term conservative around who didn't understand what they were talking about. >> apparently jonathan krone admits he was one of them and now says he was naive and jonathan is joining us tonight. finally in the side show how the right managed to conclude that president obama is abandoning america for evil europe on independence day. never let the facts get in the way of a good story. we begin with health care and whether republicans could repeal it. michael steele was chairman of the republican party, msnbc political analyst, maggie mayberman writes for politico. welcome to both of you. republicans have vowed to repeal obama's health care law. to do that mitt romney would have to win and republicans would need to retake the senate and even then it could be complicated. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell conceded that yesterday when speaking to a group back home in kentucky. >> if you thought it was a good idea for the federal government to go in this direction, i'd say the odds are still on your side because it's a lot harder to

undue something than it is to stop it in the first place. >> maggie, is there a clear path for the gop to repeal obama care? >> there is a clear path in the sense that they don't need a vote, it doesn't have to be 60 senators, but they have to retake the senate. that is the biggest step. it's not easy to undo an entitlement program. that's what we're talking about here. when it gets to the issue of whether this would be hard you would be going against something the supreme court ruled upon. i think this is something republicans are mindful of. a good rallying crying for the base, but the optics of undoing what supreme court did are serious and that's what people are talking about. >> a piecemeal approach or one fail swoop they would attempt to get rid of obama care? in the house one fail swoop, they'll do a broad vote to undo the whole thing. certainly the nub of this is defending it outright. that's the quickest way to try to do it. maggie is right, once you get to the senate everything stops and there will be no action on this

issue in the united states senate. they haven't even passed a budget yet. i don't think they'll address this economic issue. the reality for the republicans politically is, to use it as a tool to get the base in the game, keep them in the game and fired up, supporting mitt romney which, of course, has its own slippery slope on the issue of health care. but the reality is, this is not going to be easy to do because it is entrenched, part of the government process already begun before you get to next year. pieces that are already in place. to undo that will be sticky. >> let's go deeper on the politics. findings from a new kaiser family poll on health care. 56% say opponents of the law should stop trying to block it, not every republican agrees, steven law ceo of the super pac of american crossroads wrote this, quote, while we would have preferred to see obamacare struck down this will drive republican voter intensity skyhigh. the last time obama care was lit

gaited in a general election republicans picked up a historic number of seats in thehouse and made big gains in the u.s. senate. david frum disagrees, the idea of prepeeling obama care is a fantasy. even if republicans win the white house and senate this year he questioned if they would have the appetite for a fight, quote, suddenly it will be their town halls filled with outraged senior skit sith zens whose benefits threatened, some that wish to retain the more popular elements of the affordable care act. if you were still running the rnc how would you respond to those dynamics and advise members of the gop to approach this subject? >> i think frum's approach is probably the more correct one. the idea is, if you're doing repeal and replace the operative word replace. the people, whether seniors or young people who happen to be looking for or have an expectation you are going to replace it with something. we have identified the parts of

the bill that are in good favor with the american people. the republicans consistently were in support of those during this debate as well and proposed some of those things like portability, et cetera. those can be repackaged as new model of health care. an outward repeal without, you know, fulfilling the expectation on row placing what you've repealed is going to be problematic. >> i'm interested to see the response on the democratic side of the aisles in the 2012 cycle, meaning will those members of the party who voted for health care go out and campaign and trumpet that support, something clearly that wasn't done in the last election? >> no. it's a very good question. you already saw last week when this decision came down, some senate candidates in red or purple/red states tread carefully on it. north dakota, heidi camp comes to mind. you are going to see a lot of people in the -- on the noncoastal states in the senate

who are going to have a problem selling this. even in places where obama's numbers are better this law is still not necessarily a slam dunk. i think you've seen polls show it it's getting slightly more popular than before. how this is going to play out with independent voters. the bases of both parties are set on this. >> solidified. >> that's where you'll have the question mark. an early indication some independent voters are tilting a little more toward, you know, the obama end of the spectrum than romney's. i'm not sure where this is going to be in november. i'm not sure how much of a driver either way for that middle ts is going to be once we get to november. >> michael, i wonder, where mitt romney will be in all of this? according to the national journal, quote, mr after giving a brief statement decrying the decision has been virtually silent on criticizing the health care law. he's been on vacation. his campaign has been giving off clear signals it doesn't want to make health ware a major part of the election. for an issue that's supposedly potent against democrats romney's campaign is declaring a

