan and jack kemp, he kept returning to a theme that like smartphones republicans probably should have figured out a very long time ago. >> part of what we have to do in the era of obama's disaster is we have to get beyond being anti-obama and we very to reconvince people you can have hope in america. >> joining us now is krystle ball my colleague and co-host of the "cycle" and brad wood house, a former dnc communications director now president of americans united for change. welcome to you both. krystle, let me repeat that line from mr. gingrich in case you didn't hear it. if the era of obama's disaster, we have to get beyond being anti-obama. so he's terrible and we have to stop saying he's terrible. can this guy hear what he's saying? >> it is amazing that he has to

start out by bashing the president before he dk even begin to make a point what the future might hold. but newt might have one important message for them which is how disastrous it was for him and was for republicans in the '90s when he made the decision to shut down the government. right now with republicans contemplating going over that ledge again. >> he's not talking about that, krystle. he's talking about smartphones and technology. >> you got to be on the twitter if you're going to get to voters. that would be an important message if he goes there and talks about how disastrous it was for the party not to mention for the american people. >> brad, gingrich kept saying how they can't be the anti-obama party as they like to put it. they have to stand for something. yet he didn't get his first applause line till more than 30 minutes in when he talked about the irs and spying. why does nothing change with that party? is. >> well, i mean look, nothing does change with that party. newt gingrich is not a perfect

messenger for saying they should stop being anti-obama. in 2011 and 2012, he was probably the most anti-obama candidate in the field. so look, he likes to say grandiose things and likes to be quoted. he probably loves we're doing a segment on this, but there's just no way. that party has obama derangement syndrome. they are going to be after obama for the rest of his term. by the way, i don't think it's helping them. you look at polls of independent voters. they want solutions. they want cooperation. but it's the anti-obama party. >> it certainly is. krystle, the gop as you know is trying to reach out and listen to newt gingrich on how well reince priebus, the chair of the rnc is doing. take a listen to this. >> too many americans go to too many prisons for far too long and for no truly good reason. >> that was not the tape that we were inning to use.

that was in fact the attorney general. but in that, he was talking about how brilliantly reasons priebus is doing. is reince priebus doing brilliantly? >> i don't think anyone within the republican party or outside of the republican party can look at reince priebus and say he's done a good job. the republicans' number one mission, what they committed themselves to above all else come what may was to defeat the president in 2012 and they did not come anywhere close. not to mention the damage that they have done under his leadership to their relationships with women and with minorities. daniel that may not be able to be repaired. so i don't think -- i think you would be hard pressed to find anyone saying that reince priebus has done a great job with a straight face. >> that's rather unfortunate you say that, krystle. brad, do you not have the highest respect for this marvelous and brilliant genius of the republican party? >> i'll say this. this they think he's doing a good job at the rnc, i hope he'll stick around cycle after cycle after cycle.

>> great point. >> i think krystle had it right. you know, they have you haddish moved beyond reince priebus. he was there for their disaster in 2012. nothing has really changed. remember this is a party that officially still opposes immigration reform, still opposes you know. >> brad, this is a party that wants 0 close down the government. >> this is a party that wants to close down the government. by the way, martin, this is a party that supported the supreme court's decision to eviscerate the voting rights act. they're doing stuff like in north carolina to undermine voting. they're making minorities angry at them and women angry at them, even more so than they did in 2012. i this i priebus is definitely the wrong person for their party. but i hope he stays there. >> krystle to that point, one of the attendees who asked questions with is a black woman who sounded interested in expanding the business of the party and at one point said i live in a world that's different than most of the people in this

rnc. and it's like we don't exist. and she ended by saying hi-tech jobs are great but don't create a lot of jobs for john q public. and that really is a problem, isn't it? that the prescription for constructive development in this nation, it's repeal the affordable care act but lease no alternative. it's don't reach an agreement on a budget but there's no proposal apart from destroy the food stamps program. there is no fundamentally constructive set of prescriptions that you and i can say okay, that's a formidable plan, let's talk about that. >> they lionize job creators and entrepreneurs which should be lauded but failed to connect in any way with wage earns which most americans are hoping to be wage earners and they have no message that speaks to them at all. even beyond rhetoric as you're pointing out, this he have no

