court to the parents of the teenager he killed, trayvon martin. and a judge ordered him released on a $150,000 bond. his lawyer says that release will likely take several days to work out. trayvon's parents were in the courtroom for that apology. we'll get reaction from their attorney in a few minutes. we brought in a special legal panel to talk about today's hearing, though. with me here in new york is catherin crier and eugene o'donnell, professor at john j. college and former new york city police officer and prosecutor. and from san francisco,ç crimil defense attorney john burrows. the day began with zimmerman walking into court shackled wearing a suit and tie. the a.p. reports that he appeared to have a bullet-proof vest on beneath his clothes.

he sat quiet for most of the hearing until the defense suddenly called him to the stand and he apologized directly to trayvon's parents. >> my client wants to make a statement to the court, your honor. >> raise your right hand. do you solemn me promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, so help you god? >> i wanted to say i am sorry for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was. i thought he was a little bit younger than i am and i did not know if he was armed or not. >> i'm sorry, sir, you are not really addressing that to the court. you're doing it here to the victim's family, is that correct? >> they are here in the court, yes. >> i understand. i thought you were going to address your honor, judge lester, not -- that's really addressed to the family, where the media happens to be, correct, mr. zimmerman? >> no, to the mother and the father. >> and tell me, after you

committed this crime and you spoke to the police, did you ever make that statement to the police, sir? that you were sorry? >> no. >> you never said that, did you? >> i don't remember what i said. i believe i said that. >> you said that to the police? >> in one of the statements i said i feltç sorry for the family. >> you did? >> yes, sir. >> that would be recorded because all of the conversations were recorded, right? >> yes, sir. >> you said that you expressed the concern for the loss of mr. martin, or that you had shot mr. martin, that you actually felt sorry for them? >> i felt sorry that they lost their child, yes. >> so you told the deblth tiffs that you wanted them to convey that to the parents? >> i don't know if they were detectives or not. >> officers. i'm sorry. >> i didn't know if they were going to convey it or not. i just made the statement. >> okay. and then you said that you called them up or left a message for them to tell them that?

>> no, sir. >> why did you wait 50 something days to tell them, that is the parents? >> i don't understand the question. >> why did you wait so long to tell mr. martin and the victim's mother, the father and mother, why did you wait so long to tell them? >> i was told not to communicate with them. >> okay. so even through your attorney you didn't ask to do it right away? your former attorneys or anything? >> i did ask them to express that to them and they said that they were going to -- >> katherine, what's your take on zimmerman's apology and the follow-up by the prosecutor? >> well, it was just one of those great media confrontations. his lawyer is very good. he's very smart. yes, this will be criticized as opportunistic but there are plenty of people out there who go, well, it's his first chance, demake a statement. he took the stand. so all in all, points toç omar

for doing it. >> i don't know that he looks contrite because he very carefully kept saying, the loss of their son, not that i killed their son. >> but be clear, he's -- his lawyer wouldn't let him get up there and -- >> does he put himself in a bad position if those tapes come out and he never said that to the police? because if those tapes have to come out, and then he put himself in a bad position if he does not go back on the stand at trial and it looks like this was for bail because if you're that tran parent, we expect that you'll get on the stand at trial. >> if the issue is relevant at the time of trial, which i doubt it would be, it could become controversial. he could always say, i said it to an officer before the -- i'm not sure. confused. i hate to say, it's not a point of contention at the time of trial. so it was definitely effective for the media.

and that was the purpose. >> well, i think you're right. but eugene, i think that that purpose could also backfire on him in the public if they felt it was for the media and it was cynical. you have to remember, this is a guy that posted a facebook, never apologized on the facebook, has had his father come out, his brother come out. there's never been an apology. a lot of e-mails and tweets people saying, i'm not necessarily on your side but 50 days before you say i'm sorry does look a littleç contrite. >> this is the first that the world has heard from george zimmerman under oath in the courtroom. i don't think it went off very well. he's thinking hard about questions that it shouldn't be that hard to think about. i wonder what they were thinking. clearly the prosecution is gunning for him in terms of using his statements. this is a trial that is -- >> i bet if omar ra wanted him

off the stand, he never would have gotten on that stand. >> i don't know. >> well, did he say that he wasn't sure if trayvon martin was not armed. on what grounds would he have thought that he was armed? >> mr. boris, let me ask you this. not only the question of being armed and why he would assume that he was armed, he also said that the guy jumped on him and that he was on top of him. so where would he have been armed? if his body is on you, he didn't feel a gun. he only had his skittles and ic iced tea. let me also ask you this. let me be clear. i'm all for forgiveness. i for gave a guy that tried to kill me. but 50 days later i think when

the family says it's cynical that you have to ask a question. it's not a question of the family's çforgiveness, it's wee never heard this in 50 days. >> well, i think the family had a right to feel cynical, of course, but from the defense point of view, it was a very smart thing to do and what he did was let the world see him in a different light. they can see he's not so large. they can see that he's sort of soft spoken. i didn't take it as a sincere apology but at the same time i don't know how anyone else would say it's not necessarily so. i thought what was most important to me, listening from a defense point of view, is his comment that he didn't know if he was armed or not because that goes to his self-defense argument and i think this is all about what the judge -- the judge is looking at this himself and saying, what is this evidence going to look like. i think he laid more ground for his stand-alone defense that is going to be utilized later. so the defense did a nice job in sort of projecting out some of these defenses and did a nice

job and sort of analyzing the probable cause statement, i thought. >> all right. so let's stay right there a minute. let me come back to you, catherine. what does the stand-alone law say? >> well, if you are the aggressor, stand-alone doesn't apply. now, the issue then comes -- we have the state investigator who said, we don't know who instigated this fight. the question is, did sflim zim back off, retreat, and did trayvon follow him, becoming an aggressor after he backed off. these are all bits of information that we don't know. >> no, but we do know -- and this is where i think it's critical and let me come to you with this, eugene. we do know there's a tape with someone yelling help that three peopleç said was not zimmerman which would kill him not being the aggressor. we also know -- where i was trying to go with mr. burris and catherine, if you didn't know

that he had a gun, then you don't know that you are under threat. >> he doesn't have to speak at all. unfortunately, for him i think it's going to turn out unfortunate that he did speak. we're seeing several different accounts and we're seeing the prosecution on the trail. because i think the prosecution feels there's a certain amount of disassembling and dishonesty. >> let me go to -- his past was on display. his past on the phone, zimmerman's parents, different from the personality that we heard on the prosecution. listen to this. particularly, let me read it. particularly, in regards to the 2005 incident is what i want to bring up. zimmerman was charged with resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer. also that year zimmerman and his ex-fiance filed restraining orders against each other for domestic violence. >> do you believe your son is a violent person? >> absolutely not.

>> can you expound on that? >> well, i've never known him to be violent at all until he was provoked and then he would turn the other cheek. >> you are aware of his other arrests involving violence, are you not? >> i knew of an incident of alcohol beverage controlç officers in plain clothes. >> did he tell you that he turned the other cheek? >> well, he did. a friend of his was grabbed and thrown up against the wall by some people in civilian clothes. >> yes, sir. and did they tell you that they asked him to leave and he said i don't care who you are, when the officer identified himself as a law enforcement officer? >> no. >> so you never read the actual arrest? >> no, i did not. >> were you ever wondering if

your son told you the truth for curiosity sake? >> i've never questioned whether my son was telling me the truth? >> so you just believe him because he's your son? >> no, i believe him because he's been honest his whole life. >> john, what does that tell you about how both sides approached zimmerman's record and temper meant? >> from the prosecutor's point of view, they are looking for other bad acts, other offenses that he's been involved in that they can then use in this case to go to the whole issue about this propensity of violence, that he's a choir-type person. they know these statements and they are going to be able to put on evidence, if the judge allows it. my question is, is the judge going to allow it because this judge was sort of dismissive, if you will, in terms of evaluating these prior acts and so the question, whether he'll see enough similarities in it to allow it to come into evidence

remains to be seen. but the prosecutionç certainly wants to get these other acts in to undercut the notion that he was not an aggressive person, he's a choir boy, he turns the other cheek. >> furthermore, i am the law. and then plus that, you have to be on the look out for the possibility of a dismissive feel in his -- even his testimony -- what's the big deal? what's the big deal? i did what i had to do and i'm the law. those are the kinds of things that prosecutors are -- >> in terms of the pattern, i would be as interested in the ongoing sort of 911 calls when he's playing neighborhood watch cop, how he describes people in the neighborhood, that sort of pattern of conduct even more than what happened in 2005 with an undercover cop, i think that could be more relevant to a jury about what his mindset was at the time that he encountered -- >> it seems like they are trying to point out -- the prosecution that is -- the inconsistencies

in zimmerman's account. >> yeah. >> when the father says he's a guy that would turn the other cheek, they went right in on -- >> that opens the door. from his father -- he opened it. >> and the judge may be forced to use him as a character witness to let them question that because you're saying something that they have very tangible evidence saying that the evidence goes the other way. >> yeah. >> and ill tell you that -- let me just say, the defense is going to work -- the lawyer is going to work very hard not to put this character evidence in. what he did today was strictly for one purpose, maybe to get that out. i guarantee you, he's never goiég to put this character evidence in. he's got to work hard that all of these prior acts -- >> here's the prosecutor questioning -- >> he's not going to put character witnesses in. he is not going to do it. >> not in the guilt or innocence phase. >> let me show the prosecutor

questioning dale. >> would you agree that a lot of statements could be contradicted by the evidence, either witnesses or what he says himself? >> yes. >> did he, mr. sfwlzimmerman, t defendant, at one point claim to the police that he was scared because mr. martin started circling his car? >> yes. >> but despite -- >> according to mr. zimmerman, he was so scared he still got out of the car and chased mr. martin, correct? ze went after him, yes. >> isn't it true that some of those statements, when confronted about your inconsistencies, you started saying, i don't remember? >> outside the scope of direct examination. i would object, your honor. >> i'll give him a little bit of leeway. not a lot but a little. >> isn't it true when you were questioned about the contradictions in your statements that the police didn't believe it, that you would say, i don't remember. >> thank you, your honor. >> would you agree that you changed your story as it went along? >> absolutely not.

>> eugene, does that line of questioning suggest that the prosecution thinks that they can poke holes in zimmerman's testimony? they have tapes. >> they are going to use their statements in the direct in chief case against him, why would someoneç not righteously using self-defense tell -- >> three different -- we've heard the prosecution say that there were at least three different stories given to law enforcement in a very short period of time. so of course they will use that. >> john, i don't think -- go ahead, john. >> i don't think the prosecution thought that the hearing was going to go in the direction that they were. typically you don't have this kind of bond hearing where you challenge the evidence. you only put on evidence about the guy's commitment to the area and things of that nature. so the prosecution was a little surprised. but then when they had to, they did show that they have real evidence that is going to contradict this guy's story and that the statement, the presentation is really going to be taken apart when it's time to

do so in the trial. >> this was like a mini preliminary hearing. that's what shocked me about it. this was not a bond hearing. >> i think that was done by the defense putting zimmerman -- >> absolutely. >> do you think, john -- i mean, eugene, many people are saying that they felt he would get bond but 150,000, which is only $15,000, was low? >> i would argue this is one thing florida does right. it kind of presumes that people should get bond and i think that's maybe replicated in other states. >> so this is normal in florida? >> it's too often a case in america that people who are presumed innocent -- >> $150,000 bond, gps monitoring, no contact with the victim's family, no possession of firearms, no alcohol, 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.ç curfew, che

in every three days and no contact with witnesses. >> florida statute is pretty strong, almost preordaining. >> catherine, thank you for joining me, as always. and eugene o'donnell and john burris, thank you as well. i hope you all have a great weekend. >> thank you. much more on today's hearing coming up. i'll talk to the lawyer for trayvon martin's family, ben crump, about their reaction to today's hearing and to zimmerman's apology. you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. [ leanne ] appliance park has been here since the early 50s. my dad and grandfather spent their whole careers here. [ charlie ] we're the heartbeat of this place, the people on the line.

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to call it an emotional day would be an understatement. ben crump, martin family attorney is live with reaction, next. ♪

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[ female announcer ] live the regular life. easy label, right? but that label can lead to prejudice and discrimination, and we don't want to go there. so let's try to see people for who they really are. you can help create a more united states. the more you know. today's bond hearing marks the first time trayvon martin's family and george zimmerman were in the same room together. trayvon's parents, tracy and sybrina sat on the right side of the courtroom. there was no physical contact with george zimmerman, but they did try -- but he did try to talk to them. >> i am sorry for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was.ç i thought he was a little bit younger than i am and i did not know if he was armed or not. >> joining me now, martin family

attorney benjamin crump, who was with trayvon's parents in that courtroom today. attorney crump, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. >> how does the family feel now? do they feel that the wheels of justice are moving forward? how do they feel about that? >> well, it was an extremely emotional day for them, reverend sharpton, to be in the same room with the killer of their child. in fact, what struck me as very peck cue jar is that tracy martin is usually not as emotional as sybrina but she had to comfort tracy today, who had tears running down his eyes pretty much the whole time he sat in that courtroom. it was really emotional, being a few feet away from the killer of their son. >> what was their response when they first saw him? do you remember their response?

>> well, it wasn't as much as i remember their response as when they sat there, i saw both of them looking over at him as -- i can only imagine they were thinking about trayvon and saying, you know, why would he do this to our son? >> you know, you were in court with the parents today when they heard this apology. what was their reaction to the apology? >> they felt, reverendharpton, that it was very insincere. fhey felt that it had a lot of ulterior motives that were beneficial and self-serving to george zimmerman, to make the apology days later at a bond hearing when you're called to address the court -- which i want to get on in a later point -- but he doesn't address the court. he tries to slip an apology in to the parents and we think

that's to carry favor with the court and the public so he can be bonded out. they thought that it was very insincere and it was offensive to them. >> now, as you know, i had a guy once try to kill me and i for gave him. i take forgiveness and apology seriously. but 50 days later, as you and the parents raised, and the fact that he's had a facebook and any number of public -- we've never heard this before, you have to raise a question of whether it's sincere. his attorney did, after the hearing, explain why his client wanted to apologize. listen. >> he had always wanted to acknowledge what happened that day in the death of trayvon martin. i was hopeful that that could be accomplished in more private ways and we weren't afforded that opportunity. >> how do you respond to him saying that and the fact that he wanted to meet your clients and what do you make of that?

>> reverend sharpton, you brought up the fact that he had this facebook page, the real george zimmerman, whereç he sa he authored and you all recall he said that he was going to be responsible for the content and he was going to tell everything that was important and relevant to this matter. there was nowhere on that facebook page where he ever said i'm sorry for taking the life of trayvon martin. he never showed any remorse. the fact that when he did interviews with the police, he never showed his remorse to them. you know, we told his attorney after the reporters addressed us saying that he wanted to apologize, we told them that that wasn't the appropriate time. so george zimmerman just disregarded what the family's desires were and said i'm going to force this apology on you while i'm doing my bond hearing and, oh, by the way, it might look real good to the court if i apologize at my bond hearing.

