missouri became missouri. now i ask you which is correct? missouri or missouri? >> missouri. okay. neither one. [laughter]. you can't say the native americans were wrong for saying missouri. you can't say the french were wrong for pronouncing it in their language, just different ways of pronouncing the same word. that is where we have the problem with the word different. different isn't a synonym of the word wrong. we have to be careful how we use it and our children. it answers the question, why do you write that? i write to tell the story. one that has fallen through the cracks, one marginalized by main stream history. either misrepresented or represented to the way in which it is a stereo typical, write to take those stereotypes, reshape them and give them back to you dressed in a new dress. i mean when i say different is not a synonym for wrong, it means that we should celebrate those things. everyone in this room is different in some way. but you should not feel bad about that. your uniqueness, as my grandson who loves to make up words, that is your wonderment. [laughter]. it

now that missouri u.s. senate candidate todd akin has become the latest republican politician to articulate the pseudo scientific thinking behind this long-standing strand of republican politics, now that there is a full scale freakout about todd akin's viability and his insanely out there offensive politics on this issue and how the republican party can afford to keep a guy like that on the ballot in that important race, once again, you have to ask why the freakout about todd akin when the republican party has picked somebody with the exact same track record, with the exact same policy record. his co sponsor on all of the bills to be the party's vice presidential nominee. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> this is a moment of instability in republican politics. todd akin, mr. legitimate rape there, he's apologizing now for those remarks, but he's not changing any of his policy positions that derive from that belief that he holds. and of course, f

. >> you could alienate an important constituency in missouri that is the foundation of the missouri republican party right now, pro-life republicans. >> even pro-life members, leaders are speaking out against this is. >> somehow he's being shoved out. >> they're stuck with akin. he's going to be their candidate. it may even switch -- may determine the outcome in the senate. i feel sorry for the republican party but not that sorry. >> what about the jaernd gap ramifications? you know the obama campaign wants to use this. i think the fact that romney went out and put a statement out so early tells you, they seem to be concerned. these planned parenthood ads, you live in northern virginia, they're all over colorado too, very microtargeted. >> but it's still august and it's still about the economy. we have the job report coming up in a couple of weeks. that will refocus this thing i think in time. it's a different issue for todd. he's going to have to try to -- >> does he become the sharron angle, the christine o'donnell? >> they didn't bring else down. they only hurt their own races. >

here's some of the background on this guy from missouri. he's a member of the house science and technology committee. he believes climate change science is highly suspect. he wants to get rid of environmental protection agency and the department of energy. he's also dead wrong about the rarity of pregnancy resulting from rape in this country. according to the journal of american obstetrics and gynecology, 32,101 pregnancies per year are the result of rape. akin's comments were outrageous enough for the president of the united states to comment on them during a news conference today. >> let me first of all say the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the american people. and certainly doesn't make sense to me. >> president obama also pointed out how akin's remarks highlight the continuing war on women's health being waged by republicans. >> what i think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn't have a

now that missouri u.s. senate candidate todd akin has become the latest republican politician to articulate the pseudo scientific thinking behind this long-standing strand of republican politics, now that there is a full scale freakout about todd akin's viability and his insanely out there offensive politics on this issue and how the republican party can afford to keep a guy like that on the ballot in that important race, once again, you have to ask why the freakout about todd akin when the republican party has picked somebody with the exact same track record, with the exact same policy record. his co sponsor on all of the bills to be the party's vice presidential nominee. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> this is a moment of instability in repubcan politics. todd akin, mr. legitimate rape there, he's apologizing now for those remarks, but he's not changing any of his policy positions that derive from that belief that he holds. and of course, for

to replace akin as the republican candidate from missouri. we'll be joined by former presidential advisers here in just moments, but first, we want to turn to fox news capitol hill senior producer who has the latest on congressman akin and that missouri senate race. chad, what are you hearing at this hour? >> well, absolutely nothing. 62 minutes ago. that was the deadline, close of business in missouri for todd akin to drop off the ballot, do that, and switch out the ballots with another potential candidate that would be prepared by the central committee the of the republican party in committee. that did not happen. there's an option still for todd akin to drop out between now and september 25th. the law says in missouri that they would charge the akin campaign to do that, and, again, the central committee would be up for fielding a candidate ere, but, you know, there's a tradition in washington of wise men going to political figures in trouble. we remember during watergate in 1974, people from capitol hill went to president nixon, not that l

