mccain had rejected it. but who knows what would have happened if the financial crisis -- chris: when would they have used it? >> i think you would have seen mccain under pressure to use it if the race were close. but in the end, because the financial crisis happened, they concluded independently -- mccain had a issue of principle. the compane also completely concluded that -- the campaign also completely concluded that the ad wouldn't have worked and seen ridiculous in the context of the global financial crisis melting down. chris: and what about the same guy pushing it in the movie? >> a hobby horse on this issue. and to clarence's point, good at getting rich campaigns to write big checks to run colorful attention-getting ads and that would be -- chris: it sinds me -- -- reminds me, i want to say something about fred davis. he's very successful ad producer. but on this particular issue, ricketts saw the mccain ad. and he loved it. he's quoted in "the new york times" as saying if that ad had run, they never

. >> john mccain's lead media strategist. john mccain nixed the idea. >> this is not a winning idea. >> fear mongering. >> it's insulting. >> it is nasty. >> this is hate porn. >> gutter politics. >> how does mitt romney respond to this? >> haven't seen the papers this morning. >> it's a lack of courage on the part of mitt romney. >> it takes attention away from the key issues. >> i'm not familiar with exactly what i said but i stand by what i said, whatever it was. >> overall this is terrible for our democracy. >> whatever it was. whatever it was. >> we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems. >> i stand by what i said. >> either black, white, latino, asian. >> whatever it was. >> but rather problems that confront us all. >>> the day begun with the revelation of a plan of attack against president obama that republicans began to disown quickly and mitt romney demonstrating his usual followship instead of leadership took his position only when it became absolutely clear he had no other choice. on the campai

john mccain ran for president of the united states. john mccain won his party's nomination. it was his call. john mccain said absolutely not under no circumstances do i want to inject the poison of race into this campaign. it was the right thing for john mccain to do. this was the right thing politically for john mccain to do. most people understand it was john mccain's right to make the decision and got in line with it. >> and yet many on the right say he might not have lost that election if he had used jeremiah wright. >> yeah, well that's dumb. and here's why. everybody had an opinion about jeremiah wright. there were no persuadable voters. the purpose of television advertising is to persuade people that are persuadable. there are for sure millions of americans who saw the reverend wright tapes and thought it disqualified president obama from being president. there are millions more who heard president obama's speech after all this became public. and that satisfied the issue. the point was, everybody knew who jeremiah wright was. everybody had an opinion on jeremiah wrigh

john mccain tells us he thinks president obama has been improperly bragging about the killing of osama bin laden. this comes after learning the it latest bomber was a cia informant. he made a direct reference to the president there. jay korff spoke with the center. -- center. >> john mccain was an event to support a fellow pow who recited in north vietnam during the vietnam war. he was there about leadership, something he thinks president obama is lacking. john mccain criticized barack obama's lack of leadership tuesday night, specifically how he has talked about the killing of osama bin laden. >> he rose to number rag. his continuous bragging about taking out osama bin laden, most guys i know would say, let somebody else talk about that. >> will learn new insight into the foiled plot to blow up a jet. tuesday night we learned the cia was able to infiltrates al qaeda in yemen and get somebody on the inside. >> it is quite -- to pass herself off as a terrorist to the terrorists when you are working for the u.s. or allied intelligence agency. >> the spy secured a bomb and flipped it out

principally the things conservatives don't like about mccain are the mccain/feingold bill, which they feel really trampled on the first amendment, and his stand on immigration. and there are some other things, too. but those are big public issues, which he took i leadership position on and thought he was wrong. so how can we trust him to do what we think he should do. by the same token, 80% conservative voting record in the senate, surrounded himself with people like jack kemp, frank keating, sam brownback, ted olson, a whole number of other people who are very staunchly conservative people. so where do you go? if people get down to the election and they say, do i want john mccain picking the next three or four supreme court justices? or shall we leave it up to hillary clinton or barack obama, my guess is they'll largely say john mccain. >> are you going to sit this one out? >> no. i'm not really a political -- i'm not involved in everyday politics. but i don't think i'll sit it out. >> and finally, as a conservative, would you rather run against hillary clinton or barack obama? >> th

