good evening tonight from new york breaking news out of wisconsin. results are coming in for the recall election primaries being held in six districts. the senate seats are currently held by republicans, and the state's gop has admitted to putting fake democrats to challenge the real ones. at this hour we report that all real democrats are leading the fake democrats. in district 2, real democrat nancy nusbaum defeated the bogus democrat. we'll keep you up to date throughout the show on the republican attempt to thwart

democrat stee in the badger state. first, the debt ceiling negotiations, republicans have caved. the president is still pushing for his grand bargain. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. i would advocate that we past legislation giving the president the authority, the authority to request of us an increase in the debt ceiling. >> republicans have caved thanks to pressure from fat cat donors. will the president seize on the opportunity? reaction from congresswoman donna edwards and senator sheldon whitehouse. >> raising tax is not, is not a smart idea in the current economic client. >> rupert murdoch, today reports that news corp made bill ons on taxes over the past four years. it's the undercover video everybody is talking about.

we have the guy who shot it ntsd the bachmann clinics, attempts to cure gay people. it's an ed show exclusive. mitch mcconnell and john boehner are getting hammered by the tea party for buckling on the debt ceiling debate. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has proposed a deal to allow the debt ceiling to go up and take cuts to the big three off the table. mcconnell late today put out his last chance plan. >> i would advocate that we pass legislation giving the president the authority, the authority to request of us an increase in the debt ceiling that would take us past the end of his term. that is what he has said. he said he will not sign a debt ceiling that does not take us past the end of his term. >> so mcconnell's plan would allow republicans to vote

against the debt increase, but it would allow the president to increase the debt. the downside for the righties? cuts to the big three would be off the table. that's been their mission all along. the tea party jumped all over mcconnell, right wing blogger eric rashgson said mitch mcconnell is making a historic capitulation. consider sending mcconnell a weasel. john boehner is on board with the senate leader mcconnell. he ran over to fox news and did major cya. >> i think everybody believe there is needs to be a backup plan if we cannot come to an agreement, and i think mitch has done good work. >> backup plan? at the very same time, boehner was whining on fox, judd stone phillips founder of the tea paerlt nation was taking it to him on msnbc. >> john boehner should step down and let a real conservative step up there, because all he wants to do is haul up his freshly

laundered white flag of surrender early and often. >> that with reverend al sharpton earlier tonight. boehner and mcconnell proved they don't care about the tea party. republicans take their marching orders from who? wall street. today the president and all members of congress received a letter from 470 u.s. business leaders including nearly 400 ceos of leading american companies. the letter said, it is critical that the united states government not default in any way on its fiscal obligations. even tom donahue with the chamber of commerce is leaning on republicans to take the deal. boehner and mcconnell have been outmaneuvered and ripped by their fat cat supporters. they have no other choice but to lay down their arms at it this point. the president is also feeling the heat to take the deal. scott pelley of cbs news asked the president about the consequences of default earlier tonight.

>> can you tell the folkses at home no matter what happens the social security checks go out on august 3rd? there are 20 $20 billion that have to go out the day after the government is supposedly going into default. >> this is not just a matter of social security checks. these are veteran checks and folks on disability and their checks. they're about 70 million checks that go out each month. >> can you guarantee those checks go out on august 3rd? >> i cannot guarantee those checks go out on august 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue, because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it. >> social security has never been in more danger, but it's obvious mcconnell has no interest in working with president obama on anything anymore. >> i hope the economists are wrong, and that our economy will continue to grow over the next year and a half to buy us time to tablg the problems we face. after years of discussions and

months of negotiations, i have little question that as long as this president is in the oval office, a real solution is probably unattainable. >> pelley asked the president to respond to mcconnell's statement from the floor. >> mr. mcconnell said the day i was elected that his job was to try to see me beat. what the american people are looking for is not that kind of partisan politics, and i'm offering a way for us to finally solve this debt and deficit problem in a serious way with substantial cuts in discretionary spending, stall cuts in defense spending, substantial changes to entitlements like medicare and social security that would stabilize those programs and make them available for the next generation, and what i'm asking in return from the republicans is that people like myself, who can afford it, put a little bit of revenue in so that we don't end having to put the entire

