good morning, i'm michael smirconish sitting in for chris matthews. the gender gap is a war on women and mitt romney will lose the election if he can't close a growing gender gap. so head of the rnc who said today the gender gap exists only in media fiction and then he worked in caterpillars into the quote. this certainly didn't help with women. the dnc has only been too eager to take advantage. mitt, it happens. how did it come to this? the most conservative republican party now dominated by tea partiers is about to moderate the most liberal candidate in the field. might we see the kind of blood letting that hasn't happened in the republican party since the

goldman wipeout since '64? could that send the republican party even further to the right in 2016? and the obama party will go after romney because he is a mormon. really? where is the evidence of that? and "to kill a mockingbird" is going to be in a screening at the white house tonight. we'll talk about why the movie and its themes remain so relevant today. and let me finish tonight with a crime, the death penalty, and a question of justice. we begin with the rnc chairman's comments about the war on women. susan page is washington bureau chief for usa today, and howard feinman is huffington post media group. he's also public analyst. previs was asked about the attraction to women voters. >> the government said we have a war on caterpillars and then we would have problems with

caterpillars. the fact of the matter is it's a fiction. >> susan page, it's all your fault. what brought you to this conclusion? >> you know, it's -- i know that the chairman didn't mean to compare women to caterpillars in an insulting way, he meant to compare, you know, the democratic charge in an insulting way to insects. but a poor choice of words, i think he would acknowledge. it's very etch a sketch like. he's trying to make another point, but the image is such that he gets himself wrapped up in a whole new controversy. >> bugs aside, there is some substance that lies behind, you know, the charge there is a gender gap and the democrats very quick to jump on the comments. take a look at this clip from david axelrod who said from the department of clueless, women are charged by the media.

>> it's hugely significant and previs was clueless, and i was e mailing this afternoon with some of the same people at the obama headquarters, and the reason they're pretty confident right now is the fact there is at least an 18-point gender gap between president obama and mitt romney and between the democrats and the republicans in the polling right now. 18 points. that's huge. and that's something that gives the democrats and the obama campaign confidence and something they're going to try to build on and something that comments like the republican chairman just may call -- >> i have that to which you refer. look at the incredible numbers from a new usa today gallup poll asked about the race, there was a big gender gap.

obama and mitt romney in a virtual tie, but women support obama by an 18-point lead. what specifically do you think lies behind that data? >> i think we find men and women have different priorities. we asked men what their top priority was. they ranked debt and deficit there. women ranked health care. women have a different view of the economy. women are very concerned about the economy, to be sure, but it's women often dealing with health care, putting gas in the car, buying food at the grocery store, sending their kids off to college and affording tuition. we also found the debate over contraception is not the sole driver of this but it is a factor. one out of four women said that issue is extremely important to determining their vote. other issues are more important, but that's women saying they really are interested in that

debate. >> according to that recent survey in 12 swing states, men and women prioritized the issues differently. for men, the most important issue, deficit/national debt reduction, gas prices, health care, international issues, unemployment. and the government policies on birth control. switch over to women, and number one is health care, then gas prices, unemployment. i can't help but think when some women were saying health care is my top priority, they were encompassing a whole host of -- including female-oriented issues. >> because women are the ones who have to worry, for the most part, about the health care of their families. that is number one. if i can slice it a little further, in helping democrats working on key state constituencies, which is crucial just like this gender gap is, for hispanics, and especially hispanic women, health care is

over the top the most important issue, to the point of like 60, 70, 80%. there will be advertisements by the democrats in spanish appealing to hispanic women about this health care issue, trying to say that the democrats are this party, they wanted to spread health care to all your families, your kids, et cetera. the government has a role in this, and that's going to be a consistent message to president obama. it's all they rule on that. however the supreme court rules, it's going to be key to the whole. he's at the sort of a problem that mitt romney -- there's traditionally a gender. but it becomes very problematic for republicans if if it gets

down to 15 points, 18 points, that's when there is an issue. it is not something that i think takes one single bullet, not even the pick of a vice presidential running mate. it's a longer term process and something they need to start working on now, and i'm sure they are. >> speaking of women, white house press secretary jay carney was asked whether the president would weigh in on a hot button topic. . here's how carney responded. >> the president's answer to this question is yes. he believes -- his personal opinion is that women should be admitted. >> now, mitt romney was also asked to weigh in on the question of women and augusta. he agreed with the president. >> well, of course. i'm not a member but i don't

know that i would qualify by saying i agree with that. certainly if i were a member and if i were asked, it could happen. >> everything is relevant. everything is fair game, i think, including this. do you see this issue having legs in a presidential context or because they loosely agreed perhaps not? >> i think it's part of this whole debate. i would just note that i'm a daughter, my mother is in the golf hall of fame as a former champion, and the idea that she can't be a member of augusta, it seems ridiculous in the 21st century. a tweet says memberships should be made based on your handicap and not your gender. >> henry, i believe in the right to free association, but i got hosed in a homework paper before.

