good old south carolina senator lindsey graham was asked by the huffington post for his opinion on mitt romney's offshore tax havens. this is what the senator said. it's really american to avoid paying taxes. legally, as long as it was legal, i'm okay with it. i don't blame anybody for using the tax codes to their advantage. it's a game we play. every american tries to find a way to get the most deductions they can. i see nothing wrong with playing the game because we set it up to be a game. >> really? gosh, senator, you don't sound like a guy who's been audited by the internal revenue service. when i was audited by the irs, that son of a gun wasn't playing games. he wanted to know where the money was and what the heck happened. it's amazing to me how entitled the wealthy in this country feel about their taxes. the sacrifices, think about this, the sacrifices that have been made by americans who have come before us, they have now turned it into a game in washington. hell, it's just a game, let's try to beat the irs. did dick cheney play a game when he got five deferments. you and i as a

john mccain, john boehner, lindsey graham, scott brown, marco rub beau, rubio, ed collins have all said this is bad. we shouldn't be doing this mccarthyite stuff in this country. a number of politicians like rush limbaugh, john bolton are are all defending this scurrilous attack on this woman who has worked for her country and for secretary clinton. what do you make about what is going on right now? >> well, i think you pegged it, chris. the way you described it going into this segment. we're talking about politics. we're not talking about religion. we're not talking about security. we're talking about a very questionable kind of patriotism that would risk scaring the people of the united states, trying to undercut their confidence in the security provided by the united states government in order to attract a few votes. they also know that this figure that came out today about the number of people who think that the president is muslim, it is a way to play in demonizing a religion to the extent that they think they can win an election. everyone knows that according to the constitution's

lindsey graham, very important on foreign affairs and afghanistan, i think romney's policy is listenay with me. so obviously, he doesn't want to dictate what his pocy's going to be while abroad, he wants to do that over here, but there is not a lot of there there, at least on capitol hill, from what you and i are hearing about what the specifics are of romney's foreign policy in regards to the two hottest nations in the world right now, syria and afghanistan. >> right. two things going on here. the first is that the romney campaign doesn't want to wade into very sensitive diplomatic and national security issues because they want to focus on the economy. they don't want to commit romney to positions on hot conflicts that may change and force him to flip-flop in the future. the real thing behind the scenes is a split inside the republican party. they are just not sure what they want to do on afghanistan, syria. a lot of these issues. and that's been a split that's been going on for about a year. people like john cornyn and lindsey graham and jon kyl are on opposite sides of what we sho

republicans behind the scenes that because of the cuts, it would be a reality, people like john mccain, lindsey graham, and john kerr from the labor committee. these people getting together and talking about taxes. they're talking about tax increases to avoid the defense cuts. but they're doing it very, very quietly. there is a lot of viability built into it. but i think you're seeing senate negotiations look forward to the fact that it won't take place until after the election. >> yeah, we really need leadership to bring us ridiculo? do you think it is a sign the election is in trouble? >> i don't think they were in a free fall, but they have big advantages, the big blue and white plane. and when they travel around the country they get a lot of attention, in local and media markets. at the same time they were out raged, 160 to 71 million in the last filings, that is a big deal. and that does indicate that mitt romney does know how to raise money. that was his business in private equity. he is really, really good, when he is dialing for dollars on their behalf, they're getting a response from the busi

republicanslike john mccain and lindsey graham, people who served the country in uniform. people like ronald reagan are standing up for this un-american talk. god save mccain and say i say and all the left, right and center who say enough's enough. joining us is editor at large, joe walsh. john feary is here. john, how do you explain all this talk about people learning how to be an american, the charges, you have the candidate himself on your side talking about the president being far in in his thinking. what's that angle that we are getting? because bachmann is the ultimate case of this. >> well, let me first disassociate -- take these two things apart. michele bachmann's thing is absolutely outrageous. i don't know what she's up to. mccain was absolutely right. you can quibble or have serious disagreements with to into obama's foreign policy, but throwing her under the bus is ridiculous and as dangerous as joan boehner said. the worst thing is it's a distraction from what the campaign should be about, which should be about the economy. now, if you're talking about some o