john mccain had no plan, no strategy. i don't think he understood what was happening, or didn't have a plan for what he wanted to accomplish. >> president bush whispered to nancy pelosi, who was sitting next to him, when mccain was talking, he said, "you guys are going to miss me." d she kindf lahed. >> t meeting ends up breaking up into a cacophony of shouting and screaming back and forth. and bush stands up and says, "well, i've clearly lost control of this meeting," and he walks out. >> and another republican at the table joked to the person sitting next to him, "after this, even we're going to vote for obama." that was the level of obama's dominance in this meeting. >> it becos thturning point, because mccain started this. he suspended his campaign. obama did not suspend his campaign. mccain promised some sort of dramatic action. he sent mixed signals, and did not seem to have the authority that a commander in chief should have. and i don't think he ever really quite recovered from that. >> narrator: it would take ano

it wasn't all that long ago mccain/bush/kennedy had a path to citizenship. or would that be flip-flop, flip-flop. >> i think romney has quite a bit of room to move to the center. i think the base of the republican party in the primaries. they are not willing to tolerate a whole lot of descend. they didn't like a lot of his positions. he moved far to the right on immigration. the conservatives are willing to look past some of the moves he will have to make to the middle. it is more after a character issue. with independent voters. he can hit the president and say, hey, you had four years, where is the immigration reform bill? you never passed it. >> he is so locked in. >> we will see if he gets hfrom >> barack obama is locked in to what he said four years ago. he is going to go in front of naleo, he told that audience and many other latino audiences, i will do immigration reform in my first year. he had the chance. he didn't. >> people will have to understand. >> there is disappointment. no question about that. they also jupd stunderstand he . he made calls t

do you remember when george stephanopoulos at abc asked john mccain about gay adoption? do you remember this moment in 2008? and all of a sudden it was like john mccain was high or something, or he was channeling miss teen south carolina? it was such a strange moment. do you remember that? >> on gay adoption, you told "the new york times" you were against it, even in cases where the children couldn't find another home. but then your staff backtracked a bit. what is your position request? >> my position is it's not the reason why i'm running for president of the united states and i think -- and i think that two-parent families are best for america. >> what do you mean by that, it's not the reason you're running for president of the united states? >> well, i think it's important for us to instill family values, but i think it's very important that we understand we have other challenges too. i'm running for president of the united states because i want to help with family values. and i think that family values are important when we have two-parent families that are parents

does mccain have a point? if anyone knows war it's mccain who has seen battle firsthand and brings up an interesting point one we read about in "the washington post" this morning. for the first time in modern history, neither man running for president has any military experience. it made us wonder if that really matters any more. it doesn't guarantee a win. after all, mr. obama beat mr. mccain in 2008. yet some of our most successful presidents have had military experience. among them, george washington, jfk, dwight eisenhower, and ronald reagan. the talkback question for you this morning is military service necessary to be a good president? facebook.com/carol/cnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and

mccain proposes an amendment numbered 2107. mr. mccain: i ask unanimous consent that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, this is not a new issue. this has been before this body on cephalo indications, and i want to assure my -- this has been before this body on several occasions, and i want to ensure my friends that if the lobbyists for the pharmaceutical companies in this town are able to block this, we will be revisiting this issue. this is an issue of fundamental fairness and decency and giving americans the opportunity to have access to the very important medication that in many cases is lifesaving. it has been blocked by one of the most powerful lobbies in washington, the pharmaceutical companies. for year, alon years, along witr senators, including the current occupant of the white house, the president of the united states when he was a senator supported this amendment. i'd like to see the administration weigh in and take the same position that then-senator o

he had 5 million fewer republicans -- >> mccain did. >> mccain, excuse me. he had 5 million fewer republicans turn out to vote and he also had 3 million fewer veterans. that was one of the interesting things to me. lowest number of veterans to vote in a modern presidential election, percentage turnout among veterans with clearly an authentic war hero. >> but romney's -- or the republican national committee's hispanic liaison yesterday said i think if i was quoted accurately said candidate romney, governor romney does not yet know what his immigration policy is. >> look, he's got a problem on this issue and he's got a problem with this voter group, but having said that he's also got a big advantage. stake a look at the attitudes inside the latino community. here's the issue of jobs in the economy. here's the issue of immigration. so he does need to get better on immigration, but he needs to really drive home the economic issues, which gets back to the boldness. we're talking about electoral college. let me come at it from a slyly different way. first of all,