burden of dealing with this debt on the backs of american families and seniors and students and poor kids. >> and the question for liberals tonight is, is that a fair deal? democrats on capitol hill are still pretty furious with the president putting 4 trillion worth of cuts on the table. earlier tonight i was told 77 house democrats were signed onto a letter promising not to stroet for any cuts to social security, medicare and medicaid. the president has made a calculated risk basically using the american people as a bargaining chip, and he has won this round. there's no doubt about that. at this hour there's really no indication he's going to take the mcconnell deal. mr. president, don't take it, not yet. let them implode. we are now seeing the real divide between the republican party between those that kind of have their heads screwed on right. we'll find out how revolutionary the tea partiers want to be.

let us them divide further down the road. cantor and boehner are offscript big-time, so let them wallow in this a little bit. in the other camp, the democrats, was it political theater that president obama really wanted $4 trillion worth of cuts and that's the only deal he would take? that would hurt a lot of people, a lot of people on fixed incomes. that in my opinion was a bridge too far, especially for just getting a meche asley tax increase. tonight's question, should president obama accept mitch mcconnell cave-in? you can go to our blog and comment at ed.msnbc.com. we have the results later in the show. joining us tonight is senator whitehouse of rhode island and congresswoman donna edwards of

maryland. great to have you both tonight. senator whitehouse, you introduced a resolution to take cuts to social security and medicare and medicaid, those been fitsz benefits off the table. do you think the president should take mcconnell's offer at this point? what do you think? >> i think it's too early to tell. the devil is going to be in the details of that offer. any offer that comes from a minority leader who's avowed primary purpose is not to solve the deficit problem, not to deal with the war in afghanistan, not to bring jobs back to the american economy, but to cause the president of the united states not to be re-elected, any proposal from somebody in that mode is something that's going to take a little close scrutiny before you sign onto it. >> mcconnell has lost credibility with you?

>> it's a question of what his priorities are, and if that's his priority, then thing that is he proposes need close scrutiny. i don't want to kick the idea to the curb. it could be a solution to this, but we need to see the details. >> congresswoman edwards, $4 trillion is a heck of a lot of money. are you one of the 77 that signed off to this letter that keith ellisson told me about today? >> i have. my principle concern is about cuts to medicare and social security. i made that very clear and sent a letter last week to the president telling him that what i want to be clear about is we don't do anything that con strains the president's hands. i'm looking forward to hear from him about his response to the mcconnell proposal. what i will say is republicans are all over the map. i think in fairness to the president he doesn't know with whom to negotiate. does he he negotiate with boehner, who seems to not control his conference?

does he negotiate with mcconnell, who only carries a little minority in the senate? >> would your advice to the president right now be patient on this offer? >> i think this time requires a lot of patience. i know what i think those of us that voted for a clean deblt ceiling that doesn't con strain the president and carries us forward over this next couple of years, year and a half period. we've done that. i'd like to see the republicans put on the table a clean debt ceiling vote, because that's the responsible thing to do. >> john boehner said the debt limit is the president's problem. here's that sound bite. >> when is the president going to lay his cards on the table? this debt limit increase is his problem, and i think it's time for him to leave by putting together something the congress can pass. >> senator, what's your reaction to that? >> we've tried plan after plan. the most recent one has been the democratic senate budget, which

actually provides more deficit reduction than even the house republican plan, which does it fairly. even steven between revenues and spending cuts, and which importantly protects social security and protects from any medicare benefit cuts. so there's a way to do it. it's not hard to do. the problem has not been a lack of initiative by the president. the problem has been this absolute, extreme intrans gent on the republican side and the inability to get their own house in order and their own interest groups speaking to the same tune. >> the other day, senator, the white house made the statement that they thought that they were on the high ground right now. does that appear apparent to you tonight? >> well, i think if they keep social security protected, that will leave the high ground. i think there's a real danger of slipping on social security and i would urge that there is a website

