i will be working with the harkin institute. i will be spending time on disability policies and advancing the cause of people with disabilities in some way, shape, or form. i do not know exactly how. in some way. just want to say this to my friend. i hope that, at some time, since this is a nonpartisan institute, we have a great board of directors. the former chair of the iowa republican party is on the board of the harkin in the two. we want to keep it nonpartisan. i would like my friend to come -- perhapst and be lead a discussion sometime at the institute at drake university. i would be honored if my friend would do that sometime down the road. we can work it out or something like that. i think you would be well received. i think young people at drake need to hear the conservative side of the story, as well liberal side of the story. they need to have that kind of input. so i hope we can work that out. and let me say again that i know in the future you and your wonderful wife, barbara, wonderful person -- you and barbara and

harkin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: mr. president, first let me thank my friend and colleague for his characteristic lifetime casket -- lifetime characteristic of him being gracious and very generous in his remarks. chuck grassley and i have served together since 1974. i like to tell people that in 1974, that was a big wave of democrats came in. they called us the watergate babies. we came in in a big wave, won a lot of elections and things like that. and in fact, in iowa that year elected a u.s., democratic u.s. senator, and every house seat -- i think there were six at that time, six house seats all went democratic except one, and that was the seat that chuck grassley won that year bucking the trend, bucking the tide in 1974. so it's kind of a funny thing, chuck. i speak to my friend across the aisle here, that a lot of times people this year have said all you watergate babies are gone now, you and max baucus and chris dodd and then on the house side george miller and henry waxman. so this is the last of the watergate bab

not as smart as me, tom harkin.'m building a library. >> remember, this is the senate where guys were coming up to gillebrand in new york and saying, you know, you look better when you're not quite so fat after she just had a baby or something. we're not talking about the most enlightened people in the world, even liberal senators and i agree with you, there's a little bit of his old showing. >> it's true. i have the same reaction as you did. when she responded, my instikt is why didn't you just laugh it off? why didn't you play offended? a woman diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor going through with the plan to end her own life. the question it's raising now and a massive protest against the washington redskins name. organizers calling it the biggest rally yet. will the increased pressure make any difference? >> i think people are getting a little too politically correct. we're not using it to hurt anybody. it's just a miscot. >> it's drog tore erogatorderog. >> we can't wait to bring you more outnumbered in a

violence against women's act, tom harkin. raising the minimum wage, tom harkin. senator, he's retired, thank him for his service. i'm sure iowans will forgive him. joni erngs may never. >> doug, you see something like that and this gets to the issue of are democrats treated different than than republicans are when it comes to issues like this? like gender. if a republican had said that, this would have been a bigger deal? >> i think if we saw two years ago and four years ago a lot of republican candidates frankly said stupid things about women and women's issues and they were front page all day everyday and every republican had to respond to what somebody -- some republican said in some other state. this is obviously insulting to joni ernst. she's right to take offense at it. we saw offensive comments about governor nikki haley in south carolina. but if you're tom harkin, if you're the braley campaign, this is not what you want to talk about the day before the election. and it pushes joni ernst forward and it's why she's going to win tomorrow. >> bruce braley did

that was tom harkin's seat. and even michigan, where carl levin retired, i think democrats are going to take that but it was a fight. for all the analysis that we correctly do this is part of what i like to do books like i'm doing. random chance, or at least sometimes chance, in this case the combined retirements of actually five democrats, have put the party under an even bigger burden than they would otherwise have been. >> tomorrow night a lot of people are going to be wanting to write, you know, an alternate history. so let's talk about your latest book, if jfk lived, you imagine what jfk's president would be like. the country, what would it look like if there had been a second term, if he had won a second term in. >> well, again, no one knows. when you do alternate or counterfactual history, what i think -- because i've done a bunch of them. you have to get as many real-life facts and then play with them. in my view, and i need to mention the fact that random chance here plays a huge role. if it had stayed

senator harkin served in the u.s. house, representing iowa's fifth district from 1975 to 1984 and then moved on to the senate. in an interview with c-span, senator harkin reflects on his time in washington. this is 35 minutes. >> senator tom harkin of iowa, we are sitting in a room you spent a lot of time in over the years. and done a lot of important pieces of legislation. i am wondering what prompted you to make the decision to retire this year. there is still a lot to do. i guess what prompted me were long discussions with my wife. and thinking about the past and where i am. i came to the decision that 40 years here is long enough for anyone to be here. and, you know this whole concept -- i haveg to power all these offices and a great committee, all that stuff. i think a lot of people stay around too long. so i just started thinking about it. i thought, i am still relatively young. healthy.i feel and contrary to what my political opponents say, my mental faculties are still recent. -- decent. i just love the senate

