if we show you tape of what he said this week, we're being dishonest. i have never heard such insanity. this guy belongs in a rubber room. please, newt, keep it up. with trump gone and bachmann getting her pitch ready, we need you to remind us how bad you are. plus is there anything he can do now to save himself? the "hardball" strategist will be here to crack it down one. the president's speech calling for negotiations in the pre1967 bored werts israeli and pre-1967 borders with israelis and palestinians swapping land depending on the deal they reach. republicans lining up to criticize of course. leadership does carry a price. can the president sell a need for the end of the stalemate then there and change for the the imf boss was officially charged on charges while his lawyers say the -- i love it, the relations we are consensua consensual. we start with newt gingrich. with me now is msnbc political analyst jonathan alter, and eric boweler. let's watch this now. newt gingrich went on rush limbaugh today and denied he attacked paul ryan's medicare plan even though everybody who watched "meet the press" heard him do that very thing. let's listen. >> it was not a reference to paul ryan. there was no reference to paul ryan in that answer. >> then what did you apologize to him about? >> because it was interpreted in a way, which was causing trouble, which he doesn't need or deserve, and it was causing the house republicans trouble. >> here is what he really said on "meet the press" after he referred to the republican plan to overhaul medicare as right wing social engineering. we have the tapes, let's listen. >> so there are things you can do to improve medicare. >> not what paul ryan is suggesting. which is completely changing medicare. >> i think that's too big a jump. i think what you want is a system where people voluntarily migrate to better outcomes, better solutions, not one where you suddenly impose. upon -- i don't want -- i'm against obama-care, which is imposing radical change and i will be against a conservative imposing radical change. >> there we have. let me go to bowler right now. eric, you're excellent at this. thank god for tape. thank god there actually is a record of what we do on television. is newt trying to do one of those superman movies where you go back into time and somehow change it through willpower and all of a sudden history is changed? we have the tape. >> now five or six days later he has gone back and realized -- he's going to reparse it, and realized, my gosh, i never mentioned ryan's name. >> why is he doing this? >> he has dug a hole to deep for himself. what is amazing here is that it is not the evil liberals of a him or liberal media though he claims that is happening. he is getting absolutely demolished and pummelled by the conservative movement and conservative media in this country because he failed the litmus test. we are seeing a pummeling we haven't seen in many years. it is amazing that -- gingrich, up until very recently, he was a fox news contributor. he played this media game for a living. this was his job. to see him fall down like this, time after time, is really amazing. he set a new land speed record for blaming the media. his campaign wasn't even a week old, and he was out yelling this week how the press was after him. >> this was an amazing spectacle to watch. >> i don't know, you are a historian as well as journalist, you and i talk about it all the time. sugar ray robinson came back and had a pretty good second career for a while, but this is like jersey joe walcott in the 1950s, coming way back years later and getting beat to hell by your own -- >> or more like harold stassin, a one-time serious presidential candidate in 1948. by the '60s he was still running for president and had become kind of a joke. look, the reason this week is so important is not because of the fate of newt gingrich, he wasn't going to win the republican nomination anyway. this was an even better week for the democrats than when bin laden was killed. because what's happened now is, by turning the big tent of the republican party that ronald reagan envisioned into a pup tent by saying, no there is not room for differing views on privatizing medicare, they are essentially locking the whole party in to privatizing the most popular social program of the last 50 years. >> that's interesting. newt was trying to break out of that and proved you can't -- here is what he said. >> a disaster for republicans. >> with greta van uss tern a couple nights ago. it is so interesting to watch this unravel here. you're right, he makes a point, they are so disciplined they are like the old labor party in london. here he is two nights ago trying to get out. let's listen. >> i made a mistake. i called paul ryan today who is a very close personal friend, and i said that. the fact is that i have supported what ryan has tried to do on the budget. the budget vote is one that i'm happy to say i would have voted for, i will defend, and i will be glad to answer any democrat who attempts to distort what i said. >> eric, this is crazy. you just a moment ago, we heard