nosocialsecuritycuts.com. anybody who wants to become a citizen co-sponsor of a resolution against cutting social security benefits can just go to nosocialsecuritycuts.com and make their own voices heard in this debate. >> what's your response to mr. boehner saying the debt problem is the president's problem? >> it's very disappointing. the problem of raising the debt ceiling to meet the full faith and credit obligations in the united states as the president has acknowledged is an american problem and requires all of our leaders on the same page about doing that. so i think it's really irresponsible, and it may show a little bit of bad faith in approaching this and now coming up with some secret deal contingency plan. we need leaders of good faith on the line for the american people. raise the debt ceiling and meet the obligations for medicare and social security benefits. >> do you have more faith in the president tonight than a few nights ago?

do you feel like he's not throwing the black caucus under the bus? >> i think the president has had and rightly so a strong message and unified message from the democrats in the house of representatives about our desire to protect medicare, social security, and medicaid from benefits cuts, especially while the 2 percenters get away with the rest of us bear the burden. the president is a strong hand right now. he understands this is not about politics but obligations. >> $4 trillion is a lot of money. if the republicans took at that deal that would hurt a lot of folks. great to have you with us tonight. i appreciate your time. let's turn to huffing ton post editor sam stein. how big of a divide is this to the republican party, and how upset are the tea partiers? >> they're not happy. i think the eric eriksson post you quoted at the top of the show is the tip of iceberg.

a lot of people in the republican caucus are displeased mitch mcconnell went there. it is a blink. it shows that the republican caucus was not seriously going to let the debt limit be hit, which as a practical economist would argue is a great thing, but from a pure political standpoint has really opened up mcconnell and by extension john boehner to criticism from their own caucus. >> the republican candidates for president, all of them want the nomination, and they're weighing in tonight. newt gingrich tweeted mcconnell's plan is an irresponsible plan to government. mitt romney put out this statement. mitt romney does not believe the federal debt limit should be raised without tieing it to spending cuts, budget caps and a balanced budget amend. ment. how can the president take advantage of this? >> he can by holding out. while it was painful for democrats and progressives to see he him propose a $4 trillion

package, right now he has the posture of look like the only serious person in the room. on top of that he has a plant to goes further. from the white house's vantage point, that's political gold for them. they want to hit these independent voters. they think this is the way to do it. you might argue it's not. that's a perfectly reasonable argument. >> how does the president or the democrats go against 80% of the american people? they have a fat number on their side. they can do anything they want as long as they protect the big three. so i think they've been on pretty solid ground throughout all of this. they got the people behind them, and now this divide is taking place. >> i think you're right. i think there's a way that the white house could have framed this where they would have been the champions of medicare as opposed to the slashers of medicare. the preservers of social security. they didn't play that card, and

i think we could look back and say it was a strategic error on their part. >> thanks, sam. good to have you with us tonight from the huffington post. remember to answer the question at the bottom of the screen. the clinic owned by presidential candidate michele bachmann has taken government aid. they show a discredited that i remember to cure homosexuality. it's primary day in wisconsin according to the milwaukee sentinel, fake republican otto junkerman has been defeated. what will it it mean to scott walker's anti-worker agenda? you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc. stay with us. announcer ] one in two people will get gingivitis. thankfully, there's new crest pro-health clinical gum protection toothpaste. it helps eliminate plaque at the gumline, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. new crest pro-health clinical toothpaste. life opens up when you do. of these abandoned racetracks in america today.

