option? i know you're frustrated with all this and what's going on. >> you know, ed, i'm with you on all of this. you know, tonight, 65% of the american people say, hey, we want a public option, so really the vote was ten nays, 197 million yeas and the bill doesn't pass. congressional math is wacky. >> how come you didn't make the conservative call czendar with beauties on there? i thought you would be on. >> >> i like to call it the real housewives of glenn beckistan. i lovely michele bachmann is miss november. you know, say what you want about miss bachmann, she does make the crazy trains run on time. bless her heart. >> lizz winstead, good to have you with us on this friday edition of "club ed." who do you think is happier

about losing the 2016 olympics 12? 6% say rio. 94% say gop. vikings, panthers, it's going to be a dandy. my director said he'll cut my microphone if i don't wish the cowboys good luck. keep them in the fairway. a few puts. see you monday. "hardball" is next here on msnbc. blame it on rio. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight -- ♪ when my baby smiles at me i go

to rio de janeiro ♪ >> that's the late great peter allen with "i go to rio." that's the hot news from copenhagen. the 2016 summer olympics won't be played in the u.s. blame it on rio. the old time capital of brazil, crime ridden by wildly exciting, has made chicago, once again, the second city. plus, florida congressman allen grayson, guy who caused the noise by nailing the republicans on the health care issue, starts us off tonight. he's proving his fellow democrats, that includes the president, have overlooked a key element in american politics. make the other guy play defense. like martin luther, he stood up to the powers that be and he's still standing. what's that say about what works in this national debate over health care? congressman alan grayson will be here. david letterman taught us a lens, himself, of how to dig yourself out of a tough situation? proven the basic truth of public relations? the person who tells you first about something is the one you tend to believe.

he's revealed he is the target of a $2 million blackmail plot. could this be his greatest hit? more hanky panky. senator john ensign of nevada, one hell of a job trying to find jobs and contracts for his former staffer. you know, the guy whose wife, the senator, was having the long affair with. "the new york times" reports ensign, the senator obtained a lobbying job and clients and in term was lobbied by him. isn't that a sweet little circle of love? you think any laws were broken? let's go to rio. if you want to see the 2016 olympics, you're going to have to. president obama traveled to copenhagen to make the pitch for chitown. the windy city got blown out in the first round of voting. does the president get an "e" for effort or "f" for flop? is this a good example of a politician having to do the best he can no matter what anybody says for his hometown?

john mccain's campaign manager, steve schmidt, smart, honest, now there's a combination for you. he says nominating sarah palin in 2012 would be the dumbest thing the republicans ever did. >> my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the republican party in 2012 and, in fact, were she to be the nominee, we could have a catastrophic election result. >> catastrophic election result. i thought he was honest. that's coming in -- coming on in the "sideshow" tonight. notice sarah palin always shows up in the sideshow? we start tonight with democratic congressman alan grayson of florida. i have to hand it to you. i think you are a martin luther. i remember being there when the berlin wall was coming down, there with john mclachlan, my colleague. how did you know you could stand up to the republicans in the real clowns out there? we can start with limbaugh and the rest of them.

you know the whole crowd. what's his name? beck. a whole number of them. how come you knew the way to beat these guys was to put them on defense? >> they're bullies and bullies back down. that's what happened here. >> tell me about it. what has happened to you? did pelosi come along and tell you to cool it? did steny hoyer tell you to cool it? mean looks from the floor from boehner? boehner looks like the golfer who has blown a putt? doesn't he look like that to you? looks like he's playing golf all the time. throws it down, ticked off, takes the putt and blows it. what did you learn in these couple days of being the hot shot? >> well, what i learned is people really want a congressman who has guts, who says it like it is. for god sakes, for months we've been on the defensive. why? we have a plan, the other side

