>> i'm in for ed schultz. politics nation starts right now. ♪ happy birthday to you happy birthday. thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, republicans continue to fear mongering today. new evidence about why the republicans continue attacking the president's policies, even though they're getting nowhere. why? because it's personal. today the number two democrat in the senate, senator dick durbin, made a stunning revelation. he wrote on his facebook page in a negotiation meeting with the president one gop house leader told the president, i cannot even stand to look at you. they can't even stand to look at him?

from day one, this relengthless attack on obama care is deeper than policy. it's about this president. both speaker boehner and majority leader eric cantor denied the comment today. and a spokesman for the white house also denied it. senator durbin has not commented. but there is no denying. speaker boehner's fear mongering about obama care today. >> we've got the whole threat of obama care continuing to hang over our economy like a wet blanket. employers scared to death in terms of what they have to do, what they don't have to do. >> employers are scared to death? really? to death? and majority leader cantor had the same talking points today. >> the american people are now fearful of their health care. i mean, they're down right scared about what's going to happen with their health care next year. >> americans are down right

scared. scared of what? getting health coverage? here's what the gop should be scared and what should scare the daylights out of the other republicans. today a poll backs up the other three after the shutdown. showing approval of the republican party is in free fall. four polls, four record lows for the party. and as they go way, one way. look what's happening to obama care. the approval is up in all four polls. more americans are liking obama care, despite the problems with the website. and this is why the right wing talkers are dusting off their old, ugly playbook. >> and here comes socialism. obama care is just part of a vision for the forced sharing of american assets. that's a form of communism

because no country could afford those payments without seizing the assets of everybody else. >> it's socialism, communism, but wait, he left out marxism. don't worry, here's glen beck last night. >> he has all the earmarks of a marxist dictator. he does. he doesn't like anybody to challenge him. >> marxist dictator. americans reject their war against the health care law. but like a deranged energizer bunny, republicans just keep going, with the fear, with the hatred, with the ugliness. it's no wonder they can't stand to look at the president. he's winning. joining me now are joy reid and karen finney. joy, they deny it, but can you see a republican leader telling the president i cannot even stand to look at you? >> the problem for the republican party, rev, is that

yes, i can. if it was completely implausible that a member of the senate would say something like that, i think they'd have a reason to be outraged about the story and attack dick durbin the way some have demanded he take it back. but they have created a party that has been that vicious. they've been outwardly rude to the president before. members of the party have been. and their base doesn't just disagree with the president. there's a part of this base that absolutely hates this president. >> whoa, you mean disrespectful to the president, you wouldn't be talking about saying you lie during the middle of a state of the union address or asking for his birth certificate. why would we not believe that given things they've already done. >> remember when trump and others were rising early on, the

criteria for being a number one republican was how much could you belittle the president. the reason they liked donald trump was because they were asking to see his birth certificate. that is what they wanted out of a nominee. and to demonstrate it, you had to go further and further to the disrespect for the office and the man. >> he is in his place -- the white house. but to that point, the republicans have spent a lot of time fear mongering over obama care. watch this. all from elected republicans. watch this. >> men and women have looked me in the eyes and said i'm scared for this country. i'm scared for my kids. i'm scared for my grandkids. >> hundreds of phone calls from real folks expressing fear of obama care. >> individuals fear it. >> only the sick will pay to join the exchange. >> which health care plan can you afford so you can see your doctors. this is what keeps parents awake

at night fearful that life is not going to work out the way they hope. >> fearful. i mean, the boogeyman for health care that couldn't get health care. >> and they've spent millions and millions and millions of dollars behind those talking points with ads that we've seen and probably some that we haven't seen, frankly. and there are all these crazy e-mails floating around with all dichl pieces of misinformation. it is a very shameful legacy of the republican party when this is all said and done. they've worked harder than any in history to deny people health insurance. that is a shameful legacy. rather than working with the president. rather than trying to improve the things they had problems with, even though it contained republican ideas, they decided their strategy was they were going to go all in on hate and fear mongering. and instead, people are trying the system, and they're saying

