gentlemen, thank you for joining us. this weekend, just to set the table, at the republican state committee meeting in hershey, pennsylvania, house republican lead eer mike turzai and came o with a lot of what democrats have been saying for a while. it is an aha moment for everyone. when he seemed to confirm, damn it, he did confirm suspicions that pennsylvania's new voter i.d. law is not about stopping fraud, it's about stopping president obama. let's listen to the guy give it all away. >> we are focused on making sure that we meet our obligations that we've talked about for years. pro second amendment. first pro-life legislation, abortion facility regulations in 22 years. done. voter i.d., which is going to allow governor romney to win the state of pennsylvania. done. >> you know, not only did he say it out loud that it will allow

their candidate to win, this new -- it requires the difficult efforts like going out if you are 80 years old and finding a place to get an i.d. cardith a picture on it and then they applaud the guy. this wasn't any secret. all those republicans in that room, republican activists and party regulators were cheering a guy who had just said we did this thing to win an election. not to stop fraud. >> no surprise on our side of the aisle there, chris. we knew all along this was nothing more than a republican scheme to attempt to win and to tip the scales, but having said that, we have a very good ground game. we were prepared this year like every year to bring out the vote with a better ground game than our opponents. as we implement that this fall, we will remind folks who may be affected by this decision, this new law, of what they need to do to vote and we will help them achieve the credentials

they need if necessary. >> people watching now from states like -- pennsylvania, what should they do to be able to vote? hey, i haven't driven a car in 20 years. i don't have any government affiliation. an i.d. card with my picture issued by the government. what should they do? this isn't partisan. what should a person in that predicament do? >> we would ask any pennsylvanian who has a question about whether or not they have the necessary papers unfortunately to vote to go to our web page, www.padems.com/vote and as we canvas and as they go to our web page, we will drill down with them to see if they have what it takes to vote in pennsylvania right now. and if they don't, we will make sure they have it. either we will take them ourselves or make arrangements to get to where they need tog to get to where they qualify. we'll make sure that happens and then circle l back with them closer to november to be sure not only -- >> go ahead.

>> not only that we have what they need to vote, we'll get them there. if we have to. >> if you're a big city democrat or republican, go to your committee person. they will help you out. that's the way to do it. thanks for joining us. this is an amazing assault. this is an attempt to keep people who are older, poorer, who don't have the money to go out and find the penndot or whatever you have to go, dmz. dmv. talk about it. >> and also, college students. most of the colleges like penn state university, university of pittsburgh can not use their college i.d. to show proof of who they are. we're talking about 700,000 people just in pennsylvania. disenfranchised and basically, majority leader turzai getting caught talking to his base. this is offensive. to think we have men and women who have fought and died. for the right to vote. i look at my experience in iraq. served with heroes who never

-- gave their life and never made it home. so in 2005 people in iraq, 12 million people corks vote important the first time. we all remember those purple fingers. the fact that here at home, we are chipping away at democracy. our vote is sacred and they just basically, this isn't a game. >> congressman, i want you and the chairman an the party in pennsylvania because i don't think it's a partisan issue. except on the republican side. i would think everyone wants to vote and should want everybody to vote. people that don't are up to something. here's the spokesman said quote representative turzai was speaking at a partisan political event. he was simply referencing for the first time in a long while the republican presidential candidate will be on a more even keel thanks to voter i.d. anyone looking further into this has their own agenda. your response to that? >> that's ridiculous. mr. turzai tripped over his tongue once again.

he has shown what the true intent of this piece of legislation was. in the last 30 years, 32 in pennsylvania, hundreds of millions of votes cast, less than 10 alleged cases of voter abuse. mr. turzai and this republican governor have found $11 million to fix a problem that doesn't exist while they cut education upwards of 50%. >> it is interesting. let's go over this number. let's take a look at how the parties break out. this is not viewed positively by the democratic party. it is overwhelmingly viewed positively by the republican party. look at he is number mouse. 91% of republicans were registered voters love this thing. a majority of democrats 53 oppose it. what's that about? >> that's about basically the talking points they're hearing from their leaders and from republicans, we want to make sure there's no fraud. so do we. if anyone commits fraud, there's rules in place to put them in jail. this is simply to disenfranchise people. they're ing two things.

