can talk about this election season is americans, welcome to the "the ed show." from new york, these stories are hitting my hot buttons at this hour. listen closely to the republican psychotalkers. john boehner is vowing to destroy health care reform and his buddies are just lining up to destroy minimum wage, social security and just putting social security in a meat grinder. i got a commentary on all of this, the have's and the have not's. i think the republicans are picking on the poor folks in this country. karl rove and michelle bachman, they have no shame sticking up for the right wing chamber of commerce even though a shocking new report reveals

the chamber took nearly a million dollars in foreign donations. they're threatening to ramp up the spending. i find it completely un-american. politics gone wild. meg whitman takes on jerry brown over being called a whore. it's all true, folks. and the miraculous recovery and the mission in chile continues. the 26th miner just reached the surface. we'll go live to the scene as the rescue continues. it is a miracle. it's come up without a hitch and prayers are answered. this is the story that has me fired up. the american dream is on the line. listen to what the psychotalkers are saying. 20 days from now, millions i guess you could say, of disgruntled americans will decide the future of this

country. republicans have president obama's agenda in their sights and they are determined to undermine every inch of progress that he's made. wannabe speaker john boehner wants to destroy. and he's issued this warning down in florida, our job is to do everything we can to keep it from being implemented. to keep it from moving ahead. if hell no boehner gets his grubby little hands on the speaker's gavel he'll have the power of the purse and boehner and the republicans are plotting to starve every dime out of health care reform. he said this as well. they're going to need money from us to hire those 22,000 federal employees we think it's going to take to run this monstrosity and i'll tell you, they're not going to get a dime from us. now, think about this. the last report from the congressional budget office on the health care bill is that

over ten years, it's going to save this country dollars. big dollars. billions of dollars. if boehner gets his way it will cost american lives. did i say that? yes. this health care bill will save american lives. it is far from perfect, but it put a stop to the pre-existing conditions and also, it provides a safety net to some 30 million americans who finally will be able to get some health insurance and can't get dropped and the tan man and his heartless posse, they want to put the insurance company back between you and your doctor. if they do this, it will unplug you and your children from a better america. so this is what's as stake in 20 days. the party of "hell no" is also showing their disdain for the american worker. he's what west virginia trust fund senator john racy said. >> one of the best things i can think of when you get government out of the, let's say,

micromanaging the economy, you don't want government to set price controls. you don't want government to set wage controls and it's an archaic system. >> you know, when you inherit stuff i guess you see the world differently. racy and the rest of these republican party think the minimum wage earners, hey, they're the problem. they're not worth $7.25 an hour. not in our country. their idea of a good job is a 13-year-old kid in china earning 40 cents an hour on an outsourced american job. that's who these folks are. the current buffer crop of psychotalkers from the republican party is far more dangerous to america than any bush or cheney thing we had to live through for eight years, here's what they want to do. abolish minimum wage. kill the health care bill. listen to what boehner said. end unemployment benefits. how rude is that?

they want to phase out social security and change the 14th amendment. if they get the majority or if they get close to the majority, do you really think -- let's say the democrats hold the house and senate. do you really think the republicans are going to say, well, we got some more seats. it's going to get worse. this vote is the biggest vote you may ever make in your life. president obama is going on the offensive. to stop guys like boehner and racy from fulfilling their radical dream for america. the president laid out the choice. >> we believe in a country that rewards hard work and responsibility. we in a country where we look after one another. we believe in a country where working people can come together so they can get a minimum wage and better working conditions. we believe that i am my brother's keeper. i am my sister's keeper. that everybody deserves a fair shot at the american dream.

that's the america i know. that's the choice in this election. >> well, the american dream is on the line for millions of americans. they have to decide between president obama or this guy. >> look at how this bill was written. can you say it was done openly? with transparency and accountability? without backroom deals and struck behind closed doors? for the people? hell no, you can't. >> did i miss the news that day? didn't they have a health care summit where the president sat down and listened to lamarr alexander and the rest of them talking about health care. remember the open forum that was televised all day long? this country can't afford to go backwards. voters need to engage before it's too late to go out and tell john boehner and thinks cronies hell no. i think they're picking on the poor folk in america. i think they want the have and the have not. i think it's all for the top 2%.