substance there, no idea how to lift anyone out of poverty, how to do anything but to enrich people and corporations already rich. >> they'll remember gingrich did say we should send our children in to be -- thank you so much. coming up, unequal justice and the american love fair with incarceration. we make a jail break in today's "top lines" just ahead. hey linda! what are you guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'.

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. from the war on drugs to the war on crime, here are today's "top lines." when you're young and black, it doesn't matter how you look. >> too many americans go to too many prisons and for no truly good reason. >> who's in prison. >> who's really in prison. >> she has served more than two years behind bars for selling $30 of marijuana. >> we don't necessarily think about women when we think of the criminal justice system. >> her original sentence was 12 years some of the priorities we have set have had a destabilizing effect. >> my first year i tried every single night. >> it's about getting through the day without crying. >> the offenses that land them

will there are often nonviolent crimes. >> fundamentally, rethinking the notion of mandatory sentences for drug related crimes. >> it's like every drug offender suddenly became a white college student. >> stop and frisk. not just the title of the '90s ripoff of turner and hooch. >> a major setback for new york mayor michael bloomberg. >> this is a very dangerous decision. >> people are going to die as a result of his decision. >> when you're young and black, no matter how you look. >> we go to where the reports of crime are. >> you fit the des description. >> those unfortunately happen to be poor neighborhoods and minority neighborhoods. >> a judge says the city adopted a policy of indirect racial profiling >> it's like the cop saying shouldn't we go frisk people outside the apollo or outside the jimmy buffett concert. >> crime can come back anytime. >> for years this has been a safe city. now it will be teeming with

unfrisked black and or hispanic people. >> the criminals think that they're going to get away with things. >> i won't even be able to cross the street to avoid a suspicious looking african-american without running into a questionable latino on the other side oo. >> let's get right to our panel now. joining us professor michael eric dyson of georgetown university and steve kornacki the host of "up" right here on msnbc. it seems there are things colessing around the criminal justice system things you've written about over many years. we saw the popularity of the tv series "orange is the new black." and just now, we had that interview on chris hayes' show but more important stop and frisk ruling in new york and the attorney general's proposal to reform drug sentencing. do you think this is a very significant moment in terms of

these issues? >> absolutely. the attorney general has taken the lead in articulating a vision of the obama administration that says let's stop wasting resources of the american public and compromising the futures of young people who because of nonviolent drug offenses have been treated to disproportionate forms of severe punishment by the law. let's figure out a way to not punish these young people because guess what, amnesty international did a report that said little white girls and boys are hit on the back of the hand while black and latino boys and girls are sent to detention which becomes a feeder system into prison. this is a monumental moment. despite bloomberg's recalcy transin the face of the new ruling yesterday from the federal judge, i think it's a new day for african-american and latino people to say we're human beings, as well and you cannot

use racial profiling as a measure of law. you've got to have a reasonable doubt about that person's innocence to approach them and then finally, it means we can go down the street and breathe more freely because our rights are not being presumed to be taken from us before they even granted. >> steve, you're a knowledgeable guy. let's go over a few statistics about the u.s. criminal justice system. 2 million people, that's how many americans are lock add up right now. the u.s. accounts for 25% of the world's prison population even though it has just 5% of the world's population. the number of nations around the worrelled that locks up more people than the united states is zero. why has it taken so long for politicians to get hold of this issue? >> i think there's two reasons. one is that the crime rate. >> the guy sitting next to you has been writing and critiquing this problem for decades. >> think of the context though a couple of decades ago. the early 1990s when the crime rate was soaring. we were talking about 2,000