him deny he was talking about ryan. now he is apologizing to ryan by name. >> it is amazing. if you take the clips from a few different days, you don't know what story he is talking about. jonathan is right. we have seen, particularly with the tea party movement in the last year or two, certainly since obama's election, we have seen a far, far right movement in this country. largely driven by the far, far right, radical conservative media in this country that completely displaced traditional leadership, the rnc. they are running the show. they are throwing down the markers that almost no one can match. not even newt gingrich. who would have thought newt gingrich wasn't conservative enough for today's conservative movement? >> it looked like hostage video, you know, where he's forced to do an apology, like they used to have in the communist regimes or something. >> maybe bill clinton with his 190 iq talked about this years ago. remember he got caught talking about mario being a mobs terr, and then he apologizes then said i wasn't talking about you. newt is outdoing them all. here is newt trying to launch a preempt tiffive strike against any democrat who dares to write an ad that features his own words about ryan and a medicare plan. this is something new here. let's listen. >> i want to make sure that every house republican is protected for some kind of dishonest democratic answer, let me set the record, any ad which quotes what i said on sunday is a falsehood. i have said publicly those words were inaccurate and unfortunate. when i make a mistake, and i'm going to on occasion, i want to stand up and share with the american people, that was a mistake and we have have an honest conversation. >> we have an ad that says what miss takes he has made. there a website ad -- have we got it ready to show? we don't have it ready. we will have it later in the show. this ad, jonathan, they have an ad showing newt destroying their own plan. which you point out they have to get away from somehow. democrats are using newt to destroy the republicans with their own plan. >> you now, charles krauthammer, a conservative columnist, said there will be an ad devastating for republicans. they will use newt. the question is how devastating. can they conceivably take congress back, take the house back, with that ad in the fall of 120 -- 2012? >> here is a part of a web ad, the democratic national committee just put out using newt to destroy the republicans. let's watch. >> i don't think right wing social engineering is any more desirable than left wing social engineering. >> he did nothing less than attack a sacred cow. in the republican party. with allies like that, who needs left? >> now republicans are all fired up. charles krawhammer says gingrich quote didn't have a big chance in the beginning, but now it's over. >> on news night, this happened. >> i made a mistake. >> newt learned the hard way, ending medicare is the new gop litmus test. >> that is an ad for insiders, chris. this makes no sense. the ad that will be run by professionals on television, not on the web, in the fall of 2012, will say, the republican party. they want to privatize your medicare. take away your medicare and cost you, according to neutral estimates, more than $6,000 out of the pocket. even newt gingrich calls this radical. vole democratic. it will be something very simple like that. >> very high concept. you believe that? it will be a simple ad and newt give them the tool. >> yes, he did. he's so discredited himself with this media circus, that it won't hurt them. they're doing their best to discredit him as much as possible this week. >> okay, i want you to wrap this up. here is newt's spokesman. he is an anthropologist. he responded in this way, i can't give you the whole quote. the literati sent out their minute ons to do their bidding. the firefight started when the cowardly sensed weakness. they fired timidly at first then the sheep not wanting to be dropped from the establishment's cocktail party invite list unloaded their entire clip firing without taking aim their distortions and their by lines and handles but surely they had killed him off but out of the billowing smoke and dust of tweets and trivia emerged gingrich, once again ready to lead those and take on the challenges america faces. what is this? post-modern -- what are we doing here, eric? is this some in way of flacking for -- i used to do this for a living, but flack'ing in this ways, this is talking to nobody but fools. >> you got the weird, but i don't know about the sophistication. it matches the incoherence of the gingrich media strategy. >> they are trying to play off agnst elites because they know that one of the things that made republicans popular is when you dump on elites, dump on the beltway. all this stuff is super, you know, inside baseball. what is relevant is that they have taken on this unbelievably popular program. and tried to kill it. that's a fact. that's not spin. the ryan plan privatizes medicare. so the question is, can they get away from the ryan plan the way -- mitch mcconnell is running way as fast as he can from the