i saw her just a few weeks ago at the 50th anniversary march that martin iii and i organized and they came and we honored them. she never stopped pushing for us to keep fighting for the people and not to confuse a celebrity with an activist. she was what personified activism and a real american woman that we all can respect. we'll miss her. evelyn, may you rest in peace. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. carnival cruise. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this, the eve of destruction.

for reasons of anger, politics, and personality, the united states government stands this week on the eve if not of destruction of outrageous dysfunction. the government faces shutdown. then if this keeps escalating, default. for the first time in america's history, the world will watch as we ourselves implode on ourselves telling every creditor from an american paper boy to chinese billionaire that investing in the united states government, lending uncle sam money was a dangerous even fool hearted decision. how's that for bad government? how's that for a health report on the american republic? a congress and a president who cannot meet the minimal requirement of guarding the country from a bank run. one man looms over this. passionately urging it on like some dallas cowboy cheerleader. that he sees himself as america's team doing battle with the republican party he mocks now as defeatists.

he's america's team, the republican party is defeastists. tonight the country finds itself between two abysses. a government shutdown and default on the national debt and a congressman ecstatic on the destruction. listen to what ted cruz told rush limbaugh about his fellow republicans just yesterday after his 21-hour rant on the senate floor. let's listen. >> single biggest surprise at arriving to the senate is the defeatist attitude here. i mean, we don't even talk about how to win a fight. there's no discussion. we talk about let's get a show boat to tell the constituents we're doing something, but it -- i promise you, rush, if you had to sit through one senate lunch, you'd be in therapy for a month. >> well, that was a chuckle worthy for old rush. but what do you make of this weird behavior? i'm reminded of the movie advise and consent with the bad guy

anchorman. he's behaving like the bad guy in the movie about the u.s. senate. he doesn't seem to know he's the bad guy. >> he comes across to me as a holier than thou fraud. yet everything he's telling us is basically a lie. he has convinced, unfortunately, too many republicans in our base that all we have to do is defund obama care, vote to defund it in the house of representatives and that's going to be the end of the president's health care bill. this is nonsense. he knows it, but he keeps propagating it. the more he tells these falsehoods, the more self-righteous he gets. i don't know which bothers me more. ted cruz himself or that so many people have allowed him to set the agenda. i mean, to have one person like this who gets in the room of 100 people, 99 would agree ted cruz is like a carnival barker here. but he's the one who's been setting the policy. he's been setting the terms of the debate. he's right now bringing us to the edge of the cliff. we have to stand up and say we've had enough of this guy.

we have to make government work. you and i may disagree on any number of issues, but we have a sense of reverence for the skill of politics. >> i do. >> we get people from different views, different parts of the country, totally different beliefs. you get in a room and work it out. nobody walks out happy, but you get the deal done. that's what democracy is about. taking the conflicting ideas and making them work. no one person saying they're holier than the other one. >> let's talk about the destructive pattern i think the government is on thanks to him largely. what happens the next couple days and weeks? i'm looking at this pincer movement now. the government shutdown possibility, the possibility now of a real loaded up issue coming forward with the debt with a possible default. we've got all this coming at us, and there doesn't seem to be people in the middle saying we've made the political argument on the right perhaps in this case it could have been in the left, the job's done, we'll go to the next election and win on the issues we've raised.

they don't seem to know it's time enough. everybody else knows when to stop. they don't know when to stop. that's my worry here, that this won't stop. >> yeah, chris, i can only speak for the how's. one of the problems is not that there's not more people in the middle, but there's few districts in the middle. the way the lines are drawn, they're either partisan republican or democrat. and there's virtually no northeastern republicans left at all. just a handful of us. and it's hard to find compromise because of that. i'm convinced john boehner doesn't want the government to shut down. how he prevents it, i don't know. it's going to be difficult. i know senator reid's in a tough spot. sometimes the president should inject himself into this. it seems he wants to stay out of it. got to let republicans kill themselves off. that may be a short-term political plus, but i think it's damaging for the system here. i agree with you. if we can't keep the government open, if we can't meet our debt

