thank you so much. michael, i don't know how you think on this exactly, but i am impressed. jeb bush's sort of heir to the throne if you will. he sits out there as a guy talked up so highly for all these recent months and years as future prospect and here he is saying basically, you have to compromise, accept things like ten for one deals or you're not getting anywhere. >> i have to tell you, it was music to my ears and i was so grateful to hear the governor put in very raw terms the reality that we have as a party to face. not just now, but into the future. as you look at the the demographic shifts in this country, you and i have talked about this before. the republican party, which i headed for two years, is moving itself out of you know, line with the american people. it's not the position to be in. i thought jeb put it very well and is absolutely right.

i've said for a number of years, we had michael reagan speak in which he reiterated as well. the reagan we knew of the last eight years in office. >> i think that was ron reagan. >> speaking at the rnc meeting of the members. but he made that exact same point that ronald reagan would not pass the litmus tests being created within the party today. >> that was michael who said that i thought he was further right than his father. >> yeah yeah. >> i thought he was further right than his father. >> ron reagan speaking as an expert. eyebrows raising here. republican republican, mainstream conservative official use like affirmative action and vouchers. for him to say the party has moved so far from the conservative center is pretty amazing stuff. >> yeah, it is. i imagine, when i hear jeb speaking, i'm listening to a guy who think i saw his moment kind of pass and it wasn't able to take advantage of it.

>> well, it's a moving target, isn't it? >> that's true. >> that's true enough. i think he's right. it isn't so much policies that separate let's say reagan from today's republican party. it's a willingness to deal with your opponents. so reach across the aisle. you were in a privileged position, chris, with tip o'neill, r working for tip o'neill during my father's presidency and you know they would ultimately always find a way to work together on things. this, today's republican party doesn't seem capable of doing that anymore. and it means that nothing gets done in the country. >> i'm working on a project, i have to tell you something, this is a fact that i lived through. as you know. reagan was a conservative and tip was a liberal. i lived through it. tip was a liberal, but they could agree on tax reform, on fixing social security. anything that -- every moment of the day there. i think it's very interesting if you can find common ground. you can make a better contribution to the country. any way, here's jeb bush drawing the line between his father and

reagan as well in the republican party and that party of today. he made it as a breakfast today. here he is, read this to you. ronald reagan would have been based on his record of finding accommodation, finding some degree of common ground, as would my dad. they would have a hard time if you define the republican party as having an orthodoxy. it doesn't allow for disagreement or finding common ground. and you know, i see that. it's very strange, michael, because you had to contend with those new forces, but you have to wonder about what do the people come to washington elected as members of the house, i'm not knocking everybody. they get elected as much anything else. anybody else. they have as much certification as anybody else. their attitude seems to be, i'm going to wait out the liberals. i'm going to wait them out. they're not going anywhere. going to be a lot of liberals. >> and we don't want them to go away because we don't want

everybody to have group think, we don't want everybody to be of the same mind. on every issue out there. there is value in the synergy and tension that comes from debating these idea, which is what i'm hoping that presidential campaign, turns into ultimately instead of just picking fights over the crumbs that fall off the media table. but the substance of the arguments around the policy, you are absolutely right. both of you are right here. there is not that, in terms of the policy discussions, there are big, big decisions and differences, but that's not what this should be about. what jeb bush is talking about is making this party relevant again in the context, policies and debates that matter to the american people and not putting ourselves outside of those conversations. >> let's talk about the immigration issue. not just taxes. here's a case where romney, who's not a right winger. i think he goes along with some of this stuff. uses terms like

self-deportation. by the way, jeb called the climate hostile. can we move this? criticized this party, hard line on immigration. here is what he said, quote. don't just talk about hispanics and say immediately we must have controlled borders. you've got to change the tone. and that would be the first thing. second on immigration, i think we need to have a broader approach. well, you know, his family is part hispanic. he's married to a mexican american woman. he's very much involved in that community. in fact, he's engaged in that community, ron, and i think he understands that you can't just say everyone who came here without documentation, who didn't come here legally, you're going to throw them across the border some night. that's not realistic or very nice. >> no, it's not humane or realistic. my father when he was president gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented workers this this in this country. beyond that, in 1979, when he was getting ready to run for president, he proposed a north