john mccain will ultimately win if we don't get bin laden. there's no narrative for us to leave afghanistan unless bin laden is shut down and captured or killed. >> once we get him, we know how we will leave. that seemed the closing clause of that sentence. steve clemons. thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> nobel prize winning economist is here for the interview. that's still ahead. stay with us. ♪ surf's up everybody get your boards and your wetsuits ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com's gonna direct you ♪ ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪ ♪ patching your board with duct tape ♪ ♪ so hit free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ find out what credit's about ♪ ♪ or else you could be headed for a credit wipeout ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you wanted a firm bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualiz

we must succeed in this conflict." >> i think mccain was right when he said that. presidential parties lose wars, ask lbj. and the most important factor here whole countries loses wars, too. we are dealing with the first president bush with vietnam syndrome for a very long time now. i think that the legacy vietnam is something hanging over now two generations of americans. one of my personal peeves about it is we are hearing about how the cold war -- charles wrote a column on this, exactly 20 years ago in 1993 on cold wars in stall ja. war nostalgia. we hear that in the control war the country was united. anyone who looks at the foreign policy back then knows that is not true. you look at the past through rose colored glasses. in some way, a huge victory today. president obama saying i'm sorry. i'm apologizing. an interested to see what the left says about his remarks. >> can democracy carry out active war policy if it lacks support of the population? >> it can't. i wish the democrats were antiwar. but i don't think it's worn out. whether it's lyndon johnson or the

he said in part, senator mccain is very proud of the campaign. he ran in 2008. he stands by the decision he made during that race and would make them again today if he had to do it over again. part of this plan, according to the new york times is to do what john mccain was unwilling to do. which was bring up the jeremiah wright issue and some of these things outlined in this 49-page report. >> according to the times this morning, mccain is like a doddering old fool who didn't have in his stomach to do what needed doing. all you need to look at the cover. barack hussein obama. it reminds me of a town hall scenario where senator mccain was taking a question from a woman who started talking about the woman. this is seeking to tap into that mindset. that's not how you win independents. that might be how you rally a hard core base but not how you win an election. >> ma leak a henderson is trafk with the romney campaign. what have you heard today in response to this explosive new york time report? >> reporter: well, unusually, this morning when the report came out, ro

john mccain will ultimately win if we don't get bin laden. there's no narrative for us to leave afghanistan unless bin laden is shut down and captured or killed. >> once we get him, we know how we will leave. that seemed the closing clause of that sentence. steve clemons. thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> nobel prize winning economyist is here for the interview. that's still ahead. stay with us. [ male announcer ] whoa, megan landry alert. and she's looking directly at your new lumia, thank you at&t. first, why don't you show her the curved edge... now move on to the slick navigation tiles -- bam, right into the people hub. see megan, colin has lots of friends. hey, colin, what kind of phone is that? whaaa -- oh megan -- when did you get here? [ clears throat ] ohh yea no, let's... [ male announcer ] introducing the beautifully different nokia lumia 900. only from at&t. rethink possible. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you and your money deserve. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, that means taking a close look at

yesterday, john mccain was at a memorial event. mitt romney like president barack obama never served but he said as president he would make sure america has a strong deagainst. >> we would make sure we can prevent war because a strong america is the best deterrent to war. >> mitt romney went on to say it is important to have a strong military because the war is not safe. now also at that memorial day, john mccain did not hold back with a protesters who was then escorted out of the event. [applauds] [applauds] >> jerk [applauds] >> well, the audience cheered john mccain's respond and the senator resumed his speech. >>> we are hearing about a plane crash in the idaho mountains. his wife and 26-year-old daughter came through on sunday afternoon but that's after the family spent the night on a snow covered mountain side. the plane stalled in stormy weather, a cell phone was crucial, first when they flagged down a rescue operator... >> when you are turning it into a strobe light they said when the helicopters fly over we should have tho

for any politician faced with having their john mccain home. whether you like john mccain or not. that was a big moment for him. >> here's what i think it would be a big moment. if maybe we would ask the question, what is this current administration doing that has presented or has created people that have the sort of frustration and anxious that the people in the two clips that you just played are demonstrating. are they all insane? are they all crazy? maybe it is because regardless of whether we all approve of the way they're saying it maybe it is because we're seeing a reconstruction of the american system what used to be called right is now called wrong. what used to be called wrong is now called rit. profit is criticized. where achievement is downgrade asked maybe people are feeling like, you know, the america that i grew up thinking we were, that's being betrayed. maybe we ought to ask what is going on in this country right now that leads people to come to these conclusions. >> people don't know but we consider each other friends. michael, i hate to bring you in our personal

