let's start with ken bennett, also cochair of mitt romney's arizona campaign.y that the president may be excluded from the state ballot. but it's not his fault. blame the birthers. >> i'm not a birther. i believe that the president was born in hawaii. or at least i hope he was. but my responsibility as secretary of state is to make sure that the ballots in arizona are correct. >> bennett demanded, as arizona's secretary of state, that hawaiian officials verified the authenticity of the president's birth certificate. in response, officials over there mirrored by the lunacy have asked bennett to verify that he has the authority to make such a demand. the question would be, i would ask all of the candidates including the president maybe to submit a certified copy of their birth certificate. but i don't want to do that. >> if you're waiting for the romney campaign to defend the behavior of their arizona state cochair, then make yourself comfortable, because you'll have to wait for some time. meantime, the state's other sheriff joe arpaio. the team is also dedicated

. >> evidently ken bennett didn't get that memo. doesn't receive personal confirmation from the state of hawaii and the officials there after an authentic birth scertificate its possible he could keep president obama's name off the ballot. bennett said he got over 1200 e-mails asking him to do an investigation of his own. when he was pressed about playing to the birthers, this is what he had to say. >> i'm not bplaying to the birthers. i believe the president was born in hawaii or i hope he was. >> did you catch that? i hope he was. he's eyeing a gubernatorial run. that's right. it happens that ken bennett has an exploratory committee and started raising money. bowing to the birthers to snag conservative voters. where have i heard that before? >> i'm going to look at it and many other people are going to look at it. you're going to have many people looking at it and they will have to make a decision. i hope it's the right deal. i'm sure, i hope it's the right deal. we have to look at it. experts will look at it. i am really happy. h

. >> that was ken bennett secretary of state. >> stephanie: hawaii has given him the information thattt is satisfied. >> joe arpaio is officially wasting taxpayer money. >> stephanie: how do you feel about that in arizona, using your tax dollars? >> caller: it nauseates me. i'm using cory booker's words. it nauseates me. >> stephanie: unbelievable. he was going to keep barack obama off the ballot until he had evidence. >> interesting. >> mick jagger, getting that satisfaction. >> hawaii actually said -- actually, you need to send us why you wouldn't think that the information we've already posted isn't enough. and that just meant more paperwork for him and he had to explain his stupid position and why, by the way, anybody who moves from hawaii to have their driver's license nullified instantly because one standard cannot be applied to one person versus somebody else. >> stephanie: he's not a birther himself. >> no. >> stephanie: at least i hope he was. [ wah wah ] >> stephanie: he said he was doing his job going over the ballot and responding to constituent's concerns. >> ken has been

a "the washington post" editorial that makes the point in 1/50 of 1% of arizonans demanded that ken bennettepublican secretary of state, go to work in the nude, would he comply? not likely, mr. bennett is planning to run for governor in two years, it wouldn't pay to pander to crack pots and humiliate himself in the bargain or would it? why are these guys talking about it? from they think it works to rile up the base, talking to crazy people. they would not reopen the -- whether there was a real moon landing or not, but they're going to relitigate this over and over and over. and swewe're paying attention. i tried to not write mr. sheriff joe. i don't write about him, maybe he'll go away, but it's not working. >> sending a deputy from his threats management unit, also his cold case posse to hawaii. this is the kind of gumshoe reporting that only -- i don't know -- crazy people practice. >> tax dollars at work. >> and this is somebody you have to remember who is -- who looks like he's facing an investigation by the department of justice. >> yes. >> and who is doing this in part as a form of p

news, hawaii provided verification of president obama's birth to arizona's secretary of state, ken bennett. bennett claimed he needed proof of obama's citizenship before he could put his name on the ballot in november. spokesman for bennett said he received hawaii's verification and not clear if it will bring the dispute to a close. >>> memories of world war ii from a woman behind the scenes. >> and that was an i.d. for the building, dirtsy and greasy. >> the big honor coming to a local woman who has seen it all next. next. . >>> and in a few hours, we'll know who is the next "american idol." phillip phillips from georgia up against jessica sanchez, the 16-year-old girl from california. steven tyler said it's a dead heat. the action starts at 8:00 p.m. on fox 5. on fox 5.  on fox 5.  still thinking of replacing the truck? i just don't know where to start. glad you made it. start by choosing from over 30,000 used cars and trucks. carmax. start here. . >>> there is a 104-year-old military veteran living in our area. not a man but a woman and she will sit month the hon

