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tv   Politics Nation  MSNBC  June 4, 2014 3:00pm-4:01pm PDT

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childress has a good shot, especially if mcdaniels beats cochran in the runoff, which he might. we could pick up a democratic seat in mississippi. i know it's outlandish, but a lot of people in mississippi being helped by obamacare. >> howard dean, thanks so much. that's "the ed show," "politics nation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. good evening, rev. >> good evening, ed, and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, the gop's hypocrisy on sergeant bowe bergdahl. today, the taliban released video showing bergdahl's handover to american special forces. after five years as a p.o.w., we know this video's being closely examined by intelligence officials. we know there's still a lot that we don't know about how bergdahl was captured, and whether to
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search for him put fellow soldiers at risk. that's what the army's investigating, but today we also know there's been a stunning reversal from many republicans on this exposing their political motives. back in february, senator john mccain explained why he used to oppose releasing taliban leaders but came to support it to free bergdahl. >> well, at that time the proposal was they would release taliban, someone really hard core, particularly five really hard core taliban leaders as a confidence building measure. now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our american fighting men. i would be inclined to support such a thing, depending on a lot of the details. >> back then, senator mccain favored releasing five hard core
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taliban leaders because it meant securing an american's freedom. but here's what he says now. >> the problem that i have and many others have is what we paid for that release, and that is releasing five of the most hardened, anti-american killers, brutal killers. >> suddenly, suddenly senator mccain is against trading hardened taliban leaders. now other republicans are literally trying to erase their past statements. on saturday, gop congressman mark amadei tweeted, best news i've heard in a long time, #standwithbowe. 15 hours later, that message was deleted. gop senator thad cochran initially tweeted, "welcome
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home, sergeant bowe bergdahl. a grateful america thanks you for your service." that message has also been deleted. this is political. it's obvious and it's taken over the right's reaction. we now know a republican consultant has been helping to fan the flames by arranging media interviews with his fellow soldiers who view bergdahl as a critical manner. we've seen this before, where gop operatives arrange the swift boarding of john kerry. the stakes today are too high to rush to judgment when we don't know all the facts, and gop lawmakers should know better. they should know better than to play politics with something like this. joining me now is msnbc's goldie taylor and salon.com's joan
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walsh. her recent article is, "the right's unhinged bergdahl hypocrisy: the ultimate way to savage obama." thank you both for being on the show tonight. >> thanks, rev. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. >> joan, why are republicans like john mccain reversing themselves so blatantly? i mean, this is not even subtle, just blatantly on this. >> i don't know, does senator mccain know anderson cooper is on tv, we could see that interview, it's not hidden, it really happened. i don't know if thad cochran knows that twitter is public and once something is out there, it can be seen by others. >> i watch chris hayes, but i get your point. >> true, me too. you know, i just think it is a terrible kind of hypocrisy and the three of us know there remain questions about the circumstances of sergeant bergdahl's disappearance, his capture, and the army and, you know, the president, everybody
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wants to get to the bottom of that. but the point is, that we don't leave soldiers behind, and the point is, we were very likely going to have to free those five men at some point very soon anyway. we got something for him, and these people are second guessing the president on details they don't even know yet. >> what bothers me, goldie, is if everything that some of the critics are saying is true, are we saying that if this man, if this officer, if this member of the military, was a deserter that, therefore, we should have left him dead to die? is that what we're saying, without an investigation, without evidence, without a hearing, we should have just said looks funny to us, let him die, leave him alone. is that what we are coming to in this country? >> you know, reverend sharpton,
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i've said it once and i'll say it again, the very moment that we begin to issue summary judgment before we get all of the facts and when we decide to leave a man or woman behind because of what we believe he or she may or may not have done without a sure, fact-finding mission, when we begin to do that, we put in jeopardy our troop readiness, our troop cohesion, our troop morale. we put in jeopardy the readiness of our fighting force, because when i signed up for services, whether you serve a day, a thousand days, or 10,000 days, i've got to know that if i am wounded, if i find myself in harm's way, that my brethren are going to come and get me, whether i am dead or alive. and so that is a core principle of our service men and women for a reason, because that, indeed, helps us sort of push forward in terms of what we do on the battlefield. on the other hand -- >> you've been in the military. and you can't be in that kind of situation of saying, i hope
