that there is nothing the british core enjoys more than having fresh meat to savage, particularly if that fresh meat happens to be a presidential candidate from the united states. i think mitt romney, and equally his team misread some of the very british tea leaves that existed going into this trip to london. there had been an enormous amount of moaning and whining about the olympics by ordinary brits over the course of the last several weeks. but the mayor of london, boris johnson, himself a conservative said to everybody about a week ago, it's time to put a sock in it. largely brits listened to that. but mitt did not. >> well we love boris johnson. i think i look like the guy anyway, so i like him a lot. let me ask you, chris. what do you think is going on here? you're allowed to dump on your country or its problems at home, but don't come in from somewhere else and start doing it? >> i think that's exactly right. us british are not very good at positivity.

we've been whining about the olympics for several weeks now. you've heard about the problems with the security. the taxi drivers, the cabdrivers have been moaning about the olympic route network. you get them in every olympics, of course. but there is nothing quite like somebody coming from overseas, telling us that we're not behind our olympics, for brits to really get behind it. i think mitt romney rocked up a couple of days ago, you can almost see the brits put their arms around the olympic stadiums and say you know what? we are behind this. i've been watching some of the opening ceremonies secretly because you can't see it for a couple of hours yet. everyone is behind the games and it's looking good. >> he still looks stiff as hell walking around number 10 there. it's a strange way the guy walks. we'll get to the pictures and the quotes in a second. here is the point. i thought cameron would like him. aren't they fellow tories? >> i think that is exactly the point there has been a tremendous strain in the relationship between britain's conservative party and the republican party here in the united states. going back over the last ten

years, since george w. bush forged a very close relationship with former british prime minister tony blair, with whom he was not an ideological soul mate. here was an opportunity for mitt romney and david cameron, peas in a pod politically, both conservatives to try and establish some kind of alliance that could take them both forward. and instead, mitt romney has found himself causing david cameron to come out and push back on this issue of the olympics, because as chris ship knows, better i think than any of us, david cameron's own credibility is at stake over the success or failure of these olympic games. >> well, let's look at romney trying to clean up the mess. but i do want to remind our viewer here is in the states of what david cameron did to take a shot at him in the morning. let's take a look at this morning on the today show, our big morning show here. mitt romney tried to end the static he had stirred up with a "nightly news" interview he did with brian williams. he did it by complimenting now. he has switched in the past just about everything.

here he is switching on the british olympics. here he is, mitt romney this morning. >> after being here a couple of days, it looks to me like london is ready. and of course it is hard to put on games in a major metropolitan area. >> and here he is with his original comment about trying to, well, causing trouble. here he is the first time out. let's listen. >> in the short time you've been here in london, do they look ready to your experienced eye? >> you know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out there. are a few things that were disconcerting. >> you know, i have to tell you, chris, that this is wonderful romneyism. it's taken us a while to build up this wonderful catalog of switcheroos by the guy. here he is doing it in about 24 hours, going from one side to the other. disconcerting. looks like he's got it together here. >> i think it's a big switch room. it was huge story for the british press. they had a lot of fun with it. you've just been running some of the headlines, mitt the twit or mr. nowhere, that apparent reference to him being in charge

of the salt lake city games in 2002. that was quite a mild rebuke from the prime minister david cameron when he mentioned that. i saw the response last night from salt lake city. they weren't particularly very complimentary about mr. cameron. and they said look, if he wants a map of where the middle of nowhere is, he can come and get one from us. but really, this is a bit of a faux pas or a political difficulty for him. because at the end of the day, these two men should get on very well. as you just mentioned, david cameron is a conservative prime minister, and yet the european brand of conservatism is a lot more liberal than the one you've got here. >> we're eating it up here at home as well. here is prime minister cameron. he took issue with romney's original uncertainty that london could handle the games. let's listen. >> i think we'll show the whole world not just that we come together as a united kingdom, but also we're extremely good at welcoming people from across the world. so i'll obviously make those points to mitt romney. we are holding an olympic games in one of the busiest, most active bustling cities anywhere

