now after his spectacularly successful debut, it is time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >> i'd be nowhere without any lead-in. >> good luck. >> thanks, rachel. in the words of deepak chopra, when you struggle with your partner, you are struggling with yourself. after months of distrust, suspicion, infidelity and lying, democratic leaders push back against a loud, frustrated activist base and it turns out you really do hurt the ones you love. >> you don't have to apologize for being emotional about your dad who served our country as a marine. that's -- i get emotional. >> the president now comes face-to-face with the raw emotion of his base on the campaign trail. the base angry and fired up at

the white house. >> those who didn't get everything they wanted -- >> you guys beat up the base and brow beat them too much and didn't offer progressive enough agenda. >> the base wants red meat. they don't want a lecture. >> there's no read maet to serve between now and 'lekz day. it has simplified its message to the left side of their party. >> the base should, quote, stop whining. >> they're frustrated at what they've been able to do is kind of extraordinary. >> white house supporters insist it's not that bad. >> ryan white, hiv/aids. i can go on and on and on. >> frustration on the left provokes an ultimatum. >> it's time to just buck up here. >> about this disaffected base telling them to come on, you got to get off it, you got to get out to the voting booth. >> shake these base democrats and get them to pay attention. >> the message? historic change has come and more change is coming but not if you sit out this election. >> 35 days until election day.

>> to a certain extent still blame the former president george bush for the recession. 56% now say that president obama inherited his problem. >> the challenge -- bring back the passion and get back into action and wake up to reality. >> democrats rallying to present america with a choice and there's a stark choice. >> understand that we can make things better, continue to move forward. >> i feel like i'm in the middle of a family feud. >> good evening from new york. i'm lawrence o'donnell. yesterday in new hampshire vice president joe biden told liberals unsatisfied with the progress of the obama administration to, quote, stop whining. later on this program, he changed his message to, buck up. which put him in perfect sync with president obama who in a "rolling stone" interview out today took his, quote,

irresponsible base to task for their lack of enthusiasm and told them to, quote, buck up. the progressive blog firedoglake responded, really, dude? that's your message? i can't stand you, now go vote for me? and so the battle for the soul of the democratic party is joined with just five weeks to go before a possible republican takeover of congress. joining me now to discuss the obama interview that has driven today's news cycle is "rolling stone" executive editor eric bates who was in the room with the president during that interview and we're joined by one of the leaders of the people president obama is telling to buck up, adam green of the progressive change campaign committee. thank you both for joining us. now, adam, no whining, okay? >> okay. >> no whining. >> that's a deal.

>> just don't whine, we're going to start with eric. eric, let's start with another quote in your interview, where the president says, if people now want to take their ball and go home, that tells me folks weren't serious in the first place. if you're serious, now's exactly the time that people have to step up. now, here we have another "rolling stone" quote that's causing trouble. this is after general mcchrystal ended his career with "rolling stone" quotes thanks to you guys. was this one of those things like in the mcchrystal interview where he maybe didn't quite realize what the impact would be once this was in print? >> no, i think in this case the president knew exactly what he was doing. he sends a clear message to democratic voters that they need to get out to the polls this november. i think the white house position and the white house and the president's own perspective comes across very clearly in this interview that he feels that they've accomplished a lot of their agenda, that the base needs to realize that, and that

the alternative is a lot worse and that it's really not acceptable to sit on the sidelines. the change is very hard, it takes a lot of time, and if you're serious about it, you have to keep at it. >> in that moment in the room, did you have that sense that in this particular statement, this is something he really meant to say? or it wasn't some parenthetical to something else or marking a larger point? what about it made him feel like this is where he really wanted to go? >> it was part of a statement where the interview had actually ended and he left the oval office. >> did he think then that this was not out on the record. >> not at all. he called to us, and said there's one more statement i want to make for the record. we turned our tape recorders back on. and he made a very impassioned statement directed at voters saying, you need to get out and it's really important that you turn out this november and that was part of that statement. >> i got to tell you if the president turns around and walks back in the room and says, oh, there's one more thing that i have to say, that's as

deliberate as it gets. how does that statement land on you? does that make sense to you? >> i believe it was intentional. it is important for the white house to know that i'm not aware of a single progressive leader who is telling people not to vote. i think we acknowledge that having the tea party run congress would be a disaster. but we have been consistently telling the president and the democratic party that they need to learn the lessons of the last couple years. the main lesson is you don't give up a fight before having the fight. when someone like joe lieberman is threatening to kill health care reform if it's not in there, you can cut a deal with him behind closed doors or go to his state, use the power of your bully pulpit against him and demand that he be accountable to constituents. we never saw that fighting attitude from the president. and his failure to fright is not impressing leaders. >> david daden said today, he