obligations then we look bad as a country. and as far as the president -- yeah. >> i want to talk about this because i'm serious about this. it's not just this guy looks like joe mccarthy, acts like him. my father was a smart republican. he said he's right, he just went too far. it's not about being conservative. it's about how far you go. to the point of terrorism where you don't care if you bring the house down. that's what this guy reminds me of. it's not that he's wrong we need smaller government. that's his thought, fair enough. it's his methods. like mccarthy. and somebody's got to stand up and say it's not about philosophy, it's about methods. damn it. and we can't run on a country on self-destruction or it won't work. if democracy and republican form of government doesn't work, what will we fall back on? cruz? his point of view? >> it's the fact he's spreading a lie. when he is trying to tell

people -- he was telling them all summer just vote to defund obama care and it'll go. and he knows that's not true. so it's his strategy. he's leading us off the cliff and it's wrong. we can't have people like this. >> how'd he get away with talking for 21 hours like he was fidel castro? that's the last time a guy gave a speech that long. 21 hours to say he's going to vote against cloture, about stopping debate. and guess what, the next hour he voted with the other 99 senators. none of his out there in the country notice the hypocrisy and dishonesty he just did. nobody noticed. don't the people e-mailing you notice? >> no, they basically say president obama has something on me, that the republicans have sold out, that ted cruz is the only honest man. and i mentioned this this morning on another msnbc show. you and i have heard a lot of cursing and yelling over the

years. the vile language coming in, i have these young women answering the phones and the cursing and screaming that goes on from his people -- i'm not holding him responsible for all of that, but he has tapped into a troublesome vein of american society. they are coming out of the woodwork and they believe him. he's their messiah and leader. basically he's leading them down a false path. that's bad enough. how we allowed ourselves as a house and senate to get locked into this situation is beyond me. the one guy in eight months in the senate not telling the truth is able to set the agenda, maybe 50 years from now some political science class is going to study this. >> thank you so much. congressman peter king of new york. sam stein's a editor at "huffington post" and msnbc contributor. that's interesting. peter king is a moderate republican. he's conservative, but moderate by standards of behavior. >> today, he is. yes. >> what's going on with behavior if people out on the right are happy with a guy who is

thunderously out of order, who's willing to say one thing one hour and the next hour go 180 and nobody calls him on it. he voted with the other senators. this guy gave a 21-hour speech how he was going to vote differently. but when he saw the numbers and knew he would be the short end of the deal, he jumped. >> people are now calling him on it. bob corker took the floor today and pointed that out. you led a 21-hour faux filibuster and then voted against what you were filibustering. i think there's a tiredness creeping into the party over what's happening. >> on the senate floor today bob corker and ted cruz. >> this has been a rather confusing week, i know. i don't think ever in the history of the senate have we had a 21-hour filibuster and then the person carrying out the filibuster voted for the issue they were filibustering. and talking earlier with the

senator from texas, it's my understanding that the reason you don't want to send a bill over to the house who could possibly put in place some very good policies for us here is that you want the american people and the outside groups that you've been in contact with to be able to watch us tomorrow. >> i appreciate the senator from tennessee's comments supporting the majority leader. and i know the senator from tennessee is learned on procedures. so i know he must have made a misstatement when he moments ago suggested that those of us who participated in the filibuster the other day somehow changed our position in voting for the motion to proceed. i explicitly stated i support the motion to proceed. >> what's the half-life of a demagogue? >> you tell me. you studied politics longer. >> i think joe mccarthy who's

not exactly the same case, but lasted about four and a half years where he was able to scare every republican like peter king was talking. scare them, get their crazy rights. that worked for awhile. >> you would think it would have already stopped having seen some of the results into the senate elections in which the party candidates lost seats that were winnable. you would think that would create a movement to say let's be realistic. let's run better candidates. it seems like from the 2012 election on, we retreated into a worst pattern. >> so they don't want the majority. he doesn't want 51 republicans. they could have beaten a lot of people. >> i think ted cruz's eyes are set above the senate. i think he's looking at the white house. >> that personality? that appeal? >> you don't think -- >> you think people will vote for that? >> i don't think they'll vote

