here is number three from ted cruz. made impassioned case at western conservative summit in denver. the concerns had to block the president's health care law at all cost. because of all things people might like it. lets listen. >> on january 1 the exchanges kick in and the subsidies kick in. once those kick in, it's going to prove almost impossible to undo obama care. the administration's plan is very simple, get everyone addicted to the sugar so obama care remains a permanent feature of our society. >> this i guess the strangest acknowledgement. people might really like it. lets mess it up before it gets to them. >> he's saying they like being insured, people can go to the doctor when they are sick. one reason they are so desperate to stop obama care, what we fight about is whether the u.s. government has a role in social policy and making things better for the average americans. the tea party talking about disrupters, say no, government solution, we need less and less and less of it. if obama care works it provides in

and that's ted cruz.he person who brings this in a theological and frankly tea party populist sense, and that's rafael cruz, is telling the truth. >> you know what? i just want to say that this reminds me of what we always believed about the marxists. the real communist who is did it for a living. they would say anything that they believe would advance their cause. truth to them was whatever advances the cause. it sounds so much like the parallel to that. >> you know, it's interesting, too, and wayne got at this. that rafael cruz really represents the full synthesis of the religious right and the tea party right which we talked about the last few years. there's a tremendous overlap there. and they both are factions based on grievance, feeling they're not in the mainstream. and these people are -- you know, gives these speeches, goes to these mega-churches and talks about this stuff. they say, yes, your son will deliver us. they mean it politically and spiritually. >> any connection between benjamin frankl

one is ted cruz. we got the greatest or worst hits from cruz himself. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, we know in the cyber world, threats are always evolving. at first, we were protecting networks. then, we were protecting the transfer of data. and today it's evolved to infrastructure... ♪ ...finance... and military missions. we're constantly innovating to advance the front line in the cyber battle, wherever it takes us. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. . >>> good morning, everybody. t.j. holmes. president hamid karzai threatening not sign the security agreement with the united states if there's any more drone attacks in his country. he was angry about a suspected drone attack on thursday. >>> 97 million shoppers are expected to get the jump on shopping this friday. >>> and she stole the show, thanksgiving day tradition. there she is. best in show. american fox hound jewel won the national dog show. stay with us right here. back to "hardball" now. >>> welcome back to "hardball

the best and the worst of ted cruz. here's number three from ted cruz.y, he made an impassioned case at the western reserve -- western conservative summit in denver. the conservatives had to block the president's health care law at all costs, because of all things people might like it. let's listen. >> on january 1, the exchanges kick in. and the subsidies kick in. once those kick in, it's going to prove almost impossible to undo obama care. the administration's plan is very simple. get everyone addicted to the sugar, so that obama care remains a permanent feature of our society. >> david, this is the strangest acknowledgment. he is saying it might work. people might really like it, so make sure we screw it up before it gets to them. >> what he is saying is, they might like being ensuinsured. we have to stop this. but there is a big at your picture, too. one reason they were so desperate to stop obama care, when we fight about obama care, what we're fighting about is whether the u.s. government has a role in social policy and making things better for the

ted cruz follows that model. irony is that people like rush limbaugh and ann coulter are happy to have a democrat to beat up in the white house. this he don't have an interest in winning elections. it doesn't do them any good to have a republican in the white house because then what would they talk about? they would have to become devoted to that president which doesn't help their ratings. ted cruz is following the model of the people who least want to win elections, but he's using and claiming that could help win elections. it's so ironic but the reason why people like steve schmidt lose credibility among the base because they believe rush and it will help to us win the white house when clearly that's not what rush probably wants. >> steve schmidt, the backlash seems to be under way by establishment republicans in washington against ted cruz. >> there's no glory in losing election after election and there's no glory in committing yourself to strategies that are self-evidently defeating the purpose of trying to b

. >> will anything spook ted cruz? >> who is the top leader? it's ted creuz. >> that would be the end of the republican party. >> i think republicans have to be worried. >> those numbers freak people out. who cares? >> this guy is scary. >> the number they care about is the fund-raising number. >> boy, is it scary. >> now, in the meantime -- >> the rocky rollout of healthcare.gov. >> the website hasn't work ed te way it's supposed to. >> i have a constituent that received this cancellation letter. >> my constituents can't keep their health care plan. >> a subpar policy. >> ever since the law was passed, you got to replace them with quality comprehensive coverage. >> how frustrated is he? >> we're in this together. we'll see it through. >> we need to delay the mandate tax. we need to fix this problem. >> it's been a rough couple weeks in washington. >> the shutdown was so magnificent, run beautifully. i'm so proud of these republicans. >> it's an american horror story politically. >> happy halloween. >> now that raphael call me ted cruz, he might