doesn't. they have nothing. it's been 72 hours since i've said this. who has stepped forward to explain, no, grayson was wrong, it's not true? they only do their personal attacks and means nothing because the american people deserve better than that and they know it. >> how come we've spent, now, 50 some years going back to harry truman with nightclub comics, all the way back to allen king talking about doctors and people talking about hmos and problems of getting payment when you have a problem and problems of insurance. the status quo has never looked so sweet as when the republicans start to attack the democrats. why did the democrats spend the last year attacking the way things are as a way of getting them fixed? you ask them how great the tire is going to be when it gets fix. you say, the tire is blown. you have to fix it. why do the democrats go after the problem and saying, we're going to focus it and say, gee

whiz, we have a problem. >> they brought into the story line of democrats there was a need for bipartisanship. the republicans never intended anything regarding bipartisanship. we understand since i spoke out that the cost of delay is death. we have 44,789 americans who die every year because they don't have health insurance. this is a harvard study. don't take my word for it. it's in "peer view" journal. 199 americans die every single day. the story line shouldn't be longer, which republican is going to join the bill? the story line should be, how can we save american lives? and how quickly can we do that? >> okay. you're a rarity. let's talk about -- i don't thinks think you're worried about losing your seat. let's talk about, congressman, you. >> i don't think that's going to happen. we've had over 5,000 people come to graysonforcongress.com and make a contribution. >> what's your district like? i looked numbers up. it looks close to me.

what kind of district do you have in orlando? >> i'm the first democrat to represent downtown orlando in 34 years. that's okay. if i have to choose between my job and saving lives i know how to make that choice. the republicans have said the national republican congressional committee executive director said grayson is our number one target for 2010. maybe i'll be drawing other people's fire. i don't know. i do know that i'm going to make the right choice and i do know democrats, republicans, independents, they want somebody with guts. >> are the republicans on the floor circling for you? i remember in 93, margie had the guts to vote for the clinton budget. a tax increase for the rich. they were dancing and singing on the floor of the house that you're about to go good-bye marjory. are they circling around you because you've shown kahunas on this thing? >> we'll see how it goes. certainly -- >> are they saying things like

that? >> i'm going to continue to speak out. >> i'm looking for some insight here. i'm a reporter. i'm trying to find out what you know and i don't know. when you walk around the floor, past the republican cloakroom, get on the elevate e the subway, do the republicans come up to you and say your number is up, buddy? >> i hear that all the time. i get dirty looks from the republicans all the time. i can't decide on my vote. i can't decide on health care, on energy independence, on jobs, on the economy. based bon dirty looks from people who throw hissy fits and expect we're supposed to decide american policy on that basis. that's what they've been doing time after time. this famed indignation, time after time. we can't let america be run that way. >> you know why they don't believe in the -- they believe it's about 3,000 or 4,000 years ago. they don't buy this thing of lucy and way back 3,000 years. it doesn't hurt these guys. you know that.

>> actually i said knuckle dragging the knee yand ro thauls. he said, i don't like you talking about me that way. i said, i wasn't talking about you. i said, i thunk yink you were tg about me. i said, no, no, i'm serious. i wasn't talking about you. look at your knuckles. there's no callouss. >> let me talk about real people and real problem. my thinking is you want to make health insurance accessible, affordable, everybody has to chip in to the ability they can. nobody is getting a free ride here. >> why it matters to me, i was so sick growing up as a child. i had to go to the hospital four times a week for treatments. when i was growing up my parents had union benefits. both belonged to a union. twice when i was 7 and 17, they went on strike. i wondered whether i would survive. whether our health benefits would remain in place and whether i would be able to

continue my treatment. it's a hard thing. it's a hard thing when you're a child to think about whether you're going to live or die. i don't want to see anyone in america go through that. i was so happy to vote in favor of health insurance for children my first week in congress. 4 million children all across the country didn't have to worry about that anymore. why should the sins of the parents de-sinscend on the chil? 10,000 in orlando alone saved from having to worry if whether they would live or die. >> you sound like a liberal. >> progressive. >> hey, look, don't hide from that word, liberal. progressive sounds a little, well, i can't say it. liberal's a good word. make it sound good. got to make it sound -- yeah, i'm a liberal. i believe in opportunity for everybody, freedom for everybody, i believe in liberty for everybody. i'm an american, of course i'm a liberal. people should say that. be more fun. this progressive sounds like you're hiding from being who you are. the conservatives don't come up

