question on equal pay. >> when these young women graduate i want them to receive equal pay for equal work. >> campaigning for president obama in ohio. >> we are coming back. >> the romney campaign is fighting back hard. >> this president has failed america's women. >> i'm not running for office and i don't have to say what i feel flt. >> i would love it for you to get my husband on the couch. >> mr. romney cancelled on the ladies on the view. >> i think i get the last word. >> we are not getting the last word just yet. >> in 19 days you can stand up and say we are going to move forward. ♪ >> with 19 days until election tonight, president obama showed one reason voters consider him more likeable presidential candidate and that of course is his sense of humor. they spoke at the 67th annual al smith dinner in new york city. a speaking invitation democrat and republican nominees have been accepting since 1960. they are not expected to get too serious here is the president earlier tonight. >> this is the third time that governor romney and i have met recently. as some of you may have noticed i had a lot more energy in our second debate. i felt really well rested after the nice long nap i had in the first debate. [ applause ] >> although it turns out millions of americans focused in on the second debate who didn't focus in on the first debate and i happen to be one of them. i particularly want to apologize to chris matthews. four years ago i gave him a thrill up his leg this time around i gave him a stroke. of course there are a lot of things i learned from that experience. for example, i learned that there are worse things that can happen for you on your anniversary than forgetting to buy a gift. >> that was the president speaking just 30 minutes ago. mitt romney spoke before the president. >> of course only 19 days to go until the finish line. campaign full of surprises the other night we had a very fun debate. candy crowley was there. let me tell you what i do. first refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate. second, find the biggest available straw man and then attack it. big bird didn't see it coming. and then by the way, in the spirit of sesame street, the president's remarks are brought to you by the letter o and the number 16 trillion. >> crystal, i noticed that romney kept going after the president and i got the count and it was my sense that romney did more jokes about the president and president aimed three jokes at his republican opponent and mitt romney aimed eight at president in the room. >> it was a little uncomfortable. to watch. because it was over the line and he even brought cardinal dolan into the mix and it was almost like he took things into his stump speech and put them all together in a row. i found it to be off tone. there were funny lines in there but i found it to be off tone. >> i thought that he started off fine. he had a good joke about being rich are. which is a good place to go. and that is the way to make fun of mitt romney. but then as he kept aiming them, at the president, it was becoming increasingly political, and it was a little, just off. it was discomforting to watch. >> it was a notch below a campaign speech. i got the sense that i was watching a roast. rather than a speech where the person speaking was supposed to make jokes about himself. even in the clip you showed, you got a sense of what the president was doing. he was the main focus of his jokes, he was also the main focus of mitt romney's jokes and as crystal tweeted, saying this is starting to make me feel uncomfortable saying, i thought it was just me. >> me too. >> and i was ready to go with him because i've seen republicans do great in that room. >> mccain was funny. >> and let's take a look at this joke about you didn't build that, that mitt romney throws at the president. >> special admiration for the apostle saint peter to whom it is said upon this rock i will build my church. the story is inspiring when you consider he had sceptics that said if you got a church you didn't build that. >> as some of you know i went to school here in new york. i had a wonderful experience here. >> i used to love walking through central park loved to go to old yankee stadium the house that ruth build. although he really did not build that. i hope everybody is aware of that. >> text book example. a sense of humor is when you can make jokes about yourself. you need a sense of humor for that. >> that line is out of his campaign speech. and he turns it on himself to great effect i thought. >> chris matthews was not the only huge tv star who was mentioned by president obama. he was very proud to announce and endorsement he got from another tv star. let's hear that. >> and we are getting to that time when folks are making up their minds. just the other day honey boo boo endorsed me. so that was a big relief. ultimately though tonight is not about the disagreements governor romney and i may have. it is what we have in common beginning with our unusual names. actually mitt is his middle name. i wish i could use my middle name. >> i thought that was one of his great lines. >> could romney ever make a joke about his first name being willard. >> the thing that the president does is he pauses for a moment and does that little laugh to himself. he sells it. >> he enjoys it. >> let's watch more of the good joke teller up there. >> it's been four years since i was last at the al smith dinner. and i have to admit that things have changed since them. i have heard people say barack you are not as young as you used to be. there is that smile and that pep in your step. i say settle down joe, i'm trying to run a cabinet meeting here. >> sometimes it feels that this race has dragged on forever. but we have only been running for two hours and 50 something minutes. >> that was one of only three jokes. >> he did a version of that last time around. which shows you as much as things change, they stay the same. i'm hearing you are not qualified to be the president. i wish that joe biden wouldn't have said that. >> in monday's debate is different because the topic is foreign policy. spoiler alert. we got bin laden. >> it is all there. and he is making fun of himself and about how often he is going to mention that in the debate. that is the second time he did something where a campaign message gets out there. bin laden is dead. applause. the unemployment rate is 7.8% that is all i got to say. >> his line was i don't have a joke for that. which turned out to be a great joke. >> so who ever helped the president come up with his material deserves an a plus. i think the romney need to understand the difference between a roast and the al smith comment. >> i got to say the obama speech writers are the most talented. >> i'm not sure how much they had to get from the outside. >> thank you both for joining me tonight. >> coming up, the war over the women's vote continues. >> anna marie cox and ohio is still trying last minute voter supression tricks and in the rewrite tonight. mitt romney's oldest son says he wants to take a swing for calling his father a liar. mitt romney's son and me in tonight's rewrite. 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[ laughs ] hey! with 19 days to go in the election president obama is holding onto the leads. new nbc news wall street journal out this evening shows president obama with an 8-point lead. that is virtually unchanged from last month. and in wisconsin the president leads by six points. 51-45% in paul ryan's home state. bill clinton had something to say about the debates in another battleground state today where the president leads ohio. >> listen very carefully to the debate and to the second debate. and mr. romney says i'm going to do all this. i'm going to just cut taxes for the middle class i'm not interested in rich people they will pay the same percentage we pay now. he thinks we are dumb. if you cut everyone else's taxes and we stay the same it means we pay the same. >> the future is rarely a tide rushing in. it is often a slow march inch by inch day after long day and i believe we are in the midst of those long days right now. and i'm here because i believe president obama feels those days in his bones for all 100% of us. vice president biden took the campaign in nevada today. >> as the president said the day after the debate, romney's plans were sketchy. i think they were etch asketchy. >> paul ryan was in florida today. >> if the president can't fix washington from the inside, if the middle class has been buried for the last four years and the economy is not fixed then it is time we change presidents and elect mitt romney the next president of the united states. tonight the forecast is that the president will win 287 electoral college votes. ari, the national polls are different on who has what lead by how much. but it is the battleground states. that lead is impressive. and there is a sizable lead in ohio and i'm aware of what you nailed in your rewrite the other night. >> tell me. >> what should these undecided voters have so much power? >> there is a funny thing happening. it is moving to a mobilization model. and what we are seeing now is, and we are seeing mobilization mez sages to the base. they are saying you have to get people excited. we are seeing a bullish attitude. and they don't need to focus as much on persuading. they are kicking into a gotv mode now. >> let's take a look at something put out today. new video with sara silverman which is about getting out the vote. >> in college mitt romney was so poor at harvard he had to sell stocks to get by. did you have to sell stocks to get by in college liz? >> no, i sold plasma in college. >> liz, you should have borrowed from your parents or from the bank. >> this whole thing is that mit says corporations are people. >> the banks aren't bad they are over whelmed. >> people for get. the banks don't toss families out of their homes they have to hall the cribs and swingsets to the dump it is a lot. >> yeah, it can [ bleep ] with their weekend. >> sara silverman and the daily show creator liz winstead. jean robinson how much stock did you have to cash in when you were in college. i can't finish the joke? >> i would have to say all of none. >> all you know is you have no stock left when you finish college, right? >> exactly. >> but, that is targeted for college turnout and getting that student vote out there. and we are getting down to the point now where this is going to be about turnout? >> right. >> you see the polls and different pollsters do the likely voter screens. this is about creating likely voters. if you can make your voters likely to go to the polls, if you can get them there in greater numbers than you win. and the obama campaign has worked on this for years now. they have been working on this get out the vote effort. >> there will be bad performance in a debate or bad poll numbers for one side of the other. how does a campaign counter some of these issues that may depress the turnout? >> one thing the obama campaign has that we don't talk about that much because we don't see it, is they have amazing ratings. if the obama campaign e-mail list was a television channel, it would have more viewers than all three cable network channels combined. they say it has gotten larger and the numbers show that. everyone thinks about michelle saying hey, lawrence can you give five more dollars, what we are going to see is direct messaging through those e-mails and keeping people moat rated. >> what is the campaign have to do in terms of bucking up not only their supporters but everybody when they start to see these national polls not going their way? >> the surrogates hit the air waves and they get out the counter message and they hit you with the e-mails an text messages for -- which is the way to communicate with younger voters that are designed to buck people up and create the excitement and they are working the neighborhoods. they come around in northern virginia and virginia being a big swing state every weekend. >> and in the words of rob r reiner they are running for president of ohio. keep your eye on ohio. >> coming up. ohio's secretary of state. after getting shot down in the united states supreme court is now trying to get around that court's ruling and still has some shenanigans scheduled for the early voting turn out. it turns out that the romney family considers national service and the only national service worth doing president of the united states nothing less will do for members of the romney family that is coming up. in america today we're running out of a vital resource we need to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪ at devry.edu/knowhow. hahahaha! hooohooo, hahaha! this is awesome! folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. i'd say happier than a slinky on an escalator. get happy. get geico. melons!!! oh yeah!! well that was uncalled for. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy, ronny? happier than gallagher at a farmers' market. get happy. get geico. the man who is afraid to do "the view" sent his wife to do "the view" alone today where whoopi goldberg forced mrs. romney to defend her son's refusal to participate in the wars that they support. the romney men are in tonight's rewrite with a very special word for taggert romney and his desire to punch the president of the united states. my insurance rates are probably gonna double. but, dad, you've got... 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[ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands? i'm here today because i'm concerned about women's rights i don't have to tell you the dangers to row versus wade. >> yes, men take women's issues seriously too. in the spotlight tonight the war over women's votes. sharp tongued. this weekend romney cancelled his appearance on "the view" and left it to his wife ann. >> mitt romney has always been a pro-life person. when a decision came across. >> explain that to me. >> when a decision came across this desk to use embryos for experimentation, he could not have that on his conscience. >> both campaigns are airing new ads now on abortion right. >> you know, those adds saying mitt romney would ban all abortions and contraceptions seemed extreme. it turns out mitt romney doesn't oppose contraception at all. >> seeing this from mitt romney, then take a look at this. >> if row v wade was overturned congress passed a ban on all abortions would you sign it? >> i would be delighted to sign that bill. >> trying to mislead us is wrong. but only if you vote for him. >> annamarie, this thing that anne romney said, i don't get it. mitt has always been a pro-life person and governored when he ran as pro-choice. but when a decision came across we we what did she say? >> i think she said you can't trust him. >> she could have made it so much shorter. >> what he said was he has always believed one thing but campaigned another way until it became convenient until he campaigned a different way. as we can sort of see in this one clip he has changed his mind a few times on abortion. i have to say of those two adds, i'm biased but the obama one seems more effective to me. and it is something that is important. we can joke about the binder full of women and that has gone viral, but the most important piece of news today was the gallup poll that came out showing that women believe that reproductive rights is the most important issue facing women in this election. >> let's take a look at it right now. this is female registered voters taken before the debate. and the most important issue in this election 39% said abortion. the next one down is jobs. 19%. 