>> i am john heilemann, and i am marc halperin. with all due realize to all y'all in nashville. >> howdy! ♪ >> shalom sports fans and tonight's lineup, chris christie does the bare minimum. and charlie crist will debate without his number one fan. first, josh was on this show a couple of weeks ago shortly after president obama, saying his policies are on the ballot this fall. last night obama sort of did telling al sharpton the

democrats in red states are all folks who vote with me. they have supported my agenda in congress. the price today was that he had to try to clean up his boss' mess. >> the success of many of these democratic candidates will depend on their own success in motivating voters that strongly supported the president in 2012. >> marc, i can't imagine a democratic candidate in the country who was happy with what president obama said last night. why did he say what he said? >> first of all, it has not exploded as a story. it was not in a lot of the morning papers and not huge in coverage. but i suspect we will see it in republican ads. it would take more of a psycho analyst than a political analyst to say for sure. but i think the president is proud of his record, and particularly when he is talking to african-american radio or groups in the democratic party

who are enthusiastic out there i think he wants to be out there saying what he believes to be true. he has a great record that a lot of democrats have supported. >> there is truth to what josh is saying there, which is this is a delicate balance. there are places where the president is a motivator for the democratic base and for people who were part of the combs in -- the president's coalition in 2012. they need them to get out. he is still trying to stay away but still be a motivating force for the voters they need to win. >> make no mistake, it is not a good thing he said it for the party, and a lot of democrats are annoyed with it. let's see how much it comes up in the next couple of days in ads and democrats on the trail being reminded that their opponents voted to support barack obama. >> those records were pretty well known already. if it was president obama last night performing his version of oops i did it again, today it was the republican headliner chris christie, who grabbed a mic and started singing off key.

>> i am tired of hearing about the minimum wage. i really am. i don't think there is a mother or father sitting around a kitchen table tonight in america saying if our son or daughter could just make a higher minimum wage, all our dreams could be realized. >> chris christie is not barack obama, but we thought we should ask governor christie's office if they have any comment about the comment. they said nothing to say beyond his words. this isn't something he has said for the first time. this is the kind of thing that will blow up in certain quadrants in the liberal media and blogosphere. it seems to me there is no chance this is going to resonate in races across the country. what do you think about that? >> i agree. no chance it will resonate this. -- it will resonate. this is chris christie being chris christie. it makes makes ed grimly

mental when a party attacks another. we know what he meant. he was making a legitimate point. i cannot stand this part of our politics where you have democrats jumping on a gaffe like this. i have no sympathy now for democrats trying to make this a big issue. yes, they can debate the minimum wage with christie, but this is not a gaffe and not reflective of anything. there is one truth, and that is the republican party is on the other side of the wage issue from the democratic party. >> all true. >> forgetting about the sound bite, they should be driving this issue. they need to get back on message because it helps them distract attention away from things cutting against them. >> i am all for debate about the minimum wage, but that is not what this is about. ridiculous. >> i agree. we will see it play out. moving own to our next senate race to watch, the one tonight is in new hampshire. the democratic incumbent and the

republican challenger will have their second debate in concord. this race for weeks has seesawed back and forth, been very title. -- mary tight. very tight. she looks like she has a few points lead, but well within the margin of error. do you think scott brown is still the underdog in this race or is it a toss-up? >> he is still the underdog. the first debate was not on television. the next ones are. i think brown has to get her rattled to put himself in parity in this race. they are both going for independence, always huge in new hampshire. i think she performed so well last thursday night at the jefferson jackson dinner. i was impressed. if she shows the poise confidence and humor in the debates, i think brown will get close but only win if there is a national wave. not control of his own destiny. >> this has always been her race to lose. for a while it looked like he was on offense and she was on defense, now she has a set of

strong messages attacking him. she has elizabeth warren to help her out. if she puts in a good debate performance tonight, i think this is one where scott brown is likely to fall a little short. we will see. >> she hasn't lost much in her career. she did lose one senate race. the strength of brown is that he is underrated and he has been very disciplined. he has taken a lot of hits. he has driven a pretty good message. one of his speeches on obama care is one of the best i have heard. he is going up against a proven vote-getter in the state. and he is still facing questions about the core issue, the fact that he used to be a senator from massachusetts. these debates matter a ton. in the state, if either makes a mistake, every political savvy voter in the state are going to hear about it. >> everybody focuses on the carpet bagger issue, but