with euphemisms. they call themselves right wingers. they love it. thanks for getting around for doing our show. you've done every show in the world, by the way. you really are scared of me, i'm sure. if you're not scared of the republicans you're not scared of me. thank you, buddy. i'm glad to call you buddy. i like you. thanks for coming on "hardball." a target of extortion. david letterman forced to admit -- he wasn't -- well, yes, he was forced. that was his strategy. had sex with his staff members. forced to have sex with them? no. we'll get to the latest of the strange and curious case as a guy using as his monologue this incredible confession. announcer: right now, all over the country, discover card customers are getting 5% cashback bonus at grocery stores. now, more than ever it pays to discover. 100 years of engineering excellence is right on time. it's gmc truck month.

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welcome back to "hardball." here's a story we didn't think we would be covering yesterday. last night on his show, david letterman made an unusual turn, describing an extortion racket against him. a blackmail plot that hit him for some relationships he had with some staffers. let's take a look. >> i have had sex with women who work for me on this show. now, my response to that is, yes, i have. i have had sex with women who worked on the show. and would it be embarrassing if it were made public? perhaps it would. perhaps it would. especially for the women. but what you don't want is a guy saying, i know you had sex with women.

so i would like $2 million or i'm going to make trouble for you. >> joining me, msnbc news jeff rossen. this is a strange story. especially for us at nbc that have been covering it. we're talking about the competition but we have to. it is a news story. what do you make of this? did he just pull one of the great public relations moves in history? coming out first with a story. blowing the story in a way that would normally be considered embarrassing but turning the tables on not just the blackmailer but the bad pr that could be coming his way. >> you know how it works. first one out. you tend to believe the person who come out with the story first. why else would you come out with the story unless you were telling the truth? that's what the pr experts will tell you. he probably felt like he was backed into a corner enough where this was going to get out. what would happen, chris? you would see "the new york post" photographers chasing him down every single day, trying to get a comment from him and he would look guilty when that happens. now he is out.

he spent ten minutes on the show last night. he even laughed about it a little bit saying he was scared. he played the role of the victim. that is the way this news cycle has been going right now. look at the headlines. focusing on the extortion. not about the sexual relationships he's had. >> yeah, i think so. let me go to george. it seems to me, this fellow is not bishop sheen, either. his job description isn't morality. it is late night television. how many divorces did johnny carson have? how many times did he come on with ed mcmahon and call him bar rag breath and talk about their night out the night before? it was part of the schtick. is this guy able to subsume a serious embarrassment, multiple relationships with staffers, as a pr plus? >> so far. i mean, he has done a masterful job of turning it into a bit of comedy that had everybody in the audience ready to hug him. the facts are, he was unmarried. yes, he was in a long-term relationship, but so far we have not heard that any of these interoffice relationships

weren't on sensual. i mean, that's what we'll have to see. whether there is any sex harassment charges that bubble up. but you look at the way he handled this, versus the way his notorious foe bill o'reilly handled it. sex years ago. and o'reilly's statement came off like nixon's checker speech. his lip was sweating. so i think dave has definitely taken this bull by the horns. >> he was released within the past couple of hours. robert halderman, the cbs news producer. he is out. he is walking the streets right now. >> well, let's not exonerate him yet. let's go to the crime here. it has all the look, without judging the case as a juror, jeff, you first, of blackmail. a $2 million demand. a check was passed over, a bogus check. it was going to bounce immediately. the guy went through the act. i know what the commission of a crime is.