in the world. and of course it's easier if you hold an olympic games in the middle of nowhere. >> i just love that tape. the way he lowered his voice. of course it's easy when you're handle them in the middle of nowhere, salt lake city. by the way, here is the great boris johnson piling on. let's listen. he is the mayor of london, of course. >> i hear there is a guy, there is a guy called mitt romney who wants to know whether we're ready. he wants to know whether we're ready. are we ready? [ cheering ] are we ready? yes we are! >> as i said, the british tabloids of course pounced on. willie geist who is in london for the olympic coverage has the best of them. let's listen to willie. >> the covers are all about the opening ceremony. but inside the daily mail, who invited party popper romney. >> oh no. that's the headline there. and other newspapers, the london times says "nowhere man romney loses his way with gaffe about

the games." >> let's start over here again, simon, and talk about the special relationship. i know that somebody way back in the obama administration unfortunately said what special relationship. i've always treasured, i'm a churchill nut. well like churchill more than you do over there. this relationship, i've always liked it whenever the brits, the british people like an american movie for example. i saw "blades of glory" over there with my daughter and i loved laughing with the brits at an american movie, something ludicrous with will ferrell. what is our relationship? here is a tricky one. what is the relationship between the old country and the new world right now? >> well, look, it's absolutely clear, chris, that there is a special relationship. it's a special relationship that was forged back in 1939 with the alliance during the second world war. it's a special relationship that has thrived in recent times, even when you have had political leaders who do not see eye to eye idealogically, like george w. bush and tony blair. and it's a special relationship

that david cameron and barack obama, again, not ideological soul mates have, managed to continue taking to a fresh level. what is so troubling about the events of the last couple of days is that mitt romney, the man who hopes to be president, hopes to be doing business with david cameron, perhaps even with boris johnson, a man who has national political ambitions in the uk, this has put a strain in that relationship and made it difficult on the basis of what we have seen to imagine how they can go forward and establish a productive working relationship, unless there is some kind of do-over further down the line. >> you know, chris, churchill, again, my hero, said we are two peoples divided by a common language. in the case of mitt romney, no one speaks the language he speaks. so how do we explain this? we've been covering his strange use of the language for months now, saying i read in the newspaper when i was on the aircraft. and everybody in america says on

the plane. we don't talk like that. it's conehead in a way. what do you make of his opening remarks over there and the way he talks? disconcerting. >> well, i think there is something about the language barrier. i find that when i'm here i have to change my vocabulary when i'm talking to americans. actually there was a very interesting thing that obama said in downing street yesterday when he was standing outside the door of number 10. he said it's great to be here in the back side of downing street. i don't know how much you we referred to back side, but it's not the rear entrance as you would call it, obviously what he was referring to it. >> i think we use fanny differently as well. >> there are so many words we use differently. bottom line, is there going to be a lasting impact of the kerfuffle we have just described? simon, you first and then chris. will this thing be something you people in britain remember in the pride you have for your olympic games for the next couple of weeks? will it be recalled at the end of them and in the months ahead that the american presidential candidate, mitt romney came there and caused trouble?

>> i think the lasting impact can be characterized slightly differently, chris. this has set the stage for the way in which the british press is now going to cover mitt romney going forward through into the convention and towards the election. and remember that the british press is not an island. mitt the twit was the headline published by the sun, owned by rupert murdoch. same with nowhere man in the times of london. those are murdoch publications. so again, people on this side of the atlantic may well say, well, does that raise ongoing questions about where conservatives stand vis-a-vis mitt romney's leadership? >> we have raised the question for me. i can tell you that. chris, your view of lasting impact here. >> i think it was always going to have a difficult time in europe because we see things differently on the other side of the atlantic. europe is still very much obama's territory. we still think he is pretty good, he is the world's statesman. he did a lot better things than the guy that came before him. i think mitt romney, apart from the fact that no one really

knows who he is was always going to have a tough time. he just made it worse by coming along and saying you guys, not ready for the olympics. the brits aren't very good at looking forward to something. it takes someone from outside to remind them this olympics is a good thing and we're all behind it. and they certainly are tonight. >> we'll remember this scene. we'll play it again tonight from "love actually" where the british prime minister played by hugh grant stands up for the country against the gauche combination of a couple of combinations of americans. the worst possibility of yank portrayed in that movie. thank you for joining us, simon marks and chris ship. coming up, this isn't the first time we've seen mitt romney insult his host. remember those cookies in pennsylvania? what is it with romney. plus, a minority of americans take barack obama at his word that he is christian. maybe this is michele bachmann's.