asks this question about president obama's intent. i think you're seeing two years' worth of friction spill out right before an election. either that or the white house has possession of some polling that says that browbeating works. it's one or the other. adam, which does it feel like to you, that this is an emotional moment that the white house and the president are cracking a little bit under this pressure and they're saying things that come from an emotional place or it's the you are a deliberate target of polling that says take a shot at the left, it will help you in the middle? >> i'm pretty sure it's emotional. i know some folks in the white house and they're emotional about this. but unfortunately, the critique is wrong. they keep saying that progressives want obama to do everything and we want him to win 100% on every issue. that's just not true. all we want is before you compromise, before you cave, you need to make the fight. and polling consistently showed during the public option white, during the wall street fight,

that if democrats are willing to fight harder not softer, that it would be more popular with the public in addition to being good policy. we're saying to the white house, look, we're with you. our group is making over 500,000 phone calls to get out the vote to democrats. we're getting out the vote. but you need to learn the lesson that if you want to prevent this from happening again, you have to be willing to fight and make your former voters enthusiastic. >> how did you get an interview with the president of the united states? that's not an easy get. then when you are done with a politician, you have to ask yourself, why does he decide to do it? >> we asked that question before we went. we called up the white house, had a series of conversations with him about timing. i think it's clear they know the election is coming up. they know they need to turn people out and to fire up the young voters who came out in such historic numbers in 2008. you see that with the president going to the university of wisconsin and beginning a campaign targeted at young voters. it's sbr intentional -- >> did he agree to do this interview after the mcchrystal

interview came out in "rolling stone"? >> absolutely. this is three weeks or so ago that we finalized the arrangements for this interview. >> the president has changed campaign styles as we all now know from the town hall meeting stuff that wasn't going so well, especially the one on cnbc where one of the women in the audience got up and told him that she was exhausted trying to defend him. he's now gone on to the road in big arenas. adam, he's trying to fire up supporters the way he did with you people in big arenas last time around. he was in wisconsin tonight at a big rally. let's take a look. >> we are bringing about change and progress is going to come, but you got to stick with me. you can't lose heart. change is going to come for this generation. if we work for it. if we fight for it. if we believe in it. >> now, that was just the rhetorical warm-up in the big arena.

then, adam, he started talking directly to you and your troops. let's listen. >> during the campaign, especially after we had already started winning, you know, the feeling was, well, this is just exciting. you got those nice hope posters, then there was the inauguration and beyonce's singing and bono. and i know sometimes it feels a long way from the hope and excitement that we felt on election day or the day of the inauguration. but i've got to say, we always knew this was going to take time. we always knew this was going to be hard. i said it was going to be hard. remember? i said i was going to tell you some things you didn't want to hear. i said that we were going to have to make some difficult choices. i said not everybody was going to be happy with every single decision i make.

you did not elect me to do what was easy. you didn't just elect me to read the polls and figure out how to keep myself in office. you elected me to do what was right. you elected me to do what was right. that was change you could believe in, that i was going to do what was right. >> adam green, your response to the president of the united states. >> look, i love the barack obama of 2008, the one who said in your own quote right there, that he will actually fight, quote, unquote. that's what we need. and when he said, i don't want to do what's easy, well, that's exactly our point to him. it's easy to go behind closed doors with joe lieberman or someone like olympia snowe who are completely out of touch with our constituents and say you have to do the will of the people and say, let's cut a deal even though that caves to big corporations. that's the easy thing. we need him to fight. those people at that rally, they want him to fight. i'm glad he's saying that he will fight, but we're not sure the white house has learned that lesson.