i think in the department of the clueless, i would put the people who run augusta. if you have mitt romney, who sort of sounded like he wanted to become a member of augusta, agreeing that women should be admitted, i think it's time for the people of augusta will understand. traditionally given membership, invited to membership in the augusta golf club, that person happens to be a female right now, and she has not been invited to join augusta. if i were she, i would look at that in leadership. >> they say they've just not had a female. that begs the question, who exactly are you waiting for? what does it work out. >> those guys just need to wake

up and wake up fast. >> in fact, by now maybe a decade ago, and the culmination would be, isn't this a fight we've had? >> i don't know if we settled it. thank you, susan page, thank you, howard feinman as always. coming up, the democratic party is inundated by tea partiers. this is "hardball." [ male announcer ] that. right there -- reminds you why you fell in love with her in the first place. and why you still feel the same. but your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph,

like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. new poll numbers on the republican primary in pennsylvania and it's not good for rick santorum. a new poll now has mitt romney in the lead over santorum 42% to 37%.

this is the first time that romney has overtaken santorum in his home state. it will no doubt up the pressure on santorum to get out before the april 24 contest. and one more poll number to tell you about, new york, the third biggest delegate hall in the primary campaign. no surprise here, mitt romney is up big in a new poll 54% to 21%. we'll be right back.

mitt romney is on the verge of defying a historical trend in the republican party. the gop is moving sharply to the right and somehow the massachusetts moderate is closing in on the party's nomination. how did he manage that and what kind of political blood letting might we see in the gop if romney loses in november? mike halbert is political analyst and sam stein covers politics for the huffington post. sam, is it as simple as, well, there were too many

conservatives dividing the vote and romney was able to squeak in? >> no, i actually don't think so, i just think the template for what is a perfect tea party is unachievable. every one of these people have their flaws. chris christie would have had his flaws on the social issues, even -- they once backed newt gingrich. people just turn to mitt romney. >> when i think of being in this chair in the whole movement, if you said to me then, the fact this is going to be a gop takeover of the house and then it's going to be mitt romney as a gop nominee, where is the disconnect? >> i'm going to risk hurting myself, patting myself on the back while i've got my microphone. there was an open question going into this nomination season. how much was the amount of bail?

how much was the republican, how much will they still dominate the process? i thought in the end they would dominate, they would have less influence than they've ever had. mitt romney is more out of step with the tea party than many of the people who ran, but he has run as a tea party candidate, talking about being anti president, anti obamacare, anti big spending and he's the established candidate. of all the people that ran, he clearly had the profile of the person that the party always nominated. >> yet another victory for the establishment. you were on morning joe when joe scarborough described the gloom and doom about mitt romney's chances this fall. let's watch this. >> i want to say this for everybody at home. the republican establishment, i have yet to meet a single person of the republican establishment that thinks mitt romney will win

the general election this year. they won't say that on tv because they have to go on tv and they don't want people writing nasty e-mails. i honestly don't care, but i have yet to meet anybody in the republican establishment that worked for george w. bush, that works in the republican congress, that worked for ronald reagan that thinks mitt romney will win the general election. >> does that comport with your reporting? is that what you, mark halperin, is hearing? >> when the host of the show says something, you have two choices. you can say, that's exactly right, jeff, or you can follow the advice of bambi's mother. if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. i don't agree with that. there are some people who are waiting to see -- have romney prove to them that he can actually win this. but you side ed gillespie up, one of the best strategists of the republican party, if he can put his signature on the romney campaign, i think there are plenty of republicans who are

