No Senator Scott Brown – but Senator Geraldo Rivera?

>> all right. let's get right to it. joining us now is toure , co-host of "the cycle" here on msnbc and krystal ball, also a co-host of "the cycle" looking so lovely in red.

>> ened you a look nice in red.

>> thank you so much. heart health. it's all about the heart.

>> that's right.

>> krystal . we're going to get to geraldo i promise but let's start with scott brown .

>> if we must.

>> so much speculation. he was the original tea party darling. he's apparently not headed back to washington. in a statement he released today, he says i was not at all certain that a third senate campaign in less than four years and the prospect of returning to a congress even more partisan than the one i left was really the best way for me to continue in public service at this time. and i know it's not the only way for me to advance the ideals and causes that matter most to me. that sounds like a run for governor, doesn't it?

>> ding, ding, ding.

>> absolutely. you could just shorten that to, you know, it doesn't sound like that much fun. and it doesn't. tough get elected now, have to run again. and it's a very difficult place to be a republican and be tied to the national party in the way that you are when you're running for senate . and it is different when you're running for governor, when you're running for a state office . you can differentiate yourself from the national party , be the politician he wants to be, the more moderate massachusetts republican.

>> that's right.

>> i think that probably does make more sense for him.

>> and i think this makes for sense for the democratic party . the ball bouncing the rye way for the democratic party . with the kerry pick we're pour worried about the most popular republican in massachusetts will have a chance to replrekerry. .

>> scott brown won't be taking a seat in the senate, if i could just read this, but her ral low rivera running for senate in new jersey. do you see it happening?

>> no.

>> come on. not own a run?

>> i think he's going to run but is he going to win? is he going to matter? i disagree with krystal , her ral low rivera is a joke, especially going to a serious political context. a total joke. you talk about pro-immigration, pro- marriage equality , pro-choice. that doesn't sound like a republican to me. i don't know how he even gets off the ground. just in general as a person for what he's been in american public life for 20-some years, he's been a punch line over and over and over, and i think this makes a distraction -- the process into a total distraction.

>> you make a very elegant argument but he did not sound like he was joking in this clip. let's play it. he was --

>> i really do believe as a modern republican that there is a point of view that is unrepresented in states like new jersey.

>> you're right.

>> there can be a new vitalization of the republican party .

>> you got a republican governor in the state, a very popular it sounds lik e his chances are a little bit more likely than toure suggests.

>> i mean, he's not unlike chris clity in his demeanor, right? brash, direct, straightforward. i don't know that he would win. but i do kind of like the idea of him being out there. i like the idea of having more voices of republicans who are pro-choice, which used to not be an unusual thing in the republican party . pro- immigration reform , which is becoming more common, and pro- gay rights which is also becoming more common. having those voices out there vocally in the republican party , i think it's a good thing, and i'm not going to be the arbiter of who deserves to run for office or not. if you have that passion, he already has fame and attention, he doesn't have to run for office, if you want to get in there and serve, god bless you.

>> you don't seriously think geraldo can turn the party around on issues --

>> no, but i think he can be a voice out there, and maybe slightly shift the party. that's not a bad thing.

>> let's be honest, it could make for so much fun --

>> oh, oh, oh, it will be fun for this show, for "the cycle," but, you know, it's a side show .

>> so let's stay in new jersey more serious matters. we have story on the front page of the "new york times" today about new jersey senator robert menendez and his ties to a florida eye surgeon whose offices were reportedly raided by the fbi this week and it comes just as senator menendez is taking up the chairmanship of the foreign relations committee . he's also part of the bipartisan group on immigration reform . you know, to some degree this is going to go its course in serms of an ethics investigation if that's what happens but to some degree what strikes me is this is just the kind of distraction democrats in the senate do not need when they have such a full plate in terms of the policy agenda they're trying to push through.

>> absolutely. senator menendez was standing out in front in immigration reform push. to see him distracted in this way is really disappointing because we need immigration reform . we need to get america straight on this issue, and this sort of this side show -- we're full of side shows today on this segment, this side show is not helping with that.

>> we should just call it the side show .

>> then the cyclists would be on the side show .

>> really?

>> okay. we'll be serious. it is a very serious investigation, and i do think krystal , it could create -- you know how these things go. things leak out, that creates the opportunity for lots of stories coming out. regardless of whether or not half the time it's true or not, it's the distraction, right? it's the feeding frenzy that it creates that really becomes a problem.

>> it's that endless drip, drip, drip of allegations, what's true, what's not true. let's face it, the american people do not really trust politicians so they are apt to believe whatever they hear, and as toure is pointing out, it is damaging to democrats. it's damaging to the democratic brand and it's a distraction not just from the policy agenda now but democrats are going to have a hard time holding onto the senate in the next elections. republicans have a lot of seats that they could pick up next time. the last thing we need is snore se -- another seat that could be vulnerable. anytime you have corruption associated with a particular party, the republicans will certainly try to make it about a culture of corruption within the democratic party . how much --

>> that's not a fair argument.

>> but they will try to make that argument.

>> i think a lot of it in the end will depend on how the par party -- so far senator reid is standing by nen mendez. how the party handles it is a lot of whether that becomes part of the brand of the party or not. we have to leave it there. thank you toure and krystal ball.