>> this president is known as the coolest customer you can possibly deal with. was that your sense being in the room with him during this interview in both his conduct of the interview and the experiences in his presidency that he was talking to you about? >> absolutely. very poised, very in command, very confident, very articulate. no cracks in the facade because i think that's who he is and how he conducts himself. one of the frustrations that comes through in the interview that he feels is that he said, look, we often face a choice between what's going to work politically and what's going to work for governance and we try to make the choice over and over again that will work for governance. now, you may disagree with that, you may feel he hasn't fought hard enough, but in a lot of cases as with the public option, we could have had that fight, it would have pleased "rolling stone" and the huffington post, but in the end we wouldn't have gotten health care reform. he has fought for what's gettable and he feels that

people need to recognize how much actually has been won. >> adam, how do you respond to the president on that point, specifically the public option as eric summarized it? >> i thought that was one of the best questions you asked in that interview. his answer was very telling. he could have fought or he could have caved essentially. let me give you one example of the response. if he actually wanted dennis susan itch's vote at the end of the health care fight, what did he do when kucinich was opposing him to the left. he flew to cleveland, he held a big rally and he rallied kucinich's constituents against him and he got kucinich's vote. where was that mentality with joe lieberman and olympia snowe. and the fact that the president of the united states use at bully pulpit against them, i think a lot of progressives were like, you tried your best. but he didn't try. he cut a deal. the public was powerless in the back room deal. we want this president to fight, we want him to succeed.

we want the barack obama of 2008 to fight and succeed. >> eric bates and adam green. thank you both for your time tonight. the republican party has its own ideoloical struggle. charlie crist will tell us what he thinks will happen to the gop after the midterms. and later, levi johnston in the spotlight. we'll talk politics now that he's running for mayor. stand by for breaking news with levi johnston. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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a republican strategist says the party is acting like it's one big happy family until election day, and then the gloves are really going to come off. florida governor charlie crist discusses the tea party versus establishment republicans next. and levi johnston is in the building. he's running for mayor of wasilla. is he serious?

about trying to follow in sarah palin's footsteps?

as the white house struggles to hold on to the hearts and minds of the democratic party faithful, the tea party's battle for the hearts and minds of the republican party rages on. at least until election day. and then maybe the battle will turn into a massacre. the list of establishment republican candidates for the senate defeated by tea party candidates grew longer as the primaries wore on. in kentucky rand paul beat

republican establishment candidate tray gracen. sharron angle took down sue lowden. in utah, mike lee took the nomination ousting republican incumbent senator bob bennett. in florida marco rubio was beating florida governor charlie crist so badly in the polls that crist dropped out of the republican primary to run as an independent. that same night joe miller won a tight race in alaska against republican senator lisa murkowski. and two weeks ago in delaware, christine, no relation, o'donnell, beat republican congressman mike castle. two of these losers have not given up. lisa murkowski is now desperately mounting a write-in campaign in alaska knowing full well the last time a senator won a write-in campaign was three years before the 53-year-old murkowski was born. charlie crist had to leave the

republican party to get his name on the november ballot as an independent thereby turning the florida senate race into a three-way. marco rubio, an opponent of the president's health care plan, taxpayer funded stem cell research and the confirmations of both sonia sotomayor and elena kagan to the supreme court is running at 40% in the polls while opposition to rubio is running at 51% but is split between governor crist and democratic congressman kendrick meek. i spoke with governor crist in an interview taped earlier tonight. governor crist, thanks for joining us tonight. >> well, it's great to be with you. let me publicly congratulate you on the new show. i think it's great and it's an honor to be on in your first week. >> thank you, governor. you said running as an independent now has liberated you. you feel it has been a liberated feeling from being a republican. what positions do you hold now that you could not hold when you were a republican candidate?

>> well, nothing's really changed in that regard. it's a lot more quick to be able to give the response when you're talking about things of supporting education, supporting teachers, making sure that we protect the environment, these were always issues that have been important to me, but it is so liberating in terms of the context of this year particularly because, as you know, the republican party or i should say some in the republican party have taken a very hard turn to the right, like my opponent, marco rubio. as a result of that, i think it's very important to the people of florida, i think the people of our country to have common sense candidates. i've always tried to take a common sense point of view regardless of what the issue might be, whether it's education, whether it's jobs, the economy, reducing taxes, standing up for the people of florida, making sure that they're safe in their communities and homes and that we fight for teachers and students. those have always been issues that are very, very important to me. even as a republican governor, i would reach across the aisle, work with democrats,

republicans, independents in order to try to improve the quality of life for my fellow floridians. that's what i would like to do in the united states senate for my fellow floridians and for america. >> are there any positions that you took as a loyal republican that you now would t no take? >> no, not really. let me give you an indication of one that i think may be illustrative. i'm personally pro life, but this year in the florida legislature, they passed a bill that would have required an ultrasound be performed on any woman who was contemplating such and also would require that she have to pay for it. i ended up vetoing that bill because, you know, when it comes to the overall spectrum of things my view is tax cuts, hell yes. your government in your bedroom, hell no. and that sort of really defines charlie crist in terms of i'm a frugal guy. i want to be as careful with the public's dollars as possible, especially in this economy.

