>> he did not cause this recession, but he made it worse. >> that's what i thought. romney repeatedly blamed president obama for making things worse until this little slipup. >> isn't it a hard argument to make if you're saying, like, okay he inherited this recession and took a bunch of steps to turn the economy around and now we're seeing more jobs but vote against him anyway? isn't that a hard argument to make? isn't that a stark number contrast? >> have you got a better one, laura? it just happens to be the truth. >> it happens to be the truth, laura. under president obama, the economy has improved. that's a fact. yes, there's work that needs to be done. but romney's got a bit of a problem. he needs people to stop talking about the economic improvement. so much so that it's putting him at odds with gop governors who are touting their economic success.

governors like rick scott. in fact, bloomberg reports that the romney campaign asked scott to down play job gains. saying it clashes with the message that the nation is suffering under president obama. think about that for a second. mitt romney is rooting against this economic recovery. he doesn't want to hear about more americans going bab to work. guess he doesn't like ads like this one touting florida's job growth. >> across florida, here's the news. companies are hiring, expanding, putting more floridians to work. florida's unemployment rate continues to get better. now at a three-year low. >> romney might not like it. the needle is moving under president obama. national unemployment peaked in october of 2009. since then it's been dropping in key states. like florida. there it's fallen from over 11%

to 8.6%. florida republicans are actually touting that progress. in ohio, it's dropped more than three points. same thing with wisconsin. it's down nearly 2.5%. in virginia it's dipped to 5.6%. folks, this is great news. but mitt romney is rooting against this economic recovery. he doesn't want the jobs market to turn around. he doesn't even want people talking about a turnaround. he wants this economy to fail. that's his key to winning the white house. no plans, no solutions, just root for failure. and hope the american people don't notice. joining me now is ted strickland, governor from ohio. and congressman jim mcdermott, democrat from washington. thanks to you both for being here tonight.

>> good to be here. >> governor strickland, let's go to you first. romney is telling governors to keep the good economic news under wraps. how big a deal is this in your mind? >> well, i think it's rather shameful if it's true and the reports seem to be true that this is happening. but i can tell you that ohio's economy is coming back. it started coming back in 2010. ohio's economy would not be doing nearly as well as it is doing today if the president had not rescued the american auto industry. that's a huge deal in ohio. thousands and thousands of jobs are connected to auto production and to the supply chain. the president deserves credit for that. i'm so happy that ohio's economy is doing better. and i'm also happy that florida's is doing better even if mitt romney is not happy about that. >> because when you look at the

fkt that unemployment has been dropping in key states and it s projected to do well in those same states on election day. congressman mcdermott, in ohio where governor strickland was just speaking of, it's likely to be 7.2%. down to 7.2% unemployment on election day. colorado 7.1%. virginia 5.6%. which clearly we still need to work on. but these are lower rates than we've seen clearly four years ago and clearly in a long time. this is a problem for romney if his whole campaign is that the president has not done well with economic recovery. >> if the economy keep -- he's so desperate he's willing to

throw republican governors under the bus. he's saying don't tell anybody it's any better. say how awful it is under obama. michigan, wisconsin, virginia, florida. all these states are doing better. and romney's going crazy trying to figure out how to shut up the governors for taking charge. they're running for re-election themselves and want to talk about how things are better. and he's saying be quiet. make it look like obama's going down the tubes. >> and i think that's the point you just made, congressman mcdermott. governor strickland, you've been governor of a state. you have governors that are seeking their own re-election, trying to show there is progress. and then you have headlines by these governors. ohio job message at odds with

romney too. mcdonald concedes obama's stimulus plan. governor rick scott says florida's on track to create 700,000 jobs. these headlines help them in their state elections, but it does not line up with the national strategy of mitt romney to say this president has failed and i'm the only hope. >> well, reverend al, mitt romney's record as governor of massachusetts is nothing to brag about. as we've all heard, massachusetts was 47th in the nation in terms of job creation. and, you know, if my republican friends want to ask the question is the economy better today than it was four years ago? you better believe it is. when this president took office, this country lost 800,000 jobs the first month he took office. we're actually gaining jobs no we're on the right track. we're headed in the right direction. we need to stay with this good president. he's steady. he is leading us forward.

