field. romney, paul helpty, huntsman no one can match her. outyet she doesn't really seem serious about running and that's why republicans are still pining for a new star. christie, giuliani, per chris, any republican eclipse sarah palin? that is our top sorry tonight. plus, u.s. congressman anthony wiener says he was the victim of a prank when his twitter account was hacked, he said, but he is not ruling out he maybe the guy that racy photo, even though he has now denied sending it to a college student after initially refusing to anticipate questions about it. well. and president obama has some powerful secret weapons in his re-election arsenal. the republican governors of ohio and florida, recent pollsç now show that freshmen governors rick scott, never did like that guy and john kasich, always liked him works lose badly in those critical swing states in a do-over election were held today. talk about buyer's remorse. also, are boehner around cantor willing to risk another economic calamity like the one their party created three years ago? are they willing to push this country right to the edge of the cliff of becoming greece just to make their political point about the debt? and let me finish tonight with mitt romney running away from the very thing that is allowing him to run at all, his record as governor of massachusetts. let's start with sarah palin. we have to. david corps is mother jones washington bureau chief and michael steele, the former chair and for us, always the chair of the republican national committee. both are msnbc political analysts. gentlemen, thank you for joining us. this is a strange time the heat in washington is already becoming what it often does and only june 1st, the summer doldrums are in but sarah palin could not be hotter as a candidate. here are palin and trump last night having some pizza, new york pizza, on times square. let's listen. >> we are friends and we had a great time. >> how was the pizza? >> pizza was great. new york pizza, right? >> not for many weeks still, i think there is a lot of time, still. >> i don't know what it is goes times square, hitting all the beauty spots in american patriotism, i agree with all those spots, found new york and making times square looking exciting and milani, most beautiful person in the world there, right next to donald trump. >> when i think of family summer vacations, i do think of the liberty bell, hometown, philadelphia, i think of gettysburg, i think of washington, d.c. and i think of donald trump. >> you are being funny. why don't democrats go to-to-these places? >> they do. >> ronald reagan discovered the statue of liberty again what is it about your party that understands power of these icons? i think she is not for real as a presidential candidate but what is this about? >> i think it is just kind of the appreciation and the symbolism and bringing all of that together to real people. i mean it is not to say that democrats don't -- we know they do. they just do it different. >> the first day of summer this candidate, who is not even a candidate, is going around -- look, mitt romney, talk about him later, is actually running for president. he actually was governor of a state answered finished his term and he is a real public servant who may be the strongest owe pope nent against president obama next year and we are going to cover him tomorrow but these pictures are -- michael steele, republican? >> this is the difference though, because whether or not she runs, what sar last's doing connecting the people to something to remind them about the broader argument. >> larger than herself. larger than herself. >> let me -- it probably is that, too. but you're missing the point. that's the problem. you're fix say thing on the individual and so you want to make this all about sarah palin. and what sarah palin is doing is translating beyond her to people in a way that connects them to something. mitt romney or any of the presidential candidates got on a bus and set off for the first of june or memorial day or whatever, we are going to go to those stops and draw people's attention to that, that would be different. >> you think romney would. >> here she is, by the way, visiting -- little bolt going under the statue of liberty, it is the most inspiring. let's listen to sarah palin, if will is a message here. it is of course, the symbol for americans to be reminded by other countries to never make theç mistakes that some of the had made. this is a symbol, a reminder of what it is that we can do right in the name of freedom. and that's what i appreciate about the statue of liberty. i think it is great, too, all the symbolism, just represented in each different aspect and detail of the statue. >> what -- okay, i like the statue, i like the romance of it, what does that garble of words coming out of her mouth mean? let recount this to you, it comes down you can't believe she says that stuff. it is, of course, the symbol for americans to be reminded of other country cans, what? 