this is tailor made for lawrence o'donnell. ored suit. >> wait a minute. i would like to introduce, i know we are impressed with lawrence and everything, but we have the host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell. >> this is an embarrassment. night of 1,000 stars. good morning. lawrence. friday or monday and you are asking tough questions from both sides. we are trying to figure out the day people are saying the president is invisible. john boehner is telling the republican caucus, quote, get your ass in line. what is going on? >> we are at the stump stage. nothing serious is going on. when ever they are not talking to each other and bringing up bills to pass they know can't pass the body they are bringing it up in. what they are doing is proving what is impossible. now, normally, in a normal circumstance, the way to prove it's impossible, get the caucus together, say we don't have the votes for this. you look around. they are right. i'm not going to vote for it. now, with the tea party and the people mccain is talking a

and last night on "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell, lawrence asked howard dean about the challenge house speaker john boehner is facing on this debt deal, considering the amount of friction that exists within his own party. >> he has to do something really unusual. i've seen it done before, but it's unusual, and that is he has to pass a bill with republican and democratic votes. he needs to be talking with pelosi right now about how they can get this together and pass something that's fairly moderate and just throw the tea party people over the side. some of them are so extreme they're not going to get re-elected anyway. he's in a really tough spot. he's an adult, mcconnell's an adult. there are not too many of those in the house caucus that, or at least not enough of them, to pass a reasonable bill. look, this is lunacy what these folks are doing. they basically are destroying the social safety net of the country and ultimately they're going to destroy the country should they ever get in charge. i think the american public's got to be terrified of what they see that's been unleash

last night on the last word with lawrence o'donnell, steny hoyer told lawrence what he thinks about mixing taxes into the debate over raising the debt ceiling. >> very unfortunate that the republicans continue to pursue this particularly when mr. boehner and the president have reached an agreement tentatively on two different occasions. and mr. boehner has walked away. frankly the republicans have walked intentionally more than barry bonds. and the fact of the matter is that we need to come to an agreement, the senate, senator reid has offered exactly what they asked for. mr. cantor said we have no taxes in our bill. he was very pumped up about that to tell his constituents, that the richest people in america were not going to have to pay anything towards solving this problem. but frankly, the senate is prepared to offer that, because they feel very strongly responsible step to take is to make sure that america is able to pay its bills on august 3rd. >> don't miss "last word" with lawrence o'donnell, week nights at 8:00 p.m. on msnbc, the place for politics. >>> the man suspected in friday

have to be phased out gradually over time. >> lean forward with "the last word" each night as lawrence o'donnell takes on the day's most compelling stories. it airs week nights at 8:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. >>> new census numbers show small town america is slowly disappearing. rural america now accounts for just 16% of the nation's population. that's the lowest level ever. in comparison a century ago, about three quarters of the u.s. population lived in rural areas. but small towns have been turning into ghost towns with more and more residents heading to larger metro areas and cities. the share of americans living in the suburbs has climbed to an all-time high of 51%. cities have increased their share to 33%. >>> a tropical storm is barreling toward texas at this hour, and for once that's being greeted as good news. tropical storm don is in the gulf of mexico tracking toward the southern part of the lonestar state. it's expected to make landfall tomorrow. fortunately, forecasters don't expect the storm to strengthen into a hurricane, but the area should get some de

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> i'm chris haste in for lawrence o'donnell. i never thought i'd see the day when the republican party managed to alienate the washington establishment. looks like we reached that point. >> the verdict will be read in the courtroom at 2:15. >> as for the charge of first-degree murder, we the jury find the defendant not guilty. >> in the law, the concept of not guilty is not the same as innocent. >> as the casey anthony verdict distracted the nation, the president focused on the debt. >> i don't think the american people sent us here to avoid tough problems. >> we're not expecting the president to talk about casey anthony. >> the obama administration is reportedly considering tens of billions of dollars in cuts. >> we need a balanced approach. >> went on a dove opportunity. >> i'd love to see him shoot some birds. >> before the president could speak, senate republicans tried to steal the spotlight. >> that's, in fact, what drives them nuts. >> i would just say how much i appreciate the new members of the senate. >> i would like

