Transcripts For MSNBC Morning Joe 20101028

larry summers did a heck of a job trying to figure out how to -- >> you don't want to use that phrase, dude. >> pun intended. >> all right. >> pun intended. good morning everyone. top of the hour, 6:00 on the east coast on thursday, october 28th. and here with us now we have -- >> heck of a job? jon stewart. that was interesting, him going on stewart. it was interesting. >> it was interesting. i talked to one of the major figures in the democratic party over the past 20 years, and whose response was yesterday afternoon, huh, he's not going to campaign on the campaign stuff like in the south and the midwest where these guys are dieing, but he is going to go on "the daily show." before barbs are thrown my way, let me say this, this person also said bill clinton would not let a day go by in this situation without being in 20 different districts, shaking people's hands. he would not -- in fact, he's not. >> he's there. >> right. >> you're saying now. >> bill clinton is out there even now, and the president i guess isn't campaigning today. this actually started, tina, where i said, as this person who knows an awful lot, about as much as any democrat about winning elections, why isn't the president campaigning tomorrow? and the response came daily sho. >> the thing is, i think that the whole show last night was preaching to the converted. it was the red bull rallying that audience, all those students laughing at everything he said. i don't think it turned anybody new around. i thought he seemed wonky and a little bit perplexed. it wasn't a great selling show for him i didn't think last night. there was no rah rah about it. he said change but -- what was the thing he said about but? he should have said yes, we are. >> let's watch some. jon stewart is, by the way -- the president may be kind of flat right now and having problems, but not jon stewart. he's in washington. he had this big interview. to that that i've heard before. we'll tt. presidenobama's midterm schedule took him to the set of the daily show. making him the first sitting president to appear on the comedy central show. but laughs aside, host jon stewart dug into the president last night putting him on the defense. >> you ran on very high rhetoric, hope and change, and the democrats this year seem to be running on please, baby, one more chance. >> when the economy is growing but still not as fast as it needs to to makt up for the 8 million jobs that were lost, folks are going to be frustrated. >> we have passed historic health care reform, historic financial regulatory reform. we have done things that some folks don't even know about. >> what have you done that weow? are you planning a surprise party for us? >> now, the most contentious exchange came when stewart used the word timid to describe the president's health care overhaul. take a look. >> legislatively it is felt timid at times. i'm not even sure at times whatout want out of the health care -- >> and this -- jon, i love your show. >> very kind of you. >> but this is something where i have a profound disagreement with you and i don't want to lump you in with a lot of other pundits, but this notion -- >> you may. >> look, this notion that health care was timid, this is what i think most people would say is as significant a piece of legislation as we've seen in this country's history. >> oh, my god. intention was here. >> that was breathtaking, that the president believes that. i think that -- if he believes that, that explains an awful lot about where the democratic party is right now. >> do you think his syntax suggests that maybe he doesn't, maybe the -- >> he can't believe it. >> you know what i mean? >> if he is as bright as we are led to believe every day that he is, he cannot believe that a health care bill that has no cost containment, that gives insurance companies actually more business and more money, is that significant. >> i've been reading this collection of moynihan's letters that's out. he has this great line talking about, in the nixon white house when they were doing the center left social policy and the left was killing them anyway, and so they stopped because, as moynihan put it, they're never going to get credit, it's painful so you're putting your head out and getting whacked and so you stop. he's not stopping. i do think there's something about he doesn't understand why we don't understand how hard that battle was. and it was the first time since roosevelt, t.r. and al coainment. and he kept telling us from the beginning there would be cost containment. when it passed, he said there will be cost containment and we kept saying around this table there was not and guess what? after the dust settled everybody looked around and said, this doesn't contain health care costs. this doesn't tackle theish yoous that both sides needed passed. >> do you know what struck me? you know when he said there were things he had done which the public didn't seem to know about, you have to wonder why didn't the public know about it when he made so many media appearances? i do think in this era where there isn't any central stand, shrink the more tv he does, because he's doing so much, he goes on so many really gets th traction that it would if you had one centralized place to make your message. that is the new media environment where you have to do all these different shows to get these little segmented audiences. by the end of it, you're the invisible man. >> if the economy was good, this would be having a completely different effect. it's not. >> again, let's step back. we're, what, four days, five days, six days -- five days before an election where democrats, jon are on the vernlg of being routed across america. we'll show polls in a second that suggest that. the president did not go on "the daily show" last night to help tom perriello in virginia. to help russ feingold in wisconsin. who did he go on last night to help? >> the committee to reelect the president. >> amen. that's what all this was about. >> as tina said, this is his base. he's clearly watching the show which is very interesting. can you imagine george w. bush admitting he watched anything except for "sports center?" >> what else do you need to watch. but go ahead. >> there you go, given the rangers. this is 2012 brand management. it's yet another sign of the free agency of politics. yes, it's going to be a big republican night come tuesday. then there's november 3rd and they're all running for re-election for him. >> the worst argument for him is the way the young are completely tuning out. he has to get them back. >> absolutely. it brings to mind, also, your first political column -- >> it's about his brand management. >> and how it's been diminished. >> it's been diminished and all the attack ads going after foreign money that "the washington post" calls xenophobic. i think john is exactly right. i think we may be seeing, i know they're seeing internal polls at the white house that's giving him a lot of reason to think that tuesday is going to be really bad. i still think that's why he goes to perriello's district, a district where bill clinton would help more than barack obama. he knows it's not going well and he's going to say thanks. willie geist, he is preaching the the converted on "the daily show" because it is 2012. the second this 2010 election is over and it's bad news for the president, if it's bad news for the president, he's got to worry about his next election. his brand has been diminished over the past year. >> to tina's point that the president is overexposed and these things lack punch, i agree for the most part. this is one of the last places where he does an appearance on "the daily show" or a show like that, where it's actually a moment and we wait to see what's going to happen, will there be a funny moment? what will they talk about if it was another cnn interview we'd show a couple clips and move on. but you're waiting for a moment. only jon stewart can provide that, when a president goes on a show like this, it becomes memorable and an event. i don't think it helps election day. think the heck of a job brownie's moment is one that a lot of people will be talking about. also, when jon stewart challenged the 2008 campaign message, hope and change. but he kind of put the president on the spot and president obama had to sort of rework the open change message. there were a couple moments. >> i think there were a couple moments, but the moments were jon stewart's moments. you had a president that was on the offensive, a president that looked a bit more -- >> all right. five days to go. >> let me say really quickly, i had a good democratic friend e-mail me this morning and saying you're losing all your credibility by being so cautious, not that you thought anybody would say -- basically said there's no evidence of the democrats going to maintain control of the house and the senate which i'm still not ready to jump off a cliff. i just remember new hampshire the day before where everybody said hillary was going to lose by 11. will she lose by 11 or 15 points? it ain't over until it's over. >> a lot of these are close. some of these approval ratings are amazing. this is "the new york times"-cbs news poll. most american want new blood in congress. here is what the poll finds, that republicans have wiped out the advantage held by democrats in recent election cycles among women, roman catholics, less affluent americans and independents. all those groups broke for then senator obama in 2008. now 57% of registered voters say they are more willing to take a chance this year on a candidate with little previous political experience. if the election were being held today, 46% would vote for the republican in their district compared to 40% who would choose the democrat. also disapproval of congress -- look at this -- remains near its highest level in the history of "the new york times"-cbs poll. >> a 14% approval rating. >> isn't that a margin of error? >> president obama -- look at this, his approval rating remains in the 40s, mi 40s, about where former president bill clinton's approval rating was back in 1994. a lot of parallels here, when republicans swept control of the house and senate. however, a majority, 56% of americans are optimistic about the president's next two years in office. w state? >> i do really quickly. americans believe what i believe. america believes that divided government will be good for barack obama. you saw it, it was good for bill clinton. and i think it will be good for barack obama. >> i think there's a huge argument for that. >> divided government wasn't so bad for george w. bush. remember it was after he lost, after he lost congress that he fired donald rumsfeld the next day, that condi rice started having more influence than the neocons, that his foreign policy was actually put on the right track. let's go through quickly state by state and talk about it at 6:30. >> nevada, harry reid, this is close, and sharron angle, 45-49. i just -- looking at the approval ratings for congress, it looks like sharron angle could take this one. let's go to pennsylvania, again really close between sestak and toomey, almost within the margin of error. >> toomey moving ahead a little bit there. >> california, jerry brown and meg whitman. brown having the edge there. meg whitman not really getting any traction with voters there, not even with all that money. >> it just hasn't worked. barbara boxer, fiorina, bother 50, fiorina at 45% at this point. seems pretty close. colorado, michael bennet and ken buck, also neck and neck. kentucky, conway and rand paul, 43% to rand paul's 50%. looks like rand paul could take that one. really coming off as far more senatorial. >> i really do believe kentucky is over, and i think kentucky is over in part because of conway's stupid, stupid commercial, questioning rand paul's faith. >> and his debate performance. >> exactly. i think you can put florida for rubio and kentucky pretty solidly in the election column. >> our or ak which is where we scrape the web for opinions and the buzz and mix it with the poll results, we have the oracle, historical wave with a final count of 230 for republicans, 205 for democrats. the oracle thinks it's closer than most.te has been at 51 whereas the polling is closer to 52 or 53. that's interesting. it's going to be have very, very exciting -- >> up next, politico exposea slick behind the scenes strategy used in a dozen toss-up house races. how democrats plan to divide and conquer the republican vote. game one of the world series, this one billed as a pitcher's duo. the bats were alive last night in san francisco. complete highlights coming up. first bill karins with a check of the forecast. >> good morning everyone. one more day of summer-like temperatures. then it will cool off where it should be for this time of year. take a look, in the 60 you can get away without the jacket for d.c. through new york and even into boston. that cooler air has arrived for our friend in pittsburgh and in buffalo. today's high temperature, going to be a dry day, leave the umbrella at home. should be sunny most of the day. high 70 to 75. this is a lunch outdoor type day. the huge storm we talked about is going to begin to exittoday. wee had 42 tornadoes in the last two days, thunderstorms this morning, some of them strong along new orleans to mobile, right along the gulf. as far as the forecast for the country goes, middle of the country, quiet but cooler, only a high of 47 in chicago. almost feeling like winter. you're watching "morning joe" brewedy starbucks. ♪ [ ted ] for years, i was just a brewer. until one of the guys brought in some fresh bread that he'd made from our pale ale. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity to grow, the hartford is there. protecting their property and helping them plan their employees' retirement. ♪ beer or bread? [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com. we now have the audio for the charlie sheen 911 call. take a listen. >> thank you for calling 911. to report charlie sheen driving his car off a cliff, press one. to report charlie sheen drunk and naked on your lawn, press two. to report charlie sheen trashing your hotel, press three. all of our charlie sheen opators are busy. please hold. my goodness. >> , dear. 20 past the hour. "st. pete times," charlie crist shifts negative in his ads and speeches. some backers worried the florida senate candidate is taking off the gloves too when going after republican front-runner marco rubio. here is a quick look at crist's newest ad. >> on tuesday you'll choose a path for our state and nation. down one road is extremism where roe vs. wade is overturned and being a moderate is a concern. that's the road sarah palin, the tea party and marco rubio want to take us down. it's a doing rouse road. the polls say i'm the only one who can stop them. if you're sick of the extremism and the gridlock, join our fight for common sense. i'm charlie crist and i approve this messagement don't forget to find me online nine on your ballot. >> tough choices lie ahead for people seeking compensation for the oil spill in the gulf of mexico. ken feinberg said yesterday the government would begin offering final settlements on november 23rd to qualified recipients who agree not to sue bp. mika, we were told earlier that would not be a choice that would have to be made. all my friends in northwest florida say this process has been nothing short of a nightmare. >> "usa today," some good off the field news for college football plarp. graduation rates at an all-time high of 69%. among the top teams ranked in the bcs, stanford highest with the rate of 86%, university of miami second with 81%. >> in the "wall street journal," the san francisco giants hoping a secret weapon will help the team win its first world series, first baseman aubrey huff says he started wearing a red thong with gold glitter back in august and credits the skimpy underwear for the team's late season lake. winning 20 of 30 games and eventually a spot in the world series. would d ct guy named aubrey? that's the name of a bread song "and aubrey was her name," a not so ordinary girl or name. that's disturbing. >> that's how i got my 5:30 a.m. show, a lot of hard work, but also wearing a red thong with gold glitter. >> do you think charlie sheen is wearing a red thong? >> oh, stop! >> you willie and this aubrey guy, jon meacham. how many men do i know wearing a red thong with gold glitter? it's disgusting. >> do they have those at brooks brothers? >> just go to politico. >> let's ask jonathan martin what he wears. he's here with the morning playbook. good morning. >> hey, willie. no comment. >> no red thongs with gold glitter? >> you're just back from iowa, what did you see out there? >> so striking willie, two years after president obama's presidency was launched in that state with the caucuses there and winning in the general election in a big way, the state has turned cold for the president. you're going to see a new gop governor probably. you're going to see some pickups in the state house, maybe even get a congressional seat there in iowa. what's really interesting is to watch tv ads and go to some of the gop events. there's so much more energy now for the republicans, and they're now not afraid to openly go after president obama. he's still personally popular in that state, but politically, willie, you're seeing some gop ads saying don't vote for this democrat state rep. it's very striking. >> also you're doing reporting on those close house races. part of the democratic strategy you say is actually to back some tea party candidates, hoping to fracture the republican vote. >> it's really interesting. this happens every cycle. it's fairly widespread this time around on the democratic side. what they're doing is trying to bolster libertarians, the tea party-backed, third party candidates who may get, willie, 1% or 2%, trying to get to 5% or 6%, trying to syphon away votes from whoever the gop is doing this through mailers and tv spots and touting the conservative credentials of that third party candidate, using rhetoric that you typically wouldn't see from democratic mail pieces and ads. they're in that sort of point right now where whatever it takes to get their incumbents by, they're going to do it. oftentimes that can mean bolstering some of these little known obscure candidates. >> wow. democrats for the tea party. who would have thunk it. jonathan martin, thanks so much. coming up next, big changes for the way consumers read food labels? a special programming note. the morning after the midterm elections "morning joe" will broadcast before a live studio audience from historic are studio 8 h right up there at 30 rock. more tickets just opened up. you can still get in. if you haven't been able to, try again. you can find information on joe.msnbc.com orr call 212-664-3056. "morning joe" is coming right back. live look at capitol hill. the sun has yet to come up over washington, c. >> can we take this to a higher level? i always find -- i listen to the people. you know i'm the man of the people. and chris, the people are constantly reaching out. >> they're trying to help, joe. >> they like to be a part of the dialogue. >> we want them to be part. >> and have their input. >> dwight in columbus, ohio, writes tell willie not to forget when donning his guarder belt, the rose goes in front of the big guy. >> i don't even know what that means. i have some ideas. >> speaking of "american freak show." maybe we'll cut off this dialogue with the people. let's do the news right now, mika. >> enough with the people. all right. a look at the news for you this morning at half past the hour, riders on the washington, d.c. subway system are being warned to remain alert after the fbi arrested a pakistani born virginia man yesterday who they say had a goal of killing as many subway riders as possible. authorities say farooque ahmed believed he was working for al qaeda when he cased subway stations for six months and allegedly concluded the best way to inflict maximum damage was with rush hour attacks using rolling suitcases filled with explosives. ahmed faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted. still investigatorsevern danger because the people ahmed thought were al q enforcement. >> you know, seriously, when they're wearing the badges, that should have been a tip. >> i think they probably did a very good job misleading him. >> i think he and his crowd are so cool. >> they're doing it here, too. >> did it >> seriously? is that where they take them to the training camps. >> well, good for the police. >>i moving on. a major food manufacturing organization representing more than 300 companies is taking an extra step to combat obesity. the group says it's workg system. are yo sighing? is that like al gore sitting next to me in a debate? it doesn't work. labeling for the front -- they're going to put the labeling on the front of food packages that will make it easier for customers to see a product's calorie content and health information. the new labels which were pushed by federal regulators will appearerly next year. it's a great idea. a great idea. i have good ideas. do you think he'll want to hear them? >> i'm sure the mayor will. >> it's portion control. we know that. >> portion control but a lot of the food that you buy in the grocery store and you eat in restaurants is filled with things -- >> fantastic. let's go to willie in sports. what's up? >> joe, i got back late last night from this great book event we had at borders, got back to the hotel room. i ordered up the burger. have you ever put the fries in the burger and then the bun -- >> yes, yes. >> is that good or what? >> actually when i order in room, i'll order two orders of french fries, one for the burger, one for the plate. >> yes, yes. it makes it a little crunchy. >> have you ever fried those things and had the cheese, cheese on top>> now you're talk gravy. >> the goodness. last night game one of the wodn supposed to be a pitcher's duel. if you live in the greater new york area, you have cablevision as your provider, you wouldn't know there was a game. ople in t you couldn't see the game in new yo, at&t park to a 2-0 lead. but giants finally got to cliff . freddy sanchez, an th field wal torres. four batters later, aubrey huff with the thong hits one up the middle. pat burrell scores. cliff lee entered the game with a 7-0 postseason record. pulled after 4 inning, gave up only seven runs. darren o'day comes on to put out the fire, to instead, gives up the back breaker. a three-run home run by juan your reap pay. giants scored six runs in the fifth inning. they won game one 11-7. cliff lee snapped his unbeaten postseason streak with a loss. tim lincecum not much better for the giants, 5 2/3, giving up eight hits and four runs. so much for the. >> these giants are an exciting team. >> they are. the city is really excited. the cliff lee thing couldn't last forever. he was bound to snap at some.. he did last night. >> i didn't realize because i grew up with willie mckov vee and willie maze and all the great giants teams, i didn't realize the giants haven't won the series since 1954. >> that's right. they went in 2002. barry bonds went to a game seven with the angels. they lost that game set. they're fired up in the bay area right now. nba, lebron james, they lost the first game to the celtics, he and his heat did. they got another shot last night sense the 6ers? in the third quarter lebron james finds dwyane wade, a little alley-oop slam. yes, the heat will not lose every game this season. they win 97-87. in an interview yesterday, cavs owner dan gilbert, he sent the letter out blasting lebron after his decision televised on espn, he said the decision to leave cleveland was a, quote, cowardly betrayal. when asked about the heat's opening loss on tuesday, gilbert said sarcastically, i guess they're only going to be 81-1 now. >> you showed the nike ad a couple days ago, what should i do? i think there's only one thing he needs to do seriously, he needs to apologize to the kids in cleveland whose heart he broke. he fleeds to apologize to his fans. >> that's the opposite of what that ad does. the ad ends with a slogan, just do it, which is about celebrating the kind of sul en bad boy, a decision for me. the ad makes him the victim, it's him against the world which is not quite believable. you're going to love this clip. play-by-play announcers, college football announcers get a little rap wrapped up in the game. during saturday's arkansas state-florida atlantic game, announcer dave lamont took it too far. he saw his hometown quarterback involved in a helmet to helmet collision. >> he took a hit to the head on the slide where is the flag? where is the flag? a hit to the head on the slide is a flag. >> he's got to come out of the game now. it's ridiculous. i can't believe that. i cannot believe that. >> took him a while to get into the slide. >> he is defenseless. he's defenseless!down. i don't really careif you people look at me in the press box. you know what? i don't care. that's a flag. and i'll fight any one of you if you want. that's the mood i'm in at the moment. apparently the team is not the only one melting down here. >> that's diamond dave lamont sounding exactly like will ferrell,ly fight anyone in this press box, i will fight you. dave lamont. coming up next, the must-read opinion pages. a brand new poll alaska senate race. an update on joy behar's rather unkind word for nevada senate candidate sharron angle. we'll show you how joy reacted after angle actually sent joy flowers yesterday. not the response you might expect. we're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. what can i get ya? i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee. sure, decaf or regular? - regular. - cake or pie? - pie. - apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream... please. when other toppings are made with hydrogenated oil, the real dairy cream in reddi-wip's sure an easy choice. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. fork or... spoon? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more $2, $3 fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more paying to access your own money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it'd be like every atm in the world was your atm. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 the schwab bank high yield investor checking(tm) account. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 zero atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a great interest rate. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no minimums. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 the biggest thing in checking since checks. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 open an account at 1-800-4schwab or schwab.com. to cover up flaws and make skin look pretty but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. trogena thyere's one thskin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin's natural texture, tone, or clarity. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics recommended most by dermatologists. you have said you've been consistent. yet it was earlier this year that you were quoted as saying that social security needs to be eliminated. >> i never said to eliminate it. that's never come out of my mouth, senator. that's yet another mischaracterizati mischaracterization. >> it was reported in the "anchorage daily news." >> right, which is basically your arm piece. >> is sarah palin qualified to be president? >> of course, she is. you look at who we have in office right now and compare the two, there's no comparison. >> senator murkowski? >> if she were to run right now, i would not support her as president. welcome back to "morning joe." with us we have jon meacham, tina brown and willie geist from washington. he was there for his book. >> a new poll out by the way. alaska senate race, joe miller is sitting at 23%, scott mcadams at 29% and write-in candidate, lisa murkowski at 34%. joe miller has had some problems. and i don't know that he helped himself last night in that debate either. >> must-read opinion pages, we've chosen two, one from "the washington post," voter verdict, more uncertainty, by david brodeur. he writes this, what is true of the economic debate is equally the case when it comes to other issues. neither party regularly presents compelling spokesmen making articulate argumentless. the public rightly senses that the campaign rhetoric is shop worn, goz zi stuff, not substantial enough for the wear and tear of the real world. with the recent ex-oh does of three key figures, there's a temporary gap in the executive branch as well. no wonder the voters are uncertain. so are the postal workers. interesting. i think that's a fair assessment. the exodus of the economic team, jon meacham, we haven't talked about enough. isn't that a real sign of we've got to reset this thing. we've got to turn things over and find something new. >> it is. you think about it on a practical human managerial level, they had such a hard time filling those jobs in the beginning, remember people tell stories about finding tim geithner wandering the halls and you have people leaving. you have this sort of very narrow window in those first two years. >> also there's a real cry that's gone out for he needs more hands-on, experienced meters of payroll around him. the trouble is those kind of guys couldn't stand the life it takes. inside that economic circle it's a very sort of -- all? service to the president, you don't get to express yourself in a way you can if you're in business. it's an unrealistic call to have these business honchos around him. i don't know who he puts in, unless he's waiting and hoeing off and has somebody in mind. he would love to have bloomberg. why would a billionaire -- he's not going to do it. >> if you talk to a lot of business people that run big corporations that supported barack obama, they've been so disillusioned by him and so disturbed by what they perceive to be his basic lack of understanding about what creates jobs, what grows the economy, that a lot of the top people that would have filled those positions