The Obama Administration announcing a Major Overhaul to ease government drug sentencing guidelines. Holder was clear this isnt just about perform reforming an outdated, inefficient and expensive war on drugs, he said. This is about reforming a judicial system of inequality system that will abuses blacks and minorities. This is holdser speak how theyre disproportionately involved in that system. We also must confront the reality that once theyre in that system, people of color often face harsher punishments than their peers. In recent years, black male offenders have received sentences nearly 20 longer than those imposed on white males convicted of similar crimes. This isnt just unacceptable. It is shameful. Now, the second case in new york city where a federal judge demolished the citys tactics surrounding a controversial stop and frisk law, the law has become a flash point for racial tensions nationwide not unlike stand your ground in the Trayvon Martin case. In her ruling, the judge said that tens of thousand of new yorkers had their rights systemically violated and overwhelming majority of the victims black and hispanic. The city must now follow a strict series of remedies at the courts request including the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the nypd conduct. New york mayor Michael Bloomberg was livid. The law in connection with a declining crime rate has been a defining part of his legacy. And at a press conference earlier today, he didnt hide his disgust, particularly when it came to the issue of a monitor. If somebody pulls a gun and you want to get home to your family, you dont have time to say well, wait a second, the commissioner said one thing, the monitor said another and the ig said another. By that time, youre dead. And id like to see you go to the funeral and explain to the family why their son or husband or father is not coming home at night. Sherrilynn ifill is the president and director of the naacps he education fund. George pataki a former governor of the great state of new york. These are called terry stops. In a terry stop, a Police Officer needs to be operating on more than a hunch. The way new york city was carrying out stop and frisk the judge said resulted in an indirect form of racial profiling. Yeah, i totally disagree with the judge, michael. Youre probably not surprised by that. I think what we have seen is a dramatic reduction in Violent Crime in the city. There will be at least 2,000 fewer murderers this year than there were about ten years ago in one year. The vast majority of those victims are minorities. And their lives are being saved because we have a Police Department and a mayor who are being proactive in going after illegal guns, illegal activity on the street in a way that i believe and i hope the mayor will appeal and is ultimately determined to be constitutional. Sherrilynn, respond to that. And also tell me how will this be received in the Minority Community, where the governor points out folks are most disproportionately affected by crime. Well, lets begin by saying while Violent Crime certainly has been reduced in new york city, its been reduced all over this country. In fact, the Violent Crime rate in this country is where it was in 1966. Yet the prison population is far beyond where it was in 1966. Stop and frisk policies are not about illegal activity. Certainly those in the Minority Community as the governor points out are disproportionately the victims of Violent Crime care about guns and illegal activity in the community. But stop and frisk which resulted in the stopping of over 600,000 new yorkers, the vast majority of whom were africanamerican and latino and which produced arrests of about 12 of those who were stopped and frisked is about engaging in this conduct towards people who are doing nothing wrong. Its a form of racial profiling and were thrilled that judge in this exhaustive 200page opinion recognized that the activities of the police and this policy infringes on the Constitutional Rights of new yorkers. I think the governor was saying in part that one of the reasons the crime has reached this 40year low is because of the implementation of programs like stop and frisk. And i guess one of the things im saying is how do you account for the fact that crime has reached a low all over the United States, including places where you dont have stop and frisk . The reality is that crime began to go down in new york in the 1990s when dinkens was mayor, when David Dinkens was mayor before we instituted stop and frisk, and all over the country crime has been going down. Were at astonishingly low rates of crime in the country. The question is can we begin to create some of the excesses like stop and frisk that the judge identified today. I want to show you both this. Mayor bloomberg was quick to defend the policies of the use of stop and frisk, arguing that the law has been a key part of new yorks reduced crime rate, just as we mentioned. Every day, commissioner kelly and i wake up determined to keep new yorkers safe and save lives. And our crime strategies and tools, including stop, question, frisk, have made new york city the safest big city in america. And im happy to say we are on pace for another record low of shootings and homicides this year. Because our Police Officers follow the law and follow the crime. They fight crime wherever crime is occurring and they dont worry if their work doesnt matchup to a census chart. Governor, this is a big part of his legacy. He doesnt want to leave office