then, a half hour later, karl rove's pacs pull their ads from todd akin. then moments later, that committee decided to go beyond it's statement from a few minutes earlier and decided to pull their ads for todd akin as well. pulled $5 million worth of ads. then by 2:30, mitch mcconnell pulled his support too. he said i believe he should take time with his family to decide if this statement will prevent him from effectively representing our party in the critical election. by 3:00 p.m., the leader of the republican party said i would step aside. an hour later when a republican charlie summers, running for senate in maine, says todd akin should resign, effective immediately. at 5:30 p.m. the head of a tea party group says he should step down and give conservatives a chance at taking back the senate on november. that was all on monday. then it was time to wake up on tuesday morning, and scott walker of wisconsin is saying, todd akin should step down. less than an hour later, at 11:50, richard burr says i urge him to withdraw right now. ten minutes later, at noon

nobody believes that todd akin is a outliar. they said there is more than 40 republican house senate candidates other than todd akin who want to ban abortion for people that get pregnant from rain or invest. this is not the todd akin problem, it's the todd akin party. when local news covered it, listen to how they covered it. >> ryan like romney distanced himself from akin's remarks but in congress he joined him in opposing abortions even when a woman is rained. >> should they be available to a woman who is rained. >> i'm proud of my record. >> in congress, paul ryan joined todd akin. >> this has not gone according to plan in the last few days and that's because a., the press has done it's job, and b, the republican parties position is the todd akin position. they adopt the todd akin policy of no exceptions or emp think for rain and invest victims. since they're about to nominate mitt romney and because he was all over the platform process, does this mean they're running the presidential ticket on todd akin's presidential policy.

wars, about the gender gap that republicans were fighting back against, and now here you've got todd akin, a leading candidate for ahead of claire mccaskill until this happened. what is the impact? >> todd akin not just random challenger, but a sitting member of the house. you know, i think this has the potential to cause -- to give claire mccaskill a second chance at winning another term in missouri, especially if todd akin doesn't take the hint and get out by 5:00 tomorrow afternoon. you know, it could have repercussions elsewhere. you talked about scott brown in massachusetts calling for him, calling for todd akin to step down. you could see the ramifications in a close race like massachusetts, where scott brown needs to get the votes of women and of independent and democratic women, and this creating a problem for republicans elsewhere makes it harder potentially for republicans to win back the senate. one of the things they once thought was pretty much a guaranteed thing this year. >> let's play the rest of what todd akin said. so people get the full impact of his comments not out of co

>>>añadiendo a la presión de su partido, mitt romney le pidió a todd akin que renuncie a su aspiración debería aceptar el consejo, más de la mitad de los habitantes de missouri creen que todd akin tiene que retirarse la campaña, pero él dice que continuará su campaña para el senado de estados unidos, todd akin dijo que la violación era un acto de maldad y dijo que una violación puede provocar un embarazo, el domingo dijo que en los casos de violación, era algo raro que se causara un embarazo, pero el partido republicano le dio la espalda por estos comentarios. >>> fue un comentario muy ofensivo, no fue muy inteligente, es que no hay manera de defenderl. >>> así y todo, el congresista ryan patrocinó el caso de pago de abortos solo en violaciones confirmadas. >>>e l daño está hecho, lo que ha dicho todd akin es un ejemplo de la forma de pensar del grupo conservador dentro de partido republicano. >>> les permitió revivir el tema que los republicanos tienen una guerra contra las mujeres. >>> todd akin ha hecho más difícil la aspiración de los republicanos de tner la mayoría en noviembre, a

this is a guy who's on the house science committee? maybe toddn explain to us how does a woman's body know and how are they able to distinguish a friendly sperm from an unfriendly sperm? this is just so -- it is not just insensitive. it is just wrong. it is just -- it is just uncannily stupid! and without any evidence whatsoever. it is just wrong wrong wrong. as president obama said yesterday at our little imp promptu news conference, come on, we don't start parsing rape. >> obama: the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. >> bill: rape is rape. so yesterday the cries started mounting for todd akin to jump out of the race. especially from republicans right? scott brown up in massachusetts. of course, he's so afraid of elizabeth warren, he'll say anything to make him look like a moderate. john cornyn and mitch mcconnell and sean hannity all jumped in said you gotta get out of the race. the deadline is 5:00 tonight for him to get out of the race. todd akin is sticking so far sticking in there. he went on mike huckabee to say i ain't quiten.