for the second time in as many weeks, the romney campaign has grossly distorted the president's words in a campaign ad. we have the misleading ad, and what the president actually said, all coming up. and will farrell on what romney should have said about the olympics. he is coming on the show next week with zack galifianakis. this is "hardball," a place for politics. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education

of our u.s. olympic team. devry university, proud to support the education last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. eight years ago, the presidential race came down to ohio. and it may well be the same story this year. we've got a new poll it of ohio. and for that we check the "hardball" scoreboard. here it is. according to a new we ask america poll, president obama holds an eight-point lead over mitt romney in the buckeye state, pretty comfortable, 48-40. that may be well good evidence

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back to "hardball." mitt romney's trip to london has been overwhelmed by his comment on wednesday that london may not have been 100% prepared to host the games. it's not the first time romney has made an awkward comment that offended people and left others cringing. last year when he met with a group of unemployed floridians in a coffee shop, his effort to empathize was a little tone deaf. let's listen. >> i should also tell my story. i'm also unemployed. >> are you on linkedin? >> yes, actually. and i'm networking. >> a lot better than what we've got. >> so here he is yukking it up with people who are out of work, and he is worth well over a

quarter billion. back in april, when romney visited a small town in pennsylvania, he was less than thrilled with the cookies he was served. believe 80 not, cookie, didn't like them. let's listen. >> i'm not sure about these cookies. they don't look like you made them. did you make those cookies? you didn't, did you. . no they came from the local -- >> bakery, the 7-eleven or bakery. >> the cookies were the homemade pride of the local bakery. why does he keep saying things like? this? i want to start with scott on this. i don't think that these are ultimately the most important things in the world except it guess on and on. the guy is from another planet, he will have these problems. but this guy is running for president here and talks like he is from another planet. that's odd. >> this has been going on for years. when you were playing the cookie clip, i was reminded in 2002 when rudolph giuliani was campaigning for him in boston's north end and some guy offers them a canolli.

and mitt romney says no thanks, i don't want it. and rudy being the smart politician he is, picks it up and eats it. he knows when you are offered a canolli, you pick up up and take it. in his dfefense, he has never sold himself as that guy. with the comments you just played in london, it continues to get him in trouble. >> wasn't it that remembered the canolli? this is a serious problem for this guy. he seems to be heading into three major televised debates an hour and a half each. he can script himself or be scripted for a while. at some point he switches to romney. it seems like he has good line here and there. and the minute he is caught with an unusual question, bryant asked him about the olympics, are you prepared? and he makes a shot at the londoners he is trying to woo, the first thing he says seems offensive. without a script by his bright team, he is lost in space. >> he can perform well in debates. so i wouldn't count him out. the lower he sinks, if he makes

a comeback and performance well, he'll get extra credit for that. he obviously has a gaffe problem and has for some years. and to be sort of a dime store shrink for a second, chris, i attributed it all to the most famous gaffe of modern american politics, which was in 1967 by george romney when he said in a local detroit television interview that he had been brainwashed in vietnam. so if you're george romney's son, and you revere your father, the one thing you don't want to do is make a career ending gaffe. so he is in a situation now where it's like don't make a gaffe, don't make a gaffe, don't make a gaffe. and that's like don't think of an elephant, don't think of an eelephant, don't think of an elephant. you think of the elephant. you make the gaffe. and you you do exactly what you're try so hard to avoid doing. >> that's line actually in -- i can't stop movie references" the anat my of a murder when the

jury is told to ignore some testimony. they said it's like saying don't think of a blue cow. all you can think of is a blue cow. anyway, charles krauthammer was left nearly speechless, and he is rarely speechless by romney's comment that he found some things about london's preparation for the games disconcerting. here is charles, a usual friend on the right. let's listen. >> when romney answered in that question is unbelievable. it's beyond human understanding. it's incomprehensible. i'm out of adjectives. all the man has to do is say nothing. >> scott, he didn't say nothing. here it is a question. now put it all together. he doesn't like the local cookies. what else? he thinks he is unemployed, even though he is well worth well over a quarter billion. he thinks that's a cool thing to say to people who are suffering often the humiliation as well as the injury of being unemployed. people feel that in their souls when they're out of work and they're trying to get a job. here he is chucking over the fact that he is a multi, multi,