senate budget committee chairman kent conrad, and who will get the last word, the man himself, lawrence o'donnell. as american's wondser what is washington thinking, people are getting angry out there. ♪ raise the debt ceiling >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in new york. all eyes are focused on washington where the speaker of the house is being whip sawed today between his tea party caucus opposing any compromise and the congressional budget office now downgrading john boehner's revenue projections. where does the president factor in as time runs out? joining us from the white house gene spurling. gene, what happens next? now we know that both the harry reid plan and john boehner's plan have been downgraded, if you will by the congressional budget office. neither would produce the amount of money expected. will the president at this point sign a short-term deal if a 30-day emergency extension, whatever, just to keep things going while these issues are resolved? >> you know, andrea, the real issue is not the congressional budget office scoring of either plan or even the vote count on either

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> i'm chris hayes in for lawrence o'donnell. in england, it's the end of the world as we know it. in washington, it's business as usual. >> the end of the news of the world. >> we're in the end game here. >> this is the start of the conversation rather than the end of it the conversation. >> the beginning of the end in washington. >> president obama met with congressional leadership. >> constructive and productive meeting. >> a consider constructive meeting. >> constructive -- >> meeting. >> there must be a real negotiation going on. >> the president goes big, surprising his base and republicans. >> the president is considering major changes in social security and medicare. >> he is willing to put sacred cows on the table. >> the american people didn't send us here to wage symbolic battles. >> the white house is winning the politics here. >> republicans and democrats are not sold yet. >> house democrats are not supporting any cuts in benefits for social security or medicare. >> tax hikes are off the table. >> the democrats in c

. >>> last night on "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" lawrence asked bruce bartlett if his interpretation of the 14th amendment to the constitution which says that authorized u.s. debt incurred for payment of pension shall not be called into question means that congressional is not actually required to raise the debt ceiling. >> i think a broad reading of that provision of the constitution is justified. especially the part about the pensions. because that implies a symmetry, to things such assess which one can argue is a debt that is owed to the people who pay the taxes and the expectation of getting a benefit. that would be true of medicare benefits, and, of course, a lot of what the government pays for is vendors who provide goods and services to the government, especially the department of defense. it seems to me all of those things can be legitimately considered debts that cannot be questioned. the term cannot be questioned is about the broadest, strongest constitutional language you can find in the constitution. >> lean forward with the last word weeknights at 8:00 p.m. only on msnbc

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. th. thanks for being with us. "the last word and lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> with competing symbolic plans, with no chance of becoming law flying around the capitol, tonight we will retreat from the partisan conflict and ask bill maher if he can make sense of it all. but first, let's review how we came to this crisis point. >> the people of america have been overcharged and on their behalf, i'm here asking for a refund. >> the world has come together to fight a new and different war. >> the military operations to disarm iraq. >> our debt ceiling is now $14.3 trillion. it will need to be raised in the coming year. this, by the way, is a challenge for boehner and the house. >> the president here really did get into a bidding war with the republicans over more tax cuts. >> good evening again from new york. an agreement has been reached and the government shutdown has been averted. >> house and senate negotiators kick up high stakes budget negotiations led by vice president biden. >> there will be no inc

now for more on the evolving situation in this hour, i go to my colleague lawrence o'donnell to join me. he's, of course, the host of "the last word" and a former senate democratic staffer who predicted this on election night. i have to tell you, on election night i was home very depressed. i was watching. i was thinking this what he is talking about? >> you said what's the debt ceiling? what is that guy talking about? you know, this kind of thing to me prior to this year was imaginable only in fiction. i wrote a west wing episode about it which is now flying around the web. i wrote an episode on another show called "mr. sterling" where josh brolin is playing a senator who was going to filibuster the debt ceiling because you use the phrase must pass. this was always called a must-pass bill. everyone knew, even the people who were going to vote against it as a stunt, that it must pass. so no one actually got in the way of it. they were just in -- you know this is outrageous. but they always made sure that they were going to be 51 senators who voted for it and just enough house members