american accord which would open the borders between the united states and canada and mexico so people could move freely, he proposed, you know, between these three countries. that would not hold him in good stead with the tea party right now. >> that's one of those crazy ideas like getting rid of nuclear weapons. lame brain ideas. michael, immigration. you pointed to the demographic changes. i mean, we had mark penn on here a couple of weeks ago who said that 10% of the electorate this time is going to be hispanic background people and that's a lot of voters. >> it's a lot of voters and you multiply that by factor of five or six going down the road and quickly see where the party's positioning itself outside of that growth. and i think, i think jeb and many others have spoken on this issue and can make the argument cogently that we are the party of assimilation and immigration

and supporting those. that's been a part of our history and the more we talk about that history and put it in the right context,hris, the stronger we'll become with those growing populations of people who don't like look a typical or sound like a typical republican. >> we can't just be welcome wagon. >> you're right. cannot be spin. i'm not talking spin. i'm talking about a serious approach to not just the immigration issue, but the broader conversation we should have about economic and poverty. those things that draw people to america. >> that showdown, even w who was for it, texas seemed to be right on this. at least he was. very smart about it. trying to get a combination of enforcement and a progress policy to go with it. put both teeth in it and then you have to have something then have something that's genuinely humane. let's ask you about what kind of reaction jeb bush is getting. are you hearing any sort of mumbling out there?

are they just interpreting this to be he's retired, he's not going to ever run? >> no. some are grumbling. you've heard people refer to him as a rhino, which is an obnoxiously stupid comment to make about jeb bush. you do are have this reaction because he's talking about changing. talking about the party, not abandoning its conservative principles, but embracing those remember conservative principles ronald reagan and george bush xli embraced and made them successful presidents. i think that's something going forward. i'm hoping mitt romney will also embrace in this election campaign and i think if he does the stronger he'll become as a candidate. and the party will be. >> the republican party needs to be saved, it's going to have to be saved by people like jeb bush. ultimately. >> from inside. what about this grover norquist character. he runs around like a hall monitor.

he has been governor for a couple of attorneys. i don't know where grover could get elected. first, ron and then michael. is this grover stronger than jeb bush? can he be the enforcer and say no movement, negotiations, no deals ever? >> i believe he will be strong enough. look, he got every republican candidate now to pledge no new taxes whatsoever. my father would have violated grover's pledge 11 times when he was president. grover would deem my father reaganesque at this point. >> grover going to win this thing or guys like jeb bush? the fight for the heart of your party. >> i think i put my money on jeb bush because i think you hit the right word there. he's going to speak to the heart of the party and i think he reflects in a lot of ways what typical republicans out there

feel. i understand where he's coming from and his pledges, but unless you govern and have had to make those tough choices, a pledge is just a piece of paper, my friend. when you are dealing with people's lives, you are dealing with their wallets and businesses, executive leadership which jeb has a lot of, i think trumps an conversation point in that regard. >> i happen to know something important, which is the president of the united states believes and hopes maybe it's hopefulness, that he can get reelected this time against the forces of the far right who are aligned against him right now, that he can find people like jeb bush and others in the party that they will be red write to negotiate and have a real governing coalition. not official, but both parties actually negotiating with each other on an honest basis. he's hoping he can win, find a new opportunity. last word. >> just real quickly. i think mitt romney would want the same thing should he win from democrats and like mined like-minded republicans.

>> i got to tell you. i'm with that if it would ever happen. >> we'll see. we will see. i think it takes him to buck those guys first. at some point. he has to show some independence of the wild men. thank you very much, ron reagan. michael steele. an unusual agreement among three people. coming up, emotional testimony from one of the victims in the penn state jerry sandusky trial, which is getting quite graphic. i have to tell you. this is the real story coming up in court. plus, build, baby build. get the people working. if republicans are so hungry r for jobs, why are are they blocking the one big plan being pushed by inhoff of oklahoma and barbara boxer to put millions of people to work in the next year building bridges, working on the roads? we've got an exclusive coming up with lots of facts on that one. the mitt romney act. expert exposes the man behind the curtain. the great james lipton, host of inside the actor's studio is

