Skip to main content

tv   Martin Bashir  MSNBC  May 21, 2012 3:00pm-4:00pm EDT

3:00 pm
>> i really feel in my heart people need to know what romney did to marian, indiana, in 1994. >> it makes me sick to my stomach when i watch mitt romney tell the american people about how he creates all these jobs. >> you can tell by the way he acts, the way he talks, he doesn't care about the middle class or the lower class people. >> those stark firsthand accounts of romney economics are part of an almost six-minute documentary depicting mr. romney as what rick perry once called a vulture capitalist leaving 350 people out of work. that narrative by the obama campaign took an unexpected twist when one obama supporter ignited a firestorm declaring the bain attacks, well, they make him absolutely queasy. >> i have to say from a very personal level, i'm not about to sit here and indict private equity. if you look at the totality of bain capital's record, they've
3:01 pm
done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses. this kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides. it is nauseating to the american public. enough is enough. stop private equity. stop jeremiah wright. this will be a small campaign about this crap or a big campaign in my opinion about the issues the american public cares about. >> newark's mayor cory booker there coming close to earning himself a spot on the dncfrenemy's list. hours later there was this apology on youtube. >> let me be clear. mitt romney has made his business record a center piece of his campaign. he has talked about himself as a job creator. therefore, it is reasonable and in fact i encourage it for the obama campaign to examine that record and to discuss it. i have no problem with that. >> as booker was busy repairing his surrogacy, republicans were busy wrapping their arms around
3:02 pm
the young democratic political star. the romney campaign out with a brand new add entitled big bain back fire moments ago. >> have you had enough of president obama's attacks on free enterprise? his own key supporters have. >> it is nauseating to the american public. enough is enough. >> let's bring in our panel now. here in new york, journalist and former texas judge, katherine cryer, author of patriot acts. and nia maleka henderson. and msnbc political analyst former dnc director karen finney who is now columnist for the hill. the romney campaign has chosen to sell their candidate as a job creator off the back of his career at bain. as soon as anyone actually starts to examine what that means in practice, the romney campaign starts crying foul. wasn't this always going to be a problem? given the fact that the global economy was brought to its knees
3:03 pm
by people like this, operating in the worlds of private equity hedge funds and derivatives. >> that's absolutely right. frankly surprising that the romney campaign didn't figure out a better way to talk about wane rather than as a job creator as he himself put forward during the primary season, and instead talked about it as this is a way to look at my business acumen. even a 2000 per speck us the after romney had left the company that looks back on that 15 years where romney was leading bain capital touts many of the thing the romney campaign is saying you should not pay attention to. like the fact they developed a stellar reputation as company that relied on leveraged buyouts. that's really the crux of what we're trying to examine here. what was that strategy? >> i want to play for you a clip from david axelrod a moment ago.
3:04 pm
>> governor romney offers his business experience as his principal and his chief credential for running for office. he never talks about his years as massachusetts governor and i think for a good reason. they weren't stellar years. this is his argument. i was a businessman. i can lead the economy. so it behooves us to ask exactly what did you do? and some of these cases are disturbing and they deserve to be look at. >> it is a legitimate conversation, isn't it? it is not capitalism versus socialism. it is what kind of capitalism do we want in this country? >> absolutely. and again, it is back to the job creator. we need jobs, we need businesses in this country. that are employing people. it is interesting when you actually look at what bain did, and yes, they make money for their investors. but it doesn't down. when they say businesses grew, nobody is asking the question what does that mean? did they go overseas? did they grow and end up in bankruptcy court? did they grow and benefit
3:05 pm
investors and increase productivity and did all sorts of great things while putting workers on the street. it doesn't mean they're good or bad. it does mean you cannot claim that as a job creating credential if in fact the purpose of bain and the result were not to create jobs. >> actually wealth creation. was cory booker really trying to sound a warning against using jeremiah wright against the president? thus he made the mistake of creating a false equivalency with bain? do you think that's what he was really intending? >> no. it seem to me like he was very much speaking personally about how he felt specifically about bain capital. let's remember, he is in new jersey. that's a state with a lot of private equity people. people who work on wall street. so he is coming in some ways from a different environment. but i do think -- >> and of course, he himself has received around $31,000 from bain employees.
