and andy barr, a reporter at politico. andy, i want to start with you and this $100,000. now, i have seen cases with politicians and money being exchanged. in fact, it happened in new york not so long ago. but this is a little bit different than that, right? >> this is very different than that. the money comes from ensign's parents, who paid off $96,000 to the wife, to the husband, and to the two kids in $12,000 increments. also remember there was that $25,000 severance leave when she left his campaign organization. so a lot of money going back and forth very -- multiple payments over a long period of time. this is still kind of unraveling. >> still unraveling. give us a little background. these two -- these people knew each other, right? ensign and his wife knew his mistress and her husband. they worked for them. describe that relationship. because it's very unique. >> you're right. they worked and knew each other for years. both the mistress and the mistress's husband worked for ensign on the campaign and in his office there in nevada. so this was -- you know, lots of c

andy barr and john o'connor are with us. andy barr, give us the dimensions of the new luck surely living scandal with sanford. >> well, first of all, a little bit of the backstory here, you remember when this first came out, there was questions about other trips, whether he used state-funded money, initially his staff returned the money he used to travel to argentina, but then a lot of reporters here went back through the records and found that he was going on a lot of trips using a lot of state money to provide business class, first-class, to fly all over the country, obviously, not all to meet his mistress there in argentina, but certainly brings into question the fiscal credentials he had, which is the one thing that really brought him from being a member of congress to really one of the people on the brink of being a leader of the party. >> john o'connor, christians are very good and practiced at forgiving sin, how about republicans forgiving lavish spending? >> it seems to be a little less forgiving there, especially in

thank you john o'connor and andy barr. >>> up next, sarah palin is tweeting.he promises to be less politically correct when she leaves the governorship in nine days. more on palin's tweeting next in the "sideshow." depression is a serious medical condition that can take so much out of you. i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then...well...i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble concentrating, the lack of energy. if depression is taking so much out of you, ask your doctor about pristiq®. (announcer) pristiq is a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, teens and young adults. pristiq is not approved for children under 18. do not take pristiq with maois. taking pristiq w

thank you john o'connor and andy barr. >>> up next, sarah palin is tweeting. she promises to be less politically correct when she leaves the governorship in nine days. more on palin's tweeting next in the "sideshow." you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. ♪ (laughing through computer) good night, buddy. good morning, dad. (announcer) oreo. milk's favorite cookie. has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network accidents can happen, but with liberty mutual's new car replacement, if your new car is totaled within the first year, we'll give you the money to buy a brand-new car. and with our accident forgiveness, an accident won't cause your price to go up when you r

joining us now, andy barr.s yesterday, she criticized cap and trade, something she supported while she was the vice presidential candidate. who's the motivation of her getting involved in in this? >> this seems to be an attempt by her to stretch her policy legs here to kind of show she has some -- when she said she was stepping down, this was an issue she was going to focus on. she's clearly going to remain in the political spotlight. >> some republicans, some democrats, a group is asking members to fund an ad, calling it a marvel of misinformation and outright lies. do democrats benefit by having sarah palin doing what she's doing? >> sarah palin has a massive fund raising appeal on both sides. you talking about my colleague's story, a lot of the republicans would love to have her come in and rally up the base, but a lot of the democrats love talking about her. move on, other democratic groups, expect the dnc to do something like this. >> i remember right after the election, many people including jonathan cape

sort of planning an plottingng between those two, i's's bad buness for otot >> ththanyou, anandy andy barr. >>>>> next, psychoho talk, wen republblics,s,hen they start taing about science,t really gege inresting. a right w wng state nator from arizona gave uss adandy autut the earth in uraniuiumimini. stay with usus. you haveve questio. who can give youhe financial advice you need? where will you find ththe stility and resources to keep you ahead t t rapidly evolving worldld? the artough questions. that's why we bught together two of the st powerful nameses the industry. inintroducing morgan stanley smsmith baey. re to rethink wealthanagent. here to answer... yo q queions. morgan stanl s s barney. a new weth management firmm with over 130 years eerience. - hello! - ! whwhdon't u try a home cooked al... with yummy mbmburr helper? oh! dada fantastically tasty, huh? ummm, it's good. what wld y guys like? hamburger helper. what?! one pound... one pan...ne tasty meal! i'm showing my lping hand by partnering hamburger helper® ougoal is to help feining erica deliver more than the and a half milli