later, a house hearing on spending by be budget illustration. >> joining us is senator john cornyn. thank you for being with us. here with this susan davis, jennifer duffy. let me begin with a poll focusing on the senate races in three key states for the party. they showed the democratic incumbent in all three stayed ahead by double digits in ohio. if you look at other polls, how does that impact your strategy in those three state? >> the work of the committee is to track these races and see which ones are winnable. then to concentrate our resources there to help our candidates. just like the presidential race where romney and obama are tied, things have not really moved a lot yet. incumbents in joint name at a vacation advantage. -- incumbents have in joint name identification advantage. they have created a huge runoffs in debt. they have done nothing to take their fight off the throat of the private sector economy to get the economy growing and jobs back on line. there is a lot of work to be done. a lot more people will pay attention. >> do you want to list these days you think ar

that is part of the reason i question cynic john cornyn so -- senator cornyn so closely about maine. >> i agree. especially in the races, when he said ohio, pennsylvania, and virginia, i do not think we will know who controls the election night. i think of races like montana. this race could be decided within 1000 votes. could be days after the election before we know who controls the senate if those races are close. >> bill clinton had some political coattails in 1996. how popular is the president in some of these key states? >> it is state to state. we are talking about close senate races. virginia, florida, ohio. one of the questions we are asking ourselves now is look at virginia. you can envision this. in the south part of the state, energy is a big issue. are there a lot about barack obama voters? we are trying to see where a democrat has to over-perform the president. north dakota would be a great example. they have to do 10. points better. the republicans have to do something similar. >> let me ask you about this lame duck session. you talk about post-elect and senate. the se

an aide to senator john cornyn, chairs the g-o-p's senate campaign committee, told fox news cornyn hasn with akin...and made clear the committee will withdraw 5-million dollars in fundiig if áakiná does not withdraw. mitt romney told a new hampshire t-v station akin needs to understand his fellow republicans, (quote) "can't defend him."obama says: "the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape." (rosen on cam tag) under missouri election law, and given thh date of election day, if akin fails to withdraw by 5 p-m on tuesday...he'll have to sue his way off the ballot. in washington, james rosen, fox news. and that brings us to our question of the day...because of his comments... do you think congressman todd akin should drop out of the missouri senate race. race.this was a hot topic on our facebook page today.many of you ádoá think he should drop out.post your commeets by going to facebook dot com slash fox-baltimore gop congressman kevin yoder apologizing tonight after a trip to israel that apparently included skinny-dipping. 3 last august, some 20 gop congressmen and a few aides jum

cornyn issued a statement, saying "congressman akin should carefully consider what is best for him, his family, the republican party." but his opponent said the gop should respect missouri's voters. >> i think it would be radical for a national party to come into a state and basically give the back of their hand to the voters of their party. >> reporter: mitt romney did not call on akin to withdraw from the race, but he did say the comments were indefensible. now, as for the claim that a woman's body can reject a pregnancy caused by rape, the notion is not a new one, but a lot of medical experts say it does contradict basic biological truths. terrell? >> susan mcginnis in washington this morning. susan, thank you so much. >>> in the race for the white house, president obama held an unannounced news conference. the president defended the tone of his campaign against accusations that it's taken the low road. nancy cordes has that story. >> reporter: the president took only a few questions in his first news conference since governor romney accused him of waging a campaign filled with anger

>> i agree with john cornyn, who said he ought to step aside.mments not only are they outrageous, but from a purely political strategic standpoint, this is a massive distraction and as long as he remains the republican nominee, that distraction is going to continue. >> but tony perkins of the family research corporation, one of your close political allies, says he's fine. he should stay. doesn't that influence your opinion in his favor? you're cultural allies on the right like this guy. the way he thinks. doesn't that matter to your coalition? >> they do like him, but you know, there are other candidates who are running in missouri who are also popular with cultural conservatives and at this point, they would probably have a be r better chance of winning. >> let's go back to steve mcmahan. don't you wish he stays in the race. >> i think he'd be a fine candidate in the fall. >> well what do you think is behind his thinking? i think there's something profoundly frightening in this sense. this guy talks about legitimate rape as if there weren't peo

john cornyn said you are not getting any money from us.the republican senate campaign committee doesn't give money, that means probably the, a lot of the super pacs that are pro-republican, won't give him any money. i think he is basically doomed. he has to decide. are we going to let this senate seat stick with the democrats and not go to republicanrepublicans in a stat, missouri, that probably more than any state in the country in recent years has trended republican, even mccain won it in 2008. boy, they desperately want him to drop out. >> john: short answer. what should akin do? >> he has to leave. he's toxic. nobody will touch him. republicans aren't going to support him. not going to get money. they tossed away a seat they could have easily won. not only offensive and toxic, you be unbelievably stupid. there is enough stupidity in congress we don't need to add to it in this large amount. he has to leave. >> john: on that note, we take a break here. up next, trying to stop friendlies from becoming hostile in afghanistan. us >>> i tell

