>> you know, with all due respect to mr. gingrich, no. >> just when you thought rick perry couldn't get any dumber, he screws up the third thing again. >> commerce, education and the -- what's the third one? >> the drum beat for romney to release his taxes is building. >> let's get it out there. >> huffington post's sam stein on the chaos in carolina. stephen colbert joke run is exposing the joke that citizens united. bernie sanders is here tonight. >> now that i have the super pac -- can i run as supporting stephen colbert? >> yes, you can as long as you do not coordinate. >> good to have you with us tonight, thanks for watching, republicans and democrats spent the week hammering mitt romney for his record at bain capital. today the obama campaign got in on the action and we'll have more on that coming up in the program. >>> i've said all week romney is going to have to come clean with the american people and talk about his record at bain. romney's campaign thinks this television ad is an adequate response. >> this is the b

i tell you what, mr. reich, it just seems to me mitt romney's releasing of the tax returns is the right place at the right time for a good political discussion in the country about fairness, what do you think? >> it's not just a political discussion, ed, it's an economic discussion, discussion whether we're on the same boat together as americans. look back in the 1950's under dwight eisenhower, republican president, nobody ever accused of being a socialist, the top tax rate was 91%. now you have mitt romney earning $20 million a year, more than anybody, how many people do you know who are earning $20 million a year, top one-tenth of 1% taking in more money than a percent age of total income since the late 1920's and he and most other very wealthy people are paying 15%. we have a budget deficit, we are laying off teachers, our roads are impassable. we don't have money to do what we need to do and here you have the wealthiest people in america getting off not doing their patriotic duty. it's morality. >> yo

be predwrrblsh and he can't have this conversation. >> when you went to interview mr. soptic about his experience and being outsourced, did you know about the situation with his wife, did you know about the situation of losing health care, or did he offer that up to you? >> he offered that up. we talked to a lot of folks around the country in places where they were effected by the layoffs. and you know, we sat down with them and just let them tell their stories. the truth is, a lot of it is sad. a lot of it is tragic. some of it we won't even use, to be honest, because it's so emotional and devastating. >> your response to the accusation by first of all, romney, saying it's inaccurate but that the ad should be pulled. >> well, i mean, i don't see why we would pull an ad that is fully accurate, that tells an important story. the impact that mitt romney had on a community. people lost their jobs, they lost their health care. the communities are still recovering in many cases. i think this is an important part of the discussion to be having. >> is this -- well, about that

romney? is she concerned about this at all? when you have the president of the united states call sandra fluke, when you have questions from the media to the president at the press conference about this, we'll get to that in a moment how can the republicans say he's an entertainer. that what is they're saying. >> you know what this reminds me of, there was a moment in the campaign trail when a woman was spouting off about obama's a muslim and john mccain bumbled his response but he at least had the courage to say you know what, ma'am, we disagree but he's a good man. what will happen when romney has the same chance when faced with the same moment, this is a similar moment and he failed the test. >> nina turner, how this is playing in ohio, big night last night, people paying attention to politics, will this run the female vote right in the democratic camp, what do you think? >> absolutely, ed, i have been hearing from women and also men across the state of ohio and actually the country who are absolutely outraged. everyone that

the romneys are trying hard to appeal to joe six pack. mitt's quoting davy crockett. mrs. romney says she doesn't feel rich. howard fineman and john nichols tell us all about super tuesday coming up. [ male announcer ] the draw of the past is a powerful thing. but we couldn't simply repeat history. we had to create it. introducing the 2013 lexus gs, with leading-edge safety technology, like available blind spot monitor... [ tires screech ] ...night view... and heads-up display. [ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. ugh, great. you may be going up, but those roots are bringing you down! try root touch-up by nice 'n easy. to extend the life of your color. nice 'n easy has 50% more shades, so you can find your seamless match. with root touch-up by nice 'n easy. yeah, you -- you know, everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ] i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three words, dad -- e-trade financial consultants. so i can just go talk to 'em? just walk right in and talk to 'em. dude, those guys are p