with the record he has intact and all of a sudden be remembered as the guy implementing stop and frisk on an unconstitutional basis. Well, i think he should be remembered as the man who helped reduce Violent Crime to historically low levels in this city. Sherrilynn is absolutely right. We have an seen a decline across the country but havent seen anything like the dramatic decline in new york city. You can trash new york city where we have policing, including stop and frisk, with chicago, where the rate of minority murders in that city is just unacceptable. And sherrilynn is also right when you look at the statistics. But look at the statistics of the stop and frisk. It reflects basicallity the percentages of those who ultimately are arrested and charged with crimes in this city. The sad fact is that not only are minorities an overwhelming percentage of the victims of Violent Crime, they tragically are also those who most often end up convicted of committing those crimes. President obama made a point about that when he seemed to speak extemporaneously on that on friday. We may have been together analyzing the speech that day. He made the point about africanamericans being disproportionately represented on both sides of that deal. You know what is interesting about this is it actually stop and frisk policies, they actually undermine Law Enforcement. Because what ends up happening is young men, like many of the men who testified and who brought forward evidence in this case who have been stopped and frisked 12, 13, 14 times in a fiveyear period, young men who are in high school, young men who are in college doing nothing wrong, they and their families later come to distrust the police. Theyre the same people who are going to sit on our juries. Theyre the same people who we need to call the police to give information about real crime happening in their communities. And they become distrustful. It sets up a barrier between Law Enforcement and the communities, and that harms africanamericans as well as the rest of the residents of the city. Lets talk briefly about the sentencing case, if we can. Because in his speech today, attorney general eric holder combatted criticisms his actions in sentencing reform would be labeled as soft on crime or compromising public safety. The attorney general defended his proposals to ease drug sentencing guidelines by pointing to state programs that have successfully focused on Community Programs instead of hardline prosecution. Be clear. These measures have not compromised public safety. In fact, many states have seen drops in recidivism at the same time their prison populations were declining. While our federal prison has continued to slowly expand, significant state level reductions have led to three consecutive years of decline in americas overall prison population including in 2012, the largest drop ever. Experienced in a single year. Governor, some are saying this is an end run around congress. I happen to think that it is. But i get it. Members of Congress Want to thump their chests and be tough on crime and will vote for mandatory minimums. But when it comes time to dial that back, nobody wants to be held accountable. See, i disagree with you. I think to the extent that the attorney general is proposing to change the drug sentencing laws, it should be done by statute. It should be done with congress. And i did exactly that in new york state. We put in place policies that provided shock incarceration, communitybased treatment for certain low level drug offenders. At the same time we increased penalties for those who would have a gun or use a gun or the higher level drug kingpins. When i left office, we had 7,000 fewer people in prison than we did because of those intelligent reforms. What im saying is i dont think they could get it through the congress, because i dont think people want to stand up and vote aye for something that dials it back. Its a political problem. Michael, i think i have had a record and have an attitude that is as tough on crime, including drug violations as any governor in this state. Yet i was able not just to sign that into law, but to propose reforms when theyre done intelligently and when its balanced, and you dont look at it as a way to allow highlevel drug dealers or those who have a gun or those who have a history of violence to get out early, then i think you can create a bipartisan consensus for treatment and alternatives. Let me ask you both this. We have the statistic, the data here. Its been bandied about a great deal today. 5 of the worlds population, 25 of the worlds incarcerated population and a 40year low in crime. Can you read all of that together and say well, one of the reasons we have such a high rate of incarceration and such low crime is because a lot of the bad seeds have been taken off the street . I dont mean to cut sherrilynn out, but i totally agree with that. One of the things we did was change sentencing not just in drug area. We have much tougher sentences for those who are repeat criminals. And its one of the reasons why we saw such a dramatic reduction of Violent Crime in the new york state. Listen, in 1991, the prison population in the entire United States was about 200,000. Thats now about the federal prison population, about 219,000. Overall, we have 2. 