the concentration of wealth and power and we'll become more of a corporate america. not that corporations are bad all the time. because corporations do hire people and corporations pay taxes. but the republicans don't want the corporations here. they want the jobs overseas. and they want the people left behind in this country to work for a pittance of what they could make. that's the choice in this election. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think about all this. tonight's text survey we question is -- do you think american workers deserve to make less than the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour? text a for no and text b for yes. we'll bring you the results later. and joining me now, reverend al sharpton. reverend, i think their agenda is an attack on the poor, what do you think? >> no question. when you look at the fact that

what they are advocating is tax cuts for the rich and any kind of security at all for working people and poor people, we want to eliminate at this time 'let's eliminate social security. let's eliminate minimum wage and cut education. anything that people other than the wealthy in this country have to live by, they want to eliminate. so clearly, if there has ever been an arrogant display of what the republicans are saying they stand for and that's the wealthy and the rich, it's in what mr. boehner and others are saying which is why we've got to come out in big numbers and make sure he's not the speaker of the house this year. >> let's talk about it. they condemn themselves with their sound bytes about where they want to take this country and how they want to discriminate against americans. in my opinion, is that enough for the liberals, progressives, minorities, and go after it on november 2nd? if information is power there's plenty of material there.

>> i think we have to get that information to them as you would do every day on this show. and on the radio. i mean, i'm getting ready to go from california to florida to pennsylvania in the next 72 hours. we got to get out there and get the message out and people have got to go door-to-door because this is not just about the president. this is about they're declaring war on any kind of guarantees that working class people and poor people would have in this country and the only guarantees that will be left if they succeed, would be for the wealthy. they'll get their tax cuts and they'll get protected and if they blow it, we'll bail them out again. there are no guarantees for average americans and we need to understand that and get that message out. >> finally, reverend sharpton, it took us ten years to move the minimum wage up in this country. what a reversal? they're getting more radical. now they want to abolish minimum wage. >> the clip you played by senator racy, they're not even

saying hold it or reduce it, he's saying abolish it. let's have no guarantee per hour which is the most unthinkable thank you would think of in 2010 after all the bailouts we did for the super rich who did it out of greed. you want to tell workers we don't want to give you any guarantees yet, we claim to represent grassroots americans. they're going to bury us under the grass if we don't come out and vote on november 27bd. >> ulz a pleasure. good to have you with us. >> here's jonathan alter, national columnist for "newsweek" and jonathan, let's talk about the president's talk about the american dream. i mean, this is somewhat a new move for the president, is it not? he's starting to talk in terms of think about what your future is going to be like. what do you think? >> he's getting wack into campaign mode which is good and long overdue. he overlearned mario cuomo's famous lesson.

cuomo said you campaign in poetry and govern in pros. he took that too much to heart. he's been governing too much many pros. finally he's bringing some of the poetry back. the poetry that moves people and inspires people and it's about time. what we've been talking about so far, ed, is an effort by republicans to repeal the new deal. let's be clear about what we're talking about. the minimum wage goes back to 1938. now, after the new deal democrats and republican presidents, you know, dwight eisenhower, nixon, reagan, all of them, accepted that there are certain things we settled in this country in the 1930s about eight decent -- a decent floor. so that we didn't become the third world. now they want us -- they want us to go down to 40 cents an hour? on top of that -- and this is something that doesn't get talked about enough -- this

would be so awful for the economy. it would created a deflation their spiral when wages go down too much as they would if we got rid of the minimum wage, you send the economy back into another recession or even a depression. >> i want to talk to you about the record number of dollars and bonuses that's going to wall street. $144 billion. that's a record high this year. and if you look at the stock market in march of '09, it was over 6,000. today it's over 11,000. does president obama get any credit at all for what's happened? these folks have made billions of dollars with obama -- with the president's economy and his framework, to save the economy. but, yet, it gets very little conversation. >> he saved them? he saved their fortunes. we're headed for a depression. we're losing 750,000 jobs a month when he took over. if we stayed on that pace we would have had another