and we need to give him a chance. that's why i'm so excited about his second term. because i think we are headed in the right direction. and if we stay the course, if we don't turn back to the policies that cause the recession. which mitt romney wants to do, i think we're going to be okay. >> now, congressman stenny hoya took it a step further. said the gop is sinking the economy purpose. let me read to you this quote. there's no intention on behalf of the republicans in the house of representatives to try to help the president move this country forward. do you think it is the intent of some of your republican colleagues to stall the economic recovery for political purposes? >> i think that's absolutely what the situation is, al. from mitch mcconnell in january of 2009 when he said my goal is

to prevent barack obama from being re-elected, to this very day they're doing everything possible. the president has put out proposal after proposal and they won't even give it a hearing. they don't even want the people to know that he is making positive proposals. they want to throw the economy and the american people under the bus so that they can get back in control of the white house. that's all they care about. nothing else. >> governor strickland, when you look at the fact that not only did mcconnell say that that was the one goal, the very night of the inauguration, the very night while many were at the inaugural balls, they were meeting less than a mile away from the president and the first lady were dancing at the ball planning to take this president out of office. and they came out, their goals were show united and unyielding opposition to the president's economic policies. begin attacking vulnerable

democrats on the airwaves. win the spear point of the house in 2010. jab obama relentlessly in 2011. win the white house and the senate in 2012. we get this out of draper's book. right on this program newt gingrich admitted to me there was a meeting that night that he participated in and some of the language that was discussed. he admitted that here on "politicsnation." >> reverend al, it's a serious charge to say the republican leadership wants the economy to do badly in order to win an election, but their actions say that very clearly. there is nothing this president has tried to do to bring about job creation that they've been willing to cooperate to work with them and achieve. that's the fact. and i'm convinced that between now and the election we're going to see more of this obstruction and this unwillingness to cooperate. the president to his great credit has reached out.

he's made suggestions. he's proposed solutions. he has a jobs plan that they will not move forward. and so very soon in just a few months, the american people will have a chance to bring an end to this kind of unacceptable gridlock. d they will have a chance to say they want actions, actions speak louder than words. they want common sense solutions. and they want cooperation. and mitch mcconnell and speaker boehner, because of the makeup of their caucuses, i believe, are basically unable to cooperate even when they may choose to do so. >> we're going to have to leave it there governor strickland and congressman mcdermott, thank you for being here. >> thank you. ahead, a far more toned down mitt romney speaks to a latino group of officials and totally dodges the questions everyone's

asking. where'd that self-deportation line go? plus dick cheney claimed there was a connection between saddam hussein and 9/11. but a document just declassified puts cheney in the hot seat. and burglaries and fires break out at women's health clinics right here in atlanta. now the fbi is investigating spp this aact of domestic terrorism? you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. 7

there's new news tonight in the fight back against voter suppression. today new hampshire democratic governor john lynch vetoed a restrictive voter i.d. bill. the bill would have required voters to show photo identification at the polls.

as we seen around the country, the proposal would have made it harder for ill eligible people to vote. he said quote, our election laws must be designed to encourage and facilitate voting by all eligible voters in new hampshire. he's not the only governor stepping up the fight but our attorney general eric hold ir and it's one of the reasons the gop is on a witch hunt against him. that story is next. i went to a small high school. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us.

♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the jeep grand cherokee has won more than just respect. ♪ welcome back to "politicsnation." republicans claim the attack on attorney general eric holder are

all about fast and furious. and subpoenas and contempt and who knew what when. but that's not the truth. today house democratic leader nancy pelosi said what it's really all about. >> they're going after eric holder because he is supporting measures to overturn these voter suppression initiatives in the states. this is no accident. it is no coincidence. it is a plan on the part of republicans. instead of bringing job-creating legislation to the floor, the transportation bill, they are holding the attorney general of the united states in contempt of congress for doing his job. >> she's right. this is all politics. attorney general holder is fighting against some of the gop's favorite far-right projects. he's blocking their voter suppression laws. he's challenging anti-immigrant

laws. and he's refusing to defend the anti-gay defense of marriage act. but there's another piece ensuring this is just about the political agenda. gop lawmakers are refusing to go after george w. bush's attorney general michael mckasi. even though the gunwalking programs started during the bush era. a recent report saez in 2011 mukasey was personally informed about the failure of previous law enforcement operations involving the illegal smuggling of weapons in mexico. and he received a proposal to expand these operations. in that briefing, mukasey was told quote, atf would like to expand the possibility of such joint investigations and controlled deliveries since only then will it be possible to