would be automatic and would be triggered, so to avoid that, you have people like john mccain and lindsey grahamohn kerry, these leaders from foreign policy and armed services getting together and talking about taxes. they are talking about tax increases to avoid the defense cuts, but they are doing it very, very quietly. there's a lot of deniability built into this, but i think that you're seeing senate negotiations with everything looking towards the fact that this will not take place until after the election. >> yeah, we really need leadership to bring us together. it's just outrageous. the money raised, governor romney and the republican party have raised more money than the president for the last two months in a row. do you think this is a sign the obama reelection campaign is in trouble? the other day someone said he was in a free fall. >> i don't think he's in a free fall, but i do think they are seriously concerned. they have built-in advantages, that big blue and white plane, and when they travel around the country, they get a lot of attention. a lot of attention locally in local media

senator lindsey graham talks with jenna coming up. ♪ [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! slap! [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums jenna: back to our top story today. violence spiraling out of control in syria. [gunfire] amateur video there showing fighting raging in the capital city of damascus as president assad's regime still reels from the bombing that killed his security chief. syria's state-run news agencies are now reporting that the president, president assad, attended the swearing in ceremony of a new defense minister today. amid some concerns and rumors quite frankly that the president was in hiding. but his government's forces, those forces are the no backing down, launching attacks against the rebels and apparently against civilians as well. all this as the u.n. tries to put pressure on assad's regime to withdraw troops and weapons. as we reported to you, the resolution went down in defeat today. so not much coming from the u.n., at lea

department is important but so is our economy so's the future of kids across the us john mccain lindsey graham buck mckeon leon panetta all those guys have their blinders on and that's because in their interests but i don't i think a good portion of america agrees with me the sequestration cuts are coming it's time for somebody to stand up and say that's a good thing now we can focus on what really matters. our guys it's time for tonight's tool time award and this time going to new york city mayor michael bloomberg again one last time to the man it seems to stick his nose in everybody's business he seems to always think that he knows better than you and he is never shy about giving those opinions whether he's lecturing occupy wall street fear mongering for stop and frisk and warrantless surveillance his authority in arrogance definitely shines through punctuating one unjustifiable argument after another but he's probably most known and hated for his shameless promotion of the nanny state now we've discussed the shenanigans extensively on the show bloomberg has banned trance that smoking in cit

know anything while looking away and feinstein joe lieberman mitch mcconnell and john mccain lindsey graham all those clips that we just showed you the thing that's always you know coming out of the mouths of these politicians is that we can fix has done damage to national security now last week we finally got you know what some people called a little bit of a win for bradley manning's defense in the sense that the judge said that the f.b.i. the cia the state department working as ations are going to have to hand over these assessment reports to actually say if there was any damage done so let's say that we finally get to see what's in these assessment reports let's say that they show as what a lot of officials out there have said that there was no damage to national security by these politicians going to apologize they're going to swallow their words we're going to what are they going to say at that point. well of course not because you know that's their go to statement whenever any of these leaks come out they said that wiki leaks would have blood on its hands and yet there's never been a

there was an assumption that joe lieberman, lindsey graham and i want american boots on the ground.ishment of a a safe zone, providing arms and equipment to the rebels. and the longer it goes on, the more likely islamists do intervene in it. i heard the same argument about libya, about bosnia. we don't know who they are. we can't intervene. we can't change it. by the way, when speaking of bosnia, bob dole and i and a few other republicans stood up supporting president clinton. so the fact, as chuck todd said, maybe republicans aren't supporting us. we are going to do what we think is right. by the way, the republican house, i respect, admire and love them. they passed a resolution saying we shouldn't intervene in libya. look uh how that turned out. >> let's talk about syria's opposition. you are right. you never know exactly who the opposition is. but in this case isn't it even murkier than usual because assad has been a tyrant and his father was a tyrant that you haven't had opposition groups. >> you don't have benghazi, a safe area where we can train and equip. >> where would that

