>> cenk: mitt romney bleeding from the ear. >> the what did the one republican who had 23 years of mitt romney's tax returns do in 2008? >> governor sarah palin of the great state of alaska. >> he chose sarah palin. >> cenk: the president will not relent. he keeps counting mitt romney. here is the conversation we're going to have tonight. might it get so bad that they pull mitt romney as a candidate before the convention? is it possible? we will discuss that in just a little bit. and then later in the program well, anthony weiner, a bit of a scandal. but can he make a comeback? >> newly-released photos from

tmz.com show anthony weiner taking pictures of himself in various stages of undress. >> cenk: now how long do you have to stay in political purgatory after a scandal like that? is it time for redemption? we'll talk about that as well. are you ready for this? you want to see the guy who might be funding george zimmerman's defense? >> i was contacted by an individual that we, in fact, believe was george zimmerman. he reached out to me. we spoke on the phone about his case and i agreed not to report on the contents of that conversation. >> cenk: a story that sean hannity might be involved in that defense. we'll have them on the program later. don't miss that. it is go time! >> cenk: now, ron paul is saying release your tax returns mitt romney. rick perry saying release your

tax returns. the national review saying release your tax returns! everybody is piling on mitt romney. he's in a world of trouble. is this when the president relents? no. this is what he piles on. here is a whole new ad attacking mitt romney. >> i'm barack obama and i approve this message. >> tax havens, offshore accounts, carried interest. mitt romney has used every trick in the book. romney admits that over the last two years he's paid less than 15% in taxes on $43 million in income. makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all. we don't know because romney has released just one full year of his tax returns and won't release anything before 2010. >> you know what? i've put out as much as we're going to put out. >> what is mitt romney hiding? >> cenk: body blow! here comes the head shot. dnc with another ad at the same time. but only quoting republicans. this is awesome. >> here's what he should do. he should release the tax

returns tomorrow. you have to release six eight ten years of back tax returns. >> release the tax returns. >> i was asked that question. do you think that governor romney should release his tax returns. i said i do. >> what did the run one republican who had 23 years of mitt romney's tax returns do in 2008? >> governor sarah palin of the great state of alaska. >> he chose sarah palin. what does john mccain know that the american people don't? >> cenk: there are elbows flying everywhere! this guy is in a lot of trouble but luckily there's aaron burnett. he comes to the defense of people from wall street and bain capital. she's a favorite of the establishment. obviously she's going to back mitt romney, right? wrong! look at erin burnett. >> mitt romney is running on his business expertise. his tax returns are a relevant window into how he conducts his

business affairs. if he refuses to release them, it is because one he had a lot more money in tax shelters in prior years than he does now. two, he did something shady or three, he's stupid. >> cenk: damn! how could you do this to romney? robot on robot crime. so now that this has happened, he's reeling. his whole campaign is reeling. they send out john sununu to go on the attack. but boy does he step over the line. watch. >> this guy doesn't understand how to create jobs. so there's no surprise. it should be because of that statement, no surprise on why he failed so miserably over the last four years in terms of job creation. he has no idea how the american system functions and we shouldn't be surprised about that. because he spent his early years in hawaii smoking something

spent the next set of years in indonesia and another set of years in indonesia and frankly when he came to the u.s., he worked as a community organizer which is a socialized structure and then got into politics in chicago. >> cenk: oh, man. here comes the meltdown. so now they're going dirty. they're going below the belt but it seems desperate at this point bringing in indonesia and hawaii. i know that's very foreign. they still haven't gotten the memo they're part of the united states of america. and then he smoked pot. he throws that in there. he's throwing the kitchen sink at him. he doesn't understand how this country works. strong language. well it got more strong because he was on a conference call with reporters and instead of bringing out these different talking points. he said the president was dumb and stupid. getting warmed up. then he goes to comes from a corrupt political culture then he brings back tony rezco who

had gotten in trouble before. corrupt politics in chicago connected to obama. okay all standard line of attack, pretty shallow stuff. no evidence, nothing. just throwing out insults right? well, he took it one step further because we're in meltdown mode. reactor number six here. they're in a lot of trouble. so then he says this. i wish this president would learn how to be an american. okay. now you've gone way too far! that's the president of the united states of america that you're talking about! so back the hell up. now this is way way too far. so then the obama campaign jumps on it. here's what they say. the romney campaign has officially gone off the deep end. the question is what else they'll pull to avoid answering serious questions about romney's tenure at bain capital and of investments in foreign tax havens and offshore accounts.