multimillionaire is in the same straits as them when it's so obvious the all at the table he is not in the same situation. it isn't funny. >> no. and i think one of the most ironic things about it is here is somebody who often gets knocked for trying to please everybody, for trying to say, you know, whatever his audience wants to hear. so you would assume somebody like that would be really good and really smooth, almost sort of too smooth. but that part of it is fundamentally missing with him. he doesn't know how to operate when it just off the cuff. we've seen it over and over. you can play a dozen clips that relate to his wealth alone over the last six months in which he has come across just looking stiff and aloof and out of touch. you know, the bigger question does any of this matter. and again, this is not something he is trying to run as. he is trying to run as the competent, maybe even boring technocrat who can fix the economy. so it may not matter in tend. but it certainly has hurt him at every step along the way in his political career. >> john, you and i talk about these things. we think about them all the

time. the difference between in this case a successful businessman, meaning a guy who has made a lot of money. that's a successful businessman, and a successful political or national leader. i think we're learning the difference here. learning how to deal with national sensitivities on the other side, recognizing that every country has a sense of patriotism, not just the united states, unless they have some terrible tyranny going on. even then they're proud of their country. not knowing that you're stepping on the toes of millions of brits when you say something like this, you mock their best efforts. and you're coming in from outside to do it. that is the difference between a successful -- a successful business guy can do that and still be rich. a politician can't do that very long. >> yeah, there is really not much of a connection between success in business and success in politics. we've seen that over and over again with very successful businessmen have gone into the cabinet. remember don regan. >> he was a sharpie. >> disgrace. he had been head of merrill lynch. and then unsuccessful business people like harry truman whose haberdashery went bankrupt and he turned out to be a pretty

damn good president. so i think there is a connection in the minds of some people between these two skills. and that might help romney in this campaign. by the way, when 130 million americans are voting in november, most of them won't have paid any attention to his awkwardness in one-on-one retail politics. so it may be that it doesn't end up mattering. but the thing for voters to focus on is whether they accept in an unthinking way that somebody that has been successful in business will necessarily have the right skills for the presidency. >> i'm going to try to go on in that point at the end of the show tonight. thank you so much, scott and jonathan. up next, will farrell on what romney should have said in london. look at this guy. he is so funny. by the way, he is coming on this show live next tuesday. and that is "hardball," the place for politics. small government is a great political brand. it looks great on a bumper sticker. people who don't want the government to help unemployed people or the elderly or people

without health insurance, who don't want the government to create jobs. they say it's because government has to be small. they also want government to be monitoring every pregnancy in the country to make sure the government's chosen outcome is the result of that pregnancy under penalty of jail. so make your case that you don't want the government to help the economy. but don't give me this small government stuff. come on. i bet he's gotis' voice ] an allstate agent. they can save you up to 30% more by bundling your policies. well his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. are you in good hands? ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™

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back to "hardball" and to "the sideshow." first off the obama slogan this time around. it's been around for a couple of months, but so far it hasn't caught on, not like hope and change did in 2008. conan o'brien came up with ways to revamp the new phrase. >> yes moving this country forward. >> change only comes through challenge. >> no you can't, no you shouldn't. don't even try. >> no, no, no, there's no jobs for you, man. >> the economy is bad. it's all my fault. and i can't fix it. >> we didn't have enough money to pay the bank, honey. and we have to move. we have to move. >> you should vote for mr. romney. >> come on, man. i'm serious. i'm serious. >> it's amazing what you can do if you screw around with the context.

anyway, will farrell is as close to being on a campaign blitz as he'll ever get, a publicity tour for his new kocomedy the campai. he kicked off with a nugget that could have helped mitt romney get off to a better start in london. >> can i start by saying that i think the olympics are going to run perfectly, great. the facilities world class. i mean i think it's going to be the greatest games of all time. >> you agree with governor romney. >> yeah. oh, i stand by my statements. >> the funniest guys are the guys that don't laugh when they tell the jokes like in the old days of chevy chase. there you have, will farrell and zach galifianakis, will be on "hardball" next tuesday. don't miss it. here is a pre-olympics moment that has pretty deep into sideshow territory. the uk's culture secretary participated in a bell-ringing ceremony to commemorate the first day of the games. s you'll see now, after he weighed in on the potential for

mishaps in the coming weeks, the secretary tried to ring his olympics bell. >> i can't say there won't be hitches, because this really is one of the biggest things you can do. and when there are things that don't go according to plan, london will cope in the way it always has. >> can we get a bell? >> oh, yes. my goodness! disaster averted. thank you. >> he is like faulty towers. anyway, the bell just flew off the handle there. is that what mitt romney meant when there may be disconcerting mishaps in the olympics run-up? finally, what the games are really about, the athletes. michelle obama spoke to the athletes attempting to put them at ease while still pressing them to bring home some medal. >> you all take advantage, stop, take a look around you. this only happens every few years. so try to have fun. try the breathe a little bit. but also win, right. in the end, winning is good. >> just remember, her brother is