i wanted to know from the mccain campaign -- mccain's senate office, but mccain having been used in an obama ad as the good senator who rejected this kind of politics four years ago, i wanted to know if mccain had anything to say about what was going on in las vegas today. silence. so i think the silence from both romney camp and mccain camp means the following. they're willing to let donald trump root around in this and say whatever he wants to bring this topic up or keep the topic alive for those voters who are going to care about it. and they exist. they still exist in places around the country and in swing states like virginia, like north carolina, like southern ohio and so forth. i know those people, i went to the early tea party rallies in 2009 in my second home state of kentucky, and for some of those people, this still matters. that's who donald trump is speaking to. sir romney will take the money and keep his distance from trump. don't forget, the last time mitt romney said that barack obama was born in the united states, the last time mitt romney said that in public was april

john mccain will ultimately win if we don't get bin laden. there's no narrative for us to leave afghanistan unless bin laden is shut down and captured or killed. >> once we get him, we know how we will leave. that seemed the closing clause of that sentence. steve clemons. thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> nobel prize winning economist is here for the interview. that's still ahead. stay with us. dad, you are not meeting him looking like that. i look fine. just a little trouble with a bargain brand cooking spray. i told you like a gajillion times to use pam. it's 70% better than that bargain stuff. see? look i gotta go. pam helps you like pull it off. how math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me. we built a guitar, we did things with electronics and mother boards. that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that p

john mccain called it a good thing. here's what senator mccain said to dana bash. >> what do you think about the president's surprise secretive trip to afghanistan? >> i think it's a good thing. i think it's always good when the president goes to where young men and women are in harm's way. and i think that many of us who have been involved in afghanistan are very supportive of the strategic partnership agreement which i'm sure he'll be talking about. and we think the agreement is good. we obviously would like to know the details. >> now, senator, you have been very outspoken, very critical of what the president did recently politically with an ad boasting about getting osama bin laden and hitting mitt romney for it. do you think this trip is also part of his political campaign? >> no, i can't accuse the president of that. a lot of people both here in congress including senator lindsay graham and lieberman worked on the strategic partnership agreement. it's important we send the message to friends and enemies alike that

. >>> and john mccain weighs in on the romney campaign's latest self-inflicted controversy. he [♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock, the only identity theft protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock: relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. >>> tonight as part of our continuing look at the major dividing lines of campaign 2012 we grade president obama on an issue also a major challenge for mitt romney health care. let's first look at the president's major health care promises, one was to deliver near universal access to health care. another was to close an expensive prescription drug coverage gap medicare recipients know as the doughnut hole and another major promise from the president told most families, especially middle class they'd see their health care costs go down. >> and if you already have health insurance, we will lower y

we know john mccain nixed the idea. i think this was fred davis' way of trying to get it back in the mainstream again. >> and you can get something into the mainstream in the media without running it by just having this kind of thing come out. apparently it was supposed to come out shortly before the convention or around the time of the convention where it might have been difficult for the obama team to rebut it. interestingly, john mccain's spokesperson put out a statement saying senator mccain is very proud of the campaign he ran in 2 2008. he stands by the decisions and would make them again today if he had to the do over. it's clear from game change and the reporting from the campaign that mccain rejected attempts to inject race into this. >> andrea, i think the other thing, i did talk to some people who say look, maybe four years ago this might have worked as a political tactic in that barack obama was significantly less well known. he was introduced to the american public four years ago and maybe some of the rever

here to tackle all that is senator john mccain. and senator, become back to "fox news sunday." >> thanks for having me on, especially on memorial day. >> there has been as you well know another ms. query i massan syria. government forces killed more than 90 people including more than 30 children. you can see the bodies just stacked up like cordwood here. and the white house apparent desided to start vetting some of the rebels and perhaps to let other arab countries arm them. is that enough? >> of course, not. and it is only about a year too late. this is a shameful episode in american history. it began back in 2009 when we refused -- when the president of the united states refused to speak up on behalf of the demonstrators in the treats of tehran and gone from one episode to another. here over a year and now talking about possibly vetting some people. look, nearly 10,000 people have died. this is a brutal regime of incredible proportions and by the way, if bashar asaad failed it it would be the greatest flow to iran in the last 25