i've been trying to think what else could go wrong, go out and say he roots for mr. potter over george baily, bad banker over the good banker in "it's a wonderful life"? it's not just stuff has come out, it's romney's own responses just haven't been good, suggesting that $375,000 is not very much money, the way they've sort of tried to say well, yeah, sort of on the cayman islands, but he's not really taking any tax breaks. i think it's about his personality and how he thinks about this as much as any of the specific revelations. >> it just reminds me of the clinton/dole campaign back in 1996 and after bill clinton won, he beat bob dole, bob dole did some commercials and at the end said you know, i just can't win. in this case, it seems like mitt romney, you know, i just can't close. i mean, he just does not -- he's not the closer that he needs to be. jonathan alter, e.j. dionne, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen, share your thoughts on twitter. i want to know what you think. >>>

his speech was more like a cow pie of distortion. >> mr. romney has to rely on a cow pie of distortion because he can't rely on the truth. romney likes to say president obama has made the national debt larger than all other presidents combined. actually, the debt is up by about half under president obama. it tripled under ronald reagan. don't forget the majority of our current debt is from the bush tax cuts and unpaid wars in afghanistan and iraq. federal spending under president obama is growing at the slowest rate since the 1950s. mitt romney needed to distort president obama's record in iowa because romney seems to have problems when he tries to talk about his own policies in iowa. >> there are various ways of doing that. one is raise taxes on people. that's not the way -- corporations are people, my friend. we can raise taxes on. of course they are. everything corporations raise goes to people. where do you think it goes? people's pockets. >> there was also a time when a struggling iowa worker asked mitt romney how he could keep jobs in

that is what mr. out of touch thinks is not very much? no it's real good. the median household income in american is just $49,445. so you tell me, is he in touch? romney's speaking fees were more than seven times the median household income in this country? today, newt gingrich had fun with romney's tax rate. >> he ought to release taxes and find out whether or not it was really 15% and second, i think that we ought to rename our flat tax. we have a 15% flat tax, this will be the mitt romney flat tax that all americans could then pay the rate romney paid, that is terrific. >> let's turn to bob, professor at new york university great to have you with us tonight. romney and his 15% tax rate, you know, there are wealthy people out there that say hey, that is the law, we'll work the system the best we can, this is the way you manage your money in contemporary times, but the disconnect and then the comment about the $374,000 in speaker fees as not being very much, how is this going to play? this is what you want your candidate to do in front of the public in fro

these experiences give mr. romney the unique skills and capabilities to do what president obama has failed to do -- focus on job creation and turn around our nation's faltering economy." i'm joined tonight by dr. james sanderson, president of the united steel workers local union 7898 in georgetown south carolina. mr. sanderson, good to have you with us tonight. we keep hearing these stories about bain and mitt romney's involvement. what can you tell us about this? what happened here? what is the public in your opinion need to know? the first thing i'd like to say is good evening to everybody in the labor movement, the brothers and sisters that also understands the dilemma that we face here in south carolina. south carolina has over 10% unemployment right now, and we are very much in need of jobs. and to hear mitt romney running around this state, talking about that he's a job creator is very disturbing and is not true. he does, indeed, like to fire people, like you already said. we go back to 1997, whenever bai

