seal the hatch. after prevailing past primarily pressure, senator orrin hatch raises the idea of making a deal on the debt. but then his staff pushes back. why a compromise is still such a dirty word. and america loses an icon. astronaut sally ride shattered a glass ceiling, broke through the atmosphere to become the first american woman in space but she lost a battle with cancer. good morning from washington. it's tuesday, july 24th, 2012. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. first reads of the morning. the obama campaign's relentless attacks are hurting mitt romney, but are they also hurting the president? and his brand? some democrats are worried it is and whether the obama campaign believes that or not, they are out with a new ad that has a slight change in tone titled "the choice." it's running in nine battleground states and features the presidentcamera, a techniquu expect to see at start or end of campaign, take a look. >> over the next four months you have a choice to make. not just between two political parties or even two people. it's a choice between two very different plans for our country. governor romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top, roll back regulations on big banks, and le say that will if we do, our economy will grow and everyone will benefit. but you know what? we tried it that top-down approach, that's what caused the mess in the first place. >> the ad continues with a plea from the president for his tax plan to, quote, strengthen the middle class, asking the wealthy to play a little more so we can pay down our debt in a balanced way, unquote. in the ad the president laments the negative tone of the campaign, that his side is arguably half responsible for. >> sometimes politics can seem very small. but the choice you face, it couldn't be bigger. >> when you see an ad like there is in the middle of a campaign you can't help but wonder whether, quote a campaign is starting to see issues with their own personal rating. another explanation the tv ad market in battleground stated has become so saturated this is an attempt by having the president speak directly to the camera to break through the clutter. it's a 60-second ad. romney has not had a personalized ad of his own like this. we've not seen him direct to camera. we've had a paid biographical ad. romney's ads all tracked by someone else. >> what would a romney presidency be like? day one -- >> it's one of those things that when you sit here and we talk about the last 60 days, a battle to basically define romney's biography, it is striking that you haven't had a romney ad, romney to camera, doing something, talking about his own biography or his own plans. president obama's campaign may be mulling a change in tone but after a short hiatus for the tragedy in colorado the tough talk is back. oakland, california, last flight the president pushed back on romney's attacks over the last week on the quote, you didn't build it remark. >> earlier today governor romney was at it again. knowingly twisting my words around to suggest that i don't value small businesses. i understand these are the games that get played in political campaigns, although you know when folks just like omit entire sentences of what you said they start kind of splicing and dicing. >> and the president defended his comments from july 13th when he said awkwardly americansic seed through their collective efforts and investments in infrastructure and education. >> i believe with all my heart that is it the drive and the ingenuity of americans who start businesses that lead to their success. i always have and i always will. >> i believe that the free market is the greatest source of prosperity in our history. but i also believe if you talk to any business owner they'll tell you that what also helps them succeed alongside all their hard work, all their great ideas, is the ability to hire workers with the right skills and education. what helps them succeed is the ability to ship and sell their products on new roads and bridges and ports and wireless networks. >> romney meanwhile continuing to hammer the president. he unveiled a new slogan, quote, we did build it, on a backdrop at a small business roundtable in costa mesa, california and slammed the remarks in an interview with cnbc's larry kudlow. >> it's a very strange and in some respects foreign to the american experience type of philosophy. if you have a business, and you started it, you did build it. and you deserve credit for that. it was not built for you by government. >> the romney campaign and conservatives panned the president's quote it takes a village argument. but the attack has its own complexity. the clip of romney in 2002 reminding olympians during a speech at opening sceremonies they didn't get their on their own. yesterday at a fund-raiser he said, quote, detoqueville looked at us and said what made us an unusual nation among other things was our willingness to serve one another. we need more barn raisings, more people who don't look and say what can government do, but what things can i do in the in the live of people near me. the line between individual achievement and collective effort might not be ease easy to draw. jack gilchrist, the star last week, he received some help from the government through the years. the new hampshire union leader reported in 1999 gilchrist receive $8,000 in tax exempt revenue bonds issued by the new hampshire business finance authority and said his company received a u.s. small business administration loan totalling somewhere south of $500,000 in late '80s. he said his business has received matching