cease-fire. do you think that's reflective of him being at the lake or the approach he's going to take? >> it's more a combination of the two, but more of the latter. i think it is the fact that, you know, it is not part of the narrative for the fall campaign. the fall narrative is all about the economy and jobs and looking at how the numbers performed between now and september, october. it's going to be critical. health care has a part to play in that, particularly with respect to the tax revenue side of the equation and the spending. but it's a very limited, small portion of it and i don't think you want to see or they want to see a great deal of emphasis on that which ironically probably now, the obama team absolutely wants to talk about after virtually running away from the signature legislation from the last two years. >> maggie, still a lot being said about eric fernstrum's comments to chuck todd in terms of is it a tax, penalty, so forth. that seems to have legs. i don't think that was a gaffe on his part. he was responding in the only

way the romney campaign could have responded given the massachusetts record. >> oh, i'm not sure about that. i think there are people around romney land who say this was indeed an error. he started lit gaiting the massachusetts record instead of trying to pivot toward the future and framing this equation the way they want to. it sort of accepted the charge. i think there is a feeling among some republicans there is a way for mitt romney to talk about obamacare without answering the questions on massachusetts. that may not be the answer some people want but there is a way to do it. i think this is where they are getting tangled up. one thing i would say, i don't think either principle wants to be talking about obamacare very much. i don't think the president does and i don't think that mitt romney does. i think it would be worse for the president had the law been overturned even pargsly. >> that said i don't think this is something they want to trumpet. it remains an unpopular law. >> maybe i'm hung up on the fernstrum comment because i work in cable because one of governor romney's -- >> a lot of people are hung up on it.

conservatives are upset about it. >> one of governor romney's main surrogates chris christie was asked about the comments i referred to having been made on msnbc yesterday and fernstrum said romney agreed with obama, the mandate is not a tax, it's a penalty. that position in sharp contrast to what many republicans are arguing and here is how chris christie responded. >> listen, let's not focus on what spokespeople are saying. spokes people fill in space on the cable station, no offense. i care about what the candidate says. and governor romney's been clear about what this election should be about. it's about reinvigorating our economy, releasing the entrepreneurial spirit. those are the things this election will be decided on, not what a spokesperson says on a cable news station in july. >> and just to show how this confuses the republican message, take a look at how the chairman of the rnc bungled a response on cnn talkingbout romney's position on the mandate. >> president obama and romney

says this is a mandate not a tax. what is the rnc's position on this? >> our position is the same as mitt romney's position. it's a tax, that's the only way that the supreme court came up with the decision that it did in order to make it constitutional. >> michael, one of the ramifications i think of the supreme court decision is that many americans are walking around saying, oh the supreme court confirmed its s as a tax, and people are thinking i'm getting taxed to pay for obama care. >> yeah. there is that element of confusion that now exists out there. you're again talking about a small percentage of the people, those who do not comply with the law, who would be subject to this penalty/tax. but the broader population believes it applies to them. that is part of the narrative that the rnc and republicans around the country will be driving home which is why what was said yesterday on the program was kind of a gaffe because it then flips the script and all of a sudden you have romney or at least his

spokespeople saying it's a penalty, we agree with the president and that gives the president a wider swath to make the argument about his health care plan in the face of a penalty versus a tax. >> appreciate both of you being here. michael steele and maggie mayberman, thank you. coming up, congressman joe walsh at it again, the man who told president obama to, quote, stop lying says his opponent who lost her legs in iraq isn't a true war hero because she talking too much about her military service. this is "hardball," the place for politics. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy?

politico is out with its most competitive senate races. number five, missouri where claire mccaskill is in a tough fit against a yet to be determined republican. dean heller faces congresswoman shelly berkley and number three montana and senator john tester's battle against daini rehberg. virginia number two, tim kaine and george allen in a dead heat and the most competitive race in the country, massachusetts and the battle between senator scott brown and democrat elizabeth warren. remember republicans only need to win a net of four seats to take control of the sena. we'll be back. the new depend silhouette briefs for charity to prove how great the f is even under a fantastic dress. the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear. we invite you to get a free