murders a year in new york city. i remember in the '92 presidential campaign, bush, clinton, perot, you asked people what was the top issue? a lot of people were saying crime. if you ask right now what's the top issue in the country, crime will be way down there like 2%. so there's that. the other thing i think is significant about this moment is, yes, an its a democratic administration. it's the attorney general and democratic administration who's come out and said this. there are a large number of conservative voices saying all those statistics you just show, think of the cost that imposes on government. >> that's the point i'm making. the decision making is now not about the cultural problems that the professor just described. it's about the financial lax in these states. that's the motivation. it's not the fact that people have been criminalized for their lives. >> i think along the same lines, it's the political calculation of the average member of congress who is feeling yeah, it's politically safe now for me

to step out on this a little bit more. it's not a profile in courage. i'll tell you that. >> it is a courage in profiling >> senator rand paul appeared on the daily show this week and said he was supportive of what the attorney general is doing. but what attitude does not prevail i'm sorry to say among most republicans, that attitude doesn't prevail. listen to a gentleman from the texas called congressman louis gohmert having a spectacular summer. listen to this. >> of course we know that this president, this administration has done more to stir up racial tension and violence than any administration since, you know, the '60s. i thought we were going to have a post racial president, and he's become the president of division, of envy, of jealousy. >> you have repeatedly criticized this president for not standing and talking about race because he's been so relucta

reluctant. mr. gohmert says this president is stirring up racial tension and violence. >> i believe mr. gohmert may be consuming some of the ineeb rating and intoxating elements that has led some young people to jail. obama has spoken once about race while in the white house after the trayvon martin verdict. he made a brief statement after skip gates and we know what happened there. he made a brief treatment trayvon could have looked like his son. no extended commentary on race at all till trayvon martin's death was dealt with and the george zimmerman not guilty verdict. so this man is delusional to believe obama is the source of racial division. what is the reality here is obama has unconsciously evoked such bigotry and violent lent reactions from people who believe his being pollutes the white house. the reality is that obama has and taken a monkish vow of

silence on race on only when forced to deal with it -- he wrote one of the best books on race and black identity in this country "dreams for my father." it would be like having michael jordan in the white house but he's forbidden from speaking about basketball. obama has incredible intelligence and wisdom but has not used it and thank god right now, his dopple ganger in the justice department, eric holder, has done a brilliant job of articulating these viewpoints necessary for us to cope with. as a result, i think libertarian and republican concerns about high budgets and deep monies that will be spent have converged and coalesced with a moral principle on the left that it seems to produce some good results. >> what is the motivation for someone like congressman louis gohmert? we were talking earlier, steve, about the fact this individual has come out with the most ludicrous statements of any congressman i've heard in the space of about three weeks. what provokes him to suggest that this particular president is inciting racial violence?

>> well, i mean, there was michael'ser to about it. the other thing is we always talk about the political divide, the deep sort of cultural partisan divisions in this country. gohmert lives on the side where politically speaking there's no such thing as too anti-obama, no such thing as tool conservative. he's appealing to a republican primary, a deeply conservative republican primary audience. >> is it therefore necessary to make up and fabricate lies about this president in order to appeal to those people? they want to hear deceitful untruths about a man? >> what i think is going to be interesting, he perceives a political advantage in saying what you just had him saying. the question is when you have mike lee, the conservative from utah, conservative voices speaking up and saying you know what, they're on to something here, i wonder if that changes the incentive structure for somebody like gohmert who is used to saying this sort of thing on every topic when it

comes to obama. >> i won't hold my breath. the reality, it is a political division but one that's racialized. he could have said the same thing against bill clinton or george bush but the racial layer adds another layer of animus that promotes these people to ludicrous behavior. >> thank you. remember, of course, you can see much more of steve on weekends with up with steve kornacki" right here saturdays and sundays on msnbc. coming up, the new york mayoral race turns upside down and a new front-runner bubbles to the top. >> i think what matters is we're actually talking about issues. the sideshow is dissipatindissi. in the debate, we talked about issues. that's what's good. [ male announcer ] this is george.