a basketball coach. they're in for a great couple of weeks, those athletes, and we are too. up next, i wonder why michele bachmann is pushing their line about muslim brotherhood infiltrating the president? it may be something to do with more than half america trusts the president when he says he is a christian. this is "hardball," a place for politics. 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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lowest level this year. and facebook spent the day trying to dig itself out of a hole. stock prices plummeting as question swirl about its virtual future. that's it for cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." u.s. congresswoman michele bachmann, who was invented here i think calls to look whether the muslim brotherhood is infault traiting our government here. she has created a battle within the republican party those who think the accused including top aide houma are fair game. this comes in the face of new polling shows the majority of americans are not willing to say obama is christian. it also depends on your ideology. no surprise there. reverend c. walton gaddy is

president of the interfaith alliance, one of more than 40 organizations that have written bachmann and her allies to protest. i want to get to the heart of this thing. here you have michele bachmann, a member of the house intelligence committee zeroing in on one of hillary clinton's closest aides and saying that she ought to be investigated because she has relatives that are questionable, and therefore she is questionable. a lot of good republicans on this point. john mccain, john boehner, lindsey graham, scott brown, marco rubio, have all said this is bad. we shouldn't be doing this mccarthyite stuff in this country. a number of politicians like rush limbaugh, john bolton are all sort of defending this scurrilous attack on this woman who has worked for her country and for secretary clinton. what do you make about what is going on right now? >> well, i think you pegged it,

chris. the way you described it going into this segment. we're talking about politics. we're not talking about religion. we're not talking about security. we're talking about a very questionable kind of patriotism that would risk scaring the people of the united states, trying to undercut their confidence in the security provided by the united states government in order to attract a few votes. they also know that this figure that came out today about the number of people who think that the president is muslim, it is a way to play in demonizing a religion to the extent that they think they can win an election. everyone knows that according to the constitution's religious freedom provisions, it shouldn't make any difference whether the candidate is a mormon, a muslim, or a christian. but they know because they have

been involved in financing a well structured campaign to convince people that the president is a muslim, they know that if they can get that belief, then they can play on a prejudice, and it is nothing but a political strategy. >> okay. i agree with that. so i'm already well spoken here by the reverend. i do believe that less than half the american people accept obama at his word that he is a christian, is part of an overall strategy that is relentless. people like donald trump over and over again raising the birther questions, questioning this man's word. it's gotten to the point where more people disbelieve him than believe him. i've never heard a person say i'm jewish, oh no you're not. our i'm catholic. you accept people in this country for what they say they are. >> i think there are two different things going on here. on the one hand, there are probably republicans for whom this is just a republican answer. it's a way for them to signal their contempt for him, their genre fuse toll take him at his

word about anything that he says. >> see the numbers? only 49% accept him at his word. 17% actually call him a muslim. but all the rest with the cute don't know. and we know darn well they know what they're talking about. they just want to stick it to him. >> some want to stick it to him. some probably just believe what a lot of their leaders are telling them. if you have something like michele bachmann saying that the obama administration is complicit in an infiltration of our government, you have this stuff on radio. >> sharia law. >> right you. have you these books coming out. so i think we know well enough not to take michele bachmann seriously, but she is a serious politician. she is the second biggest fundraiser in the house. she has a huge following. and we can't be surprised that people -- that there are people out there that take her at her word. >> to make your point. back to you, reverend. this makes the point. the percent sedge of people saying president obama is a muslim rise as you move toward the right on the political spectrum. 30% of republicans. 34% of conservative republicans believe he is a member of the islamic faith. just 8% of democrats do. it really does move absolutely

with correlation here. as you go from left to right or center left to right, it just goes higher and higher percentages of people believe that he is a muslim. if you went to nazi i suppose you would get 50 or more%. it's unbelievable. >> but chris, these are people who are judging a man's religion who don't know much about religion. and in fact, what they know some politician has told them. i actually think that there is a bright spot in this whole thing with what ms. bachmann has done. when interfaith alliance put out the word about us getting together a letter protestering what has happened, you look at people on that letter. the national council of jewish women, the aclu, the interfaith alliance, people all across the political spectrum as well as the -- yeah, the national