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welcome back to "hardball." joe walsh, known for calling the

president a liar, finds himself under fire for comments he made sunday about his opponent iraq war veteran tammy duckworth. walsh suggested she's not, quote, a true hero because she discusses her military service too much. she was a black hawk pilot who lost both her legs after her helicopter was hit in 2004 and later went on to serve at the department of veterans affairs. here walsh's comments caught on camera by think progress. begins by talking about john mccain's campaign in 2008 and moves to his opponent. let's watch. >> understand something about john mccain. his political advisers day after day, had to take him and almost throw him against the wall and hit him against the head and say, senator, you have to let people know you served! you have to talk about what you did! he didn't want to do it. wouldn't do it. day after day they had to convince him.

and finally he talked a little bit about it. but it was very uncomfortable for him. that's what's so noble about our heros. i'm running against a woman, my god, that's all she talks about. our true heros, the men and women who served us, the last thing in the world they talk about. that's why we are so indebted and in awe of what they have done. >> for more on this, let me bring in two veterans of the iraq war, former congressman patrick murphy and chairman of vote vets john soltss. how stoked are you about this? >> i don't know if i'm stoked. i'm kind of hurt. look, if you look at the video the worst part about it, i don't know if you caught it at the end there was people in the audience that lau sthoods they chuckled. i did hear that. >> really? like i mean, look, i served two tours in iraq, been home six to eight months. the hardest part in the six to eight month time period, it's hurtful. we're not asking this

congressman joe walsh to ologize anymore. we've been in a battle with him for a long time. first said to a politico reporter several months ago that all tammy was did get shot out of a helicopter. we later found out he challenged tammy duckworth to a debate at the same time she was at military duty and now this. i think he's had a long track record of insulting her service and to her credit at some point, she actually doesn't oversell her service. john mccain may have written two books about serving in vietnam but tammy duckworth has yet to talk about her service. vote facts talks about it. we have an e-mailer about this, raised 20 some,000 dollars for her in small donations. it's hurtful. >> in an interview with politico in march of this year, walsh said this of duckworth. i have so much respect for what she did in the fact that she sacrificed her body for this country. ehhh. now let's move on. what else has she done, female, wounded veteran, ehhh, nothing

more than a handpicked washington bureaucrat, david axelrod, rahm emanuel picked her up and dropped her into this district. your thoughts? >> michael, let me tell you something, every day there are 18 veterans in iraq and afghanistan wars when they come home try to commit suicide and for joe walsh, the congressman to attack tammy duckworth a woman who devoted her life to our country and fellow veterans working for the veterans affairs office in illinois and washington, veterans all over our country, for him to attack her service, let me tell you something, joe walsh never served. he doesn't know what it's like to leave your friends, leave your family, to go serve for months at a time in 130 degree heat. don't know if you're ever going to see the people you love again. he doesn't have the right to attack tammy duckworth's service. he doesn't even have a right now to vote as a congressman on

veterans issues. he has no idea what's what it's about. he's an absolute disgrace. >> this afternoon duckworth appeared on martin bashirr's program on msnbc and here was her response to walsh. >> he's irresponsible in his words and irresponsible in his actions trying to distract the constituents from the fact that he has time and again done nothing for the district. in fact, anyone who's worn the uniform of this great nation for a single day has done more for their nation than joe walsh has ever done. if there's anything about my service to this nation the fact i've lived an entire lifetime living up to my responsibilities. just like our military men and women and their families do every day. they live up to their responsibilities. mr. walsh has never lived up to his responsibilities. certainly he hasn't done it in congress and, you know, for him to bring senator mccain into this, senator mccain is a great american, one i respect greatly and too bad he's again trying to muddy the waters and keep people away from the fact that he's done nothing for the good and benefit of the people in the

district. >> one other element in a statement to msnbc congressman walsh said in part, quote, of course tammy duckworth is a hero, i've called her a hero hundreds of times in the past four months just like every man and woman who has worn the uniform, her service demands our utmost respect. uj like most veterans i have had the honor to meet since my election to congress who rarely, if ever talk about their service or combat they've seen, that is darn near all of what tammy durk duckworth talks about. her service demands our thanks and respect but not our vote. question for your the first iraq veteran to be elected to the congress, how do you balance, how do you know when you spoke enough but not excessively, about your war service when running for office? because you confronted that? >> sure. listen, i know tammy duckworth, i know colonel duckworth as a friend and as a leader. >> that's her husband?