two years ago won't go near it. >> it's too tough. then you look at brodeur talking about -- >> it's too tough with a president that doesn't understand what creates economic growth. >> we talked about this off-air. to my democratic friends and i have many. go to "the new york times" a-22 today. i want you to looked at a particular cross tab. it's something that democrats never understand. family incomes under $50,000 are breaking republican this year. and we are always led to believe that this populist rhetoric, tax cuts for the rich, soak the rich, pound the rich, punish the rich will somehow draw working class voters towards them. it never does. i talked about abolishing capital gains tax when i wouldn't have made a dime off it. i talked about cutting taxes for the top income earners when it wouldn't have benefitted me at all back in '94 when i ran. i won overwhelmingly voters making $30,000 or less. i never talked social issues. i just didn't do it. i talked economy. jon meacham, they get it. if you try to soak the people that run america's economy and have small businesses, you're going to be hurting the working class people because the rich always take care of themselves. >> that's exactly right. >> i think that's what they know. they know the rich always take care of themselves. >> exactly. when people hear tax increase, i think they know somehow or another, when they go to h&r block, they're not going to have the protections that the assumer rich are going to have. if you want to produce both a cultural and an economic conservative backlash, raise taxes really high. i submit prop 8, prop 13 and the reagan election. the reason ronald reagan became a republican is because he was paying incredibly high marginal rates. people connected, identified with the fact that they didn't want to be writing a big check to the government. >> people didn't want to write a big check to the government. again, what democrats, a lot of liberal democrats don't understand is, when they talk about tax cuts for the rich, when they talk about raising capital gains tax, when we have 15% real unemployment, working class americans get it time and time again. they got it in '94 after bill clinton's tax increase. they get it now, that that's going to hurt them. >> look at the front page of "the washington post," new "washington post" poll concerns concerns about being able to make your housing payments have spiked since 2008 despite overall improvement in the economy. that's where the voters are. they're scared to be able to even make their payments. >> i also feel they just don't feel the president is a manager. i think that's what kind of gets through. the reason they want these extreme candidates is they want to say if somebody could just get their hands around this thing and shake it hard. every time the president goes out, it seems to be a different message. that time when he was trashing boehner, it was like what is this about? he doesn't seem to have a consistent -- >> it will be interesting to see the kind of reset these midterms put in place for this white house. tina brown, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> you had quite an event in new orleans. i'm getting e-mails all about it. >> we did this innovator's summit. it was remarkable. we were able to showcase all these young entrepreneurs from new orleans who have all got these small projects seeded by their ideas lab. >> general mcchrystal. >> we had general mcchrystal who did a leadership seminar with three or four guys. we had david nealman who started jetblue. actually mcchrystal was very appealing, running that panel. he's so kind of -- he drew people out and in an extraordinary way he was really great. >> you have done it again. tina brown, thank you. still ahead, carl bernstein. also the nation's katrina vanden heuvel. but first, willie, what do you have coming up? >> two days ago joy behar said sharron angle is going to hell. sharron angle yesterday sent joy behar flowers. i'm sure that went well. no, joy ramped up the attacks after getting the flowers. we'll show you what happened when we come right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's luxury with fire in its veins. bold. daring. capable of moving your soul. ♪ and that's even before you drop your foot on the pedal. ♪ the new 2011 cts coupe from cadillac. the new standard of the world. the new 2011 cts coupe from cadillac. [ man ] ♪ trouble ♪ trouble, trouble trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. take the scary out of life. sure ii just wish that all of the important information was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com. ♪ when it's planes in the sky ♪ ♪ for a chain of supply, that's logistics ♪ ♪ when the parts for the line ♪ ♪ come precisely on time ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ a continuous link, that is always in sync ♪ ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ there will be no more stress ♪ ♪ cause you've called ups, that's logistics ♪ ms. snooki was here because the journal ran a piece about the season's most popular halloween costumes, with "jersey shore" characters topping the list. i always get all my costume ideas from the "wall street journal." last year i went as ben bernanke. >> that's a cool mask. i hadn't seen that one. >> oh, yes. is it time? >> it is time. yesterday we showed you joy behar on "the view" using choice words talking about nevada's republican senate can't dat sharron angle. using the b word saying she's going to hell in response to an ad angle had up about illegal immigration. yesterday apparently she got a bouquet of flowers from sharron angle. not as nice as you might think. she sent the bouquet saying thanks a lot. i raised $150,000 online alone because of your comments. here are these flowers as my way of thanks. so joy, talking about the flowers yesterday. >> yesterday i had a bit of a, how shall we put it, on the air with ms. sharron angle. >> bring it to the bronx bitch. >> this morning i get these flowers, it says, joy, raised $150,000 online yesterday. thanks for your help, sincerely sharron angle. >> she has a sense of humor. >> i'd like to point out those flowers were picked by illegal immigrants and they're note voting for you bitch. >> wow. going back to the b word. so what? who cares, that's joy behar doing her thing. mika, you'll be very interested in this. charlie sheen, an important update on that story. the woman who was apparently in the room with charlie sheen had been portrayed unfairly we learn as a hooker. the woman who was in the room wants you to know that she is no hooker, guys. she is a hard core porn star. she wants to clear that up. she's been smeared in the papers as a prostitute. she's nothing of the sort. she's an adult film star that goes by the name of caprice anderson. that's 22-year-old caprice anderson. she's apparently a huge star and she resents having been called a hooker over the last couple days in the press. no, she's an adult film star and an artist. >> no. she's a lost girl and charlie sheen should be ashamed. >> judge and ye be not judged. seriously? jesus says that by the same stanza you judge others so, too, will you be judged, okay? >> i feel very, very sad for her. >> why is joy behar so upset? it's not like sharon ang sl running against king arthur or something. she's running against harry reid. so insulted over that? >> look who is here. still ahead carl bernstein will be on the show, also an exclusive first look at the new cover of "time" magazine. we'll be right back. hi, carl. so good to see you. when i was 16, i was hired as a cashier at the walmart in marinette, wisconsin. that first job launched my career. since i've been with the company, i've been promoted ten times over the span of 11 years. today, i'm a divisional learning and development manager. we can actually help people develop in their own careers. my job allows me to make a difference in the lives of almost 100,000 associates in the northeast. if you think about it, that's almost 8 times the size of my hometown. my name is nick and i work at walmart. ♪ you ran on very high rhetoric, hope and change. and the democrats this year seem to be running on please, baby, one more chance. >> when the economy is growing but is still not growing as fast as it needs to to make up for the 8 million jobs that were lost, folks are going to be frustrated. we have passed historic health care reform, historic financial regulatory reform. we have done things that some folks don't even know about. >> what have you done that we don't know about? are you plan ag surprise party for us? >> welcome back to "morning joe." top of the hour, 7:00 on the east coast. live look at the white house, the lights are on. the sun has yet to come up. jon meacham is still with us. joining the table, journalist and author carl bernstein. good to have you on board this morning. >> what did you think of "the daily show?" >> i think you had, jon meacham, relay the takeaway, that this is about two years from now. there's nothing you can really do about today. >> right. jon, last hour you were talking about since the president is not campaigning on the trail, which is shocking five days out, democrats, operatives are shocked by that. he's going on the daily show. you said it was more about his brand and the democratic party's brand. >> certainly he's been out there. it's about 2012. it's both base and brand because "the daily show" is the obama base. i remember thinking when he lost jon stewart it's a little like johnson and cronkite. and if you begin -- so this is about i think brand and base management, and he looks -- the striking thing to me is the president wasn't wildly articulate and doesn't seem to have any real joy in this fight. >> 2008 he was a happy warrior. it's interesting you say that. carl, yesterday i was in my office in a meeting, and i looked through the glass window, and the president was holding a press conference. he was somewhere -- he was up talking, and i just looked and stopped. and you know how sometimes you sort of see thing and get it? just looked and stopped. i said he just does not seem visually to be happy, to be joyous, to exude what presidents usually exude up there, sort of defeated. we've seen it in all presidents. every presidency has a season. but certainly visually it was striking to me yesterday that this president is not in a good place. >> it's not a time to be very enthusiastic up there and saying what a great time this is. i think we're misreading this election a little bit because i think it's bigger than what we're talking about. i think it represents not a big republican victory as much as recognition in the country that we have a broken system, that the country is broken, our institutions aren't working. wall street, particularly the bankers have looted us. there's recognition of that. we don't have an infrastructure that works or an education system that works. people are out of jobs. it's not a referendum on obama as i think we're going to see. this is a historic election in which we're finally seeing -- >> it is a referendum on obama. >> -- how broken the country is. >> i agree with you in many respects. this is a referendum on barack obama. >> for a moment what. if you look at his numbers compared to the numbers of the people in congress, they're way over them. he's got plenty of time. he's a very thoughtful guy and thoughtful about the problems of the country. the situation that we're seeing debated is a lot of nonsense on both sides. obama has got some better ideas i think about how to deal with the problems of the country. >> he does? what are they? >> i think he does. i think he's thoughtful. >> i hear he's thoughtful. i hear he's intelligent. i hear he's bright. i hear all these things. what are his ideas on improving the economy moving forward? >> i think he's got a jobs policy. >> what is it? >> i think he'll have a better jobs policy. it's got to be an across the board policy that works, slow and gradual. >> carl, what is his jobs policy moving forward? you said he has a jobs policy. >> he duds. i think it's to somehow stimulate the economy. >> how? >> that's the question. what can he and a congress together do. >> you said he has a jobs policy. what is his jobs policy? >> his jobs policy is to try and create economic growth through stimulus. so far he's been thwarted by members of his own party who reached in to pork barrel and by republicans who threw up their hands and said no. i think you're going to see the same kind of gradual approach and maybe even some of these tea party folks or people inspired by the tea party folks, they're angry enough to try anything. maybe there is going to be some joining of hands in washington. certainly, look, he tried to engage the republicans. >> no, he didn't. no, he didn't. >> joe. >> that is one of the greatest myths. he had them over for a super bowl party and that was inspiring. and then the second he started debating stimulus, the democrats said we're not going to deal with republicans. it's a historical fact. it is a historical fact and obama said okay. he deferred to pelosi, turned it over to congress and he basically said bring me a bill and i'll sign it. that's what happened. >> no. >> that's what happened. that is matter of history. >> that's a short compressed version of what happened. >> no. >> we're talking about a lot of other things. >> when you're talking about a stimulus bill to revive the economy when he say it is economy is going off a cliff and the president sends david axelrod and larry summers up to the hill with a plan that some republicans say they're going to support and democrats inside the caucus say no, we're not going to work with the republicans, we're going to draw up the bill. larry summers comes out and says message received, i'm turning it over to you nancy pelosi, i'm sorry. that's not working with the republicans. >> i disagree with you. i think you saw what happened. many democrats put their hand in the pork pile. many republicans put their hand -- am i correct about this? >> there's a lot of pork. >> -- put their hands in the pork pile. it was an exercise in hypocrisy on both sides in the congress. >> i agree with you. who, by the way has a 14% approval rating. >> let's take a listen -- >> not on the part of the president. >> let's take a look at some of last night's highlights in terms of when president praised departing economic adviser larry summers. this is quite a moment. >> larry summers did a heck of a job trying to figure out -- >> you don't want to use that phrase, dude. >> pun intended. >> all right. >> heck of a job. >> that exchange, of course u echoing comments the president made in praise of fema director mike brown in his response to the aftermath of hurricane katrina. >> what was interesting there, the president said pun intended. >> he caught himself. >> but it wasn't intended. >> he saw somebody the corner going like this. >> that is a level. it shows something. was he fully there? i'm not talking about being a joyous war wror. wow, is great, 9.5% unemployment. >> but hold on a second though. fdr, 1933 stepped into a situation