council of catholic bishops. so you've got diversity across the religious spectrum, and you've got diversity across the political spectrum. and my hope is that there are a lot of people who are saying ms. bachmann, enough of this. let's have an election on what the election should be about and get politicians off of trying to do political stump speeches that turn out to be sermons and not hide your prejudice under a cloak of religion. >> and why don't we take a look when people do join on the opposite side, michelle, and join in this witch-hunting of people like houma amadin. and look at the witch-hunter, rush limbaugh, no surprise there. he makes money doing. this newt gingrich has tried to stay in the game with the far right. eric cantor, he is the new nixon, he doesn't believe a word of this, but he rides this horse better than anybody. >> and he knows better than to stand up to these people. >> right. he is nixon. and john bolton, who wants to be

secretary of state. imagine a secretary of state of this country who engages in this kind of witch-hunting. >> i think somebody should ask mitt romney whether he agrees with john bolton that these are legitimate questions. one of the things that was fascinating was there was this moment when it seemed as if finally michele bachmann and her ilk were going to be marginalized in the republican party. we had this very rare outbreak of republican decency. and there has been such a huge pushback. the tea part has come out in support of michele bachmann, the religious right, the religious research council came out with a statement of support. talk radio has rallied around her. and these are really important forces in the republican party. and eric cantor knows that. so his statement of support for her today i think is a sign that, you know, that unfortunately the john mccains and the eric boehners who are trying to kind of marginalize this kind of thing are not going to be successful. >> you speak well and true. thank you very much. i don't mind to be condescending. i agree with everything word. it rang with me. thank you so much reverend welton gaddy.

and oops, they did it again. the romney campaign takes more president obama words mildly out of context in a new ad. we've got the ad, by the way. watch and see how they lie here. it's really sad. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. what the... ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪ ♪ and we're here to drop a rhyme about free-credit-score ♪ ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ dot-com narrator: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com. [ annie ] this is the story of annie, who learned to fly.

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trouble with a car insurance claim. [ voice of dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ normal voice ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. are you in good hands? we're back. remember the romney ad that twisted president obama's "you didn't build that" remark into a condemnation of small business owners? well, the romney campaign is at it again. let's watch this web ad they just released yesterday, hitting obama on the economy. >> we tried our plan, and it

worked. that's the difference. that's the choice in this election. that's why i'm running for a second term. >> you know, i had to file my own personal bankruptcy. i had to close my business. >> i've been looking for a job for two years. >> you know, it's difficult to find employment. >> a year ago i was laid off from my job. >> i have to work part-time in order to make ends meet. >> well, now let's look at what obama actually said. at a campaign stop in oakland, california, the original words. >> i'm also going to ask, anybody making over $250,000 a year to go back to the tax rates they were paying under bill clinton, back when our economy created 23 million new jobs, the biggest budget surplus in history, and everybody did well.

just like we've tried their plan, we've tried our plan, and it worked. that's the difference. that's the choice in this election. that's why i'm running for a second term. >> when you watch the whole thing, it's very obvious that president obama was talking about the booming economy under president clinton, not today's economic climate, as the romney ad would have you believe. with me now is david corn, msnbc political analyst and author of "showdown." and ronald reagan, author of "my father o100." i was reading there is a case you could find there that the romney ad was true. i don't see it, because clearly, if you look at this paragraph. >> right. >> it's about the clinton experience with tax rates that they just want to get back to. >> there was a piece in the "washington post" that tried to make a case. but i think that was a sense of someone bending backwards to be

campaign that was ripping yet again a single remark and single sentence out of context. we spent last week arguing about the you didn't build that remark and how the romney campaign turned that into an ad. if you go back to the first ad the romney campaign put out for this campaign last november, they had barack obama on video says if we talk about the economy, we're going to lose. and they sliced out. that was a 2008 speech, the sentence before that in which he said john mccain said. if we talk about the economy we're going to lose. so again and again and again they do creative editing. ron has watched this for a long time. there's a certain amount of spin and interpretation that you can get away with, but i think these guys are really far over the line. and there's nothing to call them out. >> here's the problem, ron. i was just thinking of this.

we're not aiming these ads on the left center and the left or the 47% on the right. we're naming it at the 6% in the middle. and those 6% i will argue until doomsday are inintentive. they haven't made up their minds because they haven't watched this stuff. they will fall for this. >> that's quite possible. i was reading in the washington post online today, here's how this could work for romney. ironically the article was about how this could work for romney and inadvertently the author made his own point for himself by demonstrating how it would work. not once in the article did the author do what you did, chris, which is call this what it is. a lie. he did not explain the context of barack obama's remarks. he said only that critics would allege that mitt romney was twisting barack obama's -- but it's not -- critics will allege that because that's true.