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nobody makes something up on me or somebody makes an allegation, because they may not come get me. can you imagine what message we're sending to our military? and joan, it's not just mccain. look at senator kelly ayotte. released a statement about ongoing efforts to, quote, urge the department of defense to do all it can to find sergeant bowe bergdahl and bring him home safely. this was issued two weeks ago. two weeks ago that was her statement, but after bergdahl was freed, senator ayotte, the same senator ayotte, went on the attack. "the administration's decision to release these five terrorist detainees endangers u.s. national security interests." i mean, did republicans think we wouldn't notice the flip-flopping on this, joan? >> well, right. we want the defense department to do all it can to get him home, but not what they did. and they are trying to have it both ways. you know, this was becoming a
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cost on the right. there were these rumors he were a deserter and horrible things said about him and people over on that other network who suggested, as goldie said, they suggest, hey, let the taliban do its business, this guy doesn't deserve to come home. that's disgusting, but after that, a lot of folks on the right were beating the drums to bring him home. this has been a cause. >> ayotte, mccain. >> so it's just another excuse to bash this president, and i saw people, we're playing the video of his release today and i saw people on twitter and elsewhere today suggest we can look at that video and we can say he was fine, he could have waited another 30 days for congress to approve this deal. how dare people look at a video and say they know more than our military leaders about the condition of this young man. i mean, it's just crazy. >> goldie, their questions tonight also about the claims
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that the search for bergdahl led to the deaths of fellow soldiers, which is another thing that has been put out there. the new york times says the facts are, "far murkier than definitive." and the times says, the military logs about the fatal taliban attacks, "do not mention any link to bergdahl's search operations." so, isn't this why the military's investigating, if this murky and not definitive, don't we need an investigation rather than a rush to judgment here, which clearly we're hearing? >> you know, that's what the uniformed code of military justice is for. that's what military tribunals are for. we need to go and bring this young man home as we did and then let the facts fall where they may. you know, if he found himself in harm's way through some fault of his own or if he had a mental
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crises or breakdown, if there were other lyes lost and we're not sure about that as a result of the search, then all of that has to come into the equation, and we deal with him as he presents himself, but the very notion that we should have left him five years or more in afghanistan without going back to get him, listen, if a man falls off a ship or if he's pushed off, we turn that ship around and go back and get him and then we go and find the facts. that's how we work this thing out. what i have found most disconcerting today, i've been looking across the web and i have found individuals, grassroots republicans, who two days ago, four days ago, 138 days ago, were calling for this administration to do whatever possible, calling this president a traitor because he would not bring bergdahl home, and now that he has, he's a traitor to them all the same. we've even got congressman, former congressman, allen west calling for the impeachment of
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barack obama because he did not so-called consult congress. >> let me give you one that really gets to me, joan, and i know we're out of time, but i have to do this one, because it really, really, this is surreal. oliver north, fox news host oliver north, who was at the center of the armed for hostages iran contrafare under ronald reagan is actually on the attack. listen to this, joan. >> was there a ransom paid? did the government of the united states, either directly or indirectly, finance a terrorist organization that is a criminal enterprise? >> now, again, this is oliver north, oliver north, does it get anymore absurd than that, joan? >> no, it doesn't get anymore absurd than that, but it kind of underscores they will say anything. they will wipe their own slate clean in order to attack this president, and we can't let them
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get away with it. >> and i think that all we're saying is, let's, one, be consistent, and, two, let us not in something as serious and sensitive as this risk somebody's life without knowing the facts at least let's know the facts before we sentence someone to just perish. >> right. >> goldie taylor and joan walsh, thank you both for your time tonight. coming up, republicans are using the bergdahl release to call for the president's impeachment. surprised? me neither. we look at what's really behind it. also, it was a scene straight out of a hollywood movie. what are intelligence officials looking at as they examine the taliban video of bergdahl's release? plus, the tea party's newest darlings are creating big headaches for the gop. and we'll expose the right's
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the debate over sergeant bowe bergdahl's release has been dominating our social media for days. everyone seems to have an opinion on this one. what about his homecoming? late this afternoon, we learned organizers in bergdahl's hometown of haley, idaho, cancelled the bring back bowe event due to public safety concerns. we want to know what you think on this one. does sergeant bergdahl deserve a hero's welcome? yes, no, or are you not sure, need more information? the poll is live on our facebook
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page and on twitter, so vote now and be sure to leave a comment. we'll have your answers later in the show. the day we rescued riley was a truly amazing day. he was a matted mess in a small cage. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com ugh. heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology.