but i don't want to impose my personal will on other people either. none of us like to be told what to do on any issue, and i think that we need to respect the rights of others. and i think that pretty much illustrates, you know, my point of view as it relates to an issue of social matters. i'm a fiscal conservative who is a social moderate who wants to respect all and make sure that the views of the people are put first rather than the views of the party. >> how about what you said in 2008 as a loyal republican when sarah palin was on the vice presidential slot on the ticket and you said that she would do, quote, a great job as president, not just as vice president. sarah palin would do a great job as president. having had some time to think about that, is that a position you would reconsider? >> well, you know, my concern in this race are the sarahs that live in florida, to be perfectly candid with you. and i'm fighting for them and to give them an independent voice

so that in washington they can have an honest broker to try to move forward on jobs, on economic development, on reducing taxes. i mean, we've got a perfect example of how broken washington is right now. you have a democratic president of the united states who proposes tax cuts, and you have the republicans who say no. i mean, you know, if that's not the town standing on its head, i don't know what is. that's why i think it's so important that we have people that go forward, whether michael bloomberg or charlie crist who can be honest brokers to say that republicans have good ideas on cutting taxes and democrats probably have good ideas in investing in a clean economy and technology to produce more jobs. only i in this race can put that forward. i mean, i've got two partisan opponents, one hard left on the democratic side and one hard right on the republican side. but i think really what florida wants is a commonsense approach and a little florida common sense in washington on behalf of our people.

>> it seems what you're caught in the middle of is the fight over the soul of the republican party with tea party candidates coming in from, as you put it correctly, i think, the extreme right, challenging you, challenging other more establishment republican candidates around the country. you're one of the few establishment republican candidates at least previously establishment republican still on his feet in some way. you're running second in the polls in florida right now. but within striking distance. is there a real fight over the soul of the republican party in the outcomes that we're going to see in this election, especially in the senate races with the tea party candidates? >> i don't think there's any question about it, lawrence. in fact, i enjoy being a republican of the party of abraham lincoln and teddy roosevelt and ronald reagan. commonsense people who cared about the environment, cared about fundamental fairness to people, talked about the great emancipator, abraham lincoln,

and somebody who was always civil to others, ronald reagan. what we've seen, at least in some area of the republican party, the most active areas of the republican party, is more of a shrill tone, if you will, and i think it's unfortunate, instead of the big tent that jack kemp used to talk about, it seems to be a shrinking tent. some of these people that have been nominated around the country, i don't know five weeks from tonight how they're going to be doing, but my guess would be not so well. i think that especially in senate races you have an entire state that's going to weigh in on a race rather than just a district, and that's a much broader audience, if you will, a bigger jury, so to speak. and i think that because of that, you're going to see a different turnout in the united states senate than i think you might in the house of representatives. but only time will tell. you know, five weeks in elections is like five years. so we'll know when november 2nd comes. >> republicans are unifying around their nominees, christine

o'donnell in delaware and smf o the flakier nominees they've ended up with this year. but longtime republican strategist richard vigory said something interesting in the sunday times, he said we're all on the same page until the polls close november 2nd, then a massive, almost historic, battle for the heart and soul of the republican party begins. is that the way you see it, that this unity that the party is pretending to have around some of these nominees is a mirage and no matter what the outcome, whether those nominees win or lose, the republican party is going to have to figure out what it really stands for after this election? >> i don't think there's any other way to put it. i think that's exactly right. i think that once it becomes november 3rd, the day after the election, it's off to the races as it relates to the presidential campaigns. and it's in that structure that you'll see both on the republican side and what's going

to be the future. is it going to be a party that jack kemp used to talk about that had a big tent, that wanted to be more broad in its appeal? or is it going to be what we've seen this year, a steadily shrinking party that said you have to be, first, conservative enough, but then it went to the next level, which really turned me off, you have to be pure enough. i'm not sure i know what that means. i just know i don't want to be a part of that. america is a place where we respect independence. we respect the fact that you ought to have the freedom to determine your own destiny and your own future. and what we've seen in a segment of the republican party does not embrace that. i think that's unfortunate. there's a lot of good republicans that are still left. my mom and dad are still republican, my wife is still republican. but i've got a lot of democratic friends in na these days. particularly robert wexler, former congressman endorsed our campaign on sunday.