harkin refused to apologize. when asked if he would apologize he laughed out loud and shot a dog in the face. that didn't happen, i'm told. meanwhile, in other election news, selfies have been banned for an update on all of the key races. let's go live to "red eye's chief correspondent. >> first gay marriage and now we are having dogs jumping rope with humans. i predicted this five years ago. i predicted this, rob. remember i said first you will have men marrying men and then dogs jumping rope? >> are you a radical. you are an extremist. wait until they get to the tether ball. did tom harkin cost the country? should he be imprisoned? >> he didn't cause him the election. that was barack obama he did that. look, i get they want to do this two days before the election. that's fine. we are offended all the time. it should have been an uh knock you -- innocuous comment. they pulled a celebrity name out of the hat. i am surprised they didn't compare them to cindy lauper. >> she is like marianne from "gilligan's island.

harkin interjected issues over the weekend. we have pamela brown with more. >> reporter: john and christine, stakes are high for the senate race in iowa. whoever wins today could tip the balance of power in the senate. it has been a very tight race. extremely competitive. neck and neck. it remains a toss up. in fact, a record number of iowans have voted early this year. the democrats have had a steady advantage, but not as much as they would like. at last check, they were up around 7,000, but to put it in perspective, in 2010, they tripled that lead over the republicans. it is important for the early voting numbers, because republicans have more votes on election day. when talking to both camps, it is very clear that they're conditi confident each side is going to win. the polls have them pretty close, except one this saturday. the republican candidate joni ernst up seven points over her contender bruce braley. the democrat in this race. democrats looked at that poll as an lie and that gave them the most m momentum they need. a

and harkin with controversy over the weekend. pamela brown has more on that. >> reporter: the stakes are high for the race in iowa. whoever wins today could tip the balance of power in the senate. it has been a very tight race. competitive. neck and neck. it remains a toss up. a record number of iowans have voted early this year. 400,000. the democrats have had a steady advantage, not as much as they would like. at last check, up around 7,000. to put it in perspective, in 2010, they tripled the lead over the republicans. it is important for them with the early voting numbers because republicans typically have more votes on election day. when talking to both camps, it's very clear that they're confident each side is going to win. their candidate will cross the finish line as a winner. the polls have consistently showed them pretty close. this one on saturday was a bombshell from the register showing the republican candidate joni ernst up seven points over her contender bruce braley. e democrat in the race. democrats looked at that

harkin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: mr. president, first let me thank my friend and colleague for his characteristic lifetime casket -- lifetime characteristic of him being gracious and very generous in his remarks. chuck grassley and i have served together since 1974. i like to tell people that in 1974, that was a big wave of democrats came in. they called us the watergate babies. we came in in a big wave, won a lot of elections and things like that. and in fact, in iowa that year elected a u.s., democratic u.s. senator, and every house seat -- i think there were six at that time, six house seats all went democratic except one, and that was the seat that chuck grassley won that year bucking the trend, bucking the tide in 1974. so it's kind of a funny thing, chuck. i speak to my friend across the aisle here, that a lot of times people this year have said all you watergate babies are gone now, you and max baucus and chris dodd and then on the house side george miller and h

and now you can add harkin's to that list. we'll see if they difference.e would be the first female sent from iowa to the u.s. senate. that's not something she's ever made a big deal about. it's not something she's tried to emphasize. here's what she said when asked about harkin's comments. >> they are offensive because he is a sitting united states senator who should be supportive of any female that is running. ideas, but, you know, he compared me to taylor swift. that's okay. we're going to shake this off. >> i caught up with the democrat in this race today congressman bruce braley, he did have harkin with him. i asked the senator if he wanted to clarify the comments he made. here's what he told me. >> i shouldn't have said that. okay. i know that.dl but, you know, i always regret when someone feels offended by something i said. i don't care who it is.sxh]s >> if there is a gender issue in this race, it's interesting to look at the numbers this way. you referenced that quinnipiac poll. it still shows that women tend to favor braley and men tend to favor

and then saying -- >> that's the trouble there. >> i don't think it's so bad for harkin.i think it's bad for braley. >> that is indeed a bad thing to find out. >> panel, thank you. coming up, i'm going to talk to you off the record. there's something i need to tell you about the >>> let's go off the record for a minute. i have seen your e-mails, tweets, facebook posts, and comments and you are just as happy as i am that sergeant tahmooressi is home. it has been a long haul. it should have taken two days. what stands out tonight is that sergeant tahmooressi is so lucky to have a good friend like montel and supported viewers like you. i worry about the vets who served us so well and suffering tonight because we may have overlooked them. let this be a reminder to all of us, meaning to me, too, if you know a vet who might be in trouble or hurting or being lonely. make a phone call. sometimes even a two-minute phone call to say thank you can make a huge difference. in the coming days you're going to hear from sergeant tahmooressi right here on the record. that's my off the rec