investigate entire smuggling network rather than arresting simply a single smuggler. mukasey now about gun-walking programs long before holder was ever attorney general. if republicans really wanted to get to the bottom of it, they'd call mukasey to account as well. yet the democratic report says quote, the committee never held a hearing or even conducted an interview with the former attorney general michael mukasey. joining me now is jonathan capehart for "the washington post" and an msnbc contributor. first of all, jonathan, thanks for being here. >> thanks, rev. >> i want to first mention we called all 23 republican members of the oversight committee that voted against eric holder and none could join me tonight. none. many were traveling today, but we do hope to have someone from their side on the show very soon.

now, jonathan, let me go back to you. shouldn't the bush attorney general at least be interviewed about a program that started during the bush administration that he had knowledge of? >> sure. if the committee is truly interested in getting to the bottom of the fast and furious program, how it got started, why it got started, the ups and downs, and how it was possible an agent was killed in the process of carrying out this operation, then yes. former attorney general mukasey should be interviewed. as you said in the setup for this segment, the republican-controlled committee isn't interested in talking to him. which is really too bad. you know, i thought those committees were supposed to be about broadly and generally speaking about investigating, holding people accountable, and getting at the truth of a problem. but that's not exactly where this committee appears to be going.

>> now, when you look at the fact that republicans including rush limbaugh and darrell issa saying that this fast and furious was the administration -- this administration's attempt to attack the second amendment. listen to this. >> the purpose of this was to jim up among the people in this country. the american people don't want by a vast majority any gun control legislation. but that doesn't matter to people like president kardashian or eric holder. they don't want you to have guns. >> they never answered the question. what were they thinking of? were they thinking to use this walking of guns in order to promote an assault weapons ban? many think so and they haven't come up with an explanation that

wouldn't cause us to agree. this administration has trampled on the constitution, on the first amendment, on religious rights. and if you don't think that this fast and furious and things like it are the beginning of an attack in a second term on the second amendment, you really haven't evaluated this president. >> now, congressman issa seems to be following rush limbaugh here. issa says almost the same thing. yet it is all -- not only is it interesting he's parodying limbaugh. but saying fast and furious started under this administration for the reasons of going after the second amendment rather than it started under the bush administration. who they won't call in that attorney general and dealing with the basis of his continuing the program was. >> right. this is the conspiracy theory we should be focused on.

that republicans think the narrative they're putting out there is fast and furious is an obama administration creation. that would allow the federal government to institute an assault weapons ban to keep guns out of the hands of americans who want to have guns to override the second amendment. that's the conspiracy theory we should be focused on. not the conspiracy theory that the speaker -- i'm sorry, minority leader pelosi mentioned at her press conference. congressman issa and republicans on the hill on the fast and furious investigation are not going after eric holder because of what he's doing on a separate track on voter suppression laws. they're going out on him on this specific issue for this specific reason. quote, unquote concern about the second amendment. there are plenty of other republican chairmen up there on capitol hill who could haul

attorney general holder in over voter suppression, over other things they have a problem with. they have plenty of problems with attorney general holder. but they're not going after h on those things or going after him on fast and furious and not on really the details of the botched program or the botched plan. they're going after him over e-mails that happened months after this agent was tragically killed in an effort to have, say, a got ya moment. and a got ya moment that's not going to come. >> senator cornyn did say when he called on the attorney general to resign, he specifically brought up the voter fraud. but let me tell you something. whether you go with ms. pelosi or limbaugh, i have a better theory. i think george bush and his attorney general set up operationer wide receiver. then came back and did the

hernandez case. all of this was fast and furious so they could set the president obama up who they knew they were going to be replaced by. who they knew was going to beat mccain so he could go after the second amendment. it was bush and obama all along. how you like that one, jonathan? thanks for your time. >> wow. >> i'll give you overnight to think about that one. if we're going to be crazy, go all the way crazy. ahead, i have a big question. where did mitt "self-deportation" romney go? wait until you hear his speech today.