far worse than the one we're dealing with now and fdr understood optimism matters. >> so did ronald reagan in 1981. that's what i mean. there's a kind of -- great politicians always love politics. you can't have contempt for the enterprise. >> bill clinton loved politics. >> my favorite story. fdr used to snow who the postmaster in akron was. that's how he relaxed. nick lemon tells the story in "the promised land" somebody coming across lbj on a saturday night going through school board election results to relax. you have to love that. >> the president does not, he does not love politics. even his closest friends says he doesn't love it the way fdr or lbj loves it. he doesn't love it the way clinton loved it. he doesn't. if you don't love it, it is a gruesome, gruesome enterprise. i used to have guys come up to me all the time after i got elected. they decided they wanted to be in politics. they wanted to -- looks like it's so much fun. i said it's not fun. i said let me tell you something. you should never go into the ministry unless you hear jesus talking into your ear or it will be the most miserable thing in your life. second thing, never go into politics unless you love it. unless you have the calling, unless you feel like you can make a difference. if you don't, if you're president of the united states, it's the worst. >> i think you nailed it when you honed in on the word optimism. that's something americans are working for. i think the dialogue has gotten -- it's broken down. even this jon stewart, we'll show one more clip from this. it was about jon stewart last night. he had some moments there. >> i don't think jon stewart tried to make it about himself. i think the moments, though, the good moments were jon stewart's moments. >> this rally that i think he's having -- is it with stephen colbert, that is something that is resonating. quite frankly, it's -- you've been ahead of this, joe. that is the message that the show is based on. you created this out of a need for keeping calm. it's pretty much the only place on television where you can find that dialogue where you and carl can disagree without being disagreeable. >> i love carl. >> you guys disagreeable. let's go back to obama for a minute. you are not wrong. he is movremoved emotionally fr all kinds of things that other presidents sink their teeth into. at the same time i think there's a little too much destain that we're hearing here about he's not in it to do things, that implication or to really affect change or do something historic. >> i think obama's destain for washington, he will let you know he destained washington. his staff members will. again, that's fine. people love outsiders, but at the same time you've got to at least respect what washington is and understand how to win there. >> i think you're mistaking something about washington and atmospherics. i think from what i know talking to people in the white house, he eels a very difficult guy to get a handle on. there's a new book out that talks about him as an intellectual for instance. if you say that, people go oh, my god, an intellectual. he is in many rards. bill clinton was an intellectual. roosevelt was an intellectual as well as having a common touch. >> who is your favorite intellectual? >> senator mack mathias from maryland for many years who i loved deeply. but i think we're talking atmospherics and there's a big difference between the atmospherics which he has destain for in washington and what washington can do. we're talking about is president who knows what happened with all kinds of legislation historically that changed this country. he knows this. he doesn't destain that kind of politics. >> all right. there's a lot of destain to go around. he destains the way people, if i read it right, are doing business in washington. and we all ought to destain it. >> you know what, carl, he should destain the way he ran the health bill, the way he did behind the scenes with people he later claimed he was going to be opposing, how he bowed down to big pharma and the big hospital interests. >> he made a lot of political compromises -- >> behind closed doors. "the new york times" reported it on the front page. he did closed door deals with unions. he did closed door deals -- if you want to destain washington, destain washington. just don't be a hypocrite about it. >> i don't think he's been a hypocrite. >> practice what you preach, walk the walk, talk the talk. ki come up with a thousand of these. carl, let's stop this, buddy. wheel let you tell us why barack obama is perfect in a second. you think he's perfect. but we need to go through some polls. >> he is not perfect by any means. here is one of the reasons why. a new cbs news poll with "the new york times" adds to mounting evidence it's a bad year to be an incumbent. the poll finds that republicans wiped out the advantage held by democrats in recent elections by romans, less affluent americans and independents. 57% of registered voters say they're more willing to take a chance on a candidate with little previous experience. >> i have to say, the biggest problem in washington right now i believe is it's being run by somebody that had too little experience before they got into the white house. that's just the reality of it. doesn't understand how to bring people into a room like bill clinton understood how to do it, like lbj understood how to do it. >> okay. there are parallels to bill clinton here. >> i'm going to make carl have a brain hemorrhage here. if the election were held today, 46% would vote republican in their district compared to 40% who would go democrat. disapproval of congress remains in the highest level at 76%. >> stunning. carl has been looking into this. carl we're going to talk about this next block, too. 14%. keep going on the ratings. >> president obama's approval rating remains in the mid 40s which is about where former president clinton's rating was back in 1994 when republicans swept control of the house and senate. >> jon meacham, that number is higher than bill clinton's and ronald reagan's at this point. >> absolutely. >> so so unemployment. that's the big reason i think. >> it just seems to me one of the things that this conversation also represents is that there is a growing gap between not only rich and poor in the country, but also the really politically active and the politically dependent. i think a lot of the anti incumbent sentiment that mika is reading about is absolutely about, you know what? there's a lot of chatter going on and i need a job. >> right. i will tell you this, one of the more positive things out of this poll, not only for the president but for american is the fact that "the new york times" also asked how is the president going to do over the next two years? numbers are pretty darn high. americans still have confidence that barack obama can be that guy that they saw in iowa that talked about bringing america together. he has not acted like that guy. just like bill clinton didn't act like that in '93 and '94. bill clinton, after republicans took over congress, found himself. he became a national leader. i think barack obama can do the same thing. >> we'll be back with the white house's reaction to the president's appearance on "the daily show." the new issue of "time" magazine. "morning joe" has an exclusive first look at the cover. first let's go to bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> hundreds of flights canceled, 42 tornadoes, severe weather widespread through the southeast. today we get a break from it. the airports are clear as could be right now. we're looking really good. a little breezy and cold around minneapolis. it's going to be a pretty nice afternoon. temperatures are very mild on the eastern seaboard. i can't tell everyone enough to appreciate the warmth you're going to see today. i just upped the high temperatures. now going 75 to almost near 80 in some areas. even in connecticut, that's near record highs for this time of year. d.c. perfect, 75, sunny. not going to be humid like it was yesterday. the rest of the country, middle of the nation, a little cooler. not going to be stormy. the thunderstorms this morning are down along the gulf in new orleans, pensacola, panama city. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. this is from fox 5 in new york yesterday. they did a live report with the glee club from a local middle school, and this happened. >> do you have a lot of drama. are you that competitive? >> no, mostly friendly in the whole class. >> do you sing and dance and dress up in costumes at all? >> we mostly sing, but we like to do a little dancing. >> all right. >> whoa -- oh, my goodness. are you okay? i think we just had someone faint here. should we get the song on the road here? here to sing "america the beautiful" let's get pit attic guys, if you can start right now. take it away. >> i guess she's not a mom. >> the televised life. >> i had a lot of those moments. >> the show must go on. >> savannah guthrie is with us at the white house. before we talk about "the daily show" let's talk about california. you've been out in california. looks like actually a big democratic wave in that state. the governor's race and in the senate race. what's going on? >> i'm just looking at a couple of the new polls. i know you've got them from cnn and time which show actually a tighter race than when i was there in this big l.a. times and usc poll came out, it showed jerry brown running for governor having a double digit lead over his opponent meg whitman and carly fiorina was down by eight points. these new polls out of california actually show a tightening of that race. top strategist with the whitman campaign and fiorina campaign had a lot of problems with "the l.a. times" poll. they said it was closer. that's going to be a fascinating race. it does look as though the democrats are probably prevail there. can't overstate how important that is, particularly in the senate race for democrats. if they want to hold on to the u.s. senate, they have to hold on to california. >> what i've heard is from california inveeders from both sides, if they have to pick a race that's competitive, that fiorina might pull off a shocking upset. but that whitman is done. >> that's consistent with what i hear from top strategists there. what's completely fascinating about this is if you had told a bunch of strategists a year ago, this is how the two are going to run the races. meg whitman will go back to the center and run more as an independent candidate during the general election. they would say in california, that's what a republican has to do to win statewide. it's a blueish state. >> carly fiorina has not done that. she's actually run to the right. she right on social issues. she stayed just where she was in the republican primary and yet this is a closer race against barbara boxer. >> she seems to be doing better. while you were talking a new field poll came out that showed jerry brown with a ten-point lead. jon mech chapel? >> do you know quite how bad this will be? >> some of the senate races, pennsylvania is key. the president is going to go there this weekend. connecticut, i think a lot of people think the democrats will win in connecticut. if that were to go down, that would indicate the wave was huge and potentially insurmountable. i think they'll be looking at a lot of the places where the president has traveled. he's been in ohio a lot. been in pennsylvania a lot. we'll return to both of those places this weekend. >> all right. i haven't found any newspapers that have a real flattering description of the president's performance on the daily show. our take on it here has certainly been clear. how is the white house feeling about the decision to have the president appear with jon stewart and take questions? >> they're really standing by this strategy. talked to a couple of people this morning and they say, look, we're reaching an audience of about 2 million people who are key to democrats. you've got to get the young voters out to the polls, the folks that voted for obama in 2008. here they are hearing from the president directly. now, you might note and i'm sure you have that a lot of the jokes, the laugh lines seem to be on obama. they weren't -- they were at obama's expense. so it's a little bit of a mixed bag. they say nevertheless, the president is there, he's responding to the criticism. he's showing he's a fighter, he's making his argument. >> putting himself out there which i like a lot. >> savannah, that's what we were saying. there were moments last night, but they were jon stewart's moments. i do want to go back to -- and i think jon meacham touched on something kind of important. that back in -- i'm not comparing jon stewart to walter cronkite or obama to johnson -- >> you wrote about this with schieffer actually. >> i did say with schieffer where schieffer sort of laughed at daifld axelrod when he was talking about foreign money. >> is that the best you can do? >> johnson said, if i've lost cronkite i've lost middle america. i think it's safe to say that when the president was losing jon stewart, he was losing his base. jon meacham said that. was this his attempt to reconnect? >> reporter: yeah, or to say, look, buck up progressives, it's all kind of on that spectrum of what they've been saying to democrats. look, no, change didn't happen overnight. get real about it. don't give up. get out there and vote. he made his pitch. some of the folks here say look, we already know there's a certain level of discontent out there, a certain lack of motivation for the president to come in, take it on, make his argument. they say it's a good opportunity for them. about two million people i think hey say watch "the daily show." these are viewers they might not otherwise reach. >> many more watch the coverage of it. that's what's really important. that coverage is i think a little less deleterious than we're making it out to be. it's not a comfortable venue for him. at the same time he's still the president. >> i think actually the president last night had an audience of one and it was jon stewart. i think it's probably disturbing to see a guy who is a big supporter for so long who really believed in him turn on him in the past six months and say, hey, what's going on here? so i thought -- >> i'm stay thinking about it. >> i think it was important to be understood not by the audience, but by jon stewart. >> there are two people who are really important in the press, david brooks and jon stewart. he watches both of them very closely. >> also this march coming up, if he can be seen as on the same side of this reasonable divide, and identify with that, i think he helps himself. >> find the right place for it. savannah guthrie, thank you very much. you can catch "the daily rundown" at 9:00 eastern with chuck and savannah right here on msnbc. we'll be right back with general barry mccaffrey with a look at the bloody drug war on the mexican border. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." welcome back to "morning joe." welcome back. 32 past the hour. a ruthless drug war is taking record numbers of victims in mexico where suspected hit men killed 15 people at a car wash yesterday. it was the country's third massacre in less than a week. around 100 people have been killed across mexico since last weekend. joining us now from washington, former u.s. drug czar general barry mccaffrey to talk about this. good to have you on the show. >> he's been covering the drug war down there and he said it is beyond comprehension. we have no idea what's going on just south of our border. put it into perspective for us. >> first of all, i'd assert that the border communities in particular, but probably four of the mexican states are far more dangerous than downtown kabul or bagdad. talking 30,000 murdered, hundreds of u.s. -- mexican security officials -- >> wait, wait. let me stop you there, general. you have spent a lot of time in iraq. you've spent a lot of time in afghanistan. you're telling america this morning that these border towns are more dangerous than the capitals of those two war-torn countries you've been viewing over the past eight years. >> no question. when you look at juarez in particular, sections of the city are now being abandoned, not just by people with money who are moving into the united states, but these poor workers who are now going back to their home states. by the way, mexico, 111 million people, 40 million live in poverty. so this is a huge economic burden on a vitally important u.s. economic partner. that's the second largest source of our oil. half million americans live down there. so these communities are vitally important to u.s. economic progress as well as their own security. >> general, there have always been cartels in mexico and central america, getting rich off america's drug habit. the question is, what was the triggering point? what caused mexico to go over the ledge? >> first of all, i think qualitatively this has changed dramatically. what we're now facing is in most american cities, a couple major american cities across the u.s., the dominant criminal enterprise are mexican cartel control. drug addiction in mexico has skyrocketed. it's something i've been reminding them of. this is a affecting both nations. president caldron is trying to establish the rule of law in mexico, but he's dealing with a mexican law enforcement community, maybe a half million, who are largely intimidated and incompetent or corrupt. >> speaking of courage and integrity and speaking with the police forces there that either are corrupt or intimidated, we brings us to the story of the 20-year-old, the 20-year-old mother who has become i believe a sheriff or police chief because she's the only one who has the courage to do so in one of the most violent towns there. that pretty much sums it up. >> 13 sheriffs have been murdered over the past six months or so. >> and mayors and candidates for the governor's race and army generals. just an astonishing situation. >> can i ask a question of the general? >> sure. >> what if we were to legalize these drugs in the united states? why shouldn't we do it or is it a really bad idea and the effect it would have there? >> mexico is now the principle source of u.s. heroin, methamphetamines, marijuana. these drugs, whether they're legal or illegal do devastating harm. we've probably got -- pick a number you believe in. 13 million people who are abusing alcohol or illegal drugs. it's a source of much of the nation's anguish when you talk to the families, the employers that are involved with these people. so general statement, we're not going to legalize these drugs. it's a bad idea. and if we did, mexican cartels will still be the ones that supply them. >> would it be different than alcohol which we do legalize? >> well, hopefully it would be because alcohol kills over 100,000 people a year and is the dominant devastating impact on american families and the law enforcement system. but the bottom line is, no, heroin is devastating in its impact because the addiction process, i'm very heavy involved, thank god, in the drug treatment community in this country. when you're addicted, it's a tremendous burden on everyone that loves you and admires you. so addiction is something we're concerned about primarily. >> let me bring in jon meacham. >> general, quickly, we have a national security interest in this issue. would you be for projecting american force below the border? >> absolutely not. one of the things -- the saying in mexico is, so close to the united states, so far from god. there's hypersensitivity on the part of the mexican government. the people's relationship with mexico is superb. we like each other. we admire their music, their culture, their language, their hard work, their humility. we clearly cannot interfere directly in their internal affairs. >> so what should we do? >> well, one thing, we've got the merit initiative, $1.3 billion over the coming three years while we're spending $8 billion a month in afghanistan i'm not arguing for or against afghanistan. but to put it in context, we simply haven't focused on mexico adequate adequately. >> all right, general barry mack caffrey, thank you for being on the show. >> good to be with you, at the cover of "time" magazine. looking ahead to tomorrow, oscar winning ak torp michael caine will be on the show. we'll be right back with "morning joe." to save me a boatload of money on my mortgage -- that would be awesome! [sarcastically] sure. like that will happen. don't just think about it. spend 10 minutes at lendingtree and save up to $272 a month. called the humana walmart- preferred prescription plan. it's a medicare prescription drug plan that saves you an average of over $450 a year, with monthly plan premiums less than $15 and copays as low as $2. with savings like these, you have more time to remember what it's really all about. enroll starting november 15. ♪ go to walmart.com for details. what happened is the democrats during the obama administration lost the spin war on stimulus, on health care, even financial responsibility. 95% of the people should have been for that bill. it hasn't been a clear and concise message. >> with us now to unveil this week's "time" magazine cover, we have managing editor rick stengel. rick, what's on the cover this week? >> what's on the cover this week is party crashers. it's about what has happened to the republican party and what will happen. it's four pour trats of marco rubio, rand paul, meg whitman, christine o'donnell and then there are four inside covers with port rats of each of them and -- there you go. and then it's a fantastic story by david vonn drelly who traces what's happened in the body politic to the day that marco rubio announced he was going to challenge charlie crist. that set a whom bunch of things in motion that has basically set the table for this election. >> how interesting, you show the cover with the four people on the cover t two guys in the middle, they're going to get elected. >> yes. >> i'm not sure of a lot of things. i'm sure those two guys are in the middle going to get elected and having two conservatives, fiscal conservatives in the united states senate to team up with the tom coburn and a few other fiscal conservatives who are there. they're going to make a big difference. >> absolutely. part of that story is past its "prologue," it predicts what will happen. we will not have this error of bipartisanship that some people are talking about. a lot of the folks coming into the house and if senate are people that say no compromise, no compromise, no compromise. it's not going to be go along to get along anymore. >> the dynamic may force compromise. >> the system, jovn meacham will force compromise as it did in '94. clinton hated the republicans that came in. they hated him, but they had to get together, work out budget deals. you to do it. squlaems madison requires that. and we balance the budget. >> he needs a statue at epcot. >> he's not around anymore, joe. >> but its constitution is around. guess what? there are hotheads that go to washington, d.c. every two years. every two years they find out they live by james madison's rules. >> it's true. what makes us think this is a workable institution? why are we having a conversation as if this were a sane, workable institution? >> then you're really going back to basics. >> that's the big question. i think that's what this election is about. >> "time" did a terrific cover i think in '64, maybe '63 called "the ultras" the first right wing cover. what is different now? >> i think not that much is different. every four years we seem to rediscover the same things that we're surprised anti, like people care about the economy. that don't like a sitting president after his first two years. a lot of this is recap pit lading that. you have william f. buckley saying back then stop. that's the same thing the republicans are saying now. i think there's a lot of similarities. although what we have with the tea party in the republican party party is whether they will be absorbed oh. >> the look what happened with the perot people in '94. it's an identical group. you look at the goldwater people in '64. they get absorbed. they come together. they elect richard nixon in '68. >> if the republicans are smart, they will be absorbed and the party will expand in both directions. if they spit them out, that would be a problem. >> i will say this, though, what's interesting about the republican party and this is what the mainstream media has lost, has not gotten, the tea party will do two things to the republican party, it's going to make it more conservative fiscally, fiscally. it's going to make it more moderate socially. >> that's true. >> because you talk to people that run the tea party, there are fringe groups all over the place, they don't want to talk about abortion. they want to talk about taxes. they don't want to talk about gay marriage. they want to talk about balancing the budget. that's the part of this story a lot of people in new york have forgotten about. >> the rand paul piece in this story basically says here is a guy who is for small government, fewer taxes and legalizing marijuana. lot of americans don't understand that libertarian combination. it's appealing to some people. >> in looking at this compared to what it was 20 years ago, 30 years ago, that's what the election is about, the condition of real existing america and what voters know is we're in bigger trouble than we have perhaps ever been since the second half of the 20th century. >> i think americans know that. >> that's exactly right. i'm saying that's the underlying question i think goes way beyond republican, democrat, tea party. >> rick, you've got some cnn and time had polls that we've been running at the bottom of the screen. sharron angle 49, reid 45. toomey, another republican associated with the tea party, 49, sestak 45. democrats, moving out in california, brown 51, whitman 44 in the governor's race. in the senate race, boxer 50, fear ran nah 45 in the senate race. interesting enough, as savannah said, fiorina doing well going right. buck 47, bennet 46 in the closest senate race probably. and rand paul moving ahead 50-43 against conway in kentucky. and then, of course, harry reid's son -- >> who actually isn't using his father's -- his family's last name on his ads. reid's son getting absolutely demolished. what do you see happening next week? >> part of this is' volition with anybody connected to washington in any way. the california results also show something else which is going on, which is it's even worse to be a ceo than a politician these days. they score even less well than politicians. >> ceo turned politician, you've got a problem. >> i hear the music. why haven't you shown the msnbc ads next to the four covers in time this week. >> tell us about it. >> msnbc bought four ads next to those four internal covers in "time" magazine. i thought you would flaunt that. >> pictures of me on a statue, riding a horse? >> i can't say your motto and all of that. but that is the -- >> really? >> msnbc stimulus package. >> that is exciting. i'm glad msnbc is helping you out. >> well, it's mutual. >> rick stengel, thank you very much. >> thank you so much, rick. >> love the issue. >> great cover, great inside covers. and we can't wait to see what happens on tuesday. still ahead, the nation's katrina vanden heuvel. >> we'll shoot some people -- >> that's pretty dramatic. >> you know what i'm saying. >> a sharron angle fan, huh? second amendment solution to journalism. >> i got to be neutral about that. >> a special programming note for you. the morning after the midterm elections "morning joe" will broadcast in front of a live studio audience from historic studio 8h here at 30 rock. more tickets just became available. you can find information on our website, joe.msnbc.com. or call 212-664-3056. >> i'm so excited. elvis costello going to be on the show that morning. >> that's going to be cool. we'll be right back. beautiful live pictures of washington, d.c. i'm willie geist in d.c. this morning. the gang's back in new york and i know mika is hot on this story. it's been huge all over the web. the number one trending topic on twitter. the story about the "marie claire" magazine blogger who wrote about this tv show called -- what are we calling this? "mike and molly." it's about a couple, maybe a little bit larger than couples you'd see on shows usually. well, this "marie claire" blogger wrote a blog called "should fatties get a room?" writing about this show that's very popular. she wrote, "i think i'd be grossed out if i had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other. because i'd be grossed out if i had to watch them do anything. to be brutally honest, even in real life, i find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person even walk across the room." that's from marieclaire.com. some people vowing to end their subscription to the magazine. the later who wrote the blog post later apologized for it. a lot of people very worked up about it. >> nowq, "mike and molly" is a show that's doing well, or is it brand new? >> it's a new show that's very popular, a comedy. >> okay. >> it drew her attention -- >> i think there's a lot of reasons for that that may not be good, but that blog was mean. >> that was really -- >> we need to have a conversation, but that ain't it. >> that ain't the way to do it. >> this is the one you're really focused on, charlie sheen. we want to get carl bernstein in on this important story. as you know by now -- >> we, we all know. >> -- charlie sheen trashed the hotel room over at the plaza, he allegedly had a woman with him and some other products in the room. >> nothing like the great old days of the who and roger daltry, that's when hotel rooms were really done. this is new teenage hotel trashing. >> this is pharmaceutically enhanced. >> this is child's play. the development today, carl, and i'm sure you've been doing some digging on this, the young woman who was portrayed as a hooker, she wants the world to know she is not a hooker, she is, instead, a hard-core porn star. her name is capri anderson. she met mr. sheen apparently down at the bar at the plaza and went out to dinner. she just wants to clear the air, she is not a hooker, she is an artist. >> but she has an agent. >> and four names. >> all right, idiots, stupid. katrina van den heuvel just said, unfortunately, katrina, yes, it is. >> sorry to let you down, katrina, i always try to please you. >> and in the control room, tim wants me to hold up the "new york post" of the picture of this poor, pathetic girl. excuse me, wait a minute. can we cut to the control room and see who was saying that? >> go to the post! i want "the post"! >> here's "the post." >> get her off the air. trust me. trust me. ya i like that. trust me. bankers are known to be a little bit in love with themselves. are we going up? we can get the next one. i'd like to get your advice on hedging - risk... exposure. what makes us different? for 300 years we've chosen to focus on our clients. what a novel idea. i graduated from west point, then i did a tour of duty in iraq. when i was transitioning from active duty, i went to a military officer hiring conference. it was kind of like speed dating. there were 12 companies that i was pre-matched with, but walmart turned out to be the best for me. sam walton was in the military, and he understood the importance of developing your people. it's an honor to be in a position of leadership at walmart. i'm captain tracey lloyd, and i work at walmart. ♪ let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. princess of the powerpoint. your core competency... is competency. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i'm getting an upgrade. [ male announcer ] indeed, business pro. indeed. go national. go like a pro. have you convinced your own party that the legislative progress has been enough and how do you feel about their reaction to it? >> look. let me say this about members of congress -- >> are you going to curse? >> no, i'm not going to curse. >> welcome back to "morning joe." top of the hour. the sun has come up over washington. jon meacham still with us, carl bernstein still with us. and joining the table now, editor of "the nation" magazine, katrina vanden heuvel back at the table. she's ready. so we've got a lot to talk about. >> hey, chris, did you say chuck todd was going to be joining us? >> he is. he's making his way to the studio as we speak. >> it's like elvis! >> there he is! >> elvis is seated! >> what a handsome man. >> chuck's stylist. >> we had a story in the "usa today" that talked about how bcs football teams were ranked based on what i think is the most important rating, and that is the players that they graduate. >> exactly. >> and surprisingly enough, chuck todd, miami, number two. >> doing well. >> miami, they've come a long way from being the outlaws they were known as in the 1980s. and i want to underline a serious point, because there's so many great young players. a lot of times african-americans who are held up as superstars for their four years in college, and then you hear ten years later, they're pumping gas or they're in a grocery store working, bagging groceries because they didn't graduate. i think schools -- i think there has to be a lot more pressure on schools. but miami doing well in this category. >> this is randy shamman, give him a lot of credit, sometimes a lot of questions about his xs and os on the field, but there's been no question about the character of the man and the type of -- you know, he's bringing in student athletes. you know, miami can't take everybody that they used to be able to find a way to get in. they don't do that anymore. >> that's cool. >> so maybe that's why they're 10-2 sometimes -- well, at least i hope they become 10-2 this year, but in all honesty, that's a credit to randy shamman, who under the jimmie johnson regime at miami, it was a team that graduated a lot. >> one of the in-between times. >> when you do it, it's okay. >> i want chuck to talk about something else, and mika's going to get to the front page of "the new york times" story, which is fascinating. i'm going to run through these polls. it's a word association game. give me a sentence or two. these are the new "times"/cnn polls. angle, 49%, reid, 45%. what's your take on that race? >> well, that seems to be in the same direction which i hear privately, which is that angle just seems to have consistently about a one or two-point lead. the question everybody has is, what's going to happen when people get into the voting booth and see all of those choices. will angle lose some support? it's the only thing. >> look, if there's one state where unions make a difference, that's the state. what about toomey and sestak in pennsylvania? 49% to 45%. that's a little more than a lead than he's had in a week or two. >> it is. and what's interesting is private polling on both sides, and i say this on both sides loosely, meaning republican polling in other races that i know of, not just for the senate race, but it all has this closer. one thing to remember in pennsylvania, you can press one button and vote all democrat. if they've got the straight ticket voting or you can press one button and vote all republican, but that's big in the philadelphia area, and that always is why you see the democratic numbers overperform the final polling there. so toomey probably needs to have a three-point lead going into election day. >> we've got a few to get through here. i do always call pennsylvania fool's gold for republicans. california, breaking dmemocrati in a strong way. brown 51, whitman, 44, and a field poll out today showing jerry brown at 40 percentage points. >> the whitman people argue every day in my e-mail box from some people over there, look, it's not over, it's not over, but look at those favorable ratings. jerry's 1 to 1, meg is not. >> the senate race, i thought this one was over. i keep hearing a lot of people saying, don't count fiorina out yet, but boxer at 50, fiorina at 45%. this seems close to being over, but insiders tell me i might be wrong. >> i feel like california -- you call pennsylvania's fool's gold, california is charlie brown and the football, however, i thought new jersey was charlie brown and the football was fool's gold in '09. >> all right, colorado, buck at 49%, bennet, a guy who's gotten great grades, is this breaking buck's way, or too close to call until the end? >> it's hard to say it's been breaking, it hasn't broke anybody's way, but i think in an odd way, what's helping buck is tancredo's sudden strength in the senate race, because he's rallying conservatives and there isn't going to be this huge turnout difference in the governor's race, which a lot of people thought it could drive bennet across the finish line. that's going to be missing. but washington state is giving colorado a run for its money. >> this is interesting. i thought patty murray a week ago was pulling away. you're now saying that you think washington state's going to be the tightest race, why? >> number one, you have two very good candidates. they both have been very good. that's one. two, it is a two-person race, literally, on the ballot. there are no third candidates. dino rossi in '04, when he lost the governor's race by a couple hundred votes, there was a libertarian candidate on the ballot that took about 5,000 votes, i think it was. my point is, it's the only one of these races where there's no third alternative, even to take away a couple of points. so it's a pure one on one. and i have to say -- >> and rossi's doing okay. >> i guess you would give a fingernail favorite to patty murray, but just a fingernail. >> a few quinnipiac poll just coming across the wires, it has marco rubio at 42%, charlie crist at 25%, meek at 15%. it seems the only chance for people that want rubio to lose in that race would be for some of meek's voters at the end to pull 5, 6, 7% saying meek can't win, i don't want rubio to win, i'm voting for charlie crist. is that likely? is there any likelihood of that happening, or is this rubio's seat? >> no likelihood of that. anyone who knows kendrick meek, he's not going anywhere. he's not going to go out there the weekend before and saying, let's stop rubio. >> i'm talking about meek voters. it's so fascinating to see charlie crist running 30-second spots as the great defender of roe v. wade. >> we have one of his ads. >> i don't want to see it. it just seems a little too transparent, let us say. >> it was too fast. you know, if you want to, you know, evolve as a politician or, you know, whatever it is, you know, become more conservative, you got to sort of do it over time. voters can believe it over time. >> can we talk about the race that i think's most fascinating and then i want to go to katrina on this one. russ feingold. here's a guy who's always been an independent. i disagree with him ideologically, but i've always respected him because he's his own guy. it's hard for me to believe that russ feingold is losing as badly as he is in wisconsin. what's going on there? >> well, first of all, the entire republican ticket is pretty strong in wisconsin right now, starting with the governor's race, scott walker, who a lot of republicans believe is a potential star in the making, whether it's -- you talk to a jeb bush or karl rove. scott walker is somebody that's very beloved in republican circles in wisconsin and he could be. so i think that's helped a little bit. the second thing, ron johnson, the candidate running against feingold, got in very late. and in many ways, a shorter campaign can benefit a challenger. the guy, unlike other challengers, he doesn't -- he doesn't speak -- he doesn't speak off the cuff. >> he doesn't do paladino. >> yeah. and the last thing i would say is this, with feingold. i think he does a great job nationally, when it comes to telling his story through the media. in wisconsin, i don't think he had told it as well. didn't connect as well. and, you know, when you sort of look, and i've talked to some democrats about it, it's, you know, everybody in washington, and you know he's an independent, and you know that he will go his own way on some things if he doesn't disagree like he did on the wall street bill, but he doesn't necessarily tell that story very well in wisconsin and that's the disconnect. >> i have heard that when i go to wisconsin, i hear a lot of people saying, you give russ feingold far too much credit. but katrina, it would seem to me that russ feingold would be your kind of candidate. when the democratic party keeps going one direction, russ feingold says, enough. on the wall street bill, he says, it's got to be tougher. health care, it's got to be tougher. what's happening? why is he losing in a swing state like wisconsin? >> we did a cover story on russ feingold says the maverick in this country, in our country's politics. it's a question about whether our country in this toxic political moment has room for mavericks. the parties are so hyper defining this race. but i think russ feingold will pull it out. i think he has a great field operation. i do think the money plays a role. the money in this election is going to reach unprecedented limits. and it's not just the secret covert corporate money. it's russ feingold isn't accepting independent expenditures because he's true to his principles. i think he's going to pull it out, but it will be a test of whether a maverick can survive. and he has stood true on the principles, the nation as an independent publication believes in, afghanistan is one of them. but the other, as you said, is on wall street. and he has stood true in a state that by the way is not only the state of robert lafayette, it's also the state of joe mccarthy. so these are states in shifting dynamics. >> let me ask you about last night, jon stewart and barack obama together. and there was a real frustration from the president that the left isn't giving him the credit. and jon meacham was talking about moynihan writing a letter to nixon a long time ago saying, let's just stop bothering going center left, because it will never be good enough for those on the far left. do you think the far left needs -- or progressives need to give barack obama a break? >> first of all, the far left, the far left in my view has many -- is really in the mainstream in many ways in this country, if you think about it. if it wasn't the left, it wouldn't be complaining, but here's the thing -- >> well said! >> a wise president like a franklin roosevelt understood that you want to have the wind behind your back from progressives to counter the establishment forces in this country. the forces of big money, the forces inside the beltway. and i think that at least at "the nation," with we have understood the systemic obstacles this president faces. i loved last night on "the daily show," you have a president coming back to the filibuster and the abuse of the filibuster several times. the power of money, the abuse of the filibuster. all of these always made us understand at "the nation" that it takes more than one election cycle to change the order of things. and i think progressives need to be as pragmatic, clear-eyed, tough about president obama as he is about us, progressives. but he would be well advised in this next period to remobilize a base that he demobilized in favor of an "inside the washington beltway" governance, because he's going to need us, especially in this time of big money, corporate power. >> did i just hear a parallel -- interesting. >> but i think the white house -- if the white house -- if the congress is tight, let's say the senate holds, the republicans don't win as many seats, it will be because of the mobilization of what i call and others call the rising american electorate. the base, the much maligned base that brought president obama to the white house, african-americans, single women, latinos, young people, working people. >> but here's the problem, katrina -- >> as they say in texas, dance with those that run you. >> this is one you need to square up for me, because i do -- it is so much easier to run as a conservative republican for president, and when you look back, conservative kacandidates win, moderates don't win. but if you're a democrat, you've got to run as a moderate, because the numbers don't add up. poll after poll after poll shows we're a center-right nation. >> i disagree. no, let me finish -- >> no, no, no -- >> here's the deal. >> i am not going to let you finish. i have got to give you facts and then you can respond to facts. >> listen to numbers -- >> just stop and listen to facts. >> the polls show that if you -- >> go ahead, katrina. >> if you poll people today, job creation is more important than -- >> katrina, can i just give you some numbers and you can respond to it? >> absolutely. >> poll after poll for decades have shown, 25% of americans identify themselves as liberals, 40% identify themselves as conservatives, the rest identify themselveses themselves as moderates. so all i'm asking you, how does a democratic president that run as a centrist govern as a progressive when those are the obstacles he faces? >> fair enough. i was interested in the poll that was in "the new york times" today, that all of the issues that are supported by a transporter