let me play ernst reaction today from senator harkin. >> i was very offended that senator harkin would that. i think it's unfortunate that he and many of their party believe that you can't be a real woman if you're conservative and you're female. if my name had been john ernst attacked to my resume, senator harkin would not have said those things. >> all right. that's catching a lot of attention. but in reality it's this poem that is showing up her 7 points, luke. >> yeah. i think of the bad things to happen to the braley campaign the last few days the des moines, iowa poll is force about taylor swift. in the poll it's the gold start they're more often right than wrong. nate silver gives them an a plus. it showed he lose on the issue does the person running care about me. it's often an issue democrats do better on. he's behind there. braley fell victim to the personal narrative. she's 44 years old. a younger woman on the republican sides. she's a veteran. she's someone a farmer here in iowa. deep agricultural state. she's not been able to break out of the washington lawyer and every at

if my name had been john ernst, attached to my resume, senator harkin would not have said those things. >> that's called an attack from a defensive position. the most powerful thing in politics when you're defending yourself and your honor, people root for you. >> and, chris, one thing that really comes up with this mess with harkin, what an unforced error. today was the day that bruce braley wanted to be on message, talking about medicare, social security, talking about the health care law, which is somewhat popular here in iowa. not able to do that, because the lead of the local newscast and everything everyone's talking about on the radio and, why would harkin say such a thing? he's since apologized to ernst. she had fun with it, quoting taylor swift, saying, i can shake it off. all that being said, not what bruce braley wanted to talk about the day that he was trying to move turn-out in his way in eastern iowa. >> thank you. joining me is suzi kemp. now we have a tricky situation down there in georgia, which i hate because it complicates things. but is this any reason to believe th

i'll be working again with the harkin institute at the university. i'll be spending a lot of time on disability policy and advancing the cause of people with disabilities in some way, shape, or form -- i don't know exactly house, but in some way, in that way -- and i hope -- i just want to say this to my friend. i hope that at some time, since this is a nonpartisan institute, we have a great board of directors -- in fact, the former chair of the iowan republican party is on the board of the institute -- we want to keep it nonpartisan. i would like to ask my friend to come and speak at and be -- perhaps lead a discussion sometime at the institute at university. i would be honored if my friend would do that, if sometime down the road -- i don't know when. we can work it out. i think you would be well-received and i think young people at drake need to hear the conservative side of the story as well as the liberal side of the story. they need to have that kind of input. so i hope we can work that out. let me just say again that i know in the future tha

they were in iowa just a couple of weeks ago at the annual harkin state fry.that a sign of confidence or are they concerned that democrats who continuously elected tom harkin either may not show or may be less motivated to come this time? >> reporter: i think it shows the democrats are worried here because i think initially early on they thought that this was a race they weren't going to have to worry about. and then joni ernst came from behind as has a razor thin lead in just a few days leading up to election day. so i think that democrats wanted on bring out the big guns. speaking to one operative, he said if you're a democrat, the best surrogate you want is bill clinton. he knows how to get the crowd going. so i think the hope today was that by bill clinton making an appearance, that more people will want to vote early and there will be more volunteers to help out. but no doubt about it, both sides at this point still think they can win this race. and i think that is what is sort of contributing to the amount of enthusiasm. >> hope springs eternal always. p

and then saying -- >> that's the trouble there. >> i don't think it's so bad for harkin.i think it's bad for braley. >> that is indeed a bad thing to find out. >> panel, thank you. coming up, i'm going to talk to you off the record. there's something i need to tell you about the release of sergeant andrew tamaricci next. to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. so i finally made a decision to talk to my dermatologist about humira. humira works inside my body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to my symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance on humira. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where c

would never have said those things. >> senator harkin apologised. a 2016 presidential candidate created headlines, campaigning in maryland. chris christie called the outgoing democratic governor martin o'mallee, lose ir much. >> big taxing marty o'malley, big spending marty o'malley, and in two days, big loser, marty o'mallee and anthony brown. >> last week chris christie yelled at a heckler. it was played on c.b.s. for another potential candidate rand paul. interesting reaction. watch. >> until that time sit down and shut up. [ cheering ] >> reporter: what do you think, is that the right meter for someone getting ready to run for president? >> i think the bully demeanour may go over well in certain places. i grew up in the south and we are yes ma'am, no sir and a little more polite. i think people want a little more of that. >> bully demeanour, people in new jersey engaging in bully demeanour. that's the power poll >>> let's dive into the election. betina joins us from miami, a former director. good to see you, how are you? >> good and you, nice to