funds from the new england trade adjustment assistance center which, by the way, is also federally funded. look, every one of the attacks that the campaigns do to each other you try to create clarity and then you dig in and see there's more muddiness there than you may have counted on. finally the campaign turns to foreign policy today as romney speaks to veterans of foreign wars convention in nevada before heading off on a weeklong trip abroad. during his speech today, romney expected to charge that the president has, quote, relinquished our leadership role in the world and we're just now reaping consequences. the president anticipated that argument in his own speech to the vfw yesterday. >> if anyone tries to tell you that our greatness has passed, that america's in decline, you tell them this, just like the 20th century, the 21st century's going to be another great american century. >> president also slammed romney on iraq and afghanistan but did so without mentioning him by name. >> some said that bringing our troops home last year was a mistake, they would have kept tens of thousands of our forces in iraq indefinitely without a clear mission. well, when your commander in chief, you owe the troops a plan. you owe the country a plan and that includes recognizing not just when to begin wars but also to end them. >> on foreign policy, romney's minus my minimized risks. it's produced exchanges like this one on iraq back in december. >> we should have left 10, 20, 30,000 personnel there to help transition to the iraqis' own military capability. >> as president would you send u.s. troops back into iraq? >> let me tell you, chris, i think the decision to send u.s. troops into a combat setting is a very high threshold decision. this is not something you do easily. >> so didn't really answer the second part of the question while criticizing the pullout. romney's plan reads upon taking office he will review transition to the afghan military holding discussio discussions with commanders in the field, to determine the level required to secure our gains. not a plan. the obama campaign hammered romney on a conference call yesterday saying, this foreign policy trip should be judged by the kind of substantive ideas that mitt romney outlines. worth noting this is a risk adverse trip. romney's heading to friendly territory for republicans limiting exposure, putting himself into a position to make as little news as possible. when you think about the two other countries he's visiting besides great britain, israel and poland, they both have governments that are very favorable to republicans. now details are emerging about james holmes, the 24-year-old suspect in the deadly colorado shooting am rage, a university at university of colorado will make his next appearance in court monday. family members are making funeral plans for victims of friday's shootings. mike, obviously the big noticeable question, i think, people have this morning is, what was the suspect on? was he on anything? what's the explanation for his bizarre behavior in court yesterday? >> reporter: well, chuck, there hasn't been any real explanation for it. there has been speculation, he might have been on maintenance medication. i was 15 feet away from him while he was sitting on the dock with co-counsel. he look like he was on something. heavy-lidded, falling out, not looking directly. one point there was a look of surprise. it did look like he was on something but that may have been his state of the mind. something happened to the once gifted student over a period of time that changed him from somebody who was alert and eager student, maybe an academic star who what he became with the pink-orange hair, combat suit and all of that leading up to the horrible moment last thursday midnight. but that demeanor of his may play into and savannah guthrie made this point, ngi, not guilty by reason of insanity defense by his counsel, dan king and tammy brady. they had time to think about that. they won't have to decide and announce whether they'll choose that level of defense or that kind of defense until the arraignment and that's some time away, at least a couple of months, because the charges next monday and then a preliminary hearing after that and then finally the arraignment. there's still some time away the beginning of a long process. >> will we know on monday whether he's going to be -- where he could possibly be sentenced to death? >> reporter: no, no that won't be announced. it's after the arraignment the clock starts, within 60 days after that the d.a. has to decide and announce whether she'll seek death penalty and only do that with victims' families and survivors, and that's not an easy or unanimous decision. it never is in these cases. up next, scorch earth. time running out for the house to pass the farm bill. by the way, it would mean much-needed help for americans and farmers suffering in a horrible drought. congress could make history if they don't act on this one soon. plus -- crisis continued, why the man who oversaw the $700 billion federal bailout says nothing has changed in washington or wall street since the financial crisis. but first, look ahead at the schedules of the president. he starts out, wakes up in the pacific northwest this morning. we also have mitt romney also out west speaking in reno, nevada. don't forget, tomorrow, we have a special 90-minute edition of "the daily rundown." what more would you want on nbc news/"wall street journal" poll day than 90 minutes of "the daily rundown"? we'll be right back. the medicare debate continues in washington... ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. to experience the largest, most efficient line of luxury hybrids on the road, including the all-new esh. ♪ while many automakers are just beginning to dabble with the idea of hybrid technology... ♪ ...it's already ingrained in our dna. during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection. when much of the country suffering through the worst drought in a generation you'd think law makes would be racing to help farmers who see lirlyhood slip away. a farm bill is stuck in the house with no plan to bring to a vote. oklahoma republican congressman tom cole, deputy whip for the republican congress, being from the state of oklahoma, probably getting a lot of firsthand accounts of this drought. so let me start with the issue of this drought, congressman. there's a lot of people, i got my own uncle dealing with in northwest arkansas. a lot of people dealing with just an unusually dry year and you would think this fight over the farm bill would take that into account. what's go on? >> frankly, i think it will take that into account and certainly should. i have 14,000 farms and ranches in my district, 75,000 in the state of oklahoma my good friend frank lucas chairman of the agricultural committee, he's gotten the bill through the committee on a very good bipartisan vote. obviously we've got till the end of september. but i would hope we see action on this relatively soon. there's some things that need to happen and certainly some certainty in terms of disaster relief that farmers and ranchers need to have. >> but people -- david rogers, probably known as the 436th member of the house or the 101st senator, political reporter, formerly "wall street journal," now politico said, never in the history of 50 years of farm bills has a house farm bill once it got out of committee not been brought to the floor of the house. i can't help but look at this and wonder, are you guys have tea party party? are conservative members worried about spending, which is part of the deal when it comes to a farm bill that you can't get the votes for it? is that the issue? >> new york i don't think so. actually i think it would be a strong bipartisan vote for it. as you know, chuck, the opposition's as much on the left as it is the right. the bill makes much-needed reductions in food stamps and wiic where we've had an explosion in spending and eliminates direct payment to farmers as well. the opposition's both on the right and the left. now, again, frank lucas put together the kind of coalition to get that through working with the democrat, ranking member, colin peterson. they're a very good pair of legislators. my personal opinion is, this bill ought to come to the floor and would pass on a strong majority. i doubt 218 republican votes or the overwhelming majority of democrats but i in it could get through and i think it ought to. >> why is not being brought to the floor? the whip said he didn't have the votes yet. >> if the aim is to get to 218 republican votes and pass it without democratic support, then i would say that's a pretty steep hill to climb. makes more sense, we have a bipartisan bill i think we can pass it. but to be fair to the whip, it does take some time to put together coalitions, work across party lines. we'll have a challenging conference after that. but at the end of the day, again, it's not unusual that farm votes have this kind of problem. 2008 president bush actually vetoed the farm bill. we lad to override it. i was one of the votes to override on that occasion. so, i think we'll get there, but we ought to probably be listening a lot to frank lucas and colin peterson. i hope the house together in a bha bipartisan way will be supportive. >> you keep saying that. and on one hand you say is the leadership not wanting to do this in a bipartisan way? i'm confused here because if the votes are there for a bipartisan vote, why not bring it to the floor? >> that's my assessment. i'm not the only person here that counts votes. i think i do it pretty well. but you know other people want to be certain. and there's a lot of democratic opposition to this bill. because it does reduce some of the urban nutrition programs near and dear to the liberal wing of that party. so it's a rather narrow target they have to shoot at but again, when you get a bill out of committee that has both the chairman and ranging members' support, where you have bipartisan votes at the end of the day we can find a way to put together a coalition that will pass the bill. >> let me ask you about considering the fallout from aurora and we're having when we see one of the shootings, there's a conversation that goes to gun control. but there's one part of this story that i think has a lot of folks scratching their head, how is it so easy to buy that much ammunition online? are you at all -- i know you're a card-carrying member of the nra and all of that. but would there be nra opposition to restricting how much ammunition you could buy in the internet? >> i'll let the nra speak for itself. you hate to think of these things in political terms. i was a public official during the oklahoma city bombing saw 168 innocence americans killed by a guy who bought all of the stuff legally, you know, and rigs up a bomb and basically we flow this young man, troubled young man, had 30 home made hand grenades. i don't think you get to the point that you can stop people that want to do something this horrendous from getting materials. i've seen it happen too many times. it's not just a question of gun control. >> why should it be so easy to buy that much legal ammunition? should it be? are you -- would you ever be open to restricting how much ammunition you could buy online? >> look, i'm willing to look at every bill one at a time and take a look at it. but do i think it would have made a difference if he had 500 bullets instead of 6,000? no, not given the casualties. so you know you want to make sure anything that you do is not a knee-jerk reaction that will get at the problem. and, frankly we live with a certain amount of risk in a free society. the second amendment's an important amendment, just like the first is. i wouldn't limit what people say or write because they say hateful things that cause violence or how they worship, though i don't agree with every religion, these things are fundamental. how you maintain proper balance, particularly against a lone, single actor no reason to believe he would be capable of doing something like this. like any more nan oklahoma left me scratching my head. limit the amount of fertilizer to buy? that was a more deadly, single incident. there are probls in a free society with people that are honestly deranged and demommic and that's what we had in the case. >> i will leave it there. tom cole, republican from oklahoma. thank you for coming on and sharing your views this morning. >> thank you. if the housing market finally starting to turn around? a quick preview of the day on wall street. that's next in the market rundown. how many sitting vice presidents have been elected president since 1900? the answer, first correct answer gets the follow tuesday from us. is it done? [ john ] no. ♪ were you just... no. are you supposed to be driving that in here? no! yo! teresa here? ♪ no. so is it okay if i stay out just a little bit longer? so...okay... so no. did mom say we could eat all that? [ john ] yes. [ male announcer ] in a world filled with "no," it's nice to finally say "yes." the new line of oscar mayer selects. the tastes you love and no artificial preservatives. it's yes food. trick question. i love everything about this country! including prilosec otc. you know one pill each morning treats your frequent heartburn so you can enjoy all this great land of ours has to offer like demolition derbies. and drive thru weddings. so if you're one of those people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day, block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. home prices saw their first year over year increase since 2007, a sign that the housing market may be finally on the road to recovery according to the zillow home value index. prices rose fastest in phoenix and miami where fewer homes were for sale and investor demand is strong again. just minutes away from the opening bell. let's get to the market rundown. cnbc's becky quick is here. europe is having its usual impact on the markets. the housing data is sort of finally a foundational evidence of the potential that the economy may have hit bottom, yes? >> crossing our fingers in a huge way because we talked to so many people, chuck, who say as relation estate goes and housing prices go, that's going to dem h determine how the economy goes. the latest report from zillow shows very modest gains 0.2% gains that's the first time that's happened in five years and no less real estate authority donald trump told us this morning this is huge, he thinks prices are bottoming and it's hard to say when things are going to see big improvements but he does see big improvements coming, he sees prices coming up and that could determine where the economy heads. you have to think of it not only in terms of the contractors and the realtors and all of the things that doing but out to home improvements, things like home depot, all of the different sectors that it impacts. that's a huge part of the economy. right now it looks like we're opening mixed. it's coming after a triple-digit loss for the dow yesterday. chuck, great to see you again. you're my long lost friend. >> becky, good to see you. my understanding a lot of the housing uptick has to do with international money coming to the united states, particularly in my hometown. >> yep. >> becky, thank you much. next, remembering the first american woman in space, plus the new dangers in syria as the assad regime not only acknowledges it has chemical weapons but apparently it's threatening to use them. and a programming note. tomorrow's daily rundown special 90-minute show. it's "wall street journal" day. there's no margin for error to miss that one. >> i'm using execution skills to help a city i love. >> business leader creating programs that utilize private and public fund. >> it's more designed to put philanthropic dollars to work. >> power and influence. >> that can make a big impact in a city like detroit. >> go to payingitforward. syrian crisis takes a disturbing turn. america loses a pioneer in space travel. more on the t.a.r.p. issue, that's on our radar. explosions and gunfire tear through the syrian capital of da pl ma /* damascus. president obama is warning assad not to use biological weapons. president said that would be a tragic mistake. neil barofsky, once in charge of implementing the bailout program known as t.a.r.p., which didn't cost $700 billion is out with a book which he insists the program was flawed and focused too much on big banks and didn't do enough to help the middle class. speaking to my colleague, nbc's lisa meyers, barofsky blames cozy ties between washington and washington street. >> the revolving door between washington and wall street is an inhere rant part of the problem. look trashry department, people running the bailout they all came from wall street. you had the people running ahead