2 Million People incarcerated in the United States. Thats a dramatic increase in the last 30, 40 years. We just talked about the alltime low, you know, in Violent Crime. We overreached and we broke families and we broke communities. The reality is the vast majority of people who are in prison are going to get out. When they get out, they will have the deficit of their record, they will have the deficit of what happened to them when they were in prison, they will have precious few resources that are available to begin their lives again. So what the attorney general suggested today, and i think its really fascinating. Hes focusing on a little discussed area of authority and power. And thats prosecutorial discretion. He says its not about end runs around the law. Prosecutors have the ability to decide what theyre going to charge a criminal defendant with. Understood. And he says, our prosecutors, u. S. Attorneys need to use that charging power in a smart way. They need to use it to do just what judge pataki said, make sure that you come hard against those who is have the record, who have been involved in violent criminal activity but not against people who have a clean record who are involved in nonviolent activity. You dont use the drug kingpin statues meant to get the worst of the worst against those kinds of individuals. Its a great conversation. Thank you both for being here to participate in it. Thank you. Sherrilynn ifill and george pataki. Coming up, what is the one thing that could ruin the fun that Reince Priebus has been having bashing nbc for bashing a hillary miniseries . That would be if it turned outfox was producing it. And guess what . They are considering producing it. Its now your move, reince. Also, the gift that keeps on giving. The iowa caucuses, only 880 days away, give or take a couple of weeks away but already ds and rs are acting like its 14 degrees and were in january of 2016. Plus, guilty as charged. Boston mobster Whitey Bulger is convicted of a bunch of racketeering charges, including 11 murders. The government is likely to provide bulgers housing for the rest of his life. And perhaps the biggest clown in what Chris Matthews loves to call the republican 2012 clown show, back with more birther nonsense. This is hardball, the place for politics. The earth moves a. But man moves the earth. With bestinclass torque and bestinclass towing, these are some of the bold, new ram commercial trucks built to tilt the axis of capability. Guts. Glory. Ram. Help the gulf when we made recover and learn the gulf, bp from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. I can tell you safety is at the heart of everything we do. Weve added cuttingedge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a stateoftheart monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twentyfourseven. And were sharing what weve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. Our commitment has never been stronger. President obama gave his most spirited defense of his Health Care Law on friday. And now republicans have revived some of the false talking points to discredit it. Heres rnc chair Reince Priebus. The fact is, what people dont want are government panels deciding whether somethings medically necessary. Government panels . Sounds a lot like those death panels that sarah palin used to talk about. By the way, one reason why more americans oppose obama care than support it, its getting killed on twitter. Kantar medias campaign for media analysis tracks political ads and tweets and found negative tweets outnumber positive tweets by six or seven to one. Well be right back. No were g this is your first time missing a payment. And youve got the it card, so we wont hike up your apr for paying late. Thats great it is great thank you. At discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Get the it card with late payment forgiveness. Welcome back to hardball. That Hillary Clinton mini series hasnt been produced yet and already, theres a plot twist. Last week, rnc chair Reince Priebus spent time on television threatening cnn and nbc he will pull gop primary debates in the president ial cycle if both networks move forward with planned specials about Hillary Clinton. But over the weekend, the New York Times revealed the conservative fox news channels own sister entertainment division, Fox Television studios is in talks to produce and distribute the script for the miniseries being planned to air on nbc. Candy crowley confronted priebus putting the chairman on the defensive about those revelations yesterday on cnn. The New York Times is reporting that the nbc clinton series might likely be produced by Fox Television studios. Thats sort of a Sister Company to fox news. So the if we follow your logic, do you think that there then is a connection to fox news and would they be subject to the same kind of scrutiny . Im going to boycott the company that puts the miniseries and the documentaries on the air for the American People to view. Im not interested in whether they use the same sound studio or whether they use the same set. I dont know the truth of anything youre talking about. But i do know whats very clear. Is that the company that puts these things on the air to promote Hillary Clinton including cnn is the company that is not going to be involved in our debates. Period. So the people that write. With me now bill carter of the New York Times and sam stein the huffington post. Lets be clear. Were arguing or theyre arguing about a script that hasnt even been written. Thats right. And i think first of all, i have no dog in this fight but when i wrote the story and realized that fox had involvement with their entertainment arm, i thought it was certainly interesting, and sort of raises the