i think toomey is in the race. he was down by 20 points in may and what's changed, arlen is a democrat. people have to reconsider that. if he runs against arlen specter that will be a hell of a great race for the state and good healthy thing to have a choice. democracy is having a choice and i think the people of pennsylvania, well let's let them decide if they don't want a chase chois. if they don't i'll are surprised. >> chris matthews will kick off our coverage -- >> andrea mitchell former radio host in philadelphia whom i first came across in 1974, which say long time ago. >> must have been my mom. i'm trying to tease you, chris. chris is going to kick off our coverage of the president's prime time news coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern, the president speaks at 8:00 and live annalyss following on msnbc, the place for politics. >>> and coming up, the senate has just voted to reject the bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed weapons across state lines. the senate fell two votes short of the 60 votes t

old toomey has closed the gap. accord to a new poll, specter now leads toomey, 45-44, which means it's a one-point race. given the limitations of polling it basically means it's a tie. folks, anything can happen here. people in pennsylvania had this crazy idea democracy means having a choice. we've got a one-point race for the senate in the 2010. tonight's big number. >>> up next, president obama's prime time news conference tonight. will he convince the american people that his plan for health care reform is the way to go? you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ) illness doesn't care where you live... ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supporting bipartisan reform that congress can build on. it can be tough living with copd... but i try n

. >> if you are pat toomey running for the senate next year, would you like her to come in and do a lunch for you? >> i'd like -- yeah i'd like her to come in in central pennsylvania or the northern "t," out of the media market, attract the conservative market, and leave. >> michelle, would you want her to campaign for someone you liked? >> i agree with smerconish. >> thank you, michelle bernard, michael, as always. join us again monday nights at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball." right now it's time for "the ed show" with ed schultz. >> i'm ed schultz. this is "the ed show." >>> good evening, americans. live from 30 rock in new york, it's "the ed show" on msnbc. and it's also friday. an exceptional moment from president obama. he puts out the fire over his comments on the arrest of a harvard black president. nbc's chuck todd and georgetown professor michael eric dyson coming up on the program to talk about it. >>> my sources on capitol hill are telling me that the public option in the senate is in serious trouble. senator jeff bingham out of new mexico is going to be joining me o

. >> if you are pat toomey running for the senate next year, would you like her to come in and do a lunch>> i'd like -- yeah i'd like her to come in in central pennsylvania or the northern "t," out of the media market, attract the conservative money and leave. >> michelle, would you want her to campaign for someone you liked? >> i agree with smerconish. >> aaa ball, out of the big leagues. thank you, michelle bernard, michael, as always. join us again monday nights at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern for more "hardball." >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the president versus the cambridge police? the. >> cambridge police acted stupidly. >> today the police stand by their man and escalate the very public dispute with the white house. >> i think the president should make an apology for all law enforcement personnel throughout the entire country took offense to this. >> the president tries to tone things down with a surprise walk-on at the white house briefing. >> i could have calibrated those words differently. >> will those words finally put this controversy to rest? not

he will run against pat toomey. that could be problematic for him.tch party, what do you make of it? >> the same thing said about new jersey. the registration numbers overwhelmingly favor democrats. this is a younger population. that will help democrats in the northeast. martha: are you surprised? if anyone told you six months ago that the impact on some of these races from what we have seen so far in washington would already be hurting democrats? >> not really. martha: you are not surprised? >> not with the economy the way it is. all incumbents are going to have a problem no matter who this. >> when you look at the polls, the democrats are running very steep decline. i think it is because there hoisting themselves on their own petard. they have spent so much money. all of their advantages have evaporated. martha: thank you. gregg: riot police fired tear gas on protesters filling the streets of tehran today. new videotape is coming up next. @=h you all want to run your businesses more efficiently, so we've brought in a team of experts to help. one s

peter toomey is joining us on the phone. he was staying at the marriott at the time the blast occurred. what did you see, what did you hear? >> i was in my room on the 17th floor, sometime between 7:30 and 7:45. and i heard a huge explosion, a huge blast. and the building shook. so i went to the window, looked out and on the left-hand side as i was looking out in the corner of the building, groudown on th ground floor there was a big plume of smoke. >> at that point what did you do? >> it was clear in my mind, my instinct was explosion. there was no doubt in my mind about that. so i just took what i had and went downstairs, waited for the lift. the lift came, the lift was full. so i then walked down the stairwell and on to the street. >> where are you few? >> i'm now actually standing outside the ritz-carlton. >> one eyewitness report, our producer, said she thought the blast in the marriott occurred on the ground floor in the cafe. does that seem accurate to you? >> that's what staff was saying as well. i spoke to some peop