coming here. finally, jeb bush's call to arms across the far right leaning republican party. this is "hardball." the place for politics. ose surpe things she does still make you take notice. there are a million reasons why. but your erectile dysfunction that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing,

stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. new poll numbers from battleground state. let's check the scoreboard. here it is. president obama has a six-point lead over romney. that's not great. the president is not yet over 50 in pennsylvania. a state he won by ten points in 2008. and needs to win comfortably. in north carolina, a new poll has romney up by two. haesz not good. 48-46. it's romney's first lead in the tar heel state since october. we'll be right back.

incredible testimony in center county, pennsylvania. victim one breck down at the trial of jerry sandusky.

just a reminder, much of the story is graphic in nature. victim one cried openly in court as he detailed the alleged abuse, which began with fondling and led to oral sex. later in the day, the jury heard from mike mcqueary who said he saw sandusky in the shower with a boy around the age of 10 or 12 and heard, quote, skin on skin, smacking sounds. that was back in 2001. sandusky, the defendant, says that he's innocent of the 52 criminal charges he faces. diane dimond with "newsweek" and "the daily beast" is covering this trial in belmont, pennsylvania and michael smerconish is an attorney and msnbc political analyst. tell us today about the testimony of victim one. >> well, this was the second accuser slash victim we've heard from and i'll tell you, you've known me for a long time, chris.

i'm pretty hardened when it comes to covering trial stuff, but you know what, i have never seen testimony like this. i'm a mother. i know you're a father. this kid was, is 18 years old. he was 11 when he first met san -- sandusky and the abuse began when he was about 12. alleged abuse, let's say. i got teary, i have to tell you. i got very teary hearing this boy. i call him a boy because he's so small. he's so frail. he walked in with stooped shoulders and his chin down and you just wanted to hug the kid. he broke down completely twice. at one point, the jail matron had to come over and give him a kleenex and frankly, the whole courtroom just sat there waiting for him to collect himself. on two occasions. didn't take any recesses. he just kept talking about how jerry sandusky, in his words, began to fondle him, then performed oral sex on him and

then expected him to do the same to jerry sandusky. it was very powerful stuff. >> it sounds like that kid was surrounded by the situation and couldn't get out of it at all. let me go to michael smerconish. this is a political show. this story has tremendous ramifications down the road. megan's law. the kid went to the parent and said what's that law about kids and people that do thing to them and finally got the mother alerted because he was so scared of his situation. but he was there relying on something he'd heard about a law that alerts people to a sex offender. i thought it was interesting that that law is there and at this point, or at least to get to first base with his parents in warning them what was going on with him. or to him. >> chris, diane is obviously right that victim one and the testimony of michael mcqueary

are the big headlines coming out of this today. but i would submit to you that potentially the big political headline came from a caseworker, a caseworker who testified today that the state trooper who initially investigated the complaints of victim number one believed victim number one and thought there was enough to arrest jerry sandusky. instead, there was a three-year investigation that ensued at a time when tom corbett, the governor of pennsylvania, was the attorney general and only as he was running for governor did that not campaign but investigation seem to gain speed. and there are a lot of people in pennsylvania and i'm one of them. who are asking questions as to whether the investigation dragged for far too long. >> okay, back to diane because that whole thing by the way, the almost religious nature in pennsylvania, the sacredness of penn state football, the way in which the church, the catholic church, my church protects its own, we have a huge case going on in philadelphia about the monsignor reassigning pastors,

reassigning guys involved in this stuff allegedly. let me ask you about this mcqueary guy. he was the guy that allegedly saw that raping scene in that shower. what's going on with that testimony? >> mcqueary was a surprise. there was one witness who was late because his daughter was having surgery, so it surprised everybody that there was mcqueary all of a sudden. he was very strong and forceful. i got the impression that jerry jerry mcqueary -- i'm sorry, michael mcqueary, has been waiting for a long, long time to get into this courtroom to have his say on the record and sworn testimony about what he saw. he never wavered a bit. i don't want to get too graphic here but he said, in effect, i saw jerry sandusky and a little boy about 10, 11, naked in a shower. sandusky had him wrapped around the waist.

