that has already lapsed under the treaty that i negotiated. and we become -- we lose all credibility on the problem stoppingç nuclear proliferatio. there are only two governments in the world that would not like to see this treaty ratified -- the government in tehran and the government in north korea. >> and apparently senator republicans, too. maybe it would change their mind if they take a field trip to kazakhst kazakhstan. i promise to cover it if they go. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >> thank you, rachel. in washington, no one turns doubt the president's personal invitation to the white house. no one. doesn't matter what party you're in. until now. the republican congressional leadership stood up the president today. >> on capitol hill, meet the new boss. >> on the day the republicans were too busy to meet with the president, this is what they did. >> the administration needs to come towards us.

it's certainly not to keep on doing what they' been doing. >> we think that obama care will ruin the best health care system in the country. >> instead of working with democrats on extending unemployment benefits. veegt do voting down unemployment benefits for people with children -- >> they talked about the only thing they care about -- tax cuts. >> we ought to extend all the current tax rates. we made it clear what we're interested in. >> and after months of this -- >> hell no, you can't! >> the soon-to-be speaker said this -- >> it's a shame the majority in congress dependent pass the budget, didn't pass any appropriations. >> and even on national security -- >> president obama tall called in the cavalry today to try to get the nuclear arms treaty ratified. >> based on consultation are jon kyl -- >> jon kyl said there's no chance this treaty gets passed

this year. >> the fight to repeal don't ask don't tell. >> that's a tough sell. >> the american auto industry is once again on the rise. >> republicans continue to attack the saving of general motors. >> we're talking about tens of thousandsç of americans who we punished. >> good evening from new york. i'm lawrence o'donnell. two days after the republicans got wiped out in the congressional election of 2006, president bush invited democratic leader nancy pelosi and steny royer to the white house where they had a very positive discussion about moving forward. president obama extended a similar post shellacking invitation to republicans to meet at the white house today. they declined because senate

majority leader had better things to do, like calling for the repeal of the health care bill. >> we're serious about repealing the health care bill. even as we vote to eliminate its worst parts. and we'll continue to fight nit the courts. >> of course, mcconnell is not serious about repealing the health care bill. in he had given any version of that silly little speech to the president in the white house meeting today, the president would have no doubt politely reminded him that his veto pen makes him more powerful than mcconnell ever will be. they also spent the day blocking unemployment benefits and trying to force a vote to take away federal funding from national public radio, which is 1/100 of

1% of the federal budget. meanwhile, the democratic lea r leadership showed up at the white house meeting. nancy pelosi told the president that house democrats remain committed to allowing the bush tax rates to expire for incomes over $250,000. while the president told senate majority leader reid that he is free to pursue compromise with the republicans in order to get a tax bill through the senate.ç joining me now are republican congressman john micah of florida. do republicans realize what a huge public relations mistake they made by not showing up at the white house meeting today. >> well, a huge public relations mistake has been made for the last two years of the entire obama administration and four years of democrat control. >> carson weiner, i've got to

say, from where i'm sitting, working great for you guys so far. this is shades of newt gingrich, you know, losing public relations battles with president clinton when he took over the house of representatives. did you think you were going to get luthis lucky this wyche quq? >> when the president calls and says let's get together, it's not only the polite thing to do, but if you're serious about governing, that's what adults do in washington. but i think part of this is they don't know who they are yet. are they the party that wants to sit down and solve problems, or do they want to detruconstruct everything and burn the play down. they have no idea what their message is. >> constituents of yours in your florida district says to you

what is going on, why wouldn't mitch mcconnell speak to the president when the president invited him to, how do you explain that to a constituent? >> well, first of all, the new congress doesn't meet until january 5. quite frankly, i'm going back tomorrow and tell my constituents i'm most disapointed that the folks in charge and the white house and the majority is that's now controlled by the democrats in both houses came back this week and didn't take care of the most important thing, and that is putting people to work. not just extending unemployment benefrs and doing it in a matter to add to the deficit, but there's no plan to deal with the tax uncertainty that every american is facing, and business is facing and won't begin hiring people until we settle. we should have done that this week and that's what we should be working on. >> congressman mica, let me get this straight.