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get the flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare it's a big week for the right. they cook up a new reason to call for president obama's impeachment. they already want to impeach him for everything from not being born here, to old bizarres. now they've added the return of sergeant bowe bergdahl as another excuse. >> the question becomes, does
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this become an impeachable offense? >> andy mccarthy, a friend of this program, has got a new book out. >> the president should be impeached for this. >> that's what he does say. he says it's crimes and misdemeanors. >> in my view, it's a very, very valid argument that people are going to start talking about. >> whether it's impeachable or not, it's not the way the american people deserve to be treated by their president. >> wanting to impeach the president because an american soldier was brought home? gop senator lindsey graham says the president would face impeachment if more prisoners are released from guantanamo bay. "it's going to be impossible for them to flow prisoners out of gitmo now without a huge bash lasch. there will be people on our side calling for his impeachment if he did that." and if they are not throwing around the word "impeachment," they are accusing the president of acting like a king. >> this is a pattern of behavior
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by this white house. he has -- he believes somehow that he's become a monarch or an emperor that can basically ignore the law and do whatever he wants. >> now, some democrats have said they wish they'd been informed of the deal earlier. it's a legitimate issue, but saying the president's acting like a monarch or an emperor, it's just silly. in fact, it may be the silliest criticism of the president we've heard since bergdahl was released, or maybe not. >> i am very, very concerned about the mental stability of this president at this point. it really seems to me like this president is demonstrating behavior that is not only anti-american, but ir rationale and erratic and perhaps not exactly what we might want to deem sane. >> erratic, irrational, insane?
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seems like a pretty accurate description of how the right wingers are responding to bergdahl's release. joining me now, jonathan capehart and bill press. thank you both for being here. >> hi, reverend. >> thanks, rev. >> jonathan, they practically want to impeach the president for waking up in the morning. is this more of the same? >> yes, this is more of the same. when i heard -- started hearing the calls for impeachment, first from former congressman allen west of florida, i thought, haven't we been down this road before, so i started looking. yes, calls for impeachment, i think you put up a graphic for all of the controversies and faux controversies and scandals and nonscandals, where it seems to be the republican default position, call for impeachment and then worry about the rest later, to the point where impeachment, which is a very serious thing to do to a president, takes on no meaning at all. they called for impeachment when
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it came out when former congressman seth sax said someone from the obama administration approached him about not running in the pennsylvania primary for senate against then-senator -- oh, my god, i forgot his name. >> arlen specter. >> that's right. thank you very much, bill. called for his impeachment then. it's incredible. >> you know, bill, some on the right are also accusing the right of the president being un-american. listen to this. >> barack obama does not have the will of the american people. americanism in his soul. you have a leader that doesn't affiliate with patriotism. >> i mean, the president, he disdains our troops. the president said he wouldn't negotiate during the shutdown. won't negotiate with you guys, but negotiated with the taliban. >> the president may very well have committed a federal crime
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by giving material assistance to a terrorist organization. >> giving material assistance to a terrorist organization. i mean, this is way beyond the pale. how much are we going to take? here's a president that restored this country, took bin laden out, and i live in a city where we lived under that terror, that has done everything to try and uphold this country, and because you don't like his politics, you're going to accuse him of materially aiding terrorists and we're not going to respond to that? i mean, bill, this is way, way, way too far. >> now look, this is politics at its worst. i don't think we've ever seen it so disgusting and despicable as this, but i think we have to keep coming back to the big picture. the big picture is, and jonathan is absolutely right, the fact they are talking impeachment proves this is politics.