they continue this meltdown and over the top rhetoric won't make things better. it only causes tension to how desperate they are to change the conversation. all of this is true. i want to point you to something they said in the middle there. look, mitt romney is the one that owns a foreign corporation. headquartered in bermuda. mitt romney is the one that has his bank accounts in cayman islands, bermuda switzerland luxembourg in different countries, not the united states of america. but they call president obama un-american saying he doesn't know how to be an american. gee, i wonder why they do that. of course we all know, he's different. he looks different. come on, he doesn't look like us. it is so obvious. but sununu realized he stepped in it. he's going to try to backpedal here. he says what i thought i said but i guess i didn't say is that the president has to learn the american formula for creating business. the american formula is creating business is not to have the government create business.

yeah yeah. nice try. by the way apparently the formula that mitt romney is for creating business is firing everybody or shipping their jobs to china or india. so i don't think that's really the american brand of business. and so they are melting down in that regard obviously and that leads to the question of look, if they're in this bad of shape and they have this many republicans calling for his head, is it possible we get to a point where they say hey you know what? this guy ain't gonna make it. in order to have a conversation that big that epic, who would you have to bring in? >> cenk: all right. apparently we have to bring in epic politics man. look michael there's been no indication, i want to make it clear to the audience, it is not like we've got some secret evidence that all of a sudden they're going to pull the

delegates, et cetera. but if it were going to happen, if it got so bad that this meltdown is thermal nuclear is there a way that they could go to a different candidate? >> there is absolutely a way. first, you have to put it in this context of what you alluded to in your introduction there. in a poll "the washington post" did last week, 51% of democrats are excited about voting for barack obama only 38% of republicans are excited about voting for mitt romney. there is this enthusiasm gap which the republicans didn't expect. the conservatives are tired of this candidate already and it is only the middle of july. so there are things that can be done. what would have to be done is the table would have to start being set now which it is. which is i think why we're having this discussion. you have to reiterate. no one is out there saying we want a new nominee. if they got one, there are people saying behind their back, yeah, we would take him or her. right now the republicans are looking for a reason to want to vote for mitt romney. the conservatives are craving

that reason. they haven't seen it. they've been warned against it as well. >> cenk: talk to me about how they would do it. the delegates have to vote for the guy they're assigned to. >> they do. the first round of voting at the convention you're bound to vote for the person you've been assigned to. obviously there is an overwhelming majority for mitt romney. this would have to happen before they got to the convention. take, for example let's say mitt romney had an affair. let's say the republican party found out there is something really wrong with the candidacy of mitt romney that supersedes the tax and bain and all of the things they seem to be okay with thus far. still it would be hard to get rid of the nominee. there are ways to do it now. if you get republican leadership. you get a group of people that is galvanized behind someone else or the idea of taking it to the convention unbinding the delegates. >> cenk: so funny in our politics, you could be a tax cheat. you could have money abroad, you could not release your tax return.

maybe even commit a felony but my god if you had an affair, we would have to -- >> even still, it would be difficult to do that. however, the table is being set. these conservatives are really upset with mitt romney right now. they're telling him to do something. conservatives don't like when you don't listen to what they're saying. so that kind of a scenario, if enough leadership comes together, robert bentley the governor of alabama is not enough to get people to nominate mitt romney. you start getting big names. sarah palin was not invited to the convention. she's the type of person who can say you know what? i've had it. >> cenk: that's interesting. i can't wait for the first set of delegates to be unbound then we'll have some fun. all right michael, thank you for that report. now when we come back, speaking of affairs and problems, anthony weiner didn't have an affair but he did send the wrong kind of tweet. how longen with can he keep him in political purgatory? is it time for a comeback. >> unfortunately, the distraction i have created has

made that impossible. so today i am announcing my resignation from congress. we will not settle for easy answers. (vo) the former governor of ny eliot spitzer, joins the new news network. >>every night we will drill down on the days top stories in search of facts that inform. >> we don't stop until we get answers that are truthful, serious, and not based on