for that, but i think he thinks they'll vote for him. that's what this is about. >> who's his role model? joe mccarthy? h huey long? >> i think he looks at what's happening and say i can be the guy who dies on that hill and republicans and conservatives will applaud for doing so. that's what this was about. it wasn't about defunding obama care. he knew it wouldn't happen. it wasn't about setting a standard in the senate. it was setting a standard on ted cruz. ted cruz is delaying the vote because he told his supporters to tune in tomorrow. he's literally slowing down the senate for his own political purposes. that's pretty remarkable. >> when's mitch mcconnell going to call him on this? >> he's in a tough spot. he has his own tea party challenger in kentucky. he has to watch his own back as well. i think eventually when it comes down to it at the eleventh hour, maybe the eleventh hour and 55th

minute, mitch mcconnell will come in and say we have to cut a deal. that's the history with mcconnell. so that's what the white house is hoping for. that some sanity will prevail down the road eventually. but we're running out of time. >> this is not the way the american government has succeeded all these years. it would have been a dysfunction. this running one person -- i always wonder how the dallas cowboys became america's team. how does this guy become america's senator? >> i don't know. but the question about the demagogue, it may be that you need something like the debt ceiling to hit for that to end. >> demagoguery is a great way to get lights for awhile. thank you sam stein. coming up, you're going want to stay tuned now for this. i'm about to play "hardball" with a fresh republican from my state of pends pennsylvania. i'm going to ask him how much the republicans are willing to go to take down obama care.

also big news not because of the governors race there. no state votes more like the entire country than virginia does these days. so what happens in virginia may not stay in virginia. that could be good news for democrats. especially for women. plus ted cruz's antics have been a gift to late night comedians. >> 21 hours of listening to ted cruz. how awful is that? still not as bad as 21 hours of a carnival cruise, but still bad. >> finally let me finish tonight with how this time of political theater for our country could end up in a tragedy. this a "hardball," the place for politics. two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned,

so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger. before ted cruz and his 21-hour marathon this week, there was texas senator wendy davis. she took to the state senate floor down in austin to protest a draconian bill to regulate abortion clinics down there. hers was a real filibuster. it delayed action on the bill until time ran out after

midnight, the midnight deadline. now politico and the associated press are reporting that davis is telling top democrats she's running for governor of texas. this is going to be wild, against greg abbott. look for an official announcement from davis herself some time next week. it's going to be great down there. we'll be right back. the timing, the actions, the reactions. everything has to synch up. my expenses are no different. receiptmatch on the business gold rewards card synchronizes your business expenses. just shoot your business card receipts and they're automatically matched up with the charges on your online statement. i'm john kaplan, and i'm a member of a synchronized world. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. life could be hectic. as a working mom of two young boys angie's list saves me a lot of time. after reading all the reviews i know i'm making the right choice. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time. with honest reviews on over 720 local services. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job,

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we have no interest in seeing the government shut down. but we've got to address the spending problems that we have in this town. and so there will be options available to us. they're not going to be speculation about what we'll do or not do until the senate passes their bill. >> welcome back to "hardball." well, the republican party's is train off its rails. that was john boehner today telling reporters he will not accept a clean, continuing resolution to keep the american government from shutting down. it's a stance which all but assures the republican-controlled house will reject legislation that's

expected to pass in the senate. and with time running out before the government shuts off the lights this coming tuesday, it's hard to see a scenario where the government stays open. and it gets worse. today house gop leadership revealed their bill that threatens calamity by tying the nation's borrowing authority to a dear santa letter of republican pipe dreams. including the dismantling of the affordable care act. if you want proof, just look at what boehner now has to throw into a bill to get the support of his conservative caucus. in addition to a one-year delay of the health care law, the bill also includes a package of republican-favored tax cuts. approval for the keystone pipe line. an overhaul of the regulatory system. more oil drilling off shore and in protected federal lands. cuts to the epa climate regulations. an overhaul of dodd-frank.