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but we come back to the big picture, yesterday, american soldier who had been held by the taliban for five years. today, there's an american soldier who is a free man home on his way home to see his family. as the president said, stop, period, end of story. what's un-american about that? the president didn't break the law. the president is commander in chief. the president did his job as commander in chief. i suggest all of these people, starting with lindsey graham, should read article two of the constitution of the united states. >> but what also is troubling, jonathan, is it reminds me what they did when he was running in the first place, this pattern of trying to make him seem different. remember all of this? >> our opponent is someone who sees america as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country?
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>> a fist bump, a pound, a terrorist fist jab? the gesture everyone seems to interpret differently. >> i wish this president would learn how to be an american. >> see, this pattern, jonathan, why do they keep returning to this thing? >> because it seems to work. it seems to work with the people who support they care about, it seems to work with their audiences, who have hated barack obama since he started running for president and most definitely after he became president, and for whom, you know, anything that he does is terrible. i think probably the most damning thing that's out there is the video of -- i think you showed it in your first segment, that video of senator john mccain on with anderson cooper back in february saying he would support exactly what the
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president did back -- what he did last week. >> then he says i won't support it. almost using the exact same words of what he won't support that he said he would support. but bill, help me here, you wrote the book on this right wing machine and what they are doing. take me inside. what is this about? is this about party politics, is this about politics, is this about money, i mean, what is really happening here? >> i think what's really happening is, first of all, there's a good part of the right wing, i should say, not the american electorate, but this right wing that cannot still accept the fact there's a black man who's president of the united states. they cannot accept the fact that barack obama, a democrat, is president. they know they can't go after his policies, because he's not some extreme left winger and they decided from the very beginning, the day he was sworn in, to go after him personally with a whole series of the ugliest personal attacks we've seen against any president of the united states since abraham
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lincoln, which i talk about in my book, "the obama hate machine." reverend al, this is their new irs, this is their new benghazi, and after this is gone, there will be another reason. jonathan pointed out, the same arguments, he's un-american and we've got to impeach him. i mean, seriously, a high crime and misdemeanor to bring an american prisoner home to his family? >> again, this is one of many, there's a litany now from all the ones that you named and more. i have a news flash for them, the president got up this morning, didn't make his bed, impeachable offense. jonathan capehart, bill press, thank you for your time. >> tell lindsey graham. >> thanks, rev. coming up, we break down every angle of the incredible taliban video showing the release of sergeant bergdahl. why is everyone talking about the handshake? that's next. and later, think the tea
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say "hi" rudy. [ barks ] [ chuckles ] i'd do anything to keep this guy happy and healthy. that's why i'm so excited about these new milk-bone brushing chews. whoa, i'm not the only one. it's a brilliant new way to take care of his teeth. clinically proven as effective as brushing. ok, here you go. have you ever seen a dog brush his own teeth? the twist and nub design cleans all the way down to the gum line, even reaching the back teeth. they taste like a treat, but they clean like a toothbrush. nothing says you care like a milk-bone brushing chew. [ barks ] an extraordinary new video released by the taliban is giving us a front row seat to the dramatic rescue of sergeant bowe bergdahl. his release from his taliban captors on this video, the department of defense now say
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there's no reason to doubt the authenticity of this taliban video. the video shows several armed taliban men holding a white flag, standing around a white truck. bergdahl sits inside blinking his eyes rapidly, while talking to a taliban member. he's wearing traditional afghan clothes. several other taliban members, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, are stationed in the hills. and then, suddenly, helicopters appear on the horizon, one lands and the men disembark and approach. the exchange is over in seconds, as the participants hold up their hands to one another, the men, three from the helicopter and two from the taliban force, engage in quick handshakes, then wave their farewells. a dramatic video and a window into an operation we never see. we're going to break down the
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entire video now with jack rice. he's a former cia officer and was embedded in iraq and afghanistan. jack, thanks for being here tonight. >> great to be with you. >> first, what is your first impression of what are intelligence officials looking at in this video. >> i think like anybody else, it's something extraordinary to watch. you don't see this very much. the one thing that i think you're going to see from the intelligence community is identity. they are looking for who these guys are, and i think it should be very, very clear here that there weren't just blackhawks in the sky, you think about drones following these guys in, and certainly following these guys out. if they are looking for them now, they are going to keep their eyes on them in this region and wherever they go. that's part of the benefit of having this close encounter. >> now, take us through the handshake, because some reports say the taliban saw the americans as, in some way doing
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something rude. >> well, i understand, and i've heard this from all sides here, if this were me and i were in kandahar, in anywhere in the muslim world and met these people, that would be rude. this was a military operation. this was about timing, this was about exposure. here's a reality, the longer you're on the ground in this situation, the more likely exponentially that you and everybody else on that plane will die, and they know it. this was about speed, get the package, this guy, put him in this helicopter, and get off the ground as fast as possible. that's what their goal was. that's what their intention was. >> now, i took note as they walk away from the taliban with bergdahl, one of the men is walking backwards. what was he watching for? >> he's watching for anything. i mean, let's remember, this is a military operation.