cautiously optimistic but they think mitt romney can win this. >> what is your feeling these will all be bygones when we head for the fall. >> i think they will be bygones. there is worries the recovery will slow down over the summer, and when that happens, you basically lost the entire race. mitt romney has always been a more comfortable candidate in a general election showdown as opposed to a primary election where he has to convince people that he's conservative or not. there are certain dynamics that we have yet to see play out. i don't think the pessimism is warranted among conservatives and the wild card here is conservative money. that could level the playing field in ways we can't imagine. >> i believe from day one that largely in the end it's a referendum by the president. you write, romney's prospects rely on two tracks. abandoning the effort to be publicly endearing and using the

speeches to condemn the obama economic record. >> his latest speech did a brilliant thing, drawing all the republicans in to debate these questions, to make it a debate between the vision and the president's vision rather than the president's record. we'll get a jobs number tomorrow that everyone thinks will be better, but i think if mitt romney has a chance, it's to make this a referendum on the president. we said this for months, the president wants it to be a choice, the republicans want it to be a referendum on the president's record. it's playing out right now. that's what both sides are trying to do, exactly what they thought, and i think again, beyond having to come across this as endearing and goofy in a loveable way, i think there's at

least hope to try to equalize the personality gap. romney has to make this about the economy or i don't think he has a chance to win. >> the funny thing, one issue that i think both sides can agree on, they would like to see paul ryan be the vp pick. in that house behind you, sam, is that the vibe, like, sure, bring on ryan, this would be perfect, because we can shoot it down? >> i would bet a lot of money that quote is played back to mitt romney and alongside of him calling the ryan budget marvelous. that budget is very much a conservative budget and mitt romney has embraced it. to go back to the first question, i don't think conservatives have lost as much as we think they've lost. they got mitt romney to move very far right on issues that are critical to them. he also had to revamp his tax policy in late february to make it steeper and more agressive, so they did give way to some concessions on romney.

>> i don't mean conservatives but as far as a game change as you can possibly get. >> i think there are safer picks only because although paul ryan is pretty well known in inside circles, he's never had the full cavity search that some of the other people who might be picked have had. and he's a young guy, and i think picking a younger person is a bit of a risk as well. i don't think he's the safest pick. in one respect, though, he's quite safe, which you're right, he would please probably the most people who pay close attention to politics. the left would le him because they could run more squarely over the ryan budget, and the right would love him because he's more conservative. >> he also goes against mitt romney's macho which is you need someone not in government to go into washington and spend a lot of time in washington. >> mike halperin, sam stein, thank you very much. you might not know it, but

msnbc's david gregory is next in the show. ♪ beth! hi! looking good. you've lost some weight. thanks. you noticed. these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right -- whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multi-grain cheerios -- 5 whole grains, 110 calories.

creamy, dreamy peanut butter taste in a tempting new cereal. mmm! [ female announcer ] new multi-grain cheerios peanut butter.

back to "hardball" and now for the side show, first up. we saw no shortage of the gop debate in this side show, but did you ever wonder what the candidates were up to during the commercial breaks? david gregory, who moderated one of the faceoffs sat down with jay leno last night and gave the inside scoop. >> the commercial starts and they all leave. nobody wants to be seen standing at their podium. they think it would make them look weak or something. everybody has their thing they want to tell you. rick santorum looks a little stressed out and he comes up and says, david, you didn't come

back to me on the exception to the medicare. i want to be able to respond on the ryan plan. gingrich comes over after he is tax suppressed, and he says, i have one question. i should get two questions every segment. then there's rick perry who said, david, this is great. having a great time. >> so i notice romney didn't get a nod there. next up, the obama campaign has officially declared a game on with mitt romney, and the proof is in the ad wars. team obama got a new team under way yesterday, mitt romney versus reality. it's turned into something of a mini series, which here's what they dug up for part 2. >> if you went around the world and apologized for america. >> we will not apologize for our way of life. >> he has also failed to communicate that military options are on the table. >> i won't hesitate to use force when it is necessary to defend the united states and its interests. >> in his state of the union address, he didn't even mention the debt or the deficit.