first, republican secretary of state ken bennett also co-share of mitt romney's arizona campaign, hasent may be excluded from the state's ballot. bennett is demanding that hawaiian officials verify the authenticity of the president's birth certificate. oh, yes, that old chestnut again. in response, hawaiian officials wearied by this lunacy have asked bennett to verify that he has the authority to make such a demand. meantime, the state's other misanthro misanthrope, sheriff joe arpaio has decided to ignore authorities and dispatched his cold case posse direct to hawaii. assisted by one actual deputy paid for by local taxes, the team is also dedicated to cracking the case of the birth certificate. now, aside from the fact that he's supposed to be a law enforcement official as opposed to a circus act, sheriff joe doesn't care about the criticism. it's one deputy, so what, arpaio says, adding that the taxpayer expense will be reimbursed, but at least this deluded and deranged i mbecile is asking th right question, so what indeed? because while everybody already knows that the president i

we had him on last night, and now ken bennett, the secretary of state for arizona, and the person responsible for running the state's elections says he is awaiting proof that the president's birth certificate is authentic and something that the state of hawaii has confirmed more than once. and here he is the secretary of state in a radio interview yesterday. >> i'm not a birther. i believe that the president was born in hawaii. or at least i hope he was. but, my responsibility as secretary of the state is to make sure that the ballots in arizona are correct and that those people whose names are on the ballot have met the qualify kae qualifycations of the office they are seeking. >> if you don't get an answer from hawaii and they refuse to comply with this, will you remove the president from the ballot? >> that is possible. or the other option would be that i would ask all of the candidates, including the president, maybe to submit a certified copy of their birth certificate, but i don't want to do that. >> you know, you are a birther and you talk like one. that guy won't quit, will he? but ea

crazy alert and under cover unicorn last week arizona secretary of state ken bennett said he would remove president obama from the state's ballot until he received proof from hawaii that the president was in fact born there well in response to this latest flare up of birth or ism seventeen thousand people have signed a petition asking bennett to investigate mitt romney as well specifically for the possibility that he might be a unicorn that's right seventeen thousand people think mitt romney might be a unicorn and feel that the issue needs to be cleared up with a thorough and lengthy investigation or since mythical creatures can't be president united states mitt romney would probably have to end his campaign if he was found to be a unicorn but if he was a minute that might be a whole different story so if mitt romney could be a unicorn what could other politicians be as mythical creatures could for example chris christie actually be the elusive big foot quick production note this a.p. photo was not doctored in any way coming out bank of america has become the latest big bank to lay off am

today secretary of state ken bennett in arizona explained he only pursued it on behalf of constituentts and adding hawaiian officials complied with the request and i consider the matter closed. benet said tuesday if the actions embarrassed the state of arizona he was sorry. a pinata with south carolina republican for nikki haley's face on it was the guest of dishonor at a retirement dinner for outgoing president of the state's afl-cio union. here you can see donna dewitt repeatedly bashing the nikki haley effigy to enthusiast delight of progressive constituents and she says she has no regret because it was all in fun. however, the washington based afl-cio disagrees saying it was inappropriate joke. governor haley tweeted the video adding, "wow! i wonder if the unions think this kind of thing will make people take them seriously." finally the man who made channel surfing possible died over the weekend at the age of 96. eugene policy invented the wireless television remote control in 1955. polly began his career with zeenet electron nix stock room before rising through the engineering r