question of who is really responsible for putting on an entertainment thing, and how does it relate to anybodys news division. But i think it becomes, and i recognize that you have no dog in the fight. It seems like a hard an argument for Reince Priebus toe make that im going to hold accountable those networks that air it as compared to those who produce it. When i read your piece and then heard what he had to say as a lawyer, i thought of civil law and product liability. Those ho get held accountable are manufacturers and vendors, assuming its a defective product. Look, in the entertainment world, there are entangled relationships. And in this case, nbc picks up the project that was pitched all around, and they look for a production entity. That production entity will have a deep involvement. They will approve the script. Theyre not just going to put on what nbc says. They also get the International Distribution rights. So they have a real vested interest in this. If they do it, they will be deeply involved. Sam, does he have egg on his face, or is this all about playing to the base anyway . Politically, its been a very wise move. What about now given what bill carter has reported . First of all, i wish i had the legal chops to do the arguments youre making, but i dont. But from a political standpoint, i do think he has a bit of egg on his face. I dont get the distinction between production and distribution and airing the documentary. If youre involved in the general product, i think youre involved in the general product. And for Reince Priebus, that involvement was big enough and good enough to get you kicked out of hosting republican debates. So by logic, the next question becomes why is fox any less culpable than nbc. And i dont think he has given a sufficient explanation. But lets be brutally frank about this. This wasnt about anything other than raising money and trying to influence. He was basically trying to influence the tenor and tone of the documentary itself before it was written and aired. Bill, i want to ask about the impact of the public of these sorts of projects and television. Game change comes to mind. The kennedys comes to mind. Years ago there was a mccain movie based on that autobiography of his. They did reagan which was forced off cbs by the way. Right. Fahrenheit 9 11 in movie theaters. Right. Or the desouza attempted takedown of obama in the last cycle. Do we make too much over the value they would have in swaying minds . I think to me the idea that thats going to change someones opinion of Hillary Clinton seems improbable. Thats why the movie is being made. Shes an historical figure now. I dont think it could have that impact. But i do think you see the news divisions that are uncomfortable with it. They dont want to be tied in to what might be a valentine to Hillary Clinton, because it wont look good and then it will be a sale and it would be a sideshow if that happens. Sam. I think its all about ratings. And if there were a personality within the gop, they would be chomping at the bit to put on a program about him or her. Beyond Chris Christie, i dont know that the christie record is defined to warrant a two or fourhour treatment. Ratings are what matters here. Thats why sarah palin was the subject of many of these a couple years ago. With respect to the news divisions and the rnc, my solution is wait for it to air and then make your up judgments. We have no idea what the actual script will say. We have no idea if it will be flattering or critical. We can make guesses and some of them are educated guesses. There is nothing stopping Reince Priebus from saying after the airing that was way too flattering. Now im going to cancel the debates on cnn or nbc. Hes just doing this to influence refs. And ironically i think hes drawing more attention to a documentary he doesnt want to have aired anyway. I think part of the problem bill carter, for his argument, is that the line has so totally blurred between celebrity and politician, because theyre equals now. Look at the donald. Yes. He wants to be viewed in both quarters. Today is sarah palin a celebrity or is she shes both. She is both. And they all appear on late night shows now. They all make jokes. Theyre funny people. Incidentally, cnn who was in the same boat targeted by the rnc said to me they would be happy to do a documentary on christie, because they think he is really interesting, and has news value. They would be happy to do it. I think really you have to really separate these things. The entertainment people are interested in ratings and money. One of the things that i heard from the Fox Television people was we think we can make money with this. Thats why theyre involved, not because they have a message or anything else. Thats what they want to do. Will this controversy cause the production unit, the entertainment unit to say this is just too hot . Its possible. Id say that was possible. But it also could make them think we really want to be involved. This is really going to get big ratings, and it will sell internationally where we have the rights. Sam, you think it drives up their desire. Why run away from the project now that its being discussed on cable news ad nauseum . Theres so much more interest in this project than it was when it was initially announced. In large part because the rnc has placed it squarely into the political spotlight. Hysterical for me to have this conversation about this project. Theres no script. Theres no script. There is no script. But there is a star. Thats another thing. Big star. They have a movie star playing Hillary Clinton. Theres a third movie being made. Theatrical movie called rodham made by the twilight producers. Its about her early life. They tried to get like scarlet johansson and casey million mulligan to play that part. They want a movie star to play hillary. Thank you. Up next, the return of birtherism in all of its nasty forms. You can follow me on twitter so long as you know how to spell smerconish. This is hardball, the place for politics. The Postal Service is critical to our economy. 