it's all pro business, pro oil. about the only major piece missing from the bill is a ban of late-term abortions and some lawmakers who oppose abortion were arguing just that. into a bidding war we see instead of compromise, their radicalizing. scott perry is a republican from pennsylvania. congressman, this is really difficult to figure out, but what do you think the speaker of the house is doing here? he says he doesn't want the government to shut down next tuesday, yet he's playing to people on the hard right of your party who's saying you can't go with just keeping the government open. you have to make a demand like killing a law of the land which is the affordable care act. i've never heard of the congress holding up the government saying they will not continue to exist unless we kill a law of the land. it's never been done that i've ever heard of. what do you think? >> come on, chris. you're a student of history. this has been done on many occasions. >> name the first time or last

time. when's it ever happened to kill a law? >> the debt ceiling has come up since 1962. 1963, to be exact. >> i know all about that. >> this has been continuing -- >> answer my question. when has it been used to kill a law that's been enacted by the congress, signed by the president, and the president got re-elected after doing it. >> the republican congress got elected at the same time. the american public said we don't like that law. >> congressman, i can only ask the question. if you don't want to answer it, just say so. >> i'm happy to answer the question. >> when has the congress ever said the government of the united states will not continue unless -- >> first of all, they're not saying the government cannot continue. things are going to be paid for and the president is the one who's revising history. he continues to. >> those are words -- you're speaking words but not an answer. those are words. answer the question with words. here's the question.

>> that's what the president said when it was his turn. >> you've been elected, i respect that. thank you for coming on the show. i put to you a simple question. give me the precedent when the united states government has been held hostage so we kill a l law -- >> those will your words that the government is being held hostage -- >> for the last time -- >> who will negotiate with syria, with putin, with iran but won't negotiate with 50% of his countrymen. >> that's good rhetoric. >> that's the same thing you use. >> no. this isn't a rhetorical question. you said it happens all the time. you said in previous debates and fights over the debt ceiling. fair enough. has there been a time the congress held up the president of the united states and said kill the law of the land? say it's never happened before and say we're done. >> i don't know if it's happened before, but i can tell you this.

the 18th amendment to the constitution was prohibition. which was repealed by the 21st amount. it was the law of the land and it was repealed. slavery was legal at some point. do you think that should still be legal today? is that what you're saying? >> well, you know the history, of course, of prohibition was passed after world war i and repealed under the democratic legislation a decade and a half later. yes, it was repealed after it tried and failed. certainly. >> that's what's happening now. it's failing. it's failing. >> it goes into effect next tuesday. >> well, let me ask you this. when it goes into -- >> how's it fail? >> hold on a second, chris. which parts of prohibition were held up or delayed by the administration before it happened? isn't it 20 places that obama care has been held up by the administration because they're not ready to go? how many is that? where's the precedent for that yet we're going to roll on

anyway -- on the american people knowing -- >> force it on them? let me explain it how it works. the congress of the united states voted by a majority in the house of representatives and the senate -- >> all one party. not bipartisan. let's remind everybody of that. this is the left wing -- >> wait a minute. >> this is the ultra left wing of the democrat party having absolutely every bit of their way. this is not bipartisan. this is for 50% of the country we're not interested in what you have to offer. >> 60 votes in the senate was comprised of first of all several republicans, but it wasn't all democrats. secondly -- >> how many in the house, chris? >> what's the point? why are you knocking partisanship here? >> you seem to be -- why are you knocki knocking partisanship here but it's okay on your end? >> the united states will cease functioning next tuesday if you have your way. >> that's your terminology. and you know it's not true.