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the latdest results out of wisconsin. the republican plan to steal elections has gone up in flames. it's been a rough night at the office for otto junkerman and his cronies on the republican side. all real democrats are leading fake democrats in the state senate primaries.

i know it it sounds strange, folks. this is unfolding in wisconsin. john nicholls of the nation is all over the story tonight. he's waiting in the wings and will keep us up to date with the latest numbers as they dmom. next, the undercover video from the clinic owned by presidential candidate michele bachmann and her husband. would you like to have a look at a map, my lad? ah, why not? shall we check on the status of your knighthood? yes. again? yes, again, please! thank you. with my digital manservant, i'll never be homesick again. would you like me to put the kettle on, sir? no, i'd like you to get rid of that ostrich. it's been here a month. [ male announcer ] think, type, go. with just type. only on the new hp touchpad with webos.

inside the bachmann clinic just when you thought you heard it all. presidential candidate michele bachmann likes to rail against government spending. she does it all the time.

we know the clinic owned by the congresswoman and her husband, they have gotten more than $160,000 in government aid. now an undercover video seems it to show the clinic practicing repairive therapy, which is a completely discredited therapy to turn gay people straight through prayer. our next guest here on the ed show tonight posed as someone seeking to rid himself of his hoax homosexual urges. here the exschang after the counselor asked about the last time he was attracted to a woman.

>> michele bachmann's husband marcus bachmann has denied that his clinic practices repair active therapy. they say it's a christian counseling center. congresswoman bachmann won't answer questions about the repair repair repairive therapy and is it conducted at that center? >> i'm running for the presidency of the united states, and i'm here today to talk about job creation and also the fact that we do have a business that deals with job creation. we're very proud of the business that we created. >> let's bring in the director of communications for truth wins

out, john becker. john, good to have you with us tonight here on the program. what were you trying to accomplish on this mission? what did you want to do? >> we wanted to see for ourselves whether or not the clinic that's owned by marcus and michele bachmann engages in repairative therapy which is a discredited practice that purporting falsely do change people from gay to straight. we felt rumors were unconfirmed for long enough. >> hu ever done anything like this before? >> personally, no, i had not. this is my first experience. >> you go into this eyes wide open. was it it hard to comprehend what he was saying and capture everything you wanted to capture? >> what i tried to do myself was to put myself back into the mental place i was at when i was a teenager. i struggled to come to terms with my own sexual orientation. it was a little daunting, but it

it helped me to kind of understand it and talk with him a little bit. you know, i had to really try to direct the questioning to get what we needed to know. >> did you think that they were engaging in repairative therapy? >> absolutely without a doubt. the treatment and advice i was given meets the bar for that. >> let's play another part of the undercover video that you recorded. here it is. >> do you think it's possible >> you provided nbc news with a good deal of this footage. was it clear that this counselor in your mind was clearly using the technique of repairative therapy? >> absolutely. that's why i asked him several times is it possible to be free of same-sex attraction?

that promise for the potential of change is a very key component to the therapy. >> how eye-opening is this to you and the gay community in america? >> it's very eye-opening. sometimes because we live in the 21st century, it's difficult to imagine there's a large segment of our society that still believes that homosexuality can be removed. >> this therapy is widely discredited, but was the counselor doing anything illegal in your opinion? >> i don't have any legal training, so i guess i leave that to the sharper minds than myself to sort out. certainly i was never -- i was never given any informed consent document to sign outlining the risks of repairtive therapy, including elevated suicide like gay affirm active therapy. i was never informed of that and nobody at clinic told me it has no basis on research. i don't know about the legality of it it, but ethic cali it's

shaky ground. >> what do you think this clinic says about congresswoman michele bachmann who wants to be president of the united states? >> i think it says that she holds a very, very dangerously archaic view of the gay population in the united states. that's very telling in terms of how the policy she would enact and the way she would deal with the community were she to become president. >> good to have you with us tonight. thank you for joining us. >> it was a pleasure. >> bill o'reilly is tells president obama not to raise taxes on the wealthy. maybe it's because his boss currently makes billions of dollars through what? tax loopholes. the republicans' light bulb legislation fames to pass the house. they team up for some dim-witted psycho talk. in wisconsin the bad news for

republicans keeps pouring in. they say another fake democrat has joined otto junkerman in the defeat column. john nicholls coming up with a lot of results and commentary. stay with us.

welcome back to "the ed show." we're teaming up with the national association of free clinics. together we would hold a clinic in august 29th in new orleans, louisiana and it's possible with your help.