statement saying he -- political revealed this morning that todd akin has also recorded a tvad to apologize for his comments. >> i am todd akin and i approved this message. rape is an evil act. i used the wrong words in in the wrong way and for that i apologize. as the father of two daughters, i want tough justice for predators. i have a compassionate heart for victims of sexual assault and i pray for them. the fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. the truth is, rape has many victims. the mistake i made was in the words i said, not in the heart i hold. i asked for your forgiveness. >> despite his apologies, republican establishment has unleashed a campaign to drive todd akin out of their race. the national republican senatorial committee declared it would withdraw support for a can, as to the republican advocacy group, a crossroads gps. and a missouri law, candidates can withdraw 11 weeks before election day. that deadline is 5:00 p.m. today missouri time. what presidential hopeful mitt romney has criticized todd akin 's remarks, questions have been raised about ties between h

. >> todd a general least a 32nd and that suggested he did not intend to the campaign to be in its finalours. >> my mistake was in my words of them are told. i asked for your forgiveness. >> in a radio interview here from the he is still in the race. >> we are going to continue with this race. >> the call came even as top republicans urged him to drop out. >> if it is a legitimate rate, the female body has ways to shut that down. >> he later apologized saying that he misspoke. the missouri election laws allowing candidates to withdraw with little difficulty, after that it takes a court order. >> he has lost support but is so far keeping his place on the ballot. " >> and delaware 3d care employees are accused of forcing toddlers to fight. the employee's report of at least one fight. it showed a pair of three- year-old children and punching on each other while the employees cheered. >> clearly one of the children is crying out and did not want to continue but is pushed back into the fight. >>pam: an unusual arrested texas. police were taking in a male and female suspect aggravated robbery.

or think is a very good idea. i do think toddaises a legitimate point by saying that when todd akin talks about a legitimate rape, that's sort of a different thing, he's a nut for a different reason. i do think that what it does here is, it opens up a conversation about paul ryan's views on reproductive rights and issues that affect women, that mitt romney and paul ryan didn't want to have. the point you are making, chris, which is absolutely right, prior to yesterday and prior to today when the romney campaign clarified, paul ryan and todd akin, on the issue of reproductive rights had exactly the same position. today, the romney campaign says that they don't support -- they don't oppose abortion rights in the case of rape. that's a different position than paul ryan held yesterday when he held the same position that todd akin held. >> and i do think the republican party is pointing itself in the direction of paul ryan's thinking, not the, well, lack of thinking of mitt romney on most occasions. anyway, thank you, todd harris. i t

republicans are pulling campaign money from the missouri congressman after his comments about right todd a hidden had a decent chance against a popular democrat but in as for re says that was before a weekend interview >>> missouri congressman taught a again apologizes for making a controversial comment >>> i have made a couple of serious mistakes that were wrong, i need to apologize >>> he said he was sorry i'm mike huckabie is ready a shell he came under fire after a reporter asked him about banning abortion in cases of right >>> it seems to me from what i understand, from doctors, he meant to say forceable rape and not legitimate >>> read is an evil act committed by violent predators' i know that people do become pregnant from read the dead man into a long slide that was not the case, it does happen >>> 8 and won a competitive three-way race in the primary several senators called for him to drop from the race >>> i found the comments unacceptable and outrageous i've asked him to step down >>> president obama weighed in on the controversy >>> the views expressed offense of rape is rape >

a national election. that's the first problem. the second problem is that if toddthe race, they have to rhetorically distance themselves from him, like you're seeing now. you saw mitt romney coming out today giving a very strong rebuke, after an initial weak statement, a very strong rebuke of todd akin. and the more todd akin stays in this race, the more republicans across the country will have to rebuke that statement of todd akin, and it will make him untenable in missouri, and if they can't win back missouri, they can't win this year. >> karen finney, is it conceivable we can have a vice presidential debate in which moderator martha radditz does not ask paul ryan the question, what is forcible rape? >> ill tell you, lawrence, it's conceivable, but that really shouldn't happen. if you're going to hang your hat on this construction of forcible rape, and as you pointed out, akin and ryan are pretty much lockstep on these issues, time and time again, in the legislation that they have jointly supported together and the positions that they've espoused. and again, even