>> when it comes to the deficit, we've already agreed to $2 million in cost savings. that's how we will reduce our deficit. >> i'm not sure which is worse for the republicans, that or ads where mitt romney contradicts mitt romney. and in our side show, we took a look back at the hits that newt gingrich leveled at mitt romney. take a look at this one, for example. >> there is something so grotesquely hypocritical. will team obama use biting comments like that to slam mitt romney in the general election? newt seemed less than concerned. >> when somebody wins this nomination, can those of you who have been running stand together and honestly say, i support the endorsement? >> absolutely. it doesn't matter, we just make stuff up, anyway. >> once the obama campaign gets

ahold of newt's own statements about mitt romney, they lose any shred of truth. up next, republican senator oren hatch says the obama campaign will play against mitt romney. who says obama is a mormon? by the way, you can twitter me at smerconish.

welcome back to "hardball." our hardball strategists are back tonight to discuss two trending topics on the campaign trail this week. number one, rick santorum met with conservatives today to try to bring together the conservative vote and that also meant discussing how to get newt gingrich to drop out. and hatch figures that romney will have his mormon faith used against him. todd harris. todd, give some advice to senator santorum. if you had his ear today, what

would you be telling him to do? >> two words: drop out. the legacy of the santorum campaign is going to be -- it's going to boil down, really, to one of two things. there is everything that has happened until this moment, and then everything going forward. if he were to get out now, i think the legacy of his campaign would be, look, this is a leader who came from behind, he went from also ran to near front runner status virtually overnight. he ran a hell of a race. if he stays in and runs a smear campaign against the guy that everybody knows is going to be the nominee, mitt romney, he risks his legacy being that of a petulant politician who put self-interest ahead of defeating the president. >> i argued here last night that i thought the reason he was hanging tough for three more weeks was because he wanted to erase that part of his legacy, which is an 18-point loss to bob casey, jr. now, bad news for rick santorum

with polls from pennsylvania which shows 42% showed mitt romney as his choice for the nominee, so steve, that option might be off the table, that option of, hey, i win in pennsylvania and then back -- when we come back in 2016, at least nobody is going to ask me about the casey loss anymore. >> i think you just said something that's very important to remember, when we come back in 2016. that's really what's going on here. it was a group of conservative leaders that obviously wanted to see mitt romney, and they haven't been very successful so far. they hold a meeting that's leaked to the new york post, and i think rick santorum is caught in between, and todd suggests the legacy of a sore loser and perhaps a spoiler, and someone who wants be the conservative choice in 2016, so he's playing footsie with all the conservative leaders who can put him in that position four years down the road.

if he loses pennsylvania, he may have nothing left. >> todd, i want to change my strategy question to this one. you're in the room today with the conservatives, with santorum. now advise the group. if the objective here is conservative policy going forward, what should they as a group be doing? >> well, look, if -- just because they're not wild about mitt romney, this group of conservatives, a, compared to president obama, i think that every person in that room would probably agree that mitt romney is a far better option. but if they can't get excited about romney, then go get excited about some of these house races that are really competitive. go get excited about trying to take over the senate. there are all kinds of avenues where the energy of the conservative movement could be flowing and could be channeled that are much more productive than this quixotic dream of getting newt out and that would somehow send santorum over the top. >> i'm not convinced that would change the dynamic at all.

santorum again made the point that the gop needs to go with a real conservative nominee this time. >> the best chance for us to win is to put up a candidate like we did in 1980, not like we did in 1976. and that's what the focus is going to be. let's try to make sure we have the strongest possible candidate to be able to win a very, very critical election. >> and steve mcmann, after a lot of well-paid-for speeches and a stint at fox, it's now 2017. he says, i told you so. we nominated the moderate. he lost. this year we need a conservative. >> you can take that clip and change the date and refer it back to 2012 and that's what he will be saying in 2013, 14 and 15 leading up to the next race. the republican establishment believes, i think, for the most part -- they won't say publicly

but jeff scarborough is right -- they're worried mitt romney is going to lose this time. after he loses, santorum is going to say if we had nominated a real conservative, we would have been successful. there are a lot of people in the republican party who believe that. for rick santorum, the question is how do you get out and preserve that viability for the future. getting beat ten more times isn't going to make the case that you're the best nominee next time. >> a different interpretation, and we can save this debate for later, would be that the party went off the rails, lost all the moderates, and consequently should have moved back to the center before they drove all those folks away. i want to move on. senator orren hatch of utah, a mormon, predicted this week that the obama campaign will use his being a mormon against him. he said, you watch, they will throw the mormon church at him like you can't believe it, and then he says, for them to say they aren't going to smear mitt romney is baloney. the obama campaign said the

