dee dee myers and mark mckin nan is a former bush campaign adviser. dee dee i never thought i'd start a show this is really about sex. early today on the campaign trail -- on his plane paul ryan answered questions about todd akin and other similar stances on legislation in the past. lynn to him try to deal with this. >> i agree with the rest of the people from the missouri delegation that he should have dropped out of the race, but he's not. he's going to run his campaign and we're running ours. >> you co-sponsored abortion related legislation with akin. >> that bill passed by 251 votes and was bipartisan. i think we had 251 votes, 16 democrats. i'm proud of my pro-life record. mitt romney is the president, and the president sets policy. his policy is exceptions for rape, incest and life the mother. i'm comfortable with it because it's a good step in the right direction. >> i don't know about that guy. last night at an interview with kdka, he was questioned about his role in education including the term forcible rape. that came out of his mouth. ryan inve

dee dee myers was press secretary with president clinton. i never thought i would start a show by saying this is about sex because it really is about it. earlier today on the campaign trail -- actually on the plane paul ryan answered questions about todd akin and other similar stances on legislation in the past. let's listen to him try to deal with this. >> danforth and the rest of them, missouri delegation, current, former, drop out of the race. he's not. he is going to run his campaign and we are going to run ours. >> co-sponsored abortion related legislation with congressman akin, do you regret that now? >> it was bipartisan. hr 3 is the one we were talking about. 16 democrats. mitt romney will be the president and the president sets policy. h it is a good step in the right direction. >> i don't know about that. anyway last night in an interview with kbk which 'twas first radio station paul ryan was questioned about his role in legislation including the term forcible rape. that was a phrase that came out of his mouth, ryan. he invented that one. term nbc's kelly o'donnell reports amendment back in 2009 and supported again the next year. let's watch him deal with this one. >> do you sponsor legislation that has the language forcible rape, what is forcible rape? >> rape is rape. rape is rape, period. end of story. >> so that forcible rape language meant nothing to you at the time? >> rape is rape. and there's no splitting hairs over rape. >> these dies are on talking points now. they have been -- gagged, they can't think what they say what they think. he, that guy talking right there, was the guy that came up with the phrase back in 2009 with an amendment to ways and means bill. it was beaten, used it again in 2010, 2011. his phrase and now he is saying it doesn't mean anything. >> rye. rape is rape. >> why is he play thing game of working the edges of abortion rights? you know what he is doing. limiting, limiting and denying that and the game he is play. >> during his years in the house he co-sponsored 36 different provisions to restrict access to abortion including introducing a concept there were different variations of rape. some more serious where the federal government might pay for abortion through medicaid or another program. others where no, you wouldn't. who knew that there were different variations of rape. paul ryan seems to have discovered -- >> even to give the guy -- all the credit in the world for mental ability, could he have been talking about statutory which has to do -- even in that case, wonder why you would make an exception. >> exactly. 13-year-old is -- victim of incest from -- >> boyfriend. >> or exactly. even if it is somewhat consensual that's what they are trying to get away from, what they are trying to do is say only rape that's basically at gunpoint counts as rape. that women are responsible for anything else that happens to them. i mean, now -- the truth is that todd akin didn't misspeak. he actually said what he believed. that's what ignited this controversy. >> by the way -- >> republicans who believe the same thing. >> the republican national committee voted on their platform language yesterday regarding abortion and did not make any exceptions for rape or incest and in line with what they did back in 2008. no more exceptions. reads, quote, faithful to the self-evident truths in trying to declaration of independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm opportunity born child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed and support a human life amendment to the constitution and endorse legislation to make clear the 14th amendment's protection through unborn children. mark, this is exactly in line with the personhood approach because that -- 14th amendment says no person shall be denied life, liberty and other full access to the law. and equal -- protection of the laws. why are they going into the personhood stuff in this platform that will be ratified monday? why are they getting into this in the midst of all this trouble? >> well, chris, as you know, platforms are usually a nod that's ideological components of the party on either side. traditionally, the things are generally sort of written in and quickly ignored because leadership or the nominee often takes a different position as is the case this time. the problem with the akin situation is the incident itself but compounding the problem really big way is the timing. look at what we are talking about. we were all talking about paul ryan and his big ideas and elevating the conversation and look what we are talking about. going into the republican convention at a time when republicans wanted to send a