it's almost exactly on a parallel track as chuck todd was pointing out this morning, on george herbertsh versus bill clinton, which is not good for an incumbent president. >> i would say a couple things. i think that chuck is actually more right when he indicates that this election is more like the 2004 contest than the 1992 race. there are ways in which it's pretty clear looking at that poll, there are ways in which folks have the perception that mitt romney because of his private sector experience and because he's not been in washington, d.c., they have a sense he can move the lever in ways that the current administration has not. but when they get a sense of what exactly his experience was in the private economy, when he was outsourcing jobs in bain capital, when they begin to appreciate that in massachusetts, he was 47th out of 50th in job growth, and when they understand that he's not laid out any real plans for growing jobs in this economy, th certainly has not been addressing the bread and butter issues that working families care about right now, those numbers decline for him wh

akin throws the missouri senate race into chaos. >> the republican party now has a todd akin problem. >> with incendiary comments about rape and abortion. >> so-called legitimate rain. >> legitimate rape. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut this thing down. >> this caveman view of the sexes. >> his views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. >> this created a huge problem for the romney campaign. >> paul ryan is being forced to defend his own record. >> there is no daylight between paul ryan's views and todd akin's views. >> last year paul ryan -- >> this personhood amendment. >> no taxpayer funding for abortion act. >> paul ryan was a cosponsor of that. >> he joined with mr. akin. >> their ticket suffers from pathological hypocrisy. >> i believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. >> do i believe the supreme court should overturn roe v. wade? >> yes. what they believe is women don't have a right to their own bodies. >> my presidency will be a pro-life presidency. >> i'm not for federal funding of abortions. >> planned par

. >> we should tell you that this morning todd a can told a former republican presidential candidate mike huckaby that he thought fellow republicans were overreacting, he said that he did not do anything ethically or morally wrong, he says that they should still be supportive of him. we spoke with senator barbara boxer who is in san jose today attending a number of events and she says that she is not surprised by the congressman's refusal to get out of the race. she says that he represents the extreme views of the republican party and went on to say that in the republican party the extreme has become mainstream. asked when she thought he would end his bid, she said he did not think so because his views were so extreme, not only on women's issues but on all issues, she also said that she thought his opponent, incumbent senator, was a fighter and she had a lot of support in missouri. she wanted to say that missourians are very smart. >> i am not surprised that he is refusing to step down, because essentially, he is representing a lot of the republican party. the republican party now, f

a recession. that's not who we are. >> chuck todd, the president back in ohio. it seems to me that he could practically open a side office of the white house in ohio, he's been there so often. >> it is remarkable, a year ago i remember obama strategists, major and i were both here, hey, guys, there are other ways for us to get to 270 without ohio. now, when you look at the big three, i call them, which is virginia, florida and ohio, i think the three that are the linchpins here, they feel better about ohio than any of those three states and frankly i think the romney campaign feels that way in reverse. ohio is this challenge for them that frankly they never expected but it's why you see this targeting on welfare. this is all targeting white working class voters in ohio are not flocking to romney in the way they thought they would. >> you've been doing a lot of analysis of that as well. >> yes. what it seems to me is becoming clear in this campaign is that both sides, the obama camp and the romney camp, are treating this as a base election, not a base plus electio

a new front on the republican war on women has exposed the conservative right wing. todd akin's remarks about legitimate rape have republicans in the crisis mode tonight. this is a big deal and it could affect a lot of races. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> i had heard one time a medical report, that said it's hard to get, um, it's harder for somebody to get pregnant under those conditions. >> a missouri lawmaker's radical r rhetoric has reignited the war on women. the president is standing up for women. republicans are denouncing their own candidate. super pacs are pulling money, and the candidate refuses to quit. >> i'm not a quitter. >> tonight, terry o'neill on todd akin's ridiculous beliefs. joan walsh and sam stein on the political impact on missouri and beyond. >> the romney camp refuses to stop lying. and today, the president called them out for it. >> you can't just make stuff up. >> richard wolffe on the president's blistering press conference. >>> in ohio, a republican says we should not contort the voting process to accommodate african-american vo

a big day. we have been talking about todd akin's comments about women and rape. s opened its doors to women, which i guess is a sign of progress in what we are calling the dark ages or potentially the return to the dark ages. i guess i wonder as someone who is concerned about these issues, a, are you surprised at where the debate has gone, but b, more importantly, how do we get more young women involved in this, when they see the sort of toxicity out there when it comes to the discussion around women's health and women's issues? >> where do i start. first, let me say i'm here as an actor and activist but also as a rape survivor. i'm on the national advisory committee for violence against women. i speak out against all sorts of women's issues. todd akin, i was shocked and i would say sad and upset. i shot todd a little twitter message today explaining, kindly explaining, though i didn't realize there was a need to, that all rape, todd, is legitimate and every rape victim should have equal access to services and justice. just in -- >> and health care. >> and health

