i don't consider myself birther or not birther.nd the press doesn't want to cover it. >> the obama campaign called out romney's complete lack of leadership and released there web ad compared to john mccain, a man who stood up to the party. >> more scared of obama presidency. >> he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared as president of the united states. >> i have read about him. he's an arab. >> no, ma'am. he's a decent family man, citizen, that i just happen to have disagreements with. >> trump tweeted this. barack obama is begging mitt romney to disavoi the place of birth movement. he's afraid of it and for good reason. he keeps using john mccain as an example. john mccain lost the election. don't let it happen again. trump has been leading the birther parade for years, and now he believes that talking about the president's birth certificate is the way to win the election. if that's true, now would be a great time to reveal just what his team of investigators found in hawaii. >> i have people that have

the most famous birther in america. who can forget at the height of his pseudo presidential campaign when trump questioned president obama's birth's place. >> barack obama should end this and he should provide the public with a birth certificate. if he doesn't do it, he's doing a tremendous disservice to the public. >> he harped on it so long and so hard that president obama finally said enough and showed his birth certificate to the nation. it's not like the birther issue ever really died. last week arizona's attorney general apologized for threatening to leave the president off the ballot unless hawaii authenticated their birth certificate. and now here's mitt romney campaigning with trump. the whole birther thing doesn't seem to really bother him. >> you know, i don't agree with the people that support me and my guess is they don't agree with everything i believe in. i need to get 50.1% or more and appreciative to get help of good people. >> former mccain adviser calls birtherism a fringe issue and says in the middle

i need the birthers. i need the crazies because the base doesn't love me. so he already brought him back in and now by standing with him -- >> the thing is -- >> i think have you a point here, guys. david, i think what is going on here is this is nuts. a few months ago as you pointed out, joan, he wasn't in sneaking in the back, making sure there were no pictures with the two of them together. this time they are acting like a honeymoon couple. embracing each other. photo ops. >> vegas. >> he want to be as far right as can you get in the republican party on the right. >> and of course he let trump through a birthday party fund-raiser for his wife a few weeks ago. >> right. >> the big issue here, take a step back. can any of us show any moment in time when mitt romney showed any guts. did anything that showed a spine. what happened with ted nugent? nothing. what happened when that woman said that barack obama should be put on trial for treason? nothing again. and his whole career, was there a point when he said up and did something difficult, distanced hill s

if romney is going to pal around with birthers, especially newly reborn birther such as trump, he shouldn'tes. isn't this juf the point, dana, mitt romney wasn't raised to believe the rules apply to him, was he? different rules for him, isn't it? >> sure. this wouldn't make him unique among politicians and presidential candidates but it is a problem. not just people on the left noodling him with the unicorn thing. there are actual birthers who feeled a lawsuit in california saying, it is not just obama, they are going after romney as well. other people are saying, wait, maybe willard mitt romney is not his real name. some people are raising completely bogus questions about his father. was he an illegal immigrant about mexico. >> no less bogus than the questions put to this president. >> exactly. it is crazy talk. but once you start wrapping your arms almost literally around donald trump, how do you draw a line and delineate between accepting that circus and putting off limit the rest of the circus. >> are you able, dana, given your skills in this area of politics, to explain to me what it i

these three e's are about as empty as the pledge to disagree with the birther movement. nothing there. >> julian, professor dyson, s.e., stay with us. next, why is the sunshine state in the midst of a purge that even joseph stalin would admire? stay with us. >> we recognize the department of highway safety had information about non-citizens that we could use to compare to our roles and if we verify that we had non-citizens on our roles, to remove them. >> voted for the last almost 15 years, really don't understand it. to me it is like an insult. i was teaching a martial arts class and having a heart attack. my brother doesn't look like a heart attack patient. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter and now i don't have that fear. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's putting more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. eco