20% lower. 18% health care is behind it and that is associated with jobs and so, karen finney, i have heard talk about the number one issue for women is the economy. >> right, the over thing on that poll is of those women, they favor president obama over mitt romney. the other issue in that poll is that access to contraception. another huge issue for women. they favor obama that is why clearly the romney campaign, they have been trying to walk back from the extremist positions. she told you he is this but campaigned that way. on the binders, here is why i think it hit a nerve with women. he didn't actually answer to say it is about binders of women without having the courage to say, i wouldn't have signed it. he didn't have the gut to say that, instead, they are using the language to trick women into believing that he is not the extremist that he is. >> let's listen to the man who would keep a president romney in line on the issue of abortion let's listen to what rush said today about what he says democrats really think about women. >> all they think you do is have sex, want birth control pills and want an abortion afterwards. and then, somebody comes along and asks for resumes of qualified women for meaningful jobs and they will make fun of you. birth control pills and abortion that is all they care about. you are not even people to them. >> he cares more about what rush limbaugh thinks than what women think. >> thank you both for joining me tonight. >> coming up, early voting is upheld in ohio and the result the republican secretary of state is trying to put new limits on early voting. they haven't given up on voter supression in ohio. and the romney men are all combat cowards and have refused to serve in the military. but one of them, one of them wants to throw a punch at the commander in chief. the romney men are all in the rewrite tonight. i've worked hard to build my family. and also to build my career. so i'm not about to always let my frequent bladder urges, or the worry my pipes might leak get in the way of my busy lifestyle. that's why i take care, with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. i've worked hard to get to where i am... and i've got better places to go than always going to the bathroom. so take charge of your symptoms by talking to your doctor and go to vesicare.com for a free trial offer. mike rowe here at a ford tell me fiona, who's having a big tire event? 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[ female announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far. in tonight's rewrite another episode of romneymen. the men who never met a war they didn't like but never dreamed observing in the military themselves. he is even afraid of going on "the view." >> the view is fine. although the view is high risk because the five women on it, only one is conservative and four are sharp tongued and not conservative. whoopi goldberg particularly. he sent his wife in his place and thanks to whoopi goldberg the legend of romneymen came up. >> as first lady if you get the job, it is going to entail a lot of those things. as one of those things is talking to the mothers whose children are coming home in bags from wars. i believe your religion doesn't allow you to go fight? >> no, that is not correct. >> we have many, many members of our faith who are serving in the armed services? >> okay. um. >> and the funny part of that is what exactly what does anne romney find funny? nothing. that is what she and her husband do when they are very, very nervous in public. when they don't like where the conversation is going. well let's see where the conversation went. >> well, i say that, because when i read about your husband. what i read is that the reason that he didn't serve in vietnam was because it was against the religion. >> no, that is not correct. he was serving his mission. and my five sons have also served missions. none served in the military. but i have one son that feels that he is giving back to his country where he is now a doctor and taking care of veterans. we find different ways observing. and my five boys did not serve in the military. but they did serve missions. what kind of missions, cia missions. anne romney just used the phrase serve missions three times without saying what they were. why didn't she say religious or mormon missions. they go out into the world and try to convert people into mormonism. that is what he was doing on a beach in france when hundreds of thousands of men his age were being shot at in vietnam. mitt and anns sons each reached military age during wartime and each of them like their father before them refused to even consider serving in the wars of their era that they support. they have supporsed those wars not serving in wars. you don't support serving in wars. not serving in a war that you don't support that is a perfectly honorable choice. millions of americans have made that choice. during vietnam mitt romney's war, men were forced to serve through the craft whether they supported the draft or not. a war that mitt romney did evade by using a draft deferment made only by mormon men. anne romney is right serving in the