ryan plan. it is hard when all republicans except four in the house of representatives already voted for it. they are stuck with this. even if there's a big budget deal, the budget deal would only last ten years and the ryan plan starts at year 11, so they will still be wedded to this plan in the fall of next year when they run for reelection. >> just remember to get our definitions straight. an elite today is someone who reads the newspapers, by their definition. it is not yale five generations. it's anybody who keeps up with stuff. thank you jon alter, and eric. every time newt speaks he makes things worse for himself. we are trying to to be fair here. he has to do another sunday show here today. he's trying to get back out of the hole. he didn't too well on meetings. he's going to try it better with sheaffer. can he find his way out of this paper bag he put over his head or should have? "hardball," tackle left and right. you're watching msnbc. ♪ [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. >> it's a first for president obama. republicans successfully filibustered his nominee for the judiciary. he nominated goodwin wu. republicans called him an ideologue. the deal was negotiated to prevent filibusters except extraordinary cases voted against him. the only republican to break from the party was alaska's lisa murkowski, also part of that gang of 14. we'll be right back after this. and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. 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[ male announcer ] every day, thousands of people are switching from tylenol to advil. take action. take advil. save on advil with our special coupon in select newspapers on may 22. your excellency, here's your water. what in the world is the matter? your excellency, i thought you left >> oh, no, i no leave. >> but i saw you with my own eyes. >> well who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes? >> the great groucho marx line. that scenes incapsulates the situation newt gingrich finds himself in right now. he is on the record criticizing the republican plan on medicare. but he says his own words are not to be believed even if they turn up in ads. steve mcmahon and john feehery are here. let's go at it guys. can this guy get out this? he is on "face the nation" next week. you have to figure the old pro is ready for this bout. he as got to at least be as tough as david gregory was last sunday. how does knute win this fight this week when sheaffer will hold him to every word spoken? >> if what i would do if i were newt is advise him to do major league speeches. getting into the depth of what he meant on healthcare. he has very good ideas. he gets caught up in 30-second sound bites of his own making. he has to explain to people what he means by the incentive-based system he is talking about. how do you get medicare into the future. he's off his message completely, because he is not talking in policy, he is talking in sound bites. >> who's going to listen to his long speeches at the point he seems to be imploding? >> that's a good question. he has everyone's attention and he's not going to win the presidency anyway, so at least use this as a reason to talk about serious policy. >> okay, let me ask steve. it seems this is the opportunity for democrats to achieve a couple of goals. one, they can use him as their battering ram, to destroy the main republican plan, which is to get rid of medicare. >> ads like jonathan alter just laid out will be seen all across the country. newt has seen this movie before and one of the reasons he is trying to run from this plan of paul ryan's is because he knows how this movie will end. next week harry reid will have a vote in the senate, and the republicans will have it take a stand on whether or not they support the plan which is deeply unpopular. i think paul ryan has put the house of representatives back in play for the democrats singlehandedly. >> what has newt done? >> he knows how this thing pulls. he is running for president. what is interesting is i think newt is running way from it because he wants to survive in a general election, even though he won't get to a general election. there is not another republican in the presidential field who endorsed the paul ryan medicare plan. because presumably they have done their polling and understand how unpopular and how unfair this plan is. >> to add to this craziness, and i can't even follow on this, i can usually follow sarah palin's fairly basic brain at work. here she is knocking newt for apologizing for what he said. at the same time defending him against the tactics of what she calls the lame-stream media. if you follow her logic, she says keep it up newt, keep it up even though you are destroying our main party platform. listen to her. >> i don't know why politicians feel they have to apologize for something that they said just because they have gone through 24-hour cycle of the lame-stream media, giving them a hard time for what they said. a politician either believes in what they just said in an interview or they don't. if newt gingrich believes it is right wing social