to replace akin as the republican candidate from missouri. we'll be joined by former presidential advisers here in just moments, but first, we want to turn to fox news capitol hill senior producer who has the latest on congressman akin and that missouri senate race. chad, what are you hearing at this hour? >> well, absolutely nothing. 62 minutes ago. that was the deadline, close of business in missouri for todd akin to drop off the ballot, do that, and switch out the ballots with another potential candidate that would be prepared by the central committee the of the republican party in committee. that did not happen. there's an option still for todd akin to drop out between now and september 25th. the law says in missouri that they would charge the akin campaign to do that, and, again, the central committee would be up for fielding a candidate there, but, you know, there's a tradition in washington of wise men going to political figures in trouble. we remember during watergate in 1974, people from capitol hill went to president nixon, not that

you know, the people of missouri put him as the nominee albeit approximate an eight-way race. however, it is the bed they'll have to lie in until they decide to change the sheets. i am not sure right now what the procedures are to change those sheets, but i would assume that quickly they will do that, move to get him off the particularet and replace him with somebody else. >> this could get ugly. he was just on with huckabee and says he has a plan on stepping down according to information out of missouri, he is pretty much guided a lot by his wife, and according to at least one report his wife wouldn't, quote, let him step down. that is interesting for so many other reasons given that this issue that has him in the hot seat deals with women and if his wife is his major surrogate and major advisor, how could he have made those comments yesterday? >> when i think if this is up to him, he is goi to stick it out in this race and we actually just recently surveyed all of our reporters in missouri and asked them to ask leading republicans in the state what they thought, what they th

claire mccaskill could not win in missouri by being more liberal. and tonight, now that we've all seen so vividly what claire mccaskill is up against in missouri, america should be thanking her for managing to prevent a member of the missouri republican party from winning that senate seat six years ago and for sanity's sake, for america's sanity, america should be hoping that claire mccaskill can do it again. ♪ why should saturday night have all the fun? get two times the points on dining in restaurants, with chase sapphire preferred. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. yeah, maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number? why not get buried inlike fruit. something ot

let's talk about the senate race in missouri. here's what the congressman akin originally said that got him into trouble. >> it seems to me, first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. but let's assume maybe that didn't work or something, there should be some punishment, but the punishment aurgt to be on the rapist and not attacking the child. >> today he was on the radio doing damage control and he said this. >> i care deeply for the victims of those people who have been raped. they're equally vulnerable. a rape is equally tragic. i made that statement in error. rape is never legitimate. it's an evil act committed by violent predators. i used the wrong words the wrong way. what i said was ill conceived and wrong and for that i apologize. >> is that enough to save him, or is he out? >> if he's out by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow it becomes easy for the republicans to replace him. after that it's a legal challenge. i think it

in missouri, two thirds of the vote have been counted. mel carnahan, who is now deceased, obviously, is within striking range of john ashcroft. in missouri, nbc news is projecting that mel carnahan who was killed in a plane crash, has been elected over john ashcroft, the republican incumbent. >> 12 years after the john ashcroft versus a person who is no longer among us race, the good and great state of missouri is once again facing a bit of a ballot problem. if you think it's complicated when one of the candidates dies, look at what they're dealing with this year. congressman todd akin was just picked up by republican voters in missouri to be their senate nominee, to challenge the sitting democratic u.s. senator claire mccaskill. yesterday, todd akin doused his political career, lit a match, and you know the rest. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has wayed to try to shut that whole thing down. let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. i think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapis

she's not beloved in missouri. i guess if you have the choice between the two, maybe you stay at home. that could hurt romney and ryan, you don't turn out to vote for president. >> if he stays in, he could lose missouri, and that could have a profound effect. >> for romney. >> for romney. i think he would lose a senate seat, which could have been picked up by the republicans, and that does great damage to taking over the senate. if that happens, you've got a real problem, because you can never repeal

