to grow the economy is quote, i know how to make a lot of money for investors then you're missing the point of the job of president. >> the white house is still on the offensive on bain capital and mitt romney is nowhere to be found. when they succeed and the company succeeds, they make money. when the company they get involved with fails, they still make money. e.j. dionne is here. the birthers are back. >> i cannot in good faith report to you that these documents are authentic. >> arizona officials say they might not put president obama on the ballot. ohio republicans have adopted birtherism as part of the party platform. professor michael eric dyson is here. school teachers in wisconsin are being targeted in an unbelievable way. two weeks from the recall election, the stakes couldn't be

higher. good to have you with us. the obama campaign is pressing ahead with its bain strategy. mitt romney's strategy is to scold people for talking about bain. romney responded in statement saying president obama confirmed today that he will continue his attacks on the free enterprise system. really. republican national chairman said it's sad to see the candidate of hope and change descend into the president of dishonest attacks and cover ups. i'm not sure what dishonest attacks he's talking about. i haven't heard him attack rom for the free enterprise system. i've heard them question mitt romney's actual record in the private sector. joe biden also says there haven't been any personal attacks just questions about the facts. >> that doesn't mean the private

equity guys are bad guys. they're not. that no more qualifies do you be president than being a plumber. it doesn't, by the way, a lot of awful smart plumbers. all kidding aside, it's not the same job requirement. it's totally legitimate for the president to point this out. >> republicans want to have it both ways. they want to run on the benefits of free enterprise and ignore the negatives go with it and there are negatives when you let 350 employees go and take $100 million. romney's surrogate said to focus on the positives of bain capital. >> if you want to go and talk about bain as a whole, that is fair. if you want to talk about bain on a cherry picking basis, that's a distortion. >> all right. we want to take the former governor up on his offer. we want to talk about bain as a whole. the problem is romney keeps

fudging the truth about his time at bain. >> in the business i had we invested in over 100 different businesses and net taking out the ones that we lost jobs and we added, those businesses have added over 100,000 jobs. >> romney's campaign has not been able to offer any proof of the jobs created by the candidate. in fact, an analysis by the washington post said this tally does not include job losses from other companies from which bain capital was involved and based on current employment figures, not when romney worked at bain. back when romney was running for senate in massachusetts he was bragging about smaller number. a campaign add posted 10,000 jobs created. which is it? is it 100,000 or 10,000. we want to be able to talk about the bain experience as a whole especially because you talk

about your bain experience all the time. >> i'm convinced that my experience will help me get this economy going and get people back to work. >> my experience came by living in the economy, working at a job, working my way up, starting a business. >> conservative values were part of my business experience because in business you don't have a choice about balancing your budget. you either balance your budget or go bankrupt. >> he highlighted his experience so much during the primary even his republican opponents raised questions about his time. >> we find it hard to justify rich people figuring out clever legal way to loot a company leaving families without a job. >> they swoop in and kick the carcass clean and fly away. >> if governor romney would like to give back the money from

bankrupting companies and laying off employees, i would be glad to listen to him. >> those people are out of work after bain capital gutted the company, took $20 million of profit out of it and people lost their jobs. >> when it comes to bain capital, they can run but can't hide. a new ad is out today about bain capital and results. >> i worked at the plant going on 34 years. i thought that i was going to retire from there. i had about two and a half years to go. i was suddenly 60 years old. i had no health care and that's scary. when mitt romney did that, he made me sick. >> who's side are you on? bain capital walked away with $100 million return on investment from ampad. workers, whatever to them? they're laid off. they are kicked to the side of the road like road kill and

moved around like furniture. pensions were deleted and health care was cut. none of the $100 million in profit went to helping out any of those workers who were laid off because that's just not bain's priority. the american people i think are starting to get it. a new poll by public policy polling asked what was mitt romney's primary concern at bain capital. 57% said making a profit. i think americans understand that. 12% said creating jobs. wait a minute. they're figuring this out. this is about profit. it's not about people. 25% said both equally. voters are taking mitt romney's business experience seriously. they should. this priority, his priority all along was profit and policies as president if he becomes president of the united states, this is what it's going to look like. mitt romney wants tax cuts for

the wealthiest americans. the income separation that we show on this chart from time to time, romney wants the red line to go up further. he thinks they don't have enough money. he wants to make it better than what they've got right knew. he wants to gap government spending. good-bye to the public sector job creation. capping government spending. later in this broadcast i'm going to show you president obama has done that better than republican presidents. romney wants to eliminate regulations on wall street. romney has been in the news business quite a bit lately, hasn't it? get rid of dodd-frank. he wants to gambling to continue. he wants people on wall street to be able to play with your money any way they want to. he wants to cut social services like kicking people off of food stamps. food stamps. that would be the poor.