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time as caught up with some of dick cheney's untrue statements about the justification for the iraq war. the bush administration justified that war by claiming there was a connection between saddam hussein and the 9/11 attack. here's vice president dick cheney in december 2001 talking about 9/11 hijacker mohammed akta. >> the report has been pretty well confirmed he did go to prague and did meet with a senior official of the iraqi intelligence service last april several months before the attack. >> pretty well confirmed that he

met with iraqi agents in prague. that is not true. a newly declassified document shows the cia briefed the white house the day before that interview. that briefing stated that atta did not travel to prague. the person who attempted to interthe czech republic was not the same person that attacked the world trade center. things were not pretty well confirmed. maybe cheney missed that briefing, but i doubt he still didn't know about it a year and a half later when he repeated this bogus cla. >> with respect to 9/11, of course we've heard the story that's public out there. the czechs said atta met with the official five months before the attack. we've never been able to develop any more of that yet in terms of confirming it or discrediting it.

we just don't know. >> false statement like this led 69% of americans to believe saddam hussein was personally involved in 9/11. it was a key part of selling the war to the american public. folks, what's pretty well confirmed is cheney wanted to go to war no matter what. what's pretty well confirm sd more than 4,000 u.s. troops were killed in iraq. and what's pretty well confirm sd we spent $800 billion. that's a billion on unnecessary war, $800 billion. nice try, vice president cheney, but i think it's well confirmed we got you. in here, every powerful collaboration is backed by an equally powerful and secure cloud. that cloud is in the network, so it can deliver all the power of the network itself. bringing people together to develop the best ideas -- and providing the apps and computing power

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and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. we're back on "politicsnation" with the ongoing waiting game. seven days. that's how long it's been since the president made his bold announcement on immigration. and we still have yet to hear

what the gop presidential n nominee would do if he were elected. he got the chance to set the record straight on a big stage in front of top latino officials in the country. >> some people have asked if i will let stand the president's executive order. the answer is that i will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president's temporary measure. >> his own long-term solution. that's not an answer. it's just another evasion. but he did strike a softer tone today promising to work with democrats on immigration reform. >> i'll work with states and employers to update our temporary worker visa program. i will stand for a path to legal status for anyone who is willing to stand up and defend this great nation through military service. and i'm going to address the

problem of illegal immigration in a civil and resolute manner. >> a civil manner? where'd the primary season mitt romney go? >> if i'm president we'll put in place an e verify system which yo opposed to make sure we know who is here legally and not and crack down on those who come illegally. the answer is self-deportation. we go to the company and say we can't have illegals. >> self-deportation. cracking down on immigrants. make no mistake about it, there was no one in the gop field farther to the right on imgags. of course, moments after his speech today, governor romney went right back to giving folks the silent treatment. >> what's your stand on the dream act? governor romney?

>> joining me now is congressman luis gutierrez, democrat from illinois who has long been a leader on this issue. and lorella praeli who is on the coordinating committee of united we dream which supports the dream act. thanks to both of you for being here tonight. >> pleasure to be with you. >> congressman, let me start with you. does today's performance help mitt romney with hispanic voters? >> i think that number one after listening to the speech that mitt romney gave, what he offered the latino community was nothing. one of the first tests that a candidate for president of the united states must meet and must pass is the test of leadership. his pleasantries and being vague offer no solutions. latinos have specific questions and demand specific answers. and he gave none today.

he could have simply said i will let the order of president barack obama stand while i work for a permanent solution as president. but he didn't want to say that. because he doesn't want to alienate the most extreme sectors of the republican party which of course have advanced his presidency in the republican nomination. he didn't say what he would do with the millions. let me be clear. he believes that arizona 1070 should be the model for the nation. did he refute that today? no. he believes that self-deportation which you've brought up -- what does that mean? pick up your bags and leave. you've been here 20 years? pick up your bags. you have a business? pick up your bags. you've been caught up in an immigration system. your husband or wife is out there fighting in afghanistan right now? pick up your bags and leave. that doesn't fix a broken immigrion system. let me just say. what's going to be on the line

as we go towards the election is if the president does not stand -- that is, if president obama is not re-elected, you are putting at risk the lives and the future of 800 to 1.2 million young dreamers. let's protect them. >> one of those young dreamers is with us. lorella, you came here from peru. you're a recent college graduate. and you would benefit directly from the president's new policy. what's your reaction to all this? >> i want to know where mitt romney stands on this issue. so i think he's been dodging the question. i think he's been -- he has not been clear on where he stands and what he plans to do if he were elected to be president of the united states. so i think for us, not just undocumented young adults, but also for the latino constituency and latino voters, this is an important issue. and we do not know where he

