good morning. and welcome to "this week." >> i think we need some new blood in there. >> we need change, period. >> message sent. >> we have come to take our government back. >> voter anger takes aim at washington. >> a win over the status quo. >> a message breakdown. >> when does my honeymoon period start? >> a tea party -- >> had i being there -- >> and the democratic front-runner gets caught exaggerating his war record. >> i have misspoken about my service. >> the week in politics. this morning, what it means for the november mid-terms. our headliners, the two party chairmen.

tim kaine and michael steele. kaine and steele, a "this week" debate. and a debate from "the roundtable." with george will, cokie roberts, sam donaldson, and donna brazile. and as always, "the sunday funnies." >> the pulitzer prize was given today. for fiction. given to connecticut attorney general richard blumenthal for his vietnam war memories. >> hello, again. joining me now, the chairman of the democrat national committee, tim kaine and the chairman of the republican national committee, michael steele. gentlemen, welcome. >> hey, jake. >> good to see you. >> i want to get into a couple of controversies. mr. steele, i want to start with you.

i don't know the you were expecting that. the kentucky republican senate candidate, rand paul, has expressed rejection to the federal government being able to tell businesses they cannot discriminate. >> i like the civil rights act that it ended discrimination in all public domains. i abhor racism. it's a bad business decision to exclude anybody. but, at the same time, i believe in private owner ship. there's ten different titles to the civil rights act. one deals with private institutions. had i been around, i would have tried to modify that. >> here is a candidate saying that he doesn't think the government, philosophically, should be able to tell a buzz that they can't -- that they have to serve you. do you have an issue can that? >> i do. and i think it's important to

understand that rand paul has clarified his statement and reiterated support for and movement toward pushing civil rights forward as opposed to going backwards. number two, our party has had a strong view on this issue. we have fought very hard in the '60s to get the civil rights bill passed as well as the voting rights bill. i think that any attempt to look backwards is not in the best interest of our country. certainly not in the best interest of the party. i have talked to rand. he and i are on the same page. our party stands four square moving forward on civil rights. there are other civil rights fights that loom ahead for us. rand paul, as a united states senator, will be four square with the republican party and in lock step. looking forward, not backwards. >> do these views on rand paul make the seat more competitive? >> absolutely. it starts with our candidate, jack conway, i think it's a

great race. rand paul's views on this, his statements this week, she thinks it's un-american to try to hold british petroleum accountable for the oil spill in the gulf? >> where do you stand on it? >> he said that on a policy -- he did that going in that direction could be an un-american -- >> we have the clip. let's watch it. >> what i don't like from the president's administration is the sort of, i'll put my boot heel on the throat of bp. i think it's part of this sort of blame game society in the sense that it's always got to be someone's fault. instead of the fact that maybe sometimes accidents happen. >> certainly accidents happen is not what you want the republican response about the oil spill to be? >> people shouldn't worry about the republican response.

to the bp oil spill. they should worry about the democratic president's response to the bp oil spill. it's one thing to get on the ground, get in front of this thing. it's another thing to sit back and hold bp accountable. without helping them. that's what's happening here. the federal government should have stepped into this thing immediately to help make sure that the appropriate steps were being taken by bp, all federal agencies in support of the state government. to try to get this thing cleaned up. here we are, almost a month and a half later and it's still spewing oil. >> how about that? a lot of people are criticizing the administration for not holding bp accountable. >> the administration is doing two things. it starts with bp's accountability. it's not un-american to hold somebody accountable for a massive environmental disaster. this is not just a mistake that we can wash away. bp has to be responsible to stop the spill and pay

for the consequences and cleaning up. the american government has been working with bp. it's their job. they have to be held accountable. saying that, for example, we needn't be so worried about things like mining regulations. this is an important role that the government has to protect the safety of the environment and the health of citizens. rand paul's statements along these lines are very troubling. it's important for the republican leads to say if they back this kind of attitude or not. i was a civil rights lawyer for 17 years. rand paul wrote a letter that said a free society should tolerate private discrimination, even if it means that hate-filled groups exclude people on the color of their skin. >> that's pretty much a direct quote. >> it's a view held by libertarians. they a views on the limitations of government in the private sector.