unemployment benefits add to the deficit, but in your view tax cuts do not? >> no, we actually offered an alternative. there's plenty of money sitting around, stimulus money that hasn't been spent, other money and other accounts that hasn't been spent without adding to the deficit. listen, you must be on another planet because the people sent a very clear message, stop the spending, stop the deficits. we heard it. we heard it. >> congressman weiner, what did you want to hear coming from the white house meeting among the democratic leadership and the president on tax cuts? >> well, look -- >> tax rates. >> for one, i think it's pretty clear from the way the republicans have laifed this week, the best intention of the president to try to find compromise -- it's difficult to compromise with a group who don't know what they want or is frankly being stubborn about it. one of the places you come to an agreement on taxes is by sitting down at the white house and hearing what the ideas are. look, i think at a certain

point, you have to realize, bipartisanship compromise, they're a mean, not an end. to some degree, i think the spt learning what many of us in washington learned a long time ago, these republicans don't want to compromise. there's nothing they want to do. they just know what they're against, not what they're for. senator mcconnell in a rare moment of honesty made it clear what the republicans believe. they want to do everything possible to make sure the president of the united states, our president is a failure. that should never be your divining philosophy. >> in this the lame duck session of the house, if the leadership brings up a bill to extend the bush tax rates for all of the tax brackets except the top tax bracket and you are allow ed to vote yes or no on that bill, how will you vote on that bill? >> i heard your exception. my vote would be no. because i think we should -- >> so you would be votingç against a tax cut for all brackets except the top bracket.

you would vote know on that kind of tax cut? >> absolutely. >> and how would you justify that to your constituents, about 99% of whom live below the $250,000 tax bracket. >> well, some people just don't seem to get it, but it's the people who have the money, the money to invest in creating jobs and expanding the economies. and getting america going again. those the folks that need some tax certainty, somt tax breaks. we should. lowering our corporate rate. we're now one of the highest rates in the world. we see jobs going overseas, that's because our rates are high because government is putting additional controls and mandates on business. people in washington just don't get it. they would rather sit around and extend unemployment benefits, extend unemployment benefits. there's a better way and we can do it. >> congressman weiner, should the democrats force senators

like mica to make that vote? >> i have to tell you, in what mr. mica just said, and if you were paying attention, he said let's not give a break to people who are looking for work, who have children who are potentially not going to have christmas this year, but let's figure out a way to lower the corporate tax rate. so they voted no on providing unemployment insurance for people who frankly are going to be probably pushed into medicaid and probably on to public assistance. >> a more expensive program than unemployment insurance. >> 100%. >> wait, wait, didn't you hear what i just said. >> let me finish my thought. the problem, that i believe is honestly what the republicans believe. sna they believe lowering corporate rates is more important to deficit spend on than a relatively small amount of money to extend unemployment insurance. that's what i think president obama is going to have to deal with for the next two years which is why i think we need to dig in.

>> again, i didn't say we shouldn't extend unemployment deafç deficits. a very clear message was sent about increasing the debt. the debt is well over $14 trillion and growing. we could have done an extension, taken money that's sitting in accounts -- i mean, there's -- there's billions and billions of dollars sitting in stimulus accounts and other accounts that i could cite that hasn't been spent. so we don't have to end the deficit. we can also put people to work. people i talk to want a job. they just don't want another government unemployment check. and we can do that. anthony is a great guy. i would like to work with him. i think we could have a meeting of the minds and come together, but we should be constituesitti talking about positive solutions putting the country to work. then i don't have to even worry about the unemployment benefits. >> the d.r.e.a.m. act and don't

ask don't tell. >> we were elected for a full two-year term. we should be governing on our democratic principles. both of those things should pass. >> you're going to be the chairman of the transportation committee in the house. you have said that you think the tsa, the airport security has gone too far. how have they gone too far and what is your view of this new pat down system at the airports for people who don't go through the full body scans for fear of the radiation exposurexposure. >> well first of all, i a no for granting lower tuition to illegals. >> it does not do that, congressman. you can vote against it for another reason, but not that one. >> well, again, that's the way i interpret it. >> that's wrong. >> and again, that shouldn't be even on the agenda at this point. on the tsa matter, i think the