hand it to cornyn there. we have the president of the america from -- the president of the united states of america can say hey, if you're abroad, i can till -- kill you and not tell you why. when he asks the attorney general, this sounds absurd. what did attorney general eric holder say? >> deprocess and judicial process are not one in the same particularly when it comes to national security. the constitution guarantees due process. it does not guarantee judicial process. >> cenk: that gave me a chill down my spine the first time i heard if. that sounds sew knicksonian there. couple of guys in the executive branch get together, should we kill that american citizen in secret? oh, yeah, we should kill him in secret. due process of course it is judicial process otherwise it isn't due process. it is not a couple of guys in the executive branch, willy-nilly executing people. and they say oh, no, it is not willy-nilly. unless it is a 16-year-old and we had no idea we were killing. it doesn't sound like a lot of ca

he doesn't work for john cornyn and the other senators can have their opinion. some of the other members of the united states senate have said some pretty stupid things or done some stupid things. they have done some pretty offensive things. i won't mention names. everyone can think of things that have been done. they did not withdraw and if they were committed to making crimes, then they did -- i, myself, if you told me that that is his choice -- i would say withdraw. i am sick of everybody piling up on us. gerri: it is clear that everyone is asking them to withdraw. rush limbaugh and ann coulter, they think that todd akin's comments are going to dog or mitt romney. do you agree? >> no. no, are you kidding? all the idiotic comments by various democrats, barack obama, etc. voters are not idiots. they know that mitt romney has never said anything like that. they know that mitt romney and paul ryan has announced what paul akin said. there is no chance that it will have any effect on the residential rates. it may cost him a seat in missouri. that would be unfortuna

john cornyn said we're not going to put anymore senate committee money in there. think todd akin can survive. here's what we have to understand. this isn't just todd akin. and even if he does drop out we can't let it stop here. there's only one reason that the republicans are so outraged, so angry at todd akin. it is not because of what he said. they believe this crap. this is what the republican party believes. they've been trying to do this for years! paul ryan, remember, i told you this yesterday paul ryan cosponsored in the house of representatives with todd akin legislation that would parse rape. that would limit rape, would say women can only get federal funding -- it is only okay to have an abortion and get federal funding for it when it's forcible rape. as if there's any such thing as unforcible rape. yesterday, there were organizations, the family research council said oh, no, we still support todd akin because he is what we believe. the family research council. they still support him. they say he's a true conservative. this is the republican party's war

certainly john cornyn did. john cornyn, is the senate in charge of winning back the senate. the head of the national republican senatorial committee said it very strongly -- >> he's -- we could hardly -- we could hardly not hear from mitt romney and paul ryan the last week about almost everything. and the reason i think they're being slightly not prepared to go the whole way with akin is their own vulnerability on this issue of abortion. mitt romney has gone from here to here. he's gone from the furthest possible pro-choice position to the furthest possible pro life. he has no credibility about it really. how could he use this issue to drive people out of office? i guess is the problem. >> he was very -- i disagree about that. that was not something that frankly any republican candidate is out there saying. the platform committee of the republican party right now is in tampa and will vote tomorrow on whether a constitutional ban on abortion, even in cases of rape, will be part of the republican platform. it has been part of the republican platform -- >> paul ryan has always

. >> aid to john cornyn, texas republic who chairs the g.o.p. senate campaign committee told fox news that cornyn has spoken with akin and withdraw 5 million in funding if akin does not withdraw. he needs to understand his fellow republicans, quote, can't defend him. president obama told reporters akin's comments showed significance difference in approach between me and other party, unquote. akin's campaign opponent seems eager to keep him around. >> he has now just in the past few hours really apologized for what he said and i think what's startling to me is that these party big wigs are coming down on him and says are being that he needs to kick sand in the face of the republic primary voters. >> under missouri election law and given the date of election day. if akin fails to withdraw by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow he have to sue his way off the ballot, shep? >> james rosen in washington. congressman come says he regrets going skinny dipping in israel. happened during the sea of galilee fact finding visit. kevin jord was there with other lawmakers, sta

another republican senator john cornyn who coordinates gop senate campaigns released this statement. congressman a ken's statements were wrong. i -- akin's statements were wrong. i recognize this is a difficult time for him, but over the next 24 hours he should best consider what is best for him, his family and republican party and the values he cares about and has fought for throughout his career in public service. this is your chance to weigh. in does akin have any choice but to get out of the race for senate or should the voters who nominated the guy have the final say on his future? you can have your say in mcginty's mailbag. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. >>> d.c. police now looking into a number of leads trying to solve a disturbing robbery on capitol hill that nearly killed a 29-year-old husband and father. >> reporter: i'm scott broom at eastern market on capitol hill where police today are following a number of leads in the disturbing attack against 29-year-old thomas maslin. what's so upsetting about what happened to maslin is how long he may have been injured before any

