for next week. let mika take about a month off. >> it is tuesday. >> i know. all right, willie, way too early, i would like you to tell us right now, what time is it? >> it is "morning joe." we'll see you back here tomorrow. stick around now for "the daily rundown" with chuck todd. stepping back from the brink, the senate prepares to pass the bitterly debated debt ceiling bill approved by the house last night. and just when it looked like washington couldn't agree on anything, there was an actual moment of unity. there she is. representative gabrielle giffords steals the show. the congresswoman stunned colleagues by returning to the house for the first time and casting a yea for the debt ceiling vote. just because we're not defaulting doesn't mean the economy hasn't gotten any better. in fact, it has gotten worse. it is tuesday, august 2nd, 2011. i'm chuck todd. got a lot to get into.

this could actually be the final day we talk about washington and the debt ceiling. so after months of this partisan impasse, the senate will formalize the debt deal today. president will sign it into law. don't expect a huge victory lap from the white house. he'll probably speak after he signs the bill, but beyond that, how much does he have to celebrate? if the debt debate proved one thing to america, it is that washington, at least in their minds, is broken. and, boy, has there been damage to the reputation of everyone in this town. and a new washington post pew poll, americans put their disgust into words, calling budget negotiations ridiculous. 66% of them. disgusting, 42% of them. stupid, 36%. and terrible, at 25%. no one comes out of it looking good. 42% have a less favorable view of republicans in congress. 37% have a less favorable view of the president. 34% think worse of speaker boehner.

the senate votes on the debt deal at noon. house leaders finally whipped members to support it. 269-161. for much of the day yesterday, the house vote was in doubt. grumbling dominated. and then one thing about halfway through the vote changed the entire mood. [ applause ] >> congresswoman gabrielle giffords made a surprise appearance on the house floor to vote for the debt deal. she was welcomed by a ten-minute standing ovation. congressman john lewis started crying as giffords greeted colleagues by name, a lot of colleagues by name. she tweeted, the capital looks beautiful and i'm honored to be at work tonight. her friend, very close friend, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz cheered up when talking about her. >> the reaction in the chamber was the most enthusiastic, exuberance, exhilarating.

i mean, we were all crying, thrilled. we just knew she would make a triumphant return and we could, you know, we knew her and predicted it would happen. and i've always felt like there is so many doubters and skeptics, but never doubt gabby giffords' determination. this is the first of many votes she's going to cast. >> gabrielle giffords' husband will be part of the "endeavour" crew, part of the shuttle crew that will meet the president today. some speculation that the congresswoman will also be at white house today. we'll find out later. finally, the end of the debt debate effectively moves the political world's focus from washington to the 2012 campaign trail. that's not necessarily good news for mitt romney. stories that have been on the back burner see this one today in politico called the mitt knit political protection program will start get something attention and after a noted silence, romney released an 11th hour statement on the debt deal, after we went off the air yesterday. as president, my plan would have

produced a budget that would cut cap and balance, not one that opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the table. i personally cannot support this deal. on the road to new hampshire, jon huntsman jabbed romney for his relative silence. >> to dodge the debate, or to wait until the debate is over effectively and to take a side, i don't consider that leadership. you look at some of the others in the race and you can see they all had a take on different positions. easy to take a political position later on. it is tough to take a position early on, which is the real world. >> but think about where mitt romney is in this. he already has something that some conservatives are having a hard time stomaching this and is the massachusetts health care bill. it is a calculation he cannot be giving conservatives a list of reasons for them to not trust him as a potential republican nominee. so that's why you probably see him. he's got the one thing he's going to own, massachusetts

health care, and that mandate. he's not going to be testing this by throwing more -- planting more seeds of doubt with some. so one more hurdle for debt deal, that's in the senate. they'll vote at noon. with me now, texas republican senator john cornyn, member of the budget finance committee and chairman of the national republican senatorial committee. he joins me now. any doubt on this vote? this thing will be 70, 75 votes? >> i think that's right, chuck. >> and you're a yes vote for sure on this, right? >> i am. this is a very small step in the right direction. but to me the most amazing thing is after the 2010 election, how much the debate has shifted from how do we spend more to how do we cut more and force washington to live within its means? i think that's a very important debate. we will continue having that debate up to and through the 2012 election, which -- i like the terms of this debate. i think it helps republicans and helps us increase the likelihood we'll get a republican majority in the senate.