. >> well, mr. burton, i said it's going to be saturday night in the alley with this debate coming up here this weekend. >> broken bottle and all. >> maybe so. where is santorum in this? i mean, could he make a serious run in the long haul? could he develop enough infrastructure fast enough and get enough people onboard if the money comes in to make a run and spoil this for mitt romney? a lot of people think he is the nominee. >> well, like you, i'm not a big santorum supporter. i will say, he did something smart last night. he had a chance to introduce himself to a much larger group of voters, he used that opportunity to say, look, i'm a blue collar guy, i come from a blue collar state and if you pick me as your nominee in places like michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, i can be a lot more competitive than the hedge fund guy. basically. >> no other republican talks like that. >> that's right. that's why i think south carolina is a great state for him because he can go in there with a message that's

mr. gingrich, mr. santorum, mr. romney, would have no interest whatsoever in considering that. there are employment implications. if you listen to john boehner he says 50,000 jobs will be created. cornell university did a study. they think a total of between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs. the fantasy that newt gingrich beautifully uses that term is theirs and not this president. >> alan west attacked the president on facebook. he said it took $70 to fill the tank of my 2008 h3 hummer. what does it cost you and what does it cost the president to fill his gas tank? richard, what's wrong with this statement? >> the guy should get a smaller car. something more efficient and up to date. there are a number of options out there. but his bigger problem is his party's problem, right? this is a party that says we understand the private sector. we understand business. this president is clueless. we could be producing any amount of gasoline and crude oil in this country and it would not affect the price of crude oil around the world. it is so much of a bigger market. saudi arabia has more direct im

mr. romney claims that he's mr. fix it for the economy because of his business experience. and so i think voters entirely legitimately want to know, well, what exactly was that business experience. >> for the american people, it comes down to what? responsibility. mitt romney cannot adequately explain his involvement with bain capital between the years 1999 and 2002. the latest line is romney retired retroactively. >> he actually retired retroactively at that point because he ended up not going back to the firm after his time in salt lake city. he was retired from bain. >> just in case you thought ed gillespie made a mistake, he repeated it on cnn. >> he took a leave of absence and ended up not going back at all and retired retroactively. gr did romney give back the salary he made between 1999 and 2002 when he retired retroactively? look here, folks, here's the bottom line, the s.e.c. filings shows romney made at least dlr $100,000 a year as he was allegedly doing nothing at the ceo of bain. maybe he should have followed the lead of his father, he stepped down of the americ

that, mr. romney? i have to ask you that tonight. as we go from georgia down to florida, newt gingrich is carrying baggage with him but that doesn't matter, this guy has all the confidence in the world right now. he wins south carolina, he's leading in florida, and the pro-gingrich super pac wrote him another $5 million check, that is coming from adelson family. gingrich you know what he's looking like? like a winner right now. the way he talks, the way he walks, the way he acts. confidence is pouring off newt gingrich right now. on top of that he's making romney look pretty weak. >> i have been told by a variety of people that governor romney has been saying unkind things. i prefer personally not to believe it. but on the other hand, if you have been campaigning for six years and you begin to see it slip away, you get desperate. such baloney. used to be pious baloney now it's desperate baloney, that is the success se shun of the ca campai campaign. >> why is newt gingrich connecting with these

romney could only say those weren't the words he would have chosen. mr. romney, you are not going to be the candidate we choose. because if mr. romney can't stand up to extreme voices in his own party, then we know he will never stand up for us. >> let's bring in sandra who is an attorney and women's rights activist who hit the trail earlier today with president obama. nice to have you with us tonight. you are in the mix of it right now. no doubt. the director of colorado's future project, a conservative group said president obama's approach to women voters is insulting and called your presence a side show. what's your reaction to that? >> that's completely incorrect. president obama was in colorado today and i was there to try to talk to the women of colorado about the important choice that we have in this election. a choice between a president who helped to move us forward on women's access to preventive care and health care and making sure it's affordable to all of us versus a candidate who promised to take us backwards and kill obama care and defund p

. >> well, it just wasn't surrogates, mr. mccain. that is what john mccain told "the new york times" about mitt romney back in 2008. as head of his investment company, he presided over the acquisition of companies that laid off thousands of workers. pretty good surrogate work there, senator. mccain is singing a different tune about bain capital today. >> to go after him on really what is the essence of what we republicans believe in about economy, i think is a serious mistake. and, frankly, i think it's the last resort of a very desperate campaign. >> but that's not what you said in 2008. mccain says romney's tenure at bain capital is the essence of what the republican party is all about? here's the essence, john mccain is defending. robbing 45rd working americans of their pensions and putting the excess dealt on the back of the united states taxpayer. in 1993 bain capital became the majority shareholder of a kansas city steel mill, according to reuters, the mill was pad locked and some 750 people lost their jobs. workers were denied