that is how we got to ted cruz. ted cruz was the hair-on-fire guy. he was the tea party primary challenger to a guy whose hair was slightly less on fire. but it was texas, so even after picking the truly whacky guy in the primary, the republicans were still able to win the general election in texas, so now we all have ted cruz to zeal with in washington. the same pattern held in two other places in the last election, kentucky in and utah. in kentucky -- the last couple of elections. in kentucky, mitch mcconnell and the republican establishment had picked their candidate, who they wanted to run for that seat, who they knew who could win that seat. the guy on the left. that guy on the left lost to rand paul in the primary and then rand paul won the seat. in utah, they ousted the incumbent republican senator, bob bennett, and replaced him with mike lee. because it's utah and utah is that red a state, that was enough to get somebody as out there as mike lee into the united states senate. usually the purification process works in a way that makes republic

republicans like texas senator ted cruz. he president specifically attacked cruz as an ideologue when he spoke at a private event later that night. that's later last night, saying, "what precipitated, according to at least one senator from texas, the necessity for the shutdown is the affordable care act. in the state of texas, you've got more uninsured people than any place in the country. a million people could have health insurance. the only reason they're not doing it is ideology." well said. ted cruz didn't take kindly, however, to the president on his home turf, and in reaction to the president's arrival itself, cruz put out a statement basically telling obama to leave town. it said, "obama care has no place in texas and it must be repealed so we can empower americans and their families by offering real health care choices, rather than a government-written menu of plans they don't want and can't afford. president obama should take his broken promises tour elsewhere." that's ted cruz speaking. sam stein with the "huffingt

i want to play what he said about ted cruz. >> does ted cruz stand out to you as a potential light of the republican party? >> look, i'm not going to disqualify anybody, but i think i've indicated some of the names i think are most effective in becoming elected and we'll see where it goes. >> he could have started that with bless his heart, but he didn't, followed by that but that he then went into. is there a problem for cruzzed credibility and electability. >> mitt romney called his own self severely conservative, which no one believed anyway. i'm not really sure -- i could care less what mitt romney thinks about ted cruz and the 2016 elections. he's lost, he's done, go live in malibu. but my bigger point is here in south carolina don't forget gingrich only won with 40%, mitt romney got 28%. rick santorum came in third with 17% in south carolina. it's a very tricky state. you have evangelicals up in the upper part of the state. you have folks in columbia, they don't like a lot of the social issues unless you're in the suburbs and people in the downstate don't like the social issues

republicans like texas senator ted cruz. n ideologue when he spoke as a private event last night saying, quote, what precipitated according to at least one senator in texas, the necessity for the shutdown is the affordable care act. in the state of texas you've got more uninsured people than any place in the country. a million people could have health insurance, the only reason they're not doing it is ideology. well said. ted cruz didn't take kindly to the president on his home turf. in reaction to the president's arrival itself, cruz put out a statement basically telling the president to leave town. it read obama care has no place in texas and must be repealed so we can empower americans and their families by offering real health care choices rather than a government-written menu of plans they don't want and can't afford. president obama should take his broken promises tour elsewhere. sam stein with "the huffington post" and wayne slater for the "dallas morning news." let me go to sam on the big question that never seems to

. >> does ted cruz stand out to you? >> put five red necks on a mower. >> i'm being unfairly targeted by a bunch of hacks and haters. if dueling were legal in kentucky it would be a challenge. >> the last five years have not been a great time. >> a jumble of unfocused noise out of touch with the things you care about. ♪ like a song you hear that lingers in your ear ♪ ♪ but you can't forget from sundown ♪ ♪ >> this week marks one year since the 2012 presidential election and if this is the annual checkup, it's largely the president's health care law that's going through a major stress test. and right now, the white house is reaching out for support in the face of continuous oh criticism of the law and its rollout. later this evening, the president will speak about the benefits of health care reform at an organizing for action event. and later this week, he'll travel to texas to thank volunteers helping people enroll in the new health care exchanges. the president is keeping up a furious public information push, as dueling

do you think ted cruz is a good actor? >> obviously, he's a great actor.look at what he's done so far. you know, he -- he has risen to the top of the -- to the tea party. coming from harvard. so, you know, he's been able to pull off this populist routine quite effectively. >> herman cain did that last year. that's not difficult. >> well, look, a half dozen people have done it out of the millions and millions that would like to do it. and cain, you know, he lasted a couple weeks. i think ted cruz has already outlasted -- i'm just saying that his acting skills are, i think, impressive, despite, you know, some so-so performances he might have turned in that were caught on that film. >> right. okay. now john, chris christie is another republican in that top tier of 2016 hopefuls. but you've written, and i'm quoting you, that sheparding christie through a competitive republican primary will be vastly more difficult than anybody seems to be figuring at the moment. and you say that this is partly to do with questions about a, quote, top female deputy that were ta