arizona attorney general ken bennett threatened to keep the president off of his state's ballot.tax pay or money to send investigators to hawaii. i have been to his prison by the way, they really do dress them like that. colorado rep mike coffman made a speech questioning whether he is a real american. >> i think that -- as i -- i stand by my statement that i misspoke and i apologize. >> and who are you apologizing to? >> i stan by my statement that i misspoke and i apologize. >> he repeated that statement three times. it's all very sad, and at this point i got to say the birthers are like those star wars fans. and it is racist. these birthers have never once demanded a caucasian politician produce a birth certificate or asked for it. i'm not saying they hate african american. they are not necessarily bigots. you know that cousin you have who sends you that chain emails about how obama is a foreign-born muslim that cousin who begins his emails with i'm not a racist but -- racism is institutionalized bigotry. a lot of folks don't even question it. that way your cousin can have all

now ken bennett, the man responsible for the state's election, saying he is waiting for proof that thetificate is authentic. here is is in a radio interview yesterday. >>up not a birther. i believe the president was born in hawaii, or at least i hope he was. but my responsibility as a secretary of the state is to make sure that the ballots in arizona are correct and those people whose names are on the bat loll have met the qualification for the office they're seeking. >> if you don't get an answer from hawaii in time, if they refuse to comply with this, will you remove the president from the ballot? >> that's possible if -- or the other option would be i would ask all of the candidates including the president, maybe two submit a certified copy of their birth certificate, but i don't want to do that. >> you know when you're a birther? you talk like one. jan brewer vetoed a so called birther bill that would potential candidates to prove their citizenship. she called the whole thing a "bridge too far" up next, can president obama do something democrats rarely do, win the veteran's vote. a

this is ken bennett, in arizona.on the record since 2009 that i believe the president was born in hawaii. i am not a birther. at the request of a constituent, i asked the state of hawaii for a verification in lieu of certified copy. we're merely asking them to officially confirm they have the president's birth certificate in their possession and are awaiting their response. what do you think about ken bennett's statement? >> i don't know, wolf. i'm not going down this road. i said from the very beginning i believe the president is an american and it is a distraction. i think that where we need to be focused in on is the economy and the lousy job this president's done for this country. he hasn't followed through on a single promise. it's time to put someone in the white house that's made a life of making a promise and keeping one and that's mitt romney, someone who actually understands how business and small pis operates so that we can get our country back on track. >> chairman of the republican party, reince, thanks

. >> ken bennett says if he doesn't get proof, he might strike mr.ll. you know, the presidential ballot. so my question to you, will this birther thing ever, ever, ever, ever go away? pete? >> maybe the ninth circuit should hire ken bennett as a team building clown for their retreat. that way he could ask them when they go to hawaii, they can bring back a copy of his birth certificate. as long as the president's name is barack hussein obama it's not going to go away because there's a sliver of bigoted racist americans. this would be the equivalent of me asking the lab that created mitt romney to show us the blueprints. it's ridiculous. the guy went to columbia, harva harvard, a three-term state senator, he's an american. this has to end. >> boris. >> it doesn't get us anywhere as republicans. that's the problem with it from my point of view. we can win this election in november on the merits. there have been three years of 8% or higher unemployment. gdp is absolutely crawling and getting worse and worse. so we don't need to talk about this right now.

congresswoman vicky hartzler and arizona ken bennett and the iowa republican party. this continues to fester because republican leadership will not shut it down. even the republican candidate for president uses birther donald trump as his biggest fund-raiser. here's the latest example, a chance to dine with donald and mitt. let's bring in editor of the nation magazine. great to have you. isn't this an issue of leadership. >> i hate we have to sit on the people's air waves and talk about it. i think we do. a party like fish rots from the top. we have here something we've seen through american history. richard hoff stetler wrote a book, "the paranoid style in american politics. 've seen this and now have fox news,age university to the tea party and they're unwilling to fully repudiate these wingnut crack nut theories and allow this to fester in a way that brings out the worst bigotry and ugliness in -- >> how should boehner handle it? what should he do? >> he should end -- not just boehner, mitt romney and the entire republican party needs to say, we need to call a hal

arizona you secretary of state -- arizona secretary of state ken bennett is requesting that hawaii's y of state confirm that the president was born in hawaii. if he doesn't get an answer, bennett says the president may not be on the arizona ballot. now, this all started with a charge by controversial sheriff joe arpaio. >> when sheriff arpaio's posse released a press conference a few weeks ago or a month ago or whenever it was that the birth certificate posted on the white house website might be fraudulent, i started getting as you might imagine, literally over 1200 e-mails. >> hawaii's attorney general says if bennett wants confirmation he's going to have to prove he legitimately needs it. hawaii has confirmed multiple times that obama was born there. >>> a health warning for baby boomers. the federal government is urging them to take the hepatitis c test. baby boomers are classified as those born between the years 1946 to 1964. hepatitis c kills more americans each year than aids and is the number 1 reason for liver transplants. the government says baby boomers might be at risk due