engineering to undo obama care and reform medicare to provide a safety net for our seniors who will need healthcare coverage then say so. don't apologize later because the media has dinged you on what it is that you said. >> this is so pathetic watching her on television. so pathetic that roger els has put her on television, sitting up in some box, some loony bin in alaska, sitting there answering questions she doesn't know anything about. did you hear what she said, john? she said he should continue to attack the republican plan. what is she up to here? is she just not thinking or capable of thinking? what is going on here? do you think she would have been she should have been vice president of the understandings, or was steve schmidt right, she doesn't know anything? >> let me spend one second defending sarah palin. she's not my favorite. >> please. >> in one sense she's right, that newt gingrich needs to explain what he means, because i think they're important ideas, now he's not -- he is getting the he said/she said. in once sense palin is right. he does have interesting ideas on how to reform medicare. >> did she say that or did you say that? you said that intelligently. you tell me that's what she said or that's what you're saying? >> you're not translating her. i can pay her 50,000 times and nobody would hear her say what you just said. >> that's what she should have said. >> she said something daffy, and you said something intelligent. >> john is a clean up artist. >> you actually speak english, you're irish, obviously, but keep going. let me go to steve mcmahon, your thoughts. >> i think sarah palin is trying to do two things. make newt a fraud and dig a deeper hole at the republican right, because she thinks they shiite run for president. >> right. she wants to kill him. >> she wants to totally kill him. she is just kicking him apart limb by limb. it doesn't make exact sense. where newt gingrich is, saying this is right wing social engineering is where most americans are and certainly where most seniors are. >> i got you. i understand why the democrats want to destroy. we are talking about newt now. here is palin who you're right is somewhat envious of the attention newt grabbed. and maybe envious if bachmann jumps in but she is messing with newt and his rue barb here. here she is on her presidential plans. let's listen. >> i'm still seriously considering it, praying about it and talking about it with family. it is a monumental leap for a family to put themselves out there again in the limelight and be ready for the scrutiny that ensues in a campaign. so still talking about it and assessing, yes, the field. looking for others who are ready to go rogue and fight against the machine on both sides of the aisle in order to get the economy back on the right track and do the things that the private sector needs done to implement solutions to the problems that america is facing right now. i want to make sure we have a candidate out there with tea party principles. >> luke, fearehery, you and i a about as removed from her as we could get. but she is going to chat with god, then check in with leave eye and the rest -- with levi and the rest of her cast of characters up there. is she seriously going to check in with them about running for president. >> who are they? give me the names of that family again? never mind, i can't keep up with the names. your thoughts. >> that sounded to me like she is thinking, if we don't get the right republican candidate she might run as tea party candidate and run a third party. that's the thing i'm hearing from that. i'm not sure she could win a republican nomination. though with huckabee out, she can fill a vacuum, but that sounds to me she might want to run a third party. >> i'm for sarah palin. i think she would make a find nominee. i hope the republicans nominate her. >> take off your democratic hat for 30 seconds. >> okay. >> is it possible that john is on to something. what she's saying is jo like the cut of the jib of these guys running. i don't like romney, i don't like pawlenty, i don't like daniels. they are boring. i want someone to be excited about. i don't like those that do what i want to do, which is be the star of this campaign by being third party out there debating the president and republican and three-ring circus come next november. >> yeah, she may do that because she might be unstable enough to want to pursue that path. if you're a narcissus that may be the thing you want to do. but it's a road that leads to nowhere, but embarrassment and probably puts at risk her ability to make $10 million a year which i'm sure she is doing right now. i think one of the reasons that michele bachmann is running is because she understand you don't have to have american history ba background, and just be a gadfly and be on the back end of a campaign very famous and very able to make a lot of money. >> let me jump in here. in a sense i think steve is wrong. because there are plenty of people who run viable third party candidacies going back. roosevelt and ross perot. there is a vacuum. >> how many of them win, john? >> and there's disaffection with both parties, and i wouldn't put it past her. to say she's a narcissist, i don't know if that's true, but to say there is not having a vacuum -- >> i say with no criticism on this front, her show business ability is spectacular. >> absolutely. >> her ability to be president is out to lunch. but with the way she presents herself, she is very attractive, she waves. all this stage craft. she is buffalo bill's wild west show. that's what she really is. she is fantastic as wild west show. thank you steve and thank you john. up next, newt gingrich gave jon stewart and steve colbert amazing stuff and they delivered. let's hear from these two guys about newt in the side show. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. as much as i can about a company before i invest in it. that's why i like fidelity. they give me tools and research i can't get anywhere else. their stock screener lets me search for stocks with more than 140 criteria. i can see what their experts are thinking and even call them to bounce an idea off of one of their investment professionals. a good strategy relies on good insight. if you wanted to learn more about a company, i think you'd actually have to be there. ♪ i've seen the sunrise paint the desert. witnessed snowfall on the first day of spring. ♪ but the most beautiful thing i've ever seen was the image on a screen that helped our doctor see my wife's cancer was treatable. [ male announcer ] ge technologies help doctors detect cancer early so they can save more lives. bringing better health to more people. ♪ bringing better health to more people. ♪ when it's planes in the sky ♪ ♪ for a chain of supply, that's logistics ♪ ♪ when the parts for the line ♪ ♪ come precisely on time ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ a continuous link, that is always in sync ♪ ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ there will be no more stress ♪ ♪ cause you've called ups, that's logistics ♪ back to hockey hockey. back to "hardball." who do you like better? stewart and steven colbert or gingrich, the guy they had so much fun with last night. >> i said consistently we should have some requirement of having health insurance or have -- >> it's a variation. >> just a variation just like wife three is a variation on wives one and two. >> i don't think right wing social engineering has any more desirable than left wing social engineering. i don't think imposing radical chachk for the right or the left is a good way for free society to operate. >> wow, appealing to the moderate wing of the republican party. a wing which as you know is has been closed for renovation since nelson rockefeller died. >> does he want to be nominated by the republican party? one wonders. >> he was never a likeable guy. >> this is a capital offense. >> how can i say this politely? he was urinating inside the family circle. >> what would the impolite way have been to say that? >> newt is so nasty. he even attacks himself. next up, dib cheney back in the hunt. he just released the cover of his upcoming book. "in my time," there it is. set the publication date for august 30 of this year. the book is written with his daughter, who says this shows off her father's sense of story telling and sense of humor. dick and lynne cheney pronounce their name cheney. the correct family way. liz pronounces it differently. she calls herself chain-y. we report, you decide. we will find out what chuck grassley has to say about the latest flavor of the month in the latest republican presidential candidate search. indiana governor mitch daniels. i hear him and think, maybe i should back him to so that people who don't have charisma could be elected president. nerd alert. beware, next. president obama calls for reform across the middle east. he laid out his vision for a democratic middle east and the role america should play to help create it. he is catching flak as you might have thought for saying a future palestinian state should be based roughly on the '67 borders. that's ahead. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. a lot of times, things are right underneath our feet, and all we need to do is change the way we're thinking about them. a couple decades ago, we didn't even realize just how much natural gas was trapped in rocks thousands of feet below us. technology has made it possible to safely unlock this cleanly burning natural gas. this deposits can provide us with fuel for a hundred years, providing energy security and economic growth all across this cotry. it just takes somebody having the idea, and that's where the discovery comes from. i'm veronica de la cruz. here's what's happening. in new york the former head of the imf was indicted on sexual assault charges and released on $1 million bail. flooding along the mississippi river has claimed the life of a 69-year-old man pulled from raging floodwaters near vicksburg. massey energy is accused of ignoring safety features. an arizona college has released about 250 e-mails. and congresswoman gabby giffords' doctors says the surgery was a complete success. and governor swaurz is putting a