we like it. we need health care. it's part of the problem. if they're not looking to solve problems, they're looking to take obama down. >> you know, when you look at it, joy, republicans have attacked this president in every which way and failed. that's why they're so enraged. they swore they'd make him a one-term president, but that didn't work. jim dement said health care would be his waterloo. then came the birther movement, sorry. americans didn't buy it. then it was all the scandals. fast and furious. that went nowhere. remember solyndra? neither do most americans. then they were going to impeach him over benghazi, over the irs. and they couldn't. they were just going to impeach him, over something, except they haven't, and they won't. and they were going to defund obama care, even shut down the

government. that didn't work either. >> and i think that there is this feeling, if you look at the stan greenberg and others they have this sense of losing because their leaders keep capitulating and letting the president roll over him. they have this title that he's a tie rant, that this elected president, twice elected, elected outright. and they can't understand how the world can be configured that their ideas are not popular and are not winning. so what they do is demonize the president. their ideas keep losing. >> the thing that is ironic is that while they say that their leaders are capitulating, the president on the left is getting hit with capitulating too much and compromising too much. and he's being, in many ways, in progressive and leftist circles seen as anything but a tyrant.

they find him too much a compromiser in too many cases. >> they're disappointed that he's not a socialist. are you kidding? listen to the republicans. he's a socialist, islamist, born in another country. i saw one crazy story today that said actually he lied about being born outside of the country because of, he wanted to get into college. i mean, it just doesn't stop. but i think one of the things, rev, about this, and you talked about this before that we have to mention as part of this is yes, he takes some hits from the left. but usually the hits from the left are based on substance and not style and not personal the way we've seen it come from the right. it's all a part of this othering of our president. and one of the things as an american i'm frustrated by is i think it's disgusting what they've done to this president in terms of using race and racial overtones. at the same time that's denigrating the office of the presidency. they should not be denigrating the man and they should not be

denigrating the office of the presidency. >> how do you explain with them taking all these hits in the polls? they keep doing this over and over again, and they are paying a terrific political price for it. >> well, i think some are starting to recognize that there is, there may be a real price. i mean, you also see reports that some democratic campaigns are now approaching business leaders. some business leaders that might have only been supporting republicans in the past. but stan greenberg had a great piece out earlier this week that showed that ted cruz is actually kind of the mainstream in the republican party. and so i think we have to look at that and say, if that's true, then they must believe that their voters, regardless of the fact that they're unpopular with the majority of americans, they continue to be popular with that narrow base. >> joy, do you think that the forecast now, that something that was unthinkable 90 days

ago, six months ago, that the democrats now are in play to retake the house? is that just a temporary hype? or is it now something that could be reality, given these record low polls for the republicans? >> right. i think it actually is a possibility. at least it's more of a possibility than it was before the shutdown. the reason for that is because it has not just tainted the tea party. it's tainted the republican brand itself. and you've had tainting itself. over time, the republican brand has been denigrated, particularly with swing voters and i think when people think republican, yes, it's a year from now, but democrats aren't going to allow people to forget, and i think republicans have a very serious problem in the house and probably closed off any opportunity of getting the senate. >> thank you for your time tonight. and watch disrupt with karen finney weekends at 4:00 eastern right here on msnbc. ahead, the republican

shutdown free fall. how bad is it? a former republican presidential candidate is calling out quote id logical whack jobs and anti-obama conspiracy theories. how they go from the talkers to this voter in north carolina. are your you don't think president obama loves this country? >> not at all. not one bit, not one breath that comes out of his body. plus another day, another right-winger embracing the confederate flag. only this time, the person's eyeing the u.s. senate. also, friend or foe, i want to know. reply al is ahead. in the nation, sometimes bad things happen.