we thought that was very self-serving. the parents thought it was very self-serving and one of those things they felt it was not sincere. >> what about the court? are you comfortable with the terms of his release and are you comfortable with how they conducted the hearing today? >> well, reverend sharpton, clients accept the rule of law and they accept the u.s. constitution affords anybody with a accused the right to a bond hearing and the judge listens to both sides of the parties and he makes a decision whether bond is appropriate at this time for whatever reasons. the judge did that. so the family, even though they would rather the killer of their son not be out of jail, they understand fhey have to live with it. one of the things that was interesting during the hearing, reverend sharpton, was george zimmerman volunteered to take the stand. >> right. >> and once he brought him to the stand, that's his choice.

he's waived his rights and he took the stand and we don't understand why the court didn't let the prosecutor just attack his credibility because the defendant's credibility is always an issue. so when he took that stand, that was open season that the prosecutor could ask him any question they wanted because nobody could force you to take the stand. >> yeah. >> but once you do it, you're the defendant. >> wide open. >> wide open. >> all right. attorney benjamin crump, thank you for your time tonight and we will certainly be staying in touch with you as this case goes forward. >> thank you. coming up, breaking news in the secret service sex scandal. more resignation. we're learning details. that's coming up. [ e

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we're back on "politics nation" with breaking news in the secret service scandal. three more employees have resigned and a 12th employee has been implicated. he has been placedç on

administrative leave. president obama was briefed by the secret service director and investigators are trying to find the woman allegedly hired by the secret service workers, like this woman whose facebook pictures have been published in news reports saying she's someone officials are hoping to talk to because there is no official confirmation. we are blurring her face and not revealing her identity. this investigation is getting deeper and this scandal is only getting bigger. joining me right now is michael issacauf. thank you for being with me. >> thank you for having me. we have the announcement tonight that three more of the original implicated have chosen to resign. that comes on top of the three other agents removed earlier in

the week. two of them senior supervisors. one has been proposed for removal. we have six of the seven, plus, disclosure that a 12 agent is now under investigation as part of this. one of the now 12 has been cleared of any serious misconduct but remains subject to administrative action. so clearly director sullivan and the secret service areç moving very quickly to try to tamp this down, to wrap up this investigation. we're told sullivan himself has been pushing to get rid of as many of the agents as possible and has been restrained somewhat by the lawyers saying that there are still legal implications to let the investigation run its course. the. >> lawyers for the secret service? >> right. the secret service lawyers. but this does seem to be on a very fast track. >> now, what can you tell me

about this woman in the picture? >> well, that's -- you know, she's clearly giving interviews to the media but hasn't talked to u.s. investigators yet. so there's a lot we don't know. a lot has not been confirmed. we're also told she's got a lawyer and has been selling her story. so that does -- or seeking to sell her story. so that's going to raise some questions about her credibility right there. you know, i think that from everything we know, while this has been a very aggressive and rapid investigation, the secret service has not been able to talk to any of the women involved. they do have the hotel video from the hotel which might be able to confirm the identifies of the women eight agents might shed some light on what they were doing together but it's not clear how much at this point. but i think there's -- you know,

at the end of the day there's going to be a lot of murkiness about precisely what happened, especially if they can't find these women. >> let me ask you, michael, there's all kinds of reports -- there was a report that the secret servicemen hadç rented t a big room before they went out that night. so this was preplanned. i mean, can you give us any more evidence that may have been established already on what happened that night? >> look, there's been a lot of conflicting reports, contradictory reports. we've had no confirmation about that room being retained by the agent. we have no confirmation of any drugs involved at all. there were reports of that. we have no evidence to substantiate that. what we do know is that this all happened wednesday night, early thursday morning and recent information, you know, that they went out, the agents went out

that night, not all to the same club, not all together, but at least 11 and now possibly 12 did bring back women to their hotel rooms. >> they were not all together but all ended up coming back to do the same thing? i don't know if that makes it better or worse, michael? >> well, i think that does raise the more serious question of, if 11 or 12 engaged in this spontaneously the first night they were there, was that the first time they've done this? was that the first time this has happened? and we are told that is now a central part of the investigation, the cia is trying to find out. >> guys spread out doing thctì(% it starts raising serious questions, michael isikoff, thank you for your time. have a good weekend. >> you, too. still ahead, mitt romney and the gop's extreme attack on the

poor. we'll talk about it with chris hayes and melissa harris perry, next. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers.