. >> "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell week nights at 8:00 eastern. ♪ let me do a few tricks ♪e new tricks ♪ ♪ i'm very versatile ♪ so let me entertain you ♪ and we'll have a real good time ♪ [ male announcer ] with beats audio and flash, you can experience richer music and download movies straight to the new hp touchpad with webos. >>> speaker boehner, speaker boehner. >> loud mouth? you earned it. >> that was speaker boehner in a light moment with whom he called luke loud mouth russert a few moments ago. but we will see if he has wrangled the freshmen to vote for the house bill. it will lower the debt by $2.5 trillion in exchange for $917 billion in spending caps. luke russert is covering this for us at the capitol hill, and luke, any interesting questions or comments today from the floor? >> there have been a few interesting things, martin, and that is mainly hearing a lot of of the republicans urging their colleagues to vote yes on this bill. essentially going on the house floor, basically saying for all intents and purposes that if you do not support this legislation, you

host of "last word with lawrence o'donnell" on msnbc, and my colleague tamron hall is off today, andhomas roberts is standing in for her. >> we are following the latest at the white house where lawmakers are trying to come to a compromise. now in order to prevent default which is seven days away, what happens if america's credit rating is ultimately downgraded. >>> and david wu says he is resigning from office amid a sex scandal, but not immediately, and we will have details on "newsnation" up next. 3q double shift... i need a break. he needs some gellin'. yeahhhhhhh. gellin' is like having a teeny tiny foot masseuse in your shoe. you like ? nice ! dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles. outrageous comfort, all-day long. but afraid you can't afford it? well, look how much insurance many people can get through selectquote for less than a dollar a day. selectquote found, rich, 37, a $500,000 policy for under $18 a month. even though dave, 43, takes meds to control his blood pressure, selectquote got him a $500,000 policy for under $28 a month. ellen, 47, got a $250,000 policy for under $20

i'm chris hayes in for lawrence o'donnell.

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> the house speaker -- the speaker of the house john boehner delayed bringing his bill to the floor because he doesn't have the votes to pass it. not yet, anyway. that's why "the new york post" headline behind me says what it says. white house press secretary jay carney and chuck schumer are here to explain what happens next. >> as soon as the house completes its vote, the senate will move to take up that message that they sent to us. >> let's pass this bill. >> it will be defeated. >> the boehner bill will not pass. >> win, lose, or drawing board. there's still no deal. >> we have a reasonable, responsible bill. >> i predict there will be no democrat for this bill. >> pulls the plug on progress. >> height of irresponsiblity. >> why don't we just not pay members of congress and their staffs? >> but there's still the tea party. >> the tea party members are creating the economic downfall of the u.s. government. >> the people say michel, stand strong. michele, don't cave. i will vote against any proposal. >> their only mantra se

thanks for being with us, "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> i'm chris hayes in for lawrence. there's something rotten in the state of england where a piece of rupert murdoch is under investigation. here at home, the president bypasses the media and goes straight to the internets. the hash tag era has officially arrived. >> i apologize for interrupting the prime minister. >> when he talks about free market options. >> welcome to question time. >> i am going to make history here as the first president to live tweet. >> the president returns to social media to face the nation's questions. >> twitter town hall or tweet-up on the economy and jobs. >> 27% of our questions are on the jobs category. >> what costs would you cut, what are the programs that can help us grow? >> in a balanced way. >> our next question comes from someone you may know, this is speaker boehner. >> there you go. >> will you take job-destroying tax hikes off the table? >> this is a slightly skewed question. >> debate will be settled by speaker boehner and president obama. >> the british prime

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> suddenly everyone in washington is wondering, is there a nuclear option on the debt ceiling? and is that nuclear option the constitution of the united states? >> maybe if he would just take a valium and calm down and come talk to us, it might be helpful. >> pro wrestling at its political finest. >> i along with the other republican members will not be attending. >> the senate is canceling its planned recess next week for the 4th of july. >> mitch mcdonnell making a big deal of inviting the president for a chat with no notice with the knowledge he already had plans. >> the president said he wasn't going to change his plaque plans to meet with mitch mcconnell. >> he also invited the president to hear what would not pass. >> is it logic? the republicans are not big on logic. >> if they don't this time, the full faith and credit of the u.s. will be in peril. >> if we don't do that -- wait, what happens again? >> armageddon. >> armageddon. >> armageddon. >> democrats are saying yes to michele bachmann. >> i'm not surprised by how wel