>> cenk: you might remember that congressman anthony weiner was in a bit of a scandal involving illicit tweets. remember of course "good morning america" had this report on it back in the day. >> the newly-released photos from tmz.com show anthony weiner taking pictures of himself in various stages of undress. we're told they were taken on government property in the house member's gym. >> cenk: oh, my god. wrong kind of tweets? on government property. i paid taxes for that. as you can tell, i never thought it was much of a scandal but apparently everyone else did so congressman wiener stepped down. >> i'm here today to again apologize for the personal mistakes i have made. and the embarrassment i have caused.

i make this apology to my neighbors and my constituents but i make it particularly to my wife. unfortunately the distraction that i have created has made that impossible. so today i am announcing my resignation from congress. >> cenk: dubious source, the "new york post," part of news corp. of course is reporting that anthony weiner might be planning a comeback. they of course write disgraced poll weiner eyes meyer or public advocate run. he's talking to staff and making plans and there are reports he's got $4.5 million war chest so of course one thing that matters most in politics is how much money you have so he might be able to make a comeback because he's got money. what anthony weiner was asked about this, he replied that's a clown story bro. making him very hip. i'm going to bring in the rest of the turks. all right. >> what's up, bro? >> hey bro!

>> ted kaczynski was a disgrace poll. >> clear now. >> cenk: i got the poll thing. how long do you have to stay out if you have had an affair? okay let's set new rules here. okay. ben, talk. >> as you mentioned in the segment before he didn't have an affair that we know of. his scandal was embarrassing because of the photos and it was bare chested but he was just sending texts or you know, twitter pictures. i mean as far as scandals go, i think it is survivable. the "new york post" may be dubious but i'm sure they're right. of course he wants to come back. this is what he's good at. i would be stunned if he weren't elected to office at some point whether it is a year or five years. it is coming. he's a really good -- really good polltition. i suspect he knows how this is done. i suspect the comeback will happen. >> cenk: i wanted to start with the affair to work back to a twitter affair, on a lower

scale. let me throw out numbers here and see what you think. affair, let's go with two years you have to stay in political purgatory. lawbreaking, well, it has to be at least four years et cetera. a twitter prank say you know what? six months ought to do it. it depends on whether you're a republican or not. >> it if all depends on whether you're a republican or not. if you're the senator from louisiana, you can run for re-election and win and you don't have to go into any kind of purgatory. >> that was an affair and lawbreaking. >> maybe thy cancel each other out. >> he didn't have any goofy pictures though so i guess he's pretty good. >> how about not resigning if you haven't broken any laws because it is none of anybody's business. i don't care about the twitter pictures or your affair. it is none of my business. but americans love sex and they love scandal so that's what they focus on to the point where he feels the need to resign which i think is stupid. >> cenk: i thought he shouldn't resign. i should be clear about this because i got a part of the story wrong.

i didn't think it was him in the beginning. it turned out it was him. now having said that, then i said okay, and then what? right? now at the same time people say look he lied, right? doesn't every politician lie? >> i think he should have resigned. the smart paths are was resigning. at some point, anthony weiner will be a senator from new york or more likely mayor of new york. it will be because he resigned and handled it right. nobody bangs on doors or knows how to run a campaign in new york better than anthony wiener. >> he looks great with his shirt off. >> no joking. i could not believe what great shape anthony weiner was in. >> super hunky right? >> i guess. he looks a bit of a clown bro. in some of the pictures like the one at the gym with the headphones on. >> cenk: you know what? i'm glad i don't have that good of a body because -- >> don't say that about yourself man! >> cenk: because apparently you can't help but send out pictures of yourself looking into a mirror if you've got abs