one, disenchanszdisenplan -- c disnfranchising pokes. if my vote's not going to count, remember florida in 2000. how important every vote counted and pennsylvania being a battleground, which is in play where we need every single vote to get out there. that's why that website are the two critical ones. take a look at this. quinnipiac has it at 46-40 for obama. i think that's getting very close to the margin of error. i think it's a tough as hell election. my thinking is this. why would any voter out there truly nonpartisan want to make an 80-year-old person who doesn't drive a r, doesn't get involved in public affairs

issue where you have an i.d. card, hasn't traveled the world with a passport why not let that person vote and a lot of people have to drive a car or take public transportation to vote. it's hard. this makes it even hard e and more expensive. could they grab pennsylvania like this guy just said, turzai? that was main point of his statement. with this new voter i.d. card, a big state like pennsylvania can be snagged, poached if you will, by the republicans. >> they're not going to poach anything in pennsylvania. we have a better field plan and whether or not they intended to pull this or not, we were going to have people on the ground to get out the vote and make sure everybody who wants to vote can and will vote. but i would suggest those numbers may be further to the president's advantage in pennsylvania. i've been to many of our counties over the last couple of years and this cycle in particular, this republican presumptive nominee does not connect with pennsylvanians. if it hadn't been for the tea

party not getting its act together between mr. gingrich and santorum, despite his hundreds of millions of dollars and campaigning for six years, he would still be in a primary fight. they know they have a weak candidate and doing everything they can to create diversion. >> what's weak about him? >> he does not -- 47 out of 50 in job creation in massachusetts. bain capital. running businesses into bankruptcy to make profits. not being able to connect with average pennsylvania voters. failing to step up and make a statement on any significant issue. rather, he would rather kick the can down the road. point it to the president. the president has had the courage to step up and make difficult positions. all this candidate does is criticize this man's leadership. he has no plan. >> you're the best surrogate we've had on for obama. we can't get cabinet or senators to talk about you. you ought to be the one running the surrogate operation. there's a really good distillation of what the problem with romney is. >> the people of pennsylvania, a manufacturing state do not want

another outsourcer in chief. here's what mitt romney's record is. he went from 36th in the country, massachusetts, to 47th, the very last, bottom of the bottom. i mean -- >> made a lot of money. >> he made a lot of money but let me tell you something. a lot of middle class families lost their jobs because of his outsourcing. >> we're going to get to it later in this show again, but i want to thank you both. and the point is that nobody seems to like romney. the ones who were thinking of voting for him and it's a lot of people, they're concerned about the economy, but don't like him personally. he is not registering on the scale. thank you. state -- these guys are going up in the road here. coming up, the presidential race. those attacks on mitt romney's years at bain seem to be scoring. we're seeing the new polling from nbc news real numbers moving here in those deciding states like iowa, ohio, wisconsin, where people don't

like big money coming in and destroying your jobs and sending them the india and china. also, how much longer can romney stick with his code, criticizing the president, but never telling us where he stands? supporters are saying time to speak up, mitt. hollywood and politics. and harvey weinstein comes here to play "hardball" tonight. finally, president obama learns a wicked hard lesson in boston about knowing your audience. rule one, don't even talk slightly negatively about the sox. be careful. you're in the vatican of sports up there. this is "hardball." the place for politics. welcome aboard! [ chuckles ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert.

[ honk! ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ innovation that excites. focus lolo, focust sanya let's do this i am from baltimore south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love this is for everyone back home it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. ever since he ran for president, there's been lot ares to talk about whether barack obama is a muslim or not. 43% correctly identified the president as a protestant.

8% said he is a muslim. 1%, never forget this, now say president obama is a mormon. at the time obama, a mormon. hot news out of our poll. mitt romney of course is a member of the lds church and 67% of the country got that one right. we'll be right back with some of the more significant numbers from our poll. not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity. we looked at our family's goals and some ways to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal econo. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader.

the white house is not letting up in its criticism of romney's time at bain capital. at three events, today and yesterday, president obama hit romney over a "shington post" article from last week. the story showed bain was heavily invested in companies considered pioneers of sending american jobs overseas. the attack continued today. new ads released in iowa, ohio and virginia. all hit the same note. take a look at this vote running in virginia. >> president romney's first 100 days, creating thousands of new jobs. >> but would he?