>> you know, senator cornyn, that's the cynic in me says both of you guys negotiated a deal that preserved your talking points. it preserved the opportunity for democrats to hit republicans for one to go after entitlement ent. if that's what happens in an off year, how can we expect, for instance, the super committee to come up with something that might be a little bit pab painful or anything after 2012? >> well, chuck, i urge you, don't give into your cynicism. there is a lot to like in this bill because, frankly, look where we started. the president was talking about a clean debt ceiling vote. in other words, with no cuts. then he talked about tax increases during a fragile economic recovery, something we oppose. and then he talked about the default. what we didn't do any of those, we didn't default, we avoided tax increases on job creators during a fragile economic recovery. and we got at least according to the congressional budget office

the hope for $2.1 trillion in cuts. i like the terms of that debate, and the debate won't stop now that the debt ceiling will be lifted. >> you know, i want to -- one of the trouble spots in this agreement late in the game, when it looked like there was a deal and then there was another impasse, had to do with the so-called triggers. if this super committee essentially cannot find the cuts or cannot agree on the next round of deficit reduction, then the triggers would kick in. and this, terror instanfor inst reason why lindsey graham from south carolina can't support this deal. he said, this agreement legitimizes the concept of defense spending is not only equal to the other areas of federal spending but of lesser importance. this is a philosophical shift i will have no part of. isn't that the point of a trigger, it should be uncomfortable? >> well, the point of the trigger is to avoid the triggers. >> right. it is supposed to be uncomfortable, to force a deal, right? >> right. that's why this select committee has to work.

and i'm confident that the people who speaker boehner and mitch mcconnell will appoint will hold the line on the framework for this debate. this is all about how do we force the federal government to live within its means. it is not comfortable. it is difficult. but this is what i think the voters told us in the 2010 election. this is what they're demanding. this is what we need to deliver. >> on this super committee, on the three republicans that mitch mcconnell will put in there, you know, an easy appointment process would be, well, how about the three republicans that were part of the gang of six. would you be comfortable with that, senators crapo, coburn and chambliss? >> i can't figure out whether it would be doing somebody a favor or not to appoint them to this committee. there will be a lot of attention and power on the committee. i don't know who senator mcconnell is going to appoint. i can guarantee you one thing. he's not going to appoint anybody who will vote for tax increases on this committee. i know that --

>> you just eliminated the three -- you eliminated the three gang of sixers. >> well, i don't know how senator mcconnell will make his final choice, but i'm confident, as between who senator mctonl will appoint and the house rejecting tax increases that those really will not be part of the solution. we can't keep on doing what we're doing now and have been doing a long time, which is spending money we don't have. so we're going to have to cut. i know it is painful and it runs against the grain for a lost people who see government as a means to hand out more goodies. but we simply have to change our ways or else we're looking at economic disaster. >> one quick question on this faa thing i think a lot of americans in the month of august, if any of them take a small vacation, they might find themselves surprised by some issues at some airports. let me ask you this, did the house -- this relationship between the house and the senate, your colleague from texas, kay bailey hutchison,

seemed to criticize the way the house tacked on a rider, essentially, which, of course, blew up this negotiation for an faa funding bill and saying that that probably was the wrong thing to do and instead there should have been at least a continuing resolution to fund the faa. was it a mistake that a political dispute halted this faa funding? >> well, as i understand it, this is just a conversation that is going on between the house and the senate. it has got to get resolved. the temporary extensions are not a good way to do business. and i think the fight is over federal subsidies for some so-called essential air service and some rural areas. and this is a fight that is going to have to be worked out as it always is eventually between the house and the senate. >> i understand that. going into recess here, and letting this hang out there for 30 days, it is a month a lot of people use a lot of airports in the month of august. >> yeah, you're right. it would be better to have it resolved. i'm not sure what the impact is going to be, actually, on -- how

many people will be affected. and i regret some people will be inconvenienced. but -- and this would be something that we should get together on and try to resolve one way or the other. but this is democracy in action. it ain't always pretty, chuck. but this is the way it works. >> all right, republican senator john cornyn from texas. senator, thank you for coming on this morning. >> thank you, chuck. all right. well, the debt deal is moving forward. but so many americans are still stuck in the same place. it is called the unemployment line. up next, did washington take its eye off the ball on what really matters? and still to come, how much of a toll has this debt ordeal taken on president obama politically? he's trailing mitt romney in pennsylvania to this usually overrated battleground state. could it be in play for 2012? and if it is, the president is in big trouble. first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. nothing on there yet about some sort of signing deal or statement after the senate vote,

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well, that didn't last long. the wall street rally triggered supposedly by the debt deal lasted all of a half hour on monday. the gains were quickly snuffed out by new signs the recovery is stalled and fears this deal will make things worse. with me now, steve perlesteen for "the washington post" and jim tankersly, economics correspondent for "the national journal." gentlemen, this is still a pretty ugly economy out there. during the whole debt ceiling issue, debate, we saw jobs, you know, job numbers basically be stagnant, unemployment rate go up. >> and big --

>> and the gdp number, the output number and then the manufacturing index, a pretty good index, actually, basically flat lining, meaning not growing, not shrinking. >> right on the line of recession, versus no recession. >> what is going on? a couple of things you need to remember. number one, government doesn't control the economy. we get into these debates and think the dials in washington, just get them right, the economy will -- doesn't work that way. and government has an effect at the margin, but at this point, the major thing going on is the thing that has been going on for the last three years. we had an economy that was much too big. people in the wrong places with the wrong skills, too many office buildings, too many stores, too many companies, and things mispriced. things priced too high. and when things -- also wages. a lot of things priced too high. the process of getting that stuff shrunk, of getting the prices right, takes time. a market doesn't work very -- it

took us ten years to get there. it will take us ten years to get out. >> jim, while i hear you on government can't do that much for the economy, there is little things they can do. i know the white house expected to be signing three trade agreements before this recess, the ones with korea, columbia and panama. they would have liked to haveth supposed to be helping attract businesses sometimes or selling american goods overseas. patent reform is something that has talked about as a potential help to entrepreneurs. >> transportation bill also. >> and a transportation bill. so there is a lot of things that actually congress could have done and instead they did this. >> well, i mean, that's -- what you just identified is what economists call an opportunity cost. the value of what you do is measured in what the value of what you could have been doing otherwise. i mean, basically washington just spent two and a half months solving the crisis that it

created. they have done nothing to boost growth. they have done nothing to boost hiring. and they watched all the indicators go south. with all due respect to steve, there are some things government could be doing here that could be spurring more growth and more hiring and they're not even talking about them. >> where are these? all the stuff now gets punted until september, which means probably gets done in october, maybe signed before they leave for the thanksgiving recess. >> maybe not. >> maybe not because -- >> because they poisoned the well more. liberal democrats are even more angry and tea party people are even more angry and, you know, we're going to win next time, gets the competitive juices going there in washington. and -- >> help me out here with this idea of certainty. we did hear some reports of you had some companies, particularly in the financial industry, starting to prepare for the worst. i mean, i even heard one story about banks putting more money in atm machines because they thought there would be a panic and people would take out too