tsa has overstepped its bounds. i have no problems with using the body advance imaging or pat downs. but it shouldn't be done for primary screening. it should be targeted to people who pose a threat who set off some alarm on are only a watch ç list. people have already seen the videos of children, elderly and others. we've got to focus attention and our resources and technology and efforts for a small handful of bad guys instead of millions of americans who are trying to go about this country in a free and open manner. >> congressman john mica, republican of florida, thank you very much for joining us tonight. we're going to be following what you have to say about the airport security going forward in your committee. congressman anthony weiner, democrat from new york, thank you for joining us also. outrage over the new tsa patdowns at airports is growing. in orlando, officials there have dropped the tsa in favor of a

private security firm. coming up, we'll talk to an air traveler who set off this firestorm with the simple words don't touch my junk. and we will debate what led to the democrats' big defeat in the house in the midterms. a new poll out explains who turned away from the democratic party and why. [ male announcer ] in the past, landing an airplane was complicated, with a series of stepped altitude changes. [ air traffic controller ] okay, 245, proceed to your next cleared altitude. [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] today, truecourse flight management systems from ge

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sarah palin's endorsement power. it backfired big time in the alaska senate race, but worked in florida, and so far on "dancing with the stars." governor charlie crist will try to make sense of the palin factor and explain why he might pardon jim morrison before he leaves office. yes, that jim morrison. and the democrats' shellacking on november 2. a new poll says it was not disappointed liberals who drove the election night losses. ♪

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>> there is a new school of thought about why the democrats lost so many congressional seats in the midterm elections. simply put, they weren't liberal enough. the last time the democrats took this kind of shellacking in 1994, the undisputed conventional wisdom was they lost because they had been too liberal, having past gun control, having tried to pass a massive new health care plan, and having actually succeeded in passing the biggest tax increase in history. soon after that shellacking, president bill clinton actually publicly apologized for raising

taxes, and spent the remainder of his presidency as a minor editor of republican congressional governance. the conventional wisdom seems to remain the dominant school of thought on the recent midterm elections, but they weren't liberal enough theory continues to command attention on this network and on many blogs. joining me now to debate thissish shoo in the they weren't liberal enough corner, ari melburn and in the they were too liberal, john cowen from think way. you have a new poll out analyzing the election results. what did you learn from that? >> three things, lawrence. first of all, the dropper, the people who voted for obama but stayed home, they're -- >> why don't we call them the stay homers? >> they dropped out of our equation. those droppers aren't the

liberal activist base people said they were. they are split 40% of them are independents. that's one thing we learned.ç second thing we learned is the switcher, the people who went from voting for obama in '08 to voting for a republican in 2010. >> just the weirdest people. >> all over the place, those people, not only are they more moderate and conservative and independent, they didn't just move away because of the economy. they thought obama and democrats were too liberal. 64% of them said they're more liberal than i am. and the third thing we learned, and this is good news for viewers on your network, republicans and tea partiers thought they got a mandate? they did not. they got a chance. nothing more. bottom line, if we go further left, we're heading off the electoral cliff for the long run. >> go. >> where have i heard this before? >> here's the first problem with this poll. this is our starting point. it's only ten states. and if you look at nate silver's

analysis, seven of ten states had the highest enthusiasm gap. what that mean asks a bunch of people who voted for obama didn't turn out. the droppers or the dropouts or what have you. but if you look at place where is actually there was high obama turnout, which i would argue is much more important than the hypotheticals you're playing with, in colorado, senator michael bennett, who was an advocate for the public option, a new strong democrat. i don't know if he's super liberal. i was just say he's strong and bold and he won. and he won with 89% of the obama voters, three points higher than his opponent because he consolidated his base. he won. in washington state, senator murray who opposed the iraq war has been a strong, progressive advocate. i wouldn't say she's super liberal. i don't even know why you're so hung up on the terminology. i would say she turned out voters, 13-point obama edge. she won a tight race. we could look at a couple who won or we could play word games. >> a couple of points for you, ari.

