those comments from john boehner. speaker boehner added that the growing threat cannot be ignored. here's a portion of that stakeout from capitol hill earlier today. >> i'd like to welcome prime minister netanyahu to the united states capitol. the united states congress will always stand by israel and the united states congress will never allow israel to stand alone. the looming threat of nuclear iran cannot be ignored. ambiguity that could lead to serious miscalculations, which is what we collectively hope to avoid. it's my sincere preference and belief that the united states and israel both need to be clear in its communications with each other and our communications to the iranians. now is the time to stand together, and we are here today to tell our prime minister that congress intends to do so. madam pell sichlt pell sichlt. >> thank you mr. speaker. i'm pleased to join us in welcoming our distinguished guest, the prime minister of the jewish state of israel once again to the capitol of the united states. i associate myself with your remarks in terms of our commitment to the s

the question will again be,ing what will boehner do? earlier this week, he indicated he was open to bringing up the senate bill. then yesterday, he again tried to rally his troops in favor of chairman's original proposal that's going nowhere. speaker boehner told his members to get behind the mick ca bill because it bears their stamp. well, this senate bill bears a bipartisan stamp and i just hearding that speaker boehner has now said that he wants to pass the senate bill or something close to it. he should stick to that commitment and get it done right away. last time the speaker tried to spurn a bipartisan deal on a must pass bill, he came to regret it. he should remember the lesson of the payroll tax cut debate and not repeat his mistake. whenever he lets a small group on the hard right dictate what he should do, he loses. and america loses. and bipartisanship loses. and we hope he's learned that lesson. it's clear he's wrestling with it, not only in his own mind but publicly in his varying statements. there's only one right path. an

>> there's been reports of a rivalry between boehner and cantor.iting a strike from his right flank usually. it's unusual to hear reports of the new warming relyings with the president. i think more likely, they can simply read a poll and the poll said they got where he could trying to oppose the president on a payroll tax extension. a jobs bill, they just felt the need to go along with it and in so doing, make a deal with the president, because they just looked to bad to oppose. >> is this the jump start our business start up things from today, that was seemingly this% minor victory for boehner, the house passed this jobs act with very little opposition and the republican leaders sent out the record they were doubtful it would create any jobs at all. did they pass something they thought had no meaning to it. >> the idea of starting to say no to anything with jobs attached to it started to hurt them. they really didn't want to be calling the wrong side of this. there's the fact that the economy is starting to improve getting better. if it really ta

and said we can't get the caucus to vote for this and then boehner had to sort of step away from the. >> that's right. the way in which a lot of the cantor aides have spun this, there's this is famous divide in washington, d.c. between speaker boehner and leader kantor that somewhat i think is overdone by the media but definitely does exist. the way in which the aides started to spin it, eric cantor was the realist in the room saying there is no way he could get this through the house republican congress. when simpson boles went to the house floor two days ago and could only get 38 votes, it shows you how difficult it would have been for john boehner to get any deal that he had significant tax revenue through the house republican conference. the democrats more likely than not would have been there had the president been wholeheartedly behind this but you would have -- if boehner would have had to walk on on quite a limb and see a real threat to his speakership possibly after that. it's all speculation. you don't know how much influence eric cantor had in the room if the idea was that

but even all this was not enough for boehner. now at one point, president obama said oh, my god the gaining of six came out with a proposal with two-point truly $1 tax increases. his chief of staff at the time said we look like idiot negotiators, because they got a fake $100 billion when the senate democrats got a real $2 trillion in tax increases. they look terrible. at one point president obama goes boehner can i get $1.2 trillion in increases. boehner doesn't call him back. president obama said i'll take the original deal. boehner says to him: >> in other words no, you haven't groveled enough. they did manage to keep the government open, got some agreements, and look at john boehner on 60 minutes bragging about that agreement. >> when you look at this final agreement that we came to with the white house, you know, i got 98% of what i wanted. i'm pretty happy. >> i bet you are. he's spitting in your eye. and president obama still oh, my god, why didn't he take the deal. he wasn't going to lower taxes was he? in that one speech