is you go through the whole process. they set him up to complete the action but clearly the intent was there to blackmail, it seems to me. it was extortion, it was big money, and this guy was, a grand jury involved here. where does it stand legally right now, jeff? >> he has been indicted and the manhattan prosecutor, the d.a. robert morgenthau announced today he's been indicted on one count, class "c" felony, attempted grand larceny for the $2 million extortion plot. the alleged plot. he went to be arraigned today. the judge set bond at $200,000 and within the past couple hours, he bonded out. those are the pictures you were showing from the chopper surrounded by the media frenzy of him getting out right now. so he has been suspended by cbs. remember, david letterman owns his own company. worldwide pants. and as the ceo of that company, david letterman is not a cbs employee. he works for worldwide pants who produce "the david letterman

show," "the late show with david letterman" show for cbs. so the staffers work for him. not necessarily for cbs. halderman, the alleged extortionist, he works for cbs. >> so what does that distinction mean to you legally? >> the distinction mean, i have spoken with several people about this today, is that depending on what kind of policy, what kind of sexual harassment policy there is at worldwide pants versus cbs, cbs is going to handle halderman the way they want to handle him. david letterman and the staffers, thoueven if it was consensual, it is still a boss having sex with employees. >> we'll have to see. the new york department of labor may get involved. let me to go george on this. do the media politics, this will help his ratings in the short run, obviously. this is a cause for, this is going past, rubber necking, a traffic accident at least for a while here. >> oh, yeah. there is curiosity about him. i think people will be switching other channels to see if leno or

jimmy kimmel are making jokes about letterman but those will come up inevitably. >> inevitably, i think leno will have something fine to say. he's been having fun with the talks about nbc maybe being for sale. leno talks about anything. i was on him last night. i am a huge leno booster. so i think he will be having some fun with this and all the other shows as well. >> can i jump in here? the people from worldwide pants must watch this show. as we were just talking, i got an e-mail. we have a written policy in our employee manual that covers harassment. it is circulated to every employee every year. dave is not in violation of our policy and no one has ever raised a complaint against him. so that can answer part of that. >> you keep your pants on at worldwide pants. i guess anyway. what the heck? i wish them well. i wish them well. i like all entertainers generally. anybody that has to go on television and face the music. thank you, jeff, thank you, george of "the daily news." you'll have colors soon, right? big color on the front page of "the daily news" coming soon.

i hope it helps you. we like to see newspapers. next, last night i appeared on the jay leno show and answered his ten in ten questions. that's on "the sideshow." it's coming up. my name is herb. i live in northport, alabama. i'm semi retired and i'm here to tell a story. my parents all smoked. my grandparents smoked. i've been a long-time smoker. you know, discouragement is a big thing in quitting smoking. i'm a guy who had given up quitting. what caused me to be interested was, chantix is not a nicotine product and that intrigued me. the doctor said while you're taking it you can continue to smoke during the first week. (announcer) chantix is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit

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back to "hardball." let's hit "the sideshow." by now everyone know sarah palin's book is a best seller even before it hits the book stores. we get to look at the cover. good looking cover there. called "going rogue." there she is looking up at the sky. sarah's the talk of the town. john mccain's campaign manager steve schmidt was asked about palin's book and her future at the big atlantic first draft of history conference here. here he is, steve schmidt. >> obviously, there is a lot of

fascination about her out in the country, just looking at the presales of the book. >> i don't think it is inconceivable that she could be the republican nominee for president of the united states. i do think it is fairly inconceivable that she would be elected president of the united states. >> my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the republican party in 2012. and in fact, were she to be the nominee, we could have a catastrophic election result. >> wow, catastrophic. schmidt said a rarity in the business. he said what he thinks and doesn't do air kisses to the big shots just to cover his butt. as you just saw. next, last night david letterman dropped a bombshell, as i said, on his show. i was on leno having fun with his ten questions. here it goes. >> number one, worst job you've ever had. explain. >> i was a singing waiter at father's mustache in summer's point, new jersey. >> have you ever seen a ghost? >> yeah.

