as about bush-specter, bush-specter.ooking back on your decision to leave the republican party, do you wish you had worded it differently? >> well, listen, candy. for years i tried to moderate the republican party. and when the stimulus came up and president obama asked me for my support and it looked like we were sliding into a 1929 depression, i sided with president obama. it wasn't my job to be saved, it was the jobs of thousands of pennsylvanians and americans. look here, i had a clear shot at re-election. if i had stayed with the obstructionist republican caucus, i would have been re-elected easily, especially in a year when the party out of power is favored. >> but you were facing a stiff challenge within your party from the right. >> well, i wasn't facing the challenge until i voted for the stimulus, candy. toomi had announced he was going to run for governor. i really had a clear shot all the way. look here, you mentioned the "pittsburgh post-gazette" editorial but also the philadelphia enquirer daily news. the n

david, how do you see specter race? >> it doesn't feel good for specter, i would say. if you're part of the old system it's probably not a good year for you. if you're using some of the old tactics, probably not a good year to use those tactics. so somebody doing politics for a long period of time is used to certain ways of doing things and this is sort of wrong year to be used to those ways. >> lehrer: would you add or subtract to that? >> i would add that arlen specter is a remarkable 80-year-old man. he has the energy of somebody one-half of his age. he is relentless. i agree with david, that the polls have it both ways--. >> lehrer: it's been going back and forth. >> it's been going back and forth. the problem for arlen specter is he's won five times statewide. if you're undecided at this point, you're not undecided about arlep specter. the question is who turns out on tuesday? because there isn't a lot of enthusiasm and intensity. if there's a big turnout, i don't think it looks well for him-- he being arlen specter. jim, it's a classic bargain. this is not love b

that's arlen specter. because it's specter who has the democratic leadership, not only the governor who you just heard from, but statewide elected officials, meaning elected officials in democratic ranks across the commonwealth, the unions and so forth. joe sestak has had tremendous television. he has hardcore liberals in his corner. i think the party organization is going to make the decision in this case and if so it will be specter victory, albeit not be a large margin. >> you have arlen specter, committed democrat he says, who's unable to say, as most other democratic senators are right now, that, of course, he's going to vote for elena kagan. how is that playing among pennsylvania democrats? >> at a minimum it puts him in a very awkward position. i have questioned senator specter a number of times on this issue. he says he was dissatisfied with the level of response. the lack of response by then-solicitor general candidate elena kagan. and so now, you know, he's kind of boxed in. he can't say, obvious

specter? guest: his strategy has been to invoke swift boating, the infamous attacks on john kerry's military service in 2004. in those attacks, people were accusing john kerry of having made up his military exploits in vietnam to get medals and other assorted things. much more serious than having a disagreement with a new boss. he is very defensive about it. his latest ad has groups of veterans saying, he is repeating the high points of this career, saying -- one of them says to tell our inspector to stop lying. they all say, we have only one thing to say. they also lose. -- the all salute. it has been a response of tactics. they feel that this will remind democratic voters that there'll be a backlash. it over my democrats of things they do not like about arlen specter. he has been battling them for 30 years. he is known as a really intense campaigner who is good at using negative ads. he is famous for nuking opponents. host: he is a political writer host: he is a political writer for the phil

. >> arlen specter, what a shame. it says more about him than it says about anybody else. that he will actually pursue a lie. he will actually say what's false. he will actually do anything in smearing someone to try to keep his job. >> i've been in public life for 43 years and no one has ever called me a liar before. >> woodruff: some democrats are telling pollsters they see still another specter liability-- his age, and the fact that he has had two bouts with cancer. >> to be candid with you, in the interviews that we have done, age and health come up. i mean, the fact that he is 80 years old is a factor for some voters. but to... and you know, why doesn't he go do something else? why cant he find another, you know, way to spend his later years?" >> woodruff: specter, not surprisingly, dismisses that. >> well, i'm fit as a fiddle. play squash almost every day. i've got my strength and full of vim, vigor and vitality, judy. >> woodruff: governor rendell adds that specter has built up influence the state of pennsylvan