we'll play you senator harkin's full remarks.on of "hannity." hannity --. . . mr. clean's grandmother was stronger than people twice her size. and that strength inspired his liquid muscle cleaner. it lifts tough dirt so you do less scrubbing. and it's nozzle stops by itself so less is wasted. sure made grandma proud. mr. clean liquid muscle. ⌝6w over the weekend another exa >>> welcome back to hadn't "hannity." over the weekend another example of the left's very disrespectful rhetoric towards republican female candidates this election cycle is brought to light. this time it came from retiring democratic senator tom harkin of iowa. and he took aim at the republican woman that is running to replace him, joni ernst. take a look at this. >> joni ernst, she's really attractive, and she sounds nice. i don't care if she's as good looking as taylor swift or as nice as mr. rogers. but if she votes like michelle obama, she belo's wrong for sta iowa. >> and earlier today ernst, a combat veteran and a mom, was on fox & friends responding. ta

as you know, senator harkin will be retiring in just a few weeks.at the end of the 113th congress, senator harkin will then close a chapter on public service that spans more than a half century, including four decades in congress. he also served 27 years in the united states navy and u.s. naval reserves, ten years in the house of representatives and 30 years here in the united states senate. now, i think anybody looking at that would say that that's a remarkable and distinguished record of public service. after 40 years of representing iowans in congress, my friend tom soon will leave behind the halls of the u.s. capitol. he also will leave behind a legacy of fiery floor speeches, passionately delivered on behalf of people with disabilities. also for iowa farmers, also for the elderly, also for child laborers and for many causes that he championed such as early childhood education, nutrition and wellness, conservation, renewable energy and the environment and probably lots of others, but those are things that everybody knows that he has worked hard

harkin voiced something they had been thinking all along. independence was going to ernst.applaud him for saying don't vote on someone because they're attractive or seem nice. pay attention to how they are on issues. >> you think this might energize democrats? >> if he had made this comment -- if this had been released a month ago, it would have had more of an effect on this race. i think it's too late to have much of an effect. >> it's not like ernst -- she's a lieutenant colonel in the national guard, served in the state senate. she's no light weight. >> not at all. our poll this past weekend showed almost as many iowa voters think she has as much death as braley. many they think she's strongest on. they think she's best on national debt and other really important topics. >> let's just face it. bruce braley hasn't made the best campaign. he's made a few gaps of his own right? >> there was a day in march when republicans released the video of him seemingly saying a farmer from iowa couldn't be qualified to chair the judiciary committee. that has stuck in voter's minds. it

>> well, first i was very offended that senator harkin would say that. a real woman if you're conservative and you're female. again, i am greatly offended about that. i do believe if my -- please, go ahead. >> what if the roles were reversed? what if this were a republican saying this about a contract, how do you think the press would have taken that? >> oh, i think the press would have been all over this this morning. they would not have let that go. i believe if my name had been john ernst attached to my resume, senator harkin would not have said those things. >> yeah. you know, it seems like -- we've heard it for the last couple of years, a number of democrats, when referring to republican, they say there is a war on women. do you find that deeply offending? i've heard you explain why. would you explain to our audience? >> yes, absolutely. the night of my primary election, i said that this is a phony war on women. first i am a woman and second, i have been to war. i am a combat veteran. this is not a war on women. any time democrats are using the word

>> senator harkin not wanting to apologize in that moment. they sent us this statement -- i'm going to put it to you bluntly our democrats losing it? >> you take at what -- you take what senator harkin's said and i think it wouldn't take joyce brothers or a genius to say -- >> those are two giants of analysis. >> that is the kind of mistake you make when you are tired. i think he wants the seat to go to the democrats. she has not been absolutely teflon but she has withstood a lot of attacks. surprised it took him almost an entire news cycle. >> one thing we know about covering politics is the biggest thing is it caught -- the biggest thing that causes unforced errors is lack of sleep. we are going to be well rested for tomorrow night. you can excuse it as a slip of the tongue. you don't want to see your opponent getting a talking point. >> one more thing on the senate. if you are a daily subscriber and think republicans are going to win the senate you may have thought that was a block. we have another possibility presented for your considerat

tom harkin drew criticism on buzzfeed. >>. this senate race i've been watching some of these it ads. they are sort of this sense that joni ernst, she's really attractive. she sounds nice. i u got to thinking about that. i don't care if she's as good looking as taylor swift or as nice as mr. rogers, but if she votes like michele bachmann, she's wrong for the state of iowa. >> actually that's a good point. it's true. if a republican said that, it would be over. carol lee, might that backfire? >> yeah, i think it might. if there's one thing that any politician, particularly a seasoned one like harkin should know, you don't talk about women's looks in that way. i was in iowa last week and the ernst campaign is very in tune to these kinds of things and is very quick to jump on anything that has remotely a whiff of sexism attached to it. so it's just not something that belongs in a race like this and it's sort of surprising to hear it coming from somebody who understands the state and has been around for so long. >> so what was your