the truth is that massachusetts is really from new hampshire. the truth is he is not what she is, a proven vote-getter in that complicated, sophisticated state, and that is to his disadvantage in the final days. >> stylistically, she is a current senator even though he has been a senator. is really trying to pound on tying her to the president. >> moving on to our last topic for this block, now we are going to talk about jacksonville florida, where the governor of that state, rick scott will debate charlie crist again after last week's debate was filled with controversy over crist's cooling apparatus. this time he is not allowed to bring the fan. we put our top climatologist on the story. we poured over the research. here is what they found out. first of all, it is hot outside in jacksonville. by 9:00 p.m., the humidity could reach 79%, nearly 80%. inside the studio where the debate will take place, the tv

station says it will be cooler but not cold around the low to mid 60's. not only is there a fan ban, but we have learned that there will be no dehumidifier or any other electronic device in the hall. given these conditions, i think there is a reasonable chance that charlie crist is going to melt. what do you think? >> the hottest thing in that room will be cnn's jake tapper, one of the moderators of the debate. there will be a china focused on the fan. i'm sure there will be fan jokes. this is one of the biggest races in the country. most people think the race is basically tied. i think scott has got to prove to voters tonight he deserves a second term. crist is a cagey and underrated politician. this is going to be down to the last few weeks, one of the biggest high profile races in country. this debate is a big deal. >> it is a huge deal. the polls literally have it 44-44 right now. it couldn't be any tighter.

it has been a dispiriting campaign, a lot of negative campaigning and mud slinging. i can't imagine a lot of florida voters will go in an inspired way to the ballot box on this one, but it matters. >> coming up, the man who was the answer time and again to a question posed to every first lady. who are you wearing? ♪

>> we know our most famous political figures by their speeches, votes, and campaigns. oscar de la renta knew them by fashion tastes and measurements. he was 82 years old when he died yesterday after a long fight with cancer, and the "washington post" has written an ode to him. she joins us now. robin, can you talk about how oscar de la renta became the go-to clothier to so many first

ladies from jackie kennedy, to nancy reagan, to laura bush and others. >> the first rule of thumb is they turned to american designers. that has always been the case. they turned to american designers for their public wardrobe. and oscar de la renta i think occupied a really sweet spot between creating clothes that would appeal to the private woman and her particular sensibility but would also fill public role that she was compelled to carry out. it's a tough line to walk because we do expect a certain regalness in first ladies, but we also expect them to be relatable. that is a tough balancing act. >> robin, most of the recent first ladies not only wore his clothes, but talked about loving him and having a close bond with him. why has michelle obama not followed the pattern?

>> i think some of it is perhaps just personal aesthetic preference, but i think very much from the beginning of michelle obama's time in the east wing, she has been a champion of younger designers, those designers who are less known, those who are just starting out or who have smaller businesses. i think in many ways her track record really speaks to a point of view and for lack of a better word, the philosophy about the fashion industry that she has been very true to. just recently she did wear one of oscar de la renta's dresses to an event in celebration of the american fashion industry. >> robin, i want to step back and ask you about some earlier first ladies, but following up on that, it is the case you wrote in your column this

morning about oscar de la renta that he had a taste -- he wasn't afraid of controversy, and he sort of took michelle obama to task. tell that story about how the two of them ended up in conflict over what she decided to wear to a state dinner for the chinese a couple of years ago? >> well, it was a state dinner at the white house for china and she chose a red alexander mcqueen dress for the evening. and alexander mcqueen is a london-based design house. and oscar de la renta essentially said he felt she had missed an opportunity to highlight the best of american design at this moment where the world's attention was on the white house and in particular on her. obviously no one particularly wants to be criticized for what they have chosen to wear, but i think that oscar's comments need to be taken in the context out of which he came of age as a designer.

and he really came to his statue -- stature at a time when the american fashion industry was really not much to speak of. everything was essentially being designed and decided in paris, and the american industry at that time was copying paris. there was an entire fashion economy on 7th avenue that was predicated on copying paris. oscar was among those early designers who were able to put american design on the map, able to bring american designers out of the back rooms and give them a voice, and they became names on a label. so i think in some visceral way, he was still sort of fighting for the respect of the american fashion industry. and i do think he felt very

sincerely that an american first lady should, on the biggest occasions, wear an american brand. >> robin, the guy did quality work, and that is a big part of why so many first ladies and celebrities wanted to wear his clothes. but personally what did he do to relate to, spend time with the clintons, the bushes, the reagans, that made them think of him not just as hired help designing clothes, but as a friend? >> well, he was an absolutely incredibly charming guy. comments have come in from various members of the fashion industry. one of the words that come up repeatedly is gentleman. he was a gentleman in sort of that old school way. the last time that i interviewed him, he apologized to me for having taken off his tie. who apologizes for taking off a tie? which i though was very sort of charming. there was a certain charisma to

him. i would really underscore also that despite all of that sort of seeming informality, he was a lot of fun. he was dish, and gossip, and dance and sing. he was a fun guy to be around, and i think for a lot of first ladies, he donated to republicans and democrats. so his politics pretty much stayed out of fashion. he was a designer first and foremost. i can recall that when laura bush came to him for her inaugural gown, the second one he commented that he was a bit surprised that she had done so because he was so closely associated with hillary clinton. but fashion trumped politics. >> robin, you mentioned hillary clinton.