bit before he became ted cruz.his is totally surprising to me. it's an unnecessary picking of a fight. i don't think it gets him anything, but it shows even more than rand paul has just shown the inability to resist the temptation, to score cheap points with the narrow band of his party. again, it just doesn't serve anybody oes purpose including his own. i'm not sure why he's doing it. >> john, you and mark know how to look at these things over the long run. you've done two great campaigns. here's the question. how do you bridge a gap where you keep widening the river? it seems the tea party types like paul and more so in the case of ted cruz want to make it crystal clear that anybody's a moderate or nonconcerted republican party. anybody who's east coast is not one of them. why do they want to shrink the size of what they call the republican or conservative movement? why do they want to do this now? >> well, i think, obviously, chris, they think it's in their political interest to do that. the only thing i take ex

he's an are a dent supporter of ted cruz 2016. this is a clip from his appearance here on "hardball" in september. it's remarkable. >> obama is president, ted cruz can be president. >> this is serious business. is he eligible to be president? you've been touting the guy. >> i think he's eligible. i'm giving you a yes answer. >> if obama was born overseas even that crazy theory of donald trump is true he still would be eligible to be president by that standard. >> we're talking about ted cruz. >> can't you project an inch mentally. >> i'm telling you president obama is the president. if he's eligible to be president -- >> you brought this up. >> what better way -- yes. >> was he a legitimately elected president of the united states? >> i wasn't in congress to determine that. that was determined before i got here. >> howard fineman he won't do it. he's afraid of losing one or two votes. >> if you dig down to the very core, to the ninth level of -- to the ninth level of the anti-obama movement, you find people who not only view him f

and she leads ted cruz, i love this, by 16 points. clinton 52. a real victory there. uz down to 36. see the pattern here? the more right wing the rival, the bigger his defeat. we'll be right back. >>> we cannot commit ourselves to an endless cycle of conflict. tough talk and bluster may be the easy thing to do politically, but it's not the right thing for our security. it is not the right thing for our security. >> welcome back to "hardball." as i've said president obama has done what his predecessors could not. slow iran's nuclear program. and as the president made clear today, he did it actually without going to war. the historic deal today stands in sharp contrast to the obsessions of the president's enemies including the neocons who root for conflict, failure, and war every chance they get. as the daily beast said, dealt the neocons a blow. there is contemplation of the hideous reality that obama and the path of negotiation just might work. this is the thing the neocons can't come to terms with at all. if obama succeeds here, their entire world view is discredited.

>> you know, if it's the primary voters who vote every time, i think it will be ted cruz.hristie may already be toast because during her can sane did, he put his arm around president blackenstein and put his arm around kenya kootties. >> what would he say about america if ted cruz was to win the presidency? >> you mean overseas? >> yeah, what would it mean for americas and america's reputation, do you think? >> we don't know until -- fe he became president what it would mean. the republicans are the masters of the are you kidding he candidate? when ronald reagan first ran people are like are you kidding he? ronald reagan, the bonzo guy getting into politics. george w bush when he first ran people thought it was his father, sarah palin they have no shame. so i'm not surprised it will be ted cruz, better than rick santorum. >> let take a break and come back to talk two two things dear to your heart, sex and drugs. >> wow. >> either order, doesn't matter. are taking charge e of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar

>> you know, if it's the primary voters who vote every time, i think it will be ted cruz. christie may already be toast because during hurricane sandy, he put his arm around president blackenstein and put his arm around kenya cooties. >> what would he say about america if ted cruz was to win the presidency? >> you mean overseas? >> yeah, what would it mean for americas and america's reputation, do you think? >> we don't know until -- he became president what it would mean. the republicans are the masters of the are you kidding he candidate? when ronald reagan first ran people are like are you kidding he? ronald reagan, the bonzo guy getting into politics. george w bush when he first ran people thought it was his father, sarah palin they have no shame. so i'm not surprised it will be ted cruz, better than rick santorum. >> let take a break and come back to talk two two things dear to your heart, sex and drugs. >> wow. >> either order, doesn't matter. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could