richard nixon and bill clinton. these guys, you think they're dead and they keep coming back. >> in 15 seconds, recite the declaration of independence. the clock starts now. >> let's see. we hold these truths to be self-evident. that men -- all men are created equal. they're endowed by certain inalienable rights. among them, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. >> very good, very good. give us or best impression. >> that's a good one. >> hillary, hillary, you're doing one hell of a job at the state department. >> oh, not bad. >> actually, i'm quite proud of my imitation. you ought to hear my arlen specter. that's the unique ability. now time for "the big number." a big one. a troubling one. the labor department reported today, the unemployment rate in this country has risen to 9.8% in september with employers

cutting 263,000 jobs this month. today president obama addressed the job loss numbers. >> today's job report is a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts. we're going to need to grind out this recovery. step by step. >> that's not happy news. that's our "big number" however, tonight. 15.1 million. 15 million workers out of work. not funny at all. up next, more fallout from senator ensign's love affairs. did he break the law as part of the cover-up of this affair? it's getting very messy. announcer: trying to be good to your heart? so is campbell's healthy request soup. low in fat and cholesterol, heart healthy levels of sodium, and taste you'll love. chef: we're all kind of excited about it. guy: mmm! i can see why.

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i'm milissa rehberger. president obama met with the top military commander of the war in

afghanistan today. the white house says the 25 minute meeting with general stanley mcchrystal produced no decisions on troop levels. rivers of mud are blamed for 20 deaths in the italian idea of sicily today. thousands were left homeless and without power. residents blame illegal construction projects that create poor drainage. rescuers searching for survivors in indonesia, cries for help from under the rebel of a flattened hotel. officials fear as many as 3,000 people could still be trapped under collapsed buildings. a court-appointed trustee is suing bernard madoff's brothers, sons and a niece for almost $200 million. the lawsuit says madoff's relatives used a fraudulent family finance business like a piggy bank to buy multimillion dollar mansions, cars, and yachts. now back to "hardball."

let's get some reporting here. welcome back to "hardball." more fallout to report over nevada senator john ensign's affair with the wife of a former aide, doug hampton. "the new york times" reports that ensign helped get a job and clients for hampton that may violate a ban on lobbying for a year for a senate staffer. before you leave the office you're not supposed to work as a lobbyist for a year. apparently the senator helped him set up for just that. and the ethics committee is investigating him for allegations of improper conduct along those lines. eric broke the story for "the new york times" today. and lisa, thank you, lisa, for joining us, the washington correspondent for "the las vegas sun." you're up on the hill. eric's with me. let me go to eric now. what has he done wrong legally? the senator? >> what the fbi will be looking at is whether or not this was in effect, a concerted effort, a conspiracy even by the senator and by his former aide. >> hush money.

>> you could call it that. in order to conceal this affair by getting income into doug hampton's hands by creating lobbying jobs for him and intervening on behalf of those clients. >> was he helping this guy out for good will or because he felt the guy could extort something from him? >> that's a good question. i think it might be a little bit of both. when you say good will, they have been best friends for the better part of 20 years. there was certainly the threat of exposure because he had been having an affair with doug hampton's wife. their wives were good friends. >> not to get too much into the hanky-panky, but it is part of the story. how long did the senator ensign have the affair with mrs. hampton and mr. hampton didn't know about it? >> he found out about it pretty soon. we believe it is within a month or two. >> of it starting? >> maybe less than that. >> of it starting? >> yes. the problem was that it continued even after senator ensign said he was going to back

off. >> so in the face of his staffer, he was having an affair? >> yes, he was confronted by his colleague. >> and the guy's wife was living with him? >> yeah. >> he was having an affair with a guy's wife while the guy and the wife were living together? >> yeah. the affair went on for eight months. >> unbelievable. can you add to this, lisa, the whole story of the hanky-panky into the potential criminality of covering this up by using your office to get lobbying jobs and then alloying the guy to lobby you which seems to me a circle of love that might just be illegal? >> yeah. chris, it has really been interesting because senator ensign really was on the way, i think, to trying to put this whole issue behind him. he made this big tour of nevada this summer during the congressional break. he's been very active on the senate finance committee as they deal with health care. and we were just starting to write stories that didn't have the words in it. senator ensign, who earlier this year disclosed an affair. we were just sort of moving on from that.