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the tea party thinks ted cruz is the greatest thing since sliced bread. but some of those closest allies are now in real political trouble. is the gop cracking up? that's next.

if you do unpopular things, you become unpopular. so how unpopular was the shutdown? this unpopular. four polls and four record lows for the gop after the shutdown. today ted cruz's right hand man, utah senator mike lee is feeling

the heat. the washington post reports gop backlash over the shutdown, a romney campaign chairman called him a show horse who just wants to be a speck tackle, his approval rating is down ten points since june. so how's the shutdown leader ted cruz doing? well, the conservative chamber of commerce president says the business community would like ted cruz to sit down and shut up. but he's not ready for that. >> i'll tell you, i'm hopeful. with a little bit of time and reflection that senate republicans would decide to come together again. i would love to see republican unity, to have all of us stand together against this train wreck that is obama care. >> there is only one train wreck here, the gop.

some are suing. looks like the polls are about to go even lower. joining me now, abbey huntsman and michelle connel. thank you for being here. >> abbey, the polls show the shutdown record lows but they don't seem ready to change. where is the party, the republican party headed? >> it's a little confusing, isn't it? especially when you look at senator ted cruz, the poster child for this defund obama care arriving home to a standing ovation of about 800 people. then you see his sidekick senator mike lee arriving home to utah with the opposite reaction with the most arguably the conservative state in the country saying we're actually furious over your extreme antics. not only have you embarrassed the party, but you have put the state in utah in some trouble

economically. they rely very much on the state parks and tourism which were shut down over the last three weeks. so it's a bit confusing. it's a bit muddled. and when we talked about this three months ago, about the races being challenged by the far right, we were pretty much sure it was going to be an uphill battle for many on the right of center. but now when you look at the backlash of the shutdown, you look at the gop's taking a huge hit. and now we're aware of how deep the divide is. so now the question is how is the backlash from the shutdown actually going to affect the primary, the midterm elections. and that's really anybody's guess. >> you know, talking about mike lee, your father, former republican governor john huntsman who once employed mike lee in the governor's office had some strong words for him today he said you don't have id logical whack jobs for all of this labeling, all of its

labeling as a red state underneath it all. utah is a pretty pragmatic western state, a just get it done ethos. >> he's exactly right. as i said, utah is the most conservative state in the country, but at the end of the day, they're the type of conservative, they want smaller government. they want their elected officials to solve their problems. they want them to govern. i think you see something different in texas. that's a whole different bucket of conservatism. i'm glad my dad stepped in. it wouldn't be surprising if lee is challenged. you may see a democratic senator in utah in a few years. >> how much trouble are they in, michelle? >> i think with the house, you don't have the same dynamic, because you do it district by district. and a lot of the guys who were trying to shut down obama care

are from safe districts who were expected to do this. but it becomes interesting when you look at senators who have to appeal to an entire state. and the question is how alienated is the business community which doesn't like this kind of nonsense. it doesn't like shutdowns that impact the economy. if the republican starts alienating its big business donors, it's going to rely on the conservatives fund and tea party donors. and that's an interesting split that could impact them in the long run. >> you talk about the roll call list of seven republican senators who are most vulnerable to a primary challenge. and the list includes mitch mcconnell, lindsey graham and cornyn. they have been senators for a decade. mcconnell nearly 30 years. >> he's the republican leader. that said, a lot of those races

are very early, and they're expected to come off the endangered list as we go down the road. but mcconnell has a fight on his hands. he's facing this tea party challenger. and the more money he has to spend and the more attacks he suffers kind of weakens him going what is now a strong democratic challenger, stronger than he's had in a while. >> you can see the ads already showing him buddy-buddy with harryreid. you will either see him as someone pretty heroic trying to get things done or someone who portrayed weakness, the guy who blinked when he shouldn't have. you can picture that how it's going to play out. it will be interesting to see if he can pull it out in the end. >> what opportunities does any of this present to the obama administration once we get past the website glitches as an issue. are there any opportunities in

this kind of new political landscape that you can see for the obama administration? >> well, if we're talking about the obama care going forward, i mean, he's got a pretty good argument to make that the republicans had their shot and it's time for them to come together, and they can address whatever specific fixes need to be made. you know, as far as other issues, i think immigration, he's planning to come out charging on this and say okay, we've all had our fun. we have all had our tantrum. we need to 00 kehunker down and the americans' work. and this sh what he said in his address the following day. >> thank you both for your time. and catch abbey on "the cycle" weekdays at 3:00 right here on msnbc. coming up, rush limbaugh and friends are a factory of anti-obama conspiracy. coming up, we'll show you what