in other words, romney wants to kick these people to the road, but he wants these people to go back to the penthouse. the mar we look at bain as a whole, the more we understand exactly what kind of president mitt romney would be if this country is stupid enough to put him in the white house. think about this. $100 million taken from company, profit. 350 employees cut. have you ever fired anybody in business. it's kind of a gut wrenching thing to do. it really is. some people just can't handle it. they don't do it very well. you know what we're finding out, mitt romney was an expert at that. he knew how to take the money and run and walk all over those employees. think of that 60-year-old who didn't have any health insurance. she's just recycle back into the economy and everything will be

is this the president that you want? get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. is it fair to ask if mitt romney's experience as a vulture capitalist makes him fit to be president? text a for yes. text b for no. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com and leave a comment. i'm joined by e.j. dionne. great to have you with us tonight. >> good to be with you. >> you've been on this story about the poor. you've been on this story about bain and the separation of wealth in this country and what is happening. the debate over bain capital this isn't going to go away. this isn't going to go away until election day. this is a big part of where we are in america. the culture of vulture capitalism. the obama team will stay on this as long as this campaign goes. why is this important?

>> i think it's important for two big reasons. reason one is who is mitt romney and what did he do? he in his early part of the campaign says i've been in business. i know how to create jobs. that's why you should make me president. that invites an inquiry was bain about creating jobs. the answer to that is no, but how many jobs did he create. we don't have good numbers on that. he can claim with companies like dominos and sports authority helped build that. there's cases like ampad where it does sound like vulture capitalism. that's the other big debate. what kind of capitalism do we want to have in america? there's different kind of capitalism. i think to understand this campaign you have to watch the movie, it's a wonderful life for a while and several times. i think the romney wants to say

he's george bailey and the obama campaign will argue he's mr. potter. i think that some of this financial engineers ta people engage in sounds more potter like than bailey like to me. >> romney wants everybody to talk about the positives of bain capital and that's what his surrogates are saying, but is he able to answer for the pain and suffering that his businesses caused. when you kick 350 people to the road and you take $100 million, the american people, i don't think they are compassionate to that kind of business. is the romney campaign worried this bain thing is not going to go away? >> i think so because obviously the obama people want to turn it into a character issue and people tend not to like the boss who has fired them. the other issue is what do the guys do with pension funds. some of these deals the pension

funds get looted and people who were promised a pension can't collect it. sometimes retirees who have health care promised to them, they lose that promise. i think this will be a problem for journalism. not all of these details are public. i think you need a really detail look at bain because romney started out making it a big deal in the campaign. we need to know what did they do. what was constructive and what was not so constructive. >> romney has been criticized for not being able to connect with people. he's not the regular guy. he's awkward and says goofy things to people in awkward moments. there's a heartless sense about this guy's business make up. he has no problem going into a resourceful company, taking everything for the people he's representing and crapping all

over them. if this country elects this man, how can it get any better for workers? it can't because his philosophy pretty much is to be heartless and cut right to the bottom line. you're just going to have to run over some people to get there. that's the mitt romney that i think this country is getting to know. your thoughts. >> i got to decide which of my two cadillacs i'm going to drive home in tonight. he's had a history of saying things. when ever he talks about money he seems very, very uneasy about it. i do think there is this reserve about him in general that plays into an image of the guy who simply looked at the numbers on a piece of paper about how much money he was going to earn and i think he's got to humanize himself if he has any chance of winning this election. i don't think this bain dialogue

is helpful to him even if some democrats get out through and say this isn't what we should be talking about. i think we're going to be talking about it. >> i don't think romney has the capability of understanding that everybody likes profit, but not everybody likes greed.