if they voted for santorum, they're going to be looking for ted cruz or someone like that. you'll have this division all the way through. >> but then you lose. >> yes. >> because ted cruz can't be elected president. >> i know. i know that. you do lose. and ergo, the democrats win. >> to this win, christie has made one thing clear. that republicans are still obsessed with purity. the day after christie's landslide victory, sean hannity let louis on the new jersey governor. >> if you want to look at a liberal record on issues like guns, gay marriage, controversial appointments, this governor has no idea what's going to hit him. if you can't beat hillary clinton in the exit polls in new jersey on the day you are the

and she leads ted cruz, i love this, by 16 points. clinton 52. a real victory there. own to 36. see the pattern here? the more right wing the rival, the bigger his defeat. we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] 1.21 gigawatts. today, that's easy. ge is revolutionizing power. supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. using data predictively to help power entire cities. so the turbines of today... will power us all... into the future. ♪ life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed? what if i can't hide my symptoms? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisinfo.com to get your complimentary q&a book, with information from experts on your condition. >>> we cannot commit ourselves to an endless cycle of conflict. tough talk and bluster may be the easy thing to

doug, i ask you first, he left out senator ted cruz. why?ent strand of republican than romney, but despite the controversy he moved close to the top of the republican presidential trial heats indicating a couple things. first, the party is divided. two, there is no clear frontrunner, and three mitt romney, who lost the race he probably could have won is really somewhat out of step of what is going on. >> we want to hear from the governor on who he actually would pick from his party to run. in his own comments about senator cruz, let's watch that. >> paul ryan, jeb bush, marco rubio, a long list of capable people, but chris christie stands out. >> does ted cruz stand out to you as a potential in the republican party? >> i will not disqualify anybody, but i think i indicated some of the names i think would be most effective and we'll see where it goes. >> what role does senator ted cruz play in the republican party? >> he is the voice of the anger against washington, d.c. and obama care. i have to say the verb that was used there, who is mitt

it really was a discussion of -- >> let me bring you to ted cruz. so i'm going to read from national review here. it says, norquist defenders owe conservatives an apology. norquist is not happy with defenders. he told reporters today they have a lot of policies to remake and bridges to rebuild. this is governor norquist talking about apologies and bridges to rebuild. quote, it would be a good idea if they stopped referring to other republicans as hitler appeasers because they proposed a strategy which failed. i think if you make a mistake as big as they did, you owe your senators and fellow congressmen a big apology and your constituents as well because nothing they did helped the cause of obama care. could you take us a little further? who are the "they" in this, and are they rto members? >> no. what happened was there was a republican strategy going into the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling. and that was to move the cr, the budget, past the debt ceiling, so you had one deadline, not a soft deadline that was going to be pushed through, bu

the first lady and president got in spirit and arguably scarier with comments made in 2012 but ted cruz' father raphael cruz about the president. watch this. >> we need to send barack obama back to chicago and like to send him back to kenya -- >> what does he mean by that? we need to send barack obama back to kenya? >> three quick points, one it's clearly a joke. i give speeches and the kenya references kill. >> send him back to kenya, what does that mean? >> nothing. it's a reference to kenya and people laugh because it's -- >>est not making -- >> he's not making a joke because he thinks -- >> it's clearly a joke. >> it's clearly not a joke. >> i think it's a joke. we'll dispute that and move on. you know who brought up the berther thing, it was hillary clinton who first brought up was he born in kenya? who shot it down? american spectator was never talked about on fox news. i discuss this in my three books back, you heard about it every night. the conzektive media shut it down and point three, jfk's father was a nazi sympathizer, nobody cares about what somebody's father thinks. >> th

>> he's voted with ted cruz. they joked the only two senators with two votes each or rand paul and ted cruz because they've gotten jon cornyn and mitch mcconnell to go with them so many times. >> but ted cruz who is not helpful was asked by somebody if he's going to endorse jon cornyn a couple of months ago he said no. >> he's got religion on that. last week he said he would not endorse insurgents against his colleagues. designee has moved a little bit. ted cruz has. >> yeah. >> he's been burned. >> mike, thank you very much. coming up -- >> great to have mike on the set. you're trying to push him off and that makes me sad. >> the texans took a three score lead in the first half last night but then one scary moment changed the whole game. we'll show you what happened. ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ [ male announcer ] the beautifully practical and practically beautiful cadillac srx. get the best offers of the season now. lease this 2014