>> okay. what's the terminology? >> medicare patients are going to get their checks. people in the army are going to receive their paychecks. >> but the government's just not going to function. >> no, the government is going to function. >> so why are you arguing about this? you deny the government's shutting down next tuesday. that's your point of view. how about the defaulting on debts? will it matter? >> let me tell you what matters to the american people. trillion dollar deficits unbridled with no plan to change it. >> dno? >> and the president is saying just raise the limit on the credit cards. people understand what it is. >> the reason your body of congress has about 8% approval rating right now is because people know every dollar spent by the u.s. government has been approved by the u.s. house of representatives. and the spending has initiated there. not it didn't come from the senate or white house, the spending comes from the house of

representatives. which you're a member of. that's what america understands. the people are smarter than you think they are. they know that you guys spent the money but won't pay the bills. they know that. >> do they think that the president had nothing to do with this? do you know that the exchanges are going to cost an additional $353 million that was never part of this? everybody's health care cost is going up. that's a promise the president -- this is driving the debt and they want something done about it. and they don't want the president to walk away from it. >> let me suggest something to you. i want you to have a minute on how you're going to prevent the government from shutting down next tuesday and from defaulting on the debt. >> what we're going to do is bring a plan that's reasonable that the american people are asking for, that they stand behind to control the deficit and control the debt and take it to the senate and take it to the president who has said with a pre-condition i will not negotiate. who says that that really truly wants to move america forward as opposed to being captured by

partisan pride. who says that? if he doesn't want to do something and harry reid doesn't want to do something, it's on them. >> demands include getting rid of obama care for a year, putting in the keystone -- >> it's not ready to go, chris. >> can i read your list? do you want to read it? >> we're trying to help him do something -- >> by the way, why is a congressman from gettysburg so interested in offshore oil development in the gulf? >> because i'm tired of being tied to foreign and middle east oil. >> so you're into the oil business situation here. >> i'm into what's good for america. that's what i'm into. >> what about paying our debts? these are demands by the all state congress people. they insist they want the money. and you're going along with it from gettysburg. why are you doing this? >> because it's the right thing for america. it's because the american citizens are demanding it. that's why. >> i looked at that list of ten things, it looks like it's

written by the oil industry. i'm surprised you're involved with such a paper. >> i'm surprised you read any of it, first of all. >> wait a minute. what's that mean. wait a minute. stop? you're surprised i read it? >> absolutely. you know, most democrats, as a matter of fact, i'm surprised any democrats read the bill. >> you know what you can do with that? you can be excused. you accused me of not doing my job. that's a big mistake. thank you for coming on. i wish you hadn't made that last statement. it was a cheap shot. don't laugh. it was a cheap shot. i was fair. you're in bed with the oil industry. anyway, thank you. this is "hardball," the place for politics. ] ♪ ♪ ♪

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still not as bad as 21 hours of a carnival cruise, but still bad. >> welcome to the sideshow. anyway, it's no surprise that ted cruz's 21-hour faux filibuster has been a popular topic for late night comedians. and as jimmy kimmel reminded everyone last night, if you missed the speech you might be able to catch a rerun on c-span. take a look at his new promo. >> they're planning to run it again as a special over the weekend again. >> tomorrow on c-span, 21 hours of uninterrupted ted. cruz-apalooza. all the nonsensical highlights. >> some time ago i tweeted a speech that ashton kutcher gave. >> all the bad impressions. >> mike lee, i am your father. >> and inside info you won't get anywhere else. >> i'm a big fan of eating white castle burgers. >> cruz-apalooza. followed by the senate's 50

greatest gavel bangs. only on the c. >> and then there was jimmy fallon who may have answered the question that's been on everyone's mind. >> i've been up here now for what? 21 hours? i really have to go to the bathroom. should i say had. had to go to the bathroom. all right. that's my time. >> in other news, uu2's front mn bono got a lot of attention for the impression of bill clinton. bill clinton got attention for his imprsion on cnn. >> i'm irish, you know. we irish, we can impersonate anybody. i've been screaming so loud at

concerts that i'm hoarse. so i've got to be careful with my voice. that's why all my charities only have three lettered names. >> we'll be right back after this. [ tires screech ]