. >> secretary of state ken bennett last week floated the idea of not putting president obama on thete ballot if the state of hawaii won verify his birth in the united states. yesterday hawaii put out the president's birth certificate again and bennett said now he now apologizes if he is embarrassed his state. these guys are unbelievable. >>> up next, while the economy isn't up nationally yet, it is in key states. that's good news for president obama of course. you are watching "hardball." a place for politics. wow. this is new. yep. i'm sending the dancing chicken to every store in the franchise to get the word out. that could work. or you could use every door direct mail from the postal service. it'll help you and all your franchisees find the customers that matter most: the ones in the neighborhood. you print it or find a local partner. great. keep it moving honey. honey? that's my wife. wow. there you go. there you go. [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. free-credit-score-dot-com'sur boargonna direct you ♪ts ♪ ♪

arizona's secretary of state ken bennett is asking hawaii for proof president obama was born there. but some of his constituents don't. he's considering taking obama off the election ballot in arizona if hawaii doesn't provide proof. >> just answer the question. yes do you have a birth certificate ffr this guy? if they're not willing or can't do that, we might have some other thinking to do. >> if you don't get an answer from hawaii in time, if they refuse to comply with this, will you remove the ballot from the ballot? will you exclude him? >> that's possible. >> democrats are furious saying this move is to set bennett up for a run for governor. even republicans are dismisses his comments. john mccain and jan brewer stated they believe he is an american citizen. >>> this week's washington post kids post is all about roller coasters, reading, and rodentro. >> here's a preview. >> this week, a roller coaster that has no seat. a contest so fun we just had to repeat. joining us is tracy graham of washington's kids post. >> good to be with you. >> a new roller coaster that is sure to ge

in response to arizona secretary of state ken bennett threatening to remove the president from the ballotnett's box demanding proof that romney is not something other than human. dana milbank is a political columnist for the washington post and he joins us live from washington. dana, did memorial day mark the unofficial start of summer or the stupid season in this campaign? >> well, martin, i think you should take very seriously this corner movement which i -- >> i do take it very seriously. and indeed you have written extensively about it. >> yes. it is no more outlandish than the subjectings that obama was born in kenya and that has been disproved but as people who started this movement point out, it has not been demonstrated that mitt romney is not a unicorn. we don't want it believe he is. in fact we haven't seen the long form birth certificate. not seen dna. not seen his head shaved to see if there is a horn. >> so there would be requiring his head shaved to see if there a horn. >> that is what the group left out. 18,000 people wrote to arizona asking for this. i'm going to be more l

>> ken bennett -- >> he is the one who said i am not a birther, but this is something we should lookromised to kick president obama off of the state's ballot until president obama once again reiterated, and once again, and once again -- >> 17,000 people signed a petition asking him to prove that mitt romney is a unicorn. it's not certain whether he could run for president if indeed he is a unicorn. [ applause ] >> there is nothing that says you have to be a real person. >> it doesn't say you can't be a unicorn. >> yeah, you have to be a natural-born citizen and over 40 or something like that. >> no. it doesn't say anything about a single horn. and please god, please if you are in california vote for orly. so she is the dentist/lawyer/birther queen and now california senate candidate. she is thrilled about the whole donald trump -- she said i do believe the romney campaign is sending a message that they are questioning obama's eligibility. >> they are subtle that way. >> yeah. joseph farah, the publicer of the world nut daily, which devotes the vast majority of their time to the birth