>> now, let's not forget, cynthia, just last month cuccinelli shunned ted cruz at even a photograph in virginia. he avoided being photographed with the shutdown king. i mean, so even with cuccinelli realizing that cruz was taxic, he hangs out with the other guys that voted for the shutdown. what does this tell you of the overreach of the extreme right? >> he can't run away from this record. he has a long record of embracing the most extreme positions. so he might as well hang out with ted cruz. but the other thing the republican party is stuck with, reverend al, is its own base. there is a verse in the bible that talks about sewing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. and that is exactly what the republican party has done. it has spent decades pandering to extremists. people who hate the federal government, people who want to destroy the social safety net for the poor. people who are not comfortable with the diverse america. and they can't run away from those people now. those people are the tea party. they're base voters. and the party can't run away from them. the establishment though

ted cruz absent disaster scenario put forth. if they nominate somebody like ted cruz.lions of other people who might have voted republicans who point vote republicans. you don't think that cruz for example because is he of hispanic heritage could convince hispanic americans that, look, my vision to the country, smaller government, a more conservative approach to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is better for you. you don't think he could do that the tea party does. and let's see if they are right. i don't as least not as of tonight. in light of your question. if it's somebody like chris christie he has to reach out to the tea party and show respect for them and try to win them over and listen to them and make clear we're not going to agree on everything, but, you know what? i do respect you. but the tea party also has an obligation. they can't be as rigid as they are. because, if they are, telling you, this side will sit home. if this guy gets nominated, and this side will sit home. if this republican gets nominated and that's. >> democrats won't sit at home. >>

if they voted for santorum, they're going to be looking for ted cruz or someone like that.ou'll have this division all the way through. >> but then you lose. >> yes. >> because ted cruz can't be elected president. >> i know. i know that. you do lose. and ergo, the democrats win. >> to this win, christie has made one thing clear. that republicans are still obsessed with purity. the day after christie's landslide victory, sean hannity let louis on the new jersey governor. >> if you want to look at a liberal record on issues like guns, gay marriage, controversial appointments, this governor has no idea what's going to hit him. if you can't beat hillary clinton in the exit polls in new jersey on the day you are the most popular in your state, don't think it's going to get better. it's likely going to get worse. he's not in the mainstream of conservatism. >> michael crowley. chris christie standing up to that mind-set will do him a world of good in a general election. the question is can he sustain the primary process if he's got the likes of limbaugh, beck, and hannity against

and clearly ted cruz is the new sarah palin. but don't assume this is about 2016.marter than he looks. he may be smarter than he acts. >> what do you think he hopes to gain by appearing on the tonight show? basically file off a few edges? >> that too. but his goal may not be the white house. i think this guy sees beyond that, and he wants some kind of jim demint gig where you really don't have to be accountable for senate votes. you don't have to get the american people to elect you president. you don't have to conduct that awesome responsibility of being president. when jim demint left the senate, he got a driver and a limo and a big fat expense account. >> you think he wants to elevate himself and then make the big bucks. okay. >> yeah. he's heading for k street. don't let him fool you. >> all right. he recently made a joke about a nigerian scammers that he was asked to apologize for. here it is. >> you know, have y'all noticed you ow the nigerian e-mail scammers? they've been a lot less active lately because they've all been hired to run the obama care website.

but every person you just heard is an organizer or featured speaker at the same event with ted cruz. r than the cruz family. it extends deep into the underside of right wing politics. it isn't about faith of politics. it's about paranoia and hate. joining me now is michael keegan his right wing watch blog tracks this extremist red rik. and frank schaffer. he's shore of the book "and good said, billy." thank you both for joining me. >> thanks for having us. >> this is really rough stuff. but not unfamiliar to you. what is this really about? >> well, listen, you know, we've talked about this before. you're one of the only in the mainstream media that gets it. the fact is america does not have a right wing political problem. america has a right wing religion problem. and when they talk about losing our heritage and all the rest of it, this is a kind of religious delusion i talk about in my book "and god said, billy" which might as well be a biography of the cruz family. we've got to stop being so polite. we kind of dance around it and we don't say something very obvious. and that is the

fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know. >>> have you heard the comments from ted cruz's dad?iary statements about president obama. mother jones posted video of rafael cruz speaking to a tea party group saying this about the president. >> we have to unmask this man. this is a man that seeks to destroy all concept of god, and i'll tell you why. this is classical marxist philosophy. karl marx very clearly said marxism require that say we destroy god because government must become god. we have our work cut out for us. we need to send barack obama back to chicago. i'd like to send him back to kenya. >> joining me now, democratic strategist, daniellela gibbs leger. is this just a series of horrible comments by one man or do you think this is part of something bigger in our country these days? >> i think it's both, unfortunately. you hear a lot of these sentiments echoed by a lot of the fringe members of the republican party and the tea party. so it's not surprising that you heard these words coming out of his mouth. what is surprising is that, you know, yes, he is ted cruz's father