boehner say what he is going to do on this issue. and lo, a miracle is upon us. ♪ just a solid note. i thought it was going to be hallelujah. i love these things. there is mystery to them. once in our lives, we are seeing democrat it is using a wedge issue against republicans. instead of republicans using a wedge issue against democrats. this never happens. democrats never do this. wedge issues are one of the most effective and diabolical thing s you can do in politics and democrats don't do them, they are doing it now it. a wedge issue and the republicans use it against democrats is like abortion rights, gay rights, maybe prayer in schools, race often. they take something which is the kind of issue which some democratic voters might not agree with the rest of the majority of that party, making the issue august huge issue with tons of attention and tops of focus that democrats have to deal with, republicans can then drive a wedge between the voters who disagree with most democrats on that particular issue and the rest of their party.

to boehner. had a meeting with him and said, do you know what? eric cantor is running around town, our caucus, and saying you're going rhino. republican in name only. the worst insult you can hurl at a republican conservative. they said you're too far over the tims of your skis. if you keep going down this path, he will be there to lead a mutiny against you. what did boehner do? he dropped all talks with the president and bolted. >> that shows you the power of eric cabotor, also known as machiavellian. the book is called "showdown" and it is out in book stores today. thank you. >>> coming up, the death of trayvon martin. now the subject of a federal investigation. stay with us. >> called mr. zimmerman the victim. it's a slap in the face to me and my family. a slap in the face to our community. my son was being attacked. he wasn't the aggressor. >>> ben looks. they serve 7,000 subscribers across six states. he upgrades systems to boost profit. all right, let's decide what to do about medicare and

john boehner struggling to keep his conference under control and united. a look ahead at the president's schedule. you are watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. ♪ he was a 21st century global nomad ♪ ♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity. we looked at our family's goals and some ways to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or com

what john boehner said was pretty incredible. he did not take the opportunity to jump on the president. he said back off. this isn't the time to pick on him. >> it was a rare and welcome moment of old school statesmanship that partisanship ends at the water's edge. it was welcome. i think president obama's mic slip raises real questions about the fact that he hasn't laid out a vision for a second term yet but romney's gap compiles a problem we have seen which is talk of foreign policy has been limited. that is insufficient to the responsibilities of being president. congratulations for raising the bar. >> i have to say i thought that wasn't necessary. he didn't have to comment at all but he chose the throw the olive branch out. >> who knows? perhaps john boehner is looking forward to working with the president in the future but i think it was a sensible thing for him to do. >> speaker boehner often looks like a sensible person trapped in the crazyiness of his own congress. we saw that in his efforts to get a big deal last summer.

transform your investing with the all-new e-trade 360 investing dashboard. >> john boehner has a new for the president. on tuesday boehner seemed to support president obama and take a smack at mitt romney saying it's inappropriate to criticize the president when he is overseas. a day later he wrote the white house a letter saying he is alarmed to learn of the message you sent to incoming president vladamir putin. s.e., on this channel at least or on this show, we thought that john boehner's comments in support of the president were very statesman like. >> john mccain did not agree. >> true. you have to wonder how much of this is john boehner legitimately taking up issue with the president, how much is behind the scenes nudging if not ankle kicking from the rest of the party about saying something positive about the president. >> well, if this were behind the scenes you would have to imagine he has two camps fighting with each other behind the scenes to say something nice, then forcing him to come out and sort of -- slap him in the face. this is what you're suggesting, that both of wh

so it's delicate. >> maybe john boehner knew that. because the republicans have been lock step about antagonize, never agree, you know, you can say obstructionist vis-a-vis the white house and you have the speaker of the house saying maybe that wasn't a good idea. >> that's who john boehner is. that's reflect inof his personality. that's why the tea party members haven't been excited about his speakersh speakership. he doesn't take every opportunity to embarrass the president. average americans see the moment, they say there's a man i can be proud of. >> you can't be proud of him because he falls like an acco accordion when his caucus gets on his back. >> in three day he may be retracting that statement. >> very good point. >> shades of the grand bargain maybe on the table and boehner had to walk it back. this was a very good -- >> let's isolate this moment and give it to john bayne. >> we will, for today. after the break, cuba welcomes the pope as it welcomes a new infusion of capital itch. we will look at the key changes reshaping t