specter has gone south on you. you've lost all these other seats in rhode island, you're losing them everywhere, and you are going away leaving that seat open. it seems if you care about moderate republicanism, you'd defend it. >> i have been doing this for 30 years, so there is a time to move on, but as a very practical matter new hampshire remains a very live free or die state. we very much believe in fis tal responsibility and i suspect we'll be sending someone to take my seat who believes as i do that we as a country cannot pass these massive debts on to our children and we shouldn't be spending the type of money that's being spent right now. so i'm pretty positive about our ability to keep my seat. >> well, i hope they say save the two-party system in the northeast because it keeps these guys honest. thank you very much, senator. >>> up next president obama turns 48 today. how did he celebrate his birthday? his problem isn't when he was borch, it's these crazies arguing about where he was born. whether he's on

all of us urged arlen specter to switch parties.ll of us asked him to become a democrat because we believed he'd been fighting for democratic values all along. and remember, you haven't heard from president obama yet, you haven't heard from joe biden, you haven't heard from me, i just did some robo calls. nutter has been pretty outspoken in the city and i think you'll see those people weigh in. those are the -- again, no offense to joe or arlen, but those are the leading democrats when it comes to voters in the state particularly in the southeast. >> all those years, 45 years he ran as a republican. inside he was a republican. he wasn't just voting republican, he was rooting for the republicans to win. we've got lots of ads and tape showing him rooting for george bush, rooting for his father, rooting for reagan, rooting for nixon. always urging republicans to win. i assume in his soul rooting for them. what changed? why did he stop in his heart? why is he a democrat at the age of 80? >> i don't think it's so important who he was roo

specter: sure.r hill: the nature of that kind of conversation that you are talking about is very different from the nature of the conversation that i recall. the conversations that i recall were much more vivid. they were more explicit. the conversation that i have had the last fewf over days in particular have become much more blurry, but these are vivid is thence that i recall from even eight years ago when they happened, and they are going to stand out much more in my mind than a telephone conversation. they were one-on-one, personal conversations, as a matter of fact, and that adds to why they are much more easily recalled. i am sure that there are some comments that i do not recall the exact nature of from that period as well. these, that are here are the ones that i do recall. sen. specter: i can understand ,hy you say that these comments a legend comments -- alleged comments would stand out in your mind. but when you talk about the withdrawal of a supreme court nominee, you are about somethin

and i think that specter's going to win this race.york times" said when he switched parties-o no matter what party he's in if you look at what he's done on health care alone he should be re-elected to the u.s. senate. but that whole speech on the front end, the president talking about this economic recovery would not be possible without senator specter's vote on the stimulus. and i know that somebody wants to suggest that somehow people are moving away or the white house is silent. there's an obama for specter commercial running almost every second in the pennsylvania media market, where the president says that he loves the democratic party, he loves arlen specter. and that 60th vote is important. and governor rendell's working hard. we're all working hard. and anyone who is counting senator specter out has no knowledge of his electoral history. he's always been in tough battles. they've always been close. and he's always won. >> now, in an anti-incumbent year might it have been better for the governor and for you and for all these in

specter's funny?those people? >> i say, there's something funny in almost everything. >> reporter: specter does see something funny in everything. >> good morning. >> i know. >> reporter: in fact our dr. sanjay gupta got a taste of it four years ago when specter was battling cancer for the second time. >> probably going to lose -- more of your hair. >> i'm going to lose all of my hair. i'm going to be bald as a billiard ball. >> looking good. >> reporter: he liked to quote churchill to describe his approach to life, never give in. >> how are you feeling, senator? >> not so hot. >> what's bothering you? s>> overhead headache. i was up at 4:00, couldn't sleep and got my squash partners out at 5:30. we had a little squash. >> reporter: anyone who can play squash during a chemo headache cannot be dismissed when he says he wants to do stand-up. >> we're going to go over some of the material that you're planning to use on monday night at caroline's, correct? >> these are possibilities. these are candidates.