i've been known as being a very smart guy for a long time i don't consider myself birther or not birther but there are major questions. >> when asked about his association with donald trump, romney refused to condemn those specific remarks. >> i don't agree with all of the people who support me. my guess is they don't agree with everything i believe in. i need 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. >> the obama campaign released this web ad, two republican nominees, how john mccain corrected his supporters' offensive remarks about the president in 2008 to romney's response now. >> why doesn't he show his birth certificate? he doesn't have a birth certificate. he may have one, but there's something on that birth certificate, maybe religion, maybe says he's a muslim. i did a great job in getting him to, first of all i haven't seen it i'll look at it later -- i don't need to look at your copy. i loved running. i had a great time. i was doing fantastically in the polls i became friendly with mitt romney. >> all of this comes as mitt romney prepares to cl

validates trumps birther nonsense and keeps it part of the conversation. trump is loving every moment of it. >> he is the piper. it's a real point. the guy who wants to be the hard right on every issue. he wants to be with the hawks on foreign policy, with grover nordqvist, and on birtherism, he wants to be seen with trump. >> we thought we went through this with romney, but the point that i made on this show and elsewhere, chris, is that romney again and again sort of flirts with a pale version of birtherism. he says that obama is not really a true american, he's not one of us. so he plays footsy with the notion that he is not truly american. i can't think of a better contrast. yesterday, the president of the united states who is he hanging out with? john glenn, pat summit, and what was mitt romney doing? hanging out with trump. i think joan was right with that visual of the big trump airplane, you expect him to put trump on the white house if he wins. >> you're so right, another parole of wisdom, the fact that trump is the godfather of birtherism now, bu

i don't consider myself birther or not birther. major questions here. >> peter alexander joins me. mitt romney says he needs donald trump. why do advisors feel he is an asset rather than a liability. >> they are not trying to make this public absent the fact that they did put out the effort to dine with the donald. this was a fundraiser dinner contest. the romney folks say they are not trying to sell different than any other. the timing of this happening on the same night that mitt romney after a campaign where he was at times a strong front runner and other times a weak front runner. tonight when he goes over the top in texas with more than 150 delegates at stake. the fact he is celebrating in las vegas with the donald is playing the roulette wheel in many ways. the campaign trying to distance themselves saying we don't agree with everything our supporters say. >> so we have been telling people this morning that mitt romney is on to something in colorado. there was a microphone glitch. this is mitt romney thinking on his feet. >>

folks, this goes beyond birtherism. this an elected official saying that the president of the united states is not an american, in his heart, he's not an american. this is not just a fringe element of the republican party. in fact, he's representing a prime congressional district. colorado's sixth district is one of the wealthiest districts in the country, with a median income of more than $73,000 a year. this isn't just the middle of nowhere. mike coffman is silent. he won't say anything other than he misspoke. his silence is bad. but the silence from the leaders of the republican party is deafening. last year house speaker john boehner was asked why he won't speak out against people who think the president isn't an american. boehner repeated the same thing over and over, just like congressman mike coffman. >> it's not job to tell the american people what to think. our job in washington is to listen to the american people. the american people have the right to think what they want to think. i can't -- it's not my job t

trump's birther nonsense and keeps it part of the conversation. trump is loving every minute of it. and romney needs it stand up to him. >> of course he is. he's the piper. he's the piper. david corn, joan has a point here. >> yes. >> the point that this guy want to be the hard right on every issue. with grover norquist on tax policy, with the liberty university crowd in virginia on christian issues. and on birtheris heiism he want be with trump. >> i feel like bull murray. the point i've made on this show and elsewhere is that romney again and again sort of flirt with a pale version of bijerrism in which he says barack obama doesn't really understand america. doesn't think america is eye neek. doesn't think it's special. which is his way of saying obama is not really a true american. he is not one of us. so you know, he plays footsie with that notion that birtherism is supposed to advance. that obama is not truly american. and i can't think of a better contrast. yesterday the president of the out, who is he hanging out with? john glenn. tony morr