he told lawrence o'donnell the minority leader is refusing to negotiate on the replan. >> the minority leader just told the majority leader that he will not negotiate with him. that is really quite extraordinary. the republican leader mcconnell told the majority leader reid he will not negotiate with him, he'll only negotiate with the president. i've been here 25 years. i have never heard anything like that. >> for more on how the white house is responding, let's turn to dan stone, "newsweek's" white house correspondent. nice to have you on. what is the latest we are hearing at this hour from the white house? >> the white house is very concerned with timing. they are putting a lot at stake specifically in senator reid's vote. this is the last bill that can reasonably get through the senate with the amount of time. the president and several senior administration officials we heard have made those outreach calls all day. certainly yesterday, trying to get some distance from the boehner bill that passed through the house earlier this evening. and try to garner support for reid's bill to g

that's "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us, "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> we're two weeks away from the deadline on the debt ceiling and hours away from question time for rupert murdoch in london. >> there's 15 days until default day. >> a lot of hurdles between now and then. >> placing more blame on republicans. >> republicans are still playing games with the debt. >> my way or nothing. >> one-track mind, two-track plan. >> it's a charade. >> the real action will be behind the scenes. >> republicans are dealing in a dream world. >> wishing, rather, for a balanced budget make it happen? >> i'm not sure what planet they are living on. >> i found it irresponsible. >> the no tax man come et. >> they are terrified of grover norquist. >> the answer is no. no. >> and for once, republican presidential candidates have money problems. >> and big money, big problems? gop fundraisers staying on the sidelines. >> mitt romney, 70% maxed out contributions. >> gingrich's campaign is $1 million in debt. >> and the arrests continue as the british police close in on

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >> joel burns is with us tonight to respond to michele bachmann's statement on bullying. but bullying isn't the only danger the tea party just doesn't understand. >> first of all, you don't look happy on the front page of "the new york times." >> first, speaker of the house john boehner, it doesn't get better. >> the speaker of the house is being whip sawed today between his tea party caucus. >> this is the moment of the boehner speakership. >> the plan is officially a flop. >> the budget office downgrading the revenue projections. >> told gop lawmakers to get their "blank" in line. >> get their behind in line, thomas. >> he was really cracking the whip. >> it says boehner's grip on his caucus is put to test in standoff. >> the world's saddest tangerine. >> when boehner supporters tried to help, they actually made things worse. tea party republicans are officially out of control. >> the debt limit will be raised one way or another. >> holding the career politicians accountable. >> is it fair to say you have a bit of a rebellion

that's "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us, "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> the leader of the gang of six is here with the latest plan to break the deadlock on the debt. while house republicans are still using the rupert murdoch leadership method, don't blame me. >> ultimately, you are responsible for the whole fiasco. >> no. >> i will not yield. >> the issue 1 not congressional in action. >> rupert murdoch, john boehner, eric cantor in charge when it's convenient. >> back here in the states, cue the blame game. >> virtually no americans hold congress in high esteem. >> we, as republicans, as the new majority in this house. >> failing on the big things is something they choose to do. >> we emplore the other side to get serious. >> when is the house going to stop the charade? >> the gang of six is still trying to lead. >> it's a far cry from the paul ryan budget. >> we thought this was the gang of six, dead and buried. >> now the gang of six is a gang of seven. >> two parts, there's always a second act. >> gotten rave reviews from a lot of folks. frlg

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> tonight, the only thing wall street fears more than elizabeth warren is a tea party republican. >> zipity do-dah of >> the speaker walks out and lights up a cigarette and chain smokes it because he knows the guy behind him is trying to take away his job. >> my, oh, my, what a wonderful day. >> the speaker of the house tries the impossible. educating tea party republicans about the meaning of default. >> one-quarter of the entire house of representatives are freshmen. >> at the end of the day, we have a responsibility to act. >> almost toxic with some house republicans. >> a game of russian roulette. >> i'm sure we have some members who believe that. >> they're new. many of them have never served in public office before. >> congress is also feeling the heat. >> obviously, i'm not qualified to speak on behalf of the marks and what they will or will not do. >> republicans in congress are driving us towards the edge of a cliff. >> but facts and republicans parted ways a long time ago. >> a war on math. >> i will not vote to incre

