clear line in the campaign and bain on february 1999 and romney had nothing to do with the company really after that. but as i reported last week and "the boston globe" amplified today, there are lots of sec documents that show that he was signing these documents, claiming that he was in control of various bain entities for a year or two or three after this point in time and that he was controlling stock that was being bought by bain and other companies. he claimed to be in the management committee in these documents. there are other documents that show bain entities being created in his name after he supposedly left bain. there's a press release bain put out that describes him having taken a leave of absence and quotes him as the ceo of bain. i think we're getting drawn into a fight over technicalities because bain still was his. he still benefitted from what was happening in terms of profiting from their deals and

still signing their papers. it's got to be inconceivable that for all those years, he wasn't asking, checking, vetting, having some input to what bain was doing. was being done in his name, so he's responsible. and all i can tell you about the story i wrote today, bain in china. >> it's a fundamentalically contradictory story. charles, the bain pr team has issued their own statement saying he left in 1999, but the obama campaign is hitting hard on this case. take a listen. >> if the sec filings aren't accurate, then prove it. if he wasn't investing millions of dollars in shell corporations, tax havens, swiss bank accounts overseas to gain a tax advantage, then prove it. prove it by releasing your tax returns. >> she went so far as to suggest

mitt romney could be found guilty of fraud. how far do you think this could go or to borrow a hip hop phrase, how low can it go? >> i think it goes pretty far because this is a very fundamental part of politics. the idea of a lying president. i think that is why mitt romney hit back with a idea that obama -- or the obama campaign may be lying because it's a very simple concept. this idea of who is moving papers around and sec filings. these are things that most people don't have any clue about. we don't have any workers. if you were putting roofs on houses in the summertime, you'd know exactly when the last time was you put a roof on a house because it's hot and you're tired. with this idea of you don't even know what the nature of work is for bain, that it's all paper, that you don't necessarily have to be in a specific place to do this type of work, that the money that is made from that

work can be put into shelters and other countries when you may not have even visited a country in the last five years on vacation or anything, those are concepts that are a little bit foreign to most people and i think it draws that into the public debate and you start to see this guy so much different from the rest of us and that he and the company that he made all of his money running cannot agree on when he stopped running that company. that's a big issue and i don't think that anybody's going to let up on them because the idea of the liar and the president have a really big conflict in american war going all the way back to you know, the chopping down of the cherry tree and i just cannot tell a lie. we don't want the idea of a liar and president combined. >> david, the romney pushback machine is spinning out multiple

denials. to politico, adviser said -- he was on the sec filings because he was still technically the owner, but hadn't transferred ownership to other partners. still, technically the owner for three more years. i guess nobody could have cleared that up in the contractor of file sngs. >> he was technically the owner. making millions of dollars from this. what is it? this is not the way as charles said, most people live their lives and if you're not really the owner, not really in control of these shares, then why are you representing that to the sec. that's the argument that the obama campaign has been making. one thing they can't deny, they haven't yet, is this story that i came out with this morning showing that when he was at bain, before this magical february '99 date, he invested millions of dollars in a chinese company, a manufacturing company that was taking outsourcing

manufacturing and outsourcing jobs from america. so this is a guy who now says he's going to be tough from china and poaching u.s. jobs, but when he was at bain, about making money, he invested millions in this chinese company and i'll put a link up in my twitter feed. >> have they responded to the story yet? >> they did respond respond on background. they told me they didn't take issue of the outsourcing issue. what they said was it was a routine investment in a foreign company and lots of people do that. which indicates to me that they're kind of worrieded about this story becoming the next big bain story. >> sure, so charles, even in light of what you said about the george washington cherry tree liar phenomenon that is really spooky to a lot of americans, romney made at least $2 million from bain alone last month. not only that, he based his entire campaign on being a private sector business leader,

now suddenly, it's bart simpson time, i didn't do it? what's going on here? >> that's the fundamental thing. as david has said, the campaign is saying -- a lot of people in the middle of the country do not invest in foreign companies. >> that's just how much out of touch they are. >> this concept this is something that all of the people do and this is what middle class people do, no, it's not what middle class people do. you may own a little stock. it may be things you know about. may be invested in your 401(k) plan, but that may be the extent of your investment because you done have this kind of money to play around with. and this idea that you are making money from a company, a foreign company that is making money from u.s. outsourcing is a real problem for people who are hurting who basically say i can't find a job or i lost my job to someone because they are working for wages and there's no way i can make a living working.