>> you were almost dropping the boilerplate. >> and then i think the first story we wrote was last weekend. and then this emerges with much more serious allegations than what we had seen earlier. i was talking to one ethics expert who said it really confirms a lot of what, if true, a lot of allegations that they had been concerned that earlier. but in a more serious nature because of the one-year lobby ban. so we'll have to see where this goes for him. >> the old world of journalism. sex plus. there has to be something besides just hanky-panky. there has to be a staffer involved, somebody that works with you, a workplace issue, perhaps lobbying going on. that violates the public trustful to get to the heart of the potential criminality. if you get a job for somebody who is a lobbyist, you are certainly breaking the ethics laws and maybe filing a false claim is one thing. maybe that's a potential conspiracy. going further forecast you then

allow the guy, in this case, a male, to come in as a lobbyist. paid for by an interest, somebody has an interest in your office and then you let them lobby for that person, you are giving away your service as a senator for pay. >> well, it's what the justice department in past cases has call the denial of honest services. the idea that your constituency isn't the people in your state but someone you have a financial relationship with. >> this may be the charge against blago out there in illinois. denial. let me first read to you the senator's statement. quote, i'm confident we fully complied with the relevant laws and rules governing current and past employees. i have worked on these nevada issues with these nevada company for years, long before doug hampton left my office. the cover story there, true or not, lisa, is that he allowed himself to be lobbied by these guys long before he got this guy a job working for them. >> right. and i think someone else told me

today, this is a tangled mess now that would need a lot of explaining to, you know, to sort out, and, you know, eric mentioned the honest services fraud issue. that certainly is one thing that we've heard about. and then another criminal defense lawyer told me today, the one-year lobby ban. it is sitting right there. if a prosecutor wanted to go the easy route. that would be an easy route to go if this is true, you know? >> let's take a look at this. this is doug hampton. he said he and the senator ensign chose to ignore the lobbying ban. you can't lobby your old boss for a year. he said, quote, the only way the clients could get what john was essentially promising them, which was access, was if i still had a way to work with his office and john knew that. how did that work? >> well, there became an issue of concern within ensign's office from the start after hampton left ensign's employment. ensign's chief of staff went to him and said, we may have a

problem here in effect. and according to both doug hampton and the chief of staff, ensign's directions were to have the chief of staff work directly with ensign. i'm sorry. work directly with doug hampton. >> what do you mean? >> as a conduit, an odd way of dealing with the problem. doug hampton saw that. >> let him lobby as a senator. through the chief of staff. >> that's what investigators will have to look at. doug hampton's interpretation was that this was the go-to guy. this was the person he went to. >> anybody who knows a bit about the hill knows to lobby the chief of staff is to lobby the senator. there's no way to say you're skirting the law. you are violating it. you figure the guy has a confidential relationship with you and he won't tell the prosecutors. >> and we published all sorts of interesting e-mails between doug hampton and the senator where doug hampton was getting increasingly restless about this odd relationship they had and said, you promise me clients. you promised three clients. i said i would leave your office to save your career. now i'm looking at financial ruin. you haven't lived up to your end of the bargain.

it's really this fascinating relationship between these two guys. >> why are people so unhirable? now, this guy was cuckolded by his boss. he has reason to be worried about it. both toward the wife and the boss, right? why doesn't he go away and get a really job in a real part of american enterprise? why does he have to be a barnacle on this guy's butt? explain. >> why doesn't he go away? >> we asked him that very question. his feeling was that he had put a lot of his time and life into john ensign's career. he had moved from southern california at john ensign's request, he had joined his staff. he had hitched his wagon to him. and that john ensign owed him a debt of obligation. he was giving up a career in the senate because his wife was having an affair with the senator. >> why didn't he go work for another senator? >> he felt that john ensign owed

him restitution in effect and they considered a financial settlement before -- >> so his moral way of looking at it, this guy had a relationship, a sexual relationship with my wife. therefore he owes me and he will pay me out of the public till. >> i don't know if he would look at it quite that way but certainly, that's how this all ended up. was that -- >> this goes back -- let me tell you, lisa, this goes back to the sense that people get elected to office, some of them, look upon office as an opportunity to take. that they have possessions there, assets sitting in the office and they want to sell them. or use them. thank you for this story. it is not pretty but it does help people decide who to vote for. thank you, eric from "the new york times." lisa, thank you from "the las vegas sun." i love las vegas. up next, blame it on rio. speaking of an exciting city. chicago fail in the attempt to host the 2016 olympics. there goes peter allen singing "i go to rio" which is a real problem here for chicago. that's the music. they're going to rio. want to see the 2016 olympics?