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i'm craig melvin. here's what's happening right now. the five permanent members of the u.n. security council have agreed on a resolution to eliminate syria's chemical weapons. it will be presented tonight. john kerry met with iran's foreign minister to talk about their nuclear program. kerry said they were constructive. and the jury is deliberating against aeg. those jurors are deciding whether aeg was partly responsible for jackson's death. back to "hardball."

sometimes i fear there's a creeping resignation that these tragedies are just somehow the way it is. that this is somehow the new normal. we can't accept this. no other advanced nation endures this kind of violence. none. here in america, the murder rate is three times what it is in other developed nations. the murder rate with guns is ten times what it is in other developed nations. and there's nothing inevitable about it. >> welcome back to "hardball." that's president obama speaking sunday at the memorial for those killed in the navy yard shooting rampage. and mere days after that tragedy, there was more gun violence out in chicago where 13 people including a 3-year-old

boy were shot and injured in a public park apparently caught in the crossfire of gang retaliation. in this video of the 3-year-old shows him leaving the hospital with bandages. he's expected to face years of surgeries. mitch landrieu and michael nutter came to washington to raise attention to the overwhelming number of victims who are african-american men. >> young african-american men are being killed and are killing at alarming numbers. in america. across america, it is a constant drum beat of death of shootings, of murder day after day after day. >> in 2012 three out of every four philadelphia homicide victims were african-american men. that's 236 people.

if the ku klux klan came -- if from the suburbs were killed, there would be hell to pay. yet 236 african-american men murdered in one city, not one word. >> mayor michael nutter here and mitch landrieu who created cities united to bring attention to the violence crisis. mayor nutter, my friend, i know where you stand. you've been on this from the day you ran for mayor. this gun violence issue. what have you learned? >> we know that it's devastating to the cities, but what both of us have learned and many others is that it's actually something you can take action on. you can reduce it. you can prevent it. if we're focused, if we coordinate our resources, and if we make it the national issue that it is with a national response.

the united states of america must respond to domestic terrorism which is what i call it, similar in force and fashion to what we've done with international terrorism. >> mayor, what do you do? what works? what have you learned that works if you try it? what? >> first of all, it's all in. it's everybody and it's everything. it's not just about guns. it's about unemployment, poverty. it really is about something we've created that has produced a culture of violence that allows a young man who knows somebody else to walk up to him with a handgun and shoot him in the head over something that would seem inconsequential. >> of the murders, how many are fighting over turf or drug competition? >> of the 13,000 murders, half of them are between african-american men in the country and almost 80% of them are over what we could consider to be disrespect and small things. a culture of behavior that's developed since 1980 that is unbelievable when you look at the numbers.

626,000 people have been killed on the streets of america since 1980. that's more people killed than all the wars. >> there is a cultural violence, i believe, in the united states of america. it is worthy of study and review and analysis to figure it out. as the president said in a clip you showed, there are things going on in the united states of america that are unheard of in many other countries around the world. so it is at least deserving of understanding. and then as mayor landrieu said, we know there are many components to it. it is about education, about jobs, about literacy, about hunger, about poverty. we have a poverty problem in the united states. not an excuse, but part of an explanation for things that go on. >> the problem is it's in the cycle then. you don't have the power to put these kids to work. you can't take everybody 18 to 25 in north philly and get them a job. would be wonderful if you could. >> that would be great.

