trying to explain away the gaffe romney campaign chairman john sununu went on endlessly and d.c. this morning and said this if this is fewer kids in the classroom the taxpayers really do want to hear that there will be fewer teachers absolutely i think this is a real issue and people ought to stop jumping on it is a gaffe and i understand there's wisdom in the comments if americans vote for mitt romney in november they will be electing a man who wants to see a country filled with poorly educated children and safe neighborhoods and that is very very. this is phytoplankton basically giant clouds a little tiny plants that fill the oceans it's the bottom of the food chain meaning that if it collapses so too does all other marine life it also produces about half of the oxygen in our atmosphere secure off the phytoplankton and the world as we know it ends the bad news we're killing off the phytoplankton back in two thousand and seven a study was done on the reproduction rate of fido plankton off the gulf of maine and scientists were alarmed to learn that the reproduction rate had decre

turn their anger on the media while you get to deliver the message you want which is exactly what john sununu did. that way it's a win-win o win for romney. >> bill: what's a more important discussion, mary ann the economy or the birth certificate. >> for most people the economy however the fact that we are here. >> why would the cnn anchor lead with the birth certificate? why? >> because in the last 24 hours donald trump had flogged the birth certificate issue again and again and again year five of this. >> bill: trump has nothing to do with sununu. they have nothing to do with each other. >> but who had appeared with mitt romney on the night he clinched the nomination. that made it timely. >> bill: all right. now, janine, i'm a little surprised that you feel that the cnn people like let's meet together so how can we help barack obama today? i don't think it works that way. now, that being said, do i think ms. o'brien is sympathetic to president obama? absolutely. all day long, every day of the year. but do i think she meets and says oh how can i advance his agenda? i don't think she does th

former governor john sununu and former senator john sununu join us now., gentlemen. >> thank you. >> it's good to be here. how are you? >> who's more proud of their career in politics? i want to see you guys argue. who did a better job? >> my mother. my mother was chairman. she was chairman of the school board for five or six years in salem, new hampshire. there was no tougher job in politics than that. and she came out looking even better than when she went in. that's impressive. >> i'm afraid to turn you guys loose on the president and on this election. i mean, you guys -- even separately, you guys are both pretty tough. governor, let me start with you. >> yeah. >> what do you make of the -- it's vitriolic and ugly and it's going to get a loss worse. >> but it will calm down because this administration is probably the most incompetent in history and eventually as more and more people start paying attention, you're going to find, i believe, this election to be a lot different than it looks today. and mitt romney is going to do extremely well. >> what abo

dick armey, bill paxon, steve largent, saxby chambliss, john sununu, lindsey graham, tom coburn, susan molinari, john kasich, bill zellef, and i know i've missed some. >> guest: right. c-span: almost -- other than tom delay and a couple of others, the team that you started out with are gone. >> guest: well, you know, that happens in congress today. people used to say, well, you know, you go to congress, those people are there forever. the term limit -- you know, the term limit issue and all those things that we talked about -- you know, the average -- i don't know what exactly the average term of a congressman, but it used to be for a long time. today, it's probably eight years or ten years is the average time that a person stays here. and they cycle off and do something else. a lot of those folks that you mentioned are either in the senate or headed for the senate so i mean, they step up and do other things. saxby chambliss and lindsey graham, and coburn's running for the senate, and others. so you know, there's other careers, too. c-span: tom coburn did this show once, and it was --

here's romney supporter john sununu on msnbc. >> you have cities in the country in which the school population peaked 10, 15 years ago and yet the number of teachers that they have maintained has not changed. i think this is a real issue and people ought to stop jumping on it as a gaffe and understand there's wisdom in the comment. >> sununu sees wisdom in the idea of reducing the number of teachers in this country. even though the census numbers show an increase in school enrollment every year. by 2015, enrollment is projected to be nearly 10 million students higher than it was at the beginning of the last decade. of course, it wouldn't be a full-court press from the gop without words from the real leader of the republican party. >> nobody's opposed to cops or firefighters or teachers, but they aren't private sector jobs. they do not contribute to economic growth. >> i guess rush limbaugh doesn't think teachers, firefighters, or police officers ever spend any money. it's frustrating enough to have republican spokesmen push this bill of goods but it's even worse when the people responsible for

pursue and seems he was pursuing it because they put out their number one surrogate this morning, john sununu on television to double down on the romney line, then it seems like something like the rule of holes is when your nee one, stop digging. i'm not sure romney is going to stop digging on this one. >> gentlemen, thank you both. i we shall we had more time for howard fineman and david corn. >> thank you. >> thank you. >>> what does it mean for the white house now that attorney general eric holder is investigating whether top secret national security details were leaked? that's ahead. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ fe male annncer ] [ fe gain fireworks scent booster, inspired by women who like control, which, last time i checked, was most women. sprinkle as much as you'd like into the wash to boost the scent. gain. anything but ordinary. >>> you might not have known the name of the commerce secretary but you do now. john bryson was cited for felony hit and run after a pair of car crashes southern california over the weekend. bryson allegedly rear ended a car stopping for a p