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the republicans talk about value. it shows cuts in congressman paul ryan's budget plan. the same plan praised by romney. the cuts from low-income americans. programs like medicaid, food stamps, pell grants, u.s. conference of catholic bishop saying the gop budget should protect the poor and that it, quote, fails to meet the criteria. congressman ryan, what's your response? >> the catholic bishop's conference has also come out and said that they don't like what the plan entails when it comes to cutting food stamps and also a child credit for illegal immigrants. what do you think about that? >> we disagree. we think quadrupling in this area has not succeeded in getting people out of poverty. >> what is your response,

speaker boehner? >> i wanted to take a bigger look. >> just brushing it off. oh, sure, who cares what those peskyy bishops have to say. the gop seemed to think disagreeing with the bishop or all of the bishops was an attack on religion. >> the rule put forward by the obamaed a handwriting, constitutes -- >> it's about violating our first-amendment rights to freedom and conscience. >> under this president's administration, there is an assault on religion, an assault on the conviction and the beliefs of members of our society. >> folks, on this night, politics nation hypocrisy media is broken.

joining me now is chris hayes host of "up with chris hayes" and melissa harris perry. thank you for being with us. chris,ç the bishop's opinion doesn't matter now? >> you know, their politics do not track along the ideological politics as the rest of us. >> right. >> so the right loves to celebrate all social issues, opposition of gay marriage, opposition of women's right to choose. but the previous pope was hosting a spokesperson for suddam hussein on the eve of the iraq war urging there not to be a war. the catholic institution has been very progressive on issues of war and peace and poverty. the republicans just looked the other way for that. in some ways that cuts both ways, too. democrats like to champion the

catholic bishops when they are agreeing with them on something like food stamps but not on social issues. >> yeah, but melissa, the moral criteria, the fact about food stamps, let's take that. nearly 75% of the participants are families with children. there is a clear dimension to this legislative and policy talk and i think that's what the bishops are in this case right fully pointing out. >> sure. and i think part of what chris is saying is so important as we look at what is the catholic vote or the role of the catholic church, the most segments that i had an opportunity to do is a conversation with matt wilson, a scholar of catholicism and politics, making exactly this point, itç doesn't track perfectly. because if you have, as the catholic church has, at its most consistent, a kind of natural

birth to natural death perception of our social responsibility to each other, it means, yes, we may disagree on questions of contraception but we don't disagree that once a child is born that there is a social, moral, ethical, and kmun nal responsibility to make sure that poor children have as much newt trigs, as much life opportunity as a wealthy child. and 2009, food stamps actually helped lower the poverty rate by 8%, i believe. it's been documented, the impact of food stamps on poor people and poverty in this country. >> hugely effective. >> the republicans in the right have gone about demonizing every

bit of the social safety net that helps people that are poor. what they've really done is squeezed everything into food stamps, which is the problem is not ryan. the candidate will admit romney has not embraced this. i want people to understand when i'm talking about ryan, i'm talking about the romney ryan plan because this is his economic policyç running again president obama. >> we saw this in the 1980s, we saw this with thatcherism and with ratings in the u.s., the idea that feeding hungry children, providing educational opportunities for poor kids it's on the back of the most

vulnerable. >> let me ask you this. romney supports the ryan plan, as i've said. let's look at new polling that just came from a recently nbc wall street journal. it has obama ahead of romney. if the election were held today, president obama, 49, romney 43. but romney's ahead when it comes to the economy, when same people asked the question, who has the good ideas to improve the economy, romney 40, obama, 34. >> i think it's the same exact characteristic. voters say, are things good or are they not. if they think things are not good and they aren't good with the economy, they continue to be bad. there are signs of improvement. we've had good numbers out lately. there's a rough sense that maybe we should try someone knew. that is going to be the basic dynamic and what the challenge