i was told, and i'm not sure it is true, lindsey graham said he wants people to recognize them first. which is kind of hilarious. we know that we don't approve them and we also know that we sometimes can't name a congressman. it is warm in here, you are right. if we know that we want to approve of our congressmen and also wants people to name a congressman, one solution is we all become congressman at earth. that way we have a vested interest. even though i came up with a rather good solution and i explained why. again, it was in the research in which i learned the george washington himself spoke only two times during the constitution. one of the times he spoke was near the end. the only time he really weighed in on a matter of policy. and he said i think we should change the number of people of representatives we have, instead of one every 45,000, 100 30,000. and i thought if he is going to take her, i will do so all the way. what we know about the executive branch? we revere george washington. he was presumed to be, what i think we all want. which is something of a reluctance to you

. >> it also doesn't help to have senators like lindsey graham say to "the huffington post" like he didterday, gaming the system is what it's all about, all americans cheat on their taxes. that doesn't help the broader argument that we need a fairer tax code. >> even if people do think that's fair which is debatable, those tools aren't open to everyone. what does it mean when you're also having to defend how you file things at the s.e.c.? was that gaming the s.e.c. in some way? you know, these are things you just don't want to have to deal with. what's interesting about these two ads is in technical terms they're both hybrids. they're both trying to mix offense and defense in some way. or negative and positive in terms of how the ad makers will do them. what the romney ad shows you is that this stuff is hurting them. so they're trying to make it an attack ad but really it's all defense. it's all pain for them. the obama ad is landing another attack and trying to tuck in a positive message behind it. my plan, here's the happy music, everyone's going to be great. the focus goes soft. >> a

. >> according to senator lindsey graham, cheney predicted the cuts would be devastating to the military. more importantly, it will make the planning of the next war more difficult. according to graham, cheney told the group defense spending is not a spigot you can turn on and off, that you need to keep money flowing in a predictable way so you can plan for the next war, yet according to the cbo, even with big cuts, the pentagon will still be able to spend as much money as it did in 2006 when we were fighting two wars. joining me now, colonel lawrence wilkerson, currently the pamela haraman visiting professor at the college of william and mary. professor general, welcome to the show. >> thanks for having me, mike. >> thank you, colonel. cheney oversaw drastic cuts to the defense budget during his time as defense secretary. why is he lobbying for more military spending. is it about helping out his defense contractor buddies? >> the very first time i ever heard about dick cheney, a congressman told me he never met a defense program he didn't love. the statistics you threw out there at the

have you confronted john mccain, lindsey graham? people like that. how do they hide from this?it would be purely partisan for them not to support this measure. >> like you, i admire senator mccain. he joined me on the brief in the supreme court criticizing citizens united. that was a brave step on his part. in this case, he tells me that there's something in my bill that favors unions. i don't see it. $10,000 across the board. i keep saying john, tell me what it is and we'll talk about it and nobody's been able to show me what it is. >> it's money from, money from corporate -- >> absolutely. >> let me go to claire mccaskill. we're all big fans of yours on this show. we've seen you how as a moderate democratic in the midwest have been fighting for a different kind of politics, right down chose to the middle on the liberal side. why would any republican oppose this bill? >> well, because of what's going on in missouri this year. here's the deal. there has been almost $8 million of secret money spent against me in this campaign. they began back in october. they've been on the air

senator lindsey graham. marco rubio. speaker john boehner calling the allegations, quote, pretty dangerous. congresswoman bachmann seems unfazed and not only did she increase her allegations against huma's family, today, talking to glenn beck, she tried to say she wasn't really casting suspicion about abedin. >> that's all we're saying. we did not infer she's working on behalf of the muslim brotherhood. our point was regarding the security clearance. and did she have to go through the same sort of process that anyone else has to go through. did they check the boxes? because if the state department breaks american law to bring a terrorist into the white house, a member of a terrorist organization, it certainly is conceivable maybe they looked the other way on issuing this security clearance. that's all we're doing is asking a question. >> that's all we're doing, asking a question. keeping them honest that is just nonsense. if she wasn't alleging huma somehow wasn't sympathetic to the muslim brotherhood, she wouldn't have