let's listen to john sununu defending the idea that, you know what, we have too many cops in america. too many public schoolteachers in america. let's listen to that. >> let me respond as a taxpayer, not as a representative of the romney campaign. there are municipalities, there are states where there is flight of population. and as the population goes down, you need fewer teachers. there are places where just pumping money in to add to the public payroll is not what the taxpayers of this country want. i think this is a real issue and people ought to stop jumping on it as a gaffe, and understand there's wisdom in the comment. >> jonathan capehart, he didn't have a prescription for the places where the population is increasing and how many teachers or. cops that they need. >> this is one more statement from the land of mitt-believe, where suddenly we don't need cops, we don't need firefighters, we don't need teachers. can you imagine if a democrat had said this or if president obama had said this today or even five years ago or ten years ago, a democrat making that kind of statement? w

purr sound seems he was pursuing it because they put out their number one surrogate this morning, john sununu on television to double down on the romney line, then it seems like something like the rule of holes is when your nee one, stop digging. i'm not sure romney is going to stop digging on this one. >> gentlemen, thank you both. i we shall we had more time for howard fineman and david corn. >> thank you. >> thank you. >>> what does it mean for the white house now that attorney general eric holder is investigating whether top secret national security details were leaked? that's ahead. this is hard ball, the place for politics. stay in the moment sanya focus lolo, focus let's do this i am from baltimore south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love this is for everyone back home it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and tr

pursue and seems he was pursuing it because they put out their number one surrogate this morning, john sununu on television to double down on the romney line, then it seems like something like the rule of holes is when your nee one, stop digging. i'm not sure romney is going to stop digging on this one. >> gentlemen, thank you both. i we shall we had more time for howard fineman and david corn. >> thank you. >> thank you. >>> what does it mean for the white house now that attorney general eric holder is investigating whether top secret national security details were leaked? that's ahead. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] knowing your customers is important to any successful business. which is why at wells fargo, we work with you to get to know the unique aspects of your business. we can recommend financial solutions that can work for you that have helped millions of business owners save time, reduce expenses, and maximize cash flow. as the number one small business lender for nine years running... we're with you when you need us. so you can be there for your custo

yeah johnson knew, he can be cranky. -- john sununu, he can be cranky. i got a tirade. why i needed to do this for my country and my present -- why was i going home? i mumbled some things about going back to my law firm. i said, governor, my mom has been diagnosed with cancer. he came out from behind his big test his eyes were cheering up. he gave me a big hug. he said, you need to go home. he was right. , of cancer but she lived for two and a half more years. before we lost her, she got an invitation to see me sworn in as a member of congress. in her time of trial, she started meeting with a prayer group regularly. she knew that she was going to her eternal home. there was no question in her mind. her 16 years until she -- until he passed away, my father could not wait until the opportunity to join my mom. like them, my faith sustains me. like them, i pray every day. sometimes i prayed for guidance on capitol hill if that is needed. sometimes i am not sure what message i'm getting, but i try. [laughter] but i have lots of room to grow in my journey. q. ever go to churc

john fuglesang. thank you, boston. 18 minutes after the hour. let's continue on "the stephanie miller show." >> announcer: for a good time, call now. of sununu, you're wrong. mitt romney, you're wrong. we need more teachers, not fewer teachers and more cops and more firefighters that support our admitted that that look, we were able to keep a lot of the folks because of the stimulus. >> bill: absolutely. again, do you great work, judd. thank you. all of your colleagues at think progress. we'll see you again next >> all right, we got a great power panel four guys today. don't i say that every night? it's true every night. jimmy, comedian, strong progressive, one of our regulars here. senior fellow at the academy for america's future. you guys were supposed to be called the regulators in the beginning. let's do it for the first time. the regulators are here. are republicans committing treason? how do you like that for a question. robert draper has a book called do not ask what good we do. he talks about a meeting that happened immediately after president obama's inauguration where the republicans said: >> that's really interesting. not to the

. >> bill: let's listen to john sununu saying you're damn right.is many teachers. >> you have cities in this country in which the school population peaked 10, 15 years ago and yet the number of teachers they have maintained has not changed. i think this is a real issue and people ought to stop jumping on it as a gaffe and understand there's wisdom in the comment. >> bill: of course, john sununu doesn't give evidence of the fact there are all of these cities out there that have lost students yet have all of these teachers right on the payroll. >> yeah, not generally a problem that you hear about is teachers that would not -- with not a lot to do. i think the reality of course, is that you know, you could use some more teachers and there's really a big shortage of specially qualified teachers in the country. >> bill: sitting right in the chair, dennis van roekel, head of the nea told us there are 450,000 fewer teachers today. that doesn't mean there are fewer students. it doesn't mean there are fewer schools. it doesn't mean there are fewer classroom