we have a lot of members go to the senate with different philosophies. when they get to the body, how they work to move the country forward matters. right now, federal government is not working on bp, on that mess, not moving forward on the economy. and creating jobs. there are a lot of philosophies -- a lot of talk on this hill by folks to get stuff done. what the american people are looking for is what are the concrete steps that this administration has taken to clean up the mess in the gulf, before it gets worse and create the jobs necessary for people to go back to being able to build the economy to the way everybody wants it to be? >> fair enough. one more point on rand paul. do you condemn that point of view? where would african-americans be if the federal government hadn't come in and said, hotels, you have to -- >> exactly. that's much of the debate from the '60s and going forward. the reality of it is, our party has stood four square behind the civil liberties union --

>> do you condemn that view? >> i can't do that. you believe something, i am going to condemn your view of it? the people of kentucky will judge if that's a view they would like to -- >> are you comfortable with that? >> it doesn't matter. the people of kentucky will vote this that election. as national chairman, i'm here to say our party will move forward. fighting for the rights of the american people. especially the minorities in the country. everyone that comes to the united states congress or the state capitals with the republican label are comfortable with that. >> that sounds like you're not confident. >> i just said i am. >> oh, okay. let me turn to something to make you uncomfortable, if i can. the race in connecticut. richard blumenthal caught exaggerating his war record. >> we have learned something important since the days that i served in vietnam.

>> he didn't serve in vietnam. he was a marine reservist during the vietnam war. he's also quoted in 2000 saying in seat name, we had to endure taunts. and no one said welcome home. i say, welcome home. he said, i wore the uniform in vietnam and many came back to all kinds of disrespect. this seems like a real trust issue. >> the statements were wrong. period. it was important for him to clear it up. in his defense, he's given numerous speeches where he talks about what he did and didn't do. one of the papers you mention, "the stanford advocate" ran an editorial yesterday. reporters who have covered him for years have said they have never known him to exaggerate his service. in those statements, he was inflating and exaggerating. they were wrong.

it was important he set it straight. >> at a time when the american people are rebelled against same old same old, i don't think blumenthal is the kind of guy they want to send anywhere. i think there's a big credibility gap here. you can't say i lied to you in one instance but i made up for it by explaining why i lied to you. it doesn't make sense to the american people. and he's got real problem right now. i think there are going to be other issues that will comb to the fore. the people in connecticut, just as the people in kentucky, will have the final say and ultimate say on these leaders. right now, there's a mood out here that the people are sick and tired of being sick and tired of the same old in washington. these two examples that we're talking about will be judged by the people back home. >> can i say a word about connecticut?

>> sure. >> the attorney general is not a new figure for connecticut voters. it's an intimate, small state. they know him well. they've elected him to be attorney general. they are going to weigh this in the grand scheme of thing. they have a lot of his record. including the number to rouse occasions that he has correctly stated his record. >> but now they have more that they didn't know before. >> are democrats at all preparing for a contingency where they might have to put another candidate up, as they had to do with torricelli in new jersey? >> i was there late last week. i don't think there are any plans for a contingency. >> moving to elections. congratulations, a hawaii special election that you won last night. for competitive special elections, the republican party is 1 for 4. there were two in new york, one in pennsylvania. you did win the one in hawaii, though there were two candidates splitting the vote there. does the republican party have to rethink it's strategy? >> no.

why do you dismiss hawaii? hawaii is a significant election win for us. i'm going thank and congratulate charles djou on a great race. a strong democratic state. strong democratic competitors that he ran against. he took almost 40% of the vote. a significant number. he ran a grass roots campaign focused on the issues that impact the people of hawaii. don't take way from that race by short of shoving it off. it is a significant win. it's the birthplace of the president of the united states. >> not everybody in your party thinks so. >> that's irrespective. that's where the man was born. we're proud that we took that seat. just like we'll take the seat in november. >> for the viewers, the issue about the hawaii election, three candidates ran. a republican and two democrats. >> you couldn't convince one of