much cash. will this help a little bit on the markets? >> let's take the example you just gave of financial services company. it might on the margin, but just today, in the newspaper, it says hsbc going to lay off 30,000 people around the world. there was another bank before them, a few days ago, similar cuts around the world. those are the structural changes that needed to happen because the financial sector had gotten too big. now, the kinds of changes you're talking about maybe were changed 500 jobs if the margin where as the big thing was the 30,000 jobs lost at hsbc including a third of them here right here in the united states. 10,000 jobs. that's more than we created last month, in the whole country. >> not just the u.s. economy, though, there is the global slowdown. we heard yesterday putin was trying to blame america for what clearly obviously russia is experiencing some issues now. we know of all of the europe issues, some of that has to do with the debt crisis. everything seems to be slowing down around the world. we're just now -- we're just a part of it. >> and we are reacting to it in

a way that other countries around the world are showing us is not necessarily the best way to go. look at -- what we have done here at the conclusion of our two and a half months in manufactured drama is choose an austerity pass. that's not unlike what england has chosen for very different reasons. their growth has flat lined even worse than ours since they started down that path. we are choosing to go down that path. again, the u.s. is a part of a slowing down global economy. but it has more policy options available to it than a lot of its competitors and it is choosing not to deploy them. >> let me give you an example and conflict myself. look, the united states government is going to spend money to buy weapons systems over the next ten years. we already know when we're going to buy. the united states government is going to spend money to build roads and bridges. we have a regular -- okay. why don't we take the money that we're going to spend in a year, eight, nine and ten, and say we won't spend it, promise, we'll spend the same amount of money but take it from there and spend it now. we'll double and triple our

spending in those categories. >> wasn't that the point of the stimulus in the first place? >> yes, and contrary to when you might hear from certain republicans, the stimulus actually worked because, you know, you spend money, it works. it doesn't go down a black hole. just doing those sorts of things are now off the table. it is considered, you know, politically inappropriate to say, well, let's spend a little more now and a little less later. why is that so? because people don't trust that we will spend it less later. that's the problem. and because there is this lack of faith in government, and in the two parties in each other, we can't do the things that anyone, anyone who has ever taken an economic -- that sounds like a good deal, let's do that. >> is anybody talking about -- three months ago, i was told, the second half of this year, it is going to be a good growth quarter, part of it because somebody has to rebuild japan, it is not going to be china, it is going to be the united states. >> forecasters keep telling us the next quarter will be better, the next quarter will be better and then revising that

backwards. on monday with the manufacturing numbers, people started dialing back a little bit their third quarter growth numbers. let's hope that that turns around. here is the big thing to watch. if oil prices start to come back down again a little more, and the supply chains start to repair themselves on the way to and perfect japan, then you could see a better third quarter, better fourth quarter and try to set us up for stronger growth going into 2012. >> we will see. as you said, every quarter we're told, maybe it will be the next quarter. we shall see. thank you, both. bringing down the house. congresswoman gabrielle giffords did just that, her triumphant return to capitol hill, casting her first vote since that tragedy in tucson in january. up next, we'll hear from her friends and colleagues about that inspirational moment. first, today's trivia question from the almanac of american politics. which member of congress met his wife while spending three days in jail? tweet me. first correct answer will get a follow tuesday from me and i'll have the answer and more coming

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a closer look at that emotional moment on the house floor last night. one that we all in washington needed when congresswoman gabrielle giffords, still recovering from her injuries, returned to the capitol to vote on that all important debt bill. according to her friend and fellow congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, it was a moment that congress sorely needed. >> this was a triumphant return. just listening to the whole thing all over again was -- i teared up again. everyone has been praying for this moment. and for it to happen at a time when we have had bitter partisanship and very grizzled, hardened hearts, gabby melted that hardened heart last night. >> we're joined by kelly o'donnell. kelly, looks like this was in