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there's everybody in this operation. every special forces guy, everybody is trained for this. they all have their lane. everybody is responsible for that lane. they are picking out certain people that they are responsible for. what this man did, his job, was to watch that lane, and that's why he turns this way. any military operation that you have, everybody has a particular person, a particular group of people, a particular lane of operation for themselves. this is what they were trained to do and this is what they did very, very well. >> now, as soon as they reached bergdahl, you can see one of the americans pat him on the back. then before they get on the helicopter, they do a more thorough patdown. what struck you about this? >> i wasn't surprised at all. one of the things that they need to be concerned about is whether or not he's a suicide bomber. the idea that they have a vest strapped to him, that they could actually remotely target, actually remotely explode, or something that he could do
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himself. so this is about not just getting the package home, it's about getting everybody else home, as well. you want to make sure there's nothing underneath those clothes and they were extremely thorough, and they should have been. it was important. >> now, you can see in the video bergdahl is carrying what appears to be a plastic bag. the americans toss it aside without even looking into it as they approached the helicopter. what can you tell us about that? >> i think it establishes one thing, they don't care. they don't care what's in the bag. their job was very specific, to bring this man home alive. whatever's in the bag is something that's inconsequential compared to that and anything that may actually provide additional exposure to them, because you don't know what's in the bag, is something that's unnecessary, so, therefore, you drop it to the ground, because it is unnecessary. >> now, the taliban also had a message for bergdahl and the americans. at the end of the video, they wrote, don't come back.
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what's your take on that? >> when i saw that, i wasn't shocked, because this entire video was about one thing, this is about recruiting. this was about establishing that the taliban is as good, no, wait a second, the taliban is better than the u.s. they won. that is what this is about. it's about pushing this across the world now to establish that they beat the americans and now they are going to taunt them and that's essentially what they did. >> what about the meeting point itself? they met near the home of a prominent tribal leader in the area. why there? >> i think in this case, this has been a hot region for a long time, more than ten years. they fought back and forth about this, and it's close to an area where they control anyway, and at least control right now. but they also want to establish that they can pick the region. this is their country. i'm not suggesting they are correct. i'm saying this is part of the psyche, a part of the approach, and to sort of make this point
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very clear to the americans for the tape. remember, this is about public consumption, is really the most important thing for these fighters at this point. >> this is very, very interesting to watch. something we never get to see. thank you so much, former cia officer jack rice. thanks again for your time tonight. >> thank you very much. still ahead, the gop's extremist tea party problem. that's next. ugh. heartburn. did someone say burn?
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for weeks we've been hearing this, the tea party is dead. >> some signs of trouble for the tea party, whose candidates took a beating in tuesday's primaries. >> the republican establishment has fought back and they have in every key election keep out of ground state, keep back tea party challengers. >> republicans embraced the party establishments. >> they are turning away from the tea party, well, not exactly. no, not exactly. after last night, this woman would be the next republican senator from iowa. >> i'm joni ernst. i grew up castrating hogs on an iowa farm, so when i get to washington, i'll know how to cut pork. washington's full of big spenders. let's make them squeal. >> she ran away with the gop
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primary in the iowa senate race, and hog castration isn't the only thing she's offering. ernst also backs personhood, which would essentially ban abortion and some forms of birth control. she also vowed to abolish the department of education. and, oh yeah, she insisted that saddam hussein actually possessed w.m.d.s. and the tea party is alive in mississippi, where we've seen one of the strangest and dirtiest campaigns of all time. it appears that neo confederate ally chris mcdaniel forced a runoff against thad cochran in the gop senate primary. mcdaniel has made a name for himself by criticizing, quote, the welfare dependent citizens of new orleans after hurricane katrina. and the mcdaniel madness comes as this scandal erupts around him.