depression in late 2009. he saved them. one of the great things about the stock market being higher even if folks aren't in the stock market that much, is that it's a leading indicator. the market is saying that the economy is getting much better than people recognize. >> yet the poverty rate is in 14.3%. >> yes, it is. >> the highest since 1994. it's the divide highway. >> and i'm not minimizing that but it's important to remember that if, you know, obama's fate and the fate of the democrats over the next two years -- it's too late to do anything about this election -- is bringing that unemployment rate down. the market is saying there's not a direct connection between the higher stock prices and more jobs because it's a vision of the future which is usually accurate. and suggests that 2011 better days are ahead. >> jonathan alter, always a pleasure. great book, by the way. coming up, crazy carl

paladino has major explaining to do after days after his homophobic slurs. we found out that he made money off of gay clubs. his gay nephew, not real happy with the family talk. and congressman jared paulus. and i can't wait to see how christine o'donnell answers the questions in her debate tonight. she'll have to explain everything from satanic dates. all that plus bill clinton says republicans are making him gag. caribou barbie, related to the president? it's interesting. you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc, stay with us. ♪ check thea from your shirt ♪ ♪ make sure your pits don't stank ♪ ♪ check the new hairdo, check the mic one two ♪ ♪ 'cause i'm about to drop some knowledge right on top of you ♪ ♪ you check a lot of things already why not add one more ♪

♪ that can help your situation for sure ♪ ♪ check your credit score ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ free-credit-score ♪ you won't regret it at all! ♪ check the legal y'all. >>offer applies with enrollment in triple advantage.® on your next business trip, pack your marriott rewards visa card. get triple points every time you use your card at marriott. apply now and earn 22,500 bonus points when you use your card and enjoy a free night stay. so, before you know it, work time becomes well-deserved downtime. apply now at marriott.com/freenightstay. you've got staying power. the chamber of commerce, president, tom donahue, he's making me sick and another bunch of americans as he vows to ramp up the advertising for

republicans and keeps denying that the chamber is spending foreign dollars. if you have nothing to hide, then just show us your books. and senator brown, will hammer donahue in the battleground segment. stay with us. you're watching "the ed show."

welcome back to "the ed show." breaking news, you're looking at a live picture. this is miner number 27, franklin lobos at the mine. we have to say it's been a miraculous effort on the part of so many. this has come off without a

hitch. 33 miners, 68 days, that's miner number 27, rescued to safety, franklin lobos in the san jose mine in chile. we'll continue our coverage as the mission is successful to this point. christine o'donnell comes out of hiding in 90 minutes to debate chris coonz at the university of delaware. the first debate since o'donnell's witchy past was revealed and she released a couple of campaign commercials that inspired comedians across the country. >> i'm not a witch. i didn't go to yale. i'm nothing you heard. i didn't inherit millions. i'm you. i'm you. i'm you. i'm you. >> the o'donnell campaign is now out with a new web commercial slamming her opponent's tax record. >> in delaware, where the economy is suffering and families are losing their homes,

there was one man who stood against the tide and raised taxes. hide your lights. because he's taxing everything out here. chris coons is the tax man. joining us is make papantonio. mike, you go into the debate with a double digit lead. how serious do you get? how do you handle it? there's a lot of material on the table right now and a lot of people across the country are laughing at her campaign. what's the best strategy? >> tickets sold out because -- in ten minutes -- because everybody expects a freak show. but coon doesn't have to have a freak show. let comedy central talk about the witch story and the rats have brains story. he needs to talk about real important issues but most importantly, he doesn't need to allow her to reinvent herself, the crazy republican teabag party.