number of movies on hold to, quote, focus on personal matters. now back to "hardball." the choice between hate and hope. between the shackles of the past and the promise of the future. it's a choice that must be made by leaders and by the people. and it's a choice that will define the future of a region that served as the cradle of civilization and crucible of strife. welcome back to "hardball." that was president obama today in a big speech. benjamin netanyahu is set to meet with president obama tomorrow. here is more of president obama today. let's listen. >> the borders of israel and palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. the palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves. and reach their full potential in a sovereign and contiguous state. >> chuck todd is nbc news white house correspondent and political correspondent, and. chuck, i was just over there last year in israel with the vice president, and when you talk to most people, they sort of aren't surprised with the parameters of this. they will be roughly the '67 borders with adjustments and israel picks up territory, gives away territory. a substantial palestinian state. the number of the size it would have to be. then you talk to people on the far right. likud, far right, christian right. they are still operating under the notion that israel will somehow annex or something that part of the world, somehow magically exempt themselves from responsibility from all those arab people. so it seems like the president was talking to the regular diplomatic line here. why did he do it? why did he stick his neck out to say something that will be so incendiary to the right? friends of israel generally, in many cases. >> let's lay out, what did he say that was new? positionwise he didn't say anything new. what was new is that a president of the united states said it. the '67, idea of using the '67 borders as sort of the baseline of creating the two-state solution is not new. having a president say it publicly is what was new. now, what seems to be missing -- i want to add i'm stunned by the venom and vitriol in the disagreement with the president on this. i'm not surprised by the disagreement but the venom does surprise me. there seems to be two types of criticism on this. one is a criticism of hey, what are you giving away anything for? the other line of criticism, which seems to be a little more of the mainstream conservative criticism on this, has to do with hey don't publicly talk about this because but publicly you put the israelis in the corner. but what is missed here is what the president also said about the palestinians. which he essentially gave israel a pass to walk away from any talks if hamas didn't renounce the violence and recognize israel. >> that's what i heard too. i heard that too. >> i'm sorry, it's like he gave -- i'm surprised we're not hearing at least in acknowledgement that the president did give the israelis what will probably be the easy way to walk away from negotiations. because, you know this, chris, the likelihood that hamas will somehow immediately start recognizing israel is very unlikely. >> a big break for netanyahu, the man of the right. whatever you think of netanyahu, he has a big break, because they won't -- israel or put away violence as part of their tool kit. >> that's right. >> here are questions facing the palestinians. here is where he shoves it back at the other side, let's listen. >> recognizing that negotiations need to begin with the issues of territory and security. it does not mean it'll be easy to come back to the table. in particular, the recent announcement of an agreement between fatah and hamas raises profound and legitimate questions for israel. how can one negotiate with a party that has shown itself unwilling to recognize your right to exist? in the weeks and months to come, palestinian leaders will have to provide a credible answer to that question. >> i think the president is trying to go to other side. the palestinian side. and say, whatever else you think about any other president, you will never get a better deal than from me. i'm here. the other guy is not here. there is no george w. around. there's no george shultz around. i'm here. you can deal with me. you come forward, make the commitments that israel wants to hear. make it easier for me. but you have to deal now. what do you think he is saying? is he pushing it to the palestinian side by being so strong on behalf of the arab solution here which is the '67 line basically. >> chuck says there is nothing new in the speech. i totally agree with that. the idea of a '67 border and land swaps is nothing new in the administration's parlance. now that's a -- >> it's the clinton plan. >> it is a clinton plan. it is a huge problem in the world that he was supposed to be addressing. people are saying, not only is there nothing new, this is something he was supposed to have moved away from given his speech in cairo two years ago. >> away from? where would he go to? >> well, the idea is that the speech today is actually a regression from the period of cairo one. >> what's the spirit