the democrats to drop out? >> democrats are a fiery bunch. if they want to run, they want to run. they got 60% of the vote. in the november election it will be one democrat against one republican. we feel confident about winning the race. >> and hawaii doesn't have a history of throwing incumbents out of office. so -- you know you have 62% of the vote -- >> to the pennsylvania 12. isn't that the kind of race you need to win? >> look at the pennsylvania 12, folks, on paper, you would think so, right? it's appalachia. >> the democrat was a staffer for john murtha? >> can we be real here? get out of the conventional wisdom. that washington often times gets stuck in. the reality here is, number one. hat's off and kudos to governor rendell. he had a political genius point where he put the primary and special election on the same

day. you wrote about, gee, what does this mean? what's the mystery here? what happened was the voters went in to vote for joe sestak for the primary and then had to turn the ballot over and vote against him for the special election? they weren't going to do that. that, coupled with the 2-1 democratic edge made it a tough race from the beginning. the thing to keep in mind, and the governor can appreciate this, we were on point in terms of turnout, the turnout models exceeded expectations. the ground game was strong. in november, we will get the seat back. because then, guess what? independent conservatives get to play then. that will be a different race. >> are you going to take the house back in november? >> we're working hard to do that. as you can see, with some incumbents going down in primaries and newer members coming to the table, that model is still being built for us. we're in the hunt, just as he's in the hunt to protect, we're in the hunt to take. >> this pennsylvania 12 says, republican leadership said they were going to win the race.

they said it was exactly the kind of district they had to win to get a majority in the house. we won it not just by a little. we won it by a lot. a district that john mccain won in 2008. a former head of the nrcc, tom davis, a virginia congressman said, look, if they can't win this seat, where is the wave that's coming? the democrats were energized. like in kentucky, all the focus on the rand paul race. the democratic candidates in the primary in kentucky both got more votes than rand paul did. our voters are energized. with the economy improving, the passage of health care, the gdp growing. we're going pass the mark where we created more jobs in 2010 than the entire bush administration years.

>> i only have a couple minutes. i want to ask you about an interview that congressman sestak gave in february to larry kane where he said the white house tried to offer him something for not running against arlen specter in the primary. here's the interview. >> were you offered a federal job to get out of this race? >> yes. >> was it the navy secretary? >> no comment. i would never get out for a deal. i'm in it. for the democratic principles. >> was there a job offered to you by the white house? >> yes. >> quickly, because we're running out of time. does the white house have a responsibility to own up and talk about what is offered? >> i don't know that they do. the issue is they have to work with him to make sure he's the next senator. he's been a great congressman. i talked to joe earlier in week. we had a great visit on thursday. and he was very excited about working hand in hand to win this race. we're a big ten party. he's a dynamite campaigner. i think he gives us a great shot

in november. >> that's rich. you don't believe that the white house has the obligation to answer a simple question? did you or did you not offer a member of congress a job to not run for office? >> i only have time for one more question. because you have not done a sunday show since february, a new report showing that the rnc spent money on athletic and softball equipment. can donors to the republican committee know that the dollars are well spent? >> absolutely. and the reality of it is, we have taken aggressive steps to make the changes necessary. our donors are strong, we're raising money. we're looking forward to using that money to beat this guy in november. >> they had a good softball team before they bought the uniforms. >> thank you so much. you guys were wonderful. as the "roundtable" panel takes their seats, more than a month after the rig explosion that killed 11 people, bp is doing

little to help keep the oil out of the marshlands. and the administration takes heat. >> i think the government thinks they are partners with bp. they're rirveging everything on the go along with bp strategy they have. >> the president scares me. he's been acting like vatican observer here. when is he going to do something? >> why isn't the federal development taking over? >> they have the legal responsibility and technical expertise to plug the hole. >> i want to know what worked and what didn't work in our response to the disaster and where oversight in the oil and gas industry broke down. >> president obama announcing a bipartisan commission to investigate the oil spill. one of the topics for "the roundtable" this morning with george will, donna brazile, sam donaldson and cokie roberts. george, i want to start with you. let's talk about rand paul. you heard chairman steele say

he's not comfortable with rand paul's views on civil rights. >> there's no reason to believe that rand paul is racist. there is now reason to believe he's frivolous. that he doesn't understand his job is to win a senate seat and not conduct a seminar on libertarian philosophy. simple facts. in 1964, we repealed, as a nation, one widely exercised right, the ability of private property owners to serve who they want. and we replaced it with another right. the right of the entire american public to use public accommodations. we were right to do. the notion was you cannot legislate morality. yes, you can. we did. we not only got african-american into public accommodations, we changed the thinking of the white portion of the country as well. >> i have heard it said that kentucky might be one of five or six places where a guy like rand