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coming up, the lessons of 2012, what chris christie may like to learn and what mitt romney would probably like to forget. but first, a note on the heavily watched often entertaining but always critically important new york city mayoral race. public advocate bill de blasio, a fierce critic of the stop and frisk program has now jumped nine points into the lead of the democratic primary field according to a new quinnipiac poll. with de blasio's stock rising, last night the candidates faced off in their first televised debate with sharp exchanges including this between city council president christine quinn and the one and only anthony weiner. >> i've apologized for my personal behavior. the speaker refuses to apologize for overturning the will of the people, for the slush fund scandal and things in her professional record. that's the difference. >> let me just say, i think it's very clear to all new yorkers

that neither me nor anybody else on this stage or any new yorker quite frankly should be lectured by anthony weiner what we need to apologize for tonight or ever. >> meanwhile, hillary clinton's spokesperson says they have no clue what weiner was talking about when he claimed to know what role his wife will play in a yet unannounced hillary clinton presidential campaign. mr. weiner himself offered this explanation. >> do you really have information what hillary clinton -- >> if you read the transcript the question do i know what my wife is doing and the answer is yes. it was a joke. have you ever heard sometimes people say yes, but if i tell you, i'd have to kill you. it was a joke. everyone laughed. it was a joke. >> yes, we all appreciate a good joke, mr. weiner. and for more comedic gold, we leave you in the capable hands of sydney leathers and mr. sean hannity. >> all right. have fun at the gentleman's club

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the problem that mitt romney ran into as the nominee in 2012 was he got pegged as a top 1% guy running on a top 1% message. chris christie has the appeal of a 99 percenter. the platform he would run on would be top 1% but i think he could sell that in a way like romney couldn't. >> mitt romney ran into several problems during his presidential campaign. one could even say 47% of what he said was problematic. but maybe the biggest challenge was not that he had the wrong message for the republican party, but that he was the wrong

messenger. a 1 percenter who stashed millions of dollars into offshore bank accounts and whose so contribution to american architecture was to build an elevator for his collection of cars and perhaps nobody has a more thorough understanding of the problems he faced in 2012 than our next guest, the author of "collision 2012, obama versus romney and the future of elections in america," i'm pleased to welcome "the washington post's" dan boles. good afternoon, sir. >> nice to be with you. >> thank you for joining us. was this in fact the main issue with mitt romney that he was the wrong person to sell the gop'sage? >> it's a great question. i talked to him for the book and did a long interview with him last january. as we went through the 47% issue and all of the problems that that caused, i said to him right at the end of the interview, governor, do you think in the environment we were in an environment in which middle class families were struggling and a lot of people thought the rich were doing just fine and

the rest of the america was getting left behind that someone of your profile, someone of your wealth and background and privilege just simply couldn't get elected in this environment? he said he knew this would always be a problem but he said i thought i could get over it. obviously he was not able to get over it. i think that you know, martin, we often talk about candidates' ability to connect with voters or not connect. as i watched the romney campaign and thought about it afterwards, i think it was in some ways a different problem which was voters couldn't connect with mitt romney. there was a distance, a gap there. this is a man who had very many attributes and people could see in him some real good things. they liked his family. they thought he was a decent man. but he was distant to them. in one of the focus groups that the romney campaign conducted through the course of the campaign, it was summed up this way by a participant. he's been too rich for too long.