the last word with lawrence o'donnell starts right now. see you tomorrow night. >>> the leading six-pack. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm crist matthews in san francisco. leading off tonight, the gang of six has a plan. president obama endorsed it in principle. conservative republicans helped draft it and a deadline looms with certain economic consequences on the other side of august 2nd. so how long can the tea party republicans stand in the door and say no? give us everything we want, we'll give you nothing, and then we'll have a deal. how much longer can they say they won't accept any plan that president obama would agree to? of course, that's our top story tonight. >>> plus what would ronald reagan think of the debt fight? he would be seen by today's republicans as a hopeless moderate. republicans talk about the party of reagan, but wasn't the great communicator also in several cases a great compromiser? and across the country republican governors and legislators are rewriting voting eligibility rules with one thing in min

planning to hold a press conference after the negotiations with the president, and tonight, lawrence o'donnell will get reaction from the house minority whip steny hoyer on msnbc. >>> major developments today in the casey anthony case. she is a free woman next wednesday july 13th after being acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter caylee. judge belvin perry sentenced her to four years in jail for lying to police, but she is getting time reduced by good time served and in addition she will have a $4,000 fine. >> as you can see there, dozens of protesters are outside of the courthouse and many of them were outraged that anthony was acquitted of murder. today, some jurors came out and said that while they were upset and sickened over the ver dishgts thverdict that they could not convict on the evidence. >> not on death, because it is a very serious charge and there was not enough evidence. >> and another juror told a newspaper tearfully, i just swear to god i wish we had more evidence to put her away, i truly do. >> let's bring in the criminal defense attorney anne brimner to talk about this

the last word with lawrence o'donnell starts right now. >>> we're two weeks away and hours way from question time for rupert muir dorsch in london. >> just 15 days until dwaumt day. >> placing more blame on republicans. >> republicans are still playing games with the debt. >> my way or nothing. one-track man and two-track plan. >> it's a charade. >> the real action is behind the scenes. >> republicans are dealing in a dream world. >> can wishing for a balanced budget make it happen? >> i'm not sure what planet they're living on. >> i find this whole discussion irresponsible. >> the no tax man comeeth. >> they're terrified. >> a teenage boy asks the same question on a prom date, but the answer is no, no, no. >> for once republican presidential candidates have money problems. >> and big money, big problems? >> gop fund-raisers staying on the sidelines. >> for mitt romney it's 70% maxed out contributions. >> is newt aware he's running for president? >> the arrests continue as the british police close in on rupert murdoch's media empire scandal. >> every day we're seeing more inconceivable thing

the "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >> some republicans have decided that it's time to stop michele bachmann. >> i feel great. >> she's not going to vote at all to lift the debt ceiling. >> michele bachmann is being rightfully called out. >> michele bachmann feels great, but her tea party is washington's biggest headache. >> and they are sort of of cult fringe as i refer to them out there. >> really about these house republicans. >> tea party, house republicans still won't follow their leader. >> it's always been weather john boehner can wrangle his caucus. >> still a long way to go before the house goes along to get anything passed. >> if it's not accepted in the house, we can't extend the debt ceiling. >> even if we default on august 2, they will be not worse off than africa. >> michele bachmann surges in the polls, so republicans attack her. >> michele bachmann is doing well, in fact, surging. >> michele bachmann is rising. >> in our latest nbc news "the wall street journal" poll. >> i prescribe medication. >> the story claims bachmann suffers from incapacita

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. rush limbaugh is worried that the democrats will find a way to use the boehner bill to make the republicans look bad once again. wanting a clean debt ceiling increase at the beginning of which every one of these packages would be, the $4 trillion, the $2 trillion, any one of them. how did we get to the point where the administration thought just raising the debt ceiling clean is the best way to do this, the traditional way to do this, to where we are now, which is how big a deficit reduction package should accompany it? >> well, as i think the speaker of the house is discovering tonight and is the reality that we all live with here in washington, lawrence, which is that this is a divided government. a two-party system. nobody gets entirely what he or she wants. and, yes, if we had been doing this in the normal way, as has been historically done, there would have been a clean debt ceiling vote, which traditionally has been an unpleasant vote often for members of congress, but routine a

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >> good evening from new york on this night of breaking news from the white house of yet another and perhaps the final collapse in the debt ceiling, deficit reduction negotiations. after yet another week of the president outmaneuvering the republicans, he forced the up to now most patient of republican negotiators, house speaker, john boehner, to walk away from any more negotiating sessions with the white house on a deficit reduction package. you will recall that weeks ago the president maneuvered eric cantor into walking out of the deficit reduction talks to great advantage of the white house in its perception of being willing to compromise, willing to extend itself, willing to as the president would say frequently, bend over backwards with the negotiations with the intransigent republicans. now the republicans are walking away yet again. after receiving a phone call from house speaker john boehner, where the president learned that the speaker and the republicans would no longer negotiate with him over a deficit reduction deal

. >>> i'm chris hayes in for lawrence o'donnell. a time when pretending a tax cut obsession would help the middle class. now baldly defending the dignity of our long-sufferering private jet owning overlords. only losers fly commercial. >>> the state government is having a happy holiday in minnesota. >>> no matter where, no matter what. republicans refuse to raise revenue to pay the bill. >> the state's second shutdown in six years. >> democrats demanding that we raise taxes. >> some 20,000 state employee jobs are now in limbo. >> it's going to affect our bottom line. our campground is now closed. >> from minnesota to washington, republicans will do anything to protect the wealthy. corporate jets, aircraft industries, pushing back after harsh words from the president on wednesday. >> corporate jet owner that has done so well. >> you don't give us what we want, we won't raise the ceiling. >> nobody's bumping. >> private jets, that that somehow is going to make a difference, it's disappointing. class warfare. >> and congress 1234 going

another live edition of lawrence o'donnell, "the last word" starts right now. >>> failing to raise the debt >>> tonight i want to talk about the debate we have been having in washington. if we stay on the current path, our growing debt could do serious damage. >> failure to raise the debt ceiling. >> both parties have a responsibility to solve it. cut out waste, fraud and health care problems like medicare. let's ask the wealthiest americans and the biggest corporations to give up some of their breaks. >> will boehner able to appease tea party members in both houses? >> they have been coming up with new plans all year. >> i'm john boehner. we in the house, said, not so fast. i'll tell you, i gave it my all. unfortunately the president would not take yes for answer. >>> good evening from new york as we continue our live coverage of the president's address to the nation tonight. on what he called the stalemate in washington over the debt ceiling. this hour, we'll be joined by the members of house of representatives and richard wolf and jim bernstein. it's been an extraordinary night with

"the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> the house of representatives has now passed a tea party fantasy that will never become law once again leaving the job of working out a realistic compromise to the united states senate. >> the bill is passed without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. >> this bill is going nowhere. it is a total waste of time. >> i would respond using speaker boehner's own words, oh, no you can't! hell no, you can't. >> it's official, the tea party has taken over the house of representatives. >> they have made another quantum leap in the opposite direction. >> concessions in the tea party today. the speaker added a balanced budget amendment. >> make it even more certain that the republican bill will fail in the senate. >> and house republicans took a step away from compromise. >> lawmakers are exhausted, the public is fed up. >> the bickering capitol of the world. >> john boehner has gone from the number one most important person to certainly not the number one important person. >> tea party republicans have not moved one i

. >> last night with "last word with lawrence o'donnell" the senate budget committee chairman democrat kent conrad of north dakota said that mitch mcconnell is refusing to negotiate with senator reid. >> the minority leader just told the majority leader that he will not negotiate with him. that is really quite extraordinary. republican leader mcconnell has told the majority leader reid that he will not negotiate with him. he'll only negotiate with the president. i've been here 25 years, i have never heard anything like that. >> nbc's luke russert is for us on capitol hill. wow. good morning, luke. where do we stand now? >> wow, that is right. really is a crunch time, if you will, alex. both the chambers are in session today. the senate comes in around 1:00. we're expecting a very important about 1:00 cloture vote. we expect reid to negotiate with republicans throughout the day really needing to grab between eight to ten of them to figure out a way to raise the debt limit. while also cutting spending in ways that are acceptable to both sides. no raising of taxes and no cuts to entitleme

