republicans. you cans always judge public officials or those of us in public life by what is the goal is the goal helping the american people achieve health insurance or is the goal partisan bickering? come on, speaker boehner, let's take care of the american people. enough with the stunts. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. john boehner, you're better than this. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews. let me start tonight with the terrible reality president obama faces now on the american border. he's got 50,000 kids basically deposited there, all seeking asylum. they. come from dangerous places like honduras and el salvador, poor

places like guatemala. this president face it is brutal job of finding a way to accept them here which will create an instant and perhaps more powerful magnet on tens of thousands more shipped here, or working to send them home to countries obama knows and has publically confessed are hell-holes. this is not a job he ran for. it is with him most definitely the job this president now has. adding to the nastiness of the situation, already overflowing with nastiness is the cheap shot, below the belt behavior of this country's supposedly loyal opposition. why? why can't boehner sit out this one political dance? why can't he say that on this crisis, this moral crisis looming before us, we americans can stand together, give these kids the legal hearings they are entitled to. consider their claims for asylum and treat them like innocent needy kids in the meantime. why can't boehner do this one thing. are his right wing allies so

hateful? is his desire to rub the president's face in it so compulsive? can't he take off one day from the political dance of death which his least attractive allies are calling the tune. is there a philosophical difference between the democratic and the republican response to this crisis of these particular children. wasn't it george w. bush who signed this law giving these particular kids their right to asylum hearings in the first place? that's my question tonight. why the political games? judge jenkins was part of the group of leaders that met with president obama yesterday down in texas. he's the highest elected official ins dallas county down there. of course eugene robertson, the prize winning columnist with the washington post. why the diddling around and politics? on this case it's clear. the kids at least deserve a hear ing. in the meantime they should be treated like kids who are innocent until proven guilty of

something. >> if the texas delegation -- and we are the most affected in the union by this. if they were to treat the kids with compassion and we stood unified and voted for the supplement, it would pass and we could do it next week. i hope we will. you're right. there is no real difference. we need to secure the border. we believe we need to improve conditions in these country where is the children will be returning to, most of them. we all believe children in america deserve compassionate care and humanitarian response. there is no good reason for congress not to do their part. >> gene? >> absolutely. >> what's boehner gain by jumping on the president at this critical moment? >> nothing. frankly, i think he gains

nothing. i think he may be afraid of the far right base of the republican party. >> what -- >> they love to get riled up about immigration. what do they want to do? not follow the law. the law is signed by george w. bush. it specifies what has to happen with the kids. it's not optional. given the current backlog it could take up to two years. so does congress want it to take longer as the numbers mount or does he want to -- you know, part of the money the president asked for. for example, more immigration judges to take it a speedier process? does he not want to put more border patrol agents on the border? i don't understand. >> it's almost like a perversion of nancy reagan's just say no. just say no to everything obama wants to do. the urgency of the situation on the border, the flood of oh unaccompanied children, the explosive politics of this

particular crisis apparently lit a fire under john boehner who must deal with the disorganized and immigrant-fearing caucus of republicans leaving town in about two weeks. even though he's put public heat on the president boehner may be seeking a deal behind closed doors. as politico reports speaker boehner told republicans yesterday in a closed meeting yesterday that the house should act on a supplemental spending bill that deals with the border crisis before the house adjourns in august. that's two weeks from now. today speaker boehner exploded with criticism at the president attacking both obama's plan to address the crisis and his past actions when offered relief to children who came across the border. here is boehner going at it politically. >> i can tell you this though. we are not giving the president a blank check. this is a problem of the president's own making. he's been president for five and a half years. when is he going to take responsibility for something?