he has plenty to highlight. he needs to go and talk about the fact that she lied about going to three colleges she never attended. >> should he call her a "liar?" >> he doesn't have to. he needs the ask the question, you told the american public, you got in front of the camera and said you went to oxford but you didn't. you said you went to princeton, but you didn't. you said you went to clairemont, but you didn't. you talk about my tax issues what about your tax problems where the irs has been $11,000 lien against you because you didn't pay your taxes at all. you failed to pay your taxes not once, but several times. but he's got so much to talk about and he doesn't need to go in there and allow her to reinvent who she is. she's a nut and we know that. there's a lot more to talk about. >> that's telling it like it is. i hear voices on the radio as you do. a lot of americans think she's really lowered the bar. and she's not qualified. if he comes off saying you're

not qualified to be in the united states senate, does that come off as condescending or is that telling the truth and with a double digit lead do you play it safe? >> i don't think he has to play it safe. there's more at stake than just this race. he's got to win this race. if he doesn't get out there and completely blow it he'll win. he can do things for other candidates by pointing out that she is the persona of all the republican teabag candidates running right now. he can talk about how important credibility and honesty is. how important it is to be believable. he can do a lot of things for at candidates. he can take her and paint her as the picture of all these other candidates. the last thing he needs to do is listen to the typical democratic handlers that say, just don't -- just play it safe. he doesn't need to play it safe. >> so, mike, the prediction from you is that he's going to win and she'll get a show on fox? i got it. good to have you with us, buddy. >> thanks a lot.

>> you bet. crazies must be contagious because the birthers are multiplying. this republican thinks he's headed back to washington so he can impeach president obama. i told you so. i'll certify him in "the zone" stay with us. ?n

it's psychotalk tonight. we got another right pandering to the birthers. former republican congressman tim wallberg is trying to get his job back from michigan and

go back to washington and he's playing to the far right. how interesting. here he is on a local radio show recently. >> not enough information? i should stop the program right now and ask you, do you think we should have put the call her psychotalk instead of the hopeful congressman? not enough information. someone needs to teach timmy how to google. it takes about five seconds. but wallberg is keeping the wacko birther at their word. >> i don't know why it's not

resolved. >> he just hadn't resolved it. the president has resolved it but wallberg has chosen not to pay attention. he suggested that a republican congress would impeach the president over the birther nonsense. >> the executive has an awful lot of power to keep from showing certain things unless the courts will stand up. or unless congress and the majority, will stand up up to including the majority and the republicans don't have the majority. >> impeachment. that's what they're all about. so at a time when the united states of america and the congress is dealing with 9.6 unemployment, and a war in afghanistan, an energy crisis we can't seem to solve to get energy-independent, this guy wants to spend time and tax dollars impeaching president obama to obtain a document that is already available online. that is certifiable psychotalk.

coming up, karl rove and michelle bachman have no shame. this psychopair is defending the commerce and the anti-american money box. and it got ugly in california last night. jerry brown and meg whitman got into a mud-slinging contest about who called who a whore. >> i mean, come on, we got all this election cycle. don't we? we'll get rapid-fire response on that. and dick blumenthal accuses linda mcmahon for marketing sex and violence to children. your window of opportunity is here. starting november 15th, you can enroll in an aarp medicarerx plan insured through unitedhealthcare. call now for your free information kit. see why over 4.3 million members are enrolled in these plans. i recently got this letter from my current drug plan.

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welcome back. the battleground story tonight, in my opinion, there's no more important story in this election cycle. the fight over foreign money influencing this election cycle is getting out of control. the chamber of commerce president tom donahue fired off a letter to the chamber's directors and partners claims the right wing organization is

the victim of a smear campaign? buddy, shows your books. donahue says the allegations the chamber is pumping for is, quote, patently false. he says the chamber won't let the attacks scare them away from politics. he goes on to write, it won't work. the american people will not be fooled nor will the chamber be silenced. in fact the next three weeks leading up to the election day, you will see us ramp up efforts to educate voters about the positions of candidates of both parties who are committed to free enterprise and economic growth. i think i'm going to puke but i can't do it on live tv. this donahue, come on! this guy see right-wing hack. on fox business, michelle bachman carried the chamber's water saying the question about foreign donations are nothing but a democratic witch hunt. >> it's about as low as it goes.

it's more than disingenuous. it's a flat-out patent lie. the chamber of commerce accused of taking foreign contributions to spend on elections is absolutely not doing that. they have a separate political action fund and they use that only from american donors. >> all right. backman and donahue, they are absolutely clueless but this takes the cake. karl rove thinks this is a joke. he's bush's brain. here he is on fox responding to robert gibbs who asked for a donor sheet. >> i'm happy to respond to mr. gibbs request for the foreign contributors. there it is. >> zero. zero. in fact, you know, while we're at it, let's talk about the president's evidence for the accusation that the chamber of commerce in american crossroads had foreign donors. ed the nada. no evidence whatsoever that the president made this charge on the basis of which leaves us with, what's the white house credibility on this issue?