>> the last word of the week, chris hayes in your lawrence o'donnell. you can follow me on twitter, chrislhayes. rachel maddow is up next. >> any big plans? >> may light off a firework fmplgts they're illegal where you live, i won't tell anyone. >> just between you and me. >> exactly right. >>> thanks for staying with us the next hour. it is the start of a long fourth of july weekend. one of those days where if you are not on vacation already, you sort of feel like a sucker, because it feels like everybody else is on vacation. but even on a sultry friday night in july, heading into a long holiday weekends, there are two outstanding things that happened in american politics today. there is no relationship to what another whatsoever. i won't stremp and try to make one. we're going to do one of these stories and then the other. the first one is this -- >> conservatism is an act of creation and love. a love for a cherished way of life we have inherited and will bequeath to our children. conservatism is the ligation of ideology. we sent our mind to the world

i'm chris hayes in for lawrence o'donnell. i'll be one of bill maher's guests friday night. "the rachel maddow show" is up next. >> have an excellent time to bill maher. looking forward to seeing you there. and thank you to you at home for joining us. we have a congressman here to talk about the democrats and their negotiating position in the big debt ceiling fight in washington. whether or not the white house really just put social security and medicare on the table for cuts. that is all ahead. but we start tonight with a dramatic development in a life or death issue. it is literally about life and death. about the power of the government to kill people it is holding prisoner. but it's also about presidential politics, and who will be the republican party's nominee for president this year. there are two unquestionable truisms in coverage of republican presidential politics right now. one is that the prohibitive favorite to get the republican party's nomination, the front-runner so far out in front it is almost impossible to imagine anyone catching him is mitt romney. mitt r

you can listen to our radio show at sirius xm edition of the last word with lawrence o'donnell starts right now. >>> tonight i want to talk about the debate we've been having in washington over the national debt. if we stay on the current path, our growing debt could cost up jobs and do serious damage to the economy. >> failing to raise the debt ceiling is impossible. >> neither party is blameless for the decisions that led to this problem. both parties have a responsibility to solve it. cut out waste and fraud in health care programs like medicare. let's skk the weltiest americans and biggest corporations to give up some of their breaks. >> will boehner appease tea party members in both houses with his latest proposal? >> they've come up with new plans all year. >> i'm john boehner. we in the house said not so fast. a stimulus bill more effective in producing material for late night comedians than for producing jobs. i tell you, i gave it my all. unfortunately, the president would not take yes for an auns.ç >> good evening from new york as we continue our live coverage tonight on wha

the last word with lawrence o'donnell starts right now. >>> gop meets government on protests. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in san francisco. leading off today, my way or nothing, what the republicans are telling president obama these days. do things entirely our way or we'll put the government in default. the republican party shown it's not an opposition party looking to govern or even co-govern. it's a protest party. a party neither makes or takes responsibility for its actions. in a poll out today showing voters are not supporting this republican tea party approach. plus, pay attention to the man behind the curtain. really pay attention. the gop the refusal to raise any taxes under any circumstances is matching the clear purposes the man pushing republican tax policy right now. one man. grover norquist, the most powerful man most americans have never heard of plays "hardball" here tonight. >>> plus, another day, another resignation in the murdoch scandal. this time the number two man in scotland yard. one day after number one man went belly up.

that's "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us, "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >>> breaking news after another day of no progress on the debt ceiling negotiations, the president is going straight to the american people. >> neither party is blameless for the decisions that led to our debt. >> there is going to be a two-stage process. >> either way, we have eight days left. >> now everyone has a plan, but no one has a deal. house and senate leaders are putting out competing plans. >> john boehner drawing up a house plan. >> let's do it again in april. that's basically the plan. >> i don't understand the politics of it. >> we've known if we got this close, things would start to get bad. >> the threat of default is taking its toll on the markets. >> i'm brian sullivan with your cnbc market wrap, here's a look at how stocks are doing today, they are not doing well. dow down 83, s&p down 7, whether or not d.c. will be able to make a deal, a lot of nervousness in the market right now. >> and now we are this close. >> the tea party has republican leaders trapped. >