washington"washington closed t >> production assistance was provided by all burned communications and politico. >> the next time you hear them say don't worry about it, we will get a few the people to pay

their fair share, watch out middle-class. the tax man is coming to you. >> device for the bench of the beit. >> folks, use your common sense. who do you trust on this? a guy who introduced a bill that would raise its $6,400 a year, knowing it and passing it and romney said he will sign it were me and the president? >> did joe biden stock the romney wave? >> you're going to win? >> yes. >> the washington over benghazi. >> you ask him for the son, you'll get the stars. >> i hope the court rules that a student's race and ethnicity should not apply when applying to university.

>> paul ryan got the edge in the vice-presidential debate. and an insnt cbs will give it to joe biden. new york times said it was a debate with clarity and fervor, and the washington post -- the debate gave viewers a real boost. >> medicare and social zuccotti did so much for my own family. we will let jeopardize this -- medicare and social security did so much for my own family. we will not jeopardize this program. >> the bottom line is that ople have to pay more money out of their pocket. >> talking points memo asked the question should obama supporters start freaking out? [laughter] did the vice president head off a freak out.

>> i think he probably did. for the days, for the people who are cheering him on, he did with the president did not do the week before. he answered every single thing that iran had to say. i actually thought -- that ryan had to say. i actually thought that, if he had not been billed in that smile the timewhich is biden tick when he is ticked off, if he had not done that, you would have said that he wiped the floor with ryan. but style this matter in these things. >> charles, pick a winner. >> if you heard the track -- if you read the transcript, it is a draw. if you heard it on the radio, by and one. if you saw on tv, by and lost -- bedeid lost. did you heard it on the reader, you would say that biden was in

control. if you saw on tv, with the that mad smile, that jack nicholson smile right to the debate, the conversation in the tyrol, remember what it did to malvo or. i think that'd deeply diminish what -- remember what it did to al gore. i think that its deeply diminished what he had to say >> compared to president obama's performance, joe biden did an outstanding job. he was aggressive. but he smiles too much. he smiled at times when it was not necessary. but that was not the smart they came across the face of paul ryan. -- that was not the smirk that came across the face of paul

ryan. i think he made the points that he needed to make. >> basically, two-person debates are far better when both people show up and they showed up. [laughter] of like a week ago when only one showed up. -- unlike a week ago when only one showed up. paul ryan played it naturally cool for his first national te. and thought joe biden had democrats pulling back off the ledge from the third floor window where they were ready to plunge. i think he made the case. i think he nailed paul ryan a couple of times specifically on the lack of any details on the tax plan. secondly, paul ryan is request

for a stimulus find, two written request, those were one of the few times tha paul ryan knew better than to respond. >> what about on medicare, social security, up with the middle class, who won on that? >> we could be here all day. at least you had a discussion about the economy as opposed to last week. yes, it was a one-sided conversation one thing that they did not touch on which they should have touched on was immigration and education. but they were guided more by the moderator who did a great job in conducting this. i don't find the debate wanting

on substantive issues. >> if you're my age and you are watching this thing and you're worried about medicare and social security, which of these individuals do you believe? >> i think it depends on who you are predisposed to believe. joe biden is a liberal, a new deal. to point outownefirst that, while his own president said is that he's willing to raise the retirement age, joe biden says no. this is a major for medicare and social security. they will not be around. we are the party of the medicare and social security. what about n? what will you do when your own president has said medicare will die unless it is reform? i think he is inclined toward that new deal liberalism.

you except what joe biden will say. if you listen to paul ryan, he said we have to amend it. we have to change it. and this is how we will do it. >> i want to get to policy, to appear in a week after the first presidential debate, why was the president still talking about it? >> at the debate, what happened? >> gov. romney had a good night. i had a bad night. it is not the first time i have had a bad night. >> in the polls are to be believed, it was a bad bad night. and the president was still talking about it a week later. in fact, he has not stopped talking about it. did the shift surprise you? >> what surprised me most of all is that, barely 10 days a, my good conservative friends were telling about the sinister conspiracy of polls.

but they're all -- to give this impression that the liberals were running away -- that they're all rigged to give this impression that the liberals were running away with everything. and now it has been hijacked and it is for them. this did dispirit the liberals. there is a sense of real puzzlement over theresident. why didn't he show up? these are people who have been pto to their inaugural outfit. the romney -- have been picking alton their inaugural outfits. the romney people figured it was over and they were going to concentrate on the house and may be winning the senate. so it was transformational in that sense. in the political world. however, that has not changed how people feel about mitt romney. they still feel that he is out of touch and that remains a problem.