"the washington post" has just revealed that romney's companies were pioneers of shipping u.s. jobs overseas. investing in firms that specialized in relocating jobs by american workers to new if silts in countries like china and india. does virginia really want an outsourcer in chief in the white house? >> the race is still very close. president obama leading by mitt romney by three points, unchanged by a month ago. despite the stability of the race, there is some indication the bain attacks are working. we have good voices here. chuck, you are my guru. is the fight and attack on bain, which has now been going on for months, showing pay dirt? is it working? >> first of all, let's separate out -- when you look at our poll overall and we are going to have more numbers later and all this

stuff. what you see is everything went bad important the president as far as the global picture of the economy. and so you would have thought that in these polls you would have seen him take a hit. he hasn't. why? because the paid media campaign, taken place in the battleground states, is working for the obama campaign. they are winning that front. now most of the negative ads right now against romney have been more about his record. you haven't seen a lot of the bain. they are pivoting to bain in paid tv ads. >> 47th. >> it is that private sector ad where they say hey look at this. he made the at the same time promise to massachusetts he's now -- an ad they ran over and over again. i think what you see out of our poll and other polls is that you think the weight of the bad economy should be hurting the president but is holding up and romney is taking water, too. they both are and that's because the paid tv campaigning is working for romney. for bain they believe it works and look where they are running

it. iowa, ohio. >> according to the nbc news, "wall street journal" poll, obama is up by eight points in those 12 states. is this a leading or lagging indicator? standard old question. what's ahead? national numbers or battleground numbers? >> battleground numbers, you are seeing them come in, ahead. they are the ones -- they are experiencing the campaign. we in the corridor, we watch from a top of the trees and stuff. it is the folks in ohio florida, virginia, they are feeling it. >> this isn't new. we grew up in america ever since andy jackson, people live something the middle part of the country resented the east coast bankers. this is the old populist reality that goes back to hitting the banks and hitting free silver, william jennings. are we seeing modern post industrial verse to that? i call it -- the rustbelt. another unlikable term. it is all those guys that go to

bears games. they go to green bay games. they go out in cold weather to root for football teams. semi skilled or skilled workers. they're scared to death of foreign competition. they hate outsourcing, the idea of picking up the phone, you got to call india to get an answer. are these the people obama is going after when attacking bain? >> absolutely. i don't think it is full-throated brianism but an attempt do that. i think the bain attack, as todd said, is working. i think where we have seen more paid media by the obama campaign has been on this massachusetts ad, but the pro obama super pac has done about $10 million of only bain ads only in five states. five swing states. so i think there is evidence both attacks are taking a toll. this is what democrats said it was going to be and if romney is not going to defend against these attacks, it will start to take toll. the converse is that the economy is bad as chuck said and so obama is not gaining ground either. we've just escaped what was a very rough month for obama and

romney's best month of the year. basically, the needle has not really moved in romney's favor and those swing state numbers are very interesting. >> we heard from the tanks and here comes the artillery. here's joe biden in iowa today making the same points that are running in the pro obama ads about bain. let's watch. >> here's the bottom line, folks. bain and their companies made a great deal of money faciliting this outsourcing and offshoring american jobs. yeah, they made a lot of money. but in the process, they devastated. they devastated whole american communities. you've got to give mitt romney credit. he's a job creator. in singapore. china. india. he's been very good at creating jobs overseas. >> so, mitt romney is a punch line now. >> this is rough stuff and this is look, jerry had a great column tay. mitt romney's path to victory,

he has to win one of these sort of long time democratic blue states that have always been contested but republicans have come up short. pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin. take one of those three. and iowa's one of the other ones and i tell you, this outsourcing stuff is -- it can ba killer against somebody. >> i want to put together three challenges. he seems to be winning according to the poll coming out tonight on the network. and "wall street journal." he seems to be winning the case against bain and it is an outsourcing job, killing american jobs, and sends them overseas. the second question i bring in here. here's obama with some problems. what we've known about before among working class white voters. i hate getting sectarian. the same poll. look at that. 31% of white working class. that's a terrible number for a guy that wants to get re-elected

president. >> this is why he's doing the dis qualifier. what's interesting, you're seeing obama trying to counter this with his base. he is running a totally based election. women voters, younger voters. he is running a totally based election. not much towards the middle at all. >> what happened to the white working class that were the base of the democratic for 200 years? >> it's been a problem b for obama r for the last four years. this is not a group he did very well with in the primaries in 2008, as you know. this has never been a group that liked him particularly. >> it is clinton country and reagan democrats. >> wait a minute. they abandoned bill clinton in '94. let's not forget this. these folks have been skittish since mcgovern. they have been skittish and abandoned the dem gra eed the d. it has been gradual. >> okay, so what about the problem with romney himself?