3:06 pm
>> that's right. let's face it. barack obama himself, president obama will be going to private equity folks and wall street folks to also if you said his campaign and his super baghdads of the same thing. but i do think he is certainly gave mitt romney a gift with this. we saw him out with this video ad already. i think in the general campaign, we'll see cory booker again as well as harold ford and steven ratner making this case. not even to say that bain is off limits. this idea of sort of trying to make it seem like mitt romney is a bad guy. a bad person. something that mitt romney has said barack obama is engaged in character assassination. you know, i think it suggests in some ways that democrats do have some unease about how to play this altogether. the only sort of test case we've seen so far with this is in the primary campaign. and it didn't work so well for any of those folks. it did work, i think, in 1994 with ted kennedy. i think they do have to be careful with taking this nationwide. >> but karen, mitt romney is in
3:07 pm
new york today. he is going to be at about six fundraising events. in a way, this is a very mediocre candidate. but to the point of money, this is a guy who is basically going to receive truck loads of cash to bolster him. whether bain is an issue, he will corral the support that he need. >> that's right. there are a couple of things why this bain conversation really, it's not the bain conversation. it is the head of this firm that is so potent. number one, if you go to the website that the dnc, i'm sorry, the campaign launch, they have stories from about nine states. they just launched another one today representing about 115 electoral votes. that's a part of why this is not going away any time soon. you have personal stories from people in company that were impacted in each of these nine
3:08 pm
states. so trust me. we are going to be hearing a lot more about that. and the thing is, when these people talk, you know, they sound, you can hear their pain. you can hear that sort of feeling of helplessness that i think a lot of americans fell during the stock market crash, during the crash in 2008. and a lot of these same people saying some businesses work and some businesses fail which sounds very disconnected to understanding that, okay, when they fail, there are human consequences to that. that they're not about. >> indeed. you were going to say? >> a understand wouldful story in history that people ought to know. it's a wonderful life. one of the all time great films, right? jimmy stewart. the net film came out. you can research this online, i've got it in my book. the fbi investigated frank capra for being a communist because the story is all about the little, the building and loan banker against the big guys and the film denigrated the rich bankers, communistic, socialistic and those guys were
3:09 pm
being investigated at the time the movie came out. >> please, all three of you, stay with us. you're fabulous contributors. coming up, money talks in 2012. stay with us. >> romney is known as a job destroyer. i think that the you bring in bains which is what happened in the '80. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates.
3:10 pm
earn points you can use for travel on any airline, [ fe male pop in the drum of any machine... ♪ ...to wash any size load. it dissolves in any temperature, even cold. tide pods. pop in. stand out. perfect golden color. rich in fiber. my dad taught me, and i taught my son out there. morning, pa. wait... who's driving the...? ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm, 99 bushels of wheat ♪ [ male announcer ] yep, there's 8 filling layers of whole grain fiber in those fun little biscuits... so they stick with you, all morning long. kellogg's® mini-wheats cereal. [ mini ] yee haw! a big breakfast in a little biscuit. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages...
3:11 pm
adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha!
3:12 pm
the president and leaders of nato have formally agreed to hand over the primary role in providing security to the afghans themselves next summer. in just about one hour we're expecting the president to hold a news conference from the nato summit which is taking place in
3:13 pm
chicago. and that's where nbc's white house correspondent kristen welker is traveling with the president. good afternoon, kristen. what are we expecting from the president at this press conference today? >> reporter: well, good afternoon to you, market. as you say afghanistan has been at the top of the general at this nato summit. so president obama will undoubtedly field a number of questions about the transition of combat forces out of afghanistan. we're just learning that president obama health an unscheduled meeting with afghan president hamid karzai and pakistan's president. so we're going to want to know specifically what was said in that meeting. what was discussed. how long did it last? they likely discussed the transition. they likely discussed the fact that pakistan has not yet decided to reopen its trade routes. the obama administration had hoped that would be secured going into this sum. they still haven't gotten that deal secured. so that is certainly something that will come up during the
3:14 pm
press conference. also, martin, another big issue during this summit. the funding of this transition. it will cost about $4 billion every year over the next ten years to fund the draw-down of troops from afghanistan. so who will pay for that? the united states is prepared to shoulder most of that financial cost. they're also looking for some financial commitments from the european allies and other nato allies. the senior administration official tells me that other countries have actually been quite receptive to requests for monetary assistance. what we're waiting for though is some actual figures. some actual names of countries that are going to be helping out in this effort. so those are a few of the things that will be discussed and i'm sure also some domestic questions including cory booker which you've just been discussing. the comments that he made this weekend on "meet the press." >> thank you so much. keep us informed as the president's press conference progresses. >> reporter: absolutely. as the president is rubbing he will woes with world leaders,