ken bennett, mitt romney's campaign co-chair in arizona later said he got the necessary information andrpaio who calls himself america's toughest sheriff, called a criminal investigation into the certificate. >> we believe probable cause exists indicating that forgery and fraud may have been committed. >> reporter: in iowa, the state gop wrote a clause into its proposed platform calling on presidential candidates to show proof of being natural-born citizens, a move a party official acknowledges is a shot at president obama. >> there are many republicans that feel barack obama is not a match rl-born citizen because his father was not an american when he was born and therefore feel according to the constitution he's not qualified to be president. >> reporter: three republicans in congress from battleground states have raised the birther issue recently. cnn and other news outlets have investigated this a lot and found nothing that would disqualify president obama from his office, but some republican officials who have raised this have said they did so because some of their constituents dem

ken bennett has sparked controversy by asking the state of hawaii to confirm the president's birth certificatedent off the arizona ballot. well, here's what arizona senator john mccain and governor jan brewer had to say about it. >> i've had the opportunity to speak with the prior governor. and she indicated to me with all due process and trustworthiness that she had seen the birth certificate, it was a valid birth certificate. that's the story from where i know it. >> the president of the united states is not going to be taken off the ballot. >> they both support governor mitt romney. >>> i'm joined now by perry bacon, jr., as well as felicia sonmez. perry, we have new numbers today on the unemployment situation in the country. it shows that 34 states have unemployment rates below the national average of 8.1%. 15 states and washington have rates above the national average. and one state, washington, which matches the national rate. what kind of an impact might these numbers have on the jean election especially with so much focus on the economy and jobs? >> this could be really big. look at a

arizona secretary of state ken b bennett says he might keep the president off the arizona ballot. to say. >> she end kated to me that with all due process and trustworthiness that, indeed, she had seen the birth certificate. it was a valid birth certificate. >> it should be the end right there. but both the arizona senator and the governor support republican mitt romney. so joining me here is former ohio secretary of state ken blackwell. and i have to be honest with you, ken, my first reaction to the story, you heard me saying really? come on? not again. i'm being wise about this because it seems ridiculous. it seems like it's been asked and answered and it's almost annoying to have to waste time talking about it. >> i think you're right. these are not the issues that will be focused on in this election. this is coming down to about, as i've told you before, probably about five states and the crucial four are ohio, florida, virginia and north carolina. and i can tell you what's on the people's minds there are jobs. and economic growth. >> and you're saying this and you're being re

grounds if they -- and ken bennet floated the idea of not putting president obama on the ballot if hawaii would not verify his birth. yesterday, hawaii put it out again, and bennett says he now apologizes if he embarrassed his state. and the race is looking up in key swing states. )93g >>> welcome back to "hardball." the economy has been a drag on the reelection efforts, but it will be decided in the swing states. in 2008, obama moved nine states that were formally bush and brought them into his column. now colorado, ohio, virginia, and new mexico. in short, the geography of recovery may be working for the president. we have a reporter for the huffington postand one from the washington post. let me ask you about the economies, my old boss would say that all politics is local. my question, do people go by what they see on the economic reports like on cnbc and the financial pages, or do they go by what they sense locally. >> i would go by what they sense locally. all politics it local, but you get a sense of what's going on by the community around you and the community in your town. obama has an interesting map of states that are battle grounds that have done

grounds if they -- and ken bennet floated the idea of not putting president obama on the ballot if hawaii would not verify his birth. yesterday, hawaii put it out again, and bennetts he now apologizes if he embarrassed his state. and the race is looking up in key swing states. wow. this is new. yep. i'm sending the dancing chicken to every store in the franchise to get the word out. that could work. or you could use every door direct mail from the postal service. it'll help you and all your franchisees find the customers that matter most: the ones in the neighborhood. you print it or find a local partner. great. keep it moving honey. honey? that's my wife. wow. there you go. there you go. [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. perfect golden color. rich in fiber. my dad taught me, and i taught my son out there. morning, pa. wait... who's driving the...? ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm, 99 bushels of wheat ♪ [ male announcer ] yep, there's 8 filling layers of whole grain fiber in those fun little biscuits... so they stick with you, all morning long. kellogg's® mini-wheats cereal. [ mini ] yee haw!