fred is in littleburn, missouri. right in the state of todd akin. >> caller: hi, bill, how's it going? >> bill: what's the reaction out there? >> caller: well, basically it is still unbelievable leaning toward akins but they're trying to get him off the ticket because he's so close to ryan that they don't want ryan to be put in the burner. the most important thing i think -- excuse me, came out yesterday when the president was at the conference, with the reporters, not one reporter asked him anything about the akins thing. they directly went what about all of this stuff on the news? why are you attacking romney on everything? every reporter stuck with that. >> bill: fred, wait. i was there okay. no, that's really not true. he got -- i forget whether it was the second or third question but he was asked directly about todd akin's remarks. in fact, we played a little clip at the very top of the show. you might not have heard but the president said they were disgusting, they were offensive. he said, you know, we should n

claire mccaskill could not win in missouri by being more liberal. and tonight, now that we've all seen so vividly what claire mccaskill is up against in missouri, america should be thanking her for managing to prevent a member of the missouri republican party from winning that senate seat six years ago and for sanity's sake, for america's sanity, america should be hoping that claire mccaskill can do it again. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. as much advanced technology as the world around it. with the available lexus enform app suite, you can use opentable to make restaurant reservations. during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection. ooo no. the hotel lost our reservation. nonsense! you book at travelocity, your reservation's guaranteed. well, i did n

you know, the people of missouri put him as the nominee albeit approximate an eight-way race. however, it is the bed they'll have to lie in until they decide to change the sheets. i am not sure right now what the procedures are to change those sheets, but i would assume that quickly they will do that, move to get him off the particularet and replace him with somebody else. >> this could get ugly. he was just on with huckabee and says he has a plan on stepping down according to information out of missouri, he is pretty much guided a lot by his wife, and according to at least one report his wife wouldn't, quote, let him step down. that is interesting for so many other reasons given that this issue that has him in the hot seat deals with women and if his wife is his major surrogate and major advisor, how could he have made those comments yesterday? >> when i think if this is up to him, he is going to stick it out in this race and we actually just recently surveyed all of our reporters in missouri and asked them to ask leading republicans in the state what they thought, what they

missouri is. that leads to winning the senate. that leads to reversing a lot of the things that obama and biden have done to put our children and grandchildren in the chains of dependency, to shackle our kids and grandkids in the debt that they have continued to perpetuate, greta. >> greta: have you made a call to sarah steeleman, or do you spend to, or do you have any advice for her tonight? >> no, because here's the deal. i also know my mission that i'm on is to help and not to hurt. maybe todd akin needs to learn a little lesson from me. you need to know when to step back and wait to be invited to important and not invite yourself to the party. what he's doing right now, greta, bless his heart, he's inviting himself back into this general election that's coming up, and he's going to get defeated. that's unfortunate. that is why we have to think pragmatically about this, and we have to think, well, what's another option? is a third-party another option? if it is, let's go. the status quo has got to go. let's do what we can to ge

here's some of the background on this guy from missouri. a member of the house science and technology committee. he believes climate change science is highly suspect. he wants to ged rit of the environmental protection agency and the department of inagy. he's also dead wrong about the rarity of pregnancy resulting from rape in the country. according to the journal of american obstetrics and gynecology, 32,1 01 preginaciesa year are the result of rape. akin's comments were outrageous, enough for the president of the united states to comment on them during a news conference today. >> let me first of all say the views expressed were offensive. rape is rape. and the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the american people. and certainly doesn't make sense to me. >> president obama also pointed out how akin's remarks highlight the continuing war on women's health being waged by republicans. >> what i think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn't have a bun