the birthers are back. right wingers in arizona and iowa question the president's citizenship. michael eric dyson joins me to talk about the real personal attacks. john boehner becomes a

surprising ally with democrats when it comes to making the wealthy pay their fair share. i'll ask david k. johnson how that will play with republicans and they are really attacking teachers in wisconsin. i'll have the latest. share your thoughts on twitter. ♪ i can see clearly now ♪ the rain is gone children's claritin chewables relieves kids' worst allergy symptoms for 24 hours. plus, it's the #1 pediatrician recommended non-drowsy brand. ♪ gonna be a bright ♪ sunshiny day ♪ you know, from car insurance companies shouting, "save 500 bucks over here!" "no, save 300 bucks over here!" "wait, save 400 bucks right here." with so many places offering so much buck-saving, where do you start? well, esurance was born online, raised by technology, and majors in efficiency. so they're actually built to save you money... and time... and whiplash. esurance. insurance for the modern world.

click or call. welcome back. republicans just can't let the birther nonsense go, can? in iowa they asked for proof of u.s. citizenship. there are many republicans who feel barack obama is not natural born citizen and should not be

allowed to be elected or even nominated by the democratic party in 2008. in arizona the secretary of state wants confirmation from hawaii on president obama's birth certificate. >> if hawaii can't or won't verify a very simple request, which is contemplated in their own state laws that for other government officials and other states who have a need to know just answer the question, yes, do you have a birth certificate for this guy. if they're not willing or can't do that, we might have some other thinking to do. >> in statement by the secretary of state of that state he added, i believe that the president was born in hawaii. i'm not a birther. the hawaii attorney general's office says he must prove he legitimately needs to see

confirmation. well, now he's pretty much backed off. he says if i embarrassed the state, i apologize but that wasn't my intent. he'll be on the ballot as long as he fills out the same paper work and does what everybody else does. talk about a 180. let's not forget one arizona's favorite characters, the sheriff. he's sent a deputy from his threat unit to get official confirmation of the president's birth certificate. when he was asked about taxpayer money. he said it's one sheriff. dog the bounty hunter show has been cancelled maybe there's some economic development opportunity or maybe there's an opening for you. let's turn to michael eric dyson. on a serious, very serious side of this, we all know the president was born in the united states. he has all the documentation, is this just another form of racism

being played out in a different form? >> from your mouth to the americans ears. the man has shown every documentation of his legitimate birth in hawaii. he's been clear about it. he's been consistent about it. the officials in hawaii have satisfied that this is the case. they have stood behind the president. the president has reiterated the fact that his document is legitimate and gave the long form for us to see. what in the world do these people want except to raise the dander of beknowing americans and americans. it's just another way to chip away at his authenticity. >> it's this narrative that president obama is the other in all of this. they're trying to justify it any way they can. the secretary of state of arizona just a few days ago was talking about all these e-mail he's been getting and he's got

to do his job and follow up on this. now we got a little 180 going on here. what do you make of that? what's the proper response to that? to keep calling these people out for what they are and their methods? >> unfortunately that's what we have to do. you have to match it with responses that are logical, that speak to the issue. that push away all of the mess and madness of the emotional and get to the central issue here. you just don't like this man. you're disrespect toward him. if he fills out the form like everybody else does. he's already done so. he's the president of the united states of america. respect the office. also, respect the man. there's a kind of besmirching of this man's character that is quite extraordinary here and i don't think it's anything else but a racist assault upon mr.

obama's, president obama's person. >> you were spot on. what is this teaching our young kids in our country? these people to go down this road is totally irresponsible. this isn't the only attack. sarah palin says that jeremiah wright should still be fair game. she says president obama is an empty vessel. >> empty vessel, sarah palin articulating that somebody lacks substance. my god, that's the rice calling the sheet white. what's interesting here is these are the keystone cops. this is the three stooges. this secretary of state, arpaio and sarah palin. these are people that lack serious credentials. people ashamed of yourself. why are you being moved by 1200 e-mail. i bet 1200 people e-mail you about the lottery or having a

fence around their neighbor's dog. it feeds into the perception that we will not tolerate nor accept an african-american or a person of color who falls outside the pale of what we consider to be a legitimate american. obviously only white men of a certain order and white women fill the bill. those who don't fill it, need not apply. we have to fight this tooth and nail time again and be vigilant. >> great to have you with us. thanks so much. coming up, it's a new low for steve king of iowa. he compares immigrants to dogs at a town hall. we're two weeks way from the walker recall election and the stakes couldn't be higher. it's big money versus the people. stay tuned.