>> no. colonel duckworth, she's a colonel. >> i know her husband served as well. that's why i asked. >> he's a major. she outranks her husband. >> okay. >> the fact is this, that 7 1/2 years ago she went through a traumatic experience whh changed her life an trying to use that horrible chapter in her life to make it better for other veterans. the other 1% of our nation have with worn the cloth of our country in iraq or afghanistan. as a candidate, of course she's going to have to talk about it a little bit. but i know tammy, i have seen her on the stump, i have seen her in front of crowds and she actually downplays her service to our country. her heroic service to our country. so for joe walsh to try and bring in people like john mccain and let me tell you something, the difference here is, is that when people attack john mccain like myself, i have a facebook page, someone wrote a comment that attacked john mccain, john mccain is an american hero, no

one ever questioned his serve. for people like joe walsh to question tammy duckworth or anyone who put their lives in harm's way and he has attacked her service, multiple times, this isn't something that just happened it's a disgrace. that's why john soltss and i, veterans and republicans across the country are calling for joe walsh to resign from congress. that's how egregious what he's doing is. >> mr. soltss, seems to me, that military service used to be sacrosanct, one of those issues you wouldn't dare be critical. how could you of someone for having served. look at john kerry and the swift boat issue, max cleland and what went on in that case, now look at what's going on with miss duckworth and wonder if there's a pattern to all of it. what do you see when you put it all together? >> when we spend money all over the country helping iraq and afghanistan, veterans running for office, the strongest positives they have, it moves voters. what thas candidates like to do like to try to tear it down. it hurts most with tammy.

like, it devastates me. patrick's right in a sense of who she really is when you know her. i know tammy well. she's one of my closest friends. her husband called me today, john, are you going to help her? of course. you don't have to call me and ask. tammy is going to downplay. very calm, cool and collected on tv. i'm a jerk. i'll go after people and defend tammy with anything. i think joe walsh is a travesty to our country. i'm appalled by him. this is a woman -- i went back to iraq last year, vote vets has hundreds of thousands of members and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. there's a few people i talk to about whether or not i should go back to iraq because i didn't agree with the war. talk to general clark, tammy duckworth and patrick hit on this, she's a hero for what she's done when she comes home. who am i to not go back to iraq when you have a woman who has no legs willing to go back to iraq. she goes to drill every weekend, every weekend. one weekend a month for her country. and this is a woman, you know,

who my father died last year when i was in iraq and i came home on leave and went to talk to tammy and i was feeling bad about myself and tammy came home from iraq, lost her legs and then her father had a heart attack visiting her and passed away. she's always a woman that i look at when i want to figure out how to become a military officer, how do i find strength in my life. for himo attack this, and it's just so below anything that's within reason, it's ridiculous because it's what she's done because of her tragedy. i don't know what he wants her to do to not talking about being a veteran. does he want her to reattach her legs? she can't do that. >> thank you for your service. we'll be right back. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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back to "hardball." now for the side show.

shay muss lives on. no one has forgotten mitt romney's dog who endured a road trip in a kennel on the roof of the car. environmental advocacy group put out this ad pushing for epa gas mileage standards with a nod to all the dogs out there. >> it's a beautiful day, so if you're headed out of town, time to get moving. >> boys, last call for the bathroom. we're not stopping undill we need gas. >> america's proposed new fuel efficiency standards will double gas mileage and that means half the stops for gas. half the stops for gas. half the stops for gas. call the epa to support the proposed new standards. >> here, boy. >> subtle, not so much. the dad by t way even looks a bit like romney. next, wendy long, republican senate candidate in new york, has been blasting democrats for recent legislation by the obama

administration requiring employers to provide contraception coverage for their employees. no doubt a heated issue on both sides, but long has given it a new twist. the folks at the "huffington post" got their hands on this video. >> died in afghanistan or iraq, i want to listen to their voices because i think they're saying something to us. they're asking us to fight for the things tt they died for. and you know, they didn't die for what kirsten gillibrand is saying the right to force employers to pay for contraception. >> earth to wendy no one is saying the troops are overseas fighting for contraception coverage at home. really? nobody, really. long set to face off against kirsten gillibrand in the upcoming election. finally how to declare president obama unpatriotic in three easy steps courtesy of the right. it all started with a hollywood reporter piece last week saying, quote, the continental branch of

the obama fund-raising effort will kick off next week in paris with an independence day celebration. okay. some wealthy donors plan to get together and raise money for obama, fine. cue the right, step one, courtesy of breitbart.com, quote, apparently tiring of u.s. soil as a source of campaign dollars, the obama campaign is headed overseas with its celebrity friends in toe. the european obama campaign starts next week in paris on july 4th. now that's a flag waving campaign. you got it. suddenly this was the latest campaign strategy from team obama. step two, the national review blasts out this headline with a link to the breitbart piece, quote, final jeopardy. category is obama. the answer is, fund-raising in paris. and then step three. karl rove tweets final jeopardy, how will obama be spending american independence day this week. you get it the president himself is going to paris for this bash.