there was smacking, rhythmic movements on skin on skin. i couldn't believe what i saw. i walked over to the shower. i was five feet away. they saw me. i saw them. i was so disgusted, i just left the locker room. i went and called my father. it was very riveting testimony to finally hear him say it. >> the horror of this. i never knew the details of these cases. we grew up hearing words like molest or touch. the problem with the media has been so squeamish in describing these case, we have to use the word graphic, but damn it, we would have known how horrible these cases were, if this was said. write it down. we're grown ups. >> and you know what, chris? >> go ahead. >> i was going to say and as we heard in court here today, jerry sandusky was an idol here as was paterno and the wrestling coach said i saw something, they were suspicious, they were laying on

a mat together. i said to myself, it is jerry sandusky, quote. he's a saint. he would never do anything like that. well, that was many years ago and i hate to think what would happen between then and now. >> like the priest, it is so much resonant what's going on in the catholic church where the people were so respected and so protected, that they just all took -- for each other and didn't care about the kids. i'm going through the ages of the kids. i think people have to know this. these aren't teenagers. these are 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds. this isn't some late teen, young adult. these are kids that are being -- well, we know what they're doing or alleged to have been doing. >> to the issue of not protecting kids, the worst might still be to come because former fbi director louis freeh is conducting an investigation and michael isakoff is reporting that they have e-mails that go into the hierarchy of penn state

perhaps to then president of penn state saying that in the aftermath of the mcqueary incident, they didn't report it because they wanted to right sandusky humanely. look out if those e-mails are correct and they surface. >> the only thing i want to know as we study this evidence is was there so much going on here, so many words taken from one person to another person to another person, each one softening the blow so when it finally got to someone at the top, did they say this stuff here? if they didn't, damn it, they hud have. that would have been good for the country. we will find out as the court proceedings. this has got to go on. i'm glad they're looking at it. thank you. up next, times sure are tough for newt gingrich. former speaker. according to this report, isn't making the money he was making on the speaking tour. he is still making a bundle. but wait until you hear the drop in his value. it's time to get going.

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you'll want to get up and go. back to "hardball" and the side show. conan o'brien took his show to chicago last night and that got him a visit from rahm emanuel. the city's mayor. conan asked the mayor to give him a mob name for each of chicago's top sports stars. >> i'm going to name a famous chicago athlete. you have to tell me what their nickname would be if they were mobster. >> okay. >> michael jordan. >> mikey six rings. >> shoeless joe jackson. >> joey no shoes. >> dick butkis. >> richard heiny smoocher. >> william the refrigerator perry. >> william the refrigerator perry. >> yes, very good! you did it. nice job.

>> rahm's one of the smart ones and romney's been hitting president obama pretty hard for saying at a press conference last week the private sector is doing fine. well, here's the latest report from david letterman. >> mitt romney jumped on this and wasted no time issuing this response to president obama saying that the private sector is fine. watch what mitt had to say. >> after president obama made this statement -- >> the private sector is doing fine. >> mitt romney quickly responded. >> he said the private sector is doing fine. is he really that out of touch? >> while speaking from the hot tub of his luxury yacht next to a private island that's part of a chain of islands on his own planet. mitt romney in touch with the common man. >> i was going to say he could have explained what the president said last week. remember when newt gingrich was leading the pack during the gop primary letting us all know how much money he used to rake in in the speaking circuit.

>> i will be really direct, okay? i was charging $60,000 a speech and the number of speeches was going up, not down. normally celebrities leave and sell less. we were selling more. >> he's calling himself a celebrity. sadly for newt, that 60 grand price tag is available at a hefty discount these days. that's if you believe buzz feed. worldwide speakers group is offering gingrich for speaking events in washington, d.c. starting at just $25,000 per speech according to a source familiar. with his arrangement. more than half off the cost he commissioned before launching a political bout. the item points out if that your event is in europe or asia and you want newt gingrich on the bill, it will cost you four times his domestic price. up next, build, baby, build. why are republicans blocking a plan that would create a million jobs rebuilding america?