harkin: i will just take a couple, three minutes. i want to make up my friend from pennsylvania for being a gentleman and letting me have a few minutes here to express that before he gives his own expression of support for his bill. first of all, i want to say i appreciate both senator toomey and senator manchin's interest in this issue. we have worked on this over the months to try to accommodate this legislation, to move it, but the issues are complex, the bill would affect millions of people, members of the education and civil rights commission have raised some legitimate concerns that we need to work through. members of the help committee, which i am privileged to chair, on both sides have expressed consideration about moving this by our committee. unfortunately, the senator is asking us just to take his bill without any debate or committee consideration. now, that again is a formula for bad legislation because recent steps have been taken by states to do their own background check requirements. for example, i don't know this par

first, to the fast and furious harkin. he has been regretting and whether his dialing it back is working. peter barnes at the white house. >> well, neil, republicans are charging sexism in this battle over the senate seat in iowa. one new poll out today from quinnipiac has joni ernst and her opponent net, bruce bailey in a dead heat. another from the des moines register has her with a solid lead. they're fighting to replace retiring democrat tom harkin, who in a newly posted video, suggested last week that voters might support ernst because of her looks. >> i've been watching these ads. and there's sort of this sense that -- well, joni earnhardt is really attractive. and she -- i got to thinking about that. i don't care if she is taylor swift. or as nice as mr. rogers, but if she votes like michelle bachmann she is wrong for the state of iowa. >> now, today, harkin said her comments were wrong, a mistake, that he is only human, he didn't want to hurt or found nip but never specifically apologized to ernst, who was a nation

i think tom harkin went for the easy route.ill were if you read between this comments what you say is she may be an attractive woman but you can't trust her policies and she wouldn't be a good candidate. >> i think tom harkin shouldn't have said it and i'm sure he regrets as he should. at the end of a tough cam opinion his comments are a dress i traction. but where he did have a point is joni ernst will vote like any hea -- votelike michele bachman. it's how she is going to vote. if joni ernst is elected to the senate from iowa she would vote the way michele bachmann would. that's what iowa will be voting for if they vote for joni ernst. >> joni ernst is going to vote the way she wants to vote. she talks about castrating hogs. it was a big hit. it was a big risk to take. she is attractive to voters because of her conservative values. she made her campaign about president obama which is a smart thing do when he's unpopular. bill: is this offensive to women when they hear this? >> i would say why it' offensive but it's also petty

>> iowa is one to watch in the race to replace retiring democrat, tom harkin, bruce braley, a democrat, seek ago to take the seat. harry reid said winning iowa is critical for democrats to maintain the majority. republican joni ernst has build herself as a mother, soldier, and independent lead or, a lieutenant colonel in the iowa national guard and this is a hot race in georgia, democrat michelle nunn is socking to replace saxby chambliss. and the republican is making the case that nunn would be a rubber stamp for president barack obama's agent. perdue has taken heat on the issue of outsourcing of jobs. those are some of the key races that could affect the balance of power in the senate. >> mike, thank you very much. even if thing goes the republicans way, they will not have the super majority of 60 necessary to undo the gridlock and will not have the white house as president obama there is for a couple more years yeard has the veto pen. what does that mean for all of us? with all the gridlock in d.c., can they get anything done? to peter barnes. what would a republican-controlled ever

senator harkin has been frustrated by that.en if you look in "the des moines register" poll over the weekend that showed joni ernst very much ahead and the question about who is more substantive or policies could move the state forward, it was bruce braley. yet they're still voting for her -- >> no offense, but this sounds like walter mondale complaining about ronald reagan. >> i'm talking about whether he was frustrated. he's frustrating to see somebody whose agenda is not being presented correctly or listened to correctly -- >> this was one of those races where -- this is another democrat strategist pointed this out, a friend of mine. this is a case where it's great when you make your first impression and the first impression that joni ernst made with that add which is the probably best of the cycle on spending reform, that helped her align herself with those voters in iowa. >> certainly the first time i've heard the word "castrate" -- >> unless you're a pig. >> and then you align that with the contrast that she made against

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she said she was offended by harkin's comments.that if she were a man, he wouldn't have said that. she said she's going to shake it off like taylor swift does. >> all right. we'll be in iowa. pamela brown, thanks. >>> still ahead, we're going to live to kentucky where a challenger is not giving up her fight against senate ma snort leader. we'll take you live to georgia as well where famous southern political families are fighting to establish their own legacies. we asked people a question how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to like, pull it a little further got me to 70 years old i'm going to have to rethink this thing it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ don't put off checking out your medicare options until 65. now is a good time to get the ball rolling. medicare on