we will have to see whether mitt romney will be able to get away with it as put it aptly, lying about what barack obama says. >> i think a normal conversation you wouldn't get along with someone if they took two sentences and dumped them and put the first and fourth together to make what they want. they're going for the fresh meat out there. they're going for the voter who hasn't paid attention and is willing to buy the worst about the other guy because they're down on politicians, aren't they? the undecided. >> well, yes. they're trying to get people. the economy is bad. people in the middle and both sides may be disappointed that barack obama hasn't done more to make the economy better. some can argue that he saved us from a depression, but it's still not where we want to be. ads that take these lines out of context. you didn't build that, private sector's fine and all this stuff plays on that.

and ron is exactly right. the real problem here is that you can get away with this because there's nobody who's going to say -- a lot of people won't say in the major media that you're lying, this is wrong. this is unfair and we're going to treat you as we would a child. and send you to your room and not pay attention to you seriously. and so those voices don't counteract this. the campaigns do this again and again and again and they don't really care about the fact checkers that may or may not blow a whistle. >> it's like the old joke about the older woman who says i'm not voting for goldwater because he's doing to take away my tv. he said no just the tva. she said i'm not taking any chances. mitt romney sat down with nbc's matt lauer today in london where lauer questioned him about the negative turn this has taken. let's watch. >> it seems like one wave of negative ads after another. are you proud of the campaign

you're running so far? is this the campaign you'd like to run? >> i'm proud of the fact my campaign is focused on the economy. we're not attacked on personal attacks but on policy differences and where we think the president may have gone wrong and where we could do be rt. >> yeah, ron. except he's got a lot of people calling this guy an islamic terrorist. he doesn't have to do the dirty work. >> and that was another perfect example of the mainstream media doing that fair imbalance thing. everybody's running negative ads. i don't remember barack obama running an ad about mitt romney where he actually lied about something mitt romney said. maybe i've just missed it, but i haven't seen that yet. >> you're a good man, so you didn't miss it. you're a good man. we got to go. >> okay. >> it's friday night. we can take a break for two days. thank you david corn and ron reagan. when we return, let me finish with the debacle of mitt

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let me finish tonight with this. remember all those conversations we had about the difference between a businessman and a successful politician? you know, how one person has to focus on making profits, the other on leading lots of people. the idea was that the two jobs are very different calling for different competence. one has to be good at numbers.

the other sensitive to market movements and other sensitive to moods. more shouts of indignation from the corners in london. exposing the differences between a good businessman and a good political leader for all to see. i don't know mitt romney told brian williams he saw the preparations in london as disconcerting. i don't know who he thought he was speaking to there. was he talking to the americans back home? even the people of utah who might feel satisfaction that their guy are saying the brits aren't up to what he are m romney helped get done back home. this may be what we've talked about all year. the difference between a guy that can make a lot of money and a guy that can serve the country. no big harm done. you can say that. you can also say we witnessed a harmless example, the difference between a leader in the money business and a leader in the people business. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. see you again monday at 7:00

eastern. have a great weekend. welcome to "politicsnation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, the man with the golden gaffe. mitt romney spent the last 24 hours in london trying to repair the damage done to his campaign after suggesting the british weren't ready for the olympics. >> after being here a couple of days it looks like london is ready. >> these games, great weather. enthusiasm on the part of the people here in london. i think you're going to see terrific games. >> i'm delighted with the prospects of a highly successful olympic games. >> romney is delighted by the games. he thinks london is ready. really he does. but the british press isn't buying pit "the daily mail" said quote, romney completes humiliating u-turn in new charm

offensive after olympic gaffe. and bbc are wondering if the woes will hurt him at home. and the sun says merely mitt the twit. and on british tv, the coverage, well it's just been brutal. >> to show the american people that he's ready to be commander in chief, but he became blunderer in chief. >> mitt romney has turned on the charm during his visit to britain by questioning the country's ability to host the "locku olympic games. >> if he's here to make friends, he's got a funny way of showing it. >> and the british politicians have been piling on. >> who's it going to be? mitt romney? >> certainly not after today. >> we are holding an olympic games in one of the busies