if republicans are still wondering why they aren't doing well with latino voters, here's a clue. >> the statue of liberty who comes here, the most vigorous that are donated. we have the cream of the crop. we always had bird dogs and right now there's a black lab, yellow lab and my brother has a chocolate lab. you look at a litter of pups. you want a good bird dog and one

that's aggressive, pick the one that's friskiest and not the one that's over there sleeping corner. you get the pick of the litter and you have yourself a pretty good bird dog. we got the pick of earn on the planet. we got the bigger from the planet to come to america. >> iowa congressman steve king at a town hall in iowa comparing immigrants to dogs. this is the same guy that lobbied for an electrified fence along the u.s.-mexican border because the same tactics help control livestock. marco rubio insists his party is welcoming to all. he told a group of conservatives the gop is a more diverse party than the democratic party is. if we take him at his word, that's great news for mitt romney. the latest nbc news wall street journal poll tell a different story. president obama tops mitt romney

with voters by a 34-point margin. let's turn to howard fineman. great to have you on with us. how does the republican party go around and hold town halls like that and make statements and be so wide in their perspective when it comes to what to do about illegal immigration in this country and then look at a poll that has them so separated away from president obama and who latinos are going to support? how do they make that up when they make comments like that? >> first of all, they're not going to get anywhere with latinos allowing steve king the platform. you're not going to see him on the stage in tampa. he's the very embodiment that latinos and many other americans fear and despise. in talking to people who understand the latino vote, it's not only immigration or primarily immigration.

it's the question of what government can and should be responsible for to help people who need help. that means health care. that means education. talking to sergio dixon who does the lead polling for democrats. he says what they care about and especially coming from the cultures that they come from and the kinds of governments they come from, they expect government to take an important role in providing health care and guaranteeing health care and guaranteeing education. it's that kind of world view that makes the democratic party, generally speaking, more congenial. george w. bush and his people were always obsessed with trying to get north of 40% of the hispanic vote. they got it in 2004. a 27% hispanic support for republican party is going to make sure that the republicans lose the election.

>> romney says self-deportation is a good way to solve immigration. he's speaking with a conservative hispanic business group tomorrow and the group once slammed right wing extremists on immigration, so how does he navigate through that crowd? >> romney's got to be very, very careful. he caused himself a world of hurt with the hispanic community when he tacked as far to the right as he did in iowa to try to out flank rick perry. in the process of destroying rick perry in iowa, rick perry brought to iowa his rather more broad minded view being from texas. that dug a big hole for mitt romney that he's tried to get out of and he's got a lot of work to do. it can't just be marco rubio doing it. it can't be reciting the history of george w. bush and the

republican party in texas. it's got to be mitt romney. this is one he's going to have to sell by himself. you can't do it with surrogates. he's shown the inability to do that kind of thing with any group. >> he sure has. great to have with us. there's a lot more coming up. stay with us. i'm fighting to get the federal government off your back and out of your checkbook. >> republican women in congress are pushing back in the war on women.

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they voted against lilly ledbetter. they voted against paycheck fairness. they care about students but only if they can gut women's health care fund to pay for it. this week the house gop tried to make it all better by launching the women's policy committee. the committee is comprised of all 24 female house republicans who say they want to make america great again. here is just one problem. the group isn't offering any

concrete solutions to issues or policy initiatives. instead they have released there video. >> i'm a wife, mother, grandmother, small business owner and now a member of the congress. >> lifelong farmer, public schoolteacher, business owner. >> i'm fighting for the values of freedom, opportunity and responsibility to keep the american dream alive for my children and yours. >> i'm fighting to restore common sense to the halls. >> giving families the freedom to succeed. >> i'm fighting for the safety and security of every american. >> i'm fighting to get the federal government off your back and out of your checkbook. >> all right. the shows going to get a lot smarter. here are the experts. let's turn too alex wagner, joy ann reid. can we comment on the music. >> i feel a saturday night live skit coming on.