coalition, including tea partyers, it's securing social security. i believe that in this country today, you could craft some true transparent coalitions and run in the ways without the labels you just applied. for example, the anger at big banks, at wall street -- >> that's the underlying issue here. >> that is critical. and i think the anger at money in our politics is something that tea partyers also don't like. i think you want to find a way to create jobs. working people, middle class in this country have been shafted for 30, 40 years. it is time to have a politics that would speak to those who have been left out of the growing pie or the pie in this country. so i think you could do a non-resentment, non-grievance based politics that speaks to the best of america, but with an understanding that you've got to have shared security, shared prosperity, and i do think job creation is critical in a rebuilding of this country. >> because the middle class is collapsing. jon meacham, i'll ask you the question in a second way, you wrote in the fall of 2008 after the president was elected, cover story, "newsweek," before, a very compelling wiquestion, how does this president govern a center-right nation? katrina would say it's not center-right, but you look at these polls -- and it's a political question that confronts every democrat -- it is. at least a very centrist or center-right nation. and barack obama's got to figure out how to handle that moving forward. >> my sense is that the cold war terms, post-new deal terms of left and right are totally scrambled right now. and i'm not sure what they really mean anymore. i don't want to go too far with this, but to some extent, there's one big -- and katrina would agree with this, i think, there's one big establishment party in the country, really. and to some extent, i think the viciousness of our politics is about the narcissism of small differences. that is, ultimately, and you've agreed with this, the deficit would not be substantively, substantially different right now because of the economic factors if mccain had won. it'd be different, but it wouldn't be hugely deferent. >> let me take you one more. the deficit would not have been has high if al gore had been elected as a democrat and he had republicans fighting him for eight years. >> my question is, when you have a right wing, so-called, that has created a bigger, bigger, ever-bigger government, and in the fall of 2008, a president who nationalized the banks, essentially, and you have a democratic president who's not for mandating universal health care, a central claim of the progressive movement in this country for more than a century, who's not interested in gay marriage, who's not interested in gun control, what the hell are we talking about when we say left and right? we're talking about, i think, and this goes to what carl's been saying for the last half hour, i think you've got a lot of energy out there for a third way. and people look at and they listen to us and they listen to things like i'm saying and they go, what planet are you on? >> that's how everyone's -- >> no, no, no -- >> that's where you're really on to something. >> i want to correct you, because people listening don't say, what planet are you on, they say, what planet are the chattering classes on? because, carl, everywhere we go, mika and i say three things. we've got to take care of spending and the entitlement programs. they're going to bankrupt us, is number one. number two, we've got to get out of afghanistan. like barry mccaffrey said, we're waisting $8 billion a month. and the third thing we say is, we've got to start talking teach other again. we have got to grow the economy, and we're not going to do it screaming at each other. >> and we have played kick the can for 40 years with both parties in power. and that is partly what this election is about. it is about a recognition by the people of our country that our institutions have failed us, particularly the banks, the bankers, wall street, and the politicians in washington. they're not saying it about their governors, not saying it about their mayors so much, they're saying it about the people they send to washington. >> i agree, i think this is a pivotal crossroads election, because i do think it's the age of mistrust. it's a mistrust in so many of the institutions in our society. but the hope here is that there are models and solutions to move forward, because if people just throw up their hands and say, it all sucks, we're in a very dangerous netherland. you mentioned russ feingold. there are good politicians in a system that isn't working for us. so i think we need, in this next period, and"the daily show" of begins to nod to that. it's not sexy, but there are such huge systemic obstacles to a democracy, but we can work on those and fix them. it is important, because people are going to pull out of a system, they might find a third way or a fourth way. and, you know, but at the moment, i have to say that i don't see a real third party emerging, as it has in different parts in our history. >> you know what's interesting, katrina, what you have said and what you have said and what i've heard you say is also what i've heard someone like pat buchanan say. over the past 30 years, the middle class has been battered and abused. it's shrinking, and, you know, pat talks about it when he's in pennsylvania, wherever he is. there is a meeting point for a lot of people. >> well, i think this conversation shows that we are at a crossroads. you talk about the age of mistrust, you talk about the narcissism of small differences. we're in the middle of all that. and this conversation shows just how hard it is, but that we have to do it. >> the historian tony judd talked about the age of forgetting. and i think we are at a moment, when we are -- there's a lack of memory and amnesia about how we got to where we are. we need to retrace those steps, because some of this, in the short-term history, is going into a war we didn't need to fight, making us less secure. tax cuts for the very richest at the same time. you talk about entitlements. social security at a time of middle class stagnation and poverty,io, there are other ways to find revenue and that is too easy. >> i'm not interested in finding revenue. i'm interested in, actually, keeping the country strong so we can grow. >> and we'll -- >> but in a common shared -- >> we got to -- chris keeps saying, speaking revenue, speaking revenue, commercials. chuck, thank you so much for the rundown. we really appreciate it. >> joe, a bunch of obama democrats fear an unemployed russ feingold hanging around in 2011 and, you know, maybe hanging around in iowa or new hampshire. >> there you go! up next, the "politico playbook." thanks, chuck! ♪ [ man ] i thought our family business would always be boots. until one day, my daughter showed me a designer handbag. and like that, we had a new side to our business. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity, the hartford is there. protecting their employees and property and helping them prepare for the future. nice boots. nice bag. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com. i was living on welfare and supporting a family of four. after i got the job at walmart, things started changing immediately. then i wrote a letter to the food stamp office. "thank you very much, i don't need your help any more." you know now, i can actually say i bought my home. i knew that the more i dedicated... the harder i worked, the more it was going to benefit my family. this my son, mario and he now works at walmart. i believe mario is following in my footsteps. my name is noemi, and i work at walmart. ♪ it seems lauren valle, a 115-pound female moveon.org activist got her cranium dangerously close to rand paul outside a kentucky debate, but luckily, two men had the courage to throw her to the ground and hold her down while a third hero stomped on her melon. now, it's her own damned fault, folks. everybody knows if you don't want someone to step on your face at a tea party rally, you carry a flag that says, "don't tread on me." >> are those guys in jail? those guys, i hope they're in jail. really quickly, i love the conversation that we just had. >> i do too. >> and again, john, i absolutely love what you said, the -- >> narcissism of small differences. >> small differences, and, you know, katrina saying, we can find common ground. and we can. we have to. >> i think we're at a turning point where we need to, we must. and americans know that too. >> let's go to willie for politico. willie? >> jonathan martin of politico joins us now and he's got a look at the morning playbook. hey, jonathan. >> hey, willie. >> a lot of us believe the senate ought to reach for republicans this time around, but you guys already looking ahead to 2012. what's that looking like? >> it's never too early for us here at politico to be looking over the horizon forwards the next election cycle, even before the current one is over. think about all those democrats who won in 2006, jim webb in virginia, claire mccaskill, missouri, jon tester, montana. that big wave democrats had four years ago. those folks are all going to be up next year, combined with some possible retirements from other democrats. it's going to make it a very tough year. once again, for senate democrats. so even if the gop, willie, gets seven or eight this time, instead of the ten they need, they can probably get those extra three or four next time around. you see a scenario where there's enough seats for them to pick off in the next cycle. >> interesting, interesting to see what happens over the next several years with the economy too, because it will have an impact. real quick, before we let you go, backfiring in rhode island, this the guy who told president obama to take his endorsement and shove it. backfiring in the polls, apparently. >> good to have a little news in the state. apparently not a good if you're a democrat to tell your president to shove it. it's hurting him. so link chafee, former senator, is now surging into the lead there in rhode island in the final days. >> the democrat, frank caprio, telling the president to shove it. apparently didn't work out well for him. jonathan martin, thanks so much. when we come back on "morning joe," erin burnett takes us through the new weekly job numbers. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. ♪ [ upbeat instrumental ] you do, business pro. you do. [ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. when it comes to investing, no one person has all the answers. so td ameritrade doesn't give me just one person. questions about retirement? i talk to their retirement account specialists. bonds? grab the phone. fixed-income specialist. td ameritrade knows investors sometimes need real, live help. not just one broker... a whole team there to help... to help me decide what's right for me. people with answers at td ameritrade. get up to $500 when you open an account. anyway. >> it's interesting, when you guys -- katrina just left. >> what's that? >> we were talking in the break and when you guys finally realize what had the other was trying to say, which was ultimate -- >> wait, wait, when katrina realized what i was trying to say is, these are the realities, and i just wanted to know, because i do want to hear from progressives who attack barack obama for not going far enough left, i want to know, what do you expect from this guy? he cannot go too far left with the realities that he faces. and again, that's what you put on the cover of "newsweek" -- >> and she left the set saying, forget me. >> forget america the conservative. it is a center right country, i'm not saying that's good, not saying that's bad. but as a political fact, that's what you have to do. >> so the president can't go too far left without losing people in the middle. >> and ask franklin roosevelt about that, because he did the same thing. >> that's the great frustration at the white house right now. they're not getting the credit they think they deserve from progressives. while being called socialists by people on the far right. we've got breaking jobs numbers. >> let's bring in erin burnett right now, international superstar. what are those numbers? >> they're good, the second week in a row of drops and this is a good number. 434,000. that is a drop of 21,000. it's below the key level, 450. look at 450, above it, terrible labor market. below it, improve. 444 is well enough below it to show real improvement, the lowest level since july 10th. and if i look through the numbers, this is what i see that's really important if you look at the election cycle. the states with the biggest drops in jobless claims, california, new york, north carolina, pennsylvania, texas. obviously, a few of those states are, in general, right, important elections this time and also important elections -- states for swing states coming up. >> that's good. erin, i think you and i need just to start being bullish on america's economy. let's start talking it up, we'll be like kudlow, everything's great! >> everything's not great, but everything's not as bad as the people think and the polls think. >> wait a minute, did you see the front page of "the washington post" today? >> let me take a look. is it terrible? >> the numbers of people who feel that they cannot pay their mortgages has spiked in the past two years. >> yes! >> that's not good. >> that is true, but part of this is a broader issue with with the housing market, where mortgages are still worth more than the value of the home. this principle reduction issue is a crucial one. democrats or republicans will have to deal with it. i know we're out of time, so we've got to go. >> erin burnett, thank you so much! i remain optimistic, mika. i think the next two years are going to be better. >> erin will always see the silver lining. when we come back, watch what happens live. bravo's andy cohen is here. keep it on "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. wall street is getting back on its feet. but the financial landscape is still full of uncertainty. in times like these, you need an experienced partner to look out for you. heads up! and after 300 years we have gotten pretty good at that. [ monkey cheeps ] [ male announcer ] a bath becomes even more pleasurable when you know that your water is being heated in an environmentally- conscious way while saving you hundreds of dollars on your water-heating energy bill. the geospring water heater from ge with advanced hybrid technology. heating the water in your home any other way is just going to seem primitive. [ monkey cheeps ] ♪ maryland residents can save up to $780 while funds last. brian, facebook, does hoda kotb ever feel like bitch slapping kathie lee? >> do i what? there's a reason we have a box of wine on the set every single time. you know kath very well, right? >> yeah. >> there are times, when i have to admit, it gets a little close. >> that was hoda kotb answering tough questions on bravo's "watch what happens live." and joining us now, the host of that show, and senior vice president of original