of it, goldman sachs, merrill lynch, when you go down the chain of the key decisionmakers it's a who's who of investment banks and commercial banks. even someone from bank of america run the housing program. what happens when you have that type of echo chamber where it's this all -- everyone comes with the same ideology of this belief in the banks, that they would -- could do no harm, their interests are align with that of the american people it's not surprising contrary voices get drowned out. >> later in the interview with lisa meyers, he says he hopes the message people get out of the book is that the american public gets angry and he talks about both the tea party and the occupy movement, that they both should be united in anger in the nexus of washington and wall street. sally ride has dies. she made history aboard "challenger" the first of 43 women to go into orb bit. president obama called her a national hero. sally ride died of cancer, she was 61. in a case of art imitating life, daniel silva has a strange knack for predicting international events. best selling books predicts the collapse of the mubarak regime in egypt and foreshadowed the arab spring that wouldn't end in democracy in the middle east. the latest novel "the fallen angel" i spoke with him about the realities of arab nations in the midst of ongoing turmoil and a cloudy future. >> you love writing about the middle east now, that this is -- what is grabbing you about the middle east? you merge fiction with current events. >> having lived in egypt for a couple of years in the '80s a great deal of political turmoil, having ohhed the muslim brotherhood and the beginnings of al qaeda up close in the 1980s, i am stunned by the fact that we have the muslim brotherhood holding the presidency in egypt, demanding that a muslim brotherhood parliament be seated and it is just an extraordinary turn of events and i'm not sure it's going to end well. it is -- i think that if you look back at the momentous events that have happened over the last few years the fact that the muslim brotherhood now effectively controls politically egypt, the most important country in the arab world, it's astonishing. >> talk about egypt here for a minute. i want to get more into the book. egypt's symbolically has been sort of thought of as the heart of the muslim world. but is it? i mean i say that, you know, is it just a historical thing or could it actually revive itself and suddenly become the center, the muslim center of the middle east? >> it is -- egypt is a true nation, they think of themselves as egyptians, they're not like some of the other arab state, they are tribes with flags. iraq a country drawn up in london, the same is true of lebanon and syria. egypt is a real country, a seat of sunni-islamic learning but has one huge drawback that will prevent it from playing a true leading role in the middle east everybody it has no oil. it's desperately poor. i think the biggest danger in egypt now is it could become a failed state of 80 million people crammed on a little sliver of land. >> the book, you focus on the terrorist group hezbollah portrayed, smuggling of antiquities. what fascinates me of you picking hezbollah, i think syria at moment could implode, is it a full-fledged civil war? we'll lead that to others to tell us when the civil war actually happened. what happens to syria? you spent time studying syria for a long period of time to do the book, deal with hezbollah, get facts right as you write the fiction. as you look at this doing research, what happens to syria when syria falls? assad's going to fall, we just don't know when. >> one of the things that drew me to dealing with the subject of antiquities in the book, and as i looked at the map of the middle east particularly that little slice of land along the eastern rim of the mediterranean, how many gram empires came and went over the little slice of land. how many -- romans, greeks, egyptians, persians, on and on, babylonians. i think we delude ourselves into thinking history has come to an end. history has not come to an end. i think it is possible that in -- within a brief period of time that the country that we know of syria might not exist. i mean, it was literally drawn up by european powers. it could fragment. turkey could take a piece of syria. we don't know exactly what's going to happen in syria. i'm watching the violence that's taking place in iraq with increasing alarm. it might be headed back towards something like the dark days of '06 with a full-scale civil war again. iraq might not exist. and i think in general, the region -- >> iraqs not even 100 years old. it's not even 100. >> it's not a true nation. it is tribes with flags. and the region, i think in the short term, is becoming more islamic and more populist at the same time and we don't know how it's going to play out. >> quickly what did you think when bill clinton admitted on the "today" show that not only was he a reader of your books but reciting characters. he had a favorite character which tells you he doesn't just read one of the books. he reads them all. >> gabrielon is his favorite. >> who has more intelligence reports? more pressure? mr. i was quite humbled by that in a real way. bill clinton's attempts to bring peace to the middle east in the last day of the administration inspires the first book. so i was humbled by it but also satisfied if i could create a character that could pass the smell test with bill clinton i must have done something write. >> the voracious reader. unbelievable amount of books he reads. "the fallen angel," you're known as -- >> daniel, good to see you. >> political panel is coming up next. we'll have a preview of mitt romney's speech to the vfw. how big or how small will his plan be? hatching a plan to deal with the debt. veteran senator now done with his primary signal his might be ready to compromise. why is his staff saying not so fast? first, white house soup of the day. wow, the president's not there but a brand-new one. never had it before. i'm not sure whether these two things should mix. but it's oyster and artichoke bisque. okay. don't forget, always follow the show on facebook. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing new dentyne split to fit pack. it splits in to two smaller, sleeker packs that fit almost anywhere so you can take them everywhere. dentyne split to fit. practice safe breath. you know how hard if yit can be to breathedo, so you can take them everywhere. and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? ask your doctor if spiriva can help. mitt romney says he's going to give americans more depth on his economic plans as the campaign continues. but, folks, it's late july and the millions of americans searching for solutions, stagnant job numbers, will they be satisfied with broad strokes? perry bacon, msnbc contribute where political editor for thegrio.com. ruth marcus, "the washington post" writing and republican pollster, steve lombardo, welcome all. steve, this criticism has come as much from republicans as it's come from the obama campaign and that is this issue of details. and romney himself admitted that he hasn't put out a lot of details in his interview with larry kudlow. i'm going to put up an element he talked about a five-point directive that he would, to jump start the economy, talks about energy resources, open up trade, convince the world u.s. is on track for a balanced budget, training programs for adults, better schools for kids, restore economic freedom. that's not a plan? that's a philosophy, that's a hope, but it's not a detailed plan. he says he'll put out more later. is there time? >> i think there's plenty of time. the problem for romney is not a five-point plan it's telling american voters he has a plan and i think that's what he has to do. it has to be the ability to tell people and voters that they're convinced that he has an idea of where to take the economy moving forward, that the president doesn't have that, and he does. five, ten, 15 points doesn't matter. >> but you can make the case, fine you don't like the president's way, but i mean, when does he have to come out with something? >> we had 59 points, i believe, the last time around. >> go back and forth on the 59-point thing. he's a power point kind of guy. >> this is siris of bumper stickers. he has enough cars to put them all on. >> oh wow. >> i know, it was a little mean. but these are aspirational ideas and the -- first of all, they're not fleshed out in any way, convince the world america can get the fiscal situation under control. well, okay, exactly how? and, number two, the linkage of that to if we had done this, the economy would be in a more resur again state? not so clear. >> perry, isn't this par of the political strategy that he doesn't want to put out too many details because you don't -- they don't want to take the focus off of president obama, they want to make him defend everything and they want to have -- they don't want to keep -- put the focus on them at all? >> romney's said in the primary he's for the paul ryan plan. >> right. >> the entitlements -- >> but with changes. he doesn't say what changes. >> he wants to all about obama. they are talking about details, not what they're trying to do on foreign policy or domestic policy. >> is that -- is that the plan here? >> it doesn't have to be the plan. this election is all about obama. it is a referendum on the president -- >> but you can't win the next phase of the argument if you don't put out your own plan. >> absolute le. he has to tell people where he wants to go and how he's going to do it. it has to be a directional thing and that's actually what i think the obama team worries about. >> vfw, the vfw speech today another place where he's supposed to put a little meat on the bones on the foreign poll significance vision. one was about sort of american exceptionalism, and the second was a hit on the president about leaks. ruth, it struck me as sort of it seeped small for a vfw audience. it's good for the base, and i know the base gets fired up on this story, but it doesn't seem to be about a national security issue. >> it doesn't seem to be about a vision. the president has launched investigation into leaks. we can argue about whether we think they are authorized or allowed in some way, or not. but it is, as you say, not about some of the serious questions facing the country going forward on foreign policy. and i just think this question of, well, you have to sort of say the direction without giving the actual twists and turns of make a right here and a left there, this is how we're going to get there. voters are going to get fed up with that, i think from both sides. >> that's the question when we come back. i want to talk about an interesting back and forth that orrin hatch and a reporter had and the hatch office and the reporter had about whether we compromise in washington. trivia, how many sitting vice presidents have been elected president since 1900? the answer, did you know, steve? >> no. three? >> one. george h.w. bush. four vice presidents elevated during the 20th century due to the death of a president and nixon became president eight years after leaving the v.p.'s office. bush 41 the only sitting