. >> i want to play this sound quite from joni ernst, senator harkin, joni ernst and then senator harkinay. >> if she votes like michele bachmann, she's wrong for the state of iowa. >> i was very offended that senator harkin would say that, i think it's unfortunate that he and many of their party believe that you can't be a real woman if you're contest and you're female. >> i want to make it very clear. that i hope that senator every, ever intended anybody, but i'm only human. i make mistakes. >> i'm only human, i make mistakes. >> look, in terms of what he actually said, i don't think this is, you know, if you're going to talk about outrageous comments, he shouldn't have said what he said, but is this to the kind of thing that would decide an election? i don't think so. but what i think has republicans particularly exercised about this is the double standard. if the republican candidate stumping for his success sorry had said something like this, every republican across the country would have had to answer the question, do you agree with what senator harkin said or not, the fact that re

. >> you know iowans are losing a long time democratic alley, tom harkin.e had held that seat for decades. democrats felt pretty good about holding onto the seat. it's really become a barn burner. talk about the two candidates. you've got on the g.o.p. side, johnny erps with one of the most memorable ads. growing up on a farm. castrating hogs. it proved she could cut pork. she would make people squeal in washington. she is a state legislate or as you mentioned. the iowa national guard. something she hasn't talked about a whole lot though is gender. she's never made this about the fact that she would make history were she the first female elected from iowa to the us senate. gender came up over the last few days as harkin was out campaigning and he made some comments don't be fooled by how attractive she is or how nice she is. and he said, it doesn't matter as if she's good-looking as taylor swift. she's not right for iowa. we caught up with him on the campaign trail and i asked harkin if he wanted to clarify. it was wrong. i've made a mistake. i've done that

harkin talking about iowa and bipartisanship. >> mr. president i rise today to celebrate the 75th birthday of my friend and longtime colleague from our home state of iowa, senator tom harkin. as you know, mr. president, senator harkin will be retiring from public office in just a few weeks. at the end of the 113th congress senator harkin will then close a chapter on public service that spans more than a half-century including four decades in congress. he also served 27 years in the united states navy and u.s. naval reserves, 10 years in the house of representatives and 30 years here in the united states senate. now, i think anybody looking at that would say that that's a remarkable and distinguished record of public service. after 40 years of representing iowans in congress, my friend tom soon will leave behind the halls of the u.s. capitol. he also will leave behind a legacy of fiery floor speeches, passionately delivered on behalf of individuals with disabiliti disabilities. also for iowa farmers, also for the elderly, also for child

. >> retiring senator tom harkin.caught my attention. he said, quote, there's sort of this sense. he's talking about ernst here. there's sort of this sense that, well, i hear so much about ernst. she's really attractive. and she sounds nice. i got to thinking about that. i don't care if she's as good looking as taylor swift or as nice as -- has there been any backlash on the ground with regard to that comment? >> ernst said this morning she was offended. if her name was ernst, tom harkin never would have said the thing. will this sway voters? maybe a few. you and i are talking about this right now. hark harkin, who was trying to push braley over the top especially in eastern iowa campaigning with him, it kind of makes him a little bit of damaged goods now. it's just an enforced error that comes at awful time for the braley campaign ahead of the des moines register poll on saturday. >> it didn't seem extem rainious either. i know you talked to senator roberts. what's the sense you got from him? does he feel like this t

after that, mark grassley and tom harkin. another chance to see republican ofernors ask us a range issues including immigration, congressional partisanship, and the tray 16 presidential race. race.6 presidential then "washington journal" future of president obama's immigration proposal. on the iranian nuclear program negotiations which have a deadline this monday. we will take your calls. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> a group of authors have a conversation about the state of race in america and what the future may be like. they discussed the ferguson, missouri case and community responses and make addictions on the impending grand jury decision. they shared their personal stories of expenses with police and law enforcement. this was hosted by the brooklyn historical society. this program contains language some reviewers might find offensive. this is about 90 minutes. [applause]

in an interview, senator harkin reflect on his time in washington. this is 45 minutes. >> senator tom harkin of iowa, we are sitting in a room you spent a lot of time in over the years. and done a lot of important pieces of legislation. i am wondering what prompted you to make the decision to retire this year. there is still a lot to do. >> well, i guess what prompted me were long discussions with my wife. and thinking about the past and where i am. i came to the decision that 40 years here is long enough for anyone to be here. and, you know this whole concept of clinging to power -- i have all these offices and a great committee, all that stuff. i think a lot of people stay around too long. so i just started thinking about it. i thought, i am still relatively young. at least i feel healthy. and contrary to what my political opponents say, my mental faculties are still decent. i just love the senate. i love my work here. i love the give-and-take. i look to legislate. i love politics. so i will miss the senate. it is a long time to be here. i do not t