paul can win? >> kentucky is a red state. i thought after the other night, he had a clear path to victory. i don't think so anymore. first of all, not only did he struggle with his answers the day after, but his extreme views are now under the microscope. the people of kentucky, i don't believe, are interested in sending him to washington, d.c. to further polarize the country and the senate. so jack conway, the democratic nominee, his challenge is to show the voters of kentucky that rand paul is basically out of touch with the main stream of kentucky and out of touch with the main stream of america. >> 46 years later, after the civil rights act filibuster was broken. i was in the gallery. when the republican leader made the speep speech to end the filibuster, dr. paul says we should reopen

the debate on title ii. you can have breakfast someplace, go to a motel. well, maybe there's -- that's private business. >> he doesn't want to overturn it. philosophically -- >> he said if he was in the senate, he would want to modify it. okay, so you don't want to overturn it, you modify it. >> we'll have more discussion. >> on the rachel madoff show -- i believe he's not -- probably not a racist. as i understand that definition. he was asked finally after having skipped, hawed back and forth, a direct question. should the woolworth lunch counter be able to discriminate? yes or no? he doesn't say yes. he doesn't say no. do you say that's frivolous? i think that's stupid. >> i'm not sure that the voters care about somebody being out of the main stream. the people they're choosing in the primaries are people that are out of the main stream.

whether it's utah or in arkansas is still out for -- up for grabs. looks like it's going toward the more liberal candidate in arkansas. >> that's the bill halter versus blanche lincoln race. >> right. in state after state, it's not the mainstream candidate that the voters are interested in. >> is it fair to say that what got him elected to this point -- >> could get him elected to the senate. >> well, the idea that this candor of his, this philosophy, that not out of nowhere. this is how he is. this is what appealed to some people. >> a lot of people. the fact that he is real. he's not a phony. when you find out that somebody is not phony, that what they're real about -- the views are racist. >> which voters? which voters? it can't be all of the voters.

the democrats have a lot of people out there. they elected the president. in the race, as pointed out by the democratic chairman, the two candidates running got 60% of the vote. >> in hawaii? >> no, kentucky. >> who is going to win in kentucky? i don't know. don't predict anything. i would be shocked, i will say that now, if rand paul gets most of kentucky's votes and becomes a senator. >> this is a close primary. there's an internal struggle going on. in the republican party for the heart and soul of the republican party. i hope george can address what side will come out on top. but rand paul is able to energize the republican party now because there's a vacuum. a vacuum of leadership. the tea party has filled that gap. the question is, in the fall when the independents are able to get to the table and vote, will they support someone whose views they consider outside the main stream?

>> are you comfortable? >> the good news about the rand paul dispute is this. we close some questions. some debates come to an end. 115 years ago, democrats were up in arms about free coinage of silver. now no one in america wants to reopen the argument that rand paul has reopened. >> what about doing away with the federal reserve gold? replacing it with nothing? >> abolishing the education department. >> what about -- >> our discussion here on politics will continue after the break and during the break probably. plus mexico's president enters the immigration fray. and the politics of the bp oil spill. and later, the "sunday funnies." in a new interview, jesse james says that he's the most hated man in the world. and the ceo of bp was like, dude, don't flatter yourself. ceo of bp was like, dude, don't flatter yourself. will your savings be enough to fund your retirement?

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less travel? more video conferences?

limit the cell phone minutes. that's not good enough. we're not leaving this room unless we can cut something else. can they really keep us here? what about all this stuff? what stuff? all this stuff. what does it cost to create all this? time, effort, people. how much? it could be millions. ♪ millions. [ male announcer ] save money. trust your business processes to xerox. xerox. ready for real business. up next, more of "the roundtable." and "the sunday funnies."