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the far right talkers on tv and radio will say just about anything to attack president obama. kicking around stuff that only makes sense in their own right-wing bubble. >> this is what we have. as a president, a radical id log, ruthless politician who

despises the country. >> invited the muslim brotherhood and their leadership into our white house. >> the american voter has changed into a person who wants free stuff. >> please spare us your marxist propaganda bull crap. >> but all this toxic rhetoric does, doesn't just go into a vacuum. millions of people listen to these conspiracy theories and start to believe them. msnbc contributor jonathan kay part found that out first hand. he traveled to north carolina and heard conservatives reveal their true feelings about the president. he was struck by one man in particular who repeated a lot of what we've heard on the far right, including these talking point about muslim brotherhood. >> about two years ago the muslim brotherhood had a thousand of there people come to

east lawn for a prayer session. >> the muslim brotherhood had -- >> they a huge gathering. they had prayer on the east lawn of the white house. it was in the news. there are so many people within his administration that are part of it. they're admitted members of the muslim brotherhood. >> reporter: who, who exactly? >> i don't know their names. they're not english. >> giant muslim prayer meetings on the east lawn of the white house? there is no east lawn of the white house. and the theory that the muslim brotherhood has infiltrated the obama administration? it seems like a joke, but it can be traced back to the talkers. and even members of congress. >> you will see that he is so deeply in bed with the muslim brotherhood. >> anytime in any nation that they could choose the side of the muslim brotherhood, they've chosen the side of the muslim

brotherhood. >> this administration has so many muslim brotherhood members that have influence that they just are making wrong decisions for america. >> and this isn't the only fringe theory about the president that's getting picked up across the country. here's more of jonathan's interview. >> he has done so many things in violation of the constitution. >> reporter: you don't think president obama loves this country? >> not at all. not one bit, not one breath that comes out of his body. >> this man thinks the president doesn't love this country or follow the constitution. that is no mystery where he got that idea. >> this man hates this country. he is the president of a country that clearly, i'm beginning to wonder if he even likes. >> the constitution does not confer this kind of power on the president. >> he's in the process of wreaking as much damage to the constitution as he can get away

with. >> the right wing talkers' point is venom into the conservative groundwater. people start to believe it, and it is totally waltzed our political debate. joining me now is jonathan kay part who conducted that interview. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> claiming that that president doesn't love this country, has members of the muslim brotherhood, what is your reaction? >> we went to talk to people on the eve of the launch of the health care exchanges just to find out what people thought about obama care, whether they liked it and how much they knew about t and for david jackson, the man we saw the clips of the interview from, that was the beginning, or the tip of the iceberg for the amount of misinformation and conspiracy theories that he held onto. when he talked about the prayer

service where 1,000 members of the muslim brotherhood on the east lawn of the white house, you couldn't see my face, but i just sort of looked at him, that's a story. who was it? when was this? he said it was on the news. and as you rightly pointed out, there is no east lawn of the white house. >> it would be funny, but this is real. another conspiracy this man bought into is, was that osama bin laden wasn't really killed. listen to this. >> reporter: what about the capture and killing of osama bin laden? >> i don't think that ever really happened. no one would ever give up an s.e.a.l. team's names or what s.e.a.l. team went in there. i think that was a great mystery that they created. i do not believe they killed him. i will never believe it. especially dropping him off at

sea. >> now jonathan, you really looked shocked there. but what was going through your mind? >> well, it was, i heard so many things, rev, in that interview, i thought i was on top of this stuff, but i'd never heard any one question the killing of osama bin laden, adding to the conspiracy theories. >> listen to this. it amazed me when i heard it. but listen to this. >> is it possible that osama bin laden has been ghosted out of his compound? >> do you believe he's dead? or do you want some more evidence? a photograph, a testimony of an eyewitness, something other than the words of a president whose words we have doubted before. >> ladies and gentlemen, this was completely staged. >> i mean, this is about national security. shouldn't be politicized. why wouldn't they accept the

