worse for the republican. tonight senator bernie sanders on america's first glimpse of the real mitt romney. bob shrum on the victims mitt romney is dismissing. and richard wolf on romney's disastrous view of the middle east. good to have you with us. thanks for watching. for the better part of the year, mitt romney struggled to let voters know who he is. finally the real mitt romney stood up and it's not a pretty sight and very confusing. the hidden camera video from a fundraiser has been released in full. at one point during the $50,000 per plate dinner, romney talked about how he is refining his stump speech. less than 60 seconds after romney said president obama puts americans against each other, romney answered this question. >> romney claims the president is causing resentment mean americans. but romney himself is outlining a class war between two distinct halves of the country. romney stumbled to address the comments he made at a fundraiser in a late news conference last night. but romney made the matters only worse for himself. >> it's not elegantly stated. i'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question. i'm sure i could state it more clearly in a more effective way than i did in a setting like that. and so i'm sure i'll point that out as time goes on. we don't even have the question nor the full response and i hope the person who has the video would put out the full material. >> hold on, wait a minute. don't have the question? just a snippet? we played the full question and answer last night on this program and we were not alone in doing so. romney is just trying to duck and dodge at this point. who calls a press conference at 10:00 at night. he bailed on the news conference before answering a question about what he actually believes. >> at a fundraiser, you have people say, how are you going to win this? so i respond, the president has his group. i have my group. i want to keep my team strong and motivated and i want to get those people in the middle. that's something which fundraising people who are parting with their moneys are very interested in knowing is can you win or not? and that's what this is addressing. >> that would be an incomplete performance, would it not? maybe the reason romney walked away is because these are really his core believes. and to many americans, these believes are ugly. 47% of the country sees themselves as victims might play well in a room full of million nars, but it doesn't go over well for the rest of the country. >> if you're a person struggling to make it, some adversity in your life, how does it make you feel when a presidential candidate says that you will never take personal responsibility and care for your life? mitt romney says you will never be convinced and he's willing to let you just fall by the wayside. that's his plan. romney reiterated his plan on fox news today. >> you said that your wording might have been inelegant, but others say you just kissed half the electorate good-bye, that you all but called them moochers. did you? >> no, i'm talking about a perspective of individuals who i am not likely to get to support me. i recognize that those people not paying income tax are going to say, gosh, this provision that mitt romney keeps talking about, that's not going to be attractive to them. those dependent upon government -- >> flaws. people who pay no federal income tax already plan on voting for mitt romney. more on that later in this program. according to romney, these voters are dependent on government so they will never vote for a guy like him who wants to shrink government. what about groups romney is courting like seniors? >> seniors are, of course, people i'm getting in large numbers. i have great support from seniors because they are unhappy with the fact that obama care cuts medicare by $716 billion. >> all right. let's get this straight. if you're an obama supporter and you use government programs, mitt romney has no use for you. but if your vote is up for grabs and you use a government program like medicare, mitt romney thinks, hey, you're the greatest. for those of us who have been paying attention to mitt romney for the past two years, none of this is really shocking. romney let us know many times what he really thinks about people who use government assistance. >> if you're looking for free stuff, if you're look iing for free stuff you don't have to pay for, vote for the other guy. that's what he's all about. that's not what i'm about. >> that's one of his favorites. romney loves accusing people of mooching for free stuff. when he spoke to the naacp in july, romney was booed for saying he would repeal obama care. later he told a crowd, if you want more stuff from government, tell them to go vote for the other guy, more free stuff. this is not just idol talk. this is what voters need to comprehend. mitt romney does not believe americans should be given a leg up if they are struggling. no safety net. the proof is in the policies that he supports. you don't have to look much farther than the budget plan proposed by romney's running mate, paul ryan. 62% are proposed cuts in the plan come from programs for low-income people. $3.3 trillion will be cut from medicaid, food stamps, job training and more. if that doesn't convince you, take a look at romney's tax plan. americans making under, i say under $30,000 a year, the moochers that romney is talking about, they are going to pay actually pay more in taxes under president romney if he get there is. millionaires get tax cuts by at least 6.9%. in the past romney has said the least fortunate among us are already taken care of by government programs. >> i'm in this race because i care about americans. i'm not concerned about the very poor. we have a safety net there. if it needs repair, i'll fix it. >> but if ryan and romney have their