hinge on the outcome of the senate race in missouri. with tod akin this as the republican nominee i guess claire mccaskill feels a whole lot better that she'll be able to hold on to her seat. >> she should feel good about it any way because she does the right thing. she's a caring, thoughtful senator, and she is arunning up against somebody that is pretty ignorant, and obviously sexist. i hope that the missouri voters understand this. >> eliot: we'll certainly have to wait and see first, if tod akin continues to stay in the race. there are many other opportunities for him to withdraw his name from nomination. but should this be a mccaskill mccaskill-akin race, we would hate to see someone like tod akin and his views in the united states senate. and claire mccaskill with a lot of hard votes in support of the president's agenda. let's hope she survives. >> actually this incident underscores exactly what is at stake in this election. >> eliot: congresswoman woolsey as always, thank you for joining us. for the man who will not go away i'm o

nbc's jay gray visited one missouri farming community. >> reporter: for many in missouri and across the midwest, it's never been as difficult as this year. >> this year it's the intense heat we've had with the lack of rain. we've had two miserable rains since april 30th here at our dairy. >> reporter: burned out fields and crack and broken earth while restrictions are in place because of low water. >> the drought has been in place for several weeks. it's not just that we've had 100-degree temperatures but that they started so early. >> reporter: all 114 counties in missouri have been declared disaster areas. 93% of the state is suffering through extreme drought conditions. it's the worst the family has seen in more than 50 years of dairy farming. their ponds have dried up, their pastures haven't produced any hay to graze, so they have to pay for feed, costs that will be passed on to consumers. >> this is something that's the beginning. it's not going to be good for everybody because you're going to start feeling this in a few months at the grocery stores. >> reporter: until some substan

. >>> missouri suddenly in the spotlight. an election that could very well determine which party controls the senate. this morning, republican senate candidate todd akin is vowing to stay in the race, despite an unroar over his comments on the subject of rape and abortion and his assertion that women's bodies are aable to prevent pregnancies even if they are the victims of something called, quote, legitimate rape. should he pull out of the race today before 5:00 pm, they could still replace him on the ballot. congressman akin vowed to fight on. >> the good people of missouri nominated me and i'm not a quitter. and my belief is we're going to take this thing forward and, by the grace of god, we're going to -- to win this, to win this race and to quote my old friend, john paul jones, i've not yet begun to fight. >> firestorm engulfed the presidential ticket yesterday where mitt romney was asked whether akin should remove himself from the race. >> his comments about rape were deeply offensive. and i can't defend what he said. i

senator claire mccaskill soldiers on in missouri. the only person, the only person standing tonight between todd akin and a seat in the united states senate. senator mccaskill has survived the bombardment of negative attack advertising financed by karl rove's super pac. and she is still standing. mitt romney cannot stop todd akin. paul ryan cannot stop todd akin. ann coulter cannot stop todd akin. karl rove cannot stop todd akin. the only people, only people who can stop todd akin from going to the united states senate now are the voters of missouri and their senator, claire mccaskill. joining me now, msnbc's joy reid and richard wolffe and michelle goldberg of "newsweek" and "the daily beast." let's listen to what rush limbaugh had to say today, advising republicans how to handle this issue. >> for any and all of you republicans, when you are asked why you don't have a rape exception in the party platform on abortion, don't answer it. don't get into the substance. don't answer the question, republicans. don't go anywhere near it. it

it's the people of missouri and i think that people of missouri have to make this decision. they had a hotly contested primary and todd won by a comfortable margin. i think for the national party to come in here and dictate to the primary voters that they'll invalidate their decision, that would be pretty radical and that could be the backlash for the republicans if they did that. >> there is a reason that claire mccaskill is not wearing a lapel pin for him. in the primary, this ad going on and on and on about how many departments and the federal government todd akin wants to cut about and his family values. todd akin, missouri's true conservative. hear that republican primary voters in an overwhelming republican state? the mccaskill democratic campaign tried to get them to pick todd akin. if you're running against a guy like that, forget the head winds. democratic candidate congratulations. against a more sane-seeming republican opponent you might not have had a chance in missouri but against todd akin, you're going to be fine. on a surface level this todd akin brouhaha loo