'cause this was given to us, of course, by the french. okay, that's fine. other countries warning us to never make the mistakes that some of them have made. what does she mean by that? >> i don't think when the french gave us -- >> what does she mean by we give you the statue of the liberty, the french revolution, what does she mean by don't make the mistakes? >> not warning. >> those countries, freedom fries again? >> oppressed and repressed to a land of freedom and this is a wry minder -- >> france? >> france -- talking about the immigrants who come to the country. >> maybe she -- >> what mistakes did they make that she is -- warning us not to make? i thought they were celebrating liberty, like the french revolution, american revolution. >> chris, you're tacking her too seriously. i'm trying to find out what there is -- okay. okay to. she is there with a national camera crew asking her questions and comes out with garble like this and we are treating her like a presidential candidate. i think this is nonsense what she said. what do you -- you -- you -- this is a symbol -- >> a different place. the rest of us -- >> other countries -- >> eloquence? >> what is this, enkneer scrooge? jacob marley? who is she talking about here? >> you guys are thinking in the little boxes. >> we are looking for syntax.ç verbs and subjects and object he is. >> the point is the symbolism, the words, all of that connects. >> in it is empty symbolism without any meaning. >> here is sarah palin speaking for herself in new jersey today. let's listen. >> i don't know if i'm going to be running yet and i'm sorry i give you guys the same, old borg answer on that one, but nothing's changed. just decide went time is right. >> okay. what's she doing? >> she is autographing somebody's book. >> to what effect? what is she doing? a book tour, a hollywood star? >> a sarah palin tour. >> she ever going to run for anything again? >> i don't know -- >> why is she moving to arizona? >> there is a couple of things going on here. one is, yeah exprobably this exploratory part trying to figuring your out if this is something we could or should do. two, there is the brand, the brand back out there in the public's eye. >> number three a brand, number four, the brand, number five with the brand. >> something about -- >> location, lie cation. >> primordial, she walks and moves, something electric about it, she doesn't do on television with roger ailes sitting in the booth in wasilla. she looks very attractive, to constantly in motion. mitt romney doing the same exact thing, michael -- a mew "washington post"/pew poll asked people for their word impression of the republican field this year. overall, 44% of the words people picked were negative. 25% had no opinion. 19% offered a neutral description, just 12%, just 12%, one in eight, a positive word to describe the republican field this year. among republicans, ç37% picked negative word. 27% had no opinion. 22% picked a positive word. 18 % were neutral. here is look at the words people offered. the size of the word reflects how much it was heard. unimpressed is the biggest word. unimpressed. this field -- let me go to you. the republican candidates, such as they are, of huntsman, mitt romney, pawlenty and maybe bachmann is unimpressive to many, many republicans. >> right. >> that's why she continues to hold the limelight that is my theory. >> you don't even have seven dwarfs yet but there will be a giant amongst the midget ease ventionly. >> amongst them? >> yes. if you ask the primary boaters sarah palin and her qualifications as a potential candidate, they are also unimpressed. >> what are those little things buy in the mail and grow up real big? >> bonsai trees? >> what do they call it? >> chia pets. >> is that what you say the republican candidate if you buy it in the mail this summer it will grow into something bigger? >> whoever wins will look good by the process of wing. as interesting as she is as a political celebrity, she has very low standing, even amongst republicans. >> let's talk superman here, think what's really going on here, she is sort of like a lion, they are looking for more showbiz than they have. who else is out there that could bring more showbiz to the fight against president obama who is a fig your of some historic importance already? it will take somebody of some historic importance to take him on. christie, rick perry of texas, dried giuliani, which of those three do you think has a real chance to come in? >> historical importance, i don't understand? >> will one of the three coming in have a chance of running? ask a pro here. >> i don't think so. >> they wouldn't come in? >> i don't think so. >> perry is not coming in? >> perry i'm -- i'm still not convinced he is going to do this. >> rudy flirting with this? number one in the latest cnn poll. >> he is flirting withç it, bu no concrete steps taken, no signs or calls made to get that thing -- >> you don't think rudy wants in? >> i think he wants energy the question of dynamics of getting in, cost of getting in. do you really want to spend that kind of capital now or wait until 2 to 016? >> think rudy will be in the business in 2016? >> it raises his profile yet again on coming close to the tenth anniversary of 9/11 if he allows his name to be put into play here. you know, he still gets speaking fees. he still gets contracts with business folks. if they think he is more at play, it help in every aspect of his life t is a good thing to be talked b. >> here's what sarah palin is out there rebranding herself, getting herself out there, reminding the republicans there is another party besides pawlenty, huntsman and romney there s if she is out there saying it now and bachmann on the ticket at some point go out there will they be able tocy to your party come next november in tampa, you know what got a nice establishment candidate here, his name is pawlenty, maybe romney or huntsman on the outside but you need some balance in this ticket, you need the establishment but you need the more address silt right-wing of the party can she come out and say you better put perry on the ticket or not going to get my support. will it work? >> i don't know if it will work, it could certainly be a position she could be in. >> king make? >> i have said back to my chairmanship, sarah palin, it being the kingmaker as opposed to queen. >> she makes it clear. 