instead, they're pushing a plan that would actually kill the number of jobs. why would they do something like that? we've got the results of an exclusive report.

the most important in this election season is the unemployment rate and right now it is 8.2%. there's a highway build. it's stalled because house republicans won't pass it. it would create one million new jobs. by our math -- then this bill could easily get the if 1% of the unemployment rate this bill could get it well below 8%. why isn't it happening? is this about election year politics on or getting america back to work? barbara boxer, trying to figure this thing out and that's trying get this bill passed. senator boxer, i know you're a great progressive, liberal and proud of it. this bill seems to be of importance to everybody. what's going on here? why don't we have that million new jobs your bill would create? >> let me give you the good news first. the good news is we passed a bill out of the senate. 74 votes. it's the boxer-inhoff bill. if people don't know who jim

inhoff is, he is my republican ranking member on the committee and he and i don't agree on anything but this. we believe that it is critical for a great nation to be able to move our people and our products. it's great for commerce. it's critical for safety. with 70,000 bridges in our nation being deficient. so the good news is we teamed up, we passed the bill, excited to send it over to the house. we thought they would pass it. we know there are the votes to pass it and instead, they refused. sent us a very bare bones bill and now we're in conference and chris, you remember those days where the conference committees try to iron out the differences. i am hopeful, i am prayerful, that we are going to reach conclusion. but it is an open question. why this resistance? since the '50s when eisenhower came up with the idea of a national highway system, republicans and democrats have

set aside politics and passed this bill. this is a first. it is difficult. >> we've got an exclusive report here, the non-profit organization transportation for america has a new study showing, we got it uniquely here. the bipartisan senate transportation bill would create and save a total of 3 million jobs. republican house didn't pass the transportation bill yet. using the transportation allotment in the budget bill they did pass a as a guide the republican approach. but unfortunately, the republican approach in the house would actually kill a half a million jobs and that is a problem. isn't it, senator? >> yes. it's a problem, however, you know, that bill that you talk about that they wrote never got the votes to pass the house, so i think we have a chance. now, i want to tell you about what's happening tomorrow because i'm very excited about it. you know how the republicans are

always talking about the job creators, well, the job creators are having a demonstration right here in the capitol at the reflecting pool. you remember where that is. they're going to have four huge cement trucks, a big flat bed truck and a sign that says pass a highway bill by june 30th. i'm excited that the job creators are getting involved in such a big way. they have been terrific. labor and business. and they're going to come out again and this is, this is my ace in the hole. this is where we think we can get the pressure on the republicans to do this right thing. >> maybe a good photo op will do it. thank you so much. i'm a believer in that stuff. i call that clean tricks. that's way to get a message across. thank you for joining us. joining us now is the the secretary of transportation. you're a congressman of great note. worked with the leadership while at stanford. you've got a long history of knowing how bills become laws. where does this stand right now? are we going to get a transportation bill or not? that creates jobs and fixes highways and bridges or not? >> if it's up to senator box eer and inhoff, yes, i have my finger crossed her hard work and

determination. jim inhoff, one of the most conservative, really, really a conservative fella, he's on the, in the house trying to persuade these conferees to offer up an opportunity to pass the bill. >> right now, boehner is pushing for a simple six-month extension. no real growth in the program. no expansion of it? why is he doing that, do you think? >> i'm -- >> just kick the can out of the road. >> i'm pulling for boxer and inhoff. because thousands of people will go to work. if they pass the senate bill, there's thousands of people. we still have an opportunity here in the construction season to get people to work. we know what we do at d.o.t. with our partners, put people to work. they need to pass the boxer-inhofe bill. >> let's talk about the need. not just the need for jobs. barbara boxer just said 70,000 bridges. they fall down while you're on

them. >> there's 300 bridges on the list now, chris, that are unsafe. we've got the list. they can start to fix those up immediately as soon as congress, the president signed the vote. >> why don't you do when i did with tip that caused all kinds of problems. go on the house floor and list those bridges and what district is represented and who the congress person is and make them defend a bridge that's dangerous. that's what i used to do. >> everybody has a -- bridge in their district that's not safe. and people need to know where these are so their member of congress can be vote for the transportation bill. we need a bill. >> watch the show and call their congressperson, whatever party they're in and tell them to do this thing. >> there's a pent up demand in this country for infrastructure. america is one big pothole right now. we need a transportation bill. we immediate the boxer-inhofe bill. >> you're a republican. lincoln was a republican when he built the trans continental