>> monday was the day that political polling died. [laughter] he says that this contest had done to date and we have to stop. what do you think? >> my view was last week -- i know that mark keeps close track of what i say -- i know this considereconspiracy stuff abouts is ridiculous. using 2008 vs 2004. i don't even accept a bad. the polls are almost unerring in their accuracy. but it was a real change. the only quibble i have with mark is that, you know that led where the liberals were on -- we were on the floor the week

before. we were happy to vacate it. [laughter] >> the view is fantastic from the. >> what about the charge that these 7.8% number was cooked? >> the thing that really affected the obama-romney debate is that romney came across as somebody with some stature and you could visualize him in the white house. fast forward to the debate between paul ryan and vice president biden and you see paul ryan not as vice president but may be ahead of management and budget.

[crosstalk] >> the girl wants to say something. >> why should she be allowed? >> because she should. >> it was ieresng that, when paul ryan was talking about the economic stuff, i thought, you know, he has his zone. some of it you can criticize for his veracity. but he did fine. when he got to foreign policy, you could almost see the flip cards in his brain. it has no sense of being from real knowledgef ththen studying for the exam. >> i am glad you brought up foreign policy.

>> we did not know that they wanted more security yet. >> we turn on our television screens these days and we see the absolute unraveling of the obama foreign policy. >> martha wallace began by asking about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. turns out this was not a demonstration that was hijacked by individual clusters of extremists. but it was a planned attack carried out by heavily armed individuals. there was a house hearing this week criticizing the state department for turning down requests for more help in securing the consulate. this used to be your field. if they ask for more security, why did they not get it? that is number one. no. 2, is there a cover-up here or an attempt to a cover-up? >> i have been in the position where i ask for something and did i get it from headquarters.

i did during the cold war but the same kind of problem. this is the field headquarters issue that you have. obviously, that request had been granted. it came from the national security office. they should have followed up on the request. that is beyond the bells of the bureaucracy. but that is neither here nor there. >> what about the cover-up? >> i don't see a cover-up. sometimes, you should not jump up there and make the judgments without knowing the facts. even condoleezza rice did not

have all of the information. but this is the information she had at the time. it was a situation where they said too much at the beginning. but that is not a cover-up. >> this is one that unraveled very quickly by their own hand. we all know that there are ways to draw defeat and prevent a hearing from this to have been. no demonstration. there was not a mob. that was a complete invention. if you look at the video of susan rice on the five shows, none of that is even remotely true. what we have learned and what we're learning now is that, from the first day, the people on the

ground looked out on the video cameras and saudi ambassador walkout with the turkish delegate at half past 8:00 p.m. in the evening. there was no one on the stet. the attack happened an hour and 10 minutes later. and they had communicated that with the state department. everybody knew. this is not believable. either susan rice is completely clueless, then why is she out there and why is she inventing, or she knew, but after a week of spiking football over al qaeda and osama bin laden, they did not want to admit that was al qaeda on the run killing the first inveor in 30 years. >> i hear what charles has to say and it really gets into the dark conspiracy area. the idea that you come out of the convention and something like this happens and then we have a master conspiracy to contain it, knowing that, in and of the late -- knowing that,

inevitably, it will come out -- there were four families involved, for one thing. we have american colleagues involved. this is going to come out. ineptitude? absoluly. perhaps to the level of at least firing someone. but the idea of somebody coming out of the convention and they will keep this bubble -- >> how do you think joe biden responded to this? >> i don't think that he answered the question. >> he did. he told a falsehood. >> it was his worst moment. he is smart enough to have twisted the question so thahe did t aner it. but it was really the hardest part for him because there is an answer. the answer is that there was a screw up. >> remember how the embassy in