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>> authorities say they are sending out more subpoenas in connection with clayton kelly, he's the man accused of taking photos in a local nursing home of thad cochran's wife, who has dementia. >> police arrested prominent attorney mark mayfield on conspiracy charges thursday. mayfield is a high ranking member of the mississippi tea party and a real estate attorney. we found out today that mayfield has been an outspoken supporter of state senator chris mcdaniels' campaign against thad cochran. >> the gop is far from moderate. the tea party beast is alive and well, and that's a big problem for the gop. joining me now, margie omero and jamaal simmons. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> good evening, reverend. >> i thought the gop was trying to moderate. what's going on here, margie? >> right. they turned away from the tea party by becoming the tea party.
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even john boehner said there's no real difference between the republican party and the tea party, and you could see in these candidates, if you look at joni ernst, she is against the clean water act, she's against any federal minimum wage, not just raising it, she's against it altogether. she is against -- she's in favor of a personhood amendment. she is a climate change denier. if she's the electable moderate, i'd hate to see what their extremists look like. >> you know, jamaal, the gop establishment is worried. i mean, they are showing signs of real concern about these candidates. real clear politics writes, "some iowa republicans have fretted quietly that ernst may have positioned herself too far to the right." and "the national review" says this about chris mcdaniel. "republican strategists worry that he is apt to stumble verbally the way candidates such as todd akin did." are republicans setting
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themselves up for more candidates like this one, listen to this. >> i'm not a witch. i'm nothing you've heard. i'm you. none of us are perfect, but none of us can be happy with what we see all around us. >> i mean, are they setting themselves up for some more candidates like that? >> oh, those were good times. i think they are in danger of that. if you look at mississippi in particular, it looks like a democrat travis childress, former congressman, may even end up having a shot against mcdaniel because the numbers there could end up being so narrow that mcdaniel scares away even some moderates who might be thinking about who would normally vote for a republican. if that happens, that would be an earthquake. we haven't had a democrat elected in the senate in mississippi since 1982, so this could be a phenomenal thing. and if you look at iowa, for as conservative as they are trying to make it out to be, senator
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harkin, whose seat they are running for, was really one of the most stand-up, staunch progressives in the united states senate. so i'm not sure the electorate in iowa is as conservative as joni ernst might think it is. >> you know, go back to that mcdaniels race a minute, margie. the mississippi race has been downright dirty, and the district attorney still hasn't cleared mcdaniel's campaign from being involved in the photographing of senator cochran's wife. that's a real dirty race there. >> yeah, i mean, it's a race that i think a lot of people want to look at as the future of the republican party versus the republican party's past and i think there are many republicans who see mcdaniels as part of a new future republican candidate, but he really looks like the party of the past, of politics of the past, because he says -- he uses language like, i'm offended and fearful and reject this new foreign culture that's taking over america.