programming -- >> that's big! >> -- and development for bravo, andy cohen. and your friend, sarah jessica parker, who's taping you right now, she should check her e-mail. >> oh, wow. i love you how said my title. >> well, it's so big. >> it was so powerful. >> it was so dramatic, how you said that. >> well, think about it. >> well, i do, all the time. >> okay. bring us down to earth. "watch what happens live," i'm making chris uncomfortable, tell us about it. >> this is a weekly talk show on bravo. we're live, we're interactive, we're swilling booze -- i mean, talk about swilling wine. hoda and kathie on that 10:00 hour -- >> a bunch of drunks. >> it's just a lot of fun. it's interactive and it's live on bravo. we're on tonight at 11:00. >> how fun. >> it's a fun show. >> talk about bravo and the success that you've had over there. it has really exploded so much that pulitzer prize winners are now pitching shows for you. jon meacham wants the real housewives of swani? >> we should have a contest. the real housewives of tuscaloosa, which formed joe. >> and what are the ladies like down there? >> what sells? >> at this point, i'm going to start losing ground, so i'm going to step back. >> what is it, though, talk about the real housewives. obviously, a lot of times, you put a camera in front of somebody, they become a little too dramatic. i mean, take me, for instance. but there are some central truths there that viewers grab on to. >> i think this is a show where i think weirdly enough, people start watching for one reason. they think, oh, my god, i can't believe they're doing or saying that, and then as they get in and they start getting to know these people, some of them are aspirational, some of them they hate, some of them they love, some of them they like, some of them they even wind up relating to. and it's fun. and it's dramatic and it's real and, you know, you talk about cameras heightening reality. usually, people don't know this, usually we wind up throwing out what we shoot in the first couple weeks of shooting because they are so conscious of the cameras being on them that when we start looking at the tapes, we say, you know, this is -- this is not ringing true. this is weird. >> is there a show that you had pitched to you, that you just, i just don't get it, but somehow it makes it on the air and then explodes. let me ask you, on bravo, what surprises you the most? >> you know what, real housewives and "top chef," two of our biggest shows. "top chef," we said, we want to do a, you know, food competition where we, you know, where we showcase creativity. you two were fantastic guest judges at the palm. i have to say that. and it became the number one food show on cable and the title of "top chef" actually means something to people all across america and to chefs. the housewives -- >> why is that? why is it that people love to watch other people cooking? some of us don't get that. >> i can speak for "top chef" in that we cast people were really passionate about food and what they do, and they're really talented. i think passion and talent on that show is -- are two keys. and also fun. it's a fun show, so, you know, it's serious and it's fun, all at once. you know? >> yeah, yeah. >> and the housewives surprised me just because i thought, i could never have imagined this this would turn into such a water cooler, you know, sensation. i remember lauren selasnick, my boss, she said, we should call it the reaeeal housewives of ore county, in case we decide to do it in another city. i was like, are you kidding me?! we're never doing it anywhere else. and now look at it. >> this is why he's an expert. he says, shows work that are serious and fun. our's is, unfortunately, goofy and boring. >> serious! fun! boom! >> out with mika and joe, in -- >> hilarious! >> one of your d.c. housewives was in my sixth grade class, same teacher, mary. >> was she a good student? >> she was cool. she was one of the cool girls. >> wasn't she also a washington redskins cheerleader? oh, wait, wrong one. my bad. >> never got to the bottom of that story. >> can you believe that? >> no, i can't. no, i can't. >> okay. >> so what's in the future for bravo? >> oh, my lord. we've got "top chef" all-stars. we have the fashion show premiering next week with imam and isaac mizrahi. >> what are we going to see that? >> we're going to see imam loving and taking charge and throwing -- what? >> you're adorable. >> can you come back in a couple weeks? >> would love to. >> do you want to talk politics some time? >> yes! >> and i know sarah jessica parker wanted to talk about her movie, but next time, we'll talk politics. >> andy, thanks! ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ the new cadillac srx. the cadillac of crossovers. cadillac. the new standard of the world. aveeno hair shines in real life. new aveeno nourish plus shine with active naturals wheat smooths damaged cuticles for 75% more shine in one use. real shine, for real life. yours. [ female announcer ] new aveeno nourish plus shine. yours. hey, babe. oh, hi, honey! so i went to the doctor today, then picked up a few extra things for the baby. oh, boy... i used our slate card with blueprint. we can design our own plan to avoid interest by paying off diapers and things each month. and for the bigger stuff, we can pay down our balance faster to save money on interest. bigger? bigger. slate from chase gives you extraordinary control over how you pay for life's surprises. trip...lets... slate customers pay down their balances twice as fast with blueprint. but basically, i'm a runner. last year. (oof). i had a bum knee that needed surgery. but it got complicated, because i had an old injury. so i wanted a doctor who had done this before. and unitedhealthcare's database helped me find a surgeon. you know you can't have great legs, if you don't have good knees. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. you have said that you've been consistent, and yet it was earlier this year that you were stated -- you were quoted as saying that social security needs to be eliminated. >> i've never said to eliminate it. that's never come out of my mouth, senator. that's yet another mischaracterization of what came out of my mouth. >> it was reported in the "anchorage daily news". >> which is your arm piece in this campaign. >> sarah palin qualified to be president? >> of course she is. you look at who we have in office right now and compare the two, there is no comparison. >> senator murkowski? >> if she were to run right now, i would not support her as president. >> welcome back to "morning joe," and with us we have jon meacham, tina brown, also willie geist from washington, because he was there for his book. they had a big event there yesterday. >> we have a new poll out, by the way. alaska senate race, joe miller is sitting at 23%. scott mcadams at 29%, and -- >> look at that. >> -- write-in candidate, lisa murkowski, at 34%. io miller's had some problems, and i don't know that he helped himself last night in that debate either. >> must-read opinion pages, we've chosen to -- one from "the washington post," voter verdict, more uncertainty. this is by david broder. and he writes this, "what is true soft economic debate is equally the case when it comes to other issues. neither party regularly presents compelling spokesman, making articulate arguments. the public rightly senses that the campaign rhetoric is shop worn, gauzy stauf, not substantial enough for the wear and tear of the real world. with the recent exodus of three key white house economic figures there, it's a temporary gap in the executive branch as well. no wonder the voters are uncertain, and so are the policymakers." interesting. i think that's a fair assessment. especially, i mean, the exodus of the economic team, jon meacham, i think we haven't talked about enough, but that's -- isn't that a real sign of, we've got to reset this thing, we've got to turn things over, we've got to find something new. >> it is. you think about it on a practical human managerial level, they had such a hard time filling those jobs in the beginning. stories about finding tim geithner kind of wondering the halls, and now you have people leaving. so you have this sort of very narrow window in those first two years. >> also, there's a real cry that's gone out for he needs more hands-on experienced payroll guys around him, but those kind of guys couldn't stand the life it takes. you know, inside that economic circle, it's a very sort of, all is service to the president. you don't get to really express yourself in the way that you can if you're in business. so it's a kind of unrealistic core to have these so-called business hon shows really around him. i don't know who he puts in, unless he's waiting and holding off and has somebody in mind. of course he would love to have bloomberg, but why would bloomberg, he's not going to do it. >> if you talk to a lot of business people that run big corporations that supported barack obama, they've been so disillusioned by him and so disturbed by what they perceive to be his basic lack of understanding about what creates jobs, what grows the economy that a lot of the top people that would have filled those positions two years ago won't go near it. >> it's too tough. and you look at broder talking about -- >> it's too tough with a president that does not understand what creates economic growth. and we talked about this off air, and to my democratic friends, and i have many, i just want to explain, goimes2i want you to look at a particular cross tab. and it's something that democrats never understand. "family incomes under $50,000 are breaking republican this year." and we are always led to believe that this populist rhetoric, tax cuts for the rich, soak the rich, pound the rich, punish the rich will somehow draw work class voters toward them. it never does t. i talked about abolishing capital gains tax when i wouldn't have made a dime off of it. i talked about cutting taxes for the top income earners when it wouldn't have benefited me at all back in '94 when i ran. and i won overwhelmingly voters making $30,000 or less. i never talked social issues, i just didn't do it. i talked economy. and jon meacham, they get it. if you try to soak the people that run america's economy and have small businesses, you're going to be hurting the working class people. because the rich always take care of themselves. >> that's exactly right. >> i think that's what they know. they know the rich always take care of themselves. >> exactly. when people hear "tax increase," i think they know, somehow or another, when they go to h&r block, they're not going to have the protections that the super rich are going to have. and if you want to produce both a cultural and an economic conservative backlash, guess what, raise taxes really high. submit prop 8, prop 13, and the reagan election. the reason ronald reagan became a republican is because he was paying incredibly high marginal rates. and people connected, identified with the fact that they didn't want to be writing a big check to the government. >> people didn't want to write a big check to the government. and again, what a lot of liberal democrats don't understand is, when they talk about tax cuts for the rich, when they tab raising capital gains tax, when we have 15% real unemployment, working class americans get it time and time again. they got in '94 after bill clinton's tax increase. they get it now, that that's going to hurt them. >> and then look at the front page of "the washington post," a new "washington post" poll shows concerns about being able to make your housing payments have spiked since 2008, despite overall improvements in the economy. that's where the voters are. they're scared to be able to even make their payments. >> i also feel they just don't feel the president is a manager. i think that's what kind of gets through. the reason they want these extreme candidates is they want to say, if somebody could just get their hands around this thing and shake it hard, and every time the president goes out, it seems to be a different message. that time he was trashing boehner, it's like, what is this about? he doesn't seem to have a consistent -- >> it will be interesting to see the kind of reset these midterms put in place for this white house. and there are some opportunity there is. tina brown, thank you so much. and you had quite an event in new orleans. i'm getting e-mails still all about it. >> yeah, we did this innovator summit, and it really was remarkable, because we were able to showcase all these young entrepreneurs from new orleans who have all got these small projects seeded by their ideas out there. >> general mcchrystal. >> general mcchrystal who did a leadership seminar, actually, with three or four guys. we had david kneneilman, who started jetblue, was one of the guys he had on his panel, and he was very appealing running that panel. he's so kind of -- he drew people out, in an extraordinary way. he's real graly great. >> tina, thanks for everything. up next, what did we learn today? hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices? sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. do a little dancing? >> all right, well, whoa! oh, my goodness! are you okay? i think we just had someone want here, but should we get the song on the road here? here to sing "america the

Related Keywords

Arkansas ,United States ,Montana ,Nevada ,Alaska ,Akron ,Ohio ,State House ,Illinois ,Juarez ,Méco ,Mexico ,California ,Anchorage ,Washington ,District Of Columbia ,Connecticut ,San Francisco ,Iowa ,Panama City ,Panamám ,Panama ,Jersey ,Chicago ,New Washington ,Pennsylvania ,Stanford ,Miami ,Florida ,New York ,New Hampshire ,Texas ,Afghanistan ,Philadelphia ,Cleveland ,Kentucky ,Rhode Island ,Boston ,Massachusetts ,Columbus ,Virginia ,Wisconsin ,Pakistan ,Iraq ,West Point ,New Jersey ,Marinette ,Colorado ,Maryland ,Capitol Hill ,Americans ,America ,Mexican ,Pakistani ,American ,Walter Cronkite ,Roe V Wade ,Scott Walker ,Ronald Reagan ,Michael Bennet ,Tracey Lloyd ,Jerry Brown ,Patty Murray ,Stephen Colbert ,David Axelrod ,Frank Caprio ,Chuck Todd ,Al Qaeda ,Mike Brown ,Capri Anderson ,James Madison ,Al Gore ,Carl Bernstein ,Bravo Andy Cohen ,Sam Walton ,Jimmie Johnson ,Barry Mack Caffrey ,Lauren Valle ,Isaac Mizrahi ,Paul Meg Whitman Christine ,David Brodeur ,Tim Geithner ,Pat Buchanan ,Russ Feingold ,Claire Mccaskill ,Barack Obama ,George W Bush ,Jonathan Martin ,Tina Brown ,Dan Gilbert ,Tony Judd ,David Broder ,Richard Nixon ,Sarah Jessica Parker ,Humana Walmart ,Marco Rubio ,Jon Meacham ,Pat Burrell ,Charlie Brown ,Joe Msnbc ,Jim Webb ,Charlie Crist ,Ben Bernanke ,Dino Rossi ,Joe Miller ,Ron Johnson ,William F Buckley ,Savannah Guthrie ,Jon Stewart ,Erin Burnett ,Elvis Costello ,Freddy Sanchez ,Michael Caine ,Meg Whitman ,Robert Lafayette ,Kathie Lee ,Jon Meacham Tina Brown ,David Vonn ,Lebron James ,Cliff Lee ,Barry Mccaffrey ,Tom Coburn ,Harry Reid ,Carly Fiorina ,Tim Lincecum ,Sarah Palin ,Marie Claire ,Mack Mathias ,Lisa Murkowski ,Ken Feinberg ,Donald Rumsfeld ,Dave Lamont ,Rick Stengel ,Willie Geist ,Franklin Roosevelt ,