100 degrees down there hot here now, what it will be like in tampa in late summer. >> good pick. >> of 2012. all the partieses go south in the summer. think why we have caulk kaunsd primaries the coldest part of the country and hottest part conventions in. if sarah palin says that and leak it is to fox or somebody, tell it is to somebody on the weekly standard, whatever, i will be for this ticket they pick somebody like rick perry on the ticket, you are mitt romney, a hotel room down there in tampa what do you think?78pr(t&háhp &% better do this? wise to do this or what? >> if i'm mitt romney, any of these candidates i think, okay that is her opinion. i don't think that she is going to have that kind of pull necessarily on their ultimate decision. i think she could have some influence on it i think that's what she is positioning. >> getting too far down the road, chris xhoerks have impact in iowa in south carolina. >> that's what i say. >> you think she might kiss somebody and say that is the one? >> she might disendorse someone. might say i don't like what they are saying about this. and once you get to the general election -- >> don't want to go with her? she says there's going to be more interesting people coming into this field, said this it this week. she doesn't think the field is this great, more coming in, yes keep talking about christie, perry and rudy, she wants somebody else in this field, she is trying to jazz up something, i think she is saying these three establishment guys don't have it come on, maybe it's me. by the way, i don't think she is out of it yet. thank you, michael steele. long-time chairman of the republican national committee, forever holds the title. going to have one of those nba kind of things, republican boss n caucus. david corps, you know nothinging about republicans. coming up. by the way, anthony weiner, we called it brief encounter, get the joke it airport a joke. this is weird. i don't get it. i have to say this is a news story i can't get to the reality of. he seems to be on the skillet over this and i can't figure out what is going on. he was the victim of a prarngs he says who sent out this picture of him this odd picture of him in his underwear or whatever to somebody who is 21 years old. he says he didn't send it out but not denying it is him in the picture. racy photo or not, going to find out. you are watching "hardball," only on msnbc. ♪ [ male announcer ] if you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, on second thought... ♪ she got an attitude ...you never will. the 2011 jeep wrangler. adventure is never ordinary. ♪ now sign and drive a jeep wrangler sport 4x4 with zero first month's payment, zero down and zero due at signing for qualified lessees. producing products that save on fuel and emissions like ecopia tires... even making parts for solar panels that harness the sun's energy... working on social activities like clean up programs on beaches in many locations... and regional replanting activities that will help make a better world for all of us. ♪ one team. one planet bridgestone. it is done. kathy hokele of upstate new york sworn in congress. the new congresswoman won that highly watched special election at the 26th district in new york state last week and turned on the republican candidate support for her medhi care-killing budget plan. hokele is the first democrat to hold that seat in more than four decades it has been continuously represented by republicans since jack kemp won it back in 1970. we will be right back. in financial transactions... on devices... in social interactions... and applications in the cloud. some companies are worried. some, not so much. thanks to a network that secures it all and knows what to keep in, and what to keep out. outsmart the threats. see how at cisco.com cisco. welcome back to "hardball". new york congressman anthony weener is denying that he cement a lewd photo from his twitter account to a 21-year-old college student but he can't say for sure that it's not -- he is not the person in the photo. how much trouble is this for the congressman from new york? joan walsh is editor at large at salon and erroll lewis is political anchor for new york one. let's take a look at some of these stories that he has been giving. here is congressman wiener's explanation this monday, couple of days ago, and today of what's going on. let's listen. >> i was hacked it happens to you move on. soufrnlts never intentionally said anything to -- >> no, nothing, she says that, i'm saying that, clearly i have said that ever since saturday when i said that originally. >> that was luke rurts asking the question for msnbc. here is wiener evading whether the picture was here. let's listen to that exchange. >> the picture that went over twitter to janet cordova from your account, is that you? >> let's keep in mind what happened here >> i was pranked, i was hacked, whatever it was, someone sent out a