you've been a longtime advocate for abstinence education. and in 2006 you had your staff issue a report called abstinence and its critics. what did you think of this hearing? >> well, i personally feel i should have abstained from the hearing. >> former congressman sauter of indiana. who resigned this week. he was being interviewed by the staffer he allegedly had an affair with. moving on. our "roundtable" continues of

course with george will, as always, democratic strategist donna brazile, and abc's cokie roberts and sam donaldson. >> we didn't recuse himself because he was having an affair with her. he went on to say he did it for other reasons. >> always with the fairness, sam. i appreciate that. let's talk about the pennsylvania senate race and congressman joe sestak's victory over arlen specter. widely considered to be one of the most effective ads in the election cycle. >> my change in party will allow me to be re-elected. >> he's been a republican politician. >> i can count on this man. he's a firm ally. >> but now -- >> my change in party will enable me to be re-elected. >> wow, let me ask you this.

the republicans are trying to make hay against the alleged deal that the white house tried to make with sestak. is it a big deal? >> not a big deal. politics is a transactional business. they offered him a transaction, if they did. and i don't see a thing wrong with it. >> they're trying to make a big deal out of it. >> i don't care. it's a small thing. not since 1980 when four incumbent senators were defeated for nomination, did this happen. we have specter out. bennett is the third, and mccain's state is still in doubt, blanche lincoln. arlen specter, when he changed party, there was an agreeable absence of moralism. he said i'm just doing it to save my own skin. it didn't work. >> there could not be a worse year for that. people are in a mood of hating professional politicians. hating washington.

and for him to say, i'm doing this to win, and the end of that ad says he was protecting one job. his. and -- people hate the phoniness of it all. >> there is one aspect to the specter failure to be -- to win that pray mare that i want to get to. here's president obama on the campaign trail with the four candidates that he is supporting as president. they are deeds in virginia, john corzine in new jersey, martha coakley in massachusetts, and arlen specter in pennsylvania. do we have the tape? >> we know where martha coakley stands. arlen knew it was more important to answer to the people that sent him to washington. you're going to be looking at

the next governor. your governor, my friend, john corzine. >> he's 0 for 4, donna. >> i wouldn't blame it on the president. >> he didn't help. >> because arlen specter has been running for office almost as long as the president's been alive. could he transfer his popularity in philadelphia to other places? the answer is no. joe sestak ran a democratic campaign. he had allegheny count ty in pittsburgh. he ran the kind of campaign that hillary clinton ran against president obama in pennsylvania. it was an uphill battle for senator specter. when you announce you're saving your job, not the people of the state, that's a losing candidate. >> why didn't specter do what ronald reagan did in reverse? why didn't he said i didn't leave them, they left me. >> he said both. >> can we play the tape against -- again for cokie? what is the name of the town you're from again?

new orleans? i think specter did it to himself. i pick up the paper the next day, "the new york times headline" i may not have it exact, but it's close. voters are after incumbents. it wasn't the incumbents' failure. it was arlen specter's failure. >> do you agree? >> he said that the republican party had become too conservative. >> not in that clip. that was the bottom line. >> not in that clip. when he won for the senate the first time he was running against someone who lost more than he had. he had lost more campaigns than you can imagine but finally somebody had to win out of two losers running against each other. and he's gotten reelected as the incumbent. but with difficulty. it was hardly surprising to have him in a year of anti-incumbency, when it seems phony to have him switch, when he's 80 years old. for him to lose a primary. the surprising part is that the

white house backed him so strenuously in the first place and then pulled back in the end. >> a loft democrats are actually criticizing the white house. a virginia congressman, jerry connelly was upset that the president didn't do more in the closing day. let me get this straight. if you think i can't win, you're not going to spend political capital on me even though i spill buckets of blood for you? does the white house have a problem here? >> the white house has problems. but i don't know what blood specter spilled for the white house. >> a word to specter. dana millbank from the washington post said something this morning. arlen specter helped put more money into national institutes of health, more money to fight cancer and ore deadly diseases, than any other member of capitol hill. the voters don't have to vote for him, but they have to thank

him for that. >> sam, you were in vietnam covering the war and were in the forces not in active duty. what is your take on blumenthal? this a different era than mine. people are careful about how they talk about their service. >> i was in active duty for two years, we had no war. i served as a correspondent in vietnam, briefly. that was a war. didn't have a good time there. no one did. i don't know what got into blumenthal. as attorney general, for 20 years, great record. both parties. he didn't have to tell an untruth to try to get more votes. i suspect what happened, and i have seen the analysis. that inside him, he was sorry he hadn't served. he's trying to compensate. you start telling something, at fist you tell it right. then you sort of slip in, i tell it a little looser. you tell it looser. then wham, it may have cost him the opportunity to serve. >> donna, you're a democratic