the problems. >> in this letter to specter, nasa blames specter for filling to come up with they stopped paying nasa because they failed to deliver the working sensors. >> it is the most egregious case of misrepresenting what you will do and not standing behind your word and a contract i have ever heard of. >> nasa's failure to deliver costs the company $45 million in future business. specter wasn't the only one to take a beating. according to specter's lawsuit they stood to earn millions in royalties from the deal. >> we are estimating it is 15 million. >> did it come close to that? >> it was 0. >> reporter: instead of expanding and creating more jobs they are fighting to survive and keep the business afloat. >> the state of ohio invested money for nothing. we invested everything for nothing. >> reporter: in the end they designed to create jobs and may have put jobs in jeopardy. >> to keep the business alive and keep all of the people employed. off. >> would i work with them again? you couldn't pay me enough money. >> reporter: getting answers, carl monday, cleveland 19. >> romona: nasa

arlen specter was 82 years old. ahead this hour, a side of the former senator you may not have seen before, stand-up comedian. >>> the space shuttle "endeavour" once soared 123 million miles through space. today crowds cheered. "endeavour" final arrived at the california science center after a 12-mile trip across l.a. over 3 days. >>> a dedicated daredevil achieved an amazing feat today. he zoomed faster than the speed of sound and wasn't in an air plain. here is cnn's brian todd with the story. >> reporter: with a heart-pounding hop into the stratosphere, felix baumgartner makes history. he's 24 miles up, higher than anyone before him. during free fall he spun for a few harrowing minutes. >> i started spinning so violent. it spun me around and i was trying to find out how to stop this. i was putting one arm out. it didn't work. then putting another arm out but you're always late because at that speed when you travel at that speed with that suit and it's pressurized you don't feel the air at all. >> reporter: in tho

specter: may i ask a follow-up question? sen. specter: yes. schumer: did you ever invoke the notion their judicial philosophy was not suitable? if someone did not share the judicial philosophy the president has articulated, of course that would be a reason. schumer: you would say that? i do not think they share the president's philosophy? mr. kavanaugh: the president has made clear he will not appoint judges who seek to use the bench to impose their own -- >> so you would say that when a nominee came before the committee. mr. kavanaugh: that is what the president wanted. sen. specter: can you give him a simple yes? mr. kavanaugh: yes. >> do you recall, and i do not need the name of a nominee, an example of why this person was not appropriate in terms of judicial philosophy? someone in ourif judgment or the assessment of the committee or the interviewers concluded this person in either direction had policy views they could not separate from their judicial views, did not seem to understand the difference i think i have articulated between -- and

sestak or incumbent senator arlen specter? what do you think?ak seems to be surging and managed to tie specter to bush and, you know, people just really don't trust somebody who flip-flops in the way that senator specter did. so i think the momentum is certainly with sestak. we'll see, though. >> joan walsh, salon.com. >>> tonight in our phone survey i asked, do you believe this oil spill will ultimately impact every american? 98% of you responded yes. only 2% of you said no. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. for more information on "the ed sho show", go to radio website at wegoted.com. "hardball" with chris matthews starts now on the place for politics. we'll see you back here tomorrow night for "the ed show" 6:00 eastern. >>> who blew it? let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews out in los angeles. leading off tonight, oil slicks. bp says transocean and halliburton did it. transocean says bp and halliburton did it. halliburton says bp and transocean did it. see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. who did cause the gulf

arlen specter was 82 years old.our, a side of the former senator you may not have seen before, stand up comedian. >>> the space shuttle endevour once soared 123 million miles through space. endevour finally arrived at the california science center after a 12 mile trip across l.a. over three days. >>> a dedicated dare devil achieved an amazing fete today. here is brian todd with the story. >> reporter: with a heart pounding hop, felix baumgartner makes history. he's 24 miles up, higher than anyone before him. >> starting spinning. it spun me around and i was trying to find out how to stop this. i was putting one arm out. it didn't work. you're always late because when you travel at that speed with that suit, you don't feel the air. >> reporter: in those first seconds he broke another record. no one has gone through the sound barrier outside a vehicle. baumgartner reached a speed of more than 700 miles an hour, well past the speed of sound. free fall lasted 4:19. after he safely touched down, the man known as fearless

it should have a big teardrop underneath your title, senator specter. i still regard you and you're great. i thank you for your service. >> by the way, i like your question. i thought it was a terrific comment. thank you. thank you very much. thank you for the endorsement of the book. you can order it now, amazon.com. order it and you'll get it on the next tuesday when it's the official release date. we're promoting it pretty hard. we may have to have a second printing. so order it now if you want to get it. amazon.com. >> march 27th is when the book comes out. woodbridge, democratic caller, good morning. >> caller: good morning, senator specter. >> good morning. >> caller: i want your opinion, because i'm in my 60s. and i watch sometimes your colleagues. i'm a democrat, but there are many republicans who i may have disagreed with, but i always respected them. with the state of the republican party now and towing the party line, they're all talking the same talking points. they're all saying the same thing. i look at some of your colleagues who have bee

. >> because arlen specter. >> if we had said no to arlen specter -- >> arlen specter as chairman of judiciary committee -- arlen specter. >> arlen specter. >> supporting arlen specter over pat toomey was a very torturous run. >> former pennsylvania senator arlen specter will be here to separate fact from fiction in his connections with rick santorum. plus, holding out for a hero in today's deep down we'll show you how there is still time for someone new to jump into the republican race and win enough delegates to create a contested convention. but first a look ahead at the president's schedule as kristen told you about, his big meeting today, with democratic governors. [ man ] predicting the future is hard. but i have this new smartphone. and now i can see everything more clearly. ♪ i can organize the analysis. sort through all the data. maybe even rattle some cages. i predict that i'm going to like the future. because the future is where i'll be serving up humble pie. with a little side of crow. [ male announcer ] at&t introduces the samsung galaxy note. a smartphone and tablet in

arlen specter the incumbent. democrat turned republican, back democrat and has a challenger from so sestak. let's see an ad on joe sestak's. >> agree arlen specter is the real deal. specter, bush. >> here to say as plainly as i can, arlen specter is the right man for the united states senate. >> i want to say a few things about arlen specter, he came to fight for the working men and women of pennsylvania. >> i can count on this man, that's important, a firm ally when it matters most. >> arlen specter casts the deciding vote in favor of recovery act that helped pull us back from the brink. >> i'm proud to tell you, i think he's earned another term as united states senator. >> he's going to fight for you, regardless of what the politics are. >> i'm arlen specter, i approved this message. >> i'm ar men specter and i approve this message. >> tremendously effective ad, it was run on youtube not by the sestak campaign, but this shows perhaps there are limits to political opportunities? >> well, specter was questioned o

senate, arlen specter. the veteran pennsylvania lawmaker died today in his home in philadelphia from complications of non-hodgkin's lymphoma. he is 82 years old. a memorial service is planned for tuesday in pennsylvania. specter was the longest serving senator from the state of pennsylvania, and during his three decades in office, he was both a republican and a democrat. lisa sylvester takes a look at specter's high-profile career and the legacy he leaves behind. >> in his 30 years in the u.s. senate, arlen specter survived a loss. a benign brain tumor, bruising partisan battles. and a health care town hall. >> wait a minute! >> in 2005, we all watched senator specter's first bout of cancer play out in public. >> hodgkin's is about the best of the bad things to get. >> he had just won a tough battle for the job he coveted, chairman of the judiciary committee. then in 2008, his hodgkin's disease cancer came back. dr. sanjay gupta spent a morning with specter at the time. >> you're probably going to lose more