truth? >> you know, rev, i don't know, other than to say that they have never liked this president. they have never trusted this president. as david jackson told me flat out, he said i'm not afraid of anyone, but i am afraid of him. they don't like him. they don't trust him. and they don't believe anything that he says, even when you present them with evidence that what they're saying, what they're propagating is not true. >> now the man you intervied, david jackson, had some intense opinions about obama care too. listen to more of your interview. >> it will benefit a very small amount of people. and it will be the ones that are too lazy or unwilling to work. along with the millions and millions of illegal aliens in this country. look at them. they're getting food stamps. they get welfare. aid for dependent children. they get food. they help them with their

housing. and they're not even supposed to be in our country. they want our health care. they want our food. they want our money. they don't pay taxes. and they'll look right at you and tell you i don't speak english and laugh. >> first of all, undocumented immigrants can't get insurance under the affordable care act. and we hear the same talking points, though, jonathan, listen to this. >> they're encouraging illegal immigrants to apply for food stamps. in other words, you pay for it. >> they represent the demographic profile the democrats want. they want people that depend on government. >> why doesn't mom just say i need to go across so i can get the free health care at the hospital right there. >> why is it so significant that these talkers are connecting and

influencing these americans? because the point of this is not just to expose some of the things, the untruths this man obviously believes, but to show how these talkers and these opinion builders on the right are really sinking in to really average americans who believe this stuff. >> right. some of the things that rush limbaugh or glen beck or any of these other folks say might be done for entertainment purposes. we can't really know if they really believe half of the hype bollic stuff that they say, but the problem is they've got huge audiences. and as we see with david jackson and millions of other people, they believe it. one of the reasons why the whole birther conspiracy or birther lie was kept going for so long was because they kept whipping this up. and even with the short form, short version of the president's birth certificate, and even after the release of the long form of the president's birth

certificate there were people who still would not believe the truth when it was staring them directly in the face. >> great interview, jonathan capehart. thank you. for more of jonathan's interview, head to our facebook page. still ahead, we've seen it waved in front of the white house. but now a potential senate candidate is embracing the conit fed rat flag as well. plus, she's one of sarah palin's original mama grizzlies. but now a tea party congresswoman has everyone talking once again. wait until you see why. [ male announcer ] crabfest ends soon,

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150 years after the emancipation proclamation the slavery is now back in our debate. today mother jones reported that a rising tea party star in mississippi who's launching a primary challenge of a gop senator spoke this summer at a neoconfederate group that promotes secession.

the flyer asked all you folks to come out in confederal clothes. you can see photos of these people doing dressup. this year we've seen a confederate flag waved outside the white house and more and more right-wingers making offensive comments about slavery. >> obama care is really, i think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. and it is in a way, it is slavery. >> the republicans, well, we can't do anything to about it. the law's the law. it's the law of the land. well, so was slavery one time the law of the land. >> when a government forces hospitals and physicians to provide free health care to those who can't or won't pay for it themselves, that's slavery. >> this insurance card in

people's pockets is going to be as worthless as a confederate dollar after the war between the states. >> all of this represents a profound misreading of american history. the country needs a better understanding of the black experience in america, past, present, and future. that's why i was so happy to have a chance to speak with harvard professor henry lewis gates and investor glen hutchens who donated $15 million to help professor gates launch the new hutchens center for african and african-american research. the largest center of its kind in the country. i began by asking dr. gates why the center was so important now. >> i think that the challenge of race and class differentials, the greatest challenge to american democracy that we can

possibly face in the 21st century. and we need think tanks, the equivalent of the brookings institute, for the study of the interactivity of race and class. and that's what the hutchens center is going to able to do. >> we've been able to create the world's leading center for african-american studies by a wide margin. it's going to be a center of excellence, and it is a real privilege for me. and secondly, it's a very important topic that people, with the election of barack obama, you know, all sorts of talk about living in a post-racial society and the trayvon martin case. there are lots of gaps that need to be bridged. and so to be able to create the

dominant, the juggernaut in the field, something that's so important for our society, it's a unique opportunity. i'm investor. it's a great investment. >> what do you hope we address in a contemporary setting? >> we talk frequently, as you well know, about the need for a conversation about race. and by that, we usually are spurgeed to have that conversation by a terrible tragedy. we get together. we have the left and the right. we try to voice feelings and come to some kind of harmonious result at the end of the day. then two weeks later, reverend, it happens all over again. we need the story of our people, the story of race to be an inextricably, intertwined part of american history. every day has to be black history month. and we have to do it without the banners, signals and flags.