. >> if he wants to defund planned parenthood, mr. romney and mrs. romney should give back the money they contributed to planned parenthood in 1994. the hypocracy shows how weakest. he's running disgrace fully, pandering to everything that moves because he will say anything to get elected. >> here he is, another infamous comment yesterday about women's health care. here it is. >> of course you get rid of obamacare, that is the easy one. planned parenthood we'll get rid of that. >> he previously attended a planned parenthood fund-raiser and sought the endorsement when he was running for governor in massachusetts. this is as big a flip-flop as you can find in his entire repertoire. >> also a flip-flop for the republican party this, is not new to many listeners. think about the fact richard nixon and george bush father helped found title x, the family planning program which mitt romney wants to roll back. this is not a women's issue, ed. you know what it is? it's an issue for families in the country. any partner, any man who has a partner or spouse or d

people won't like being ruled by mr. 1%. >> romney has said some things that are just amazing to me. he's never thought about getting a pink slip before. of course he gave a fistful of cash to unemployed woman attending a rally. joy-ann, your response to that? >> a guy born on third base and thinks he hit a triple. he has never experienced insecurity and trying to relate to people is not his strength. even today when he tries to give this woman, african american woman in south carolina, $50 it came across at least to me like some old guy from the 20s throwing a nickel and tusseling their hair. it didn't come across as genuine compassion. i don't know it was an empty gesture made her look bad, like she was needy. >> if he wanted to do something to help this woman he could have a tax plan and economic plan that wouldn't in all likelihood raise her taxes to fund another tax cut for him and his peers. that is why this comes across as continue in gener disingenuous. you have a plan that goes to the pocketbook of lower and middle income folks, that will be a major issue for him. >> joan wa

romney to do anything? not ask us to do a single dime's worth of sacrifice? >> the obama campaign rubbed salt in the wound by releasing this ad today linking romney's tax returns to his 47% comments. >> mitt romney attacked 47% of americans who pay no income tax including veterans, elderly, the disabled. >> my job is not to worry about those people. >> doesn't the president have to worry about everyone? mitt romney paid just 14.1% in taxes last year. he keeps millions in bermuda and the cayman islands. he won't release his tax returns before 2010. maybe instead of attacking others on taxes, romney should come clean on his. >> what's going to happen? the american people are going to render judgment on mitt romney based on whether they think he would be a fair-minded leader. romney is making a pitch to the american people by saying that he is fair. but his tax returns and the tax policy he believes in tell a totally different story. this might be a reason why so many people have trouble connecting with mitt romney. >> polls consistently show you trailing and yo

let's talk about, if we can, the gentleman you just mentioned, mr. muskey versus mitt romney. mitt romney, is it in his character to be a political attack dog? i mean, it seems to me that newt gingrich has got mitt romney out of his wheel house right now. >> he will do it -- i will say this about mitt romney. muskey was a thoughtful, creative man. i didn't mean to compare him with romney. romney does have a great advantage in this race. he is totally unenkcumbered by any political principle. if do you that to an extreme, it becomes a disadvantage. i think the answer is romney will do anything to be angry with gingrich. romney has made money for 20 years and running for the president for 20 years. a very wise old school president in massachusetts. he said, look, when some people when they become governor of a state they get potomac fever. romney had potomac virus. he will try, and i don't think he'll be very good at it, but he will try. >> i have the contract newt gingrich had with freddie mac. i quickly read through it before the program tonight. it really is favorable to ging