message of tolerance and inclusion and big tent and here we are talking about issues that have a lot of women running important the exits. >> they are getting into defining the rights of the unborn child, fetus. whatever term you use. depend our point of view and philosophy. here they are going into tremendous detail about the various rights that should go to the unborn child. if you would. talking about the 14th amendment rights. all the rights to a person and then you have paul ryan saying forcible rape because he doesn't want to have any exceptions to the abortion law. then this personhood amendment. why are they pushing so hard? you are a student of politics. why would the rights say it is not simply enough to hyde amendment says no money goes for abortions except for rape and incest. why are they trying -- is this part of the general push to shorten and limit the possibility of any kind of abortion? >> that's become the center of the republican party. one of the reasons this is such an explosive issue now is that it has been -- the republicans didn't want to talk about social -- economic issues. they forced the conversation back on to these issues. this is what the party believes. in that human life amendment part of their platform, there are no exceptions, not for the life of the mother or incest. there is no exception to that. and that's also true in the personhood amendment which paul ryan co-sponsored which would say not only would outlaw all abortion under any circumstances, it would outlaw many forms of birth control. those are not positions the republican parties wants to talk about now. and it is also not a fringe position within the party anymore. that's what is -- >> that's interesting. getting into the polling. >> very mainstream party. center of gravity, energy of the republican party is today. >> absolute pro-life. >> absolute under all circumstances. >> this morning on the "today" show, matt lauer questioned todd akin, man at the heart of the controversies, about his use of the word legitimate as in legitimate rape. let's watch. >> legitimate does not -- should not be in the context of rape at all. that's completely wrong and what i understood that i had been offensive to people and -- that i had misspoken, then i first off apologized. there is no rape that is legitimate. it is a heinous crime. one of the most serious and i understand that the victims are harmed for a long time. i take that very seriously. but -- while i apologize for the misuse of that word, at the same time i don't apologize for the fact that i am strong in my belief of pro-life. >> he is talking to person watching the show and anybody watching that tape, he's talking down. his use of the term of legitimate meant there are only certain legitimate events that can be categorized as rape. there are others that -- he never said there is such a thing as legitimate rape. matt lauer also asked akin if he believed women were lying about their rapes which i think is what he was saying. let's take a look at his answer to matt. >> do you believe that many women -- i don't mean just a few, but many women, lie about being raped to gain access to abortions? >> well, no, i don't believe that that's the case. and that was -- as i said, the -- comments were misspoken there, particularly on the word legitimate. i don't think that's the case. >> let me go back to mark. complete contradiction of what he said the other day when he talked about the rowe case and said there is an example of saying somebody say rape when there was than rape. that's what he is denying what he said before. he wasn't apologizing for what he said. he's not even admitting what he said. your thoughts. >> nor did he apologize for the warped notions of his physiology and biology of women. what bothers a lot of people like me in the party is we can nominate a guy like this in the first place. how do we -- >> what about ryan? is he any different than this guy except in his charm perhaps, more charming guy? you heard him on the plane ride there. he was double talking about what he himself introduced, language of forcible rape. >> yeah. it is unclear from that answer exactly what he had in mind, whether it was related to consensual sex, i don't know. sure would like a clearer answer. as i said we are talking about paul ryan's abortion record rather than his economic and tax plans. that in itself is a problem. >> it is important to note he said 252, whatever number, members voted for hr 3 only after the forcible rape language which was dropped. >> good point. good point. good homework. i was looking at the notes today. i was listening to what he said. last night on fox television, sarah palin called for akin to get out of the race. there is a standard. she is a wild one. talk about going rogue. she wants a third party candidate to emerge in missouri to go against mccaskill, incumbent democrat, and this guy. let's take a look at this thought process of sarah palin's. >> what he's doing right now, bless his heart, he is inviting himself back into the -- this general election that's coming up and is going to get defeated. that's unfortunate. that is why we have to think pragmatically about this and we have to think what's another option. is a third party another option? if it is, let's go. the status quo has got inform go. >> i love that backdrop. nothing like that one. that's interesting backdrop. alaska. let me ask you what is she talking about? basically -- >> i have no idea. >> he's gone. that's the news. third party is always very hard. >> right, right. they want him out. and -- he's not going. >> what's this do? you are an expert at imagery and the way things develop on television. especially what happen it is we go in -- thunderstorm down in there and -- hurricane, isaac coming into town. everything but frogs, i guess, are coming to the republican convention. but what happen it is this is the story percolating all through monday morning right into the heart of the convention? this issue of this guy. >> well, that's why it is problematic and that's why i think we -- in part why we have seen such a quick and broad consensus among republican leadership. and grassroots people from hannity to rush. they want this off the table before monday. so they can get on to issues they don't have a broader field to the general electorate. >> i think he stays in and i think he's very much theocratic. >> i hope he is staying in. >> nobody is a higher authority to him than the higher authority. i don't think the jokeners the so-called republican establishment have the slightest influence. >> he believes -- >> beat him once and will beat him again. >> exactly. >> thank you. coming up, reality bites. modern republican party global warming, not happening, they say. evolution, liberal theory. rape, can't cause pregnancy. how republicans have become the party of science den ires. why is mitt romney running another ad that states quite falsely that president obama has ended welfare work requirements? here is a hint. he's not doing well enough among white voters as he would like to and is pulling out the old well, let's call it the old code word. number of new state polls in the presidential race, there may be movement by the way going on in the swing states. let me finish with the wonders of science from ben franklin. thomas edison. and the moon shot in why this latest rejection of human knowledge is so. well, un-american. this is "hardball," the place for politics. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. battleground states in the presidential race. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. virginia, new poll shows president obama with a five-point lead over mitt romney. obama 50. magic number. romney, 45%. now to wisconsin. paul ryan may be helping. new poll there has him very close. romney, 48%. obama, 47%. fr obama that's the lead. 49% to 46%. to michigan. foster poll has romney up 48-44. . with the available lexus enform app suite, you can use opentable to make restaurant reservations. during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection. prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made? [ club scene music ] [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. >>> i think that the -- he's a practical conservative. he's -- got a very conservative voting record. but he's not a knuckle dragger. he understood the t.a.r.p. while none of us wanted to do it. if we were going to save our economy, save the world economy, it would happen. i wish we didn't have to do it either but he understood that. >> that's john boehner's assessment of congressman paul ryan. he said we didn't say it. he said he's not a knuckle dragger. pointing out not one of the knuckle draggers, he implies some members are, in fact, knuckle draggers. given the stance some party members have taken we can't disagree. above and beyond todd akin saying women cannot become impregnated by rape, will is more. a real pattern today. exhibit a. global warming. new york congresswoman marianne berkeover has been dubbed a member of the flat earth for her denial of global warming. let's listen to her. >> this trade bill is a tax on energy. that's all it is. a tax on energy and based on some specious global warming. that whether or not there is real global warming has not been determined. >> good company. mitt romney agrees. let's listen. >> my view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet and the idea spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce the co2 emissions is not the right course for us. >> at least he is admit there is a change. evolution, who can forget rick perry on the campaign trail explaining how they sort of teach evolution in texas. let's listen. >> you know, it is a theory that's out there. it's got some gaps in it. and n texas we teach creationism and revolution. >> ask him why he doesn't believe in science. >> i figure you are smart enough to figure out which one right. >> she says she has science on her side. >> there is a controversy among scientists about whether evolution is a fact. >> what is the aversion of the republican side to scientific facts? what is it doing to the republican party? politics generally, mitt romney's chance of becoming president. bill nies, the science guy. bill, thanks so much for coming on. it is an unusual question. but you know, commentary at the end of the show, you can do much better. i talk about how the wonderful american tradition of young kids growing up loving ben franklin, loving thomas edison, and loving the moonshine. days of walt disney and watching our attempts to catch the russians and beating them and loving it. what we do every time we win a handful of nobel prizes of chemist chemistry, we love rooting for that in this country. what going against that in the republican party? without being too partisan, what caused the rejectionism of thought? >> it is a mystery. what you believed as a kid sticks with you your whole life. i would say in general, these people got misperceptions when they were young and it is still with them. that wouldn't matter except we have climate clang. we have 7 billion people living on what's proven to be a small planet. so being anti-science at this point in history is very serious for all human kind and very serious for us as citizens of the u.s. who have this expectation that we will be leaders in science and technology. i encourage -- >> go ahead. >> i encourage you guys, i'm just