railroad. the reason you can ride on 90 like yesterday and 80 and 75 and 95 and interstate highways is because of the republican. >> the 16th president. one of the greatest. >> eisenhower republican right here. thank you very much, mr. secretary. up next, what did mitt romney do to appear more human? and by the way, what kind of an act has he been putting on? we are going to talk to an expert. we've got james lipton. he's got some ideas about what romney's been doing, this performance art he does. this is "hardball." place for politics. we're going to prove it, next.

dueling lawsuits over the voter purge in florida. the department of justice says it will sue. florida defied the order to stop the purge which the federal government says violates federal laws against suppressing voters. meanwhile, rick scott is suing the federal government and specifically, the department of homeland security, accusing the agency of denying the state access to the database about

immigrants. this fight isn't going away and could have a big impact on move's election down there.

little history. i was born and raised here. i love this state. it seems right here. trees are the right height. i love the lakes. i like seeing the lakes. just something very special here. the great lakes, but also the little inland lake that is dot the parts of michigan. i love cars. i don't know, i mean, i grew up totally in love with cars. >> what's the guy on frisky juice? what's going on? sometimes, mitt romney attempts to relate to an audience and they can be quite painful, those kinds of performances, like when

he talks about the trees being the right height in michigan. he seems tow have an authenticity gap. last month, new york magazine asked james lipton, the host of "inside the actor's studio," to assess the candidate's problem. let's watch him in action. >> since you have been criticized by some for not coming across authentic to your public, maybe you can sort of work on that today. let's start with your laugh. >> you know, i live for laughter. >> it isn't working. it is inert. it just doesn't come across as genuine. >> well, there's a lot about mitt romney that doesn't come across as genuine, but here's james lipton, joining us in this interleague play here from bravo as they're doing in baseball this week. let me ask you about the smile.

you have some interesting sort of dissection you share us with. share with us. >> the point is, if you watch him on television and you freeze the frame, and then you put your hand over the lower part of his face and just look at his eyes, you will discover something amazing, which is that while he expects us to be amused, he is not amused himself. those eyes are not -- there's no pleasure there. no amusement. he's too busy working to be amused and the result is that the laughter comes across as what you heard. ha, ha, ha. the kind of thing you see in comic strips and balloons. that's what comes across. it isn't, he's not really laughing. people think that crying is the hardest thing an actor can do. that's not true. the most difficult thing for an actor is to laugh and he has not mastered it and if you have not, stay away from it. >> what's he trying to do?

is he trying to play the old nelson rockefeller, even though he was loaded with tons of money, he seemed to have a way to connect with people and he connected naturally with people like jack kennedy could. this guy seems to be pretending to be some regular, well-meant type who really likes hanging out with regular people and he clearly would prefer not to be there. uncomfortable. he won't eat their poor little cupcakes. well, it's true. remember when he was in the debates and he said -- i can't have these illegal immigrants on my lawn. i'm running for office for pete's sake. what is he saying? that there are two mitt romney's. one that wouldn't mind if there were illegals on his office if he weren't running for office. the other who is presenting himself as a persona. he's acting. he's performing. showing us somebody whom he is not. i'm not talking about his politics, but he doesn't play that part very well.

>> let's take a look at this. the struggle relating to every day people can be painful, like when he joked a group of people about being out of work. let's watch. >> well, maybe i should also tell my story. i'm also unemployed. [ laughter ] >> are you on linkedin? >> yes. and i'm networking. >> a lot better than what we've done. >> back in 2008 not a hundred years ago he tried to relate to a group of teen-agers. how'd he do it? by singing the lyrics to what he thought was a very hip song "who let the dogs out," which was apparently very old by that time. >> who let the dogs out, woof, woof. >> the movies about a spy, they

let something slip. he'll say i read that in the "new york times" piece on the aircraft. >> that's right. >> i don't know anybody that talks like that. it's cone head talking. it's not earthling. >> i'm a pilot. i'm up there in front -- i fly as an airplane. but people who own airplanes, it's an aircraft. he has said over and over again there's nothing wrong with being rich. let's give him that. let stipulate, as the lawyers like to say that, there's nothing wrong with being rich. but there is something wrong that pretending somehow that you are not or that you are man of the people when manifestly you're not. i worked with ronald reagan for a while and he was -- he wasn't any more a common man than romney is, but he never pretended to be anything other than what he was. what you saw was what you got, what you got was what you saw.