>> let me go back to judge clay on that. it seems to me there ought to be reckoning here. you can say it's obama's fault because he's been deporting kids of a certain age. the draw down is the reality if they get kids to the border they are entitled to a hearing that could take two years and they could find a residence in our country. there are a number of magnets for kids to be sent here from countries where it is a hell-hole to live. >> what difference does it make whose faults it is? we are leaders. we all have a role to play. congress's role is to pass the supplement so we can end this crisis. our role in dallas the county is we have offered facilities and compassionate care for 2,000 children to double the capacity the federal government now has at the air force and military bases throughout the country

just in our county. surely on this, on the issue of securing our border and treating children like human beings, surely on this they can come to the table and we can get this passed. >> can you speak for the community down there? you're an elected official. can you speak for the community in dallas? i know it is a conservative city and alwayses has been. what's the view of what we should do as a country with refugees? >> well, the view in dallas county has been overwhelmingly that the children are not others. they are children like your children and my children that they deserve to be treated with human compassion. from the faith community, many of whom are conservative and vote republican, i haven't had a single minister or rabbi or faith leader of any sect be in

favor of this who's contacted me. i have been contacted by thousands of people from across this country who feel these children are others, have called them human garbage that should be thrown away. that wouldn't be the mind set of the overwhelming majority of people who live here. >> the question is what we are going to do. speaker boehner is leading the gop attack on president obama. no surprise there. it included red hots like texas governor rick perry who met with the president. we watched a cordial display of dipship between the president and government. when the governor got on fox news last night on hannity, here we went. >> i think about the criticism george w. bush received when he didn't go to new orleans. this is no different. i want him to come to the border. he needs to see how the

interaction with these different law enforcements and the addition of the national guard could secure the border. if the president would see that with his own eyes and act on it, you can't talk about it. you have to act, mr. president. that's what leadership is. >> it's interesting to watch the politicians suit up. this is a guy that got involved in the oops because he couldn't remember the names of the agencies. he used to wear gold buttons all the time. now he's wearing glasses to look more sophisticated. but then, he looked good yesterday. meeting president as equals, as peers. then he talks on hannity. he can't resist. >> he's apparently running for president again. >> part of the act is to dump on obama. >> exactly. >> how can it hurt him among republican primary voters to dump on republicans? >> that's the way they do it.

>> a little class wouldn't hurt. >> late today arizona senator john mccain along with senator jeff flake took a shot at compromise. they announced a plan to introduce legislation among other things to change the 2008 law which gives extroo legal protections to unaccompanied children from central america. it talks about alternatives to detention like ankle monitors to make sure people show up to the immigration court hearings. it increases the number of refugee visas for el salvador, honduras and ecuador where violence and gangs are rampant. what do you make of that, judge? >>i am one of the few people who have seen these children. they are children. they are children like any other group of children. but these children are terrified, dirty, a thousand miles away from their parents. right now, they are living in cells where there are 30 children that were designed for six adults. they have to go to the bathroom

in front of each other. they have to be moved to somewhere like dallas county temporarily so people can show them that they are valued as human beings, they are loved. and they are not prisoners, they are children. putting an ankle bracelet on a child so that the child is made to feel like a criminal is one of the most inhumane things i can think of doing to a small child. i think the people that are proposing that are people that still see these children as something different than what they are. children made in the image of god, just like every other child here in the united states. >> what wonderful words you just spoke. i can want beat that. thank you, judge. clay jenkins, for joining us. it's hard to keep up with that eloquence. >> that was good. >> the big question hanging over

the crisis at the border, why are they here? what prompted the flood of children into the united states? we'll get report from the ground down from where the children were sent from. how bad it was the parents paid money, risked a long trip to the united states to get away from the h ell parentses are are stuck to live in and the kwoez wournl ca -- wall street journal calling the impeach obama movement insanity. even joanie ernst, the hog kas traitor from iowa has checked in with the gang of impeachment pushers. check out today's emmy nominees. the shows are all about politics. could it be because politics is so bad it's now good television? finally, the coming battle for the senate in this country. our powerful commitment on "hardball" to cover it. this is "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪

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despite the stunning defeat of eric cantor, incumbents are having a strong election year. take a look at this. according to the university of virginia center for politics, out of 275 house incumbents running for re-election, 273 have been re nominanominated by parties. the exceptions, cantor and also republican ralph law of oh texas. 18 of 18 senators running for re-election have been renominated. since world war ii 1.6% of house incumbents have lost the primaries. seems they are getting stronger. 19 more states are holding primaries this year. to match that historic record, four more house members would be losing primaries in 2014. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. what would compel a mother to send her child off and alone on a thousand-mile life threatening

journey to the u.s. border? it would have to be something awful. it is. life in central american countries from which these children flee is brutal, terrifying and often deadly. this anecdote from the new york times on page one is a glimpse at the horror. a 7-year-old boy in a gang ridden town in honduras hops on his bike to search for his brother. within days both boyses are dead. the older brother, 13, shot in the head. the younger brother who went to find him was tortured, beaten with sticks and rocks at a gang hang out known as the crazy house. a 7-year-old boy tortured to death. stephanie gosk reported from the heart of gang-riddenen honduras and the desperate situation driving the children to flee. >> reporter: to understand why young people from central america are leaving without their parents to go to the u.s. you have to come here. san pedro ro sula, honduras, one of the most dangerous cities in the world. we are in a neighborhood

controlled by four different gangs. this small space here is a neutral area. they tells us down any of the roads, it's literally a no-go zone. every young person we have spoken to here says they want to go to the united states because of the violence. >> stephanie joins us on the phone now from flores, guatemala. kevin applebee from the u.s. conference of bishops. let's go to stephanie. give us a sense -- the president yesterday was sort of twisted in his contradictions. he was saying the parents shouldn't send kids on trips through the coyotes, people who bring them here because it's dangerous to make the trip. later on with q & a he said, look how dangerous it is where they are. put those dangers together. the danger of getting to the united states the way they do -- being smuggled -- and the hell they face at home. >> reporter: that's the conflict.

you're facing the worst of two evils. most of the people we spoke to in san pedro s lurks a, the teenagers said they would rather risk it and head north to the u.s. than stay are where they are. they know the situation where they are. in this particular neighborhood controlled by gangs. they can't go from one territory to another territory without fear of being beaten up. one 15-year-old we spoke to, his 10-year-old brother was shot and killed. his 16-year-old brother is in a gang and has an ak in the house. the violence is an everyday part of their lives. i would like to broaden it out more. when we talk about the reason the kids are driven to the u.s., there really is a multitude of factors that go into it. the kids i spoke with said they are disheartened that they don't have a future. there aren't a lot of jobs. they look around and hear stories about neighbors or friends or the guy down the

street that's gone to the u.s. and didn't come back. was allowed to stay or at least that's the way it's perceived though that person or a friend might be going through a deportation process. there are a lot of issues in play now. but you can't under estimate the importance of how violent it is in these places, especially hon do you understand and that's a factor in the crisis. >> let me go to kevin applebee. it seem it is united states has a challenge to treat people humanely who get here but not to ebb courage other people from exploiting our laws. the united states, like my country in the world has a right to its border. the american people set policy. the government implements it. that's the law. that's how we live in this society. the question is how much of this can we take? what do we do? >> chris, first of all, this is a refugee flow. not a legal immigrant flow it has been characterized as. the children have international protection claims. they have the right to asylum. the right to an immigration

judge. we have to uphold our international obligations. we have domestic law which protects the kids. we are looked on around the world as a leader in immigrant rights, refugee protection. if we turn these kids back, send them back to the hell-holes as you describe it, what signal does that send to countries in the middle east that accept millions of refugees a year at our request or in africa? we have to be the moral leader. this is a big moral test. a big test of our moral character in this country how we handle the issue. >> how about children. come rg for economic are reasons? are they different from kids tr from mexico? the people from mexico? >> in all these flows, they are mixed flows. every are refugee flow, not every child or refugee. up to 60% of the children have a refugee claim. there are going to be some coming for economic reason.