missouri is a republican friendly state than colorado and nevada. the desire of vote to get rid of claire mccaskill, if you're todd akin you say i go do the apology now, i get self-discipline, that's a big if, but until the election day, and republicans now sort of trying to push me out, think of karl rove's people, get to end of october, you may need missouri to win back the senate, they're back there with money. >> explain how he deals with the media market in missouri where claire mccaskill, will if she's smart play every single one of the clips we played as well as remind everyone that mitt romney, karl rove, rin rance pr denounced this guy. what do you do about that? >> that's the thing that's so interesting to me. right now, a poll yesterday, right now the guy's sitting on a 24% favorability rating. 24%. dismal. he's still up on claire mccaskill skill by 1%. they have taken a risk. if they decided to stay in, more damaging than the actual comments will be all of the litany of republican loomnaries coming out and saying this guy's terrible, he

this is a senate race in missouri. could this play on a larger stage, say, in the presidential campaign? >> the romney campaign did put out a statement. i think they felt they needed to distance themselves from this candidate. this is what they said from one of the spokes people. "governor romney and congressman ryan disagree with mr. akin's statement and they would not oppose abortion in the instance of rape." missouri, listen, let's be honest, some people consider in play and some say it is kind of safe for the romney-ryan ticket. but, john, the senate race is very important one. and one where the republicans think they can have a very good shot at winning back the seat held by a democratic senator. akin is one of the most conservative in a very veshgs cro -- very, veriy cro very crowde. >> it is interesting, paul. the romney campaign put out a statement saying that romney-ryan administration would offer exceptions for rape and incest. paul ryan is on the record in the past opposing some of those exceptions. so you w

candidate for senate from missouri refused to quit the race, despite growing calls for him to bow out after he questioned whether a woman who is raped can become pregnant. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we assess the row, coming just as the republican party polishes its official position on abortion ahead of next week's convention. >> ifill: then we examine apple's rise to the largest-ever american company, even as facebook's stock troubles continue. >> brown: from seattle, hari sreenivasan has the story of a year-round program that asks students as young as ten to commit to graduating from college. garance franke-ruta. jon ward. ted schadler. sylla. diana nyad. mickey edwards. >> brown: i'm jeffrey brown. an epidemic of whooping cough and briz winning whnchs i grow up. i want to be a paleontologist because i want to study reptiles and amphibians. >> i want to be an engineer and technology engineer and i'm going to have to go to mit. >> ifill: margaret warner talks to diana nyad after she was plucked from the florida straits tod

senate candidate in missouri. correspondent doug mckelway tells us despite urgings from party leaders that he withdraw, todd akin says he is in it to win it, probably. >> when asked in an interview whether he would end his candidacy by the last remaining legal deadline by september 25, embattled u.s. senate candidate todd akin left open a crack in an exit door. >> i'll never say everything that can possibly happen. i don't know the future. >> political analyst says the statement speaks volume. >> the fact he is unlikely to get significant financial support and his chances of winning don't look good, he will probably bow out. >> for now, defiant akin is staying in. project -- rejecting the chorus of calls from the highest level in his own part party. >> i'll keep it between us. i agree with the rest of the people from the missouri delegation. >> akin's obcitynance is having an im -- akin's obcitynance is having impact. he makes no exception for rape and incest. richards ofe shuffling their planned parenthood schedu

candidate for senate from missouri refused to quit the race, despite growing calls for him to bow out after he questioned whether a woman who is raped can become pregnant. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we assess the row, coming just as the republican party polishes its official position on abortion ahead of next week's convention. >> ifill: then we examine apple's rise to the largest-ever american company, even as facebook's stock troubles continue. >> brown: from seattle, hari sreenivasan has the story of a year-round program that asks students as young as ten to commit to graduating from college. garance franke-ruta. jon ward. ted schadler. sylla. diana nyad. mickey edwards. >> brown: i'm jeffrey brown. an epidemic of whooping cough and briz winning whnchs i grow up. i want to be a paleontologist because i want to study reptiles and amphibians. >> i want to be an engineer and technology engineer and i'm going to have to go to mit. >> ill: margaret warr talks to diana nyad after she was plucked from the florida straits today,