attacking of candidates' religion is out of bounds and our campaign will not engage in it, and here's what democratic committee chairman debbie wasserman schultz had to say yesterday on msnbc. >> that is just preposterous. that suggestion is utter nonsense. let's remember that senator obama has had so many things hurled at him, birth certificates in question, whether he is or is not a christian. i mean, for them to suggest that religion will be injected by president obama and the democratic party, i mean, they need to take a look inward at the accusations that their party and their supporters have hurled before they take that step. >> todd harris, i don't expect that to happen, but, you know, the media is everybody in p.j.s,

some of which have feet in them. some will ay it will be whether or not you can tie this to a campaign. how do you see it? >> well, senator hatch is in the middle of a tough primary battle back home in utah, and my guess is he was looking to fire up his base a little bit. i don't think there's much to this story. i would be shocked if in any overt way the obama campaign or the dnc did anything to challenge governor romney based on his faith. that doesn't mean that there won't be whisper campaigns, people talking about, see, he's just not like us for this whole host of reasons. i would also be shocked if that didn't happen. but as far as openly making governor romney's faith an issue, i just don't think it's going to happen. >> i thought david gregory said something wise, david gregory from "meet the press" and he described mitt romney's faith as

being central to who he is. here's how he said it. >> let's be honest. this is the core of who mitt romney is. he was a missionary in france for two years. he was a bishop in the church, which in the mormon church is effectively like the police. he's made huge contributions. he's made a big impact on the church but yet he doesn't talk about it. >> i think there's a lot of truth to that, steve. advise the other side of the aisle. if you were whispering in mitt romney's ear, would you be saying to him, if you had his best interest at heart, hey, it's okay. go out and address some of these things? >> i think he would probably benefit from doing that. remember, john kennedy gave a speech in texas, i think, at a religious group where he basically said, i'm a catholic. it is part of the core of my being. i believe in the tenets of my church, but i'm perfectly capable of being president of the united states and recognizing separation of church and state. i honestly don't think mitt romney has a religion problem,

but i think people would be reassured if they heard that from him. and because this is a big part of his core -- and this will surprise people because many of us didn't think he had a core -- he ought to at least address it and make it part of his narrative. people wonder who he is, he has this awkward way about him, and his wife who fell in love with him and says he's not only funny, but witty and charming and all those things we haven't seen, if people saw a little bit more of that from him, including his core, he probably would be better off. i still think the president would beat him because he's wrong on the issues, but it would be a much more difficult race if people had a better understanding of him as a person. >> i agree with you, for what it's worth, and i also think self-depracation works. president obama screens the classic film "to kill a mockingbird" tonight at the white house. the film has been around for 50 years but these days it's as relevant as ever. this is "hard bs ball."

♪ he was a 21st century global nomad ♪ ♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™.

nevada is one of those key states that will help decide the election. and it is a state that looks golden for obama. president obama, 51 to 43 in nevada. that's according to a new poll. the same margin obama won the

state by in 2008. we'll be right back.

and so a cry of a respectable negro who has had the unmitigated ability to feel sorry for a white woman has had to put his word against two black people's. this defendant is not guilty.

>> that, of course, is gregory peck as atticus finch in "to kill a mockingbird" in 1970s alabama. president obama is having a screening at the white house tonight for an introduction in theaters on saturday. clarence page and michael join me now. michael, this resonated so much with my wife that atticus made the short list for first names for our firstborn, but economist and atticus just didn't roll off the tongue. why does it have so much staying power? >> i think it rules for the first economist in the struggle of black and white over right and wrong and america as a great nation able to rise above the weight of legendary and an often storied path and sorry path to go into a great future.

i think when martin luther king, jr. spoke about this, atticus finch was speaking volumes about the way to treat one's brother and sister regardless of color as an equal. i think in this case it appeals to so many white people, and it appealed to them because it wasn't a message coming from the outside, from an african-american, but from the culture itself. >> did that make it easy to broach some of these subjects given that harper lee who wrote it, was a caucasian female, and by the way, still with us, i'm happy to say? >> she is, indeed. and she was very much in the middle of that kind of situation. they're real life people, including her own father, the character of scout that leads the story. that corresponds to her up in the colored balcony at the courthouse back when her father used to be a trial lawyer, and