>> before i turn back to david, do you think that in the case just how out of touch they are, because they are assuming efrk has this portfolio of offshore investments. >> i think they are counting on an aspirational idea. they're counting on people saying, this guy was successful. i hope that one day i'm successful and i may want to do all this hook or crock stuff. i think the people, swing state type of voter is the kind of person who will identify with this kind of behavior. >> so, this narrative seems to be working for obama. a new poll showing romney dropping three points nationally. more crucially on the economy, they are now flipped with obama holding a six-point lead. let me pause it to you. that ain't so good for him. >> no, it didn't and the problem romney has is that he can't talk honestly about the stuff.

outsourcing, wasn't he quite good for certain companies. wasn't good for the workers, but it was for mitt romney when he was investing in china. investing money in bermuda or cayman islands or switzerland, it's a good deal for people who can do that. but he can't say that. he has to say everyone does it, so there's nothing wrong here or i'm not going to give you the records for you to make your own determination. because obviously, it won't play well politically. so he has to say oh, everybody invests in chinese companies overseas that exploit u.s. out sourcing, don't you? >> good show, young man. stay with us for much more ahead. >> regardless of the legality of it, how patriotic do you think

it is -- offshore, switzerland, the cayman islands. >> not aware of it. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save.

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sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at penn state. the most powerful men at penn state failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who sandusky victimized. >> perhaps the most damning thing to come out is those responsible for those protecting jerry sandusky, repeatedly made the decision to put positive publicity for the school ahead of the safety of the child victims. let's get right to our panel. professor james peterson, taught at penn state from 2003 to 2007. toure, co-host of "the cycle." professor, let me play what louis freeh said today about the

janitors at penn state who witnessed boys being raped. >> they witnessed what i think in the report is probably the most horrific rain and what did they do? they panicked. they were shocked by it. but what thidid they do? they said we can't report this because we'll get fired. >> professor, you taught on the philadelphia camepus of penn state, but even there, you are a witness tolt power and influence to the football program as i was. is it really intimidating enough that employees would fear for their lives if they report child rape? >> sure, it is. you can't live in the entire state of pennsylvania without feeling the power and force of penn state university's football program. surely, those custodians there probably not only feared for their jobs, but you have to understand how the community operates. they would have been ostracized by their own community if they

were implicated in show besmi h besmirching the football program. the program over decades and decades accumulates so much culture and economic capital. >> the ncaa comes down like a ton of bricks on anybody, some kid who gets a tattoo, the worst sinner since the beginning of time. so booster comes along and will come down hard. short of closing this program down, is any penalty really harsh enough? >> no. this is the worst scandal in sports history. smu got the death penalty for boosterism, osu penalized for tatto tattoos. this has got to be a death penl thety. and the other thing i noticed is there's a greek tragedy to this. joe paterno is mr. integrity in a land where there is little too

none. mr. i teach character to young men, but then we find out his friend is the monster and he chooses aiding and abetting h t friend over outing him, doipg the right thing, which he's been teaching to other men that brings down his friend and ultimately to his own death, surely, he died of the shame of all this and not just losing penn state, but losing it in this way. his legacy, which was sterling, is destroyed. tweeting the statue must come down. we can no longer think of joe paterno as one of the great men of college football history. >> in light of that, when you think about the fact that this greek tragedy deals with this iconic figure, think about louis freeh today saying that paterno had opportunity to stop the abuse, but did nothing. take a look. >> mr. paterno was made aware of