>> i'm in trouble for that. >> you don't think this is going to work? >> no. >> just by virtue of the fact that they are women and in this. the subtitle could be on two of those women, we voted against the republican caucus on pieces of legislation. these are not women who are standing on party lines. >> that's the key point. this is not about diversity in congress. this is all about policies. it's been a rough six months for the republicans. how do they fix it? >> it's been a rough six months, but they are still doing pretty well. we notice that the polls seem to be closing between romney and obama among women. it's way too early. i don't think they are going to fix it. i think they are going to stand by the legislation they are proposing and they're going to

get hoisted on their own. i don't think the women in this country can support these policies unless they fall for what i'm now calling propaganda that they are related to jobs and improved economy and there's no correlation. >> the latest nbc news wall street journal poll shows president obama with a big advantage with women. 53% to 38%. does this have to hold for him to win? >> i think it will hold. there is some part of the female vote that is closing for romney, but it's the party of the vote republicans usually always have, married suburban women who tend to lean further to the right. the problem i have with republicans are employing is look, we have women too. >> and i have a black friend. >> i was just going to say it's like their ethnic strategy.

they say look, here is a black guy. look at him. that doesn't really work. >> herman was so cute. >> it bears mentioning in that same nbc news poll president obama's beating romney 88 to 2, which is a whomping in the pundit world. the republicans have said democrats keep bringing up these social issues. you know who is bringing up the social issues, the republicans. we look at what's happening in texas. we look at what's happening against violence with women act. these are issues the republicans have to do this very difficult dance and put the women in congress in a very difficult position. >> where are the pieces of legislation from the republican who is are dominating so many of the state houses and the house of representatives and yes they are screaming the reverse.

>> how does a party get around voting against equal pay? i just can't believe that one. >> especially since they want to talk about the economy and jobs. they are saying women run the households therefore these bread and butter issues should matter. my colleagues are right. the republicans have shown an obsession with issues like abortion and birth control. this idea that the first thing have to do is limit access to birth control. it shows an almost obsessiveness that creeps women out. it seems odd. >> can i say one thing? i feel like this ad is evidence of them sort of tuning in and understand. we may have a problem and you look another that and what representative bob doyle is trying to walk back his position stripping funds. they know this is an untenable

position. they're not ready to put their money where their mouth is. >> you look at the ryan plan which hurts a lot of poor people. they want to go after food stamps. president obama is very strong with single moms. is that an area that the republicans just are never going to be able to get? they are out there saying this is the plan they want to run this country with. it just seems like their policy are shoving a lot of americans into the democratic camp. >> at a time we're proposing a military budget five times greater than china and greater than 1014 of the next top military countries and the republicans are walking back on the deal they made about cutting the defense budget. they want more than the pentagon. the pentagon is going don't give us this and they are keeping a

straight face going we have to do this while we're going to decimate very critical social policies in this country. >> with the contraception issue and health care, how are they ever going to fix that? >> i don't think they can. i think this shows the extent to which the tea party has damaged and overtaken, really consumed the republican brand. they have to keep pleasing the base even though the primary is over. they are supposed to be tacking to the middle to try to attract independents. they can't get off that message and neither can mitt romney. >> the contraception debate is an intra-catholic debate. this is about two different wings of the catholic church taking semiconservative position and very conservative position. the republicans are unwilling to put the flag in the ground and say this isn't right. it isn't good or fair.

>> it's because they are riding the tiger and the tiger starting to eat them. >> they can't stand up to them. thanks for joining us tonight. scott walker's recall election is a couple of weeks from today. it's the citizens united ruling versus the will of the people. i'll break it down. stay with us.

i asked is it fair to ask if mitt romney's experience as a vulture capitalist makes him fit. 82% said yes. 18% said no. you won't believe the latest attack conservatives are launching on teachers in the state. into the big finish, i'm taking one of the biggest myths republicans are pushing when it comes to the economy. stay with us.udy glas s. you didn't have to come over! easy. hi. cascade kitchen counselor. look! over time, the other premium pac can leave cloudy, hard water deposits, but cascade complete pacs help leave glasses sparkling. cascade. love it or your money back. it's time to get going. to have the energy to keep up with your kids. to step up to a new challenge.