we don't have that much longer, but i wanted to mention in a speech back in april, president -- secretary clinton said he has worked in turning her into a fashion icon. has he succeeded? >> i think she has put up a good fight. so no, i don't think that he has succeeded. but i think that there are probably a lot of other qualities he admired in here. -- admired in her. >> fantastic. robin, the "washington post" fashion critic. thank you for being here. up next, we are going to talk to some normals, after this. ♪

>> >> like everyone else, we have been talking a lot on this program about ebola. yesterday the story dominated the news, and we decided to take a look at how differently our friends at msnbc and fox news cover this story.

they appear to be reporting on parallel universes. let's roll the tape. >> we have some good news, a landmark day in the fight against ebola here in the u.s. 43 individuals monitored for the virus have been cleared today. >> you would think the thing that may mutate, that it could be airborne. >> we are at this point getting around to some good news about this terrible story. >> make sure they spray with chlorine. >> emery hospital said the anonymous patient they have been treating there since september 9 is free of the virus and will be able to go. >> the nightmare scenario would actually be if an ebola infected terrorist blew himself up in a crowded area and turned it into a hot zone. these are things that could actually happen. we have to be careful and worried about it. >> so on one side, everything is great. there is zero risk, and the world is all wonderful. on the other side, we have a

terrorist who has infected himself with ebola, blowing himself up at a shopping mall. marc, you were down in nashville, and you talked to a bunch of people who were not on cable television today. i know that you have seen a stark red-blue divide. >> john, i went to ellison's soda shop, founded in 1939. rather than talk to cab drivers, i decided to go to a diner. i was berry struck. everyone i talked to was clearly a self identified conservative or liberal, incredibly knowledgeable about current events and politics, but much more civil in the nature of their disagreements, the way they express them than the way you see on cable news. >> politically how would you describe yourself. >> ricky conservative.

>> you say you're a democrat. what does that mean to you? . >> well, it means that i am concerned about decisions that involve people over let's say businesses. >> i believe in less governmental control. i believe in lower taxes. i think we have too much governmental spending. >> i consider myself more of a conservative than a republican. there are a number of republicans that have been on the hill that are not what i would consider conservatives. >> i think no matter which side you are on, republican or democrat, if more people on either side of the aisle were willing to cross over for the good of the american people, that our country would be doing awesome. >> i am sure you think obama care is liberal, but what else is he liberal about? >> i guess the gay marriage thing. i feel like a true republican

shouldn't care about that. the separation of church and state, if it is right or wrong is one question. should the government be able to control it? no. that is something they shouldn't infringe upon. it is too personal. >> i understand there is a balance. there was a time that i actually voted for a republican governor for the state because of would he stood for. >> which republican? >> winfield dunn. >> you listen to the candidates and what they speak on, and the majority of their advertisement is trashing the other side. at the end i am always like yeah, what do you stand for? i still don't know where you stand. >> what makes a good business? >> nice crust on the outside. that is just the culture. the south has always had excellent biscuits and gravy grits. >> i had one earlier.

these are pretty good. i would fly here just for the biscuits. >> everybody i talked to regardless of political leanings loved the biscuits. i was so pleasantly surprised. these were all people interested in politics, concerned about the country, but everyone was civil, everyone was respectful. it was something. i was really pleased. >> in addition to making my hungry, that spot made me feel optimistic. we talk as we travel around that the country is a lot lest polarized and divisive than the politicians elected to represent it. that seemed to show that. not only were people civil, but there was a lot of heterodox opinion expressed there. you conservatives that were more than conservatives. >> the one thing that divided people was the president. he is clearly the lightning rod in the midterm elections. no doubt. >> no question about that and

people have strong views. but a very optimistic and comforting thing to see down there. thank you, marc. we will be right back. ♪

>> >> we are only on television a half hour a day, but we are live 24/7. tonight we have world series game one. are you to be watching? >> i will be subject to the tender mercies of three american institutions, sling box, delta airlines and others. we will see. >> on the web, a great story. on the show tomorrow, we will talk with senator ted cruz. but up next, we have bloomberg's stephanie ruhle, who will sit down with carl ichan for a look at what that titan is betting on and against right now. ♪

>> welcome back to a very special addition pit we are at the robin hood complex. >> lets start with interest rates. in this environment, how do you see this. >> in my opinion, the fed is holding the market up. we keep a big head john. it is concerning. the fed turn this market around because it let it be known that the rate is not going to be raised in march. you have to be concerned.