i was very pleased and honored by that. >> governor, quickly, before we go, if you are lucky enough to be sworn in as senator crist by vice president joe biden, will you then on your very first vote vote for the democrat as majority leader or the republican as majority leader? >> well, first, i hope i have that dilemma to face and i believe i will. because floridians ar commonsense bunch of people. but i think that the truth is i want to ask tough questions about the republicans and the democrats if i have the honor of winning. who will help fight for more jobs for the people of florida ? who will work hard for our economy? and who will protect the florida environment and the everglades and maybe sure we have a national catastrophic fund? those are the kind of things and the answers i need to get before i decide one way or the other or to just remain an independent united states senator and fight for the people of florida as best i can. >> so still undecided on your first vote in the senate. governor crist, thank you very much for your time tonight. >> great to be with you.

levi johnston has already announced he's running for mayor of wasilla. tonight on "the last word," let's see what else he has to announce. and more sabre rattling from iran. wait until you see the latest and greatest weapon it has acquired.lifornia my son was asl. i really didn't see it coming. i didn't realize i was drifting into the other lane. [ kim ] i was literally falling asleep at the wheel. it got my attention, telling me that i wasn't paying attention. i had no idea the guy in front of me had stopped short. but my car did. my car did. thankfully, my mercedes did. [ male announcer ] a world you can't predict... demands a car you can trust. the e-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪ through mercedes-benz financial. we're part of nature, and as we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. it's a selfish thing to want to protect nature.

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still ahead tonight, a young man seething with political

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in 2008, 18-year-old levi johnston was dragged into the national spotlight as the would-be son-in-law of then-vice presidential candidate sarah palin. like the palin campaign, levi's engagement to bristol palin did not achieve its intended result. levi and bristol went their separate ways in 2009. in a bad economy with few marketable skills, levi found ways to market his celebrity and his genetic gifts. he posed for "playgirl" became a tabloid perennial, briefly reunited with bristol, which reignited his celebrity heat and

now, bitten by the politics bug, he is a candidate for mayor of wasilla, a job once held by sarah palin. in our spotlight tonight, levi johnston. levi, thanks very much for joining me, coming tall way across the country for our new studio here. you're now planning to run for mayor of wasilla. the election is next year, right, 2011. will you be running as a tea party republican or as an establishment republican? >> that's actually undecided. i'm registered as a republican. there's been, you know, most of my family's republican, i do, however, have one democrat in my family. >> you do? >> i do. i do. >> ooh, what's that like on thanksgiving with the democrat at the table? >> he actually lives in colorado. he doesn't come around much. >> so no problem. >> yeah, i'm not sure on that yet. but there's some talk about what i'm going to do still. >> all right, now, bristol had something to say about you running. let's hear what she had to say

with jay leno. >> let me ask you a question. >> yeah. >> would you vote for him? >> well, he needs to move to wasilla, to the city limits. and he needs to get his ged. >> he's got to get a ged. >> so how are you doing on the ged? >> you know, it's ready to go. i imagine here in the next month it will be done, wrapped up. >> you're working on it. >> oh, yeah. >> now next time you get that ged question, between now and then -- >> i can't wait to get it. >> i have two words for you. abraham lincoln. okay? that puts it away. you're done. never graduated from high school. now, you have actually set a record. did you know you have set a political record already. you are officially the most unpopular person ever polled by public policy polling in any state. what they do is they poll

politicians within their state for popularity. the previous holder of this title was john edwards. he held that title with a 15% favorable rating and a 72% unfavorable rating in his home state of north carolina. your unfavorable rating is tied with that. that's good news. didn't do any worse than him on that. but in alaska, 6%. you have a 6% favorable. now, your election is not until 2011 so there's time to turn this around. you got to turn that 6% into a 56%. how are you going to do that? >> those numbers don't surprise me. i'm 20 years old. i'm new to politics. i don't know a whole lot, you know? but this is by far the biggest challenge in my life. and i'm looking forward to it. i have a whole year to study up on it. i mean, it's going to be hard work. and you know, going around talking to people. this time next year, i will be ready.