looking into your poll data today, it's fantastic. maybe i'm getting ahead at some of the numbers here, but one in six people really want to vote for romney to be president of the united states. one in six. everybody else is fighting over whether they like the president or not. job performance. such a small percentage have glommed on saying he's the guy. one in six. >> john kerry problem. he has -- >> don't you have to like the guy? >> he's testing this theory. >> this is nixon's, the last guy that snuck in was nixon, who got elected because the democrats were in this confusion in chicago and had a war that everybody hated and nixon come creeping in. >> barely. >> barely. what do you think when you look at the numbers and it shows whites off the present? and yet, the other guy, the other guy, the republican, mitt romney, looks right i suppose. nothing really unethical about the guy and yet nobody seems to

like him. one in six voters are for him. that's owe -- so amazing. >> this is the analog to bush-kerry. it's not really clear. it's the parallel. >> what's an analog mean? >> the parallel. >> use my words. >> i'm sorry. this is where the romney campaign is making a test. he does not want to take policy positions. doesn't want to touch on certain issues. that would fill out the frame. >> can he hide from now to november? >> it's difficult. their bet is a series of job reports that will make it possible. that's a serious bet. >> he can come in as brand x, an alternative to the guy in there. that's all he needs to say. >> correct. i'm not obama. i don't know if you can win a presidential race that way. >> they believe that bill clinton never really fully convinced voters to be for him in '92, that essentially he was just not bush xli.

if you look at where the direction of the country was, 70-plus percent. >> go back and look at those debates. he was masterful at that. >> that's the difference though. bill clinton is a very different politician than mitt romney is. >> he stepped forward for that african-american woman who bush couldn't understand how to talk to. embraced her emotionally. >> the romney people are betting this is '92 and '80. had don't need to do that much. one thing i'm learning from my poll. you're seeing a different, the two parties, they're hardening in this new coalition if you will of minorities and college educated whites for obama and base and everybody else for romney and guess what? that's what we are headed to. >> i don't think that america. that's a divided america. by the way, when the young people vote as much the older white people, i'll be surprised. >> there's no evidence that's happening. >> that's the problem. as joe scarborough said, don't bet on young people because in the end, they got other things to do that day. maybe not this time. it wasn't true in 2008, but i do worry about that. thank you.

chuck todd, my guru. can you, maggie. keeping up with chuck. he's the best. up next, what did president obama say that got him booed at his new fund-raiser? most democratic of cities, boston. don't talk about the sox with anything but praise.

this is new york state. we built the first railway and the first trade route to the west. we built the tallest skyscrapers, the greatest empires. we pushed the country forward. then, some said, we lost our edge. we couldn't match the pace of the new business world.

well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. build energy highways and high-tech centers. nurture start-ups and small businesses. reduce tax burdens and provide the lowest middle class tax rate in 58 years. once again, new york state is a place where innovation meets determination and where businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers.

the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer. the segment is called rick perry still sharp as a tack. >> mitt romney's very steady job creating focus on allowing the private sector to create those jobs is spot on. most americans understand that. they're ready to have a change in washington, d.c. >> let me ask you -- back to