picture i'm an easy name to make fun of and i think that's what happened. >> that's not a pimp of? >> my system was hacked, pitchers can be man newspaper lated, pitch kers be dropped in an inserted, one of the reasons i have asked the firm that includes an internet security arm is to take a look at what the heck happened here to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> congressman, would you remember if town take a photograph of yourself like that. you don't -- >> well, one of the reasons we have asked an internet security firm to come in is to see maybe something was manipulated, something was dropped in, we don't know for sure what happened here. >> you will not flat-out deny that photograph is not you? >> here is whale same i will say that we are trying to figure out exactly what happened. >> so are we. let me go to erroll. luke did a good job there, luke russ. like his dad there answering the question to finally get an answer and it wasn't forthcoming. erroll, why doesn't he simply say, why would i have a picture of myself in my underpants of that lewd kind and ever take a pimp of it and why i would ever send it to anybody in any occasion or have it in my possession or anybody's possession of course it's not mine and ever turns out it is mine, i will be the most surprised guy in the world? why doesn't he just say that instead of hedging? what is the back story here? i'm calling it brief encounter. other people call it suspicious package. i mean, everybody's gotç a nickname for this now, not mine. your thoughts. >> i suspect -- i spoke to the congressman earlier today. and i wasn't much more successful than you guys were getting to the bottom of the it the reality is he can't say because i don't think he really knows. i take him at his word. >> how many pictures do you have yourself of this kind of picture -- this kind of pimp, which we are not showing this particular kind of pimp of you in your underwear? how many picture does you have like that that this might be one of them. most people don't have any, therefore it is easy to stay is not mine. what do you mean it might be his, he doesn't know? why are you giving him the better of the doubt until you explain why there is a doubt? >> i think the doubt is there because he has placed it there hasn't allowed -- >> he has place it had there. >> he has allowed it to remain there obviously after the two years of madness we saw around this whole birther issue, i think he has earned a little bit of t benefit of the doubt. how so? what's the connection between him and the birther issue? >> i mean, look, we went on and on and on and the white house said we are not going to dignify this, not going to waste time on this and then they finally did clear the whole thing up. just as it was said all along. why hadn't did he do that on day one, year one, that was their issue. wiener said they weren't going to talk about it and doing media tours today and talking to anybody who wants to talk to him, even that i'm not clear on. i think he senses, chris, he has lost control of the story and he needs to get it back. around the country, he is a lib rash fire brand congressman. here in new york a leading candidate for mayor. >> that's changing the subject. by the way, something he has been doing in every single exchange he has h joan, every time he is scad question, he change it had to boehner or something else or something else or something else. he never simply says this had is ridiculous, i had nothing to do with t simple plirk i had nothing to do with it nothing to do with me. drop it. why doesn't he just do that? >> you know, i don't know, chris. i'm a good irish catholic girl. i'm not going tmç sit here and talk about what pictures he may or may not have of himself on his computer it is none of my business but he said he didn't send the pictures out and my position from the beginning has been i'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt because this originated with andrew brightbart, the deceptively edited a.c.o.r.n. tapes. >> i saw the first version and told the story of had you new woman had gone through an epiphany understanding how race works. >> now talking about shirley sherrod, you and i disagree about this shirley sherrod was smeared, she was depicted as a racist when she was not a racist, that was the point of her story. >> fine. we are changing the subject again here. >> you know what i'm giving out context and giving you why a lot of people prin kleined to give him the benefit of the doubt. now the benefit of the doubt something odd may have gone on is sort of dwindling as he continues to say i'm not going to answer questions, then answer questions then not answer with certitude. i agree this starting to look weird, the issue of how this came into the mainstream, i think that context matters and think that a 21-year-old girl has been smeared here. we have no evidence of wrongdoing on her part. she may have received some naughty photos she didn't even want and conservative bloggers smeared her, not just her name, multiple photos where she goes school, the paper she writes for, so something really stinks about this whole thing. i'm not going to exonerate representative wiener because i have no idea. i just think that this is kind of a disgusting place to be in politics right now. >> strange i think politics are the ones responsible for their up story and something strange about a guy who spends the whole afternoon