and i promise you those numbers will be new. >> let's talk about how you're studying up. when it comes to establishing your world view, i'm just curious. what newspapers and magazines do you read regularly? >> i read "frontiersman" once in a while. >> frontiersman? >> of wasilla. i don't get "the new york times," i don't watch a whole lot of news, i don't watch tv that often. >> okay. and what's your position on global warming? do you believe it's man made or not? >> no, i don't. >> you don't believe it's man made? or you do believe it's man made? >> i don't believe it's man made. >> now, some people have credited the morning-after pill with decreasing the number of abortions. how do you feel about the morning-after pill? >> i feel that's a girl's decision. same with abstinence.

i don't believe in abstinence. i feel like if you're having unprotected sex, you get the girl pregnant, you should have the baby. tripp was the best thing that ever happened to me. but at the same time i was young, you know, and i imagine where my life would be without him. but at the same time, you know, i wouldn't trade it for anything. >> do you believe evolution should be taught as an accepted scientific principle or one of several theories? >> you are kind of getting over my head on these things here. yeah, i don't know how to answer that question. >> all right. that's an answer. and that's what i like, is an honest politician who is willing to say, i don't know when he doesn't know. would you support a moratorium on foreclosures to help average americans keep their homes? >> i believe i would. >> in afghanistan, do you believe additional troops, u.s. troops will solve the problem there? >> i have no idea. >> again, that's the kind of honesty that -- maybe alaskans will start to turn your way with

that kind of honesty. you are of what used to be called draft age, military service age, and you probably have friends who have been in afghanistan or people you know from alaska who have gone there, but you haven't thought about yet what you would suggest as the best way to go forward there? >> no, i have not. >> the united states, as you know, is deeply unpopular in pakistan. do you think the pakistani government is protecting al qaeda within its borders? >> like i said, i don't want a whole lot of tv. >> "frontiersman" doesn't have a whole lot to say about that, when you're reading "fron teersman"? >> apparently not because i'm not brushed up on that. >> do you believe that the u.s. should negotiate with leaders like president assad and ahmadinejad? >> yeah, i do. i think that we should negotiate with everybody. >> that's the obama position. for a lot of people out there, you got that one right. all those questions are exactly what katie couric asked sarah

palin when she was running for vice president, and let me tell you, she struggled. if you think they were tough, you're not the only one who struggled with those. so the question america wants to know -- and by the way, relax. >> i'm good, i'm good. >> i'm done with the politics. have you been watching "dancing with the stars"? i can't because i'm doing this show. >> the only time i watched it was back there in the green room. >> come on, only time. >> that's the only time. i've seen it on youtube once, the first dance she did, two days afterwards, i youtubed it. as far as actually watching the show was a couple minutes ago. >> so what do you do? "dancing with the stars" is on, what are you doing instead? >> better things to do. i've got my son to worry about, my family, stuff to do around the house, i got my friends, reading up on all this stuff, trying to become mayor. i got a job. i have much better stuff to do than sit around watching tv.

>> by the way, where is tripp during the whole "dancing with the stars" thing. you're in new york, bristol's in l.a. most of the time now. according to the tabloids, you got a new girlfriend, you want to confirm, deny, you want to just -- >> we did a music video together. and we kicked it off, we had fun. >> kicked it off. >> hanging out. we hung out. we did great, made a great video together. and that's it. >> all right. levi johnston, can't thank you enough for coming across the country and taking on this first national grilling on your political positions. >> i'll be better next time, i promise. >> hey, read a couple more things than "frontiersman." that's going to help with the alaskan voter but an occasional glimpse of "the new york times," they cover that ahmadinejad stuff. three days you'll be up to speed. five days certainly less than a week you'll be up to speed with sarah palin. levi, thanks a lot for coming in.

levi johnston, the reality show is "loving levi: the road to the mayor's office." we're supposed to be very, very afraid of the threat from iran. the next generation of military might for that country has been unveiled. and somehow, that makes tonight's rewrite. and later, today's big study. religious people are surveyed to see how much they know about religion. they all would have done better on a sports quiz. we'll hear from the last words religion analyst pen gillette. host: could switching to geico really save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance? was abe lincoln honest? mary: does this dress make my backside look big? abe: perhaps... save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really host: is having a snowball fight with pitching great randy johnson a bad idea?

man: yeah, i'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea.

we're back with a precious few more seconds with levi johnston. you see our guys over there. tank is over there. that's your guy. anthony's my guy. i've been having trouble about the velvet ropes. anthony goes up to the velvet ropes to get us into nightclubs. they just push us away. is tank the key? >> he comes up, people run.