the works for at least 24 hours. vice president biden knew enough to be there at the house last night. he wasn't there just to see the bill through. >> yes, he doesn't preside over the house as he does in the senate. but they did keep it very close hold because i talked to a number of members afterwards and said, did you have advance warning thinking for her protection, they had all just sort of known but kept it quiet. but people said no, they were very surprised and that added to the emotion that just filled the room and reached through the screen to everyone who was watching. of course, gabby giffords is coming to washington as part of a trip with her husband who will be at the white house today. of course, the former shuttle commander about to retire from the navy. the time could not have been better for the two of them to have that event to bring her to washington and this vote to give her a chance to be in town and mack a decision, up to the last minute, if she felt well enough to do it, knowing there would be this overwhelming reaction, knowing there would be so much thrust around her immediately. and what was so wonderful to

see, and in talking with members, they described their surprise and how that emotion just took over. it wasn't a sort of political response that we had been so engrained to see with this sharply divided argument. boy, a moment that washed away. and, today, a lot of the talk is now that we have seen gabby giffords, we have seen her vote, she appears to be doing so well. what is her political future? there has been a lot of buzz, people encouraging her to run for re-election in 2012. and when i talked to people, they say that, of course, she's focused on her recovery and at the same time, democratic aides and people who work on the campaign committees are saying that the plans have always been in place to keep her as a viable candidate, raising money, doing all of that, to be ready for 2012. the decision ultimately would come before the filing deadline next spring. >> that's right. it is a fairly early filing deadline in arizona. kelly o'donnell on capitol hill, nice to be cover somethiing som uplifting news. >> a plus.

good news for them to get out of town with. >> we'll check back in with you later today. at 11:00, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz will talk to thomas roberts about her friend, congresswoman gabrielle giffords. if at first you don't succeed, how about doubling the number of people at the negotiating table? that always works. a bigger meeting. up next, we'll ask senator mark warner, founding member of the gang of six, about the wisdom of a gang of 12, who are super members of a committee. if they put on capes, can they agree to anything? plus, new leads in the 40-year-old mystery of d.b. cooper, who was the man who vanished in midair with a parachute and 200,000 bucks. anybody home? ♪ yes! ha ha! ♪

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floor. they are in session. they'll be doing a little bit of debating, a little bit of talking and then the vote itself will be at 12:00 noon. i'll anchor special coverage at 12:00 noon for that vote. the story making headlines, the death to the is mounting in the latest bloody crackdown on protests in syria. italy is recalling its ambassador, one day after the eu expanded sanctions on president assad and his aides. more than 1600 people have reportedly been killed by syrian forces since this uprising began in march. if it is tuesday, people are voting somewhere. today, that is in mississippi. the gubernatorial primary republican lieutenant phil bryant faces a primary challenge from businessman dave dennis. if victorious, bryant would be heavily favored in the general election to fill the seat, which will be left open by haley barbour, who is term limited. the obama administration is considering rolling back anti-terror laws to make it

easier to get desperately needed food aid to millions of starving people in somalia. humanitarian groups say the u.s. penalty is designed to punish extremists for restricting aid to the drought stricken area. and finally the fbi says they have a credible lead in the d.b. cooper case. a tip has led them to a man who has been dead for ten years. d.b. cooper became the stuff of legends. in 1971, he hijacked a plane over the pacific northwest. he then parachuted out the back. he disappeared with $200,000, marked bills, by the way, now officials are trying to compare the dna from this suspect's family with the dna left by the hijacker on that northwest airplane. well, the house did their job last night to avoid default and now their members are headed for the beach, the golf course, maybe their home districts, maybe they're just going underground until september before the senate can join them on this summer recess. they have to wrap up this debt deal themselves once and for all with their vote today at noon.