3:15 pm
mitt romney is hobnobbing with his peers. he is not stopping there with word that former vice president dick cheney will headline the fund-raiser with romney july 12th in jackson hole, wyoming. with serious signs that the romney camp and gop super pacs could outraise the president. our panel is back with us. here in new york is catherine cryer and karen finney and nia maleka. the president and his allies maintain the fundraising right now including a 2-1 in available cash. with the primary done, the president's opponents are only starting to devote their energies to romney. i guess they're going to ramp it up from here, aren't they? >> that's right. you saw last month that romney had a really good fundraising month. really came close to matching what president obama was able to raise. i think it was $43 million to $41 million. and in the last couple of days,
3:16 pm
he has been heavily hitting fund-raisers. i was with him down in florida. a couple of high dollar fund-raisers down there and certainly that's what he is doing today. some of the donors i've talked to, obama donors have said some people have been sitting on the sidelines themselves. own donors until there was clarity on the gop side. and of course, that has finally happened with mitt romney looking like he will wrap this thing up this week. so this is certainly going to be a money raiser. i think it will be a billion dollars on each side. >> you have to hand it to republicans. they know that they have a mediocre flip-flopping kind of candidate without a core but they're going to throw money at him to embellish his credentials. >> the media has a responsibility and the voters have a responsibility. and i don't care whether you're in left, right or center. facts matter. you can have your own opinion. you cannot have your own facts. unless with all of the power of the airwaves and the ability for people to get on the internet
3:17 pm
and find answers. not propaganda but answers. then if america is fooled and i don't care if we're right or left. but by billionaire cash, then shame on us. because propaganda, there was an injection by a republican legislator into the defense authorization bill to remove the ban on government propaganda in this country. to allow it here. that's overtly what is happening. and if we succumb to this and lose our constitutional republic as a as a result. shame us on. >> i want to ask you, karen, about news today that notre dame university is leading a lawsuit against the president's contraception mandate. is this an issue republicans really want to see raised again? it didn't go so well last time around, did it? >> it sure did not. i suppose they continue to think that being in line with the vatican is the way to go. >> i thought the president had offered them that position which allowed them to opt out.
3:18 pm
>> yes. although now it is my understanding that in this lawsuit, what they are saying is that in effect, what the president is trying to do is to delineate between different kinds of religious institutions. so whereas i think the president's intention was to say if you work at a catholic hospital or a university, that should be -- the workplace is different than if you work at the actual church. the argument coming back says, you cannot delineate between the two because then that's like saying you get to regulate where we practice our faith. it will be an interesting conversation. i think at some point in this election, both on these issues when it comes to access to contraception and religion, i wonder if we can possibly get to a bit of a truce. i think there are very tough issues on both sides. and i don't think anybody really wants to try to hash out in 30 seconds sound bites. >> i get this. i doubt there will be a truce on
3:19 pm
that. nia maleka, the supreme court will be handing down its report soon. does this add to a judicial headache for the obama administration over this summer period? >> there were words circulating around washington beginning on friday that this would come down today. and of course we got words that it would not. it looks like it could happen. i think there were forecasts it could happen in june. it could happen earlier. this could be a headache. if you're a democrat and you're on obama's team, you probably want this to happen southeastern rather than later so you can sort of, it can sort of, they can have an argument. that they can argue throughout the summer so the american public can sort of get used to it and blunt this argument against health care by the time the november election comes around. it will certainly be something of a speed bump, i think for democrats. but again it could also have a sort of rallying effect for
3:20 pm
democrats around health care. if it is in fact shot down by the supreme court. >> karen, do you agree with that? >> i think there is an opportunity for democrats when the decision comes down whether it is for or against to really try to nail down on the republican side. what's your plan? so mitt romney says he would repeal obama care. if it fails in the supreme court, there is still this issue of the people already covered by this plan. what do you do with them? what do you do with the million of uninsured? so far, the republicans have not had to answer that question. they've been able to stay focused on simply attacking the plans. i think that changes the dynamic of the conversation. >> karen finny, catherine crier, all three of you brilliant. thank you for joining us. next, can anyone make sense of this? stay with us. >> i've never been shy about leading. but you know, leaders need followers. and it is hard to keep 218 frogs in the wheelbarrow long enough to get a bill passed. ♪
3:21 pm
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
3:22 pm
3:23 pm
i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most.
3:24 pm
ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. take it away, speaker. >> i've never been shy about leading. leaders need followers. we've got a pretty disparity caucus. >> some say it is leading you. >> it's hard to keep the frogs in the wheelbarrow. >> he is describing that wily republican caucus as, quote, frogs in a wheelbarrow. we already know approval of congress is at rock bottom. it appears those 89 freshmen may
3:25 pm
be partly responsible. it shows an all-time deficiency when it come to the spoken word achieving only a tenth grade level. down a full grade since 2005. since then republican given way to their democratic colleagues. the ten most elementary members in this admittedly nonscientific study all wear grand old party stripes. >> do you think it will be enough to take back the house? >> yes, i could. >> coming up, the top lines. stay with us. >> look at that! take that! >> now --
3:26 pm
[ female announcer ] letting her home be turned into a training facility? ♪ this olympian's mom has been doing it for years. she's got bounty. in this lab demo, one sheet of new bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. bounty has trap and lock technology to soak up big spills and lock them in. let the spills begin. p&g. proud sponsor of the olympic games. today is gonna be an important day for us. 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.
3:27 pm
siemens. answers. do you guys ride? well... no. sometimes, yeah. yes. well, if you know anybody else who also rides, send them here -- we got great coverage. it's not like bikers love their bikes more than life itself. i doubt anyone will even notice. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. aarrggh!
3:28 pm
with features like scanning a barcode to get detailed stock quotes to voice recognition. e-trade leads the way in wherever, whenever investing. download the ultimate in mobile investing apps, free, at e-trade.
3:29 pm
from rubio to ryan to rove. it's elementary, mr. romney. here are today's top lines weekend recap. >> get ready! facebook on friday went public though i don't know if you can put a price tag on watching your high school friends slowly get fatter. >> it is hard to keep 218 frogs in the wheelbarrow. >> it doesn't mean he's gay just because he is in good shape and goes to a lot of parties and spends money freely and travels constantly and has a rose garden. oh, my god, he's gay. >> this election is not about reverend wright. >> he'sal reply identified them in the past and put logs on the fire. that's not leadership. >> i'm be sure which is worse. him listening to jeremiah wright? >> dredging up jeremiah wright
3:30 pm
was stupid. >> they've done a lot to grow businesses. >> romney rox takes from the poor and the middle class and takes from the rich. just the opposite of robin hood. >> mitt romney in many ways is not being completely honest with his role and his record. >> i think the idea that you bring in bain. they fire a lot of people. that's how they get prosperity for the rich. >> your glasses are steaming up. >> i've been on for 48 hours. >> oh, look at that! >> a picture of the man. >> let's get on rove. ♪ mr. romney is a hard working man ♪ ♪ don't ever let him cut your hair ♪ >> these ideas that sounded so good in the classrooms at harvard and yale. >> diplomas from liberty should come with a huge asterisk. target serves pizza. that doesn't playing it a restaurant. >> come on, man. >> rich versus poor. men versus women.
3:31 pm
>> come on, man. >> let's get right to our panel now. dana milbank of the "washington post" joins us. live from new york, editor of points memo.com. and joining us in our studios, msnbc contributor joe-ann reid from grio.com. >> josh, you're an historian so i would like to start with you and the inane suggestion about the president being the most divisive figure in modern history. is he trying to suggest that this was more divisive than what george w. bush did with gay marriage in 2004? or what the republican does in 1988? or even the anti-catholic bigotry we saw in 1928? they're all worse than this president. is that correct? >> i think it is kreg. does he divide the country in half? i think that's true but it was also true about george w. bush and true about bill clinton.
3:32 pm
the idea that obama has done anything that compares to any of those things is just ludicrous. this is obviously, this is marco rubio's tryout to be vice president. i think the deeper issue here is republicans running for national office need to come up with an explanation for the way, for how a lot of base republicans see barack obama and they do see him as someone frightening, challenging, someone who threatens the whole way of life. so a lot of this is trying to come up with some argument that makes that rational. >> if this was marco rubio's kind of audition, how is he doing? >> well, you know what? >> he's just been describe as completely ludicrous. >> one thing that has always been true. he is able to adapt for the republican party at the time. >> do you mean lie? >> i mean, he is adaptable. put it that way. when marco rubio was the speaker of the house in floridaering engendered a lot of suspicion on the right because they fell he was not strong enough on
3:33 pm
immigration reform. when he saw the opportunity to become a united states senator, suddenly he was a tea partier. when it became unpopular, he suddenly walked away from the tea party and then he was something in the middle. so rubio definitely adapts. right now what he is trying to do is fit into a party that is very far to the right and he is doing his best to fit in. >> dana, speaking of meaningless points. we just heard paul ryan say that his plan on medicare is actually a plan to prevent medicare cuts. i mean, he's worse than mitt romney when it comes to having it both ways. >> well, you know, martin, it is an interesting thing. >> interesting? it's madness! come on. >> then paul ryan will come out or mitt romney will come out and scold the president for not having a bug that balances within the ten-year horizon. guess what? neither does paul ryan's budget within that ten-year horizon. budgeting is a complex thing and
3:34 pm
you know, if you can throw out enough mud, presumably you can keep some people from sorting it out sometime between now and november. >> but dana, paul krugman, no less, a nobel laureate on friday describe ryan's budget as being horrendous for the deficit and said mitt romney was just as foolish as well. >> well, look. it is una apologetically ending medicare as we know it. he doesn't use that phrase, of course. >> no, he says he will prevent medicare cuts. >> he says medicare would enany way under the existing because it would go out of money. basically, the only question among republicans, he is turning it into a privatized, private base system over a period of time. the thing that some in the senate have done is trying to turn it into a private system two years from now. that's what rand paul would do. so rand paul does make paul ryan look like a european socialist. so you have to keep it in perspective. >> going back for a moment, we saw cory booker's statement
3:35 pm
earlier and then subsequently he issued his own brilliant apology, correction, whatever you want to callett. what did you think of that? >> i think when cory booker was sitting there on "meet the press," he was saying what he believed. he lives in a state, new jersey, that is home to a lot of wall street people. his career has been helped by donors and some of whom are from wall street. >> i understand bain capital is to the tune of $31,000. he is defending part of his base. if a guy would let's say want to be a united states senator from new jersey some years down the road when frank lautenberg moves aside, it wouldn't hurt to have some donors from wall street. >> has booker received a slap from anyone at the dnc? >> here's the thing. he got an immediate slap from twitter. it definitely shocked a lot of people in the democratic base when he said that. then no one wants to be the one to officially say they were the ones who hemmed him up after that happened. but did i give a call to the campaign to find out, did they reach out to him. was there some outreach from the campaign? they didn't want to own that. i would not be surprised if he
3:36 pm
got a phone call. we don't know from who. >> we cannot be certain. josh, what about when you hear karl rove saying, it is stupid for people to bring up the reverend jeremiah wright. does that not make you think that karl rove has something even more poisonous, vicious and nasty up his sleeve? >> not really. i think what karl rove is doing is he would like to spend lots and lots and lots of time saying by no means should we be about reverend wright and remember all those things about revv represented wright in 2008. god for bid we talk about those again. >> i wouldn't say karl rove, he is not a kind campaigner. i think there are two things. the republicans in this campaign would like to keep all these
3:37 pm
things about birth certificates and reverend wright and whatever crack army of supporters that barack obama has out there. all these scary things. keep them a little underground and not have it be something that seem like it is actually coming from the campaign. when that happens, when it becomes the front page news, that's the kind of thing that really starts to offend, bum out, make feel uncomfortable, the sort of swing voters and middle of the road voters that the campaign really comes down to. the people they need to win over. people don't want to vote for mitt romney or an rnc or the republican party if they feel like it is flirting with racism. >> thanks so much. next, big oil off limits to paul ryan and his friends. stay with us. >> we're saying, let's get on it and prevent austerity. the whole premise of our budget is to preempt austerity by getting our borrowing under control. heading tax reform and
3:38 pm
preventing medicare from going bankrupt. >> it's not a line if you believe it. are so amazingly go, you'll get lost in an all-beef hot dog world. what was i supposed to wish for? why am i wearing a bow-tie? where did i leave my bicycle? after all, when you're enjoying the beefiest, juciest bite of pure kosher beef, nothing else matters. goodness gracious, that's kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national. the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog. i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! she would help her child.
3:39 pm
no. no no no no no. mommy's here [ male announcer ] with everything. but instead she gives him capri sun super-v. with one combined serving of fruits and vegetables. new capri sun super-v. mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪
3:40 pm
♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today ♪ la la la la la la la [ male announcer ] dow solutions
3:41 pm
help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything. solutionism. the new optimism. there may be a very good reason for why they don't want to reduce the subsidies currently granted to america's biggest oil companies. they are of course huge donors to republicans. next week's shareholder meeting for exxonmobil is likely to be a fiery one with protesters from the steel workers union to environmental activists, all gathering in dallas to raise their voices against the biggest member of the big oil club. exxonmobil is hitting back, of course, by channeling more than 90% of its political donations to republican candidates. in the new book, private empire, exxon mobile and american power, steve coll says the company has
3:42 pm
become a finance arm of the republican party. we're delighted that he joins us now. >> thank you. >> we often, or people talk about fox news being the media arm of the republican party. you in the books say that exxonmobil is the financial arm. how so? >> it is certainly a financial arm. it is so unusually biased toward the republican party and the donations it makes from the political action committee. when i looked into the date, a i was surprised to discover that most of america's large corporation that's are politically active split their money pretty evenly between the two parties. >> for obvious reasons. >> access to both sides. exxonmobil as you say gave about 90% of its political action spending in 2010 to republican candidates and so far in the 2012 cycle, they're even more in that direction. >> how much are we over the period of a year? >> they spent $161 million on lobbying in washington in the decade after the merger. the political action committee spending is not in the realm of the super pacs, to be clear. but it is a long-term investment
3:43 pm
in basically house republicans are the top ten recipients of all of their pac giving over the course of a decade. they have a blocking strategy where they build long term allies in the congress. >> you spend time in the book looking at exxonmobil's activities overseas. and you cite the u.s. ambassador to chad who said the company was pretty much in charge of whole regions of that nation. how does that happen? that the oil company takes control of the nation in another continent? >> it is a question of scale. chad is a very poor country runs by a, to call him an or the tearian leader would be polite. dictator is what they call him. in that country, in the years that i examined, the u.s. embassy was handing out maybe $10 million a year of health aid, counter terrorism aid, exxonmobil's taxes was north of $750 million. so if you're debbie, who do you
3:44 pm
pay attention to? the exxonmobil representative office or the u.s. embassy? >> your book you describe exxonmobil and i'm quoting you, as a state within a state. do you think the company has far too much power? >> they are an enormous sort of concentrated power in the united states. $450 billion last year in revenue. now, that's more than the economic activity of most countries in the world. they are virtually unexamined. one of the aspects of this that was so to me as a journalist is that four years ago working in this enormous institution, there was nobody in my side-view mirrors. we don't scrutinize in this country the way we scrutinize the government. that has contributed to the relative rise of corporations. >> just a final question. and briefly if i can. the president's campaign strongly against the six disfor big oil. something like $4 billion a year. he did the same thing in 2008. what are the stakes in this race?
3:45 pm
what is exxonmobil stand to gain if they can deny this president another term? >> i think the biggest investment. the next president will do a lot to shape regulations of their investment. >> so they're strongly opposed for obvious reasons. steve coll of the new yorker magazine. his latest book is called private empire. exxonmobil and american power. thank you so much for coming on. it's a fantastic book. we await the president speaking live in chicago. first, sue herrera has the cnbc market wrap. >> good afternoon. it's a strong day on wall street with the dow up about 120 points, and the nasdaq is strong as well. the nasdaq strength certainly does not come from facebook. instead, it is coming from apple which is up better than 4% on the trading session. facebook is going in the other direction. it is down 11% on the trading session. that's a loss of better than $4 on the day. $4.22, to be exact. it is now trading at $34 a
3:46 pm
share. well below its offering price of last friday. and that's it. wir first in business worldwide. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car, and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee, where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life, or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features
3:47 pm
you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life, so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. call us at... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy?