first of all, the ten states were the ten battleground state where is the next election will be decided. they weren't random states. >> i want to add context on your poll. in our exit poll a 50-state poll. it said 56% of the voters thought the government was doing too much. and something like 30 -- and low 30s, government notç doing enough. which seems to be a larger version of what you're -- >> absolutely. a couple points on that. on the deficit, these switchers and droppers were boat concerned about the deficit. switchers, people who moved away from obama said the deficit was a serious problem, except 76% of them said democrats weren't serious about it. there is no disputing it. not just in our poll, but in all the evidence, people moved away from obama because they thought they were concerned with too much big government, too much spending. last point on this, ari, and this is again not in dispute. if liberals had turned out in 2010 in the same level they had in 2008, we still wouldn't have

gotten the house back. no one disputes that fact. >> right, because you're stuck on the l-word, which just reminds me so much of usually opponents of democrats, not democrats themselves. >> ari, let me give you -- i'm going to let you choose the vocabula vocabulary. when 56% of the voters say government is doing too much, what do you want to call it? you call it whatever you want. but we feel like that traditionally encompasses the concept of liberalism in government. the reason we try to use these adjectives is so that we can actually -- we understand it's more complex and human beings are more complex than that. you know, there are pro abortion tax cutters out there, and we get all that. but we use these adjectives to try to just be able to have a conversation about these voting blocs we're talking about. but what would you call it, the people who think government is doing too much. would you call them conservatives? >> i would call them people answering a framed question, which you're free to ask.

but here's the votes i would like at. if you look at mccain district, the democrats who won those districts, 9 out of 11 voted against obama's health care proposal. that's where i think you are on to something. it is true. those defensive positions, people who voted against health care -- >> let me get something straight. would you be okay with that as a democratic party strategist? this is the way you win in this district and we just want you to win because we need as many votes as possible for nancy pelosi as speaker? >> hold on, it's a two point and i granted youç a point. you're half right on the mccain districts. >> by the way, whenever you agree with the other side, you get to speak longer. >> that's unfair>> it goes both ways. >> you're half right. where you're wrong, dead wrong is in the wave districts. those are place where is democrats pak picked up in '06

or '08, regardless of how mccain did. and there, the democrats who were for obama's health care proposal did better than those who opposed it. i would argue to you we have to distinguish between defensive areas and the final point -- >> that sound like a good distinction. >> there are only 11 of those types of districts that democrats are left depending, whereas there are 40-some-obama districts that have republican members. i think you have some points here but i think you're overstating it. >> ari, here's my fundamental problem. i don't get how the left -- and i'm a democrat. i'm a good democrat. i don't know how the left can look at an election, we spent $1 trillion on health care, $800 billion on a stimulus package, reregulated washington and conclude that voters didn't think we went too much, they want us to get control of the deficit and come back to the

center. if we persist in believing that only going further left is the strategy to regain a majority, and by the way, to govern effectively, we're not going to govern effectively. that's not the core of our problems now and we're going to go further into the wilderness. >> we've got to go. we're going to continue this. it's going to continue for two year, i think. but i just want to get one label thing straight before you go. you referred to the left. what are you? you're a -- >> i'm a moderate democrat. >> and you see another group of democrats as being liberal democrats? >> i don't use it pejoratively. >> descriptively>> it's a proud word. i'm not using it the way the right wing uses it. >> it's a place on a scale. >> and that there's not meaningful distinctions between liberals and moderates is bogus. there are some commonalities, but there are very real differences and we ignore them to our peril. >> thank you both. the republican governors are meeting in california and the

power brokers are doing everything they can to get ijhael steele out of the leadership spot at the rnc. gor nor charlie crist joins me to talk about the revolt inside the republican party. and that bizarre shooting in wisconsin. a man shot his tv after watching bristol palin on "dancing with the stars" on monday. the last word investigative staff has talked to the local sheriff and there's more to the story than what's been reported so far. breaking news next. [ male announcer ] for fastidious librarian emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality. which meant she continued to have the means to live on... even at the ripe old age of 187.