president to be elected but you noted that al gore did win the popular vote as sitting vice president. i'll leave that debate to another day. >> we'll never resolve hull fo in that question. do you have a political trivia question you think should be on the show? e-mail us at dailyrundown apt msnbc.com. we'll be right back. edback ] attention, well, everyone. you can now try snapshot from progressive free for 30 days. just plug this into your car, and your good driving can save you up to 30%. you could even try it without switching your insurance. why not give it a shot? carry on. now you can test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. our current dividend tax rate will expire this year, sending taxes through the roof and hindering economic recovery. the consequences? millions of americans will see their taxes on dividend income spike, slowing investment in u.s. companies and jeopardizing development in energy projects that create american jobs. ask congress to stop a dividend tax hike -- for all of us. let's bring back the panel. perry bacon, ruth marcus, and steve lombardo. there was a fun little story here about orrin hatch, now that he's passed his primary. it was an ap story where orrin hatch is talking about, if he's chairman of the senate finance committee, that the steve, there's going to be compromise. not everyone's going to get what they want. the ap reporter took that quote and said, well, i guess he's not worried about his primary politics anymore. the office got mad of that interpretation and that's understandable, but i have to say, when you hear a quote like that from orrin hatch, would we have heard him say something like that before the primary in utah? >> doubtful. very doubtful. listen, orrin hatch is 78 years old. he's worried about his legacy and he also wants to do -- >> so he got elected, he got out of the ditch, essentially, and now it's legacy watch? >> i think it is. and i think it's also about doing what's right for the country. and i think he's a little tired of no compromise, as part of the republican politics and democratic politics as well. and i think that he wants to see something big happen. he'd like to be a part of that. >> but ruth, it was interesting to the watch this staff push back so hard on this. >> have you ever had a more perfect illustration of everything that's wrong with washington today? no, no -- >> he didn't mean that! i know. that does say it all, doesn't it? >> and it's the true hatch. the hatch that was able to reach across the aisle and work with ted kennedy and pass the children's health insurance program and other things like that. come on, folks. this is what we need. >> i wonder how many "i told you sos" on the right, in the tea party movement. >> tax reform will probably involve tax increases, which i'm sure the tea party challenger would not have been for. >> what's interesting, i haven't had a republican senator, when you ask them that direct question, can you say that taxes are not going to go up on somebody, they won't say that. it's pretty clear taxes are going to go up on somebody. >> i think it has to. look, at some point, the ryan proposal has to -- if we're actually going to reduce the debt, which is the problem, there has to be some compromise on taxes. where and how, i don't know, but this election has to happen. >> ruth, really quickly, what'd you make of sort of what appears to be a change in tone in the president's ads? >> you know, i'm actually not surprised by it. i wrote a column eight months ago about how this campaign was not going to be about hope and change, but fear and loathing. voila. >> and you do get the sense both campaigns are maybe secretly relieved that they had to take a break. >> and romney's been saying that too. >> shameless plugs? >> my winning is on saturday. so south dakota. >> south dakota? >> south dakota. >> destination wedding. >> steve? >> pollster.com, visited -- >> right now? >> absolutely. and read what real pollsters are saying. >> cameras in courtrooms. i'm really glad we got a look inside the courtroom in colorado yesterday. >> is that a good thing? >> i really do -- i was a little taken aback at the beginning, but i do think it was a good thing. aren't we glad we got a chance to make that decision, assail t assessment ourselves? >> it's interesting. i'm going to be on a lighter wrote, ichiro, hopefully now you get the attention you deserve. tomorrow, a 90-minute extravaganz extravaganza. our pollsters will be here to break down our nbc news "wall street journal" poll and we'll hear from both the obama and romney campaign for a supersized "rundown." up next, chris jansing. bye-bye. here's a look at your business travel forecast. many locations will be dealing with thunderstorms on and off today, including minneapolis and chicago some of the worst spots early today. and then this afternoon, washington, d.c., back through areas of virginia, north carolina, and even chicago could deal with numerous strong thunderstorms. and on the west coast, even our friends in phoenix could deal with a few strong thunderstorms. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. [ jennifer ] better. stronger. believe. happier. healthier. i believe weight watchers made me more powerful. it's time to believe again. stand up and take charge. i believe if you want to change your life, you can. ♪ believe in yourself [ female announcer ] weight watchers -- rated number one best plan for weight loss by u.s. news and world report, again. [ jennifer ] join for $1. weight watchers. believe. because it works. ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions