the president strikes back. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm lawrence vel in per chris matthews. as the cost argument rages on capitol hill, the plan to reform the nation's health care system has hit a new weapon to help defeat it, abortion. kansas republican todd tehart took to the floor of the house last night and said federal financing of abortions could give some women an incentive to end pregnancies. then he went one very ugly step further. >> our president grew up in similar circumstances. if that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that

his mother may have taken advantage of it? clarence thomas, supreme court justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible that we would be denied his great behind mind? >> you heard right. the congressman is suggesting that barack obama and clarence thomas' mothers might have chosen abortion if the procedure simply had been free. we'll have more on that racist logic plus the relentless problems of navigating the costs and financing of health care reform in just a moment. and never mind the affair, now mark sanford's reputation of being tight-fisted with tax-payer money is in jeopardy. there are reports that sanford has a history of treating himself to first-class travel and accommodations on the public dime. will that will be the straw to break the back of his republican support? also, what have the sonia sotomayor's hearings tot us

about her nomination. is it proof that affirmative action works or that it unfairly discriminates against white men? and if you need proof that 60 detectives in the senate guarantees nothing, look no further than the top priority, the employee choice act. why 60 doesn't always equal 60 in the united states senate? plus, the latest tweaks from sarah palin. we begin tonight with the battle over health care reform. kelly o'connell is joining us from capitol hill. also with us is washingtonpost.com's chris zolana. let's listen to what president obama had to say this afternoon. >> now we have to get over the finish line and part of this process is figuring out how to pay for it. i have said that health insurance reform cannot add to our deficit over the next decade, and i mean it.

>> now, it seems to me that this was a direct response to what ceo director douglas elvandorf had to say while testifies on thursday. we'll listen to that. >> we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending amounts. and on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs. >> kelly o'connell, the president came up with an unscheduled statement about health care today. was it in direct response to this guy that nobody has ever heard of, but that you know very well with estimates indicating the health reform was indeed going to add to the deficit and not as they say bend the cost curve downward? >> watching this unfold today with president obama and his own rapid response team, because what you just heard, the ceo

director talking about the problems with costs, really took the air out of the democrats in the senate and gave republicans new ammunition to try to derail what's going on with health care reform. one of the things that it has really brought to light is the question of timing. could there be more time to try to resolve these differences? the president, as you pointed out, this was not on husband public schedule. they made the plans for him to come out and hammer a couple key points, wanting to make clear that his deadline, which is august, is something he will not move off of. and that is important to know because there has been a parade of lawmakers going over to the lawmaker in direct meetings with the president and the chief of staff and in letter form asking for more time. democrats and republicans, the president is saying no. >> chris, let's look at what the chairman of the finance committee had to say about the president's involvement in this. he's actually quoted in "the new york times" and commenting about

what obama is willing to do and not willing to do in terms of the health care plan, the finance committee is thinking about possibly taxing some health care benefit that is people get, which is to say removing the exemption of that. so the chairman of the finance committee says basically the president is not helping us. that's what he told reporters outside his office. he said the president does not want the exclusion that is making it difficult. this is very familiar. this is starting to feel very much like 1994. i was working for the chairman of the finance committee at the time, he had his tensions with the white house and they tended not to be as public as we saw with chairman but a baukiss. >> i don't think it is there yet. remember, on that part, i think you have members of congress feeling excluded largely, therefore, there was months and months to build up their particular dislike of the fact that a plan was being crafted in secret. the obama administration has

worked in opposition of that and said we are open to suggestions, but i think time, kelly made this important and it's the most important thing, time is critical. the white house knows that the more time that politicians have to hear from constituents to sort of raise electoral worries, that works against getting something passed. remember when sonia sotomayor was nominated and the republicans said we can't do this before the august resays, there's no way there can be a vote. the white house says there will be a vote and they are sticking to it. they will never has as much time as they would like. that sets a potentially dangerous time with health care flailing out there, nothing has been done. you have statements from the ceo director that republicans can use to politically beat up democrats. they know that that's a dangerous political time and they want to get this done. that's why the president came out today. that's, my guess, why you are going to see him focus in his opening statement on wednesday

about health care. >> they are always worried about the long august recess when members go home and can hear a lot of negative things about their constituents about what they have been up to lately. we'll listen to more on what the president had to say today. >> i realize that the last few miles of any race are the hardest to run. but i have to say, now is not the time to slow down. and now it is certainly not the time to lose heart. make no mistake, if we step back from this challenge at this moment, we are consigning our children to a future of skyrocketing premiums and crushing deficits. there is no argument about that. if we don't achieve health care reform, we can not control the costs of medicare and medicaid and we cannot control our long-term debt and long-term deficits. >> kelly, was that the president playing offense or defense today? >> my sense was that there was more defense in it, in part,

because he was so sensitive about the timing of this. when he came out, he spoke of the 24-hour news cycle as political junkies were we are all into that. on a late friday, letting things hang until the sunday morning shows where this will be talked about again, it is my sense that he'll pull back the message and regain control because i think the white house was very aware that the report ability the cost was eroding support and could potentially gain speed that would go in the wrong direction for them. so that was my take on it, he was being very sensitive to timing, gave some praise to -- we need to point that out, he thanked the members of congress who have been doing the work in burning the midnight oil and he cited the areas of agreement, but what stepped out to us was where he was hitting hard. >> real quickly, to magnify kelly's point, the white house may decry the 24-hour news cycle, but president obama was elected because he understands

it and can manipulate to use it. they know when he gives remarks, no matter when it is, it is getting huge coverage and people like us are going to talk about it. then we get to wednesday, another press conference here. now you are looking at four or five days in which the white house is driving the narrative they want on health care as opposed to having the narrative dig kated to them. a smart use of the 24-hour news cycle they often talk bad about. >> whenever there's something like this moving through congress, there's the crazy corner of the debate. we have had things coming out in the last couple of days about the president's surgeon general choice, is she a little too overweight and does that send the wrong health care message at a time like this? nutty stuff like that. lets listen to kansas republican congressman todd tihart last night. >> there's a financial incentive put in place paid for by tax

dollars to encourage single parents living below the poverty level to have the opportunity for a free abortion. if you take that scenario, who have we been deprived of? our president grew up in a similar circumstance. if that financial incentive was in place, is it possible that his mother may have taken advantage of it? clarence thomas, supreme court justice, if those circumstances were in place, is it possible that we would be denied his great mind? >> chris, i don't think i have heard the health care debate go in a crazier direction than that, a house member talking about -- would women want to abort their black babies and only their black babies. i didn't hear any other babies he is referring to in there. are guys like him going to get more chances at the microphone, or are republicans going to want

to quiet them down and stay on the cost argument. >> i would guess the latter. the truth of the matter is, if federal financing of abortions, if that were an issue, you are not going to vote for the bill anyway. todd tiahrt is not going to vote for the bill anyway. go back to look at what the ceo director said, not a decrease in cost and an addition in debt. i'll be honest, i'm sure they are unhappy that the tiahrt comments are getting that much attention. it questions whether barack obama is doing the best thing on growing government, whether it is the economic stimulus or the health care plan. that's where they can win this with the american people, arguments about abortions or hypertheft call abortions is not where you want to go. on a side note, tiahrt is

running for senate in kansas, so you never know if that factors into his decision. conservative is out there in kansas. >> when we come back after the break, we'll answer the multiple choice question. is kelly o'connell my wife, sister, or none of the above? also, mark sanford travels first-class on the taxpayers' dime all over the world, including trips to see his mistress in argentina. we'll dig into that next. you are watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ask the experts. [ male announcer ] best shampoo, self magazine. experts at good housekeeping agree. they gave it their seal. [ male announcer ] pantene delivers damage protection results leading salon brands can't beat. [ stacy ] beauty experts agree. [ male announcer ] best beauty buys, instyle. and the real experts, women like you, agree. [ male announcer ] readers' pick, glamour magazine. [ stacy ] no wonder pantene's won more awards

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new and only from progressive. call or click today. welcome back to "hardball." south carolina governor mark sanford may have damaged his

standing with social conservatives after admitting to the extramarital affair, and now his reputation as a politician is coming understood question. the politico reports that sanford, the same guy who tried to reject stimulus money and criticized other politicians for lavish spending, has been a big spender of the taxpayer's dime when it came to high-end airline travel and hotel stays. andy barr and john o'connor are with us. andy barr, give us the dimensions of the new luck surely living scandal with sanford. >> well, first of all, a little bit of the backstory here, you remember when this first came out, there was questions about other trips, whether he used state-funded money, initially his staff returned the money he used to travel to argentina, but then a lot of reporters here went back through the records and found that he was going on a lot of trips using a lot of

state money to provide business class, first-class, to fly all over the country, obviously, not all to meet his mistress there in argentina, but certainly brings into question the fiscal credentials he had, which is the one thing that really brought him from being a member of congress to really one of the people on the brink of being a leader of the party. >> john o'connor, christians are very good and practiced at forgiving sin, how about republicans forgiving lavish spending? >> it seems to be a little less forgiving there, especially in south carolina. i mean, folks are really interested -- when the story first broke, the big question was did he spend state money? and, i think, the story that was out today on -- he used business class and first-class tickets, that has raised more questions among state residents. >> all right. governor sanford talked about his faith in the extramarital

affair. let's listen. >> i need to issue an apology to the people of faith across south carolina or for that matter across the nation, because i think one of the big disappointments is when, believe it or not, i've been a person of faith all my life. if somebody falls within the fellowship of believers or the walk of faith, i think it makes that much harder for believers to say, well, where did that person come from or folks that weren't believes to say, where indeed was that person coming from. >> john o'connor, how is his theological argument about this working in south carolina? >> it depend on who you ask. among a lot of folks, they are willing to accept it and give him another chance. i've spoke within a number of people, though, who are somewhat offended by it. in that they note that in forgiveness there must also be a move toward redemption and some feel that the governor is asking for forgiveness before he has

really earned it. >> well, it seems that republicans have set up some sort of support group of sorts in washington for men in trouble. and the governor sanford reports having consulted with this group, the cease treat group, the inmates who live in this townhouse on c-street, the c-street bible study group as they call it, and he referred to that during his press conference last month. let's listen to that. >> i'm part of a group called c-street, when i was in washington, believe it or not, it is a christian bible study. the folks asked -- members of congress hard questions that i think were very important and i have been working with them. >> current residents of 133 c street include congressman doyle, congressman stupak,

representative wamp, senator ensign and senator couboun. president obama talked about paddling around with terrorists by sarah palin and others, and we are not going to get into that here. we are not going to throw around notions of adulterers, but what is going on there at c street? >> for sanford, a lot of these guys have been connected to -- for a long time going back to the revolution of '94 that was he was a member of. he was a member of the promise keepers. a lot of these guys have problems with statements and things they held on to in the past coming back to expose them and exposing them in ways that are real damaging. >> up next, sarah palin's tweeting. she promises to be left

politically correct when she leaves the governor ship in nine days. more on palin's tweeting next in the side show. you are watching "hardball" only on msnbc. g b i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack.

my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time.

back to"hardball." the question the question i asked you earlier, the answer is c. if you missed the question, rewind your tivo for the segment or look for the encore presentation later tonight. time for the slideshow. remember the surprising three shot at the white house back if may? if you were taken aback, you were not the only one. here's president obama last night out thing education reform at the naacp. >> let me say this, if al

sharpton, mike bloomberg, and annuity gringrich can agree we need to solve the education problem, then that's something all of america can agree we can solve. the other guy came to my office, i was in the oval office and i kept on doing a double take. >> mr. president, we all did that double-take with you. next up, counting the days. it sounds like sarah palin's planned exit date july 26th couldn't come soon enough for her. check out what the soon-to-be exgovernor of alaska posted on her twitter page this morning about her newfound freedom. quote, alaska will progress, plus side benefit equals ten days to less politically correct twitters fly from my fingertips

outside state site. sarah palin, that prin says of perfect political correctness, will finally be free to tell us what she really thinks. that's your cue, tina fey. now, for tonight's big number, judge sonia sotomayor more than held her own during confirmation hearings this week, so when it comes to the upcoming confirmation vote, it is not so much a question of if, but by how far. according to the online bookings at the dublin-based intrade, what are the chances sonia sotomayor will be confirmed? 77.5%. i don't know how they figured that, but they are betting sonia sotomayor has a 77.5% chance of winning the senate for her. that's "hardball" for now. chris matthews returns on monday at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern. up next, "your business."

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