the 1998 investigation of sandusky, follow eeded it close, but failed to take action. at the very least, mr. paterno could have alerted the entire football staff in order to prevent sandusky from bringing another child into the latsch building. >> here again is joe paterno, an iconic figure, yet there's this evidence he acted so unheroically. >> it's a tragedy. i don't want to demonize coach paterno at the expense of mr. sandusky. i hope he will rot in hell for the things he has done, but we have to think about the entire system and institution. remember, coach paterno was able to tell the president of penn state university not to pursue legal action. and for all of our great colleagues at penn state, the

great students and student athlete, i feel for you, but the bottom line is that the hierarchy based on the value on this particular football program has turned penn state university upside down. it's a sad day for that institution and toure is right. in terms of this particular case, they've got to shut this program down. not just for to show the world that the ncaa does good things, but for the value of college football at this level. >> just one thing i wanted to say to that is that clearly joe paterno is the most powerful man at penn state at that time. the buck stops with him and starts with him as well. anything has got to funnel back to him. sandusky is the devil, right, or at least the devil's son, but joe paterno let him do what we wanted to do.

what can we say about that. >> gives a new meaning to paternolistic. thank you so much. we'll be right back. >> it's time for the naacp to do what it's always done, what it did for me, a young kid in delaware. to stand up, make our case, stand our ground and make real art vision for america. brave knights! as you can clearly see from this attractive graph that our sales have increased by... sorry, my liege. honestly. our sales have increased by 20%. what is this mystical device i see before me? it's an ultrabook. he signed the purchase order. with an ultrabook, everything else seems old fashioned.

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the olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves. i think they should be embarrassed. i think they should take all the uniform, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again. if they have to wear nothing but a singlet that says u.s.a. on it paint eed by hand, that's what they should wear. >> for more, we go to luke russert. >> how you doing, sir? >> good to see you, my friend. have you ever seen harry reid that mad before? just how mad the congress over this? >> harry reid is a reserved, mormon gentleman from nevada. you rarely see him get that agitated, but this is one of those rare issues where both sides agree this has been an injustice to the united states. the united states olympic committee is privately funded. the government gives no money to our olympic team, but you're

starting to hear around capitol hill that perhaps in 2014, we should apply a lot of pressure so that the winter game, the uniforms are made in america. you've had a lot of -- sherrod brown said he had a hugo boss factory in his district that would be more than happy to make these and certainly speaker boehner said they would know better than this to do it. so one of those rare issues where both sides agree, but in terms of real change happening this olympic, probably not going to happen. >> thank you so much, my friend. >> be well. >> okay. stay with us. the day's top lines are coming up next. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni & cheese without freshly-made pasta. you could also cut corners by making it without 100% real cheddar cheese. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's.

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>> if i did, i'd have to come after you with my men in black flashlight. nothing means nothing. >> if you want a president who will make things better in the african-american community, you are looking at him. >> crash the affordable care act. bin laden is dead! >> mitt romney seems like the actor they would cast to play the part of the guy who's trying to shut method man's house party down. >> i'm going to eliminate every nonessential expense program that i can find. that includes obama care. >> romney was like, hell yeah, you're my boo and. you'remy black or white. had he turned down the invitation, they would have spun it. >> i spoke with a number of african-american leaders. >> coming for me --

>> the outsourcing they're talk ing about at bain capital in fact did not happen while mitt romney was working there. >> their discipline is amazing. >> they're always going to be after me for one thing or another. >> your dad releasing his tax returns and you not. >> squirrel! squirrel! >> this election will come down to character, conviction and vision. i don't think it's even a close call! >> i got 99 problems, but a great panel ain't one. let's get right to them. julian epstein and karen finney, i do know where i am. good day to both of you. karen, mitt romney is having a fund-raiser with dick cheney tonight. all jokes aside here, but the vp getting all the love today is joe biden after his naacp speech. he was booed for ending his