doing unilateral interview after interview after interview with another reporter after another and giving stories saying i don't know if that's my picture, a strange thing to say. i think it is strange yes doesn't say i had nothing toç with it, blame it on brightbart or anybody else, this isn't me, nothing to do with it at all. later in the day he said i don't know had access to my twitter account, a different thing than say hog hacked into t i don't know who had had access to my twitter account. even my limited knowledge of this technology means somebody else can send twitters besides you >> yes. >> that is a strange thing to be saying. >> no, wait can i just clarify that? >> a that a development, erroll? >> not a development. i mean it is just a fact. if somebody can guess your password, then they can control your twitter account. there's no question. >> erroll, can i just say one other thing besides that? lots of politicians have their staff tweet for them. i don't know that he does. it seems to be himself. he is funny. but politics have multiple people tweeting for them, multiple people may have access to his computer, he may be afraid he is about to out somebody who works for him. i'm not going to blame anybody else besides him. i'm just saying that's not weird to me. famous people give their staff access to their twitter accounts all the time. people's sfreptsd access to their twitter accounts, people have been pranked before. so you know, the story at the heart of the story is -- >> thank you, joan, i think it's his fault. thank you, joan wash, thank you, erroll lewis.. guess who is having a field day with the sarah palin bus trip? jon stewart, stephen colbert. this is funny stuff. you are watching "hardball," only on msnbc. copd makes it hard to breathe so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now, i've got the leading part. jon stewart, stephen colbert. help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together jon stewart, stephen colbert. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, this is funny stuff. includg advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... jon stewart, stephen colbert. 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. jon stewart, stephen colbert. rethink possible. jon stewart, stephen colbert. back to "hardball," now the side show i think we just had the sideshow. anyway, first up, jon stewart and steven come better on the traveling circus, otherwise known as the palin bus tour. >> palin refused to give reporters her schedule. >> he don't actually know where palin is heading. she just wouldn't say. >> she's in the bus, wrapped in the constitution, signed by sarah palin. how do you not know where she is going? this is a bus brett michaels said was "a bit much." >> of course, the lame stream media ambushed pail within gotcha questions like, where are you going and why are you doing this? jim? >> sarah palin keeps everybody guessing on her national tour. >> what's this tour all about? >> just what is sarah palin up to? >> what's up with her bus tour? >> that's the power of sarah palin. no matter what she does, america starts asking, why is this happening? >> i'll tell you why you stand next to an elephant, you look small. you stand next to this crop of republicans, huntsman, pawlenty and mitt romney, and you look very big indeed. act. big indeed. up next, the best thing president obama has going for him in the swing states of florida and ohio may just be the very unpopular republican governor of both of these states there, guys are immediately unlikable, rick scott, john kasich, may they help the president win florida and ohio because they hate their republican goff of nors? you are watching "hardball," only on msnbc. 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[ dennis ] dollar for dollar nobody protects you from mayhem like allstate agents. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. up next, the best thing republican governors? oment isow. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. a major selloff sparked by more signs of a slowing economic recovery. the dow jones industrials plunged nearly 280 points on the trading session and the s & p 500 slid 30, the nasdaqç tumbl 66. the selling all started right off the bat on another batch of weak economic data then accelerated after moody's stays think there is a good chance that greece will default on its debt it cut greece's bond rating to junk status, citing the increased risk of restructuring and missed targets for budget reforms, then came word of surprisingly weak private sector jobs growth in may. only 38,000 jobs, well short of the 175,000 that analysts were expecting. and u.s. manufacturing slowed much more than expected to its lowest level since september of '09. the sharmest drop since 1989. but generating at least some positive attention today, travel site expedia says it is teaming up with deal of the day site groupon to offer discounted travel deals. and that's it from cnbc first in business worldwide. now, took "hardball." welcome badge to "hardball." newly elected republican governors crucial 2012 swing states have become so unpopular that they could wind up being president obama's secret weapon as he runs for re-election next year. ted strickland is former ohio governor and bob graham is former florida governor and senator from that state and is the aught other of a new novel called "keys to the kingdom." governors, thank you both for joining us. >> thank you. >> i want you to look at these poll number about the guys office right now in those states. republican governor rick scott's approval rating this is in the toilet, 29% approval rating. 