when we're focused on an issue, talking about safety, we changed how people fly and the security measures because we wanted to be safe. we protect world around the country and give aid and food, et cetera. those are all proper roles for the united states, but also taking care of the homeland. making sure no child goes to bed hungry at night, that you can get a great education anywhere regardless of what zip code your parents decided to live in. these are realistic things that should be considered part of the national defense of the united states of america. we'd be a stronger country when we take care of our folks. >> when we had the hurricane katrina, that left people behind. so much of the culture is about leaving behind people. >> that's right. >> they don't notice it until they drown or shoot you. >> 40 people will be killed on the street of america today. like little rain drops that will evaporate before anybody knows. we have to protect our streets,

so we're taking the atf, dea, fbi identifying the most dangerous criminals and going to get them. that's suppressing what is here today. what we're telling you now is after all of our research, we're producing young men who have learned how to resolve differences by shooting somebody in the head. there's something catastrophic about that. and the number of deaths are mind boggling. then you find the incidents who get caught in between. london samuels 1-year-old in the arms of a babysitter. >> we had boxing matches on saturday morning where kids from tough neighborhoods would settle their differences with gloves. how do you go back to what now seems like a peaceful time? >> i think it is about community partnerships. public and private partnerships have never been more important today. supporting boys clubs and girls clubs. making sure they get the care and attention they need. you had a previous segment about

the affordable care act. folks do need health care and living in poverty, again, not having the kind of care that they need. and that's physical, that's mental health and all of those kinds of services. so there are a lot of problems out here. but we're the united states of america. we are the greatest and most powerful nation. but we also need to make sure we're bolstering and supporting the homeland right here and investing in our own folks here in the u.s. >> congratulations on graduating from one of the minor ivy leagues. ted cruz would not study with you. >> that's okay. >> thank you for joining us. up next, why is it time for republicans to really start worrying about women? they're going to lose some elections. this is "hardball," the place for politics. scribe mysalso a surother, a writer and a performer. scribe mysalso a survivor of ovarian and uterine cancers.

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to help replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. ocuvite. help protect your eye health. as marriage equality gains acceptance across the country, some unlikely figures are embracing it. that's george h.w. bush. he was a witness at a same-sex wedding over the weekend of two long time friends. do you believe it? yes. he was there with barbara bush in kennebunktport, maine. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] julia child became a famous chef at age 51. picasso painted one of his master works at 56. doris taerbaum finished her first marathon at 50. not everyone peaks in their twenties.

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"i" formation! "i" formation! we have got to get the three-technique block! i'm not angry. i'm not yellin'. nobody's tackling anybody! we got absolutely... i don't think this was such a good idea. i'm on it. if we can't secure the quarterback center exchange... you're doing a great job, coach. well they're coming along better than i anticipated. very pleased. who told you to take a break? [ male announcer ] want to win your own football fantasy? just tell us. then use your visa card for a chance to win it. we are back. the biggest political contest this year is the race for governor in virginia. and the reason it's getting so much national attention is

because election results in virginia these days are often an indicator, in fact, a brilliant one of where the country is headed. virginia is like everywhere now. the race is close but according to the latest marist poll, terr leads ken cuccinelli by five points. it could be chocked up a to a significant gender difference in the race. only 39% of women are behind kuch nelly. more than any other state, virginia votes like america. in 2012, in the presidential election, president obama defeated mitt romney in virginia by a little under 4 percentage points nationally. now look at the vote in virginia. the results are almost identical. in each case, within a tenth of one point. so a growing gender gap in virginia could suggest a growing gender gap nationally. we'll see how this election turns out. political reporter, director chuck todd, moderated last night's debate down in virginia and he joins us now. let's skip the personality, sort of in all cases, not the issue.

in many ways, it's about issues here and women voters. what is this about the issue? is this where cuccinelli, a hard-line, true-believing conservative is just incapable of getting off his position. >> you say, forget personalities here. i think that that's -- we'll see. if it's not about personalities, then advantage mcauliffe. that's what ken cuccinelli. he wants to make this about terry mcauliffe's character, his inexperience, he wants to make it about character and terry mcauliffe wants to make it about ideology. because the ideology, he thinks, this gender gap is what drives it. >> the women watching this in new york are probably fascinated about they're driving this election. >> that's what terry mcauliffe is trying to do. he advertised heavily on this issue. and it was interesting last night to watch cuccinelli as he was asked about some of these social issues. he really tried to -- he didn't back off any -- >> let's watch that fight right now. >> he tried to soften -- >> national issues last night, where was the focus of last