"hardball" and last week, we showed you the epic gaffe from indiana senate candidate richard murdoch. his campaign excellently posted accidentally post pre-recorded responses to the supreme court's decision on the health care including one that celebrating the law was struck down. colbert decided to cover the bases himself complete with the brick wall. >> the united states supreme court has done what none of us expected. the mandate has been struck down. there's been another recount and george bush is president again. the united states supreme court in a hotly contested decision has declared that call me maybe is the song of the summer. "call me maybe." also, no health care. today, the united states supreme court did what none of it us expected. justice scalia revealed that the

whole time, he's just been four raccoons in a black garbage bag. today the long awaited decision on obama care came down. excuse me, excuse me, i said nobody in the break room. out. get out. >> murdoch had the video taken down soon after it went public, but it was too late to hide it. next, bring out baseball and boston can be a risky move. especially if you are not a red sox fan. yesterday, president obama thanked the beantown crowd for kevin youkilis who was traded to the chicago white sox. >> i just want to say thank you for youkilis. i'm just saying going to have to change the color of his socks. i didn't think i would get any boos out of here. i should not have brought up

baseball. i understand. my mistake. you got to know your crowd. >> it is religion up there, but think that was the end of it? not quite. white house press secretary jay carney came to the president's defense earlier today. >> it is highly commendable in my view as a red sox fan that this president has always refused to pander on sports. he is a white sox fan. he owns fandom of white sox proving again anyone who knows boston and the red sox and it was in that room knows that the preponderance of people shouting in response to what the president were shouting youk. not boo. >> come on, jay. youk as in youkilis. no doubt, the president was

completely outnumbered by red sox fans. up next, the sounds of silence. how much longer can mitt romney stay silent before his own supporters say we know you're against that, but what are you for? 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. the president from interview: i thave been out of work. you cano tell it wears on them. narrator: he's fought to pull us out of economic crisis for three years. and he still is. president

obama's plan keeps taxes down for the middle class, invests in education and asks the wealthy to pay their fair share. mitt romney and his billionaire allies can spend milions to distort the president's words. but they're not interested in rebuilding the middle class. he is. i'm barack obama and i you're entered for a chance to win a trip to the olympic games for life. to cheer the summer athletes to new heights, starting in 2016... as you experience every moment, every emotion, every four years... for the rest of your life. visa. supporting athletes and the olympic games for 25 years. people everywhere go with visa. hey. hey eddie. i brought your stuff. you don't have to do this. yes i do. i want you to keep this. it'd be ird.

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here's what's happening. president obama is in miami for two fund-raisers. one of them is a small high dollar event and at a private home. the other is much larger where marc anthony will be perform. flooding from tropical storm debby forced thousands to flee massive flooding along the sunshine state's gulf coast. in colorado fire fighters are trying to keep the so-called waldo canyon fire from advancing towards the u.s. airport academy now it is less than five miles away. back to "hardball."

this is a busy week by the way for the supreme court. i think all their work highlights the leadership failures of our current president. you see, when he was running for office, he said he would make it his first priority in his first year agenda to reform our immigration system and make it work for the american people and for those who want to come here legally. he did not do that. >> in a rally in virginia, mitt romney stayed true to form. criticizing the president as you heard in this case on immigration while offering no plan of his own. this has become the consistent pattern. last week speaking at a convention of latino elected officials, romney even names the question voters want answered

but declines to answer the questions. >> 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. >> it's like that makes it hard for romney backers to defend him. republican strategist lessy chant s -- leslie sanchez tried to shine a positive light on the reform. let's listen to her. >> i think he laid out a more general specific outline of immigration reform. >> that was a wonderful phrase leslie had. a general specific plan. i thought it was remarkable. >> i work hard on those, bob. >> i thought it was remarkably vague. >> romney's strategy of avoiding specifics, will it work? and for how long? michael steele and ron reagan, both are msnbc political analysts. you know, mark mckinnon said that romney's got a problem

here. when you avoid specifics, he writes in "the daily beast," quote, until and unless the gop presidential nominees will be to outline specifically what he envisions as a long-term solution to illegal immigration, he will be a loser any time. let me go to michael on this. if you got a strong issue like the economy, you say how bad things are, but at some point, you have to say what you're going to do. does romney have the proof that he has the solution? >> no, i think you're right. >> i'm asking. >> i said you're right. i think he does have to put the proof in the pudding in terms of defining what he will do as president. but i think you know, after the looking at the strategy up until now and talking to some of the folks around this campaign, what they're doing is they're mapping out something that's a little more long ball. they're not looking to play to every issue that pops up right