. >> mr. romney, you were not for the loan, you know you weren't. mitt romney can't hide from his past. he killed jobs as a corporate ceo, he wanted president obama to kill jobs in the automobile industry and his policies will kill jobs if he's the president of the united states. his opponents are figuring it out, that is why they are going after him. not because they think he might get the nomination. this guy has a chance to destroy the republican party based on his business model. we're in a country that is trying to create jobs. he has a record of butchering labor. i must say all of the republican candidates don't have a good word to say about labor at all. santorum said president obama didn't save the automobile industry, he saved the unions. really? tell the other side of the story, mr. santorum. talk to the unions about how they took a haircut and came back with a reduced package to keep that industry alive and saved millions of jobs. get cell phones out. the question will more americans receive pink slips if mitt romney becomes president. a

mr. romney is getting attacked by his enemies and his friends aren't helping. newt gingrich says he will release his own tax returns tomorrow and says that romney should do the same. >> we can confirm. me be clear. the 21st century has an optional 15 kris flat rate for every american. michael. >> my goal is not to raise the mid rummy's taxes but to let him pay his rate. i will not criticize ronny but say that shouldn't we all have the option of the flat tax at the same time. >> he stand to gain a lot from his own tax policies. citizens for tax justice brought down the tax proposals. under the president's plan, romney would be taxed at 24%. under his own plan he would be taxed at less than 15%. his new friend, chris christy, tried to run interference for him this morning. he may have done more damage. >> the way i have conducted myself all along is i have released all of my tax returns and did it during the campaign. i released them every year after i filed them, right after i filed them so they could see everything. that is what i would tell governor romney to

santorum, who is from them, or romney, who is desperately seeking enthusiasm?" well put, mr. will, and on target i think. the santorum surge is really very real. very real when it comes to social conservatives. if he has any problem drawing a contrast between himself and mitt romney, he should take this john mccain ad from four years ago out and play it over and over again and attach his name to it. ♪ >> i believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard. >> i am pro life and favor that legislation. >> you will not see me wavering on that or be a multiple choice, thank you very much. >> you can go back to youtube and look at what you i said in 1994. i never said i was pro choice. but my position was effectively pro choice. i said that time and time again. >> there is no doubt new hampshire is in an uphill battle for santorum. in the latest new hampshire poll he has moved into third place behind romney and ron paul but still at just 8% but h

the romneys are trying hard to appeal to joe six pack. mitt's quoting davy crockett. mrs. romney says she doesn't feel rich. howard fineman and john nichols tell us all about super tuesday what makes the sleep number store different? the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. it's hugging my body. it works in a minute. i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. sale ends soon. only at the sleep number stores. where queen mattresses start at just $699. >>> ed show survey tonight i asked you would you listen to a radio station that continues to carry the rush limbaugh show? 6% said yes, 94% said no. >>> coming up howard fineman and john nichols preview super tuesday and if mitt romney has the momentum for a big win. does he? stay tuned. >>> please welcome mitt and ann romne

czar has drawn with mr. romney is on family values issues. things like abortion, even in rick santorum's case he's campaigned against contraception and things like that. if that's the sharpest contrast he can draw between himself and mitt romney is there fertile ground for that among new hampshire voters. >> well, actually, no, because but i do think another thing he's done, he's the only candidate that said we got to revitalize the manufacturing base. you know, he's a little bit -- he almost is talking about having government help get involved to revitalize the manufacturing sector. and that is something that can resonate there. remember, new hampshire has this conservative populist streak that was able to launch pat buchanan back in '96 so there is -- i do think there is an economic populism aspect to rick santorum in his message on the manufacturing -- trying to revitalize the manufacturing sector that could connect there. i think if he runs a campaign only on social issues, he wouldn't be able to i think go toe to toe with romney but you