speech contrasting of course to mitt romney, who was booed for using a phrase, obama care. how would you rate biden's speech today? >> i thought it was like a ten plus plus plus plus. he was awesome. i was on twitter. it was blowing up. people were so excited to see joe biden there particularly because he did what mitt romney failed to do and that is he spoke from the heart and talked about vision, right? he said this is the vision that president obama and i have. i also think you cannot underestimate and underscore given joe biden's personal relationship with the naacp in his own work, lifetime, having him say this is my guy and i'm standing with him and you got to stand with him. i thought that was incredibly important. meanwhile, mitt romney goes to a fund-raiser at the home of the gentleman who thinks it's perfectly okay to be as secret as possible and that the american people don't deserve

really any information. >> well, that contrast is surely jarring. julian, biden kept saying this election is about character and conviction and through envision. is that how you talk about offshore accounts without talking about offshore accounts? >> yeah, i think they've cleverly flipped this idea that the republicans have tried to put on obama. they are putting that cleverly on romney. here's a guy who can't explain his swiss bank accounts. can't explain his investments in the cayman islands and here's a guy that can't explain with all this new reporting about when he actually left bain capital. i think it was a remarkable contrast today between biden and romney yesterday. you know, michael, i remember a time and i've been watching these naacp conventions for years. particularly when i was on capitol hill, where the partisan divide wasn't as deep and you only have to go back to the bush

years. bush had luminaries like colin powell and condoleezza rice an he tried to find common ground on things like no child left behind. here, there wasn't even a veiled attempt. you have romney poking his finger in the eye of african-american community and he made no comment on the voter se precious i.d. it's the philosophy of the republicans that somehow they can win this election without any votes from communities of color and you could say it was dog whistle politics. dogs are kind of scared of romney. >> no doubt about that. let's talk about karen, romney and cheney. is romney going there just for

the money or some vp advice, too? maybe take liz or lynne cheney as his vp. >> think about under the bush regime and dick cheney and i mean, you know, he was the guy as we now know, who was very much behind the idea that you know, the white house has every right to be as secretive as possible. very much in the power of the executive. so, i mean, i really think there's something to this idea that here you've got mitt romney. it's a very corporate style attitude to suggest that the american people don't deserve and it's not even just to what jewulian was saying. the answers don't match up. you sign documents saying one thing that were then submitted by bain and yourself to the sec. you're now saying something different. okay. tell us how that happened. prove it. he doesn't think that anybody deserves an answer to that kind of a question? i think dick cheney is exactly

the kind of person to give him the advice he needs to keep on avoiding telling the truth. >> not only in term of the secrecy that can be generated, this just can't be for money though, can it? romney's getting the neocan blessing from dick cheney. >> i think it gives a new meaning to the term shotgun wedding and with all the the friendly fire, he should feel very at home with dick cheney. you combine that with rick perry. rick perry couldn't remember three federal agencies. mitt romney can't remember when he left bain capital. you keep having kind of, you would expect at this point that the romney campaign would be in fourth gear and they seem to be stuck in second gear. i think the appearance was awful for him. he cannot get out from always

these stories about investments in swiss bank accounts and cayman islands. the point karen was make iing at signing papers when he was or wasn't at bain capital. they can't get into a consistent message about what they want to do for this country and it is really one of the most ineffective campaigns you've seen at this point, particularly that he sewed this up in march. >> i love this going on between you two. thank you so much. coming up on "hardball," more on mitt romney's outsourcing legacy, but fresh predictions on who will take the is that the next year. next, did mitt romney profit off booze? stay with us and check it out. >> and i'm going to work to reform and save -- >> it was a calculated move on his part to get booed at the naacp convention.

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remember what this at its core was all about. why this organization at its core was all about. it was about the franchise. it was about the right to vote! >> it was a very different speech that members of the naacp got to hear today from joe biden. the vice president delivered a rousing defense of voting right against the vast right wing conspiracy to keep people of color from the polls and what an embarrassing contract for mitt romney. what did he serve up? a point of condemnation of obama care. that line drew a chorus of boos and that's why people are asking questions about this whole incident cht for instance, was mr. romney actually trying to provoke a negative reaction? was he on a boos cruise to score