3:48 pm
3:49 pm
the supreme court will decide whether the health care law is constitutional. regardless of the court led by chief justice john roberts and sharply divided along idealogical lines has made it apparent the next election will have far ranging for the future of this country and how it's governed. jonathan hurley is a professor at georgetown university. good evening, sir. >> hello, martin. before he was confirmed, it was you who predicted martin would be a very conservative justice. for how much is he responsible for the court's rapid movement from being a purely judicial body to now being a political
3:50 pm
one? >> well, i don't know if i would necessarily call it a political one. i would say that idealogically it is clearly more conservative, not just with roberts as the chief justice, although he replaced a very conservative william randquist, but with elito replacing connelly. this came up during the confirmation when i wrote the article that you referenced that i was mystified by people who were saying that, you know, roberts would be a moderate. there was nothing in roberts' history that would suggest he would be a moderate. he was idealogically very conservative, and he's proven to be exactly that as a chief justice. and he has the ability to be more effective in terms of conservative votes because he has that added vote of alito. so he is going to leave a big mark on the court. it has moved significantly to the right, and it may move more
3:51 pm
significantly still, depending on the outcome next election. >> right, and, in fact, the outcome of the health care law, and we were hearing that it may even be coming down today. i understand that's not going to happen now, but if we add that to the citizens united decision, can we fairly call this one of the most activist courts in decades? >> well, of course, activism is a term that people will often use for a court that doesn't do what they want it to do, and these justices, in their defense, have a philosophical commitment in favor of federalism and other issues that are strong. the judges on the left have different philosophical views, and the court is deeply divided. i think, though, what's fascinating about this is that obama has a court a lot like fdr's. fdr had a court that was highly resistant, if not hostile to his new deal legislation, and that was the subject, actually, of the piece that you referred to in another piece in the village
3:52 pm
voice i wrote at that time, which was that the roberts' court could very much produce for obama what fdr had in a hostile court that tended to be far more conservative, and it's proven to be that. that's the reason the next round of appointments to the court are going to be enormously important. >> let me play what justice roberts said during his confirmation hearings. take a listen. >> i believe very strongly in the separation of powers. it was a very important principle that the framers set forth that is very protective of our individual liberty. make sure the branch legislates, executive competent could you tell us -- executes and the judicial branch decides the law. >> how would say that meets with his time as chief justice? >> no one really asked serious questions, including the democrats. it was really pretty farcical.
3:53 pm
they talked about movies and baseball, and it left us scratching our head because this guy has enormous importance to the country, and he has moved to the right as we predicted. >> as we go to break, we remember the late robin gibb of the bee gees. he passed away this weekend. ♪
3:54 pm
3:55 pm
3:56 pm
it's ftime now to clear the air. ever since mitt romney announced he would be running for the nomination, we were waiting for something, anything, about the policies he would embrace. there was no guessing which way he would go because he held a lot of positions throughout his life, but finally we see how he might handle foreign policy in a piece in the chicago tribune. now, we already have an inkling
3:57 pm
that he is not familiar with foreign affairs after this interview in march. >> this is to russia. this is without question our number one giopolitical foe. >> to say russia is the number one geopolitical foe is not correct. he says, i will not allow runaway entitlement spend to go swallow the defense budget as has happened in europe and as president obama is now allowing here. this is a remarkable statement. not only does he cast aspersions on nato, even as the president hosts its international members, he's also completely out of touch with what world leaders are focused on today as the president explained. >> as all of the leaders here today agreed, growth and jobs must be our top priority. a stable, growing european
3:58 pm
economy is in everybody's best interests, including america's. >> while romney talks up military spending, the rest of the world is trying to work on economic growth. while romney tries to relitigate the conflict with russia, the rest of the world is trying to move forward. the real key, of course, to mitt romney's backward-facing foreign policy is that most of it has been written by advisers to a previous president. which explains where mitt romney stands on foreign affairs. while most of us have left the last century, mitt romney is still stuck there. thank you so much for watching. do tune in tonight at 10:00 p.m. where i'll be hosting "the last word." lawrence is taking a break, but right now dylan ratigan is here to take us forward. hello, dylan. >> hello, martin. >> i notice you're back at your post. >> i'm glad to be back.
3:59 pm
i notice the weather has taken a turn for the worse. i won't take it personally. >> please don't. >> i want to get into your potently athletic career. i feel like people don't understand your capacities. now is not the time. >> the show starts now. >> at some point we should describe this. >> the show starts now. >> good monday afternoon to you. i'm dylan ratigan, and we are, in fact, 30 minutes away from president obama's news conference wrapping up the nato summit in chicago. the president has been delivering a sales pitch to nato allies, attempting to gain their support not only for his end of the afghan war in 2014 but his pledge to keep a presence in afghanistan ten years thereafter. 130,000 nato troops currently are stationed in afghanistan, the other big topic at the summit, and something that we have talked at length about here on the d.r. show.