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The bull riding event featured a rodeo clown wearing a president obama mask and the actor was then routinely mocked over the p. A. System. Take a look. Mr. Obama. Hey, lot me tell these people about who we got helping. Obama is going to have to stay there. Obama, watch out for those bulls. Hey, i know im a clown. He just runs around acting like one. Doesnt know he is one. You ready . Obama, theyre coming for you. Whoo. As soon as the bull comes out, obama, dont you move. Hes going to get you, get you, get you, get you that video was filmed by perry bean who also reported another clown ran up and started bobbling the lips on the mask. Heres how he characterized that scene on the today show. Like an effigy at a klan rally. Ed there have been no reason to mess with his lips if he had been a white president. Playing on that stereotype, he had to go up there and diddle with his lips. The organizers of the taxpayerfunded event apologized last night. The clown has been banned from performing there ever again. Next up, new york mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner seems to be in on the joke these days. He was marching in the dominican day parade over the weekend when he reportedly grabbed a giant plantain from a woman in the crowd and waved it around. If this latest photo op seems odd even for him you might be onto the something. The New York Post is reporting that the candidate is being filmed for a potential documentary. So maybe he was just hamming it up for the camera. And finally, birtherism is still up for debate, at least according to donald trump. Here he was sparring with Jonathan Karl about that on abcs this week on sunday. You dont still question that he was born in the United States, do you . I have no idea. Even at this point . Well, i dont know. Was there a birth certificate . You tell me. You know, some people say that was not his birth certificate. Im saying i dont know. Nobody knows and you dont know either, jonathan. Youre a smart guy. You dont know either. Im pretty convinced. Pretty, you said pretty. Totally without question that he was born in the United States. Jonathan, you said youre pretty convinced. Up next, theres still 29 months until the start of the 2016 president ial race but dont tell that to the potential contenders. Theyre already flocking to iowa. Youre watching hardball, the place for politics. C is being streamed. A quarter million tweeters are tweeting. And 900 Million Dollars are changing hands online. Thats why hp built a new kind of server. One thats 80 smaller. Uses 89 less energy. And costs 77 less. Its called hp moonshot. And its giving the internet the room it needs to grow. This is gonna be big. Hp moonshot. Its time to build a better enterprise. Together. But it might just be my favorite. [ female announcer ] welcome to the new aarp. 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Authorities say after interviews rescued teenager hannah anderson, it is clear that she is a victim and had no idea her mom and brother had been killed. Hannahs father spoke earlier, and said his daughter is surrounded by family and is grieving. The healing process will be slow. She has been through a tremendous horrific ordeal. Authorities say kidnapper James Dimaggio was armed and fired a round before being shot by the fbi. Back to hardball. Welcome back to hardball. If political activity in the state of iowa this weekend is any indication, its game on for the 2016 president ial race. The conservative family leadership summit attracted some of the high octane names often mentioned as 2016 contenders. There is no more important Regulatory Reform that we can do than to repeal every single word of obama care. My challenge to the Republican Party is to take a page out of our book. And start putting forth an agenda of ideas to raise up folks who want to vote for us. You saw for the last election, they didnt want to the vote for president obama but at least he went out and talked to them. On the democratic side, word that Vice President biden will be in iowa next month to speak at senator tom harkins annual steak fry. Thats an event considered a signature stop for any democratic president ial contender. Also attending san antonio mayor julian castro, who had a high profile speaking slot at last years Democratic National convention, delivering the keynote address. Thats the same speaking slot in 2012 that launched president obamas president ial arc back in 2004. Even though Hillary Clinton didnt set foot in the state of iowa, she didnt need to in order to be the topic of president ial conversation at an emilys list event on friday. Getting everyone excited now about what i hope will be that moment in 2017 when we all get to say madam president to Hillary Rodham clinton. So let the games begin. Susan page is Washington Bureau chief for usa today. Michael crowley is a senior drnt for time magazine. Michael, i love this stuff. I