>> can i hang with tank tonight? >> that mean is got to hang out -- >> you go on your own. anthony's going to get me in tonight finally. e announcer ] what is performance? 0 to 60? or 60 to 0? [ tires screech ] the quarter-mile, or a quarter-century? is performance about the joy of driving? or the importance... of surviving? to us, performance is not about doing one thing well. it is about doing everything well. because in the end... everything matters. the best or nothing. that is what drives us. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers on the c-class.

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covert uranium enrichment facility near qom. >> iran successfully launched a rocket into space. iran needs to be paid attention to. >> obviously, he has threatened israel with being wiped off the face of the earth. >> the list goes on and on of the threats that we have -- that we have made to the iranians and so far no action. >> not only has iran refused to curb its nuclear efforts despite repeated sanctions by the u.s. and united nations, but now they have publicly raised their threat of military aggression with a provocative announcement earlier today. the iranian defense minister unveiled three squad runs of the baval-2. in the iranian government's typically boastful style, the defense minister described his new noisy war-making asset this way. the flying boat is equipped with a machine gun as well as night

vision and daytime cameras and is capable of capturing and transmitting images and data. now, i know iran doesn't get msnbc, so you guys in embassy need to let the defense minister know that under no circumstances should he call this a flying boat. you're not going to keep fear alive with flying boats. you're not going to scare a country that flies these things with an announcement that you can now fly these things. and who told you that a single engine propeller driven sea plane with a machine gun could scare any american president since woodrow wilson? see this? we all have one of these. our kids have these. so don't think for a minute that you can scare americans by saying your flying boat is

capable of, quote, capturing and transmitting images and data. what happened to you guys? you used to be so dw at scaring us and you've always known that we scare easily. now you're getting lazy. we don't scare that easily. so if you still want to keep fear alive, stick with nuclear. up next, penn jillette on the religion disconnect revealed today. those who know the most about religion are those who, well, come back and we'll tell you. ♪ ♪ i was young and i was stupid ♪ i had just turned 17 ♪ a harmonica and a box guitar ♪ ♪ in a canvas-covered wagon stuffed... ♪ [ male announcer ] while the world's been waiting on the electric car, maybe the whole time, the electric car has been waiting for this... the wattstation from ge. it's going to change the way we get to where we all want to go. ♪ i didn't think much of it till i took it apart ♪

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when it comes to questions of god and faith and religion, who should you turn to if you need guidance? the answer might surprise you. the pew forum on religion and public life found that most americans are deeply ignorant

about religion. more than 3,400 people were asked 32 questions about the bible, christianity and other world religions along with the principles in the constitution governing religion. and it turns out the americans who know the most are atheists or agnostic. jewish people came in second followed by mormons, white evangelical protestants and white catholics followed by white mainline protestants black protestants and hispanic catholics. dave silverman president of the american atheists told "the new york times" atheism is an effect of that knowledge not a lack of knowledge. i gave a bible to my daughter. that's how you make atyists. joining me now the ate atheist penn jillette is at the rio and you can watch his blog pennpoint. what do you make of atheists knowing more about religion than those who study it on the daily basis.

>> a little bit of a cheat. you look at other studies and people who are more educated are apt to be atheists. you don't need that connection. they just know more. you got that problem. it makes the study a little more of a cleat. it is not that they know more about religion but they're better educated in general. >> let me take you through the quiz. >> i'm an exception. i'm not educated. >> here we go. you're stuck. which of the following is not one of the ten commandments? a, do not commit adultery, b do unto others as you would vem them do unto you, c, do not steal, did, keep holy the sabbath? did you hear them all. >> yes, i did. but it's b, do unto others as, that's not a commandment. >> you know what? you're good. i got another one for you. is ramadan the hindu festival of lights, the jewish day of atonement, the islamic holy month? >> it's the islamic holy month. >> c, there you go. third, which bible figure is

most closely associated with remaining obedience to god despite suffering. job, elijah, moses, abraham? >> job. >> these are easy. how could anybody get them wrong? next according to rulings by the supreme court is a public teacher permitted to read from the bible as an example of literature? a, yes, b., no. >> if it's literature, yes. >> you got it right. i actually got that one wrong. what was the name of the person whose writings and actions inspired the protestant reformation? martin luther, thomas aquinas. >> martin luther. >> you're right again. thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> you can have the last word online at our blog, the lastword.msnbc.com. that's tonight's "last word." tomorrow night among our guests david axle rod and author bob woodward.