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although i wish that we had come back with better news from copenhagen, i could not be

prouder of my hometown of chicago. >> what a friday. time for "the politics fix." joining me, heavyweight moderator of "meet the press" and ron brownstein, atlantic media political director. let's look at the real trash talk. i think this will be part of the weekend stories. as you do "meet the press." here's rush limbaugh doing his thing. >> the world has rejected obama. chicago, the least number of votes. first elimination in the round of voting for the olympics in 2016. barack hussein obama. mmm, mmm, mmm. barack hussein obama. mmm, mmm, mmm. has been running around the world for nine months telling everybody how much our country sucks. why would anybody award the olympics to such a crappy place? as the united states of america?

>> how do people -- whatever you think of rush, he never said america sucks. this guy is the best reputation builder. it is not even a partisan statement. no one has made america more popular in the world than the election the people did of barack obama. >> the argument is illogical. this president going around saying the united states has erred in all these different ways would be very well received in the international olympic committee which feels that way. and by the way, doesn't like the u.s. does not like the united states olympic committee. has not liked us since salt lake city. was burned over the bribery scandal. said at the time, we don't want to come back for about 20 years. >> why did he take the risk? why did he stick his neck out and to go copenhagen? was it his hometown booster? >> absolutely. he's a chicagoan. he had a lot of pressure. brazil was going to the mat with their leader getting there as well. if this was the result and he hadn't tried, we would be talking about that. >> do you remember, david -- >> yes. i agree with that. >> do you remember the huge uproar on talk radio and cable

tv and the outrage among conservatives and liberals alike when new york city lost the summer olympics in july 2005 under george w. bush? do you remember that? it didn't happen. because we are now in an era where everything is chewed over for at least 12 hours which is probably the lifetime of this. >> who tried to sell the russian federation for one of these. tony blair successfully didn't. hasn't it become the norm that the head of government goes out and makes the pitch? >> as recently as 2005, president bush did a video presentation. hillary clinton to give the star powerful it has become more common. you do kind of question the staff work. i guess you have to. would you put the president on the plane unless you had a strong indication that you were at least going to be in the finals? >> is this going to be like jimmy carter losing the marine marathon? is this going to become a metaphor for failure?

do you remember that back in -- >> i think it is combined with other things on. on a friday when he goes to europe and loses the games and has to come back and deal with the fact he has unemployment inches toward 9%, this is a huge problem. a huge test. so all that narrative -- >> guys like rush pay a price for really talking down the hopes of america. why would they cheer? cheering the fact that we've lost the olympics? is that popular among the red blooded guys that watch the show? don't they root for america? those guys? >> one of my colleagues at "national journal" was at a conservative group active in opposing health care. and cheers erupted in the room when it was announce that had the u.s. lost. it was seen as a blow to obama. that is kind of the combative nature of the politics we're in. this will be seen as a symbol of failure if obama is seen as a failure. but it is not going to decide whether or not he is seen as a failure. what david talked about is more important. if the events of the next year of unemployment, the events on capitol hill, health care, climate change, et cetera, cause

him to be seen as a failure, people will look at this. if he, if the economy improves and he gets the legislative it activities done, we will be done talking about this by this time tomorrow. >> tnt is common sense the third world, that has a lot of votes, africa has a lot of votes, would be thinking, we keep giving these events to the north. even sydney is white guys in australia. they came from england and ireland. isn't it time for the south, the southern hemisphere to have a shot at one of these things?ire time for the south to have a shot at one of these things? >> i think there's a sense within terms of all the revenue that the u.s. gets, from the games, from the tv portion of it. that it just seems to be an imbalan imbalance. mitt romney has made the point that it was a no-brainer, that he should have done it. >> so he was for him going over there? >> absolutely. >> the irony is that david tells you the experiences in l.a., if in fact chicago would have won, half the city would have visited