think hardball watchers love this stuff. Others might be thinking, oh, its just too soon. What is the importance of the early jockeying . Well, you know, on some level its not that important. A lot of the people who get early attention and applause at these things dont end up going anywhere. Well recall how Michele Bachmann won the straw poll last time around. But there are these invisible primaries under way. Particularly i think the most interesting one right now is the jockeying to be. There is clearly going to be, you know, a modern establishment candidate, a romneyesque candidate. It might be someone like Chris Christie. And there are a lot of people who want to fill the role of the more Tea Party Libertarian hardcore take no prisoners conservative candidate. So i think what is happening right now to a large degree within the party is jockeying, you know, for instance including cruz and rand paul to be that more conservative alternative. But this is all still very nebulous. And by the way i think for cruz the most important thing is to boost his name recognition. It helps him have more leverage and attention back in washington and be effective in the senate. Right. Good for cruz, regardless of whether he actually runs. Susan, it looks, though, already, like there are a lot of folks interested in that gop field, could be a big field. So let me read into it and say, if it is a big gop field and if it consists of the rand pauls and ted cruzs and the rick santorums, thats good news for Chris Christie. Because you divide the right side of the party. Correct. You dont think there is any chance that americans will get sick of this contest if we start covering it now, do you . Do you think theyre ready for a 3 1 2 year president ial campaign . Some people. Maybe viewers of this show. You know, Chris Christie has a difficult needle to thread. Youre right. If you fragment the party on the other side, maybe that opens the door to it. I think so what is hatching now is people are trying to raise their hands to say hey, you cant do much now. You cant raise money. You cant get organized in these states like iowa and new hampshire. But you can raise your hand. But you can meet the activists and make sure when people are putting together a list of possible contenders for the wide open race on the gop side, that your name is on it. And thats what i think people like ted cruz are doing. All right. Lets talk about the donald. Donald trump also found himself in iowa this weekend, addressing the family leadership summit with his take on the 2016 race. Obama should have been beaten. Hillarys going to be tougher to beat. And the republicans have to do whats right. If they dont pick the right person, and i mean the right person, perfect, its got to be the perfect person, they are going to get drubbed in the 2016 election. Now, its worth remembering that donald trump has been inserting himself into president ial politics going back to 1988, and his forays often accompany his need to promote a book, a show or just himself in general. Steve kornacki pointed this out in the last election cycle in a piece for salon titled Trumps White House con ban 24 years ago in the 1988 cycle, publication of his book the art of the deal, coincided with his denials that he was running for president. In the 2000 cycle, he toyed with the idea of running for president while also promoting his book the america we deserve, and in 2012 when trump flirted with a president ial run, he was also coincidentally drawing attention to his primetime reality show celebrity apprentice. So michael, evaluate the donald factor. Right. So he wrote this book the america we deserve. I guess trump is sort of the circus clown that this process deserves. In a way the media deserves. We talk about these candidates before they really show any sign of real serious investment. We need stories to cover and trump somewhat masterfully exploits that. I dont take him seriously at all. I dont think theres any reason to given the past record you just described. To some degree were his enablers by talking about him. Hes an entertaining character. I think to the degree theres anything substantive to say about it, its bad for republicans for him to be part of the mix. I think theyre trying to get past this idea that the primarys last time around were almost a again, it was a clown car, it was a circus. These are the phrases you hear even from republican activists. I think trumps presence and the attention trump is getting at this point kind of creates that atmosphere again. Its a freeforall and anyone can get in. Can i just say to michaels point, i think thats the longterm implication. This continues to be the face of the gop, whether its donald trump, whether its ted cruz. Im going to show a clip in a moment. In fact, ill show it to you right now. Senator ted cruzs father, rafael cruz, also spoke at the iowa summit family leadership and also compared obama to fidel castro. A young charismatic leader rose up talking about hope and change. His name was fidel castro socialism requires that government becomes your god. Thats why they have to destroy the concept of god. They have to destroy all loyalties except loyalty to the government. That is what is behind homosexual marriage. Susan, the point being that this continues to be the face, the brand of the gop. I doubt any of the people that weve just discussed who were on those stages is going to be the nominee and could be elected president , but people sitting at home watching this sort of