now, whether immigration or supreme court decision. but i think romney is looking to pace out in broad terms now in the month of june, july, and possibly august, and then when we get to the labor day window when things hunker down, law out something more specific. you cannot run an entire campaign where you're not laying out the specifics. the same is true for romney. it will be true for the president. >> the trouble with romney, he doesn't have a clean slate on things like immigration. moan for his self-deportation. so unless he comes up with something constructive, he's only known as the nasty guy. >> you're correct. you are right. he was more specific during the primaries. he was for a self-deportation. he was for making it so miserable important immigrants in this country they would simply leave the country. but mitt romney's problem with a lot of the issues is the republican party's problem with

these issues. they can't tell you what they're really for because if you knew, nobody would vote for them. they use immigration as a wedge issue, but know if they were deport all illegal immigrants in this country various industries like agriculture would simply collapse. they are not really for that. >> if you took him at his word, by the way, looking for everybody who may have come in here illegally, 60, 7 on years ago and pick them up, take them out of the country, dump them over the border, this country would be ripped in half. romney's discipline when it comes to not providing specifics leads to interviews that wind up almost comical. here's that almost infamous exchange with bob schieffer on what a president would do on the obama's executive order on immigration. let's listen to this. >> would you repeal this order if you became president? >> let's step back and look at

the issue. with regards to these kids who were brought in by their parents through no fault of their own, there needs to be a long-term solution. >> but would you repeal this? >> well, it would be overtaken by events, if you will, by my putting in place a long-term solution. >> would you leave this place in place while you worked out a long-term solution or would you just repeal it? >> we'll look at that setting as we reach that. >> yesterday, romney's traveling press aide proved he learned his boss's knee. he avoids giving any answer. on romney's reactions on the supreme court. this kid has got seven words he's allowed to use and he uses them. let's listen. >> does he have a reaction as to whether he agrees with this decision? >> the states have the right to craft their immigration policies. say it again and again and again important you. the governor understands states have their own right to craft the policies to secure their own

borders and address illegal immigration. >> michael steele, that kid's got a short leash around his neck. repeat the non-answers his boss gives him. he obviously doesn't have anything to play with. there is no immigration policy with the name mitt romney on it. >> i wouldn't say that, chris. just because he hasn't told it to you or announced it publicly. what i would say is is this. >> the secret plan to end the war in vietnam. i wasn't going to bring up nixon in '68. >> all over again. but look, the bottom line is if and when he does and this is part of the strategy that they have to take into consideration and it's true not just for romney, but going back to obama. obama wasn't specific about how he was going to close gitmo, so each of these presidential cycles, candidates become less and less specific because will are those in the media, present

company accepted maybe, who then pounce on that and the debate becomes more about defending what you are saying as opposed to laying out in a company herent measure what it is you are trying to do and have an honest debate. i suspect what romney is doing is taking a different approach on this. >> right now, ron, i got new numbers. one in six americans polled fresh out tonight like romney. one in six. fresh out like romney with -- romney. the rest are arguing about what kind of job the president's doing. so this guy hasn't passed muster in terms of a winning personality because he doesn't talk about anything that means anything to people yet. fair enough, that's selling. >> yeah, but you can't win the presidency just by saying i'm not the guy who's in office now. maybe you can if you're a very talented politics, but i don't think romney is that politician. i don't think romney is that politician. he can't really -- do that. >> he's not as smart as richard nixon. >> no, he's not. he's going to have to stand on a stage with barack obama and he can't keep repeating these

platitudes about i've got a long-term plan. it won't wash. >> okay, thank you. the newly more youthful looking michael steele. thank you having you on here. clean shaven. look at more closely when you are in the states here. great to have you on as debating partner and ron, thank you for that. up next, harvey weinstein of hollywood and politics joining us in a minute. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

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that massachusetts senate race could not get in closer. let's look at the scoreboard. brown has gained five points in the latest poll. tie with warren. it's now 46-46. it seems brown is getting a lot of support from independent voters in the state. looks like this one's going to go down to the wire. we'll be right back. ♪ why not try someplace different every morning? get two times the points on dining in restaurants with chase sapphire preferred. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years.