we have a responsibility to look at the group, filter them and say who needs protection and who doesn't? many of the children are returned but we have to look into their claims and give them due process. >> what's going on though? let's not talk about it as if it's not organized. there are groupses of coyotes, cartels. why is it happening now? why 90,000 this year? honduras has been a lousy country politically all of our lives. maybe we had a role in it with messing around over the years. our hands aren't clean. those aren't suddenly terrible country,s, are they? >> i'm not denying smugglers for example are encouraging preying upon families saying let me take your kid, they will be able to stay. that's a factor. violence is the straw that stirs this drink. five years ago these gangs may have controlled neighborhoods. now they control communities and cities. the governments there are failed

governments. they don't have the ability or resources. >> what are the worst? name them. what are the worst countries. >> honduras, definitely. it's got the highest murder rate in the world. frankly the police are corrupt there. they are in collaboration with gangs. the other countries, el salvadors has some of that as well. guatemala, less. there are governments here that aren't protecting the children for political will reasons and because they don't have the resources to. also because some of the officials are in cahoots with criminal networks. >> let me go back to stephanie on the ground. what's the the future look like down there? i think the united states will probably find a way, even in a bipartisan way eventually after everybody has settled their scores on this thing. you can see john mccain coming up with at least something of a compromise. they will deal with the existing number of people here. happens if the flow continues? is it going to keep continuing? 90,000, 100,000 a year?

once word gets out we are treating the first 50,000 okay, in fact, well. the traffickers spread the word, hey, it's looking good. it will keep growing. what's going to happen. >> well, look. being down here, you get a good sense of the fact that this is a responsibility that it's as much part of a country here as it is the united states to deal with it. there are real problems within the government that have to be resolved to change the situation on the ground, to improve the economy. you were talking here about corruption. we visited a town on the guatemala/mexico government. this is something the u.s. government should pay attention to. you have a system that's facilitating, not only turning a blind eye but facilitating the illegal flow of immigrants up through mexico, a town where there are coyotes in the streets negotiating out in the middle of the day alongside guatemalan

military outposts. we saw a transaction take place in front of us. four kids from honduras made a deal with a coyote. >> what's it cost? >> a member of the guatemala military. it's right on the border. you go down the san pedro river into mexico. it's a well established route that hundreds, thousands have taken to mexico. >> do you know what it costs for a coyote to transport a kid to the united states? >> we were told $7,000 by a couple of people. >> where does that come from? >> exactly. i can't imagine everyone is able to pay that, if anyone is able to pay. i would imagine there is a scale. but it's definitely a lucrative business. >> that doesn't make sense, stephanie. i have been hearing $5,000. i see these people, dirt poor. kevin, how do you come up with $7,000 in a dirt poor country to

pay for your kid to -- in a dangerous manner to be taken to the united states? not a nice way. >> it's like we do with our budgets. they don't pay up front. they may give the mortgage on the house or sell their property. go to other family members and collect money. they are in desperate circumstances. we talked to one mother. she said, i would rather my child die on the way to the u.s. than die on my front doorstep. they will do what they can to cobble this together. it's not that they pay up front. they may pay in different increments but they find the money. >> stephanie, great reporting. you have been in difficult, scary neighborhoods. take care. kevin applebee, thank you. we'll be right back. this is "hardball," the place for politics. kid: hey dad, who was that man?

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capturing the good, the bad and the ugly of our country's 37th president. now douglas are brinkley has transcribed them for "the nixon tapes." an advanced audio clip was released today in vanity fair revealing nixon's views on homosexuality. nixon acknowledges that a person's sexuality is determined by birth, not by choice. that's a break with the right wing in many cases and their religious dogma. on the other hand, nixon says homosexuality should not be encouraged nor embraced by society. i'm not sure what that means. let's listen. >> let me say something before we get off the gay thing. i don't want my views misunderstood. i am the most tolerant person on that of anybody in this shop. they have a problem. they are born that way. we know that way.

that's all. i think they are. but the point is that boy scout leaders, ymca leaders and others bring them in that direction, and teachers. if you look over the history of societies, you will find, of course, that some of the highly intelligent people -- oscar wilde, aristotle, et cetera, et cetera, were homosexuals. i'm not going to have a situation where we pass along a law indicating, well, now, kids, just go out and be gay. they can do it. just leave them alone. >> the cries of impeachment keep coming and not just from the right. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. vo: you get used to pet odors in your car.