the only winner today looks like john boehner. great to have you all with us.e had to have little fun there with that. i mean, it's hard for anyone linked to have aed will mare putin to make fun of the hollywood thing. did mitt romney make a mistake here coming out on this particular issue? >> i think it might have been an overstatement, but he's right to be skeptical of russia. the russians have behaved as a bad actor in a number of regions. they have talked about aiding iran in terms of providing them with sophisticated air defenses. they have stymied our ability to engage in diplomatic settlements around the world. also, they're threatening to a lot of states in central and eastern europe who are our core allies. >> michael, what about the president trying to give a very, very long explainer to i think what's clear to say was a mistake. >> well -- >> to be overheard, at least. >> it's interesting, he doesn't usually make the kind of open mic boo-boos the way a lot of people do. so it was interesting. given that this should be a bit of a net loss for the pres

boehner was not whole hearted, but he said i guess it's the ev. i was struck that politico piece about the who blueprints of his house leaked out. romney's in danger of a lot of two-word phrases. the president's got his issues, flexibility is a new one there where he's all of a sudden it opens up a narrative. >> yeah, i think it's very serious for romney, actually. i mean, we now know he's a rich guy who has a car elevator, or plans to build a car elevator. >> what is it? a lot of people not sure what that is. but that detail, one of those horrible details, like the $400 haircut. >> it's a challenge for him. and i think the challenge for the romney team moving forward is to figure out how to turn mitt romney's qualities, his personalities into an asset, and there's something they can work with there. he's an incredibly smart, successful guy, but we're getting lost in all of these political side bars. >> quickly, curious of your take in this, quinnipiac poll out today, what's more concerning for you? the gender gap for romney or the favorable/unfav

in john boehner's state. it will save 40,000 jobs in eric cantor's state. so, here you have those two leaders there, i would hope that they would not want to see more layoffs in these recessionary times we're finally getting out of slowly and painfully and should take up our bill and pass it. >> your bill, let's talk about the specifics for a moment. it's 108 billion over two years. >> 109 billion. >> that is two thirds the size of the infrastructure request in the president's budget. in a country where the estimated infrastructure gap is in the trillions, does it do enough, are we getting far enough in solving our problem? >> let me tell you that i would much prefer to see a larger bill, but i'm also a pragmatist. i have to find the sweet spot. we can't pass a democrat only bill it won't happen in the senate. we must reach across the aisle and we did it and what we did is we kept the current level of spending, alleged inflation, but here is the great news, we also took a program called transportation infrastructure financing, and greatly increased that and

boehner -- >> well, let me add that part of the keystone pipeline that we are getting, the president has nothing to do with it. it does not require his approval to build the pipeline from the oklahoma to the gulf. we hope he will reconsider the unions that are going to build that pipeline are aggressively in favor of moving ahead. we know it has been studied for four years already. the nebraska issue has been solved. there's no reason to create those jobs now. >> and that is house speaker john boehner and minority leader mitch mcconnell. telling reporters that the speaker of the house and congressional republicans will remain hopeful that democrats would finally consider republican proposals for jobs and energy production. those are two key areas, part of the discussion today led by the president at the white house. at the briefing today, ben feller with questions to jay carney. >> talk of the speaker being encouraged about what the president had to say about the jobs act and speaker boehner would be happy to work with the president on a true energy policy. your read out there, prett

white house and boehner disagreed over and had a stimulus.stead of chasing boehner is lying through his teeth. i mean, seriously. it's not even worth repeating. yesterday i was in my stake is. ed henry, now fox news, says so mr. president, republicans say that she would actually want gas prices to go up? how do you respond to that? you know, what a piece of shit. seriously dude think anyone who's running for reelection at as the president of the united states want gas prices to go up? let's get real here, which is a nice way of looking to see what it question. but just the idea they would repeat the question is your time, with america time, repeating those lines. that is what passes the day unfortunately for journalism and certainly not good journalism. look at all the attention that is still being paid to the debate over the president's bursar ticket with joe r. piatt the sheriff in arizona now launching a new investigation that people are actually reporting it. why? it total nonsense. not worth it. pardon me, those are the three elements of