57% disapproval. what do you make of that, governor graham? what is the story about the governor down there so quick, so hated? >> florida's a state that likes things to be stable and predictable. we have had some policies that have carried through under democratic and republican governors to improve the quality of our schools, to diversify our economy and to invest in our quality ofç life through the environment. governor scott has broken all those patterns and i believe the public is surprised and is reacting negatively to that surprise. >> is he a radical right-winger? >> i don't know what that term means but he -- >> is he out of the sky? he seems like one to me. your guess? >> he is out of the main stream of florida. remember, florida has had republican governors for the last 12 years. we have had republican legislatures for most of that time and now, we have a supermajority republican legislature, so when the governor vetoes a budget and describes line item vetoes and describes things as frivolous and not in the public interest, he is not pointing at democrats, he is pointing at his own party. >> yeah. it seems to me he doesn't want the railroad down there between tampa and orlando. he doesn't want any develop n that state. it is a young state, as you know. let me go to the state of ohio, which is always a key state in deciding presidential elections. john kasich, 38% approval. what do you make of that governor strickland? >> you know, what governor graham has said about florida he could have said about ohio. we are a centrist state. we are a state that insurance extremes, both to the left and to the right. and i believe this new administration is well outside the mainstream of ohio political thought. they are radical, they have attacked the working class. they have attacked labor unions. they are underfunding education. and i think ohioans are responding, chris, to what they perceive to be an agenda that is extreme. >> yeah. >> ohio is a centrist kind of state and this administration is far from centrist. >> you know, governors, you know it reminds me, i have been working on this in history, the media period right after world war ii when theç republicans ce into the congress, the 80th congress that truman barbed they can thought they had a mandate for all kinds of crazy things, they had to put the term limit in for president, which was fine but all kinds of agenda things, all kinds of getting even and turned out they were smashed out of there in two years because they just misread their mandate. governor graham first and then governor strickland is this what happened with these republican, people wanted to see some restraint on spending, worried about the economy and these guys went up there and picked up on the old republican agenda, labor bashing, of going after public employees, i guess they are going after trial lawyers next, just the old republican agenda that they could have done any administration and they are just out of touch with the people? what do you think, governor graham? >> chris, i think you are absolutely right that what the people are really concerned with today are jobs and those things that are going to contribute to long-term economic well being, such as investment, education, protecting our , education, protecting oi, education, protecting on, education, protecting our environment. and these education, protecting our environment. and these they have gotten off on a bizarre agenda of issues. we now in florida have one prohibiting doctors to talk, particularly pediatricians to talk to their patients about gun safety in the home. that's how far out of the mainstream our state government has gotten. >> gun safety is a no-no, huh? can't talk about that even with mothers. let me go to governor strickland. as ohio is, to merck the ultimate regular state of the union, the regular -- sort of like the true north of american life to me in ohio. >> that's right. >> john glenn country. country seem like right-wing country to me. >> well, it isn't it is a state that tradition has voted for republicans, more often than democrats but john kasich is no george voinovich or bob taft. he is -- he is well to the right and he -- i mean this is aç gu who calls a police officer an idiot for giving him a ticket. he says, you know, i've got a bus. you can get on the bus with me. if you don't get on my bus, i'm going to take that bus and i'm gonna run over you, you declares war on public employees a the right to collectively bargain and he has made teachers and nurses and firefighters and police officers the enemy. but these are the servants of our state. >> i understand that i think in the end, schwarzenegger made that mistake when he came into governorship, a tim of change out there and he read that as a a time to go after nurses, teachers and firefighters and blown away on that one. let me ask you about your state and the president. seems like in both these state who who and florida the two state wers talk become the swing states in all presidential elections these days, the president is picking up here. look, he was down in your state, ohio. now he is up 49-45. up even more in florida 51-43, you first, governor strickland, why is obama