that was a real obstacle. >> absolutely. let's talk about who the right man might be. you write in your book that republican power brokers including people like henry kissinger and david koch made a push to get chris christie to run in 2012. why did it not work then and why will it necessarily work say in 2016? >> i don't think governor christie ever thought 2012 was the right time for him to run for president. he was only elected governor in 2009. it was just way too early for him 0 jump out of that. when it first came up as speculation, he swatted it aside. and i don't think ever really changed his mind about that. but in the summer of 2011, as you say, there was a push on the part of some very wealthy republican contributors to get him into the race. i this i they felt that he would be a stronger candidate to make the case against president obama than mitt romney at the time. and they tried. henry kissinger was at a breakfast and said to the governor, according to

christie's recollection of it, he said the presidency's about two things, about courage and character. he said you have both and the country needs you. and that forced christie to think about it in a more serious way, but i don't think he ever got to the point that he thought it was right for him in 2012. >> right. so will the 2016 gop primary be almost identical to 2012 where the extreme right will battle to the end with the more moderate candidate, there be as we saw in 2012, splitting the party? >> i think we're going to see a very robust battle. i think it will have some of those contours that you described. i think what we're looking at is perhaps even more flavors of conservatism we'll see whether it's rand paul's libertarian conservatism or ted cruz or chris christie's conservatism that will puts some republicans at unease. there are many other people we could see in the race.

that will be part of it, it's a choice republicans have which direction they think is the right direction to go in picking a nominee to be able to win the white house. there's some distinctly different schools of opinion on that at this point. >> even though, of course, mitt romney who described himself as severely conservative be failed disastrously. dan balz, thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back with a live report from martha's vineyard. hey linda! what are you guys doing? having some fiber! with new phillips' fiber good gummies. they're fruity delicious! just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber! to help support regularity! i want some... [ woman ] hop on over! [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips'. bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire.

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obvious choice for the nation's first couple. and joining us now after a nonromantic round of cheap sandwiches is kristen welker. good afternoon, kristin. >> reporter: hey, good afternoon. that's true. i'm all work. >> i know. we know that the president continues to work and is no doubt being briefed on events in egypt. at the top of our broadcast today, congressman keith ellison said he believes all united states aid to egypt should cease because president morsi was removed by a coup. was that question put to the white house press spokesman today at the briefing? >> reporter: actually, martin, a number of questions that dealt with aid to egypt were posed to deputy white house press secretary josh earnest during today's briefing. his answer continues to be that the administration it doesn't appear is going to weigh in on this issue is whether a coup was waged. if it is determine aid coup was

waged the u.s. would almost certainly have to withhold 80s military aid. he said the u.s. continues to review its aid to egypt. we said what else can the white house do beyond urging the military leaders right now to end the violence? and the ongoing unrest in that country. and he really didn't have an answer for that. we asked him specifically if aid was in jeopardy. he didn't answer that question specifically either. but it is clear that the white house is reviewing the aid and also coming under increasing pressure in addition to the congressman that you mentioned, of course, some senators have been pressuring the white house to withhold aid, as well, including senator john mccain. >> another topic that was raced was about a meeting from the end of july that the president had with senate democrats. frustrated apparently with his possible choice of fed chair. now, the president was reportedly firm with them with

one source even saying the president said to them, give me space. can you give us any more details about that? >> right. well, this is sort of emblematic of the jockeying going on behind the scenes about this incredibly important position, according to multiple sources, president obama did raise the issue of the fed chair and the criticism that some democrats have been giving to one of the potential nominees larry summers. one source said he was firm. some went further in their carrieization. but it is clear that the president wants the sort of public criticism of larry summers to stop while he makes his decision that that source had that you mentioned give me space, he clearly doesn't want the process and the decision making process to be prejudiced. i'm told by a source here that is one of the things he's working on during his vacation, who will be the next fed chair. >> thank you, kristin.

>> thank you. and thank you for watching this afternoon. "hardball" is nex \sgovernment shutdown. republicans want to party like it's 1995. let's play "hardball." i'm michael smerconish. leading off tonight, shutdown fever as the president aptly noted last friday, the republican party has devolved into a single issue party. they are united only by their hatred of obama care. and not much else. as president obama put it, it's their holy grail. that quest has fueled tea party leaders like ted cruz to threaten a government shutdown if the