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>> don't retreat. just reload. >> advice from sarah palin comes in the same week of a wisconsin man who fired a shotgun into his tv set after watching bristol palin on "dancing with the stars." >> kyle and lacy and jennifer and derek will face off against bristol and mark.ç >> people saying bristol's clearly unjustifiable success set the man off. but this happened monday before bristol advanced again on tuesday. the producer called the sheriff who handled the case. it turns out as usual, the truth is complicated. dave mahoney tells us he was already suffering from mental and emotional stress. he was also deeply upset with his family for hiding his guns. who wouldn't be?

and he was drinking. as he watched bristol dance on monday. he was outraged, believing she was still in the competition because the chud yens vote was obviously juiced by pay len supporters. his wife said it was enough to send him over the edge. he found the gun, shot the television and after a 15-hour standoff surrendered to the police. he's been charged with reckless endangerment. next week, she'll compete against the incomparable jennifer gray whose mother does not command a large voting bloc of fanatics. coming up, president obama took a lot of heat for bailing out the auto industry. today, gm is back in a big way. according to republicans we were going to be a socialist country by now because of that bailout. that's tonight's "rewrite."

and will charlie crist's last act as governor of florida be the pardoning of the doors front man jim morrison? governor crist is in the spotlight tonight. [ k. tyrone ] i'm an engineer. my kids say i speak a different language. but i love math and math and science develop new ideas. we've used hydrogen in our plants for decades. the old hydrogen units were very large. recently, we've been able to reduce that. then our scientists said "what if we could make it small enough to produce and use hydrogen right on board a car, as part of a hydrogen system." this could significantly reduce emissions and increase fuel economy by as much as 80%. [ male announcer ] an everyday moment can turn romantic anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day,

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in san diego today, republican governors from across the country got together for the republican governors conference. their ranks bolstered after this month's election, they're trying to shake the notion that their party is only for white men. one person that was absent is charlie crist. he's set to leave office in january after losing his race for senate to the florida's tea party candidate marco rubio. but before he does, he is considering at least one high profile pardon, a post humous

pardon of jim morrison. morrison died while his conviction was on appeal and still pending. in our spotlight tonight, governor charlie crist. your pals are all in san diego. you are, i guess, a recovering republican governor. >> recovered. >> or recovered. what is it? why aren't you there? don't you feel that you have lesson, having been elected as a republican governor, having flun a republican primary for a senate seat, that then moved you into the world of the independent. don't you have experiences that you want to bring to them and say guys are going off track? >> certainly you could share those kinds of thoughts and information, but i would rather be here with you tonight. >> the only republican governor who wouldç rather be here with me. >> well, actually independent governor. for the facts. but it's a pleasure to be here, it really is. i think what's happened in the republican party, certainly the

right wing of the party is that it's gone very hard right. there's no question about it. i'm a fiscal conservative and a social moderate. and i really believe that's what the country is today. and i think the direction it will end up going, but we've had a pretty strong swing this year. and, you know, i've suffered from it on election night, and credit to my opponent marco rubio. i hope he does a good job and i believe that he will. but it is what it is. but being hard right saying you wouldn't do anything with president obama is what you had to do to be elected. i would stand up to the president when he was doing something uh i didn't agree with, but i also stood with him, and that was my sin, when he came to ft. meyers florida and i thanked him for coming and helping our economy and trying to get things back to work in the sunshine state in the country. >> analyze the florida vote for me. there's a lot of surprise about marco rubio, clearly a candidate in the eyes of democrats is threatening to social social security, he's willing to try things with social security that

would obviously reduce benefits and florida is thought of as the social security state. you have all those retirees down there and people expect them to vote very reflexively on social security issues. they didn't seem to vote that way this time. what was going on inside the social security debate in that senate race? >> i think it really depends on how you look at the in um bers, lawrence. in our race, it was a three-way, obviously. you had the republican marco rubio, the democrat and the republican. if you look at what i and the republican received, that was the majority. you know, it is what it is. and, you know, we have a u.s. senator who's a bright young fellow, but didn't get a majority of the vote in the sunshine state that has a significant amount of senior citizens. so it seems congressman meek and i split the vote. >> jim morrison has been dead for decades. he was convicted of indecent exposure in florida during a

concert. apparently, according to the court's finding, expose poezing himself. even there, the evidence is questionable. there's no real photograph of it and all çthat. what makes his case of interest to you to the point you're actually considering it, given that if we're going for posthumous pardons, surely there's more important than jim morrison. >> things that come to your desk you deal with. this was brought to my december act number of years ago. the more i looked into the case, the more briefings i got about what happened that evening, the less and more flimsy the evidence appeared to be. i'm a former attorney general. i believe in justice. i believe we need to do what's right when you have the opportunity to do so .. because the people were kind enough to elect me four years ago, i sit there now. >> it was a time when strippers