none, none! >> he's not trying to leave anybody behind and that's why he's using that little board. this guy has no business talking about credibility. remember valerie blame? today a new report showing the chamber received $885,000 from over 80 foreign countries. this is from donations that have been disclosed. i want tom donahue and everyone at chamber to listen up. if you want to your political activities are home grown and real american, release the whole damn list. the whole donor list what are you hiding? the american people have been highed to about war and if you have nothing to hide, then show us the books. joining me now, ohio senator senator brown. i want to go back. i want to go back to michelle bachman's comment. she says that there's a separate fund. is is that true? >> no, its not true. there's a couple things going on. first of all, separate local

chambers of commerce in toledo and mansfield and all over this country, chambers of commerce working on economic development making their communities better with this national chamber of commerce. they are very different kinds of organizations. but there's two things going on, ed. one, if the chamber is so -- if there's no federal money or no foreign money involved, why do they fight the disclose act and fight our efforts to make them disclose illegally any federal dollars? and second, at the same time, why did they fight our legislation to stop the tax breaks and the incentives for american companies? >> because they got to protect people. they're trying to from text their donors. >> exactly. they're trying to protect their donors and it's allable these companies outsourcing jobs. these large corporations some have foreign ownership and some don't that are outsourcing jobs to china and all over the world. they clearly have benefitted

from the tax law. they don't want to change it. >> what do you make of, in my opinion, the sheer arrogance of tom donahue, doubling down and saying, you haven't seen anything yet. that's basically what he's saying. they are going to move forward and ramp thing up. what do you make of that? >> it's arrogance. michelle bachman and karl rove, it's incredulous that karl rove would think he has credibility and would think that somebody's going to believe him. he did all kinds of dirty tricks as the president's brain as he referred to him, is the top political guy in the country, for much of those eight years. it makes me sad that anybody's moral compass is that jittery. >> here's what we have. we have the democrats saying that they're telling the truth on the foreign money. and we have the republicans guarding the hen house where i

is the chamber of commerce and a lot of americans are wondering, who's telling the truth? you can emphatically tell us that the democrats are correct on this issue? foreign money is being used out of the chamber of commerce out of their general fund? >> first of all i think they are. i can't prove it. they can prove it's not true by releasing their list. and they won't. but again, there is real incentive for the chamber -- the whole point because they oppose the disclose act and opposed any kind of change in tax laws to stop this outsourcing, it's clear it's in their economic interest, their political interest, to use foreign dollars to suspend money from these big corporations that outsource jobs because they're benefiting from it. these companies like that are seeing profit goes up because they're outsourcing jobs. we have to close loopholes. i don't want any more companies to asia. >> amen, senator, good to have you was. thanks for staying on the story.

>> thanks. now, rapid-fire response from our panel. down and dirty at last night's gubernatorial debate in california. jerry brown and meg whitt whitman got into a heated exchange into who called who a whore. >> and the senate rate in connecticut got you cuglier. dick blumenthal slammed linda mac mahan over the wwe's seven dead wrestlers. and senator majority leader, harry reid. the congenial couple of laura flanders. the tea party -- the book "at the tea party." and we have our republican strategist. you're not smiling much -- there you go, that's better. if we can, what about what's happening back and forth in these debates.