strategist, if he came to you and said, what do i do, what would row tell him? >> he apologized. he needs to keep doing that. he needs to get the burden off his back and get back to the real issue. the longer he talks about it, the more tape, voters don't care. they care about their jobs, their health care, their way of life. he has an incredible record of public service. if you can't talk about the issues, voters will remember the mistake. you have to talk about the issues. >> if i were a democratic strategist, i would tell him to get out of the race. >> out? >> out. it's not a year for phonies. people are going to hold this against him. >> they may hold it against him, but don't get out. fight back. you're going to lose, maybe. which one of us has not exaggerated? >> if you ran the democratic party, play along with me. if you were tim kaine, what

would you be doing? >> i would be trying to get him out. it's all taken -- how do you explain that he evidently told the hartford current that he was the captain of the harvard swim team when he wasn't on the swim team? how do you explain the fact that he goes on "morning joe" and says i have never taken pac money, when he meant in previous campaigns. in this one, he's taken $220,000 of pac money. there's a serial problem here. >> i agree it's a serious mistake. it's more than a mistake, perhaps. i think the voters will say, we'll make a decision about that. i'm not saying, other than that, mrs. lincoln, how do you like the play? >> i think linda -- >> should rand paul now drop out? >> this does show a change in consciousness when it comes to having served in vietnam. there was a time when -- the

idea of bragging about having served in vietnam in a weird way, shows some sort of progress. >> absolutely. i mean, for a long time, the whole business of vietnam was just the opposite. when people came home, they were castigated. as he said. >> he said when we came home. >> he said some were. at least he didn't claim that. >> but we have made progress. >> i think the first gulf war changed that. there was pride in the military. the leadership of colin powell, schwarzkopf. that turned people around about the military. >> it's not just that. we treated our service personnel so shabbily at the end of vietnam. we were beaten, we blamed them the. that was ridiculous. the people opposed to this war in iraq, in afghanistan, city honor, rightly, the people we sent there to fight it.

that's a good thing. let's turn to the special election in pennsylvania. where the democrat beat the republican. you heard tim kaine talk about how great that was for the democratic party. here's an except from the ad by mark critz. >> i approved this message because i want you to see the ad that the republicans are running. >> mark critz, he will put the liberal agenda before pennsylvania. >> that ad is not true. i'm pro-life, and pro-gun. that's not liberal. >> that's not liberal. is that the how democrats win by being republicans? >> the party is very diverse. we have democrats of every variety. he ran as a democrat that represents that district. they wanted this election to be about pelosi and obama. mark critz ran about his district.

the people of the pennsylvania 12th district. >> 70% of republicans call themselves conservative or very conservative. only 40% of democrats consider themselves liberal or very liberal. i think it gives a systemic imbalance in favor of the republicans in this election. >> but donna's right. just look. you can nationalize some elections. we saw it in '94 and in 2006. republicans think they're going to do that this year and turn it into a referendum on obama and pelosi. that could happen. but you know what? the fact is, we have been talking about it for so long, democrats with not idiots. they're able to take a look at each congressional seat and try to stop whatever national wave there is. they did it in pennsylvania. >> and i think scott brown, the victory of scott brown got their attention. democrats argue that this is not going to be a replay of 1994.

they had the warning shot of a republican winning ted kennedy's seat in massachusetts. why do you think tim murphy lost? >> well, i don't know why he lost. i thing a know why the democrat won. i think because he was a former aide to john murtha. john murtha brought in huge amounts of money. he really said, but didn't show it in the ad, hey, i'll continue to bring home the bacon. and the people of johnstown said, okay, hey, we like the bacon. we have two daughters of louisiana here. i want to turn to the oil spill in the gulf. cokie, you heard james carville the democratic strategist, and chris matthews berating president obama in the clip. do you think the obama administration is doing a good