night's debates, and the kennedy's views couldn't be more different than each other. here's where the two candidates stood last night. >> i have come out for marriage equality. irish catholic kid growing up. dorothy and i have spent a lot of time discussing this issue. what has turned it for us was daon't ask, don't tell. >> i do believe the institution of marriage should remain between one man and one woman. >> well, there you go. is this going to be the republican party's bugaboo going into 2016? they're still going to be trapped in this, we're against gay marriage, against abortion, gay gay rights and all that thing? >> and cuccinelli kept saying, it may be that things will change down the road, but this is what -- this is tradition. he was trying -- it was interesting how he was trying to soften it. i think they realized that it was a northern virginia audience. look, i think that that is -- that's going to be one of the challenges for the republican

party nationally. >> let's talk about guns. guns last night. >> this was -- this surprises me, when you think about the tradition of virginia democrats. think mark warner just eight years ago, ran as one type of -- ran as one type of democrat. >> gun toter. >> even tim kaine, wile getting an "f" rating never wanted to go directly in the eyes of the storm. >> let's watch, this is ray nervy on his part. also different on gun control. look at how this is going to play out in virginia next month. >> i have called for universal background checks. my opponent doesn't support that. i'm a strong supporter of the second amendment. i'm a hunter. i own guns. i've gone through background checks. they take just a couple minutes. we have a gigantic loophole in virginia. you can buy guns through mail order. you can go to these gun show loopholes. there are certain individuals who just should not own a gun. >> i will support the second amendment. it deserves support, as does our whole constitution. but i will continue to focus on

where i believe the main source of this problem is, and that is resolving mental health issues. >> well, that's not a very strong answer in light of what's been going on in washington recently. we've had people who, who knows what their mental condition was, but they were loaded. guns. >> to me, that's another case about where cuccinelli was thinking about the audience, a suburban audience, this is fairfax county, northern virginia, where he was trying to explain it, and at the same time, not back down from his positions. >> because the rural areas are with him on that. >> the rural areas are with him. and the tradition in virginia has been that. but barack obama has been targeted by the nra in virginia. >> fast forward, chuck. does this mean when republicans write their platform for the next presidential election, no matter who it is, christie or rand paul, how are they going to deal with these issues? >> it depends. if it's rand paul and chris christie, rand paul is not exactly somebody who shares the evangelical fervor when it comes to marriage and abortion.

he's more libertarian. there's a libertarian streak in him. actually, i think paul and christie -- >> i think he plays to the crowd. >> that may be. and that's going to be -- it depends on who writes the platform. >> the whole problem with politics, you have to buy the whole blue plate special. best reason to stay out of politics. thank you, chuck todd. great moderating, i hear. when we return, let me finish with how the type of political theater we're watching in washington, could end up not in the comedy it's in right now, but in tragedy. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. mestyle. mmm! this is delicious katie. it's not bad for canned soup, right? pfft! [ laughs ] you nearly had us there. canned soup. [ male announcer ] they just might think it's homemade. try campbell's homestyle soup. help the gulf when we made recover and learn the gulf, bp from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts

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let me finish tonight with this. this is a time of political theater for our country, but it could end up in tragedy. it has a comic flare right now, but don't be fooled. the people showing off, ted cruz leading the troop, were remembered, of course, as the cause of this catastrophe, but the horrid self, especially becomes the first to default on the u.s. debt will dominate everything and everyone else. it's really one of those unknowns, right now, like iran. we know how it will start, but now with all the craziness and cruz and the rest, not how it will end. what if the default lasts a few hours? what if it's a few days, a few weeks. how large, how exponential could this calamity climb? jack lew has called it the day of reckoning, october 17th, is when the u.s. treasury runs low enough that it can't be assured of its ability to meet demands, it can't be sure. not even the treasury knows what