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i'm page hopkins.

here's what's happening. president obama told israel's prime minister by phone today the u.s. is willing to facilitate a cessation of hostilities. the president reaffirmed isra israel's right to defend itself after attacks from hamas. the suspect in a texas shooting that left two adults and four kids dead was related to one of the victims. ron lee hoskill hauz was charged this morning. and eileen ford has died at the age of 92. now we'll take you back to "hardball." >> welcome back to "hardball." the notion of impeaching president obama has become happy talk on the extreme right. there is video of iowa u.s. senate candidate joanie ernst, the castration candidate, floating an obama impeachment. this is her in january running for her party's nomination. she responded to a hypothetical

question about what should happen if the supreme court ruled president obama committed an abuse of power due to his use of executive order. here she is. >> he is continually using executive order. he is making appointments without authority. so, yes, absolutely he is overstepping his bounds. i do think that, yes, he should face repercussions. whether that's removal from office, whether that's impeachment. but as a u.s. senator, absolutely. as a u.s. senator though we have to push that issue. we can't be silent on things like that. he has become a the dictator. he'sning amok. he's not following our constitution. unfortunately we have leaders who are not serving as leaders now. they are not stepping up. they are not defend thing the constitution. they are not defending you and me.

>> proving in republican primaries in certain parts of the country you can say anything and it sounds credible. to remind you she said, he's become a dictator. he's running amok. that video was obtained from are a source who got it to the huffington post recently. perhaps realizing her language is not typical of a u.s. senator, she later walked it back in a statement to the huffington post. quote, i was asked a question involving a hypothetical about what i thought should happen in the supreme court ruled that the president had committed an abuse of power. to be clear, i have not seen any evidence that the president should be impeached. i obviously do not believe the president is a dictator but his repeated use of unilateral action plaks him look like one. sarah palin was pushing impeachment on her facebook page. >> enough is a enough of the years of abuse from this president. his unsecured border crisis, for me, is the last straw.

it makes the battered wife say no mas, that's enough. it's time to impeach. on behalf of oh illegal immigrants we should oppose any candidate, any politician on the left or right who would hesitate in voting for articles of impeachment. >> i love the no mas part. such sympathy for the spanish-speaking people of the world. republicans like arizona's jon kyl in south carolina, and lindsey graham and tim scott of south carolina have thrown out the word impeachment. what does this talk say to democrats? that's interesting. joan walsh from salon and msnbc political analyst. she's laughing already. clarence page. i don't know what it is. is this the new standard of macho where you have to be, i don't want to just sue the s.o.b., i want to get rid of him. what about the castrator who

could be elected in iowa? she's running a strong race. your thoughts. >> joni got ahead of her skis in january, chris. now the republican establishment, such as it is has come together and is trying to say no mas with the impeachment talk. with john boehner and the wall street journal, they try to reel it in. they are not saying there are no grounds to impeach him. they are saying it would be a political disaster. boehner -- >> ahead of the skis is the new phrase. fine with me. to use an old fart's expression let's say the cart before the horse. how about some reason to impeach? >> exactly. >> some evidence. clarence. no reason to come up with evidence. >> that's right. >> in fact, joni, i don't know her well. i have heard the castration line. she says, i can't think of a reason to impeach him.

>> neither did sarah palin. she didn't give any reason. she named some issues, policy disagreements. she sounds like boehner and the rest. we don't like his politics. let's impeach him. this is the default position. >> i wonder if it's because he got elected. >> twice. >> the wall street journal, an editorial today referred to what they call the impeachment delusion. if you get to the right of the wall street journal editorial page you are in trouble. impeachment is a political process that would backfire on republicans. republicans aiming to rebuild a governing majority should be making a systemic case about the failures of democratic governance that includes slow growth -- that's impeachable -- and stagnant incomes, fewer health care choices and higher costs, growing world disorder. you can't impeach a guy for that. trying to impeach mr. obama now is firing at the the wrong target at the wrong time with