unlikely. ♪ >>> a republican strategist who knows bat-crap crazy republican congressman todd akin tellsthe washington post" today, "he marches to a completely different beat. he believes that his race is providen providential, that god has willed his win." rush limbaugh, karl rove, erick erickson, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, paul ryan, and mitt romney, and refused to drop out of the missouri senate race. here's congressman akin on sean hannity's radio show today. >> if this becomes a big enough distraction that you lose this race and it hurts mitt romney and paul ryan in missouri, how are you going to feel the day after election day? >> well, obviously, terrible. and if i thought that were going to happen, then i would get out of the race. >> congressman akin then touted a new robo poll conducted after his, quote, legitimate rape remark, showing that among likely voters in missouri, todd akin polls now one point ahead of democratic senator claire mccaskill, 44-43, within that poll's margin of error. the poll asked if todd akin's remarks on, quote, legitimate rape were approp

even ann coulter has finally found a republican she hates, todd akin. >> it's going to be a huge problemor republicans. now i officially hate him. >> todd akin has still not heeded mitt romney and paul ryan's calls to drop his missouri senate campaign against senator claire mccaskill. today, rush limbaugh explained, perfectly logically, how that makes mitt romney and paul ryan not nearly as powerful as rush limbaugh. >> i never did order him to step down. i was very -- i hope he does pull out. and i tried to make the case why it was the right thing to do, pull out. folks if i had demanded akin drop out, he'd be gone. any had demanded that akin quit the campaign, he'd be gone. >> that was sick, deluded, ego maniac rush limbaugh. today, paul ryan made the mistake of allowing reporters to ask him a few questions on his campaign plane. >> congressman, you co-sponsored abortion-related legislation with congressman akin. do you regret that now? >> that bill passed i think by 251 votes. it was bipartisan. i think we had 251 votes, 16 democrats. i'm proud of my pro-life record. >> knowing that m

chuck todd. a hurricane may crash the party in tampa, and that sums up the last 2 1/2 months of gone for mitt romney, where it seems that every two weeks, a story has knocked him off message. the stakes are high as he heads into the open stretch. voters are still not convinced that he understands the problems of average americans. romney's rocky summer began in mid-june when the president's immigration announcement put his campaign on the fence, scrambling to present his -- >> do you think he has no -- >> again, i'll say it again and again and again for you. governor understands that states have their own right in drafting policies. >> the supreme court upheld the president's health care law putting romney in the awkward position of squaring his message on health care with his party's. >> the supreme court is the final word, right? suspected that the highest court in the land? they said it was a tax, didn't they? so it's a tax. >>> the campaign's awkward attempts to explain. >> he actually retired

off the ballot, almost anybody that they replace him with is going to have a better chance of beating claire mccaskill than todd akin currently has. in a way, i said to some of my friends, you guys would probably be better off saying absolutely nothing for awhile because you want todd akin as the nominee if you're claire mccaskill because again, like i said before, this is just not someone who is going to win a senate race. it's just not going to happen. >> when you're looking at the battle, you definitely want your opponent to be riding a bloodied horse with arrows sticking out of its side. >> he's not even on a horse anymore, though. >> or just walking with a broken spear, as the case may be. john, we know that kelly ayotte and john mccain just added their names to the list of republicans who think todd akin should go the way of the dinosaur. this strategy, though, when we're talking about sort of getting the opponent you want on tap is something that harry reid masterfully employed in nevada with sharron angle and we see how these loony-tune senate candidates don't fare well in general elections. >> sometime

todd akin. we are out there. we know there is a problem. rying to do something about it. >> i didn't know that about springfield. the only reason republicans are mad at todd akin: we has exposed the real agenda. now, he is forcing them to stand up and defend it which they did yesterday. they embraced it yesterday. 100%. ron, elgin, illinois. what do you say? >> good morning >> i am sitting here reading the same "new york times" article. the lady it sounds like -- the sound byte you played. we have to get more people like her to start to do some more research. we have to. it's a big challenge. >> the problem, ron, is i am afraid that these people really agree. they know what's going on here. they really do agree with todd akin. they are so consumed by abortion as an issue, they would strip all all women's rights in order to deny anybody for any reason whatsoever to have an aabortion. >> that's todd akin's positioning and that is the republican party platform. >> this is "the bill press show." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> heard a