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good afternoon. chase sapphire. (push button tone) this is stacy from springfield. oh woah. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0" i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire. we're back. my next guest is the commander producer of award winning films like "the artist" and "the king's speech."

and now, it's playing here in the u.s., it tells the story of an unlikely friendship that developed between a wealthy quad quadriplegic and his care taker. let's take a look. ♪ ♪ >> that's the new film, the

"untouchables." harvey weinstein, mr. weinstein, thank you for coming on. tell us about the movie. >> it's the movie that makes people feel the best of any movie i have been associated with. people walk out of the theater and they're ready to dance like the characters in the movie. it is a true story, a great story, and a fun story. i think in these times, people need to go to a movie theater and watch something intelligent and smart and something they can feel great about. >> you made a lot of great movies. i saw the trailer the other night and it looked great. let me ask youb about something you care about, politics. you have to pay for your supper. you produced a movie and promoted it well. you got a free trial on the air. what does the president have to do to turn people on the way he did in '08. >> one of the things was the best political column i read this summer is the daily new whz he called mitt romney mute

romney when he did the "face the nation" interview. he said nothing. i love michael steele coming on the show and defending his right to say nothing. just because the president said -- was specific about guantanamo, he defends his right to not be specific about immigration. i mean, they really have -- i think it eventually catched up to the american public. you can't have a candidate who says nothing all the time. >> that worked, it's time to plan, it's time to sew. let me go to this question. you're a numbers guy, not a machine, not a formula. you're more like the guys in the '30 with a cigar who knew how to dait. project november. will obama get 51%? >> i think so. i think he's going to do better than people think right now. the minute the debates start, you know, i think you know, he's just -- his experience, you know, his foreign policy record which so far has been flawless.

romney's saying that he wouldn't have, you know, hunted osama bin laden and crossed the line into pakistan. these things are going to come back to haunt these guys big time. once people get exposed to his record, you know, i think it's gauc going to be much easier than people think. >> romney seems like the guy with the look of a leading man, but there's something missing in terms of either menace or sex appeal or there's something missing. what do you say and you're casting role, what is missing in the guy in terms of voter appeal? we just got a new number out tonight, harvey, that only 1 in 6 voters likes the guy. the rest are voting for or against obama. >> obama is the denzel washington, brad pitt, george gloony guy, and romney is sort of the second guy. he's the best friend. you know, who just rides his bicycle and helps the guy find the girl and you know, gives him advice on occasion. i'm not sure very good advice, but more like comic advice.

>> be careful, that's what jack warner said about reagan. harvey weinstein, some day i will come to you with a quest. i can't think of what it is, but i'd like to get a yes. thank you. harvey weinstein, the movie is called "the intouchables." >> let me finish with the envisionable man running for president. you're watching "hardball." [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool

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let me finish tonight with the stranger. i'm talking about the man republicans are planning to nominate for president of the united states. the stranger. when you examine the new poll numbers compiled by nbc news and the wall street journal. a cold reality of the political season, less than 1 in 6 american voters. less than 15% want to see mitt romney president. the rest intend to vote not on romney's merits but what they think of the president's economic performance. they'll vote for the president or against him. romney is simply the only option. what does this say about the kind of campaign romney has waged, is waging? people know nothing about the person himself. the way it is, few people knowing much about him is the way he wants it. he wants the spotlight on obama, not on him. well, it seems to be working so far. romney is right there in a fairly tight matchup with the

incumbent president. most vote for him not on the fact of who he is but who his rival is. will this last? will some americans vote into the booth this november and vote on a guy still hiding under the covers. he has midhimself the man behind the curtain. richard nixon did this in 1968 and it worked then because the country was unable to vote for the riot torn democrats unable to back a party stuck in vietnam. i think we live in more hopeful times. we want the best president we can get, not the one who is not the other. not the one who hides because he thinks who he is works against him. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" will ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" from new york. as america awaits the supreme court decision on the fate of health care in the country, the full force of the citizens

united ruling is starting to take shape. tonight, i'll show you just who benefits from this ruling. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> you're going to have more money spent in this election than ever before. and because times are tough, and because they're spending these ungodly sums, it's going to be close. >> citizens united part two. we'll show you the real world results of how the supreme court is handing democracy to america's millionaires and billionaires. senator bernie sanders joins me on how mitt romney and his billionaire backers are rigging the system so they always win. daring iryell issa is still after the president for the fast and furious scandal. the white house is firing back. tonight, the huffington post's sam stein will help me expose the latest attempt in the