thing, it reinforces thats where the party is today. You know, i agree with you. I think that what reverend cruz was talking about comparing barack obama to fidel castro played pretty well in that audience but its the kind of thing that makes it very difficult for republicans to appeal to voters in the middle voters you need if youre going to win a president ial election. And in that way, i think that that speech is more damaging than the appearance by donald trump. I agree with you. Let me wrap up if i might. Courtesy of nbcs first read, a reminder of how early we really have in the 2016 race. At this point in the 08 cycle, august of 2005, this was the state of play. On the republican side, senator george allen was considered at least the cofrontrunner for the nomination. Here he is on the cover of National Review with the headline his future is now and the first string president ial talent out of virginia. A year later he lost his bid for reelection. Hillary clinton was seen as the overwhelming favorite on the democratic side. As for eventual winner barack obama, he had been a senator for only seven months and wasnt viewed as a president ial contender. There you go. Thank you, susan page. Thank you, michael crowley. Up next, the verdict in the racketeering and murder trial of widety bulger. This is hardball, the place for politics. [ human league plays im only human ] [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no stop humans. One day were coming up with the theory of relativity, the next. Not so much. But thats okay youre covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from Liberty Mutual insurance. Total your car and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. Learn about it at libertymutual. Com. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . Always go the extra mile. To treat my low testosterone, i did my research. My doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. Axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. 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The governor did it without fanfare and no signing ceremony. The new law slashes early voting and requires voters to show photo id, something republicans insist will clamp down on voter fraud. But democrats and libertarians have argued the true goal is to suppress turnout, especially among africanamericans, the young and the poor, groups that traditionally vote for democrats. Well be back after this. With the spark miles card from capital one, bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his Small Business. Take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorns Small Business earns double miles on every purchase every day. Produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less . Ahh, oh [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. Heres your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark Business Card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. Choose double miles or 2 cash back on every purchase every day. Whats in your wallet . 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Today in a courtroom in boston, a jury found him guilty of 31 out of 32 counts, including murder, moneylaundering, racketeering and extortion. The 83yearold bulger called the trial a sham. For many it, it seemed like his focus during the twomonth trial was disputing charges by the prosecution that he was an fbi informant. He also strongly denied he ever killed women. The trial was heavy on drama with bulger often cursing his former criminal associates testifying against him but surprising to some he never took the stand himself. For more on the case, were joined by kevin cullen, a columnist for the boston globe author of Whitey Bulger, americas most wanted gangster and george anastasia, who coauthored the autobiography of former vegas mayor Oscar Goodman who got his start as a mob lawyer. George, speak about the mindset of guys like this this honor, this code business where its like okay if you say you were a mafia kingpin but please dont say i killed women and please dont say i was a snitch. Well, i mean, thats the position that bulger took in this case. But i think the facts undermine enhanced image of who he was. I think kevin, whos written extensively about him, can speak more to that can i could. Whitey bulger created a persona that wasnt reality. And i think what we saw in this trial and the evidence is this is a real whitety bulger, hes a despicable individual. Kevin, were you surprised he didnt take the stand in his own defense . Its common in criminal trials. In this case, it seemed like this guy had a story he wanted to tell. I think he did, i mean, but in the same time, michael, i think, i wrote a column the day after he did not testify, and i said at the end of the day, Whitey Bulger is a bully and all bullies a cowards. I dont think he had the courage to stand up and say what he did. More that he did not want to submit himself to crossexamination when prosecutors would have brought out that he had been a snitch as far back as 1956. When he gave up his bank robbery accomplices. As george said was he a snitch . And did he kill women . I think well, a jury found today that he killed deborah hassey. As i said to stevie davis, her brother, he was crushed obviously, but t verdict if you look at what the jury did, i think the jury did an excellent job. I think most juries do excellent jobs. They did not support any uncorroborated evidence. They basically said, if the evidence wasnt uncorroborated, would not