reality check the president is spending tomorrow at a white house picnic with military families as planned all along. andrew mccarthy the national review reporter corrected his mistake. so it wasn't all a ruiz to make the president seem unpatriotic leading into the fourth of july. i'm not buying it. up next, freak storms, wildfires, record high temperatures. how long will republicans keep calling global warming a hoax. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. i don't spend money on gasoline. i don't have to use gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. the last time i went to the gas station must have been about three months ago.

i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. ♪

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and pennsylvania. this coincides with tomorrow's monthly jobs report. more than a quarter million customers still without power in the mid-atlantic following friday's storms that left 26 people dead. and cooler temps may help crews in colorado, fully contain the massive wildfire there that's destroyed nearly 350 homes. "morning joe" starts at 7:00 a.m. back to "hardball." most of you across the country don't need a ter mom ter to know temperatures are sweltering. more than 2,000 records were met or exceeded. last month more than 3200 records broken. and it's not just heat. wildfires have engulfed parts of colorado and tropical storm debby dumping incredible amounts of rain on the southeast broke a record for being the earliest ever fourth storm of the season.

with weather patterns like this it's hard to deny the science of global warming, can republicans continue to argue it's a hoax? ron reagan the author "my father at 100" and an msnbc political analyst and erin mcpike a reporter for real clear politics. welcome to both of you. a new poll that i want to show you which is really strange in light of what's going on if we can put that up. conducted by "the washington post" and stanford university and showed a figure which might be surprising to some, the number of americans who say global warming or climate change is the top environmental problem worldwide, decreasing compared to five years ago. while the number who say erin, water pollution is the top concern is now on the rise. however, americans overwhelmingly believe the government needs to curb the greenhouse gases american businesses put out, 77% say there should be government limits to just 20% who disagree. erin, what's going on with this data? anybody with a window can see

we're living in crazy times and the data suggests it's not the concern level where it had been a couple years ago? >> that data is very surprising and it's surprising in light of what we saw in 2009 when the house passed cap and trade legislation and then the senate didn't even take it up. harry reid said at the time i think it will be easier for us to pass health care than to pass climate change legislation even given though that so many americans believe that global warming is a problem and you see the numbers on health care recently more divided about that. but i would point out to you this, there were eight house republicans that voted in favor of that climate change legislation, but they faced a lot of trouble in their districts and within the republican party. you remember mike castle who was in the house at the time. >> absolutely. >> and then running in a senate primary against christine o'donnell fueled by the tea party and his friends, the night of his loss to her in that

primary, thought that his vote on that piece of legislation is what did him a lot of damage. i'll add this to it, i took a road trip throughout the country in the fall of 2010 for the mid terms and i heard a lot from voters throughout the midwest and the rust belt that they were very unhappy about cap and trade legislati legislation, more so than the push on health care. >> when i say anyone with a window can see what's going on, am i conflating weather with climate change? they're not one in the same. >> yes, you are conflating it it a little bit. it is true we're going to likely see more of these heat waves emerging over the next years as global warming increases. any single weather event, though, you can't pin on global warming. climate and weather are two different things. climate is global, hemispheric, weather is, of course, local. i'm not as surprised as you michael, and perhaps erin, that the public doesn't seem as concerned as they used to be about global warming.

politicians don't want to do anything about this because doing something about it would be difficult and the people who sponsor them are often from the extraction industries, who don't want them to do anything about it. and the media itself is usually reluctant to cover this, give it the coverage it deserves because it's sciency and politicians aren't doing anything about it. and so the public says, we're not seeing it on tv and politicians don't seem to be doing anything about it it's not as serious as we thought. this is a recipe for disaster, for doing nothing about a serious problem. >> let's talk about the politics of it. in 2010 mitt romney wrote in his book no apology, quote, i believe climate change is occurring. the reduction in the size of global ice caps is hard to ignore and also believe human activity is a contributing factor. i'm uncertain how much of the warming is attributable to factors out of our control. fall of last year his position had apparently evolved. he no longer knew it seemed what caused global warming. let's watch.

>> my view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet and the idea of spending trillions of dollars to try to reduce co2 emissions is not the right course for us. >> i don't see this being an issue for 2012, a major issue n light of what's going on with the economy. how do you see the politics of it playing out in the next couple months? >> well, a couple things. look at what happened in thi republican primary. there were three very prominent republicans not just mitt romney, but also tim pawlenty and mike huckabee who is looking at a presidential race, who all changed their positions on some of this. tim pawlenty and mitt romney both as governors supported a regional system of cap and trade and then they backed off of it. tim pawlenty, in fact, apologized for it in one of those debates and also mike huckabee said in 2007 that he supported cap and trade legislation and in 2009 he changed that view. so obviously there is a big shift within the republican

party. if you look at the websites for both barack obama and mitt romney and look at the energy tax for president obama it says energy and the environment, for mitt romney it just says energy. there's a very different pathway they both take on this. >> ron, is it a cause in search of a champion with vice president al gore not the dominant player he had been on a national stage, it seems that there's no one with left to marshall this effort? >> that's certainly true in washington, yes. it's looking for a champion in washington. there are champions, of course, bill mckiben and various other people, jim hanson, outside of washington, who are pressing to do something about this. but no, the policians don't see anything in it for them. and when you see public interests begin to wane they're going to be less interested in doing anything about this. again the problem will increase. you know, the atmosphere, the planet doesn't care whether we're interested or not. the atmosphere is going to warm one way or the other if we keep

pumping heat trapping gases into it. it doesn't care about the politics of this. the laws of nature and physics don't care. >> thank you to ron reagan, thank you erin mcpike as well. up next, remember the 13-year-old who wowed conservatives a couple years ago? >> conservatism is not an ideology of feelings, romanticism as some people like to say. it is an ideology of protecting the people and the people's rights. jonathan krone is 17 and here to tell us why he's not a conservative anymore. this is "hardball," the place for politics. with the spark cash card from capital one,

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upon four categories of principle, respect for the constitution, respect for life, less government, and personal responsibility. >> we're back. that was then 13-year-old right wing wonder kid jonathan krohn at the 2009 political action conference where he was granted a speaking slot and a standing

ovation. he published the book "defining conservatisms the principles that will bring our country back" the following year and he was offered blushes of praise and named a finalist to the "time" 100 list of influential leaders. but it's another year older, another year wiser as the saying goes and krohn, now 17, says he's outgrown the conservative label and joins me now. what always impressed me about your speech was not so much the content as the delivery. it seemed to me you had such command and delivered those remarks without notes. am i right? >> that's correct. i have never written a speech before. all the speeches i've done have been impromptu. it's funny because a lot of people seem to think they have these ideas that my parents wrote it for me or something but i never ever had any notes for any speech i've ever given. >> has there been some kind of event, life-changing event, in the last couple years, any sequence of events that caused a

change in your political thinking? >> i wouldn't say really any events. i think that it's a number of factors, not as much events i would say. like after i got -- after i finished the second book i wanted to take a lot of time to focus on other things, so i got -- i started getting into philosophy and reading a lot of philosophy which i've talked about this before and i really think that it was getting into something else, to take a breather, you know, and to try to stimulate my mind in other ways to let myself think about what it is i really believe and what i really think about what i wrote, that led me to that. that's a large part of it. >> we live in interesting times. a lot of hot button issues. obama care, gay marriage, run down a couple of them and give me the cliff notes version of where you stand today. >> well, i am in favor of obamacare. i mean of obamacare and gay marriage and i am pro choice now. it was social conservatism that

was the first thing to go because i did a lot of conferences like cpac and social conservative things and stuff like that and i went to a lot of those and there were a lot of people who just were in this restrictive bubble and social conservative was probably the most restrictive part of that. it's a fundamentalist, strong, evangelical core that you have there. and if you stray from that, those people -- a lot of the people in that area of conservatism have a problem with that. if you just reach out a little bit and don't agree with them on one issue. they're restrictive. one of the most strongest -- one of the most angry i guess you could say ideological aspects of conservati conservatism. they're not all angry. >> what blow back have you received from conservatives since coming forward? >> a lot. i was just in the green room and i saw a tweet that said they were talking about me on fox so i switched to fox and they had a whole panel of people on their

fox 5 show talking about how i duped everybody and i didn't believe it it was a joke and i was trying to scheme. i wasn't trying to scheme anybody. i changed my mind. they started making fun of me. one of the guys said if it was up to him he would have left me in the bo woods as a baby. daily caller they've written three articles about me wrote names about me i can't repeat on television at 5:00 in the afternoon. >> the reality most of us adopt the party initially, maybe the ideology as well of our parents and then the further you go in life the more time you have to sort things out. >> yeah. >> were your politics a couple years ago do you think a reflection of what youere hearing at home? >> i don't think it was much what i was hearing at home. my parents have never been politically active. it's what i heard on the radio. i live in georgia, like wsb, the biggest radio station in atlanta. >> all conservative talk. >> yeah. all conservative talk radio.

that's where i got a lot of that from. >> next for you, nyu, am i right? >> yeah, that's correct. i'm doing nyu, going to study philosophy and do film writing. doing my first screen play right now, finishing that and i'm hoping that will go well. obviously it's very hard to get funding for that. >> if my math is -- >> i got a lot of things. >> if my math is correct you will not be 18 in time for the election so you will not get to cast a ballot. >> i won't. >> sounds like you -- >> i won't. i'll still be 17. >> i think i know which way you would be voting if you could exercise the franchise in this election. >> absolutely. yeah. i would be voting for president obama. especially over mitt romney. i just don't think mitt romney is right for this country right now. >> sounds like you still have politics coursing through your veins as you write screenplays at nyu. >> let's -- i try to stay out of politics as much as possible because i have -- i've had some

bad experiences and i really don't want to try to label myself into either camp. i want to stay myself. >> thank you for being here, jonathan krohn. when we return, let me finish with what makes america great and what doesn't. you're watching "hardball" the place for politics. the postal service is critical to our economy, 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.

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let me finish tonight with this. tomorrow, of course, is the fourth of july and many of us will celebrate living in the greatest country on earth. we take that as a given. but is it? last night after guest hosting for chris, i went home and watched the latest episode of the new erin sorkin television program, it's called "the newsroom" and airs on hbo on sunday nights. pretty interesting for me last night to leave a cable newsroom and then go watch this adaptation of one. the central character is will mcavoy, played by jeff daniels, an anchor with an attitude. in the first episode he unloads in front of a college audience and is critical of the united states. he says we're not the greatest in the world. he says we lead in just a couple areas like our incarceration rate, religious believes and defense spending.

he says we act like we're the only country with freedom but says there are 207 countries and 180 of them have freedom and then he rattles off statistics where we lag behind, and then finally, an impassioned speech he says we used to be great. listen. >> we stood up for what was right. he we fought for moral reasons. we struck down laws for moral reasons. we waged wars on poverty, not poor people. we sacrificed, cared about our neighbors, put our money where our mouths were and never beat our chests. made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured disease and cultivated the world's greatest artists and economy. first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. america is not the greatest country in the world anymore. >> the show's fiction but it makes you think and i disagree with him.

we've got lots of room for improvement to be sure, but i'd argue the country is still great and has only exhibited weakness recently as a result of creding leadership to its fringes which has yielded partisan gridlock and malaise. you pick the issue that which ales us is solvable, work together for the common good. america loses her advantage when compromise becomes a dirty word, shouting valued over dialog and when reasonable minds surrender the stage to shar low tans. when americans focus on that which unites us we're unstoppable. happy birthday, america. that's "hardball" for now. >> six titles the major eater of all time, grabbing six mustard belts.

>> 68, the unofficial right now nor joey chestnut. >> i feel good. it was a great win. i feel bad for the audience, they were pushing me and i wanted to give them a new record. hopefully next year. i'm happy to come out with a win. it's fourth of july and i'm super happy. >> good morning. it's thursday, july 5th. welcome to "morning joe." i'm lawrence o'donnell, pinch hitting for joe, mika, and willie. hope everyone had a great fourth of july. and joining me this morning, we've got the whole team here. the host of msnbc's politics nation, president of the national active network al sharpton, co-host of msnbc's 3:00 p.m. show "the cycle" and in washington, political correspondent sam steinen and burlington, vermont, former chairman of the democratic national committee, dr. howard dean. so,