points with certain voters outside the convention hall? let's ask barbara lee. thank you so much, congresswoman. yes, ma'am, nancy pelosi, the leader of your party in the house says this was a calculated provocation to get booed at the naacp. surely we're being cynical here. do you agree? >> i 'gree with leader pelosi. actually, romney said that later. come on, michael, you don't go into someone's house when they invite you and then insult them and he knew exactly what he was doing. there is no way in the world that this was not a calculated political ploy. it played right in to his right wing base. he knows under the affordable care act, 7 million uninsured african-americans will have health insurance and so yes, this was calculated. it was sinister and i think it

really showed people who he was. but african-americans who did not know mitt romney, they know him now. >> if you don't know, now you know. of course, we can't say for sure, but if it were, then wouldn't that make mr. romney's whole appearance a slap in the face or to use his favorite term, a kick in the gut? not just to organization, but to african-americans in general? >> african-americans are very generous people and once again, the naacp invited him. he came and in fact, he insulted the african-american community an the naacp and so, the consequences i think are really very great when you look at what happened and i think that again, for those who did not know him, they know him now, they know his values and they know he would deny 7.5 million african-americans health care. that he would really allow for

the unemployment rate to increase and poverty to increase. african-americans know that now as a result of mitt romney coming to the naacp convention. >> speaking of poverty or its opposite, mitt romney is heading up to wyoming tonight for a big fund-raiser with dick cheney, but was at another in montana last night and talked about getting booed. he said that people who like obama care shouldn't come looking to him for free stuff. now, free stuff? is that to suggest the people who booed him are free loaders? what kind of insind yar is going on there? >> african-americans want everything that every other american wants. equal opportunity, justice, fairness, a job, a fair wage with benefits to take care of their families. what in the world is mitt romney talking about? he's trying to use cold words.

i think that the american people are going to see exactly who mitt romney is by these statements and by what he is doing as a result of his coming out of the box now where people are really beginning to know who he is and i tell you one thing, i am so excited that president obama is moving forward with a very aggressive agenda to create jobs, to turn the economy around, but also to win this election in november. >> all right. thanks very much. next, the is that the can pass a middle class tax cut, but will mitch mcconnell allow it? but first, tyler mi thiason. >> it was a choppy day on wall street where the markets began down low, then came back, but when all was said and done, the markets were lower on the day. the dow industrials lost about 31 points. nasdaq, down about 21 and

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mitch mcconnell makes no secret that obstruction is is the name of his game, but does his latest act go too far? on wednesday night, the republican minority leader was caught off guard and had to block a simple up or down vote on tax cuts for the middle class. majority leader harry reid said he had enough votes to pass the plan, which president obama introduced d on monday, but kentucky's arch conservative would rather protect low taxes for the rich than lend a hand. let's bring in dana milbank. thanks for joining us.

look, all that maneuvering in the senate, it can be hard to keep track of, but doesn't this give us a very simple picture of who's on the side of working people and who's on the side of the very powerful? >> look, the senate has been institutionally a problem for a long time and it's getting worse and worse and yes, it is a problem on both sides regardless of who's in power. but you cannot deny that you have a minority leader who said that his primary objective is defeating president obama and making sure he's a one-term president. when he says it, he repeated it. and has acted in that way ever since and set this record number of filibusters. the plain and simple thing is it is in mitch mcconnell's interest to gum up the works. he does better politically if it doesn't improve.

>> sure, it's one thing, delivered obstruction is another. the argument from the president and democrats in congress is look, both sides agree on extending the bush tax cuts, so why won't mitch mcconnell and his buddies agree on that part of it now. >> it would be except they know if they let that happen now, they're never going to get that tax cut through for the over 2%. the wealthiest americans, because if you attach it on to that, to everybody else's tax, we're keeping everybody's taxes low, but can you imagine them, try to do this one in october. a special tax cut for the 2% of the wealthiest americans. they want to get that in any way they can and do not want to let this get through any way. they'd rather have nothing happen. >> nothing is certainly what we're getting. you wrote an interesting column