mr. romney is ahead of mr. santorum there, and again, this race has not been called. more than 90% of the vote in and it is not called. nbc's ron mott is with us, and we have a report that the santorum campaign is moving on to intimating that newt gingrich should get out of the race to clear the way for rick santorum to actually calling on the party activists and tea party supporters and others to speak to that issue on the santorum campaign or does that seem right to you? >> well, hey, there, rachel. maybe a little divide in the santorum campaign, because the national spokesperson said they are not going to ask newt gingrich to get out of the race, but a senior strategist is saying that they will ask that of the conservative tea party voters is to persuade newt gingrich to give up the bid. if you look at the scorecard, rick santorum with victories tonight has seven primary caucus and victories to newt gingrich's two, so they want to make the case that he is the conservative choice in the race. the spokesperson is saying that if newt gingrich did in fact drop out of t

the romneys are trying hard to appeal to joe six pack. mitt's quoting davy crockett. mrs. romney says she doesn't feel rich. howard fineman and john nichols tell us all about super tuesday, coming up. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business... protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. than leading regular juice drinks. because less sugar is a better way to fly. ♪ just not literally. capri sun. respect what's in the pouch. not anymore. fiber one is bringing brownies back. at 90 calories, you can have brownies again. ♪ fiber one 90 calorie brownies. in the granola bar aisle. >>> ed show survey i asked would you listen to a radio station that continues to carry the rush limbaugh show? 6% said yes, 94% said no. >>> coming up, howard fineman and john nichols preview super tuesday. if mitt romney has the momentum for a big win. does he? stay tuned. but your erectile dysfunction -- that could be a que

romney, you're not going to be the candidate we choose. because if mr. romney can't stand up to extreme voices in his own party, then we know he'll never stand up for us. >> let's bring in sandra tonight, attorney and women's rights activists who hit the campaign trailier today with president obama. sandra, nice to have you with us tonight. you're in the mix of it no doubt. krista cafer, director of a conservative group, says president obama's approach to women's rights is instults and what is your thought about that? >> that is complete plea incorrect. i was trying to talk to the women of colorado about the important choice that we have in this election, an approach that has moved us forward on women's access to preventative care and health care and making sure it's affordable for all of us, versus a candidate who has absolutely promised to take us backward, to and that's why we were there, to make sure that it was clear that this affordable care act has economic consequences for women and is so vital to both our health security and economic security as

and i want to go right to the money here with mitt romney. will mitt romney's failure to disclose financial information, is this a real potential problem? and i ask this under two laws that have been passed. one of them, the ethics and government act, and also, the false statements accountability act, which really goes at people if they do not fully disclose. what about all this? >> well, ed, thank you for having me. and i wouldn't pretend to be a legal expert on this matter, but, certainly, if there is a discrepancy between the tax returns and the financial disclosure forms, that would certainly pose a very serious question. both a legal question and also, most undoubtedly, a political question in terms of why was this the discrepancy presented the way it was, and was something being hidden for some reason? >> how quickly do you think the romney camp has to clean this up? >> well, assuming that there is some kind of discrepancy, first we have to learn for sure if there is, then i would imagine very quickly, because you would not want, if you

in virginia, mitt romney won a two-man race over ron paul, mr. gingrich and mr. santorum were not on the ballot in virginia. in vermont, mitt romney is the projected winner of the vermont republican primary. and i should tell you the caucuses are underway in north dakota. we have no characterization from north dakota, we don't expect one for some time. here is where the race stands right now. mitt romney's win in massachusetts is his tenth victory of the campaign. you can see his wins marked in green. mr. santorums in purple, mr. gingrich's in orange. those are the states that mitt romney has won, massachusetts, vermont, virginia, washington state, arizona, michigan, maine, nevada, florida and new hampshire. chris, too close to call right now in tennessee, too close to call right now in oklahoma. >> those are two states -- >> too early. >> it will keep him in the race if santorum wins. if he can't win in ohio he can't win the nomination but he can stay in it. >> a close race in ohio is not enough to keep rick santorum viable? >> it's close in ohio i'm guessing he