military is not against the family religion. but young mormon men were allowed to use a deferment to avoid being killed in vietnam and avoid being one of the 58,000 men in vietnam. not all mormon med made mitt romney's choice and some did their missionary service for their church and served in vietnam. brave, mormon men were killed in vietnam. while mitt romney was sitting out the war in france. serving in war is not against the romney family religion but it is against the romney family tradition of safely and always pursuing self interest. mitt romney's father george did not serve in the war of his era world war ii and george romney's father never joined the milt because he spent much of his life in mexico because they were hiding out from the enforcement of the laws of poligamy. miles park romney fled the country, never considered joining the military of a country whose laws he found so personally oppressive. since romney men have no idea what the weight of service feels like, mitt romney was actually able to say this. he was asked how many of your sons are currently serving in the military? >> one of the ways my sons are showing support for our great country are helping is get me elected because they think i will be a great president. >> that continues to intrigue in choiring reporters. >> all of you served your church going on missions. did you ever consider serving your country by putting on a uniform? >> i think we can look at the guys who serve and say that is the biggest sacrifice. it is nothing that any of us did but we look to those guys with a tremendous amount of respect. >> do you regret that you never served? >> i look at my family and i spepd a lot of tie time at the va hospital. i get to work with vets who have made great sacrifices for this country and i look at their lives and hopefully i get to serve them a little bit too. >> notice that romney men did not care answer the question that was asked. did you ever consider serving your country by putting on a uniform and do you regret it. and the romney men answers are you kidding me? we are afraid observing in the military. everyone of us. and that is before we found out how much it pays. the consistent combat cowardis of romneymen makes today's threat of physical violence all the more surprising. mitt romney's oldest son was the guest of honor on a north carolina radio show yesterday. what is it like for you to hear the president of the united states call your dad a liar? how do you react to that? >> you want to jump out and rush down and take a swing at him. >> but also because this is the nature of the process. we signed up for it, we got to sit there and take the punches and send it back the weather way. >> okay taggert let's have a talk. when i hear you taking a swing. why do i get the feeling that you have never actually taken a punch or thrown a punch. i didn't have that luxury in boston but in your rich boston life, with your father filling $100 million trust fund for you. i don't know. i get the feeling that things were different for you. now, i know you've got a lot a lot to be pissed off at these days starting with the name taggert which you have every right to be pissed off with. let me try to help you deal with his agreece you are feeling right now. you are mad for president obama for calling your father a liar? let's get something straight. he didn't call your father a liar. i did. the president said that what your father said isn't true. i have been saying all year that your father lies and has been trying to lie his way into the white house. so you want to take a swing at someone for calling your dad a liar? take a swing at me, and don't worry, there won't be any secret service involved. just us. and i'll make it easy for you. i'll come to you anytime, anywhere. go ahead taggert, take your best shot. the obama re-election campaign won a huge victory this week when the united states supreme court ruled against efforts to prevent early voting in ohio. in 2008 more than 100,000 voters cast their ballots in three days. ohio's republican secretary of state john husted issued a directive ordering polling places to open but with more limited hours. on sunday november 4th, the polls will be open from 1:00 to 5:00. on monday the day before election day, the polls will open at 8:00 am and be forced to close. >> john this is in your face to the supreme court. saying you can make me keep them open, early voting appeals to younger voters, people who have less thim in the workday. why is this so important. ohio, where do you vote when you voterly. you go to the elections office. so they go that appeals to democrats. it is an end aaround the supreme court and i think it has to be classed at voter supression. >> what should the turnout machine do in reaction to this? >> they are cranking up the vote. they plan to flood those polls on the line. in 2008 there were two and a half hourlong lines and they understand that 145,000 votes were cast in the last three days. they are worrying because they want to shut that down. >> it was ohio that gave us a second term a flip of 60 thous and votes would have changed it all. ken blackwell had the same reputation. there are groups through the vote.