as a result there was a nice word made for him, reaganesque. >> i think reagan knew he was lucky. he was a regular guy who had made it. he knew the difference. >> exactly. >> fdr was called what, a traitor to his class. he was very rich. but did he relate? certainly did. it reverberates to this day. and some his legacy is still being attacked and rolled back. >> let's talk about the president now to be somewhat fair now. the president, i've been with him and you've been with him. i'm always impressed by his absolute cool, somewhat detached. i wouldn't say the warmest person in the world but very detached and very cool and confident that he's who he is. that's what i think. >> yes. look, let's go back a year to the white heat of the white house press conference, that -- the press what is it called, it's the big gala evening.

>> the correspondents dinner. >> that's it. now, that's a tough audience, that's a tough venue. a year ago he killed, as we say in show business, he killed literally, he killed that audience. he did a great job with them. at the same time he was the only person in that room that he was killing osama bin laden. now that is cool. that is really, really cool. >> yeah. in a cinematic way, it's like robert de niro in that chicago movie. i'm not going to go into details. "the untouchables," sean connery is watching an opera, trying about the clown. >> precisely. what he's got to learn to do somehow is to stop trying to pretend he is what he's not. he can't do it. he doesn't have those skills. that's okay. he's not required to have them.

i think he should go with what he's got and hope for the best up. >> might be telling him to walk the plank by telling him to be himself but thank you for the good effort. we like to say let romney be romney. >> for better or for worst let romney be romney. it's not that it's his best option. it's his only option. he's not a very good actor. ronald reagan was a very good actor. >> james lipton, thank you very much. when we return, let my finish with jeb bush's call to arms with a republican party that's lurched far to the right, too far for him. ♪ surf's up everybody get your boards and your wetsuits ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com's gonna direct you ♪ ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪

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let me finish tonight with a powerful indictment of today's republican party by jeb bush. the former florida governor is a conviction politician, a true conservative. i've followed him over the years and seen his opposition to affirmative action, his support for school vouchers. he takes education seriously, doesn't pretend to have views on every subject under the sun. he speaks when he knows what he's talking about. he said the republican party has gotten so rigid it lost its bearing, it's so cranky that it won't make deals. they don't want to negotiate, find common ground. all they want to do is make sure their own troops stay in line, no deals, no breaking from the

pack. just sit there and hope they'll win election after election until the tea party types can take over and rule the country. good example -- the former florida governor said he would take that 10 for 1 deal that all the republican presidential candidates turned down. if he could get the democrats to cut programs by ten times the level of a tax increase, he'd gree agree to the tax increase. why would he? because he has a brain. he knows the only way democrats will go along with an historic spending cut is they get a raise in revenues, especially from the upper income people. he knows without a deal there's no way there will be a cut in government spending, the long-term debt will keep growing and the country will continue to worry about it, as they should. mitt romney would be saying the same thing as jeb about the far right, especially the taxpayer grover norquist if he were not so beholden to them to win this election.

thanks for being with us. "the ed show" starts right now. >> good evening. tonight the plan to sabotage obama is put on trial and i'll offer some free legal advice. this is the ed show and, as ed would say, let's get to work. >> let's be honest. the republicans are stalling every effort that he has tried to make to create jobs and help the economy. >> americans are waking up to republican sabotage and new polling proves it. authors thomas mann and norm ornstein say republicans are the problem and they're here tonight. >> a new report shows net family worth down 40% in three years. wall street is back, corporations are making record profits. where is the recovery for the 99%? i'll ask former labor secretary robert reich. and should a-list white celebrities get a pass for using