the wrong ammo. joan, i don't know why they used ballistic metaphors. it's always firing at somebody with something and ammo. that's how they think. it's the currency of their thought. >> sarah palin talking about battered women was offensive, too. it's a political calculation. that's what's disturbing. i applaud the common sense. they are looking at the polls. they have not a slam dunk to take the senate. they are saying we don't want to jeopardize this with an impeachment battle that would be unpopular with the american people and would galvanize the democratic base on some level. you say, you know, do that and you will have obama voterses surging to the polls in 2014. >> you leapt into the truth there by saying the reason they are worried about using words like impeachment now is they think they are in good shape politically. they don't want to be called

whackos as they are about to cake walk into the senate. late today house speaker john boehner unveiled a draft resolution on his lawsuit, suing the president. it's about obamacare. big surprise. it focuseses on executive actions related to the employer mandate of the affordable care act. when he waved the mandate and penalties for failing to comply with it. on tuesday on fox news sarah palin blasted speaker boehner suggesting his little lawsuit against the president was weak stuff to begin with. let's listen. >> americanss, congress, those who are concerned about protecting our constitution and using the one tool congress does have to halt what is going on, this lawlessness from the top. the one tool they have is articles of itch peachment. you don't bring a lawsuit to a gunfight. >> you don't bring -- again, a ballistic reference.

why all the references to guns all the time? yesterday luke russert asked about palin comments. luke wanted to get something going and he did. >> speaker boehner, sarah palin called your movement to bring a lawsuit up against president bringing a lawsuit to a gunfight that president obama should be impeached. what's your response to that? >> i disagree. >> what about the folks in your caucus talking about impeachment? >> i disagree. >> that face. it's just so unbelievable. it's so sad. i like the guy. i do like him. he seems like, why do i have this job sometimes? >> i grew up in his district. that's the face of a basketball coach watching the head cheerleader trying to direct the game. here he is, speaker of the house, sarah palin has this tremendous platform. she speaks directly to the right wing of the party which is the

base. he can't disrespect her but he's saying, what are you doing? you're killing us out there? >> let's get the reference points back. he was elected to congress many times. elected speaker of the house by peers many times. this person who walked away from being governor of the state because she's bored or under investigation. she gets on her facebook page. her facebook web page, whatever you call it. she has equal status, as luke russert pointed out in the national debate. isn't that are where we are now? you don't need to be elected to jack. you can say ridiculous things and you are the voiceroy of what's macho. >> it makes him very sad. poor john boehner. he's playing with fire with the lawsuit, too. he's trying to harness is anger and hatred of the base with a lawsuit instead of impeachment. it's impeachment light. he may not have standing. there is nothing cynical about what he's doing.

i don't have that much sympathy for him. >> thank you joan walsh and clarence page. we'll be right back after this. >> you hear some of them. sue him! impeach him! >> yeah! >> really? really? for what? you're going to sue me for doing my job? okay. i mean, think about that. you're going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job while you don't do your job.

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we are back. the emmy nominations for the best shows on television are out now. once again, washington d.c. is playing a leading role. among the nominations are a slew of political shows. house of cards, veep, homeland, scandal, the good wife, the americans, and the newsroom all

scored big nominations. americans have little faith in government right now. let's face it. only 7% of registered people have confidence in congress, according to a recent gallup poll. 7%. that's it. despite the antipathy toward politics and washington, we can't seem to get enough of our frank underwood and alicia florerks. james lipton is host of bravo's "inside the actor studio with the with the and ted johnson, senior ed forwith "variety." let me start with you, ted. a senator, friend of mine was out campaigning and told us after we had dinner the other night that people ask him out in the road, is "house of cards" real? is it real that members of congress throw people before metro trains and kill reporters they don't like or put people in cars and turn on the exhaust pipe in their back seat to kill them? and people say, is that real? do people confuse that with the horrendous, well, the bad

behavior of congress already? >> i don't think most people do. i think the fans of these shows, and there's a lot of fans in washington, i think they look at these shows and think, this is kind of an escapism. a lot of people don't quite understand why there's this gridlock in washington. why things aren't getting done. and they're looking for answers. and one of the things is just to say, well, you know what, so be it. i'm going to just escape in this program and -- >> yeah, but this guy gets things done. that's what i think. i have a different shl view. i think they like this guy, frank underwood, because he gets things done by killing people but really gets them done. james, he gets rid of reporters -- i'm sure a lot of politicians would like to kill me occasionally and people that don't like what i say, but, you know, you can't get away with it, whereas frank underwood gets away with it. is that what people like? >> you asking me? >> yes, sir. >> i don't think people like it so much as -- look, i think we