democrat arlen specter.e is running for another fourth term next year as a -- let me check my notes here -- as a democrat. after former congressman pat toomey said he would challenge specter for the nomination and polling expected he would win. challenging specter in the democratic primary is congressman joe sestak, who just launched a website, reminding people just how deep senator specter's republican roots go. some of the most painful content was surely expected, namely some of specter's own campaign ad, yeah, look at me with president bush. but a sestak original rolls out a new line of attack trying to tie specter with a spector from his past, reminding voters both mr. toomey and mr. specter said this august past that they considered mccain/palin in specter's words, "the better choice." >> last year you were campaigning with mccain and palin. did you vote for them? >> yes, sir. >> i voted for john mccain. >> and you voted for sarah palin, right? >> she was on the ticket. i voted for both of them. >> they

pennsylvania democratic congressman joe sestak's bludgeon against arlen specter after specter stopped being a republican, he still said mccain and palin were the better choice. >>> david letterman, zen, and the art of career maintenance. crisis management in action, as letterman continues to win the pr war. >> this is phase one of the scandal. phase two, next week i go on "oprah" and sob. >> also is letting everyone else make fun of him the wisest strategy? even his employees. >> my job is to, you know, take the number one news story of the day and have a bit of fun with it. so this is my last show. >> "worsts" -- the other shoe finally falls in the infamous new york "new york post" obama chimpanzee cartoon. the editor who openly attacked "the post" as racism, she just got fired. >>> and the politics of pistachios, sarah palin's ex-future son-in-law levi johnston in a barely intelligible commercial for something -- >> now levi johnston does it with protection. >> all will be explained by our special guest, starring in his newest film "stark raving black," lewis black. all of that and

jeff greenfield has more about specter's fight for political survival. >> reporter: senator arlen specter must be feeling these days like that man who survived a plane crash then got hit by a car on the way home. after 30 years as a republican senator, specter suddenly switched to the democrats last year, avoiding a g.o.p. primary he was sure to lose to conservative pat toomey pennsylvania democrats embraced him. president obama endorsed him as a much-aired specter-t.v. spot underlines. >> i love you and i love arlen specter. >> reporter: at doc's pub in south philadelphia, a traditional rallying point for blue-collar democrats... >> senator specter! >> reporter: councilman bill green, whose father was mayor, whose grandfather created the philadelphia democrat machine, explained his support in bottom line terms. >> he's always been a key swing vote, which has enabled him to bring money and other things at that the state needs. >> arlen stood up, i seen him, i was there. >> let's go joe! >> reporter: despite the support, as tuesday's primary approaches, specter now finds himself fighting f

arlen specter is gone. mike cassel is gone. when you say why don't they have opinions of their own, let me tell you something. they do have opinions of their own. you ought to be in the cloakroom right off the senate floor on both sides there are cloak rooms where people go and sit down and have a cup of coffee and smooch, the yiddish word for converse, talk. you ought to hear the discussions in the cloakroom. there are lots of opinions. when i walked out after my vote on the stimulus package, the first thing that bob bennet said to me, arlen, i'm proud of you. i said will you vote with me? he said no, that might get me a primary. well, he got a primary anyway, and he got beat nene the primary. the thought just occurred to me. they ought to televise the cloakrooms. set up c-span televising the senate chamber which has a quorum almost of the time. all that good valuable time is wasted on a quorum call, not with beautiful greta and some intelligent questions. who knows about the answer. somebody else will have to judge that. we o