right? so now look, a lot of progressives, every guy is like look at me! >> congressman chris lee, he did this thing and he resigned. >> cenk: he sent it to someone -- got in more trouble. anyway, remember this anthony weiner in case you were wondering why he is so sure he'll make a comeback. >> i want to advise people watching at home playing the popular game of you take a shot when a republican says something that's not true, please assign a designated driver. this is going to be a long afternoon. >> congressman? >> bill, i've got a very big burden debunking every one of the mistakes you're making. >> if you believe this is a bad idea to provide healthcare then vote no. but don't give me the cowardly view that oh if it was a different procedure the gentleman will own order and sit down. >> no, i'll ask the question. you're not answering. just tell me, how is it fair? >> ready? >> cenk: i'm ready for a

comeback right now. >> i totally want to follow that guy. >> you know, one of the tragedies when you look at anthony weiner, a serious issue for him is not the affair. that's between him and his wife and how he handles himself on twitter but that -- there is a rising star and that was a guy who engaged in some seriously destructive behavior which suggests the recklessness of character which is a legitimate thing for voters to consider. engaging in that when you're that high profile guy that's crazy. >> cenk: that's why i couldn't believe it was him. having said that, i could use a democrat or two to be a little bit more reckless. their problem is they're way too careful. >> i think he's being a little too harsh on anthony weiner. did he a stupid thing. it wasn't that stupid. he would have been mayor -- in other words, it wasn't -- >> unquestionably going to get caught. sending twitter pictures around. >> okay. i don't want to get into defending anthony.

he would have been mayor of new york. you're right in the end it was a stupid thing to do. >> cenk: in fact, it is over. we've got a decision. come back right now. okay. now speak of coming back, when we come back, i can't believe who turns out to have possibly been interested in plotting the defense of george zimmerman. the code word is s. h. >> you've had contact with him? >> no. >> that way? >> yeah. >> oh, i didn't know that. >> cenk: i won't tell you what the s stands for but the h stands for hannity. we'll tell you about that when we come back. then is hbo's newsroom possibly copying "the young turks"? >> where are the real ones? the lies? why doesn't the news ever call a lie a lie when we know it is a lie.

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(vo) now, it's your turn. (vo) connect with the young turks with cenk uygur. >> it's go time. ttv

ualizer, where your vote is worth just as much as donald trump's.

we must save the country. it starts with you. >> cenk: by now, you've all heard about the super pacs dominating the election seasons but in fact did you know there are tax-exempt groups where people give secret money to that actually spend more money than the super pacs. the super pacs have to disclose donors. the groups do not. in fact, already in the 2010 midterm elections they had these taxes and groups had outspent super pacs and in 2012, so far 2/3 of the political ads have been run by those secret tax-exempt groups with their secret donors. now understandably democrats come forward with a bill called

the disclose act saying hey listen, you're going to buy our politicians? okay. can you at least tell us who you are? they made a pretty good case for it. here is a series of democratic senators making that case. >> why shouldn't american citizens know who wants to override our people power with their purchasing power? democrats have offered a way to shine the sunlight on who's trying to buy our country. >> this is about whether or not everyone in our country's going to have the opportunity to have information to make their own judgments. >> if this flood of outside money continues, the day after the election, 17 angry old white men will wake up and realize they just bought the country. >> cenk: that's as forceful as harry reid can be. so hey it is a good case. in fact, the law the disclose act proposed by whitehouse says look, we just want to know who you are if you're giving more than $10,000. we're not saying you can't give

it. we want to know who's influencing the politicians. in fact, the american people overwhelmingly agree. in a cbs news poll when asked who does congress serve? 80% said special-interest groups and only 13% believe it is the people that those congressmen and senators represent. think about how damming that is by the way. in essence the great majority of the american people believe we have lost our democracy. they don't represent us. it is not a representative democracy. they represent their donors. they're right. in fact, most of the republican voters feel the same way. overwhelming majority, 68% say there's too much influence of big money in politics. they're right. in fact, back in the day in 2000, the republicans agreed. you know what the vote was back then when they said we should find out who is behind these tax-exempt groups and the doan donations given to them? 892-6 -- 92-6, everybody agreed.