he had a couple of unsuccessful cases of trying to save the lives of black defendants who are innocent and he stopped practicing trial law after that. there are so many layers to this story, but michael is right, this really depicts a narrative that haunts america's memory. and throughout american history, you can see books like this. "uncle tom's cabin" is the perfect example of one that really struck white leaders at the time. it was the biggest best seller of that era. it helped lead to the civil war, according to abraham lincoln. you see this kind of story recurring, and it's also what made the o.j. simpson verdict so shocking, because in the eyes of many people, certainly white americans, this was the reverse side of that narrative, you know. it turned it on its head. while back folks were relieved that a black man got a fair trial, white folks were alarmed that a possible double murderer got off. >> here's a scene, gentlemen,

from the movie where bob yuell, learns that atticus finch isn't willing to speak by the rules. >> someone told me just now that they thought you believed tom robinson's story. you know what i said? i said you raw man, you dare put this jury against him. they were wrong, weren't they? >> i'm here to defend mr. robinson. now that he's been charged, that's what i'm here to do. >> rate him, meaning president obama, on matters of race. are you satisfied with the way in which he's engaged the nation in dialogue on these sensitive issues? >> well, president obama is in a very difficult situation.

most white americans don't want to hear anything about race, especially from a primarily african-american perspective that seeks to bringing some calm and restore some order to what is often a chaotic and undisciplined affair. at the same time, the president knows he has to speak to serious issues that matter most, not only to african-american people but to american people. 17.5% unemployment rate among african-american people is not a black tragedy, it's an american tragedy. yet when he speaks out on issues of race, he is lambasted. look what happened when he spoke out president obama is hosting a private screening at the white

>> in deed, and she was in the midful of that situation. there are real life people like her father that lead the story. that corresponds to her up in the colored balcony when her father was a trial lawyer and he had a couple of unsuccessful cases of trying to save defendants that were innocent. i mean, there are so many layers to this story, but likele is right. this haunts america's memory, and throughout american history you see books like this. uncle tom's cabin is a good example that really struck white readers at the time. it was a best seller of that era, it helped lead the civil war. and you see this find of corey recuring, and it's what made the oj simpson verdict so shocking, because this was the reversal side of that narrative. it turned it on it's head. white folks were alarmed that a possible double murder got off. >> rate president obama on matters of race. are you satisfied with the way he has engaged the nation in dialogue on these sensitive issue sns. >> he is in a very difficult

position. most white americans don't want to hear anything about race from a african-american perspective that seeks to bring some calm and restore order tore what is often a chaotic and undisciplined affair. he knows he has to speak to serious issues that matter most to american people. 17.5% unemployment between african-american people is not a black tragedy, it's an american tragedy. and when he speaks out he is land blasted. look at what happened when he said, if i had a son, he would look like trayvon, and the right wing made mincemeat of this. so he has to walk a delicate line between offending the masses, but many liberals do not engauge race ether. it's time to get going. to put more giddy-up in our get-along. it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's... ... and mix a little more hop in our hip-hop. with the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles ... you'll want to get up and go.

has a facebook page these days. but where's the relationship status? well, esurance is now in a relationship...with allstate. and it looks pretty serious. esurance. click or call.

let me finish tonight with this. early this morning, connecticut took a big step to becoming the 17th step to eliminate the death penalty. it would change to life in prison with no chance of release. now the governor has pledged to sign it. any time a state makes a change on the death penalty, it's significant, but even more so because of what happened on july 23rd, 2007. that day two people broke into a man's home, killed him with a baseball bat. and the daughter was sexually assaulted, tied her to bed, and

another daughter also tied to their bed. they died of smoke inhalation after they poured gasoline around the house and lit it on fire. dr. petit was among tho those that was against it. it stipulates the 11 men, currently on death row, would still face execution. capital punishment is only for those convicted in the future. i happen to think those that killed his family should pay with their lives. i doubt, hover, that caveat is comfortable to dr. petit. by waiving his appeals, that inmate asked for it. that's similar to pennsylvania where we too have the death penalty in name only since capital punishment was

reinstated back in 197, only three people have been put to death, and they gave up their appeals. the last contested execution was carried out in 196. in the intervening five decades, the justice system has been manipulated and dodles the worst offenders for real victims. men like dr. petit lose their loved ones, and then the legal issues become a cycle. that is the greatest injustice of all. that's "hardball" for now. thank you for being with us. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" from new york. the head of the republican party is calling the war on women fiction? tonight i'll show you the facts. this is "the ed show." let's get to work.