of cairo? >> the spirit of cairo is that we want the settlement to stop. we want to give the palestinians a legitimate chance to establish their own state. today when he talks about the u.n. he told palestinians don't even think about going to the united nations for statehood. where does that leave them? what we are hearing from the palestinians after the speech is that it doesn't leave them anywhere else to go as far as obama is concerned. >> i don't know. chuck, you can check abed on that. i guess i'm hearing, i'm american and the president is staking out ant international recognized middle of the road. the europeans would say there is the middle of the road. saudis would say this is the middle of the road. your thoughts chuck? i think there is a lot of guts. i don't think it is anti-israel but i think it is international. i think it was trying to find the international tone. >> yes. >> you brought up a good point about europeans. look, what he is doing is rhetorically jump-starting the rhetoric. it's not going to jump-start talks let's be realistic, the idea that hamas will somehow recognize israel and put down arms. you know he has given israel an easy way out. for the united states to support israel, to walk away from any sort of future talks. >> i agree. >> that said, it will force netanyahu to curtail whatever plan he was going to come with. he knew he was going to come with his form of how to begin these talks. then the other part of this is that you know, the land swaps isn't -- isn't an unimportant part of this -- you know people are focusing on '67 borders but the land swaps in talking to people that are close to this, the land swaps is a pretty good deal for the israelis here because it's settlements in exchange for frankly uninhabited parts of the desert. >> i know, i've been there. thank you, chuck. thank you, abed. thank you for different views here. up next a judge granted a certain kind of bail for the head of the imf. he has to stay in a locked house with a guard outside with $5 million as a bond. he is indicted for an alleged sexual attack on this hotel maid. what a story. we will have a minute or two when we come back. wow, catch this. the fbi is investigating whether ted kaczynski, the unabomber, was also responsible for the tylenol poisons back in '82. the fbi confirmed they asked kaczynski for dna samples and so far he refused. no surprise. seven people in the chicago area died in those poisonings. we forgot that part of the story. we'll be right back. hey, pete. yeah, it's me, big brother. put the remote down and listen. 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[ male announcer ] if you cannot afford your medication, call 1-877-niaspan. niaspan is not for everyone, like people with stomach ulcers, liver, or serious bleeding problems. severe liver damage can occur when switching to niaspan from immediate-release niacin. blood tests are needed to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you have muscle pain or weakness; this could be a sign of serious side effects; this risk can increase with statin use. tell your doctor about alcohol use, if you've ever had gout, or are diabetic and experience increases in blood sugar. flushing, a common side effect, is warmth, redness, itching, or tingling of the skin. ask your doctor about niaspan. fight back. fight plaque. niaspan. long before a cummins diesel engine powered a ram truck.. it roared to life out here. and proved itself here, here, and here. and it's now delivering best-in-class towing, here. and unsurpassed torque, here. the ram 5 year 100,000 mile warranty covers you everywhere. ram. what a story this one is. dominique strauss-kahn, the former imf chief accused of attempted rain of a housekeeper in new york, was indicted this afternoon, a lot of them were felonies. he will be confined to his wife's apartment with armed guards, and, bond which he had take out at $5 million to say he wouldn't flee. for more, we're joined by our investigative crime reporter. michelle, what are we seeing here? it seems to me that the defense is going to try to basically impeach the main witness, who is the victim here. tell me where they are headed with this. well, they can't just pie up the guy. he'd be in jail for 20 years. >> a lot of times we see this on and on again, especially with rape victims. every two minutes in the united states -- >> attempted rape in this case. >> exactly. a woman is attacked, sexually attacked. 