their sister. it is kind of a mixed blessing in the modern area. and when new york city was bidding, it was have arrest controversial idea, spending all the money on a new stadium, i think chicago is a bit of a -- >> 300 points here. let's get on to sports for a second. i want to prep your brain for the big question, when we come back from this break, is there a battle within the republican party, and it started with lindsay graham's comments, with steve smith's comments, about the first draft in history, that want to win the white house back again as soon as the next time. it's enough with the palins, it's enough with the fringe. they asked the big question, has the center right gone to war with the right? we'll be back with david gregory and ryan brownstein with the big

question. the united nations suzanne rice and then on the panel for sunday, we'll have rachel maddow. you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. it's tough to reach that five servings a day if you don't always like the taste of vegetables. i'll be right back. ok. good thing v8 v-fusion juice gives you a serving of vegetables hidden by a serving of fruit. v8. what's your number? get a $1.00 coupon for v8 v-fusion juice at tryv8.com. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when my broker said, "i make money when you make money," tdd# 1-800-345-2550 he neglected to mention tdd# 1-800-345-2550 he also makes money when i lose money, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 withdraw money or do nothing with my money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550

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i'm here to tell you that those who think the president was born somewhere other than hawaii are crazy. he's not a muslim. he's a good man. let's knock this crap off and talk about the differences today. >> i love the way he talks. knock this crap off.

that's republican there lindsay graham. we're back with david gregory and ron brownstein. back to my point, with the "politics fix." less talking. is there something going on? you first, ron. in the republican party where this craziness, we play the game here building up rush, building up glenn beck, sarah palin every night in "the sideshow." are they saying enough sideshow, we are have to get to the main event and win this thing next time? >> there is a relationship between the left and right. any fight -- >> center left? >> yeah. fights, you win if you're fighting, regardless of who lands the most blows. if you're wondering about winning elections this is a different calculous. in 2010, the electorate is going to be older, whiter, more conservative. because that's the way midterm elections look. based mobilization strategy could be effective for republicans. >> go right or go center? >> no. for 2010, probably be pretty tough and pretty focused on mobilizing the base. what people like lindsey graham are focusing on, when you get back to 2012, likely the nonwhite, will be close to 30%. >> young people? hispanic people will show up and vote?

>> show up and big vote. the track they're on now could produce a good outcome for 2010 without solving fundamental demographic challenges for 2010. people like lindsey graham are thinking about. >> are they afraid what happened in houston, '92, pat, our colleague, pat, take back the cities block by block and the stuff about cross dressing. that was waived as an example of a party going too far. >> yeah. i think ron is right. they're not afraid about it for the midterm when they think about 2012. which ron has written about, the upwardly mobile voter who used to be a republican who now has become a swing voter and voted for obama in the suburbs now. >> virginia voters. >> those are now voters up for grabs for a democrat or a republican. one of the things the republicans, for all -- you talk lindsey graham for john mccain they're going to stay on building this blueprint against barack obama on the economy,

deficit, basically the overall direction of the country. that's what they'll try to build on. >> those are bricks, by the way. always useful because we'll have a big debt. know one thing for a fact, we'll have a big debt in four years. >> sharpen david's point, those voters he's talking about are not big-government voters. they were clinton voters. centrist on the economy. left of center on social and policy issues. obama's agenda is cross pressuring them and putting them back into play. they will be tough for a republican like palin to bring in, as opposed to a different kind of appeal. obama put them back in play for republicans if republicans can find a way to meet them. >> palin hurt the party in south florida, southeastern pennsylvania, all around the big cities, suburbs. are they afraid of that? >> absolutely. it's a basic threshold qualifications test for an independent voter. >> she's a catastrophe. >> john mccain doesn't endorse her either. he's not prepared to endorse her. we're in a fight whether the government is working with