stands. what is clear to us is he is constantly contradicting himself. advocating for enforcement. and now being very vague on what he would actually do to as he said, to find a civil and resolute manner and resolve this problem. >> tell me what it was like as you heard the president speak, what he was saying, and how you were feeling and what has it been like with you and your friends this week since the president made this announcement? >> i think it's been wonderful. i don't think that there are really words. it's been a beautiful moment in the united states of america in our home, in our country. we are finally moving forward. i think america is ready for this. america wants this. and for us, it's a life changing moment. so for us college graduates, for those who are still in high school and are considering going to college were for those about to graduate from college.

but aside from all of that, it means we no longer have to live with this kind of cloud of deportation that any moment individuals like ourselves could get picked up. and that, i think, brings some peace to our lives. >> now, i actually saw a photo -- in fact i'd like the producers to put it up, of you while you were watching the speech where you're actually tearing up. i think a lot of times we talk so much politics, we forget the human side. and it's in your eyes. where people can in a real change of policy in that moment have to stop worrying about what the next knock on the door is and they didn't do anything wrong. i think that we just wanted to share that moment with you. congressman, let me go back to you for a moment on the politics. let me show you what mitt romney said today going back to the old i tired attack on president obama. listen to this.

>> for two years this president had huge majorities in the house and senate. he was free to pursue any policy he pleased. but he did nothing to advance a permanent fix for our broken immigration system. nothing. instead he failed to act until facing a tough re-election. and trying to secure your vote. >> now, i keep hearing a lot of the right wing, a lot of the republicans and romney keep saying that you're in congress. do you think the american people will forget how they filibust filibustered everything for those two years? >> let's make the record clear. in november of 2010, the house of representatives under barack obama's leadership passed the dream act. 216 to 198. and of the 216, there were only eight republicans. five of them weren't coming

back. we then ha55 senators. otherwise that bill would have been taken to the president's desk. moreover, who filibustered? republicans who were co-sponsors of the dream act. mitch mcconnell has said time and time again i will stop anything from happening that shows this president in good standing with the american people. we will stop him even if it's at the detriment of the good people. let me just say. we fought too hard -- this is the political thing we need to understand -- we fought too hard for that wonderful young woman on our program this evening. we fought too hard for nearly a million people to come out of the shadows. we cannot at this time walk back. you know what the president did last friday? he called their bluff. he sent out their senator, rubio from florida, and we sat down with him and we were ready to

work with them. you know what the president said? wait a minute. while you work out the politics, i'm not going to allow one more of them to be deported. he called their bluff and now they don't know what to do because they really aren't on our side. because they really want to speak to a small, narrow base of the american people. the only road is through arizona but the only road is through new mexico and colorado and florida. and nevada and through latino neighborhoods and communities throughout this nation. and mitt romney today failed the test. >> we have to leave it there. congressman luis gutierrez and lorella praeli, thank you both for your time. and congressman, again, thank you for your leadership on this. >> thank you so much. coming up, a wave of arson and burglaries targets doctors who spoke out in defense of women's health rights and is

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how math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me.

we built a guitar, we did things with electronics and mother boards. that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies. here in atlanta, the fbi is now investigating a possible case of domestic violence. investigation involves a wave of violence apparently directed at

doctors who dared to speak out for a woman's right to choose. the crime wave began during the recent debate over a controversial bill limiting abortion access beyond 20 weeks. during that debate, five separate obgy clinics were hit with burglaries or arson in the atlanta area. all but one of the clinics were run by doctors who opposed that bill. now it seems there's been a chilling effect. the atlanta journal constitution says quote, physicians who participated in the general assembly's debate on new abortion restrictions say they warned lawmakers they were being targeted for reprisals. the paper says they suspected but not could prove that whoever targeted their clinics were exceptionally well informed about their activities in the capitol during the 40 days of

the session even those activities that occurred out of the public eye. joining me now is loretta ross, national coordinator for sister song. a georgia group that advocates for women's health issues. and laura bassett, a journalist who covers these issues for the "huffington post." thank you for joining me. >> thank you. >> let me start with you, loretta. how have these attacks affected doctors and women in your community? >> well, every year we've got to go before the state legislature to fight for women's rights as part of this war on women. now we face the prospect some doctors may be afraid to come out and testify and speak their true feelings on these bills because they've been targeted for speaking up in the past. and so it really has a chilling effect. it really makes us wonder why we move from the legislature to violence. i mean, we should be able to