way, the social safety net will be eliminated, privatetized, you can count on it. that's why he doesn't care about the 47% of the country. he's talking about an ideology. he's getting ready to let them fall right through the safety net that this country has provided. you know, those compassionate conservatives that used to be around to try to sell us their stuff about how good they are? earlier this evening, president obama taped an appearance on "the late show with david letterman." he addressed the hidden video comments for the first time. >> mitt romney at a fundraiser in florida, there's a cell phone videotaping his remarks and he talks about being why 47% of the people voting don't matter to him. what does that mean? is that what rich guys at country clubs are talking about? >> well, i don't know what he was referring to, but i can tell you this. wh when i won in 2008, 47% of the people voted for john mccain. what i said on election night was even though you didn't vote for me, i hear your voices and i'm going to work as hard as i can to be your president. and one of the things i have learned as president is you represent the entire country. and when i meet republicans as i'm traveling around the country, they are hardworking, family people who care deeply about this country and my expectation is that if you want to be president, you have to work for everybody. not just for some. [ applause ] >> ultimately, that's what the presidential election has come down to. do you want a president who will work for every american or just the most fortunate ones? get your cell phons out. we want to know what you think. should mitt romney exercise some personal responsibility and apologize to 47% of americans? text a for yes and b for no. you can leave a comment on our blog. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. joining me tonight is senator bernie sanders. senator, great to have you with us tonight. is mitt romney's characterization of the 47% accurate at all? >> well, no. it's not accurate. and here it is, ed, coming from a guy born to a millionaire family who went to elite schools, who believes that the middle class starts at $200,000, who doesn't reveal his taxes because he took so many loopholes. and what really gulls me is we have millions of people in this country who come from families like my own, working-class families, people who worked hard their entire lives, working 50, 60 hours a week. now they are on medicare, now they are on social security and they are being lectured by this millionaire guy that they have got to take personal responsibility and care for their lives. being lectured by him. and to me, ed, this speaks to an extraordinary arrogance on the part of romney and his, if i may use the term, ruling class friends, who apparently think that working people of this country were struggling to support their families today, some of whom will be on medicare and social security are somehow inferior, human beings who need guidance, who are not smart enough to take personal responsibility for their lives and care for their lives. what does this tell us about his attitude to the vast majority of the people? not smart enough? we don't have enough dignity to want to work? people in this country work harder than the people in any other industrialized country on earth. they don't need to be lectured by millionaires and billionaires about the work ethic that they fulfill. >> senator, it could be 47%, 45%, it could be any kind of number. isn't mitt romney speaking to a philosophy that there are moochers, that there are takers that earn benefits don't count anymore and we have to eliminate them? isn't this what the conservative movement really wants in the end game? >> i think it is that, ed, and it's something else. it's saying if you listen to romney's words that people don't know how to take responsibility for their own lives and care for their own lives, what we have got to show them is we're going to cut social security, medicare, medicaid, and education. because you are too dumb or have no sense of responsibility and you're not prepared to work for your living. we have to teach you how to work. we're going to punish you. if you don't work, you're going to be in a lot of trouble. but what romney is about is representing a philosophy that says if you're rich and powerful, you have a right to rule. you get it all. but if you're in the middle class, you're in the working class, we're going to teach you a lesson. we're going to make it harder for your kids to go to college. we're going to cut your social security. we're going to cut your medicaid. we're going to make it harder for you to get the nutrition you need. that's an outrageous and arrogant statement and i hope the american people are listening. >> certainly, a lot of people in this country, democrats and on the left, have known this about mitt romney, but now it's some pretty severe confirmation. senator bernie sanders, great to have you with us. i wish we had more time. thank you so much. remember to answer tonight's question. share your thoughts on twitter and facebook. we want to know what you think. coming up, the florida fundraiser mitt romney may have given some real insight into why president obama is likely to be reelected. more from the videotape. and bob shrum, how does he turn it around? ♪ what are you doing? uh. who taught you how to do this stuff? you! all right! i learned it by watching you! [ male announcer ] parents who skim, have kids who skim. kraft macaroni & cheese. you know you love it. coming up, more of mitt romney caught on tape. why he thinks barack obama could be reelected. how is he going to turn this around and mop it up? bob shrum join me next. later david johnson and i will look at the 47%. just who they really are. and romney's comments are getting a mixed reaction from the right wing while some try to make a false equivalency to president obama's caught on tape comments in 2008. we'll have all the details. share your thoughts with us on facebook and twitter. use the #edshow. ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves. [ male announcer ] why not talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america? ask me about my tempur advanced ergo. goes up. goes up. ask me what it's like to get a massage anytime you want. goes down. goes down. 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he better be mr. october if he's going to turn this thing around. >> i think it's really damaging. i think there's a thing called water cooler conversation, which is most people don't sit around paying attention to politics the way we do. there are things that breakthrough because they happen and you meet somebody at the water cooler at the office the next morning and you say, did you see what that guy said? it was callous and untrue, but it was a revelation of the real mitt romney. this is a guy that likes to fire people. this is the guy who ran bain. if you watch and listen to him in that tape, he's so much more comfortable sitting and talking to those people sitting there, paying $50,000 a piece and dumping on people who live a more ordinary life. >> eugene, there's no question that mitt romney went on the offensive today defending himself, but he looks incompetent. he looks unsure of himself. how damaging is it? >> you know, this is the second week in a row because after his inappropriate libya comments, he came out and looked unsure. he looked unsteady on his feet. he did, again, today. i would be unsteady too if i were try iing to run for presidt on a platform of no more coddling the servants, which is essentially his platform. we must be tougher with those down below. and make them work harder. it's appalling and inassaulting so i would be shaky too if that's what i was left with. >> eugene, how does he come back and jive with the largest voting bloc? >> he hasn't been able to do that to this point. and i don't know, frankly. i really don't know. you know, wearing the jeans doesn't seem to work. not wearing the tie doesn't seem to work. he doesn't have that sort of faculty, that sort of ability to connect with people on that level. now he's announced that he really doesn't care to do so, as a matter of fact. he wants to connect with the folks at that fundraiser. >> nbc news just released a brand new poll. the numbers are very bad for mitt romney. the poll was taken before the fundraising video surfaced. president obama leads by 5 points on the economy. . on looking out for the middle class, president obama holds nearly a 20-point lead. bob, what do the numbers mean? i also want to get your reaction to how the president handled the 47% question from david letterman? >> i thought the president handled the letterman question brilliantly. he acted like somebody who could be commander in chief, who is president, who can speak to the whole country. mitt romney wishes he could etch a sketch this fundraiser. he wish he could etch a sketch the last three weeks. eugene is right. last week he had libya. this week he has this. his campaign has become a permanent damage control machine dealing with one crisis after anoth another. he's going to hope he can do something in the debate. i don't think he's going to suddenly morph into john f. kennedy. the only time he's been comfortable in this campaign is at that fundraiser. >> will he lose seniors? >> he will lose some. he won't lose them all. i think he will probably lose some support across the board and it will be interesting to watch the tracking polls and other polls as this kind of filters out and settles in. this certainly didn't do him any good. >> gentlemen, great to have you with us. thank you so much. up next, mitt romney attacks the 47% of americans who don't pay taxes. turns out a lot of them are, what? republicans? we'll show you exactly why this could be a huge problem for mitt romney. and we have more of romney's comments to his donors, sofling the israeli conflict has been a goal for presidents from both parties, yet mitt romney says if he becomes president, he won't do anything to help it along. richard wolf will join me to discuss the comments. stay tuned. bob... oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. 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[ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪ good to have you back with us on "the ed show." mitt romney's comments about the 47% of people who don't pay income taxes, it's wrong on a number of levels. now we'll break down the numbers and explain why he's insulting his strongest supporters in a moment. first, here's what romney said. >> well, what you say behind closed doors is really who you are. i'm joined by david k. johnson who is a columnist and author of the book "the fine print." romney was basically right about one thing. 46.4% of americans don't pay federal income taxes. but here's the real break down from the tax policy center. two-thirds of romney's 47% actually do pay payroll taxes. david, the rest are elderly who make less than $20,000 a year. >> that's right. they are either elderly so used to pay taxes or are working hard at jobs that pay very little money. >> so who is romney insulting here by the chart? >> he's insuting the people who come from the states that supported mccain, by and large. he's insulting people who worked hard at businesses run by people like mitt romney that paid very low wages. >> here's another way to look at these numbers. look at the states in red, the tax foundation says that in 2008 these southern states had the highest percentage of nonpayers. florida has a very elderly population. this goes against the people that have supported