any sort of a turnout and specter wins.ink there is enough interest in this election, particularly because it's been concentrated in the last four weeks, that's it's going to be a decent turn out. i spoke to jim burn and he said people are really rallying behind the senator because they know what he's done. by the way, he did it for all of us when he was a republican. for democrats and republicans alike. for 30 years, he's been the best ally pennsylvania's had.ç >> one thing that might well be hurting him is that he can't seem to remember which party he's in. let's listen to what happened tuesday night in pittsburgh with the allegheny county dinner. >> allegheny republican committee for endorsing me for the democratic nomination -- >> according to jonathan martin from politico, made people really uncomfortable in the room. first mistake, okay, they got it. second mistake, a lot of murmering in the hall. >> if props were a disqualification for holding office, president bush would never have gotten elected. i wish i had a di

i approve this message. >> i love you and i love arlen specter. >> wow, i love arlen specter. that's a strong endorsement. were you surprised by that language? "i love you?" >> well, i liked it. i just focused on how nice it was and how emphatic the president was. i got to know him when he was senator obama and had his office right down the hall and urged me to become a democrat again and he's got a dynamite television spot, which could be decisive. listen, this is a very uncertain race, but i feel pretty good about it. >> so, you love the president back or is this unrequited? do you love obama? >> of course i do. but more than love him, i cast the key vote in the stimulus package, which saved us from sliding into a tight 1930 depression. more than loving him, i provided the 60th vote for comprehensive health care reform. >> right. >> so this is what the people are interested in. the people are interested in jobs. and i've got a sound record fighting chinese imports, funding for the national institutes of health, contracts through the appropriations committee. that's what peop

led that fight. >> well, let's talk about arlen specter, the citizen. citizen specter. how did you vote in 2008? did you vote for obama or did you vote for the other guy, for mccain? >> i voted for mccain. >> okay, who did you vote for -- in 2004, you've now got a character endorsement from senator kerry. i'm impressed by that. he's swearing to your character right now in a statement yesterday. how'd you vote in 2004? >> listen, when i was trying to reform and moderate the republican party, i was supporting republicans. trying to bring them back to the center. and when that schism broke i returned to my roots. i had started off as a democrat. i voted for adlai stevenson. i voted for -- voted for him twice. voted for john f. kennedy, if you want to go over my voting record. >> right. but starting in '68, it was nixon, nixon, all the way. and it was reagan, reagan. and it was bush, bush, bush. and it was against all the democrats, like al gore and john kerry, and dukakis and clinton. you voted against a whole mess of democrats. did you vote against eddie rendell all those

for arlen specter, please call citizens or arlen specter -- for arlen specter or log onto his websiteph that, please call setback for senate -- joe se stak, please call sestak for senate or log onto sestak.com. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]

specter: sure.ature of that kind of conversation that you are talking about is very different from the nature of the conversation that i recall. the conversations that i recall were much more vivid. they were more explicit. the conversation that i have had the last fewf over days in particular have become much more blurry, but these are vivid is thence that i recall from even eight years ago when they happened, and they are going to stand out much more in my mind than a telephone conversation. they were one-on-one, personal conversations, as a matter of fact, and that adds to why they are much more easily recalled. i am sure that there are some comments that i do not recall the exact nature of from that period as well. these, that are here are the ones that i do recall. sen. specter: i can understand ,hy you say that these comments a legend comments -- alleged comments would stand out in your mind. but when you talk about the withdrawal of a supreme court nominee, you are about something vivid, star

specter said this august past that they considered mccain/palin in specter's words, "the better choice." >> last year you were campaigning with mccain and palin. did you vote for them? >> yes, sir. >> i voted for john mccain. >> and you voted for sarah palin, right? >> she was on the ticket. i voted for both of them. >> they were the better choice. >> in specter's defense he said, "i thought they were the better choice." in specter's not defense, when asked when doing that interview if he was comfortable having put palin a heartbeat from the presidency, he said, quote, i didn't exactly think my vote would be decisive. maybe next year it will turn out that it was. let's bring in current and former democrat joe trippi, strategist and author of "the revolution will not be televised: the democracy, the internet, the telegraph and everything." good evening. >> good evening, keith. >> mr. specter said he did not think putting palin a heartbeat from the presidency would put decisive. in another sense, could it? >> well, i think it could. i think it means that the race in pennsylvania's gotten