both of these contenders are trying to fill the seat of retiring democrat senator tom harkin.e has been out in the campaign trail with braley. he made some comments over weekend. he said at one point, listen when you see ads of joni ernst, don't get sucked in she is really attractive or really nice. he added on to that comment t sparked controversy and a strong response from joni ernst. >> i don't care she is as good-looking at taylor swift or nice as mr. rogers. but if she votes like michele bachmann, she is wrong for the state of iowa. >> very he have phonedded that senator harkin would say. that i think it is unfortunate that he and many of their party believe that you can't be a real woman if you're conservative and you're female. i believe if my name had been john ernst, attached to my resume', senator harkin would not have said those things. >> reporter: the interesting thing is that even though joni ernst is one of the top female contenders for the gop out this cycle, she hasn't talked a lot about her gender, the fact she would make history here if she was voted first f

that is where tom harkin is retiring from an open seat privately tied up between republican and fourerm democrats. live for us in ankeny, iowa, north of des moines. what is the final pitch from the candidates today? >> heather, think they both know it will be about turnout and their ground game. because it is so close, they have to turnout every potential voter they have. democrats are losing a long time champion of theirs with the harkin retirement and they hoped this would be a reasonable seats for them to hold on but this has been down to the way with polls as close as they are going into election day today. harkin has been out campaigning with the democratic race, sparking a little controversy talking about attractiveness. g.o.p. contender in this race saying it doesn't matter if she is as good-looking as taylor swift, she is wrong for iowa. i asked if he wanted to clarify those comments, here is what he told me and the response as well. >> i want to make it very clear i hope i never intended to offend her or anybody else, but look, i am only human, i make mistakes. >> he did som

alexander has different priorities than harkin. but there are things with for-profit colleges, higher education things. i think early preschool, early education is a big thing of murray's. she is a big proponent of the pre-k i think you might see some i think you might see sort of initiatives. -- the pre-k initiatives. i think you might see some smaller scale educational bills. i think you'll see some areas -- but i think these grand re-authorizations we've been waiting for for years, i don't expect to see them again. >> yes, sir. >> edward roeder, sunshine press. we've not seen much commentary on what effect the elections would have on the democrats? do you see the democratic caucuses moving farther to the left? to the right to accommodate the republican victories? how do you see it changing in each chamber? i will go first, very very quickly, which is i don't know. , i don't think they're going to move to the center. i think as you probably are aware, the last white male democrat from the deep south was defeated on tuesday. the h

on wednesday, chuck grassley took the floor to mark senator harkin's 75th birthday. to reminisce about iowa politics. this is about 20 minutes. >> mr. president, i rise today to celebrate the 75th birthday of my friend and longtime colleague from my home state of iowa, senator tom harkin. ht the end of the 113t congress, he will close a chapter on public service that spans more than a half-century, including four decades in congress, he also served 27 years in the united states navy reserves, 10 years in the house of representatives, 30 years in the senate. i think anybody looking that would say that is a remarkable and distinguished record of public service. after 40 years of representing islands in congress, my friend tom soon will leave behind the halls of the u.s. capitol. he also will leave behind a legacy of fiery floor speeches passionately delivered on behalf of individuals with disabilities. iowa farmers. also for the elderly. also for child laborers, and for many causes that he championed, such as early childhood education, nutrition and wellness, conservat

tom harkin. he is not being separated from this at all.ng to the poll that you soed with the-point lead. >> what are the numbers looking like now? does we have the neg up? i'm impressed that you didn't work in a single taylor swift rrc reference. >> you hit it all. you knew you were trouble. >> that's what i was looking for. >> real quickly. traily is tied in the quinnipiac poll. the des moines poll is more of the gold standard. on the issue of who cares more about me, ernst is beating him. for a republican, we are significant. he is trailing by three points. those things are tough to overcome. democrats have a better ground game, but if joni ernst is tough, it's tough to see how he pulls off the win tomorrow night. >> a little taylor swift in the mix can't hurt. you are doing great work out there. head over to topeka, kansas where pat roberts is in the political fight of his life. kelly o'donnell is there following the story. thanks so much. senate hopefuls are starting to pull away in iowa, but kansas is a toss up. how likely is it that

there was also the kerfuffle with senator harkin, the one who is leaving the seat open. and democrats said he was just kind of voicing a thought which we've been having, which is that it's really frustrating that independents seem to be tilting toward joni ernst because of superficial reasons, he was trying to say don't vote for y >> thank you for joining us. youngman, a reporter from the lexington leader. sam, what's the state of the race in kentucky? it seems like senator mcconnell has opened up a lead beyond the margin of error now. >> well, it's kentucky, and it's politics. so we're all making sure we don't leave any horse racing metaphors untouched. allison expects a photo finish. it does seem like senator mcconnell has broken clear and taken a significant lead down the stretch. he's looking at eight to nine points in the last polls we've seen. democrats are very excited and hopeful that this turnout operation is going to be a magic bullet. >> thank you very much for joining us from kentucky tonight. sam young, really appreciate it. >> thanks. >>> now joining my is