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language like that. that doesn't really sound like a modern candidate. that sounds very much an old fashioned candidate, and if the republican party wants to rebrand, they are going to have to move away from that kind of language. >> but here we are 50 years since freedom summer in mississippi, jamaal, and we see this kind of candidate that is possibly, probably with a runoff, going to be the republican candidate in mississippi. very, very troubling. >> oh, it's very troubling. listen to some of the language margie just referred to and it all sounds eerily familiar to the types of things we're used to hearing from mississippi from a few decades ago. at the same time, we can't just gloss over what happened with this nursing home scandal. this is a woman who's had dementia for 14 years, they are going into her hospital bed, her room, photographing her in bed to try to prove some case against this senator. this senator is 76 years old. i mean, there's about nothing more disgusting than going after
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a couple of senior citizens because one of them has dementia and the other one may be trying to figure out how to live his life without his wife. >> now, margie, the bigger picture is, the gop said they wanted to moderate these candidates clearly have hurt their trying to rebrand themselves. what opportunity does this give democrats? >> well, i think it just reminds democrats to remind candidates and voters around the country how far to the right the republican party has been dragged, and it's not just democrats and independents who feel this way, even a majority of republicans say they are not supporters of the tea party. the tea party has been unfavorable for a long time. republicans are losing trust in the tea party, and when you have these tea party candidates, whether they call themselves tea party or they say they are sort of like the tea party or in some places they say they are the tea party, other places they say they are moderate, their views
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are far to the right of the republican party of just even a decade ago. >> margie omero and jamaal simmons, thank you both for your time this evening. >> thank you. coming up, hillary clinton on the cover of "people" magazine. plus one massive conspiracy theory. we got ya next. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare female announcer: it's sleep train's interest free for 3 event.
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the right wingers are back at it with attacks on hillary clinton. mrs. clinton is on the cover of "people" magazine and conspiracy theorists think they've spotted something. drudge report tweeted, "is clinton holding a walker?" that's right, kooks on the right think clinton is holding a walker on the cover of "people" magazine. it's not true. it's just a patio chair, but it fits the gop's desperate attempts to undermine her health. last month karl rove suggested she had brain damage and tried to raise doubts about her age. >> look, she'll be 69 by the time of the 2016 election. she will be 77 if she serves two terms, and this ends up being an issue. >> brain damage, walkers, what's
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next, the icu? mrs. clinton's spokesman said, "dr. rove tried this already, the world immediately saw it for what it blatantly was. he blew it. so nice try, but enough is enough." nice try, that's my line. did he think he'd be able to peddle his sludge without getting called out for it? nice try, but we all got ya. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪
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my mom works at ge. i dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. but with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive, i had to do something. i saw my doctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about two weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these symptoms to your doctor. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications.
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serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer, worsening prostate symptoms, decreased sperm count, ankle, feet or body swelling, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing while sleeping and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. ask your doctor about axiron. the department of health and human services announced today that enrollments in medicaid under the affordable care act surged to 6 million since september. in april, 1.1 million people signed up for coverage, but 18 republican governors still refuse to expand medicaid in their states. 6 million americans would be covered. they are putting politics over saving people's lives. here's what jonathan gruber, who helped create the law, said on
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the show recently. >> the fantastic study came out looking at what happened when we expanded health insurance in massachusetts. we saved lives. in fact, the numbers suggest that for every 820 people who got health insurance, one person's life was saved, so to put that in context, these states that are not expanding medicaid and not covering 5 million people, are killing about 6,000 people a year. >> today, senate democrats kept the heat on, sending a letter urging governors to put politics aside and expand medicaid. and all over the country we've seen people power. in north carolina, expanding medicaid has been a major part of the state's moral monday protest. in georgia, dozens were arrested and protests -- at a protest and march demanding action. in missouri, protesters shut down the state capitol, pushing for the medicaid expansion last
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month. and last weekend in alabama, protesters demanded the governor expand medicaid now. >> you think about what if something serious were to happen, you know, what if she needed a major surgery or something like that, you know, it's heart breaking. >> my daughter gets sicker and sicker and sicker. >> as long as it's one person in our state, in america, who's suffering, we suffer, as well. >> we must make these governors expand medicaid. we must fight like our lives depend on it. because it does. now the results from our question of the day, does sergeant bowe bergdahl deserve a hero's welcome? and this was a good debate on social media, 18% said yes. 58% said no, and some still aren't sure. 24% said they need more information. thanks to all who voted and please keep the debate going.
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head to our facebook page and post your comment. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton, "hardball" starts right now. command decision. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with a new startling video of sergeant bergdahl being handed over by the taliban. since saturday, we've watched a deteriorating picture of the deal that led to his release. in rolling out the news, the white house painted a happy picture of american victory, something of a celebration. our soldier basking in the glory of honorable and distinctive service was coming home to what looked to be a justified price, a national hero, one republican member of congress called him. in exchange we were told five taliban prisoners were