joined now by virginia democratic senator and member of the group of six, mark warner. i have to call it the group, kent conrad said there are no gangs in north carolina. >> no gangs. >> let me start with this super committee. and here is what mitch mcconnell said yesterday, and then i'll tell you what john cornyn said earlier. >> i can pretty certainly say to the american people, the chances of any kind of tax increase passing with this -- with the appointees that john boehner and i will put on there are pretty low. >> and you just -- john cornyn told me earlier, senator warner, that nobody who has been open to tax increases will be appointed by mitch mcconnell. that means none of your colleagues on the gang of six, in my mind, crapo, coburn, or chambliss, because you had come up with a deal that was open to that, does this mean that the super committee is already deadlocked? >> well, it means, chuck, if we don't, you know, really take on

the kind of elephants in the room, i mean, entitlement reform, which frightens some people on my side of the oil, tax reform that can generate additional revenue for deficit reduction in a fair way, the republican side, then i really worry whether this super committee will get something done. i mean, i wish it well. i want to try to gain as much support as possible to kind of urge them to do the big things that are needed. this is a step we're taking tod today. i'm going to vote for this plan. it is by no means pretty or perfect. it has been embarrassing the last couple of weeks. even with this plan, that puts at $2.5 trillion when most economists said we need to get close to $4 trillion in debt reduction over the next ten years. that's got to include revenues. it it has to include entitlement reform. >> there has been sort of this disconnect between where the economy is right now, and this

debate about the debt. there is no doubt economists are talking about this midterm and long-term problem. but none of these economists or ratings agencies or any of these people that supposedly had influence on wall street were urging government to stop spending money right now. and there is a real concern that what the bill you're voting for, even though it is only a trillion dollars over ten years, and maybe another trillion and a half is going to contribute to the slowdown. are you concerned about this? >> well, i think we all got a right to be concerned about that. you don't want to do anything to slow the economy. most of these cuts, though, are in the years. and that actually concerned a lot of my republican colleagues because there is no enforcement mechanism to make sure the cuts actually take place. in terms of the next year, the cuts are -- that have been proposed are relatively minor. i do think what we don't need to do is do anything that will slow economic growth. my hope is, and one of the reasons why i was urging for a big dealer, was that that would

give the business community and the american consumers the confidence that we're not going to mess anything up any further and some of the $2.5 trillion sitting in cash on american balance sheets could get off the sidelines and start reinvesting in the country and start creating jobs. >> i want to ask you this question. steve perlesteen brought up this point that the economy, it was so big for so long that frankly part of the issue is it just -- everything has to shrink down. housing was a bubble. salaries were a bubble particularly on the corporate level, ceo level, that a lot of things were simply overpriced, too big, too much of everything. and so that takes years. how do you deal with an economy now where you're trying to get some people back to work, trying to get it to chug along while at the same time, long-term shrinking. >> that's why you got to still have a growth agenda. that's why whether it is, you know, things like trying to expand exports. 95% of the new customers in the

world for american companies are going to be offshore. how do we sell more stuff abroad? >> three trade deals you guys didn't get to. >> i support those trade deals. >> so did the president. everybody does. why didn't they get passed in. >> i scratch my head on a lot of things it seems like ought to get done out here. we need to make sure we do that. we need to make sure we promote tourism. we need to make sure we have opportunities in life sciences and technology, areas where america can still win the battle around innovation. we have been under this cloud for the last eight or nine months. part of this is the fact that people started to lose faith with our political leadership up to the task. hopefully we'll give them a little breathing space now with this fix because this isn't a long-term solution. we still have to put a long-term solution in place and that has to include tax reform and entitlement reform. >> let me ask you one staffing question. treasury secretary tim geithner, you know, seems to have hinted that, you know, he might end up

deciding to leave his post in the next couple of months now that this is behind. that was speculation. do you think that is a -- can the u.s. senate handle a treasury secretary -- a confirmation hearing process? >> well, at this point, all of the, for example, all of the nominees who are set to fill up positions in the -- that arose out of the dodd/frank bill, since they're all put on hold by some of my republican colleagues, i'm not sure we can get to a treasury secretary confirmation, which, again, isn't the way the government ought to work. if you want to vote against somebody, have at it, vote against them. don't leave them in this limbo land. i think secretary geithner has navigated some very tough challenges. i hope he stays on for the foreseeable future. >> do you think -- because of the political gridlock, he has to stay on? >> well, i just think that people around my state, people around the country scratch their head and say, what are you guys doing? vote a guy up or down, don't leave him in limbo if they're