were on stage in florida. >> they're probably still there tonight. >> well, yeah. do you understand how he could have even ended up getting prosecuted for this at that time? >> i think it was a sign of the times to a degree. anita bryant was around. they had a huge meeting at the orange bowl to say, you know, what was decent, what was indecent. the fact of the matter is this, there were no photographs that showed him, you know, being indecent. there was no video. and when you talk to members of the band, they will testify to the fact that there was no indecent exposure that actually occurred. the guy went and took his case on appeal. while he was appealing the case, he dies tragically in paris, france. and before the appeal and the conclusion could come to bear, there was no result opinion when i became attorney general, my predecessor told me something very important. it's very important to prosecute the guilty but more important to champion rate the innocent. that's why i'm here. >> governor crist, thank you for

joining us tonight. >> my pleasure, thank you. >> general motors is back on the u.s. stock market, thanks to the auto bailout. in tonight's rewrite, didn't republicans tell us it would lead us down the path to socialism? and later, the patdown uproar at the nation's airports. isle be joined by the man who voiced the rallying cry, don't touch my junk. [ male announcer ] if you think you can only charge your things the same old way... consider this: things just got beautifully simple. introducing the duracell mygrid™. simple and smart. it's mygrid™.

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>> president obama's bailout of the auto industry was roundly criticized by republicans. it would be a disaster, a sinkhole for government money. in tonight's rewrite, the facts proved the naysayers wrong, not ppá they would ever admit that. and later, the patdown problem for the tsa. we'll talk to the passenger who started the uproar against the new procedure ahead on "the last word."

>> film tonight's "rewrite." let's go back to the summer of 2009 when the attack machine was aimed at president obama for rescuing general motors. june 1 of last year, john boehner said this -- does anyone really believe that politicians and bureaucrats in washington can successfully steer a multinational corporation to economic viability? it's time for the administration to fully explain what the exit strategy is to get the u.s. government out of the board room once and forç all. also on june 1 of last year, this from south carolina senator

jim demint. billions have been wasted and tens of thousands of jobs have been lost. now the government has forced tax pairs to buy these failing companies without any plausible plan for profitability. does anyone think the same government that plans to double the national debt in five years will turn gm around in the same time? again, on june 1, we heard this from republican national committee chairman michael steele -- no matter how much the president spins gm's bankruptcy as good for the economy, it is nothing more than another government grab of a private company and another handout to the union kroen knows who helped bank roll his presidential campaign. this is the real change president obama has in mind for america -- government ownership of our economy, financed with irresponsible and reckless government spending and debt and no jobs to show for it.

other republican lawmakers called it a disaster, the president's, quote, war on capitalism, and, quote, the road to socialism. instead, about 16 months after the president used socialism to stop the bleeding of capitalism, this was the scene at the new york stock exchange this morning. the opening bell cut short for the sound of a roaring chevy camaro engine, with gm's newest model lined up outside, they returned to the board with an initial public offering topping $20 million, making it the biggest ipo in american history. the biggest, bigger than ups, kraft foods, at&t wireless, even bigger than visa. so to answer mr. boehner's question from last june, does anyone really believe that politicians and bureaucrats in washington can successfully

steer a multinational corporation to economic viability? let's go today's headlines. from "the new york times," gm shares surge on market debut.ç "the wall street journal," gm shares rise in return to market. rueters, general motors riding high with ipo and chevy volt. and as for the claims from michael steele and jim demint, billions of wasted, tens of thousands of jobs lost and government ownership of our economy f.m. financed with reckless government spending and debt and no jobs to show for it? well, the president had something to say about that this afternoon. >> american workers are back at the assembly line manufacturing the high quality, fuel-efficient, american-made cars of tomorrow. capable of going toe to toe with any other manufacturer in the world. in fact, there were plenty of doubters and nay sars who said

it couldn't be done, were willing to throw in the towel and read the american auto industry that i shall last rites. it would have also resulted in economic chaos. >> so mr. steele, mr. boehner, senator demint, here's your rewrite. repeat after me -- way to go, mr. president. you saved the american auto industry. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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♪ she seems to have an invidable attraction ♪ ♪ she reaches in and grabs right ♪ ♪ hold of your heart >> john tyner was passing through san diego airport security. after refusing the advanced imaging full body scan, the tsa agent notified him he would receive a patdown. john recorded on his cell phone camera what happened next.