have a civil debate on these issues if you call restricting women's rights civil without this threat of teristic violence. and it is scaring people. i can't say it doesn't care people. it's scaring us. >> one thing that struck me in the article is it says that and i'm quoting from the article, the burglary at the georgia obgyn society occurred the weekenbefore a senate committee was to discuss amending the bill to keep private the names of physicians who have to report abortions to the state. the intruders bypassed three laptop computers but stole two laptops in the executive director's office that stored the names and addresses of doctors. that is chilling to read, loretta. >> well, they really are

targeting doctors because they feel if they can reduce the availability of abortion services so that women have fewer options, then you coerced or forced women to continue pregnancies they may have otherwise terminated. by attacking the doctors, they're really going after what can be a very vulnerable thing. i also want to talk about black and other doctors of color who can't afford the elaborate security that many of their wealthier comrades can afford. so they're even more vulnerable. getting them out to testify can be even more difficult. >> and they have a more chilling effect because they can't set up the same mechanism to protect themselves. laura, you covered a lot of these things around the country. when we look at the assault on choice. since 1993, eight murders. since 1991, 17 attempts murders. 1977 to 2009, 41 bombings and

175 arsons. so that seems to be nationwide these violent attacks and in some cases murder and in other cases threats and arson against those that want to stand for women's right to choose. >> absolutely. there's no other way to characterize it except that it is domestic terrorism. unfortunately i don't think the people who are perpetrating these crimes consider themselves terrorist. i think because of the inflammatory rhetoric because of the extreme laws that have been pushed over the past few years. over the past few decades, abortion is a wedged issue. and it's designed to inflame people's emotions. it's designed to bring out the hard right. as a result of these laws that criminalize doctors and liken abortion to murder, people feel as if they're defending fetuses and people feel they're heroes when they do something like light a clinic in atlanta on fire. i think we need to change the conversation and let people know

this is not heroic, this is terrorism. >> now, loretta, how do you go continue to stand on the front line. where do you go from here. in georgia you have bills that want to ban abortion after 20 weeks, ban on abortion coverage for state employees, cut budget for family planning, expand religious exemptions. where do you go here, quickly, i'm running out of time. where do we go from here? >> atlanta is the birthplace of the civil rights movement. we've got to connect all these issues together, understand it's about opposing a democratic base and a democratic president and keep on keeping on. >> all right. we're going the stay on this issue. loretta ross and laura bassett, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back.

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a song that gets everyone in the spirit for a little vacation. and that's exactly what mitt romney is going. good for him. everyone needs a little downtime. his is a little different from your backyard barbecue. the washington post reports mitt's hosting a two-day resort for his top donors and fund raisers. it's happening at the resort in park city, utah. romney's top fund raisers will be rewarded to romney paul ryan john mccain condoleezza rice and jeb bush. we're not sure who the fund raisers are, but they'll be wining and dining their way through the weekend. including a saturday night reception with dessert and dancing and sunday golf outing. but one guest seems a bit out of

place. former george w. bush strategist karl rove. now, we all know he can handle the dancing. ♪ get out his gun because he's shooting quail ♪ ♪ look at him jumping up and down and ready to hop ♪ >> but jokes aside, rove's attendance raises some serious red flags. rove runs a super pac. prohibit super pacs and political campaigns from coordinating with each other. so what's karl rove doing at a retreat focused on campaign strategy discussions? how is that not a conflict? now, if it was the other way around, i'm sure right wing bloggers would be in the bushes and the trees trying to figure out what's going on. and if there's any discussion

that is going on. karl, over the weekend when you hear little bush and noises rattling in the trees, it may not be the cat. it may be me. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts now. stopreaming. let's play some "hardball." good evening. i'm michael smerconish in for chris matthews. u leading off tonight, etch a sketch people. during the republican primaries, mitt romney tried to outflank his conservative opposition with talk of self-deportation and support for arizona's tough immigration law. today, eager, some might say desperate to win over latino votes, romney softened his tone and talked of bipartisan reform. can he sketch away the months of tough talk with one speech?