. >> we cannot afford to lose senator specter. >> reporter: specter has all the big endorsements, bute is at rick because just 13 months ago, specter was a republican. is the party switch a bigger issue than you expected? >> i expected people to have questions about it. >> i want a fresh face, a new face in. that's why i'm going to vote for mr. sestak. >> reporter: a two-star admiral is challenging specter. >> i'm jim sestak. >> reporter: using tv time to make sure voters remember this. >> my change in party will enable me to be re-elected. >> how could my demolishment actually think that someone who had advanced the agenda of george bush could literally say he's the guy for the future? >> reporter: senator specter is not just up against an anti-washington mood, he faces a party loyalty test. pennsylvania has a closed primary, so only registered democrats can vote. >> with that hardcore democrat who has voted against specter for 30 years and sees those pictures of him with bush, i think it's a very hard thing for them to swallow. >> reporter: president obama is now standing up for spe

friends of arlen specter? >> i am a friend of arlen specter. i make no bones about it. what was the alternative? to stay in the primary? there are no republicans left in the state. >> you never know which party was going to be stronger next year in pennsylvania. you never know. >> i wonder how upset organized labor and the white house are that he'll be in this race. he is somebody that can keep specter honest. if specter starts drifting back to his gop roots, maybe he goes soft on the labor vote for example, the organizing vote, health care, what have you, energy, having this threat from the left keeps him honest. it keeps him honest. >> why do you think the president and governor and everybody are supporting specter, michael? >> i think that was a commitment. those were commitments that were offered at a time when they didn't think that there would be a serious opponent for senator specter. i don't know that sestac is going to be a serious opponent. it's hard to predict. what was the down side at that time? they picked up a 60th vote. that was their calculus. >> well,

the white house is backing senator specter, but he was a republican just last year.oes that sit with the democratic base in p.a.? >>. >> it's not sitting very well. at the last minute, arlen specter retained a very nice lead this last year since he became a democrat until literally about ten days ago, at which point the momentum has shifted dramatically in favor of congressman sestak and against arlen specter. they're neck and neck in the polls right now. but if you look at the trajectory of that momentum and look at the electorate that's going to show up on tuesday, loyal democrats who come out for primaries. i think they're going to vote for joe sestak. >> how about arkansas? blanche lincoln fighting for her political life right now. how do things stand? >> well, it's a classic right/left fight in that primary in arkansas. blanche lincoln is down in the polls. but she's still holding her own against lieutenant governor bill halter. all the left interest groups are coming out against her and working hard. i think if she manages to hold on on tuesday, which is expect

senator arlen specter is dead at the age of 82.ve centanni standing by with that and your other top stories. hi, steve. >> specter's son said that his father died at his home in philadelphia from complications from nonhodgkins lymphoma. he switched from republican to democrat, a move that ended his 30 year career. senator john mccain tweetd that specter was a dear friend who served his state and nation with honor and distinction. >>> the pentagon is investigating what caused two navy ships to collide. a sub marine and cruiser crashed yesterday during routine training off the east coast. no injuries were reported. the damage is being evaluated. neither craft lost power. >>> at least 15 people died from meningitis outbreak caused by contaminated steroid injections. more than 14,000 people ared a risk from the injections. now, the company responsible for mixing the contaminated drugs is also accused of selling drugs without prescriptions. e-mails to customers show the company broke, massachusetts state regular lakes. >>> the new york