coming back? is this medicare is this bin laden? what is this? >> it is medicare, bin laden and it is the auto industry. the president saved the auto industry and these been a huge, huge positive for ohio. so, president obama and senator sherrod brown are both likely to be reelected, in my judgment, in large part because of the extreme nature of the current administration. i think it's going to help the president. it's going to help sherrod brown. and i think -- i think we may even win back the ohio house of representatives in 2012. >> okay, thank you very much, governor strickland, so much. and governor, great seeing you again, governor graham, the novelist. what is the name of your book? >> "keys to the kingdom." >> sounds like any religion there. >> thank you. >> sounds very catholic. republicans want to send the economy into a tailspin, refusing to raise the debt ceilingsome this going tonight second greece? at leastç not without spending cult. we will see. you have to wonder about this brinksmanship going on about whether we are going to raise taxes or whatever. let's talk about this when we come right back. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? 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[ male announcer ] with xerox, you're ready for real business. back to "hardball." are republicans willing to risk another economic meltdown to prove a political point about the country's debt? last night, republicans leaders held a faux vote on hiking the debt controlling they urged their own members to reject. the defeated measure was staged to show democrats that spending cuts will need to be part of any deal to raise the borrowing limit and when house republicans met with president obama today at the white house, congressman paul ryan architected the plan to overhaul medicare, reportedly told the president that he hasn't shown leadership. here's what he said when asked about that statement. >> i just said we got to take on this dealt and if we demagog each other at the leadership level then we are never gonna take on our debt. we have a debt crisis coming, we want to deal with this if we want to grow jobs in the economy, we got to get our spending under control we got to get our debt under control and if we try to demagog each other's attempts to do that then we are not applying the kind of political leadership we need to get this economy going and get the debt under control. >> this is getting hot. congressman marsha blackburn is a republican from tennessee. congresswoman, thank you for joining us. we got a lot to talk b. >> nice to be here. >> three big questions. one is the debt ceiling. i know you are watching what is happening in greece now, that country is headed toward freefall, all watching it as a standard. what happens if we don't get a dealt ceiling bill passed between now and august? what is the big danger? are you worried if we don't get it done and if we don't get it done, are you worried we will have a real catastrophe since 2007 and 2008? >> chris, i'm one of the members concerned about the spending and the debt every time i have been in congress every year. i have brought forward amendments that would actually cult what we are spending. do we need to address this? absolutely we do i think that those generations that have causdt this debt should you can the ones to address t certainly in the last five years, we have seen our public debt, the debt that is held by the public, double. and it is increasing at 15% a year. it is time to get that under control. >> where were the republicans went we went into two wars, ignoring the cost of those wars, including one that was an opposition of war in iraq, maybe afghanistan was a necessary war to go after bin laden, at least there was the goal in the first place. how about the prescription drug bill which wasn't funded? what about all the spending bills that congress passed and president bush, w. bush never vetoed. you have three issues, the wars, prescriptions and spending bills and your caucus never tried to stop that as you are now. >> as i said, i'm one of the members every year who has talked about, consistently talked about spending, you and i have discussed this on your program. it is time for us to say the spending is out of control, the spending has to be addressed, we have to address are the debt. we cannot kick this can down the road to future generations. if we do, what we are doing is capping and trading our children's future to those nations that own our debt. that is not an acceptable option. we need to put it all on the table and say, okay, let's move forward with how we are going to address this. to just raise the debt ceiling and not require spending restraints, not require a balanced budget amendment, not require spending caps, not address a wrong thing to do. >> what about the bush tax cuts, should we look at them again? >> we all know that now is the wrong time to increase taxes -- >> you're saying putting everything on the table, and now you're taking revenues off the table? >> no, i'm not taking revenues off the table. i am telling you what you cannot do in this kind of economy is to raise taxes. you can talk to economist after economist and they're going to tell you that. item number one is getç the spending under control, you also have to address the trust fund issues, which is medicare and social security, and the entitlement issues primarily that is medicaid. that is an orderly