cairo was under siege and you had another crowd also in ben zaghazi. there was not a crowd appeared they stormed the embassy. they were not carrying gns. >> it was not a birthday party. it was a group of individuals with weapons storming -- it was not called a demonstration. >> the one thing joe biden did was to tell and outright falsehood. in your clip, he said we didn't know that they wanted extra security. there were crying for it. -- they were crying for it. >> we will have to agree to disagree. affirmative action returns to the supreme court.

>> the issue 60 years ago was about excluding african- americans and we were on the wrong side of history. >> that is bill powers, president of the university of texas in austin. in this case, you have a white woman was denied admission. is this the beginning of the end of the affirmative-action? >> it is. what is interesting about this case and it is a bit different because, at some point, when texas got rid of affirmative action, their minority numbers fell off a cliff. that gives you quite a bit of diversity because many of the schools in texas are defective segregated. but the numbers are still

dropping your is sgnancoul have this huge minority population. and that is what is being challenged. >> it would seem that this might be a split. if it is split, the decision stands. but we are in another area. when the founders wrote the constitution, the issue of getting admitted to a school was not even there. this is an issue of diversity. the university had nothing to do with the fifth panel. >> i think this is one that we are wrestling with and i don't think that there has been a clear resolution in society at large. i think it is very open.

but i agree with nina that this could be the beginning of the and. >> it is unprincipled to judge anybody by the color of their skin. and this is what is at stake here. >> in ohio, everybody is talking about ohio. >> there was a focus group of 12 undecided voters in the columbus area. in the last 12 elections, no president has been elected without carrying ohio. it is the epicenter of the world. but these undecided voters were interesting. one woman who was very, very sympathetic to obama made the observation about his performance. she said, i expected him to be stronger than he was. >> in the debate. >> yes. he has been criticized for in defense or his attitude or maybe condescension. but when you start talking about

an american president not being strong, that transcends party, philosophy or anything. we will tolerate a president who is dull, not particularly bright, or evenorin t the amerans ll not tolerate a president who is seen as weak. >> he ought to be able to hold his own on foreign policy. the line of attack has already been set with paul rain. now it is up to obama to respond to that. there will be no surprises. this is a test -- >> he reads talking points every

morning? >> they call me at 6:00 a.m. every morning. [laughter] i tell them, yes. but that is better than what you guys do, which is to receive the talking points. [laughter] i think mark is exactly right. what was really devastating in that debate was the perception of the president as weak and as romney as presidential. that is the key difference. in 1980, people did not want to re-elect jimmy carter, but they were not prepared to go to reagan because they were afraid of him as a right-wing nut. they said he is not a guy who will blow up the world and the election was over. now obama is not where carter was. he is much stronger. but ron is not where reagan was. but he is still on the edge.

-- but romney is not where reagan was. but he is still on the edge. if he is on the threshold of being strong and authoritative, then you can accept him in these circumstances. >> did you like the table or the town meeting? >> i think it works better for the voters. i like the town meeting where they can walk and talk to the crowd. i could not stand for 90 minutes. >> i am struck with this complete -- using the split screen, what happens on the

moment is reaion to what the other guy is saying. it is really pretty hard. you really have to work at it. obviously, romney and ryan worked it out in little better. but paul ryan had this sickly sweet and semi smile and smug. obama was disastrous looking down all the time. joe biden had the smile takick. none of it was good. if you put the camera on trout's while i was talking a he is gog li this -- on charles while i was talking and he is going like this. >> what i am talking about on strength is, if i sit here and i lie about charles -- what

happens is that the legitimate response is one of anger. you're lying again and i ll not take it. the president was an emotional when romney was openly fabricating about administration policy and his own positions and his failure to show any emotion , that the lied to viewers and voters a sense of weakness. >> see you next week. >> for a transcript to this broadcast, right to inside washington. >> brought to you in part by the american federation of government employees, proud to make america work.

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