nominated by the president. i was in business for 20 years. this is no way to run the enterprise that is the united states of the government, the ceo, the president can't get his team in place. >> all right. senator mark warner, democrat from virginia. senator, the gang of sixer, we'll see if you get on the super committee. you'll get a cape, i think. thanks. >> thanks. coming up, our super tuesday panel is here to break down all the action in the house. the upcoming senate vote, and the transition to 2012. mitt romney breaks his silence on the debt debate, sort of. a look at why he's playing his cards so close to the vest than one. first, white house soup of the day, 100 degrees outside, it is a cold soup day, i would like to see some viche soi there. instead it gazpacho. ts less. what?! -match it! -match it! -match it! -match it! -match it! -match it! -match it! -match it! -match it! -match it! -[ horn honks ] -match it!

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pivotal to the final deal

making on the debt was vice president joe biden who served in the senate for 25 years. he was a clutch player yesterday urging democrats to support the deal. col ron klain, the former chief of staff. everybody was explaining this debt deal yesterday. nobody was -- nobody is ready to claim victory. the closest, though, has been speaker boehner. here is vice president biden and then speaker boehner. >> this is a cycle. i predict to you that a lot of those new members who came here with my way or the highway, they'll either be on the highway or they'll learn that they have to have compromise. >> you were unable to get your own caucus behind your bill a few days ago. do you intend to remain speaker of the house? >> i do. and when you look at the final agreement that we came to with

the white house, you know, i got 98% of what i wanted. i'm pretty happy. >> all right. speaker boehner is the closest i've seen anybody come to trying to take actually claim some victory in all of this. nobody seems to want to. >> nor should they. to take the vice president's analogy, who is the roadkill here, the democrats did not get a lot of what they wanted. there is an argument that it was necessary to do the deal. i'm glad it passed the house. i'm glad it is going to pass the senate. i'm glad that this moment is behind us, but i really worry about the future of kind of government by carjacking because i think that's a lot what we had here. one side really just insisting and not playing the normal washington game of compromise. >> you know, ron klain, obviously vice president biden is used to dealing with a couple of thins. one, that everybody is looking at the same group of voters, swing voters. in this case, that was not the case.

and that members of congress cared about things happening in their district. and a lot of these members don't, which is kind of what he was trying to -- this was something new the vice president had never dealt with before, is it? >> well, it is something new. i think that you have a bunch of people who came here, and have no real investment in getting things done. and don't even care about the consequences for the districts. that's a new thing. i do think that the president, you know, the president likes to play the lawn game and the president likes to gamble. the essence of this deal is a gamble on what is going to happen in the second round of deficit reduction, the policymaking here in november and december. i think the bet he's making is he can get what he wants in that second round. that's the gamble in this deal. >> i don't know. i haven't talked to a lot of people who think that part of it. i want to go to the politics of this, jeff zeleny. you covered president obama since he was candidate obama, senator obama, one thing we learned since 2007 is the summers are never kind to him

and here we are again. >> i think that's right. i think the soaring moments of this presidency, to capture and killing of osama bin laden looked great, and this looks like not as much of a soaring moment. i think it is somewhere in between. i think this is better for president obama as a presidential candidate than as a president himself. now they have sort of defined the debate, they hope, that he is supportive of deficit reduction and he looked like the grown-up in the room, at least they think. i'm not sure that -- as they run through the playbook of what they should have done on this, there was some debate about should he have gone out to the country to try to sell this more? he didn't -- he was just really trying to end it and get it over with. so i think the whole morase of this will look better in the rear view mirror than it looks now. >> there is one thing about what the president has done with all of the fights with congress is that he -- he basically stays in washington and goes ahead and goes into the swamp with them. and it usually penalizes him. >> i think the president tends