birtherism. by aligning himself with this element, romney is showing a willingness to do anything to get elected. what should make us think he would be any harder to bed politically once he's in office? and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. >>> welcome to "politics nation," i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, willard romney's gamble. he is attending an event in las vegas hosted by donald trump. you can see the trump plane right behind his. hours behind romney appearing with trump, he reignited the controversy. >> if you look at the birth certificate, you take a look, you analyze the birth certificate. there are many people that don't agree with that birth certificate, they don't think it's authentic. >> they don't think it's authentic. trump started his day off with the same extremism. >> a lot of people are questioning his birth certificate. they are questioning the authenticity of his birth certificate. i have been known as be

i don't consider myself birther or not birther but there are some major questions here. >> hey, it's not me. i don't consider myself a birther. i'm just asking the questions. these comes come days after trump akiess the president of being born in kenya and raised in indonesia. but this, of course, is nothing new. >> all i want to do is see this guy's birth certificate. >> he may not have been born in this country. >> his grandmother said he was born in kenya. she was there and witnessed the birth. why doesn't he show his birth certificate. >> this isn't about trump. this is about romney whole be standing arm in arm with trump in las vegas tonight. romney's campaign says he believes the president was born in the united states. so willard, will you be denouncing this kind of talk tonight? >> i don't agree with all of the people who support me. my guess is, they don't agree with everything i believe in. but i need to get 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help after lot of good people. >> what kind of leadership is this? the obama campaign responded today saying this demonst

. >> the birther thing won't go away. i thought after it was officially well why are you doing this will? >> it's not going away because of donald trump, and it's still here. >> it's neat only donald trump. other republican officials in nevada and north carolina and other places who raised it. there is a chunk of the republican party that believes this erroneously and polling is pretty clear there's a core in there that continues to hold these beliefs. seems indicative of a broader concern of who barack obama is and the change that he represents. that point of view finds voices within the republican coalition and mitt romney as he was earlier with rick santorum on the separation of church and state, with rush limbaugh on the attack on the georgetown student over the contraception debate mitt romney is uncertain when it comes to the voices in his party and he could do more to squash this if he wanted to. >> the governor was campaigning in las vegas yesterday and talking about something that a voter had said to him and i wa

. >> i don't consider myself birther or not birther.here's a major question here, and the press doesn't want to cover it. the press just refuses to cover it. >> jon: that is a shot of pure imported rare, single malt black tar trump resin. not because trump's complaining that the press refuses to ask questions about this long-dead birther issue but because of how trump responds later that same day to the process' questions about this long-dead birther issue. >> reporter: tell us what your people who were investigating in hawaii what, they found? >> we don't have to go into old news. now, it's appropriate, i think, that we get to the subject of hand which is jobs, which is the economy, which is how our country is not doing well at all under this leadership, which is really the things i wanted to talk to you about, but you like to keep going back to the place of birth. >> jon: i love you so much. ( laughter ) nobody's man enough to talk about the birther issue. ( bleep ) you for bringing it up. watch this little bit of bitterer trump. >> t

with a pale version of birtherism. he says that obama is not really a true american, he's not one of us. so he plays footsy with the notion that he is not truly american. i can't think of a better contrast. yesterday, the president of the united states who is he hanging out with? john glenn, pat summit, and what was mitt romney doing? hanging out with trump. i think joan was right with that visual of the big trump airplane, you expect him to put trump on the white house if he wins. >> you're so right, another parole of wisdom, the fact that trump is the godfather of birtherism now, but he has now romney as an accolade saying that president obama is an anchor baby. but really he isn't one of us. here is chuck todd asking mitt romney's campaign spokesperson andrea shaw about trump overshadowing romney yesterday. >> any regrets by the campaign of spending the day you clinch the nomination with donald trump? >> look, donald trump is a supporter. you know, governor romney midit clear they disagree on some issues. governor r