in the gubernatorial debate last night, jerry brown and meg whitman get moos it. laura, do voters care about this? the word "whore?" >> i long for the day when we can get rid of these men with foot and mouth disease. they open up their mouth and out comes some stupid sexist thing. can we get rid of these folks? but the idea that whitman is the great respect woman candidate, also drives me nuts. this kind of whack feminism from a whom who opposed the lilly ledbetter act and everything the democrats have done to improve life for women on the public level, from insuring mammograms without copays, to trying to keep wages at a livable level, and trying to keep some public services throughout, that makes me scream too so it's a nasty picture on both sides. >> here's tom brokaw, the moderator, broaching the subject, here it is. >> it's a notorious part of this

campaign in which somebody in your campaign referred to ms. whitman as a whore. >> this is a five-week old private conversation picked up on a cell phone with a garbled transmission. the campaign apologized promptly and i affirm that apology. >> the fact that you're defending your campaign for a slur and a personal attack on me, i think it's -- it's not befitting of california. it's not befitting of the office you're running for. >> john, what do you think? affirm that apology. that wasn't good enough? >> i think meg whitman is right. i also think laura flanders is right. this isn't what it's about. california is going completely bankrupt. businesses are fleeing california because it's a terrible place to do business because of all the taxes and regulations and what california needs is somebody to come in there and shake up the political establishment. and actually, clean out things. i don't think that jerry brown

who's been around politics in california for locknger than i' been alive, i think meg whitman would be the person but the issue is, is california literally falling off the earth when it comes to the economy? >> why is governor schwarzenegger going to russia talking about jobs over there? going to connecticut. blumenthal slamming mcmahon on her profession. here it is. >> i can't believe that i just heard mrs. mcmahon brag about the wellness policy at wwe. she requires all wrestlers to sign a death clause that, solves wwe of all responsibility if wrestlers are killed in the ring and if the company is at fault, solves her company of all responsibility. that's not working too well,

there have been seven dead wrestlers since she started campaigning. >> it's a sport. people die in all sports. is that over the top, laura? >> it's the same thing. i agree with john. this is an election that shouldn't be about dead wrestlers. it could be about the dead mr. net. he's against a woman that doesn't in global warming and we're talking about w. e. there's something to be pointed out here about the mcmahon as a businesswoman and it's a bizarre thing that -- the case that people make that because you're a successful business person you necessarily will be a successful public person, deserves to be pierced. they have to look after. >> everybody i hate to do this but i agree with laura, which makes me nervous. something fascinating is going on. two very strong female business executives running against two career politicians. and actually i think that they're the once creating jobs and trying to create jobs and we have these career politicians trying to stop them.

a fascinating dynamic. >> you have two campaigns that are not focusing on tissue and media is not focusing on those issues. the "new york times" today, this recession could be the new normal. we'll be nine years before we can get the old jobs back and, 13 years before we get health values back. >> we got to run. >> i would say, laura, that -- great of the you was tonight. thanks so much. you never agreed so much with one another. up next, the miracle in chile. 27 miners are back with their families and number 28 is on his way to the top right now. live to the scene right now of this unbelievable story. that's next on msnbc. stay with us. [ gorilla ] nice move. but can your retirement income keep pace with changing interest rates? this variable annuity from axa equitable has an option that can help your retirement income move with changing interest rates. but what do i know? i'm just the 800-pound gorilla in the room. [ female announcer ] make the retirement cornerstone annuity from axa equitable part of your retirement plan.

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breaking news, the 28th chilean miner coming up. richard viaroel. we'll talk to nbc's kerry sanders at the scene next in chile. stay with us.

in my playbook tonight, 28 of 33 miners trapped underground for more that two months are above ground right now. the rescue, so far, has been flawless. miner number 28, pulled to the surface just moments ago. the world is watching and people around the globe are pulling for these guys. no doubt. let's go to nbc's kerry sanders

who was live at the scene. i understand the gentleman's wife is not there because she's about to give birth to a child. that's got to be pretty exciting. >> he got up in the nick of time. >> and the opention of the completion of a successful mission. is it pretty tense there right now? >> i think that an exuberant confidence right now. i wouldn't call it "tense." the "countdown" now with five more men. a 23 year old, making it up to the surface, with his wife. the reason she's not there she actually had contractions today so she's at home. you know, it is working flawlessly. the -- you can see him getting on to a stretcher, even though i have not seen one of these guys who needed to get on to a stretcher, they are following the protocol, taking them to the triage area and the first thing they do when they get to the triage area is ask for a hot shower. they are enjoying that.