hillary clinton will, bill gates and south carolina senator lindsey graham were among those speaking g those speaking at the conference today. >> and three been a recall of beef. the beef was produced at a plant in pennsylvania and has been linked to a salmonella outbreak that's made at least 33 sick so far. while the beef is no longer being sold in stores, customers should check their ground beef for use or sell by dates between may 29th and june 16th. >>> up next in our gut check, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the penn state sanctions handed down by the ncaa today. do you think they were appropriate or do you think of along the lines of those who think the ncaa went too far? you can june the news nation on facebook. facebook.com/newsnation. man: there's a cattle guard, take a right. do you have any idea where you're going ? wherever the wind takes me. this is so off course. nature can surprise you sometimes... next time, you drive. next time, signal your turn. ...that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol

>> well, keep in mind to chris' point, lindsey graham on the floor of the senate says everybody tries to get out of paying taxes. that's what we do as americans. there's -- the republican party is totally in bed with this notion. there are plenty of wealthy democrats who are i'm sure in bed with it, too. but as chris says, the elites are in in -- this is part of the game, right? this is the narrative of -- it's our economy and your economy. and our tax code and your tax code. >> there will beer more cooperations in strange places more foreign bank accounts more strange money moving in and out. this is all played on a level that most people don't have access to unless you're part of a specialized vanguard of tax attorneys who do this for a living. >> a conservative blogger said today, he firmly believes that romney is actually going to release the returns. and he's using the old formula, i think, in american campaign hot spots or scandals, whatever you want to call them. there's a demand, a demand, a demand, and you know the candidate has to give into the demand and drags it out. i do

lindsey graham, ed rollins, john boehner, and jim sensenbrenner for the report we just gave you.ward, where is mitt romney? i'm talking sheer politics. isn't there a plus for profiles in courage, isn't there a plus in showing you're a man, or a woman, who has the guts to stand up and say, i want you vote, but not this kind of vote? >> well, that would require mitt romney to run an entirely different campaign than the one he's run so far. he's not going to do it. he's playing to and has from the beginning of the campaign, planned to the nativest base of the tea party. people who are afraid of the world. and bob shrum worked for the kennedys. the kennedys stood in the democratic party for an expanded view of americans' role and america's role in the world. the republican party is going to cripple itself beyond recognition if they don't quit being xen aphobes which is what they're doing. there's the huma abedin question and then the question about the republican party's identity. >> let me try to fine tune it. you first. bill clinton wanted the african-american vote. he wanted to ge

. >> you and senator demint and lindsey graham are in the washington examiner today and the title ofs the gop must prevent a lame duck looting session. >> mm-hmm. >> i'm for that. i don't like looting sessions. higher taxes and spending. senator johnson, as an old omb guy during the reagan years how do you stop it if that's what they are going to do? how do you stop a lame duck? >> what we are suggesting is we'll compromise. fiscal hawks will compromise by saying we'll agree to the bta spending caps. let's pass a continuing resolution to take us well into next fiscal year. i would agree for the entire year. we know this president refuses to lead on the debt and deficit issue. certainly senator reid doesn't. the senate won't do it. give mitt romney time to get into office and put a plan to stabilize debt and deficit and get the economy growing again. i would be happy to do it and extend the current tax rates for another year to provide some certainty to this economy so it can get growing again. >> stop the patty murray strategy. at the end of the day, here comes a dumb question. don't

guys like mccain and lindsey graham are too far left.alty to this country is just a casual open question, that's all. would anybody i know like to be investigated by the u.s. government for whether they're loyal or not? your thoughts. you're reporting on this thing. >> well, first of all, as far as huma is concerned, she's hillary clinton's deputy chief of staff. people don't understand washington par lance, but she's not making policy. deputy chief of staff in washington is a political and managerial role. >> you think she's fair game for bachmann's latest attempt to investigate everybody? >> no, but that's why i think this entire controversy is so strange. why go after somebody in this position. her closeness to clinton? it's a strange question. >> she's going on airplanes, they're sitting next to each other. she's great, been loyal to her husband through this embarrassment. she's a loyalist. >> i agree she's loyal. what i'm saying is she's not making policies, so it's a strange question to ask in the first place. what rush limbaugh is