there was a young candidate who believed the pacs was dangerous. who was it? mitt romney. >> but these kinds of associations between money and politics, in my view are wrong and for that reason, i would like to have campaign spending limits and to say we're not going to spend more than this in certain campaigns, campaign for senator or u.s. representative and so forth because otherwise i think you have money playing far too important a role. i would also abolish pacs. i don't like them. i don't like the influence of money whether it is business, labor or any other group i do not like that kind of influence. >> cenk: look at robo saying there's too much money in politics and we have to get rid of pacs. even mitch mcconnell back in 1997 said... i couldn't agree more with that. okay so we've got agreement. republicans agree democrats agree. look at that.

all of a sudden now that the republicans are getting all of the money and from all of the secret donations, all of a sudden, they don't agree anymore. here's mitch mcconnell recently speaking at the american enterprise institute this year saying this instead. >> what this bill calls for is government compelled disclosure of contributions to all grassroots groups which is far more dangerous than its proponents are willing to admit. because disclosure is forced upon some but not all. it is not an act of good government. it is a political weapon. >> cenk: now all of a sudden the exclusions they were in favor of is a political weapon. god forbid we wouldn't want to intimidate the millionaires and billionaires buying politicians like mitch mcconnell. he went further and said my beloved koch brothers, we must protect them. >> charles and david koch have become household names, not for the tens of thousands of people they employ, not for their

generosity to charity and not for building up one of the most successful private corporations on the planet but because of their forceful and unapologetic promotion and defense of capitalism. >> cenk: oh, poor millionaires and billionaires, we must protect their identity so they can secretly buy us rather than buying us on the open market. of course, even though they had the majority, the democrats 53 to 45 would have passed this bill but the republicans were so adamant, they filibustered. so now we have unlimited campaign corporations -- that's a funny freudian slip, contributions from corporations oftentimes and there's nothing we can do to find out who's buying those guys. well, that's the republican rule for you guys. it is sick how our democracy has been bought. now, another program saying that. when we come back, is newsroom on hbo. are they right in their depiction of the media? and did they get it from "the

young turks"? we'll discuss that when we come back. >> there are a couple of factual errors in that story. >> please let there be more than a couple. >> first of all i'm a registered republican. i only seem liberal because i believe that hurricanes are caused by high barometric pressure and not gay marriage.

>> cenk: the newsroom is a fictional show on hbo but might it be based on reality? we'll bring in ben who will analyze this for us and i like it because the only thing we're missing from this newsroom is the pointing. there is a lot of pointing in that show. anyway, tell me about what you think of it. >> the newsroom, no question. it is hard you know you and the

show we did for many years. it is hard not to feel that many of the themes we've talked about for years come out on the newsroom. i come at this from two perspectives. first as a critic. and i find the show pretty unwatchable. [ laughter ] secondly, as you know, as a young turk and a former journalist. but first, i would like to put on my critic hat. i don't know whether you know this but all critics wear hats like this. >> cenk: it appears so. >> one quick scene from the episode four which was the best episode so far of the season by far. two actors i like a lot. allison and john gallagher jr. they continue to flirt in the newsroom while her boyfriend looks on and we wonder this three-way love triangle. >> anything you think is -- >> anything we missed. >> or didn't give enough attention to. >> i don't think anyone reported it.

>> cenk: i love the show, too but the love story drives me crazy. >> just go ahead and have sex. bad sex, i might add. take the critic hat off. that's the part of the show that is brutal. just brutal and unwatchable -- but episode four had less of the rapid fire, unwatchable aaron sorkin dialogue and more of the journalistic heroism which is the reason why guys like you and me keep watching. because they started talking about lying. and why when the media recognizes an untruth told that we can't stand up and instead of trying to be objective or being fair, tell the truth and the truth is that it is a lie. so jeff daniels plays -- listen to this. it is a quick speech. listen to what he says. >> what are the real ones? the lies. why doesn't the news ever call a lie a lie when we know it's a lie? >> he says why can't the news call a lie when they know it's a