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two weeks from tonight, only the third gubernatorial recall election will take place. in 1921 it was north dakota. then california and in 2012, wisconsin. wisconsin has developed into a real political test for the

citizens of this state. big money versus the people. who's going to win? scott walker has outspent his challenger 25 to 1. the majority of that money has come from out of state interests. no gubernatorial election that been so lopsided in american political history when it comes to finance. this is the country's first real test and measure of unlimited donations via the supreme court ruling citizens united. this recall is about much more than a governor or control of the wisconsin state senate. it's about the future face and landscape of elections all across this country. can the people, the ground game, the get out to vote effort overcome the bought media influence. there are so many dynamics that come into play in wisconsin. the avalanche of ads against

your opponent, it can shake your confidence as a voter. wear you down. you feel like there's no hope. the stakes couldn't be any higher. a conservative organization is targeting teachers in janesville, wisconsin. the citizens for responsible government made flyers with names and salaries of 325 highest paid teachers in the city that they were then distributed throughout the community. it tells parents to find out if these highly paid teachers actually sign the recall petition. at the bottom of the flyer is a parents right protection form. it urges parents to request that their child be placed with a non-radical teacher next year. if scott walker gets re-elected dirty intimidation tactics by the republicans will continue because they will have found way to win.

every american should pay close attention to unfolds two weeks from tonight in wisconsin. i think this is the type of the iceberg. it could set the template for defeating democracy. the hard right wing in america is all in to save a governor who has attacked the middle class, taken from citizens and delivered the country, the play book for dismantling unions. the determination of the residents of wisconsin could turn back the tide and also show the country how to defeat citizens united with heart, soul, stick-to-itiveness and just getting it done on the ground. all the intangibles that can't be purchased. the integrity of one's political belief and hope for the future is the only remedy available to save a system of a true representative government. wisconsin know this two weeks out, the eyes of america are upon you june 5th.

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the big myth about president obama's spending is exposed again. this chart, the truth, very clearly shows the truth undoubtedly. the growth in spending under president obama is the slowest out of the last five presidents. the party of the chart representing president obama's term includes a stimulus package too. the gop can't get their act together on taxes either. >> this is outrageous. this is absolutely outrageous. >> what's outrageous? >> that somebody would renounce their citizenship to avoid

paying taxes. it's already against the law. >> you don't think you need this new legislation? >> i'm not sure it's necessary. >> you wouldn't support it? >> if it's necessary, sure. >> he said he was encouraged by boehners support. he better check with his boss who was opposed to the bill. norquist said i think he can find the legislation to do this. it existed in germany in the 1930s. he probably just play ja rised it and translated it from the original german. david, the narrative that the republicans have doesn't match the chart that i just showed. how do you break it down? >> this is one of the great lies that's being told if we're going to use grover's approach to thing. clearly, obama has been tight fisted as a president. the president who had the

fastest growth in the discretionary area of the budget wasn't even l.b.j. it was george w. bush. the democrats have done a poor job of selling this and explaining it because they posed as sort of republican light. i don't think the voters get the discretionary area of the budget wasn't even l.b.j. it was george w. bush. the democrats have done a poor job of selling this and explaining it because they posed as sort of republican light. i don't think the voters get the distinction. >> this bill to punish people who renounce their citizenship to avoid paying taxes, is it fair? >> sure it is. here is a guy who comes to the united states. why? his wealthy family in brazil is targeted for kidnapping. he comes to the u.s. where he has a safe place. he goes to our most prestigious

college, harvard. he gets involved in the business here and makes billions of dollars. when he leaves the country, he doesn't have to pay any tax so long as he doesn't sell the shares. the government has a record if he sells the shares, how much tax he owes. talk about defriending a society and ripping it off. it's amazing. >> i find it interesting that speaker boehner suggested he may support this, although he wasn't sure if it's necessary. he's so outraged by this but he doesn't seem to say too much about companies that put their profits offshore and don't pay taxes. what about that? >> i think it's politically smart for boehner to say he's outraged but i'll be floored if he does anything about it. this guy who is moving to singapore, expatriots like him

live tax free because the locals pay 80% on their forced retirement savings. a fact that the right goes around keeps not telling people. >> most people don't believe this chart because of the stimulus package that was in president obama's tenure, but there it is. 8.1% under the bush years. always a pleasure. great to have you with us. >> that's "the ed show." "the rachel maddow show" starts now. good evening. >> i'm up in boston. i signed copies of my new book. i got lots and lots of greetings to ed from everybody up here in boston. you're a hero. >> thank you. i appreciate that. that's nice to hear. >> nice to hear. i thought it was nice too. thanks to you at home for staying with us. we have got david axelrod for the next hour. he's going to be joining us in just a moment, live. i'm looking forward to that conversation. the u.s. congress has 435 members in the house and another 100 members in the senate.