speaker boehner saying don't criticize the president while he is overseas.itt romney criticized the president while he was overseas. >> a blow for civility and an old-fashioned notion of politics. having said that, as you said, the flight is landing at 7:30. as the plane is getting close enough, gets into u.s. air space, at that point you can begin to sound critical. at some point this is going to be hashed out. i'm not so sure the timing of it will -- >> what i want to talk about here is this fact that john boehner felt the need to very mildly but almost a way of without saying his name, rebuking romney. >>> it was because romney made a big deal out of this. every campaign adviser, they signed an open letter to barack obama saying this is nefarious. romney himself mouthed off about it. >> from the hill yesterday that speaker boehner was not comfortable with this criticism. and i was interested today that he went public with it. >> it is. one of those things where john boehner and mitt romney have not got the closest of working relationships. so i think we h

first of all, do you know if speaker boehner has bothered to respond to that letter? whispered in their ears that this crusade is only damaging them, if only in political terms? >> i don't know what john boehner is going to do, but if they want to make contraception controversial in the united states of america in 2012 as a political strategy, i say bring it on. because the american women, 99% of whom use contraception, are not going to stand for it. i think it's going to be a very strong election year issue. >> do you know if speaker boehner responded to the letter from the 12 democratic females. >> i don't know that. >> this is what rick santorum said a few hours ago. >> you have to stand up about what's right and wrong. that's what we're doing. >> he says he wants to stand up and talk about what's right and wro wrong. if that's the case, why has he not yet offered a comprehensive condemnation of rush limbaugh's attack on sandra fluke? >> i certainly think he ought to, but you know what? it's not just about choice of words. that's where romney has decided to go to s

speaker -- >> speaker boehner? >> it's understandable why there are difficulties in congress, but there are many things like the jobs will which everyone seemed to -- like the president three weeks ago, the transportation bill used to be an easy thing to do. why are basically simple things so difficult to get done? >> well, i think the jobs bill moved through the house with a broad, bipartisan vote. and i expect the senate will send that bill back and we'll come to an agreement pretty quickly. i think when it comes to things like the highway bill, that used to be very bipartisan. you have to understand, it was greased to be bipartisan with 6,571 earmarks. you take the earmarks away, and guess what, all of a sudden people are beginning to look at the real policy behind it. and so each of these bills will rise or fall on their own merits. >> speaker boehner -- >> do you expect to have 218 votes -- republican votes in the house to pass the ryan budget plan? >> that's a question for the whip. but i'm confident that we'

there are -- boehner walked away twice.says they walked away? they are right. >> i report this story for the first time in the book because house moderates, house moderate republicans came to him and said, hey, eric cantor is essentially ready to lead a rebeg rebellion against you if you cut a deal with the president that has tax revenues. he is calling you rino. if you go with this deal with the police departmentresident, you will probably lose your speakership. the next day he saidcalled the president and said adios. that was his bolting because he couldn't control the tea party. a week and a half late erbr. >> he had committed to obama. right? >> well, they were pretty close to a deal. they were really pretty close. >> obama had r.n.eason to believe intairn boehner -- >> obama people believed boehner was sincere and wanted to cut the deal. about a week and a half later, he came back, this time with eric cantor by his side with terms more favorable to the republicans. but still, a deal of a similar shape. they were workin

too, it seems. >> boehner did respond.mething like the words i used were inappropriate as is the whole discussion about the government paying for people's contraceptives. >> now we all know rush likes stirring up trouble. and truth is he's pretty good at it. and he's right that whether the government should be involved in paying for contraception is a perfectly legitimate public policy question. but in this case he's outrageous language handed president obama and his fellow democrats a gift. truth is limbaugh would have benefitted from listening to this recent advice for another of the right's most provocative rabble rousers. >> keep your eye on the prize, right wingers. the only question you should keep asking yourself is who will have the most appeal to independents, to undecideds, to my gender. >> joining us now to talk truth, gop strategist and romney adviser and democratic strategist, and former bush speech writer. i want to start down at the end. having a question about should a private insurance company be forced to