to get it both ways. people say he's not engaged, he's disengaged, he's not enough in it and then he's too much in it, too engaged, so on and so forth. >> he never did sell the big deal. he never went around the country -- i think we live in a country where he can speak from the white house briefing room and reach everyone in the country, twitter, social media, in every form and venue known to man to sell the big deal. they put pressure on congress. look, as i said, i think the proof of this, one way or the other, is that now it is in november and december. i think how this looks in the rear view mirror is what is really going to count. >> you seem pretty skeptical he got much of a victory out of this. do you feel like he didn't lose? >> i'm skeptical of the victory. i'm skeptical that the gamble will pay off. i think we have seen this play before. and he might look like the grown-up in this room, but there is a lot of grown-ups running against him for president and maybe we can talk about that. >> we'll talk about some of

those grown-ups, some of them. ruth marcus, ron klain, jeff zeleny. stick with member of congress ms wife while spending three days in jail? congressman james clyburn. he was arrested after a civil rights protest. we'll be right back. you're watching the daily rundown only on msnbc. you've been stuck in the garage, while my sneezing and my itchy eyes took refuge from the dust in here and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. it's the brand allergists recommend most. ♪ lily and i are back on the road again. where we belong. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. it's like hardwiring the market right into my desktop. launch my watchlist -- a popping stock catches my eye.

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let's bring back our panel. okay. the protection program is something i think is going to stick for a while. politico writers this fun with that. mitt romney has been relatively silent on this debate. he put out a release right after -- it was about 10:15 in the morning. as president, my plan would have not only that opens the door to higher taxes and puts defense cuts on the table. i personally cannot support this

deal. jeff, there's a lot of -- seemed pretty skeptical. why would mitt romney do this. you seemed pretty clear on why mitt romney had no choice but to take this position. >> well, it's the first thing he has done to show he's in the republican primary. he's been focused on president obama. but he knows that he has enough problems in his resume, if you will, in his record, presumably topping that with health care in massachusetts, that he cannot run the risk, his advisers believe, of having an easy opening for this. the question is, though, he's been trying to avoid being consumed by the daily developments. >> right. >> it's what happened four years ago. at some point he's going to have to talk about this. we'll see how convincing he is when he tries to defend this statement. >> i'm getting flash backs to hillary with mitt romney. you know, where hillary was being overly cautious while the

front-runner at this point in time in the campaign. >> but that worked out pretty well, huh? >> it's not that i don't respect the politics of romney. i understood why he was playing in the nitmus protection program. as a columnist, i'm allowed to have an opinion. and i just thought his statement yesterday was disgusting. it kind of ducked the issue which is i can't personally support this but i understand the pickle that republicans are in. so it was sort of classic romney. where is he exactly? and it was just so irresponsible. because if he were in the oval office, what would he be doing? i want to show you say poll in pennsylvania. mitt romney leading obama. this is pennsylvania. it's already over. republicans are going to win the white house. so this protection program is working. let the president run against himself. >> i've worked on too many democratic campaigns. if the election were held today.

and fortunately then it wasn't. i think the president has spent some political capital to get this done to, get the issue off the table, to play for 2012 and that's when the election will be held. we were talking about football during the break. i think romney has gone in defense in the first quarter. that's not the way you you win a football game. i don't think that's going to be successful for him. >> to understand how the vote broke down yesterday, nytimes.com. it is the best way of slicing, dicing, analyzing. >> a really good one. >> very good graphics. >> the staff that doesn't get to come on the show but has worked its butts off, republican, democrat, white house, and hill, to try to get this done, they deserve. >> i completely agree. the unelected -- and it didn't matter -- both sides of the aisle -- they are really hurting. we know. >> my plug is for my former boss joe biden who played a key role getting this done, beginning,

middle, late. proven himself to be the most effective vice president nonscary in american history. >> nonscary? i have to leave it there. shameless plugs. we call them that for a reason. see you tomorrow at 9:00. i'll be anchoring at noon as the senate votes on the debt ceiling compromise. at 1:00, andrea mitchell reports. bye-bye. every day, all around the world, energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy developement comes with some risk,

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