>> okay, i'm going to be doing a standard patdown on you today using my hands, going like this along your body. also, we're going to be doing a groin check. that mean i am sorry going to place my hand on your hip and the other hand on your inner thigh and slowly go up. i'm going to do that two times in the front and two times in the back and if you would like a private screening we can make that available for you also. >> we can do that out here, but if you touch my junk, i'm going to have you arrested. >> since that time, it's been viewed on youtube and tsa announced that john faces fines up to $11,000. join meg now, the man who recorded that video, john tyner, and civil liberties tallest and loudest ally comedian penn jillette. what are you charged with here? how do you face a fine of

$11,000? >> there haven't actually been any charges at this point, but it's my understanding that the charge would be leaving the airport after entering the screening area without completing the screening process. >> and my understandi ining is you're in the screening process, you can leave, but it is a little bit like going through a stop sign. they can also write you a ticket for that and you can get an effective fine in the mail for it? >> yeah, that's my understanding, it's a civil charge, not a criminal one. i even read on tsa's website, you can opt out of it and leave, but at least on the website, they don't mention this fine, but it's my understanding that at least now if you leave, you might be subject to a fine. >> let's listen to what tsa director john pistol told the senate committee yesterday about the reasons for these patdowns. >> when i cameç onned a administrator in july, i looked at what we were doing to address

the threat posed by the 12/25, the underwear bomber. one of the things they found as a common denominator was when they were able to get through the covert testing were able to get through security, it was largely because we were not being thorough enough in our patdowns. >> penn, your reaction? >> i -- mine are all not practical, but rather philosophical. i think that we should have more freedom and always going for more freedoms is a good idea. i think it is security theatre. it doesn't really protect us. eight years ago, i was going on a flight and they reached up and reached around my crotch without asking me. now, everybody knows that anyone can touch my crotch that wants to, but i want to be asked first. you know? >> you're so old fashioned that way. >> you don't need movies. don't take me to a movie or dinner, i just want to be asked first. they just reached up and grabbed

and i asked the police there if that was assault. and i think when john says, you know, don't touch my junk, if they go further, i think that's assault, and he should at least be able to split. i would also like to think that live free or die still meant something and we cared about freedom. but if we're not going to care about freedom, at least let a guy split who doesn't want his crotch grabbed. >> john, i want you to listen to what congressman john mica said on this show earlier tonight. >> sure. >> i think the tsa has overstepped its bounds. i have no problems with using the body advanced imaging or patdowns. but it shouldn't be done for primary screening, it should be targeted to people who pose a threat, who set off some alarm or on a watch list. >> now john, he is the republican who's going to be chairman in the new congress of the transportation committee. that sounds like, i think, from your perspective, possibly a voice of reeson from a voice of

congress. >> i tend to agree with what he had to say. i don't think people should be subjected to a virtual strip search whenç there's no probab cause or reasonable suspicion for it. >> now penn, you move through airports, recognized, i think, most of the time, as the great celebrity, unthreatening celebrity that you are. but still, you can't resist beating up on the tsa whenever you get a chance. do you get special treatment going through because they know who you are? >> when i wrote about this eight years ago, they tried to give me special treatment, and i didn't want it. they asked me, and i don't know if they would ever do this now, but they actually took me aside after i said i would like to talk to the police and said if you just call us in advance when you're going to fly, we can make this much easier for you, penn. but since then, i'm carrying the security edition of the metal copy of the bill of rights.

it will set off the alarm. then you can actually say to them oh, i'm sorry, take my rights. >> it's the bill of the rights written on metal so that it will set off the screening alarm. >> yeah, it's the security edition. >> yeah. so then they ask you what's that. and you say oh, it's my rights, you can take it. it accomplishes nothing whatsoever. it's strictly performance art. it's for yourself, it's so that every time you go through tsa, you remind yourself, this is what i'm giving up. it will not accomplish anything. it won't get you through faster or slower, it won't change the law. but you're able to say that sentence that's so important to say. >> john tynering are you holding up one of these things, too? >> yeah, i've got one also. >> so wait, were you looking for trouble, john tyner, when you went through that? >> no.