i have been known as being a very smart guy for a long time, i don't consider myself birther or not birtheror questions. >> late this afternoon the romney camp released a statement, quote, governor romney said repeatedly that he believes president obama was born in the united states. the democrats can talk about donald trump all they want, mitt romney is going to talk about jobs and how we can get our economy moving again. so does mitt romney need to distance himself from donald trump? go to facebook.com/newsnation. cast your vote there. i'm thomas roberts filling in for tamron hall. martin bashir comes your way next. yoo-hoo. hello. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. trouble with a car insunce claim. [ voice of dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ normal voice ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. are you in good hands? [ laughing ] ...is the crackle of the campfire. it can be a million years old... cool. ...or a

and birtherism won't

keep in mind it's not just the birther stuff or just arizona.rk times" revealed some top strategist presented a 54-page proposal called the defeat of barack obama. now, mitt romney came out against the plan. >> i want to make it very clear i repudiate that effort. i think it's the wrong course for a back or a campaign. >> but the right win attack machine is desperate to keep the smear going and going and going and going. >> governor romney, i have to respectfully disagree with you. every candidate though needs to be full i have vetted. that's something the main stream failed to do with barack obama. i think for governor romney to take it off the table he doesn't have to talk about it, but to repudiate those that do -- >> with me is a correspondent for the washington, and west moore, author of "the other wes moore." anna marie, is the birther issue back and more mainstream than ever? >> i hope know, it's the medias's fault that it gets bigger. there's some people that don't like barack obama hussein obama, and i think there are a lot of people un

ruth, is bit -- birtherism just ridiculous. >> it is so ridiculous. is a more legitimate question about what is on mitt romney's birth certificate. >> breaking news. ruth said -- "washington post" tomorrow will say where is mitt's birth certificate. >> that's more of a mystery at this point than what is on president obama's birth certificate. because we have seen president obama's birth certificate. we have seen story over. trump said it was over, but apparently he can't stay away from that flame. what is more ridiculous is not trump talking about it, but romney responding to it. maybe the campaign made a mistake of scheduling this at this time, but when he goes back on the birther edge why doesn't mitt romney say after he has gone through his thing with rush limbaugh and the slut and the prostitute after a couple of other things like that why doesn't he say this is idiotic and unacceptable. >> that's because that's not who he is necessarily. he is a very cautious guy and he was talking about this himself, and also on the sean hannity show, and it's n

. >>> trump embraces birtherism and romney embraces trump. that's a big problem for the republican candidate. >>> how much will mitt romney's car elevator cost? our panel will take a guess at that. lots more come can go up. stay with us. we're right back. >>> coming up, does mitt romney need to denounce his birther surrogate? donald trump is becoming a big problem. that's next. republicans are trying to win the presidential election before a vote is cast. we'll have a report on the latest voter suppression in ohio. with a possible dead heat in wisconsin, could president obama put democrats over the top? my commentary on why the president needs to get involved, coming up. share your thought on twitter. we're coming right back. stay with us. everyone in the nicu, all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. everything that you thought was important to you changes in light of having a child that needs you every moment. i wouldn't trade him for the world. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by ou

i don't consider myself a birther or not birther. but there are some major questions here. a lot of people don't think it was an authentic certificate. many people put that announcement in because they wanted to get the benefit of being so-called in this country. >> some of the willing servants of his self-promotion have grown a bit frustrated with him. >> you're beginning to sound a little ridiculous. >> beginning to sound a little ridiculous. well, on cnn, maybe, but not if you listen a word donald trump has said for the last three years our so. the man has been ridiculous since america first learned his name. wolf blitzer took trump's argument about the president's birth certificate on its own terms and wonderfully and relentlessly confronted him on his assertions that make absolutely no sense. trump tried to insist, to wolf blitzer that many, many, many people simply don't believe president obama's birth certificate is authentic and wolf blitzer simply wanted to know who those people are. >> give me a name. >> there are many people -- i don't give names. >> of course tr