yesterday we had senator specter on, so today we talk to congressman sestak.and congressman, there is a brutal television ad that senator specter is running which implies that you were relieved of duty in the navy. and i know you've had some strong response on that. but explain this -- you call it swift boating, but explain -- explain this charge and allegation that's out there from senator specter and this television ad. >> absolutely. good morning, chuck and savannah. you don't get to be a three-star admiral in the navy unless you have a stellar record. in fact, arlen specter voted when i went before the senate to nominate me for my three-star position, and i'm sure he took that decision and that vote very seriously. but i also, as the head admiral at the time, said in an interview last week in the "philadelphia inquirer," he said i wanted straight talk, and that put joe sestak in the crosshairs. he challenged people that didn't want to be challenged as he tried to change the navy. and that's what i'm doing today against arlen the specter and frankly my demo

gwen: is arlen specter -- was he in the wrong place at the wrong time?> arlen specter in some ways didn't on the -- doesn't tell us a whole lot because he spent 45 years training democrats to not like him and then he switched participants and asked those same democrats to vote for mihm. -- him. what was so push -- punishing about the ad is not just the idea that he'd had switched for his own opportunism -- gwen: which is bad. >> but the voice of george bush in a primary was nails on the blackboard for democratic voters. and he was trampled. gwen: did you think he saw it coming? >> i think he did at the end. one of the things we saw with the scott brown election in massachusetts earlier this year is that voters seem to be seeking some sort of authenticity. running as a republican for five terms and suddenly asking all these democrats to vote for you doesn't catch on the authenticity checkpoint. >> right, unless your authentically self-interested. gwen: these are politicians, they're all authentically self-interested. so the white house kind of didn't show

has been a republican politician. >> arlen specter is the right man for the united states senate. he is a firm ally. >> my change in party will enable me to be reelected. >> arlen specter switched parties to save one job -- his, not yours. >> you cannot beat that ad, that is corp -- that is for sure. >> it is a great ad, because it is factual and goes right to the core of arlen specter's problem. arlen specter was a democrat who became a republican to run for district attorney and get elected united states senator but now he has come back to the democrats because he had to be re-nominated and he could not win in the republican party and as an independent. the primary is closed. only democrats can vote in the democratic primary. but don't count him out, because the philadelphia machine can turn out the vote. they are backing him, the organization is, the president, the vice president, the governor are all backing sestak -- specter, excuse me. we will find out what their muscle is. >> it reminds me of a line in a graham greene novel where his protagonist says, "i prefer to tell the

i am now citizen arlen specter. >> when will you decide? >> i think i'll decide about october 25th at high noon. >> well, would you vote for a republican then ? >> absolutely. absolutely. i'm going to vote for the better man, in my opinion. i'm not going to be bound by party -- by party loyalty. >> you write in the book about part of the reason that you lost your primary in 2010 was that president obama did not campaign for you as much as he promised to do so and democratic leadership in the senate. are you holding out your vote for president obama, your support for him, because he didn't follow through on what he promised? >> no. i am not doing that. all of that is yesterday. i intend to make an evaluation of the nominees. i want to see who the republican is, presumably it will be romney. i'm not very happy with romney. frankly, i'm not happy with president obama. i think his policy in afghanistan is dead wrong. i said so in the senate. i opposed his 30,000 additional troops in the senate i think it was a colossal mistake to extend the tax

president obama is supporting arlen specter, joe sestak and arlen specter are obviously in the race, supports specter, sestak has to be very careful because he is and obama democrat as well, how he approaches these issues. so, it is pretty interesting how sestak attacks washington, but he cannot attack the democratic president. >> gregg: i looked a little deeper at the polling data and i saw something interesting. specter's disapproval rating is twice as lodge as sestak's. does that reflect that, you know, specter fatigue among voters who may be fed up with a guy who has been there for 30 years. >> yes. i mean, you are exactly right. and typically if you find someone with a job performance in the mid 3 so, low 30s, they would be political history. you know, you could write their political obituary. and, for the longest time, what really was going on here, was, joe sestak, until months ago did not run a television commercial, gregg, he wasn't well-known and so, arlen specter's lead was basically a name i.d., and once sestak took to the air with some very not arguably brilliantly comme