the organization has previously held seven clinics. those clinics have helped thousands of folks get the health care they need. to make a donation or to learn more about volunteering at the new orleans clinic, you can visit their website at freeclinics.us. text the world health to the number 50555 to make a $10 donation by phone. we were going to have jim conklin on tonight to discuss his participation in all of the clinics that you've helped pay for, but due to the overwhelming breaking news of the wisconsin story and washington, we'll bring you that interview tomorrow night. we ask you to donate for a fabulous cause. don't cry for rupert murdoch. his company is plagued by a scandal, but he's still making billions of dollars on the backs of who? u.s. taxpayers. we're continuing to monitor the latest results out of wisconsin. bad news for workers rights in the badger state or big news for

workers rights in the state. a fourth fake democrat has gone the way of otto junkerman who is going walleye fishing tomorrow because he's not in the senate. >> announcer: this past year alone there's been a 67% spike in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones, public, private, even hybrid. your data and apps must move easily and securely to reach many clouds, not just one. that's why the network that connects, protects,

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president obama's making a huge mistake in trying to raise taxes now. why bother with that? just campaign on your economic position, mr. president, and if you get re-elected you can raise taxes later. >> here's the real reason. bill o'reilly and other fox newers don't want tax increases on the rich. under the current tax code, o'reilly's boss, rupert murdoch, makes money off the united states government. you can see here in the last four years murdoch's news corp made $10.4 billion in profit. how much, how much did the company pay in corporate income fax taxes? zero.

after refunds news corp actually made $4.8 billion. think about that the next time bill o'reilly says he's looking out for you and he says president obama is making a huge mistake raising taxes on the wealthy. joining me tonight is david k. johnson author of free lunch. he's also a columnist for rut terz and he wrote about rupert murdoch's hack profits. how did he manage this? he has to play all the angles on this one. how does he make money off the tax system? >> rupert murdoch says he became an american citizen became an expert how to play the tax system. while we have our taxes taken out of our paychecks before we get them, corporations have a whole different set of rules

they operate under. they can sometimes reach back five, 10, 15 years and delay into the future as much as 30-plus years their tax matters. murdoch has the third highest number of tax haven subsidiaries, only citigroup and morgan stanley have more subsidiaries and tax havens like the cayman islands than news corporation. >> obviously by o'reilly's commentary right there you have muir murdoch using his media outlet, but doesn't he have influence when it comes to politicians? what do you think? >> absolutely. rupert murdoch flew the opposition in britain in a corporate jet to australia to attend an event, and shortly after that tony blair became prime minister. he gets himself invited to parties, and he plays all sides

of the game here. you know, "the new york post" went after bill clinton vociferously but in 2006 when hillary clinton ran for re-election she had a fund-raiser hosted by rupert murdoch. >> do you think the republicans will get rid of the loopholes? they sound the alarm we're unfair and 35% of the corporate tax should be drap opped to 25%. >> that $4.8 billion that we as taxpayers turned over to rupert murdoch's company, we're out borrowing money and paying interest on it to give money to his company. so companies want this. it's free capital to them taken from the taxpayers, and look at from the taxpayers, and look at murdoch's newspapers constantly promoting.

we can't afford to provide nutrition for children and college education for isn't that right and ambitious young people and can't afford mid care sxaul the other programs. how come there's no mention that perhaps we can't afford to turn $4.8 billion over to murdoch instead of paying taxes from his company's profit science. >> pretty amazing stuff. great work again. david k. johnson. rupert murdoch makes a lot of money off u.s. taxpayers, but the phone hacking scandal is threatening his bottom line. the stock price is down more than 15% over the last weeks and calls to investigate news corp corruption charges are increasing the thinkprogress.org is asking visitors to sign a petition urging the justice department and securities exchange commission to probe murdoch's company for violating u.s. law. let's turn to mike, host of the show ring of fire and one of the best attorneys i've ever known. great to have you with us tonight. it doesn't get any juicier than this, does it?