60% of those people, of those victims, don't come forward because of situations like this. it's troubling. it's tacking. it's long. this is degree to be a long, drawn-out process unfortunately. >> what are the cops making of the forensic scientists and everybody looking at this, they say the key is the credibility. in the first instance, when you sit down and talk to the victim, if she comes across as credible, that really builds the whole case from there. >> it does. and you have to think as soon as this attempted assault happened, that she immediately went and told someone about it. investigator were on the scene within 90 minutes. they took a statement. took her down to the station. >> the police were involved within 90 minutes? >> in a short period of time. a lot of times raped victims, or sexual assaulted victims when they come forward, it takes them a long time. >> so the idea that she cooked this up for any other reason than knowing the facts -- >> you know, it's slim to none. but you also have to think that the surveillance cameras, the key cards, the hotel key cards, things like that -- >> the semen on the rug and the blood. there's a lot of stuff they can get now. >> that is going to nail certain things down when she came forward to be able to say one thing or another. and to be able to say does this fit the time line. >> you have just told me what the guy's defense is, consent. he cannot deny the physical realities of the event except state of mind, which is hard. gives him at least a fighting chance to deny what looks to be the guilt here. >> you're exactly right. and that's another thing that happens in a lot of these cases. it's he said against -- it's his word against her word, especially behind closed doors. >> what possible advantage would she have to racing down to her employer, bringing in the police, knowing what you say about how she would be impeached? unless it happened. >> well, i think some of it is going to be on surveillance. >> what would be on surveillance? >> that hotel door was shut by someone. if it caught a glimpse of someone, whether it be a male or female -- >> i doubt it. if he shuts it, it's one thing. if she shuts -- >> it could be possible that she was closed against her will behind closed doors. also how she left. did she leave and running down the hallway, throwing things out, casually shut the door? >> let me tell you something. if his behavior is as charged, this guy is a predator. it's ugly beyond belief. >> alleged history. alleged history. >> i'm just talking about what he did here, if he did what she said he did. it is unimaginable. >> it is. it's heart-wrenching. >> it's clearly criminal. it's pho it'sy if lone yes. ---y if lone yes. a lot of women say it's not a class thing. it's just men against women. do you think these guys come from somewhere and just think they own working class people? >> well, i don't want to say that one way or another. what i will say is that sometimes there are crimes of opportunities, and sometimes when you have certain impulses -- and again, these are just -- he is not convicted on these charges. but you have to think that. >> michelly is doan aexpert on this. when we return, let me finish by which president obama did give that speech in the middle east and why it took guts to do it. you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. what's all this? 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[ male announcer ] hurry, join for free today. weight watchers online for men. finally, losing weight clicks. power, precision, cutting edge. let me finish tonight with president obama's strong statement today from mideast peace. i know the price he will pay for that statement. he dared to express the support of the united states for the self determination of the arabs, and called for boundaries with land swaps by israel back and forth as part of the deal. obviously, i believe something more is going to be needed, something just as profound as those borders. a national commitment by the palestinians to brutally enforce a deal with israel. this is the question right now to fattah and hamas both. unless you're willing to punish severely those who violate a treaty with israel, i mean palestinian arabs, there is no way in the world that israel should sign a deal with you. are the palestinians themselves up to making such a commitment? again, if they're not, i wouldn't cut a deal with them ever. back to president obama. i understand why he did this. there are great forces at work in the arab world today in the islamic world at larger, much of it in flux over there. we don't know which way egypt will go after mubarak. we don't know if or when gadhafi will fall, or assad in syria will totter. president obama if he is to play a positive role in these changes needs to be taken in good faith by those people. he needs to be not just another american politician playing it safe but an out front champion for the rights of people, arab people in particular, to govern their own affairs. i think often of the potential of our president to work a real change in that part of the world. there is a chance at least for positive change. if there is, it will do much less than lessen the pull of the radicals over there, the al qaedas of this world. if you're a young arab who can change things for the better in your life without blowing yourself up, that's the way you're going to go. it's hopelessness that feeds the suicide bomber. hope feeds political involvement and eventually real self government. i understand why some are going to criticize what the president did today. but to do nothing, to simply go along with the direction the mideast has been going would of course be easier. i believe this president is trying his utmost to be a leader, and that takes guts, vision,