i never said we weren't going talk about the birther issue. we had a conversation earlier today and we never discussed -- >> i tell you, it's not an issue that he likes talking about so what he does is uses reverse psychology on people like you so that you report oh, gee, he's thrilled with it. he does not like that issue because it's hitting close to home, you know it and he knows it. >> i don't know it. donald, you and i have known each other for a long time, and i don't understand why you're doubling down on this birther issue after the state of that wiy formalliy says this is the legitimate birth certificate. why are you going through with this, donald? >> a lot of people don't agree with it. >> if the state of hawaii says this is official, he was born in hawaii on this date, here it is, why do you deny that? >>. >> a lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate. >> many people do not think it was authentic. his mother was not in the hospital, there are many other things that came out and, frankly, if you would report it ak r

i don't think he was talking about the birther issue. it didn't sound great, but his big theme has been, listen, i'm a businessman. that makes me qualified to be president. i think that's what he was trying to highlight there. again, maybe a little tone deaf. ashleigh? >> you're right. that should have been what the issue is. that is a legitimate campaign issue. it's what most people think this election is all about. the fact that he said it twice, the citizenship and the place where the president is born, made it feel as though, hey, hold on a second. you're really stepping into this little business. anyway, lots more to talk about. and 1,144, we have the nominee. how exciting is that? >> but unofficial. hate to say that. we have to wait until the convention in august. >> steinhauser, oh. always good to see you, no matter what time of day. and there's a lot of buzz, wolf blitzer's interview with donald trump. guess what? we're going to get the blitz on early. i'm going to talk with wolf live at 6:30 eastern. we'll get his thoughts about

and he has to be careful. >> but this is a birther right.who work for this campaign and they say trump's approval rating with independents is hire than vice president's biden's. does that matter? >> trump is a hero on fox news. and so pick a fight with trump is to pick a fight with fox news. >> here's where the problem is. this is romney introducing himself to the broader american public. all of those independents which is where this campaign is going to be won or lost, the ones that live in the suburbs, the ones who think i don't think what trump is saying is real and they see romney standing with him, and not just standing with him, but not able to disavow what he's saying. that's a problem. >> is it maybe more proof we know the obama campaign views it, that they view this 2004, it's a base election, and so if you worry more about your base than you do about the middle? >> that's what i was getting at the difference between '92 when there were a lot more folks in the center, two parties had different coalitions. now things purchase more ab

and a guy also out there pushing the birther issue.d trump continued to do that in a recent interview. what s does mitt romney even get out of this? >> a good point. i've heard more sincere endorsements on the home shopping network than newt gingrich when he endorsed romney yesterday. every time romney goes where with gingrich, all the terrible things get raised up again. and to her point, the differences with hilary rosen height simply made a mistake was that democrats came out and roundly denounced it. when rush limbaugh called sandra fluke a slut, he said nothing. when donald trump has gone into this birther nonsense, romney also has refused to stand up to him. it shows his character which i hate to say is a little bit cowardly when you can't stand up to people who say patently object knock us and wrongful things. >> i think -- go ahead. >> i want to point out that that kind of nonsense is not really even worthy of response. even newt gingrich yesterday made clear that he thought that trump's most latest statements on birtherism was

won't stop with the birther talk.in to the mother ship, fox news. >> i can tell you that this is not an issue, despite what he says, that president obama likes. this is hitting very close to home. >> but see, i think, though, that the campaign, that the president obama campaign actually enjoys that this issue gets up and gets pinned to you. >> i totally disagree with you. >> well, i'll tell you why -- >> well, i disagree -- >> well, i'll tell you why. because they released a statement, stephanie cutter, who is the deputy campaign manager, just released a very strong statement referring to you as a -- talking about disgraceful conspiracy theories, demonstrating your lack of moral leadership, calling you a charlatan, and pinning that to governor romney. >> i totally disagree. i think they hate it. i think they don't like it at all. and what they're doing is saying we love it. and frankly, i think they hate the subject. and you know, i actually sort of semi -know for a fact that they hate the subject. >> "semi-know." is