tom harkin made a fairly gross sexist comment, the part she could look like taylor swift and be as nices mr. rogers, that's not pleasant. but the first part, i hear a lot about had her and she's very attractive. that's an error, he is a clearly not, not on his game and he doesn't understand that was a sexist comment. >> do you think the republicans are remiss not jumping on this, strongly, and saying, come on, what is this? >> i think a little goes a long way when it comes to umbrage taking by republicans. if you get into a battle by the gotcha stuff and high thresholds, the next time a republican screws up, youuget it back. and voters like it when you carry the water on outrage aj with the republicans, the press doesn't want to do the work and leave it aside. >> yes. chris stirewalt, thanks for being on the program. and i understand you've been on the program previously. as you just saw the man, his name is charles payne. 's he been on this program all of last week, saying, hey, november, that's a great month for stocks. do you think the market has nowhere to go, but up? >> it can alwa

there was also the kerfuffle with senator harkin, the one who is leaving the seat open. and democrats said he was just kind of voicing a thought which we've been having, which is that it's really frustrating that independents seem to be tilting toward joni ernst because of superficial reasons, he was trying to say don't vote for joni ernst just because she looks attractive, make sure you vote on the issues. tomorrow bruce braley is going to stop by an oscar mayer plant to visit with shift workers. and then he goes to his hometown of brookland to accompany his mom to go vote. and joni ernst is wrapping up a 24-hour tour where she will, she started, today, and then she'll have a graveyard shift overnight where she goes to a pizza place at 1:00 and a perkins restaurant at 3:45 and finishes herself by voting tomorrow morning. >> thank you for joining us. >>> now joining me is sam youngman, a reporter from the lexington leader. sam, what's the state of the race in kentucky? it seems like senator mcconnell has opened up a lead beyond the margin of error now. >> well, it's kent

i was saying there's been a lot made about this tom harkin comment likening ernst to taylor swift.ably seems frivolous to even bring up but i'm just curious if you think on the ground there it will have any effect at all. >> it may not have an effect on voter turnout but it certainly has people talking. it's been all over the local television stations and the national cable shows so people are talking. they're trying to decide was it sexist? not sexist? what was he talking about? even if it's not a voter turnout mechanism. it's interrupted the democratic candidate in this race and it's interrupted bruce braley's closing message. >> got in the way of the clargment from the braley campaign. besides taylor swift, he've heard about castrating hogs and chickens in this campaign and i've heard a lot from national democrats saying that all this circus of the race in iowa has obscured policy positions here and that joni ernst's conservative positions haven't been highlighted by the braley campaign as much as they could have or should have been. >> joni ernst has been promoting issues -- sh

harkin making headlines this weekend for something that he said, talking about voertds, warning them of being taken in by the "attractive and nice joanie earnst." >> [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: earnst crisscrosses state, both know this time it is all about motivating the base, getting folks to turn out and grassroots efforts, they are busy doing that on the final day here in the hawkeye state. she also, by the way, hasn't made much of her gender and the fact she would be the first female elected from iowa to the u.s. senate. this he did take time out a short time ago to respond to those comments from harkin comparing hing her to taylor sw >>'s sitting united states senator who should be supportive of any female who is running. he doesn't have to agree with my ideas but compare me to taylor swift, that ast okay, we are gonna shake this off, drive on, do the right thing, gonna push this next 24 hours and make sure that our message is heard. >> reporter: you can see there, her having a little fun with it referring to taylor swift's hit song lyrics "shake it off" a tweet from joanie earn

and i did hear from senator harkin who is retiring from the seat. democratic senator tom harkin. >> well, you are going to be even extra popular with the iowa caucuses. i expect you will get a lot of phone calls, sort of like the law clerk to the federal judge who always gets phone calls. you are going to be very popular, are you aware of that? you will get some extra attention? >> well, i think by having the first in the nation caucus status is exciting. and, of course, yes, we will have a number of 2016 presidential hopefuls, which will want to come through iowa. i'm happy to show all of them the wonderful attributes that iowa has. >> well, i'm a midwesterner. i love wisconsin. i love iowa. i love all the states. but what in the world took iowa so long to send a woman to washington? have you figured that one out? >> well, greta, i do believe it's because of senator harkin who is retiring. he is our junior senator after serving 30 years in the united states senate. senator grassley has served for 34 years. and having both of them holding those offi