i imagine richard is about to go in there and do the same. they give them liquids and take care of them. the fenix started out going down that escape capsule taking more than an hour and 15 minutes to make the round trip. we've had one come up here in about 9.38 they thought it would take five hours. this is a nation that's thrilled and excited, as is the world watching the ability of engineering and basically, perseverance, to successfully solve what everybody thought was impossible. cutting through a 700,000 ton megarock, some of the hardest rock on earth, creating a 28" shaft, getting down to the men, who had survived for a very long time, 17 days, on tuna and

peaches, taking only two spoons a day to keep themselves nourished. ed, i think what we're seeing and witnessing here has been said over and over. but if they all get up here, we'll see 33 miracles. >> kerry sanders you have been in this business a long time and you've covered hundreds upon hundreds of stories in your career. this has got to be personally, for you, one for the archives. this emotion, this precision, this teamwork, to there and to witness all of this, it is captivated the world. to your personal experience, what has it been like? >> you know, as a reporter now, almost three decades, i spend most of my life arriving after something has happened. we're here as this is happening and we're watching it unfold. and you know i'm caught up in this. i'm cheering every one of these guys. i know some of their families because we've been living in the

dessert with them here for some weeks. every one of these guys represents something much larger and that is the desire and the hope that we all have that, you know, whatever problems there are they can be overcome. this was a huge, huge challenge and it's being overcome. we're five guys away. >> kerry sanders, nbc news, great to have you with us, kerry, thank you. final page in the playbook. it turns out rush limbaugh, sarah palin and the president, they're related. according to the ancestry.com, and two psychotalkers they are tenth cousin to the president of the united states. i bet that would be an interesting family reunion, wouldn't it? do you think it would be a quiet dinner table or kind of yacky? coming up, crazy carl paladino has major explaining to do. days after his homophobic slurs we find out that he made money off of gay clubs. congressman jared poulos,

first elected, sounds off and weighs in on don't ask don't tell. that's next, stay with us.

finally tonight, two more issues we'll get to "don't ask don't tell" in a moment. carl paladino is still feeling the backlash after his recent comments that kids shouldn't be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is acceptable. his nephew and campaign worker who is gay told the "new york post" that he was offended by

the comments and has reportedly stopped working for his uncle. carl paladino may not aof homosexuality but he has no problem profiting off of it. turns out two buildings he owned in buffalo were rented out as gay clubs, one of which was managed by his son. this is congressman jared polis of colorado, the first openly gay person elected to the house of representatives. what is your response? is this the new republican party? couple this with the position of jim demint and gay people in the classroom in public schools? what do you think? >> here's a guy, his son runs a gay club. he owns the building. there's almost a you know, an issue of a conflict of interest. maybe he doesn't want gay people to get married so they go to his club. his own family, his own flesh and blood quits his campaign over the remarks. we see what he really thinks. now we know what he thinks. he's backing off and apologizing

but we know where he's coming from. he thinks people are being brainwashed whereverry day across our country gay kids are being taunted. four have committed suicide in the last couple of weeks because they have've been discriminated against since they are gay. congressman, don't ask don't tell, the judge's ruling, what do you think congressional response should be? should the congress address "don't ask don't tell?" the justice department has 60 days to do something about it although they're not obligated could this be the final ruling on "don't ask don't tell?" >> this should be a heads-up to the military. if we don't end it electrici legislatively. it weakens the security of our country and kicks people out of the military for no good reason. >> what about the 14,000 people that have exited the military because of their sexual orientation? what should happen to them? >> those that want should reenlist.

if they're officers, they should go back in. many of them have great track records. were discharged just because they told somebody they were gay. many want to serve our country at a time when we need our men and women to serve overseas so i hope some reconsider joining the military once this discriminatory policy has ended? >> is this the beginning of the end? >> that's been the beginning of the end for too long. we need to end this. yesterday isn't too soon. >> do you think the white house is relieved this judge made this ruling? >> you know i think it gives them another option. if we can't get it done leg slaytively go through the courts. say, look, we want to work with you. if we can't the courts are holding this over our head and it's going to happen anyway. >> jared polis, congressman from colorado, thanks to have you with us. tonight in our text survey, i asked -- do you think american worksers deserve to make less than minimum wage of $7.25 per hour?