process. what the american people are looking for is leadership and courage to say we've got to get this done. >> i agree. >> this clock is running out. get it done. >> thank you so much for joining us. and here's how speaker john boehner characterized that meeting with the president today and the other republicans. let's listen. >> we had, i think a very productive meeting with the president today. and we appreciate the opportunity to be here at the president's request. to have a conversation about jobs and the deficit and the debt that's facing our country. this morning i released -- signed by 150 economists who agreed that if we're going to get serious about creating jobs in america, we've got to reduce some of the uncertainty. some of that uncertainty's caused by the giant debt that is facing our country. and the fact if we're going to raise the debt limit, the spending cuts should exceed the increase in the debt limit. otherwise it'll serve to cost us jobs in our country. >> okay. congressman manuel cleaver from missouri. couple questions. what do you think eric cantor's plan to demand cuts in the government budget in order to help the people here in joplin? >> i think mr. cantor probably misspoke. i can't -- i refuse to believe that's what he was actually trying to say. we have 134 people dead in joplin, missouri. and devastation like we've never seen in any city in missouri in its state's history.ç so if the federal government does not have a role to play in helping people survive, then we don't need a federal government. and, i guess the sad thing would be is we didn't get an offset before we went to the aid of the haitians and we didn't get an offset when we went to the aid of the japanese after the tsunami. and unfortunately, it looks like we're going to do an offset. but i think the way it was presented to the american public was probably not as compassionate as i believe mr. cantor is. >> okay. i've got a question about a larger question. the dangers of earthquakes, tornadoes, and whatever. and this is this whole question of another greece. we're getting warnings from geithner, the secretary of treasury if this congress doesn't get its act together before this august deadline, we're going to have a real problem with our credit in the world. the united states won't be paying its bills. you have greece, you know, the biggest news out a few minutes ago, just saw it. greece may well default. here's a major country in europe. do we want to follow them? >> absolutely not. we do have one difference between the u.s. and greece and that is we have a central bank, which can print currency almost unlimitedly, whereas greece doesn't have a central bank. the central bank is actually the european bank. and they can't print the euros. >> you want to start printing money? we can't do that either. >> no, we'll have $100 bill worth 35 cents. but i do think that we cannot have a technical default or any kind of default because it will cause the united states to lose this place among the nations around the world. our currency's now the preferred currency of the world. it's hailed back by most countries when they make big purchases like oil or airlines.ç and so we can't do that. it will damage the united states internally. >> great. thank you so much. we've got to get this done. thank you congressman emanuel cleaver. why mitt romney is run away from his own record he should be running on. you can't do it this way, romney. 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[ 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. let me finish tonight with the long tradition of moderate republican governors of massachusetts. i speak with some experience. i went to college in massachusetts. and worked for half dozen years as top aide to tip o'neill. let me say that modern republicanism is up in the blood in massachusetts. back in my time, edward brooke in the u.s. senate, but especially in the governor's chair. we've had popular republican governors in the commonwealth. you know who's part of that tradition of moderate republican governors of massachusetts? the guy who is announcing for president tomorrow, mitt romney. when he served at the state house, romney was the leader of the effort to ensure that people take responsibility for their health care. he made it a law to carry health insurance just like you have to carry car insurance. it's to protect other people from having to pay for you when society has to step in and fill in for what the individual failed to do. the boston globe just did a glowing account of romney's fine leadership in this effort. mitt romney is now running for president on the basis of his executive experience as governor of massachusetts. yet, he is not running on his record of achievement. in those four years, that's what gives the candidacy the inauthentic look. he's in a strange way running from it. if he had not been governor of massachusetts, he would not have the foundation to run for president. yet we see him working tirelessly to kick that foundation of accomplishment out from under him. this country needs moderate republicans again. they are a bridge between the left and right of this country. such men and women over the years have been among the true producers of positive government in america. here's a thought, if some people believe that positive government is out of fashion, being a solid moderate republican is out of step, then maybe governor romney sh