does this go inside the building at fox news? how deep does this run? >> this is take story about the financial future as much as it is about prescribary and potentially criminal interference with investigations. yesterday they lost almost $3 billion in market capitalization because shrewd investors understand where this story can go. let me tell you where it can go. it's so bad that today they pumped $5 billion into buying up their own stock, ed. when a company does that, it's worried because they're in a free fall. that's what you see when you see a corporation do that. >> why isn't the justice department going after this one? >> unfortunately, the justice department doesn't have a very good record. eric holder has a terrible, pathetic record where it comes to going after white collar criminals. as a matter of fact they could under the foreign corporate

practices act, they have a shot clearly right here. they took a shot at a corporation called lindsay manufacturing in may. the jury came back, and they convicted him. unfortunately, this is a justice department that would rather throw a kid in jail for having an ounce too much pot than they would wall streeter who has stolen trillions of dollars from the american economy. so the way they look at rupert murdoch is no different, even though bribery occurred in the uk, news corp is an american company. they're responsible for that bribery that occurred in the uk because it's a foreign subsidiary. they could easily -- this department could easily go after rupert murdoch directly. months ago "the new york times" says this goes to rupert murdoch. you can bet it goes to rupert murdoch and involving potential perjury and corruption, it does involve potential bribery.

>> news corp gave a million dollar donation to the u.s. chamber of commerce and they've lobbied to get rid of anti-bribery laws. i don't know how the justice department can't make this connection, connect these dots. >> all they have to do is read the 45-page complaint that was filed by shareholders. his own shareholders are suing him because they're afraid of the corrupt practices that he is engaged in. they're afraid it's costing their corporation money. this is a corporation that in the last ten years has a negative 11% loss to shareholders, and shareholders are mad as hell about it. they sued rupert murdoch and said he needs to get out of the corporation because he runs this corporation like it's his private club instead of a business. >> if he out, what does that do to fox news, in your opinion? >> i think at this point, fox news, if you follow how they handle this, they think they're above this guy. you can't -- all day today and

tomorrow, you won't find fox news mentioning a word about this story because they know where it goes. i have to tell you something. right now on the internet people are asking real questions like, how far does this go? what did rupert murdoch know? was this more than shaking down politicians by tapping their phones. this is the best day rupert murdoch will have as this story goes forward. this is as good as it's going to get for rupert murdoch. when you live in a glass house and you throw rocks at your enemies for deck kasd, you can expect a damn rock shower to come back at you. that's what rupert murdoch is getting ready to experience. >> mike, always a pleasure. congresswoman marcia blackburn hates the new light bulb efficiency standards and she see thinks there's a great metaphor for the administration. bush signed it into low aw.

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breaking news out of wisconsin. all real democrats have defeated their fake democratic opponents, and most of them have won by wide margins. fake democrat otto junkerman has been defeated by more than 30 points. more on this story in just a few moments, and up next a major republican setback in the war on light bulbs. host: do people use smartphones to do dumb things? man 1: send, that is the weekend. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party?

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in psycho talk tonight, i want to tell bu a psycho vote that took place in the house today. republicans think that the biggest threat to america right now is this right here.

it's the light bulb. you got to watch out for this sucker. you see, republicans haven't done squat about jobs, but light bulbs, let me tell you, they're a priority. smoky joe tried to repeal the standards established in the 2007 law. barton's bill failed but they got together with congresswoman michelle blackburn to lobby for votes. >> will it be lights out for the incandescent light bulb? today the house is sets to vote on repealing the ban that forces americans to buy the mother energy efficient bulbs. we don't need the light bulb police. >> people feel this is a great metaphor for the government outreach. they're filled with mercury and don't work. like the obama administration, they're too expensive to afford. >> really? the problem with the great metaphor is a republican

congresswoman wrote the law and w signed it. so as for all the hollering about how expensive the pigtail bulbs are, i have a quick math lesson. don't worry. it's easy. i'll even use fox numbers na that they put up yes, sir. a regular incandescent light bulb costs 60 cents. the pigtails runs $3.40, but the pigtail lasts up to ten times as long as the old kind. so here's where the math comes in. at 60 cents a pop, you could spend six bucks on 10 of these babies. that's right. or $3.40 on this one, the old pigtail kind to take over america. plus, you save more money on your electric bill because the pigtail bulbs like this use less energy.

for steve and marcia of tennessee to be completely in the dark about the issue is twisted seek psycho talk. the latest election results out of wisconsin, all fakers are out. they've been defeated. what does this mean for governor walker's union busting agenda? we'll visit with john nicholls. he he has the story next. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one!

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as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if pradaxa can reduce your risk of a stroke. wisconsin republicans failed in their attempt to derail the democrats' recall effort. over the course of the hour five fake democrats joined them in defeat defeat. this sets up the real recall elections on august 9th, and we'll be there to cover it in madison. john nicholls is here to break more of the story down in a moment. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea,

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welcome back. finally tonight i've been saying for months it's all about wisconsin when it comes to workers' rights. the results are in. a real primary of fake candidates took place tonight. at stake the balance of the state senate in an opportunity to talk on scott walker's union busting agenda. this is a big hurdle for the democrats tonight. six republican state senators are facing recall elections. today their democratic challengers in districts all across the state were forced into primarying after republicans went out and recruited to challenge those democrats. it's part of the gop strategy to sabotage the recall effort, to deplete the resources and give them more time to organize. now the republicans have claimed

all along that their anti-worker legislation was all about the budget and fiscal responsibility. this latest move is costing the taxpayers $50,000 per primary. republicans also tried to use last minute voter suppression tactics today. one right wing group sending out robocalls earlier telling registered democrats not to vote today because the absentee ballot is in the mail. democrats need to win three seats to take control of the state senate and roll back the agenda put out by the republicans in wisconsin headed up by governor scott walker. joining us tonight is washington correspondent for the nation magazine john nicholls. what's your take on the results tonight? this has to be viewed as a big night for the democrats. >> this is a very big deal, ed. the reps recruited fake candidates, and then they said,

we're not going to campaign. we just wanted to put them on the ballot to delay things. in the last 36 hours before the elections, they spent thousands of dollars on robocalls, e-mails, placing signs around polling places and aggressive campaigning. you effectively saw the democratic and the republican operations in play in these primaries. the results tell the story. the democratic candidates won as much as 70% of the vote. many of them winning in the 60s as well. this was a very, very good night for democrats and a real signal that they appear to be ready for the august elections. >> what kind of turnout did you see in wisconsin today, and what does it mean for the general election in august? >> the turnout was much higher than many expected. we've never had elections in july in wisconsin. it's never happened like this before, so people didn't know what to expect. in all of these districts you had tens of thousands of people coming to vote. there were lines at some polling places. we don't know the exact percentage of turnout yet, but it was a good, solid one.

in some of the districts very substantial. it does suggest that the excitement about this fight, this battle over scott walker's agenda, is still very much in play across wisconsin. >> how resourceful are the democrats going into the august election, august 9th, which we're there to cover it? did this deplete resources in your opinion? >> it did. look, money had to be spent, and especially at the end, the democrats had to scramble to make sure they didn't have a fake democrats come through. but i think these primaries turned out to be the good. former former attorney general said that at the end of the night, all the real democrats came out as winners and that's the headline for tomorrow. it's not bad news. >> knowing these results, do you believe that the republicans will lose control of the senate

in a month? >> i think it's going to be one of the fights of the century, ed, and i happen to believe that because of the 65, 70% wins by the real democrats there's a genuine possibility that control of the state senate in wisconsin will flip, and that this still will again see checks and balances on an extreme republican governor. >> next week, three democratic state senators face elections, two are in primaries, one state senator dave hansen faces a general election. what do you expect out of that? >> i think dave hansen will win his race. he has a weak republican running gets him. in those two primaries, those will be republican primaries. i think it's going to be -- i think the democrats are going to post their first win next week. >> we'll see you in madison on august 9th. john nicholls of "the nation" great to have you president obama has republicans close to surrender.