lie? we've talked about that forever. >> cenk: yeah. and look, as i watch that, i think these are some of the things we've hit over and over again but thank god they're doing them in an entertainment show so other people will pay attention. >> people are talking about this show. they're talking about things that i think is critical for us to rethink what journalists are supposed to do. another example, this will be clip seven. they talk about the india story from 2010 and obama's trip to india and did it really cost $200 million a day as the right wing was leading people to believe. >> $200 million a day. this nation will spend on obama's trip to india. >> so he's travelling with 34 warships and an entourage -- >> he had 34 warships or 14% of the u.s. navy. >> an entourage of 3,000 people. >> nope. i think people who willfully and

purposely lie to the american people in order to damage someone's reputation should, like a registered sex offender, be required by law to come with that warning label for the rest of their lives. >> do you know who that reminded me of, cenk? >> you. >> cenk: i'll take it. >> here's you on cnbc of using almost the identical clips. >> $200 million a day. >> cenk: not only is it unsane and totally made up but how do they think the country would believe that? this dictator socialist president plans to fly a million planes, for a billion of his friends and put them up in a zillion hotel rooms for a multiday at the taj mahal paid for by you the taxpayer. >> cenk: what i like about the show is putting the comparisons aside between us and them, i hope the media is watching so they wake up and go right!

we're supposed to deliver the truth and not worry about neutrality. oh, my god how upset the republicans are. who gives a damn who you upset. just report the facts. >> the right recognize the media's desire for objectivity and realize you could put a lie into the market place of ideas and then sit back while the media debated whether that lie was true. that's all you had to do. it was so simple. this show, good parts about this show are when they challenge the idea. >> cenk: every time i think we've talked about that, one last comical thing last episode was about big foot. okay. i thought wait a minute! we talked about how big foot might be real on our show. listen to this online clip. >> up making fun but all of a sudden big foot might exist. could it be you have a different combination of animals and some point, there is a ten foot guy with beautiful hair? six fingers on each hand? not likely but it is possible. it is entirely possible. >> cenk: not a big deal. just admit you watch the show.

>> good to have you as a viewer. >> cenk: hey we watch his show. thank you, ben. >> eliot spitzer is up next with "viewpoint." what do you have for us? >> eliot: cenk everybody watches your show. we've got another great show. the disclose act fails. republican hypocrisy wins. sad day for democracy. bernie sanders will talk about that. senator merkley is going to talk about the fiscal cliff and then harvard professor michael sandel, what money can't buy. he's one of the great philosophers living today. >> cenk: all right great. looking forward to it. thank you eliot. when we come back, we'll talk about the fight that eliot had with maria. another criticism about the news media and how she handled it when we return.

eliot spitzer joins the new news network. >>we don't stop until we get answers that are truthful, serious and not based on simplistic answers.

>> cenk: back in the day governor eliot spitter was the attorney general for new york. he used to be known as the sheriff of wall street. why? because he actually went after people who committed financial fraud. now apparently cnbc hates this. and he was recently on with maria bartiromo and they got into a debate about how he went after the former ceo of aig hank greenberg. i want to show you the clip and talk about her general attitude toward her job. so watch the clip first. >> hank greenberg's accounting was fraudulent. his company -- >> come on you can't say fraudulent because there's no indictment. you can't just throw around the word fraud. >> here is the federal judge's opinion that says he was a conspirator. here are the headlines. his company -- >> why no charges?

why no charges -- why charges dropped? >> eliot: we charged the company, got new leadership. the southern district said to me we're going to bring the charges. we want the southern district. this has been documented. we said you want to do that? fine. >> cenk: so here's what i find amazing. aig paid $1.6 billion because of fraud. now why would bartiromo think oh, you think they're going to pay $1.6 billion if they didn't commit the fraud? hank greenberg himself paid a $15 million fine for fraud! but bartiromo's default position is protect the financial industry. protect the people who are in power. protect the establishment. and this guy who actually tried to do something about fraud you must attack him! you must destroy him. you know to protect the establishment. this is exactly what's wrong with the establishment media and cnbc in particular.