support it. In case of the killing of debra davis, it came down to basically stevies account. There was hearsay evidence about what people said after. It really came down to stevies version of this. Stevie is as big a degenerate as Whitey Bulger. The courtroom had, george, you wrote a book about mob movies. This is like a mob movie. In one instance, bulger disrupted his former associate, kevin weeks after weeks testify it bothered him bulger was an informant for the fbi. Because we killed people who were rats and i have the two biggest rats right next to me. From his seat in the courtroom, bulger screams, you suck. Weeks response, f you. Bulger said, f you, too. He jumped to his seat in the witness stand before the judge calmed things down. Its straight out of a screen play. Thats been the Whitey Bulger saga. You cant make this stuff up. One of the things that gets lost in all this, though, is this case, this Whitey Bulger story is an indictment of the way fbi operates. And bulger was able to manipulate at least two fbi agents and undermine the system. And i think hthat has gotten lot in the story of Whitey Bulger in this trial. Kevin, tell us, remind us what became of Whitey Bulgers girlfriend, the woman with whom he was on the lam and living in santa monica. Cathie greg was sentenced to eight years in the same courthouse years ago. She went out as the Tammy Wynette of south boston. She stood by her man, didnt say anything. Of course, talking to a lot of the families here, the victims families, they know Whitey Bulger stashed money all over the country, if that all over the world. He had safety deposit boxes in dublin, london, paris. So theyre saying, wheres the money in does cathie know . Does his brother, billy, the former politician know . Does his brother, jack, here every day for the trial, did they know . All the families believed theres millions of dollars stashed out there. Thats the mistery out there. Hey, Whitey Bulger was a thug and a killer. The jury said that. Kevin cullen, thank you. George anastasia, thanks so much. When we return, let me finish with a regular rite of summer, a misguided one, criticizing the president for taking a vacation. Youre watching hardball. The place for politics. Help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. I can tell you safety is at the heart of everything we do. Weve added cuttingedge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a stateoftheart monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twentyfourseven. And were sharing what weve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. Our commitment has never been stronger. Glass on floors. Daily chores. For the little mishaps you feel use neosporin to help you heal. It kills germs so you heal four days faster. Neosporin. Use with bandaid brand bandages. Neosporin. Shes always been able its just her way. Day. But your erectile dysfunction that could be a question of blood flow. 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Ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30tablet free trial. Otherworldly things. But there are some things ive never seen before. This ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. Which is good for business. Because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. Suddenly, faraway places dont seem so. Far away. Let me finish tonight with this. The first family is on vacation in marthas vineyard. This is their fourth vacation trip to the island. They skipped last year in the midst of the 2012 campaign. The president , he hit the links with the press pool watching both yesterday and today. I notice that this morning drudge was leading with a story that talked about the arrival of bo, the family dog via an osprey helicopter, the number of hotel rooms needed for secret service, and the presence of a mesh bag filled with basketballs in the luggage. Criticizing a president s vacation, especially this president s vacation has become a rite of summer. To learn more of the facts, today i chatted with mark knoller. He is the White House Correspondent for cbs news, but he is more than that. He is the goto statistician for president ial behavior, and he often shares his data with colleagues, sometimes with the president s themselves. He maintains lists of literally everything the commander in chief does, from bill signings to pardons, vetoes, air force one flights, marine one trips and vacation destinations, even church attendance. You should follow him markknoller. Its a must. As for the numbers, since taking office, president obama has taken 14 vacation trips spanning all or part of 95 days. How does that compare . At the same point in his presidency, bill clinton had taken 11 vacation trips for 84 days. Ronald reagan made 29 visits to his ranch for 180 days. At the same point in office, president george w. Bush had made 50 visits to his texas ranch, totaling all or part of 323 days. Knoller said that he always puts the word vacation in quotes because as he often says, u. S. President s dont really get to take a vacation. The job comes with them 24 7. Well, im hoping president obama plays lots of golf in the next couple of days or shoots hoops or whatever else he needs to do to maintain his mental edge. I felt the same way about president george w. Bush, and i never begrudged him his time at the ranch. All told he was there during 490 days during his presidency. The health of the country is largely a function of the physical and Mental Health of its commander in chief. And if blowing off some steam