this week about how all the giants of the senate have disappeared. why are we missing that kind of leadership today? are we going so hopelessly nostalgic that we're missing giants among us and how can we get it back? >> there's a lot of structural problems that you know a great deal about. but i think in the near term, the biggest problem has been the tea party. you have people like john mccain, orrin hatch, who could be the giants of the senate today who had been in the past able to reach across the aisle, work out deals. these guys are scared to death of doing that. orrin hatch just narrowly survived a primary scare. and john mccain had something similar with him. these guys can't step out of line anymore and in order to do the sorts of things, cut the deals they would, both sides are going to have to reach across the aisle and right now, you're going to lose your seat if you

do that. >> an it's such a tragedy because those great figures, lbj, ted kennedy, were able to afford a bipartisan consensus cht you also mentioned they are now 43 freshman senators. that's the most since watergate, but don't you think this group if given enough time, can ma chur into the kind of leaders that we used to see in the upper chamber or am i just tripping here on a thursday afternoon? >> i would like to agree that it's possible and theoretically, it's possible. it just doesn't seem to be happening. take a guy like mark warner, democrat from virginia. he might have that potential. he's sick of the place. basically, even if somebody wants to be that, the primary voters are going to kick him out at home and there's so much disgust with what's going on here in washington, people are not reupping like they did before or a guy like dick lugar

tries to reup and he's kicked out and the list goes on. >> thank you, my friend. >> thanks. we'll be right back. >> i appreciate the chance to speak first. i just hope the obama campaign doesn't hope you're playing favorites. >> there's a lot more to say, but this is preaching to the choir. let me -- let me close, my friends. ♪ i'm making my money do more. ♪ i'm consolidating my assets.

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there it is ! there it is ! where ? where ? it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. president obama sets its sights on virginia tomorrow making a number of campaign stops across the state. with polls showing a tight race, this hotly contested battleground is a must-win for both sides.

joining me now from the white house is mike viqueira. thanks for joining us. >> sure, professor dyson. they call it a birthplace of presidents, of course, both these candidates hope it's the birthplace of their presidency. of course, president obama for a second term. he's got five stops over the next two days, friday and saturday. virginia beach along with roanoke tomorrow. comes back to the white house for a rest, a sleepover, then back out on the trail. glenallen, virginia. that's down near richmond in eric cantor territory and then northern virginia. the demographics of virginia have shifted a lot over the last several years. the first time in ten election cycles that a democrat has done so. won by six points. the latest average of the polls has him up by three now. it is expected to be key. these candidates, these campaigns, are spending more

money here than any other of the nine swing states except perhaps ohio and the president's going down to these areas here outside of northern virginia, which has become increasingly blue. he's going down to the tide water area, a big military presence cht there's some issues, that $500 billion to come out of the defense budget if something isn't done, then heads out west to roanoke. so, a lot on the president's pla plate. he's going to be doing a lot of traveling and almost exclusively in swing states just like virginia. >> in 20 second, what do you think, how do you handicap it now? the state of the race is so intense. >> it's a very conservative state. there's a conservative governor. a conservative legislature, but the economy is good. the jobless rate is only 5.6% in virginia and part is owe ed to e

defense industry. blue northern virginia, the rest up for grabs. >> color coded to be sure. thank you so much. thanks for watching. martin will be back tomorrow. "hardball" picks things up right now. will the real outsourcer please stand up? let's play "hardball." good evening. leading off tonight, consider the outsource. for about a monte now, mitt romney month now, mitt romney has been taking hits on bain capital and outsourcing. his team has released an ad saying president obama isn't telling the truth. romney says outsourcing came

after may of 1999. this is complicateded, but no matter who's right, this is a fight team obama is happy to have. also, when you think of veterans, you probably think older and conservative. but the obama team now thinks it's got a real shot at winning over veteran, especially younger vets from iraq and afghanistan. plus, what did joe paterno know and when? louis freeh's investigation is out and conclusion the plain. paterno chose to protect jerry sandusky over the children he victimized and richard engel is just back from syria with a chilling account of what he saw in the country. finally, guess where the american's olympics uniforms were made? here's the hint, not in the u.s.a. we begin with mitt romney fighting back against the bain attacks. howard fineman is editorial director for the "huff