. >> on the newsmakers, john cornyn, outlines the key republican campaign strategy to win a senate majority in the election. newsmakers sunday at 10:00 and 6:00 eastern on c-span. >> the political parties are holding their platform hearing in advance of the summer conventions with democrats voting on their final recommendations and detroit followed by mid august. coverage of the party conventions begins august 10 with a reform party in philadelphia. the democratic national convention live from charlotte, north carolina monday september 3. >> a discussion on the role of a 18-29 year-old voters from today's washington journal. this is under 30 minutes. >> you are charged with getting people up to vote. how is it different then the dnc and rnc who want to see them at the polls. it >> i guess the dissension i would make is to have groups that are partisan and political and reach out to the political base of each party and do a pretty good job of it. we are focused on key principles. opportunity. the advancement of that freedom and smaller government. we sweep up a lot of people. independents an

i think open government and especially with this election coming up, we need to avoid the senator cornyn situation at the last election, which is people coming in and saying they want to get a hold of records pertaining to contributions, and they will not give it to us, and they would say they would give them a letter, but ethics would not enforce it, so then they would tell them that they had better go to court. they would not give it to you until after the election. >> ok, commissioners. larry. i just want to set and the notion that there should be a timeline when these things should go off on a public access database. what i was looking at form 700 filed by officials for those i was doing a report on, i would find that weeks would go by after the deadline, and they would not be available, so i began calling people who i knew were in elective office, and i would ask them why they had not file the form, and they said that they did file, and they had a date, and they would come back to epics, who said they had a large stack and that they had not gotten from them. there needs to be a time

. >> reporter: republican senate campaign chairman senator john cornyn told akin he'll pull the plug on millions of dollars of campaign funds if he stays in. but akin later told sean hannity's radio show he won't quit all though he did back track on rape. >> i had heard from medical reports that rape is such a traumatic type of thing that it -- that there is a reaction. you know, though, that's wrong. >> reporter: democrats led by the president sought to take advantage. >> rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parcing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the american people. and it certainly doesn't make sense to me. >> reporter: the biggest beneficiary akin's opponent democratic senator claire mccaskill. >> i don't think this is somebody that most of the moderate republicans in this state can support. >> reporter: the biology is not in doubt. girls and women raped have about a 5% chance of getting pregnant no different from unprotected consensual sex. the politics are also clear. in a race where the president had a 15-point a

john cornyn, chairman of the senate committee personally asked him to step aside but the congressman said he's staying in till the end. he told mike huckabee he's not the first politician to suffer from what he called foot in mouth disease. >>> president obama has issue add direct warning to syria. don't use unconventional weapons are you could be facing the u.s. military. his warning is the first time he has publicly discussed using the american military in the syrian civil war. he says the use of chemical or biological weapons would threaten the entire region and that would be a red line for the united states. >>> at 4:35, here's a look at some other stories making news now. a wildfire in northern california is threatening three small towns. thousands of homes have been evacuated as the pond rosa fire is growing larger. the fire has burned more than 20,000 square miles and is just 30% contained. nearly 1900 firefighters are battling the blaze. >>> phyllis diller is being remembered this morning. the 95-year-old comedian passed away yesterday in her sleep. the mother of five from oh

senate republicans, someone inside took these pictures for us as six grateful senators, including john cornynof texas, thanked the corporate sponsors who put up as much as $25,000 apiece to be there. >> blue cross and blue shield. aflac, at&t. >> reporter: blue cross blue shield and aflac, of course, have a huge stake in coverage laws and republican senators they helped spend time with will help write those laws. it was not something that he was eager to talk about. senator, can you not answer the question? and of course, it's all legal understand this country's almost nonexistent laws for political donations, diane. >> brian, i know you'll be out at the democratic national convention, too. >> absolutely. >>> and coming up, a virus breaks out in a population for american families. yosemite national park. ♪ [ female announcer ] for everything your face has to face. face it with puffs facial tissues. puffs has air-fluffed pillows for 40% more cushiony thickness. face every day with puffs softness. nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shippi