asking you and the media, to ask these people who are running for president and vice president and ask them directly about climate change and ask them directly about science. ask them directly about evolution. rather than just getting the sound bite which is are very compelling and creepy, unsettling, just ask them directly why don't you believe in -- what is it about it that you find unacceptable. >> mr. nye, let me tell law we did. the last presidential campaign back in 2008, we asked mr. romney and the others about this whole question of evolution. and watch this, what happened when -- my co-anchor that night at the reagan library, jim began asking them about who believes in evolution and who doesn't believe in evolution. here is john mccain sort of starting it off on the right foot and then the other guys going the other way. let's watch. >> senator mccain, this comes from a politico.com reader. they want a yes or no. do you believe in evolution? >> yes. >> i'm curious is there anybody on the stage that does not agree -- believe in evolution? >> may i just add to that? >> sure. >> i believe in evolution but i also believe when i hike the grand canyon and see sun set the hand of god is there also. >> that sounds right to me. look, brownback, huckabee and tancredo put their hands up. a couple of things going on here. obviously business types think that if they accept the fact mankind influence on climate clang they are going to have to change some of the regulatory laws and co2 emissions, deal with that and will hurt the freedom in the marketplace. right? the other thing about the religious front. you and i were trained in the bible ask learned it was all part of the moral lesson taught as children. so powerful in our lives. the scientific nature, we always said yes, but that was important. important stories in the bible but there's also science and archeological fact out there we have to deal with and the history of the dinosaurs and that all occurred as well. these new people politically are saying that no, no, no, all the answers are in the bible. we -- politicians have to say so. we have to deny the history of mankind and the history of this plan planet. it is frighten. >> i'm not making a value judgment when i say this. okay. but the republican party has become a faith-based party. starting with ronald reagan, there was a marriage between the biblebelt of the south, fundamental -- >> literal interpretation. >> and catholics elsewhere in the country who are becoming more conservative socially. they joined hands and there are many good things that came from that especially if you believe in the republican party and its success. but these people start from a fundamentally different point of view on questions such as abortion. on questions such as evolution. questions such as climate change. and they see as john mccain belatedly said the hand of god in everything that happens and they look to god first. legitimate concerns. about genetic manipulation of the human species. who -- should we leave that to god or do we as human beings take that on 1234 there is a serious point underneath this. there is. nobody in the modern republican party dares question the orthodoxy of a faith-based republican party at this point. that's what it is. it is a bible-based republican party. >> it also -- it is also market based. let me go back to mr. nyi hee h. when you get todd akin saying you can't get impregnated if you are raped, it seems to me what he is wrestling is a fundamentalist notion if abortion is wrong, then how could god allow situations where it might be necessary or appropriate by -- because of rape. therefore, simply dictate the fact that you can't get impregnated -- can't get pregnant if you are raped. just create a new one. explain why -- >> well, i think it is just -- what you are saying, wishful thinking. i talk about this all the time. if you grow up -- if you had grown up in oklahoma with these wide-open spaces and your neighbor -- nearest neighbor is very far away, having human species change the climate of the planet is literally unimaginable. and so you -- you develop this world view that -- what you -- what you expect to be true will be true. and i just want to add this point for both of you guys while you are here. after this convention, just be aware of whether you are a conservative voter or a progressive voter, just beware mr. romney has long tradition of changing, changing the way he talks about these things. i will not be surprised if he goes much more to the center very quickly. >> don't count on it. let me give you some advice. do i this for a living, mr. science guy. >> bring it on. >> that was the old game. i think the old game was go to the center. this guy -- heat up the pressure cooker. >> i think what's -- deee myers said in the first segment paul ryan is representative after new generation born into that new republican party that i described. >> they are the ones having the convention this week. he is 42 years old and steeped in this. he starts every consideration of public policy, not from the standpoint of science, but from the standpoint of faith. that's who paul ryan is. ask they are not going to shut him up -- >> he will make barry goldwater look like nelson rockefeller by the end of the convention. thank you, mr. nye. i share your worry about this and respect you soap. are you telling us how to do this thing? thank you, howard. thank you. this guy is telling us how to do what we do all the time. you explain -- >> no. >> up next, curb your enthusiasm's larry david is looking out to drum up enthusiasm among younger voters this election. his funny plea coming up next in the side show. 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