enough job with this -- >> no. i think it's clear. the oil is gushing. we're being lied to about how much oil is gushing. and the administration authorities came out that first week and said, the worst case scenario is that it keeps up until we get the second well drilled. the worst case scenario is now even worse than that. the administration has now named a commission. when you don't have anything else to do, you have a commission. that's not going to stop the oil. >> how are you going to stop it? if they could stop it, they would. if the administration could stop it, they would stop it. look at the two of you just going to beat up on them. at the moment, you can't stop it. three times in the last ten years, the minerals management service -- >> the regulator in charge of making sure this kind of thing doesn't happen. >> they worned the people offshore you have to have

something in a backup for the blowout preventers. it never happened. it was the regulation, they said it should happen. they didn't regulate. they let the companies do what they wanted. >> and congress passed law that has a $75 million liability to these oil companies. it's not a day of their profits. >> but the oil companies have a lot of money that goes into the political campaigns. >> donna, you talked to the epa administrator, lisa jackson last night. what did she tell you? >> i wanted to talk to her about the chemical dispersants that they're using to try to break up the oil. down at the surface level. >> the epa told pb not to use the one they're using and bp is not honoring that. >> absolutely. i have a problem with that. the administration is not tough enough. they need to stop the oil leak, contain it, clean it up, help us

preserve our coastal wetlands. >> why haven't they been tough enough? >> because of the oil solutions act of 1990. they're saying this was the country's response to the "exxon valdez." their saying, it's bp's responsibility. they're they've taken responsibility of giving all of the gulf states $25 million bus an adshl $15 million in tourist money. >> nothing. and if they can't get permission to build barrier islands. >> the president ran against oil -- the oil industry when he ran for president. what's going on? >> he also ran on transparency and accountability. >> the federal management survey. i don't know either. maybe the commission will find out. in past regulatory problems, one of the reasons is they play with the people that regulate and after they leave with a government pension they then get a good job for good salaries for the companies they have been regulating. there was one other item in

the news that i want to touch on. the president of mexico. felipe calderon. he came to the white house and congress. he criticized the arizona immigration law. here he is. >> i strongly disagree with the recently adopted law in arizona. it is a law that not only ignores the reality that cannot be erased. by decree. but also introduces a terrible idea such as racial profiling. the basis for law enforcement. >> i'm the spring chicken at the table. i cannot remember a head of state from another country coming to congress and criticizing american laws. >> while he was lecturing america on moral governance, he was doing it against the backdrop of an amnesty international report saying that illegals crossing through mexico are facing a major human rights crisis leaving them with

no access to justice. persistent failures by the authorities, that would be mr. calderon's government, i believe. he gets up and lectures us on moral governance and gets a standing owe sags from donna's party. the fact is, mexico has two big exports. oil. and poverty to the united states. inremittances sent back to mexico, they get $21 billion a year. >> i heard president clinton say, what you did in tiananmen square was wrong. he lectured. we all said, that's terrific. because it was the ox being gored on the other side. president calderon represents mexico. he said what a lot of americans are saying. that arizona law is discriminatory and ought not the

be on the books. >> that law is supported bay majority of americans. i can't believe you're comparing it to tiananmen square, are you? >> no, no one was massacred. but you raised the subject of having someone come to another country and lecture them? >> and you think it's okay? >> settlement in i had real. mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. >> the democrats applauded the fact that we have to fix this problem. our borders are broken. george, we have a broken -- >> they applauded the president of mexico. >> i'm sorry. "the roundtable" will continue in the green room. on abc news.com. later, check out of fact check. stay tuned for "the sunday funnies." hey what'sng on? doing the shipping. man, it would be a lot easier if we didn't have to weigh 'em aoi.

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and now, the "sunday funnies." >> i guess there will be a lot of surprises in the final episode of "lost." i don't want to give too much

away. but it turns out -- the smoke monster was created by british petroleum. >> the bp executive predicted that his company will survive the gulf coast oirl spill. seriously is this that's like running over someone's dog and saying, don't worry, my car is fine. >> another canceled show here, "the ghost whisperer." every week, "the ghost whisperer" would run errands for people. this week, she's trying to find a job for arlen specter. >> how to describe rand paul. he's a doctor. it's as if sarah palin somehow made it through medical school. >> we'll be right back. ll be right back. i'm using my 4g mobile broadband card to download the multimedia client presentation my associate dave here was supposed to bring. and while that's happening, dave will attempt to explain to our boss

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