live in a very particular and interesting time. pope francis has defined it very well for us. we're in a period of, i think, social darwinism, survival of the fittest. in 1906, it was wrote, the world is too much with us late and soon. getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. i don't think anybody could define our time better than that. however, i don't think it's escapism. i think people are running toward something. they're really trouble ed and i think television is offering them what they hope are some answers. escapism is what people went to in the depression, great depression in the 1930s when ginger rogers and fred astaire danced us through the 1930s. when frank capra gave us "mr. smith goes to washington." "it happened one night." and the aptly named "wonderful

life." the -- that i think was escapism. people went to picture palaces. that's when people couldn't face what was going on. and so -- >> what draws them to the -- >> movie is often an alternative. now they're giving them something that they -- that has at least the have neveneer of r >> well, back to you, ted. james, listen to this. "homeland," scandal, house of cards, the good wife, the americans which is about communist agents in this country who are americans or playing them, newsroom, a pretty high-hinded show about journalist. my question is, what is drawing people to d.c. noir, downbeat, and even the music that shows like "house of cards" are so down, ted. >> well, i will actually kind of counter what james said and that is that hollywood continuously produced legal dramas. they produced police procedurals. i think -- medical dramas. >> yes, true. >> i think these political shows

kind of broke out of that for a number of reasons. one is that there are so more options now. there's cable, there's netflix. and i think that these shows, i think these ideas were around for a long time. it just used to be that programmers would say, we don't want to touch politics. we don't want to get involved in that. finally it took some people taking some chances, and as you mentioned, d.c. noir, it started this whole new genre of story telling, and i think that it's very compelling story telling. as we saw within the group of emmy nominations. >> james lipton, sir, i've always loved you. you're good to come on the show tonight. ted johnson. i'm rooting for "newsroom." my son is on it. he must win. when we return, let me finish with looming battle for control of the united states senate. our big story coming this fall, and this is "hardball." the place for politics.

let me finish tonight with this huge battle coming this fall for control of the united states senate. the stakes are stunning. if the president loses the senate, he will have both houses of congress working to stop him. to render the last two years of his term into a graveyard for everything barack obama and a lot of democrats believe it, creating jobs, reforming immigration, rebuilding the country economically, protecting women's and minority rights. well, the republicans need a six-seat pickup to win the senate and right now they have a strong chance to pick up seats in montana, south dakota, and

west virginia. then come the ten nail biters. all could be extremely close. each could go either way. so here we go. from across the country. alaska, colorado, iowa, michigan. from north to south, new hampshire, north carolina, kentucky, arkansas, georgia, and louisiana. will there be a sweep where the republicans win seat after seat, in state after state, and a national rejection of president obama? or will there be, as there often are, candidates who hold their stand, even in the worst of winds because voters have come to trust not just them, but their families? i'm thinking of begich up in alaska, pryor in arkansas, landrieu in louisiana, second-generation democrats with deep roots in their states. again, it's not just the races but the stakes. if we wake up the wednesday after the first monday in november and see the democrats lost the senate, expect an all-out final assault on president obama. everything he's done, everything he hopes even now to do, and worst, expect government

dysfunction like we've never seen it. i can tell you this, we're going to be out there covering this battle for the senate with special fury starting this fall. week after week, in state after state, we're going to let you know exactly where the race is headed. you know it matters. and this is "hardball." the place for politics. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight, we are "all in." >> do something. >> the humanitarian crisis on the border. >> if you're mad at me for helping people on my own, let's team up. >> the president rallies for a solution, and republicans begin to turn on each other. tonight, the latest from the border including a rick perry photo op for the ages. then new obamacare numbers are out and they tell an amazing story, but not for everyone. and a virginia teen is arrested for sexting a graphic video. tonight, an update on the police department that wanted to force the boy to