>> last year you said, and i'm quoting you, a lot of people think the system doesn't serve them, that the american dream is broken. how does your work with this new center help to repair that dream? >> i'd like for us to focus on rising inequality in our country, because i'm very interested in economic issues as an investor and someone who worked in the white house and other places on economic matters. skip has told me that since martin luther king died, the black middle class has expanded by a factor of 4, but the same amount of chair have been born into poverty. these have been aggravated by the financial crisis and the slow recovery we've been in. and to get at how we can address those set of issues i think will be a very important contribution we can make. >> we have to figure out how to increase the science of the

middle class. >> the important thing about a center that we have is we're reaching out into the community. this is taking the ideas that are generated in the university and bringing them to the community. >> let he ask you this, glen, you and henry traveled this summer to the march on washington. one of the things i remember looking out there and you actually were together, your son took a class from henry. i mean, this, what i called unusual, different relation has gotten very personal. why, what happened? and what -- >> you're missing the most important person who was with us that day, which was my 93 year old mother who had been there 50 years ago, unlike the rest of us. >> that's right. >> and she was the one who insisted that we go. and she was sitting in her wheelchair right between the two of us. >> i call her miss marguerite. >> and she was at the original march. >> yeah. 50 years ago. and she insisted we bring her

back. >> and what was that experience like for you and your mother sitting there with henry lewis gates? >> to see all the young people there who were engaged in this again. the one thing i would have been disappointed if it was like one of those rock concerts where everybody's over 50 years oechltd but to have all the young people there and across a variety of skin colors. you know, i mean, just, and to have them feel a new called action was a cause of great optimism for me. >> i'm going to have to leave it there. we're excited about this, though. and we hope to come see the center. >> thank you. and it's the largest single donation in the history. >> the hutchens center launched earlier this month. it even has a hip-hop archive.

it's an important resource center. if you're in the boston area, it's definitely worth visiting. one of sarah palin's mama grizzlies is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. that's next. in the nation, we know how you feel about your car. so when coverage really counts, count on nationwide insurance. because what's precious to you is precious to us. ♪ love, love is strange just another way we put members first. because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. ♪ baby... ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪

gop congresswoman renee

elmers is known for many things. for example she's one of the original mama grizzlies that sarah palin helped sweep into office. another thing she's known for, a stance on gun control. she hates it. but don't worry. she believes in gun safety. on her website, it says that the congresswoman, quote, believes that gun owners must be responsible for the use and care of their guns. well, how about that? that makes this headline interesting. quote, an unsecured ar-15 rifle was reported stolen from represent ellmer's home. that's not really her fault, surely it was locked up, right? wrong. the gun had been left leaning up

against a gun locker in an unlocked garage. now the gun belonged to her son and the congresswoman wasn't home at the time, but instances like this prove we need stricter gun laws, right? >> guns in the hands of criminals are a problem. and until we address those issues, and until we address the issues that lead to crime in our society, then we're going to continue to have this problem. >> folks, a gun in the hand of a criminal is definitely a problem. but so is leaving an assault rifle unlocked in the garage.

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determined to try to block obama care or the affordable care act. i think what we should be doing is planning to retire those members of congress that are responsible for the shutdown and are not protecting the american people and getting health care for those that need it. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. party poopers. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews up in boston. let me start with this. yes, party poopers. yes everyone's heard of them. they show up in a room and suddenly things turn bad. they don't come to enjoy the evening. they come to ruin it. that's who they are. negative forces in the