for the obama campaign is to explicitly make known what the actual policy prescriptions are. because most voters, frankly,ç couldn't tell you what mitt romney's agenda is. they just know that he's different and maybe some sort of change is going to make the economy be better. >> well, the romney camp can't -- they put you on hold for -- >> they are still in the process of pivoting. he is the presumptive nominee. as they make that pivot, they have to stop moving as far to the right as they possibly can, start trying to make claims towards the broad american middle and the fact is, as chris points out, they will have to see some specifics on policy but the far bigger question for both the romney camp and obama campaign is who can control the narrative. >> yeah. >> who can control the feeling about where the economy is and who is likely to g left behind in any sort of new administration. >> now, let me ask, the poll

asked people why they thought about various -- what they thought about various economic messages when you talk about the negative and without revealing who had spoken the line, one line they brought was this, from president obama but of course they did not identify it. quote, america's better off when everyone gets a fair shot, does their fair share, and plays by the same rules. 70% of the respondents said they are more likely to vote with a candidate with that message. now, 70%, even though he's behind on the nicks, or the economy poll which is your point, chris, his message, controlling the narrative, his message is very popular. they just blame him for however they may feel about the economy. >> that'sç exactly right. and the question is, and melissa would speak to this better than i would, because she's actually a professional in political science. my sense of the literature is it's unclear how much a message can override the economic fundamentals. i think the bigger place, where you see that there is room, is

in the american ppersonal appea. how liked president obama is by the broad, you know, vote -- >> mel lace sa, the same people when this quote was after ever widening gap between the ultra rich and that line just got 45% approval. >> it doesn't surprise me. my bet is because they know that comment didn't come from mitt romney. if we go back to that first comment, as much as that message resonates, my bet is that that message, when it comes out of mitt romney, people assume fair share means that the wealthy get more and when that message comes out of president obama, many people will assume that means that people of color and poor people get more. >> oh, so you think even though they didn't identify it, they think the second quote was president obama? >> yes. >> because they know romney would never -- >> never say that.

>> >> thank you both for your time. have a great weekend and we'll be watching. please plan to watch this show this weekend. i'll be watching. "up with chris hayes" is on 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on saturdays and sundays andç milissa harris-perry follows from 10:00 a.m. to noon. up with chris and then down with melissa. time to hang out with our friends unless you're willard. wait until you hear what his friend is saying about him next. everything that i've gained in life

has been because of the teachers and the education that i had. they're just part of who i am. she convinced me that there was no limit to what we could learn. i don't think i'd be here today had i not had a wonderful science teacher. a teacher can make a huge difference in a child's life. he would never give up on any of us.

thank you dr. newfield. you had a big impact on me. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] get the mileage card with special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in.

friday. friday is here.

time for friends, maybe a barbecue, things you do with your friends. but mitt romney friends, some you won't believe what they are saying. mitch daniels who finally endorsed romney this week told the indianapolis star, look at everything through the lens of the folks that have yet to achieve. romney doesn't talk that way. ouch. sounds like he's saying that willard is out of touch. but guess what, they seem to be counting on him to lose. friends like chris christie, who says, quote, he will be much more ready to run in 2016 for president. and romney's former rival rick perry who says he will examine a run in 2016 himself. >> i love this country. as long as my health stays good which it is and my family is

supportive, i'm certainly going to give it a good çexamination >> you know things are bad when your own party is making fun of you. listen to what republican congressman louie said earlier this week. >> if you're not sure about wanting to support mitt romney, whether you're liberal, very conservative, you ought to be excited because he's been on your side at one time or another. >> well, don't worry, willard, cheer up. everybody's talkinging about you. you might just not like what they are saying. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right