>> what did you learn? >> i need more bread for the table. >> okay. >> and the second thing is i can wait for vladimir putin's album to come out. >> what did you learn? >> i learn ed -- seriously, i'm embarrassed. if you and your family come down tonight, you'll have all the lasagna you want, only tonight. >> "morning joe," willie geist of "way too early" and if you're hungry for a great italian meal. >> we'll put the shirt over your table. >> "morning joe." >> chuck todd, take it over. take the baked spaghetti. president obama quickly signs the debt bill in private. now is shifting to campaign mode. it starts with the birthday fund-raiser tonight. but can he manage to leave the battle scars behind? and while washington bickered over the debt ceiling,

the economy was taking a beating, big time. markets are sinking and we haven't even seen friday's job numbers. the lasting impact on wall street and main street ahead. with a little over a week to go before the critical iowa straw poll, how nervous are some folks about tim pawlenty, reid, bachmann? he may be picking up steam. it's august 3rd, 2011. the day after. is it really over? washington is in a fog this morning. first reads this morning, in the last month, president obama delivered one prime time apress, five other televised statements, held a town hall, all of them tied to what, the debt ceiling debate. the president didn't claim any credit for $29.5 trillion deficit reduction deal that he signed notably in private.

nobody standing around him when he did it. he simply changeed the subject. >> we have millions of workers who need jobs, displaced workers looking for new jobs. all those construction workers out there who lost their jobs. they want to us get this economy growing and adding jobs. >> people who are out of work can find good jobs. >> and in the coming months i'll continue to fight for what the american people care most about, new jobs. >> in case you didn't know, the president used the word jobs 11 times in that rose garden speech. we'll get a hint of how he'll frame the debate ahead tonight when he speaks to supporters at two dnc fund raisers in chicago. the message pitch begins in earnest. now they'll do a bus tour of the midwest in the walk of august 15th. the white house not announcing where the tour will take him. what specific states. he needs to go to the midwest battleground states, iowa,

wisconsin, michigan, ohio, even sneak into the rust belt there, pennsylvania. this is the base swing states for any democrat trying to get to the white house or any democrat trying to hold the white house. at this point his approval ratings upside down in just about every state but one. we'll show you in a few minutes. for weeks leaders have warned the markets would tank if there was no debt ceiling deal. yesterday, the president signed the deal and the markets tankd. expectations for friday's job report are suddenly grim. the stocks posted their worst day in nearly a year, the dow fell 2.2%. closed by low 12,000, the s&p down 2.6% and the seventh straight day of losses, its longest losing streak since october 240u. the nasdaq was down 2.7%. there are warning signs that the fragile economic recovery is simply stalling. consumer spending was down in june, much worse than expected. manufacturing activity is barely above recession levels and the economy grew just an anemic 1.3%

in the second quarter. there's been a lot of tumult, whether it's japan and the inability to get things rebuilt there, what's going on in europe. it's all having an impact. the debt ceiling debate seemed to handcuff a lot of things. all of a sudden there will be no government spending. and with no government spending markets are worried there's going to be even less money in the economy. finally, ten days until the ames straw poll. the candidates are beginning their final pushes through the hawkeye state. rick santorum holds four town hall meetings today. he's made 22 stops in iowa this week. michele bachmann is up with a new tv ad, rand paul joins his father next week for a two-week swing through iowa and yesterday, anthony terrell caught up with ron paul and asked him where he has to place in ames to meet expectations? >> in the top three. that's what i would hope to do and i expect to do it. but we don't know exactly.

nobody knows. >> look, ron paul has done very well in straw polls before but this one is tougher for paul. he didn't do as well in this one four years ago. why? a lot of times he can rally folks from other states to come to the straw polls. this one, again, it's a little bit different. you have to show an iowa i.d. it is an organizational check. it is an opportunity to see if you're ready to get the caucuses going. it will be interesting to find out. a lot of people noticing that tim pawlenty organization is a lot better than maybe his poll numbers suggest. with the debt deal in the rearview mirror, the president heads to chicago on other important business, raising campaign cash for 2012. kristen welker is in washington. the president has been handcuffed to the oval office. >> president obama turning the page on the debt ceiling debate, heading to chicago tonight for

birthday themed campaign fund-raising event. he turns 50 on thursday. so there's going to be a big gala tonight in chicago. we're hearing it will be star-studded, herby hancock might be there as well as jennifer hudson. tickets to that event will cost you about $50. there's a private gala afterwards or a dinner i should say. tickets to that, a little bit more expensive. $35,000 we are hearing. as you mentioned, we are hearing president obama kanspled about ten fund-raising events to deal with the debt ceiling debate. his last event was actually in philadelphia in july. you might remember that event. he's got some time to make up. also some money, as you might remember, he posted fund-raising earnings of $86 million in conjunction with the dnc during the spring. he's not going to raise anywhere near that this summer. summers are slower anyway. but he won't be posting earnings of that size for the summer. that's for sure. he's also gotten a little bit of

criticism from republicans who say the timing is off because the unemployment is so high. well, white house officials say, look, you can get back to normal business and also focus on the economy. so big events tonight in chicago. chuck? >> kristen welker at the white house this morning. stay dry. >> thanks. will things get easier for the president once he's back on the road? with me now, former white house communicati communications director anita dunn. >> good morning. >> i guess the president is relieved he gets to get on a plane and leave washington for a few hours. i'm sure that will be a joke. the message he'll take to supporters tonight in that room, is, the people that love him the most but have shown disappointment, expressed disappointment privately. what's he going to say to them? >> i think that as the president goes out to address not just his supporters but the nation, that what we'll be talking about is the economy, jobs and how do we

get this country moving forward again? elections aren't about yesterday. they're about tomorrow. and what we've seen from the republican candidates, what we'll see in ames next week, clearly will be a number -- a group of republican candidates who to a person have espoused the policy of the congressional republican majority in the house. the ones to eliminate medicare, to cut dramatically domestic spending while they keep the tax breaks for the wealthiest people intact and for the -- and refusing to cut subsidies to oil and gas companies at the same time they want to cut critical things. the president who has made clear his vision for the future and his vision for growing the kinds of jobs we need in this country, he'll take that message to the nation. i predict he'll be very glad to be out of washington and i predict there will be a joke. >> how many times, though win feel like my head is spinning. this is the time the white house was going to pivot to jobs. it is sort of a recurring thing. what is it he can do?

>> here's the deal. i don't think there's been a pivot to jobs. from the time he took office in a month in which this economy shed almost 800,000 jobs in one single month, due to policies that had been put in place over -- not just two years or four years but a number of years, from the time he took office he has had a singular focus on getting the economy's foundation laid in such a way that we start producing the good jobs that let people support their families. >> wait a minute. there was that little thing called health care. >> that's part of a sounder economy. >> you make the argument in there but there are a lot of people wondering, wait a minute, he took a little bit of an eye off the ball. >> at the end of the day, health care is an important part of this economy. people knowing they can afford health care, companies knowing they can afford to give health care benefits to their employees has always been an important part. huge employers were saying we need help, we have to spend so

much more on health care than they do. at one point cost of health care cost more than the steel of a car proud by general motors. this was an important part of that foundation. obviously education a critical part of the foundation. what you're seeing from the republicans with be you're not seeing any new ideas, any suggestion there's a way forward except to return to the kinds of policies that caused the problem to begin with. the american people understand we didn't create this economic crisis in a day. we're not going to solve it immediately. but that the real test here is who has the vision for where we need to go next and the president has laid out clearly, his vision and will do that. i think we'll be very happy to talk to the american people and not just people in washington. >> in two weeks the president will do this bus tour in the midwest. nobody will say what states yet? i told it's two weeks in advance. give us another week before we not these bale rating in michigan sitting up 39%.

in ohio it's at 46%. in wisconsin, a lone bright spot at 50%, if you would call that a bright spot. pennsylvania, 43%. iowa, we know there's some numbers out there that suggest he's also not doing so hot. this clearly, when you look at your 2012 battle plan you have to repair the damage in the midwest. >> chuck, i think that's one of the reasons he's anxious to talk directly with the people in those states and the american people to lay out his vision for how we move forward in the future and create the jobs that will allow people to support their families and move forward again. and create the feeling of economic security. that's the single thing that we lost the most in the crash of 2008 and that we haven't been able to get back yet, people's feelings they have a degree of economic security. i think he's looking forward to going out there and having a direct conversation. yes, they are important states but you said they're important for any democrat who want to

hold the white house. i would say they're important for any republican who wants to win or how old the white house. >> one of the things you said he'll lay out his vision. he'd been laying out his vision over the last month. he didn't cut a deal that fits his vision. you could make a strong argument he didn't cut a deal that truly fit the vision he wanted to go. so why is it that in four more years of saying what his vision is he'll be actually able to implement it? >> chuck, i take some issue with your characterization. if you look at the actual deal, you'll see first of all that education was protected. investments in energy technology -- programs were changed, some of the eligibility requirements were changed. >> a little. the maximum amount was not changed. okay? he clearly went in there and fought for and protected the things that are critical as part of the social safe tirr net for middle class families. >> the argument is play defense against the republicans? >> no. of course this is not the end, this is only the beginning of

this process and in the next round i think you'll see that there will be a very different set of issues on the table, including some of the subsidies that we're giving to wealthy people and wealthy companies who can be asked and should be asked to share a little of the sacrifice that the rest of the american people understand they have to share as well for to us all start moving forward again. i think that, you know, those people who went out there and talked about the deal, not you necessarily but there are a lot of people who went out there without looking at what it actually did. this is only the first part of it. there's a lot in here that reflects the president's clear priorities in terms of education being the key to our future and to our competitiveness in terms of the investments in energy technology, in terms of making sure that safety net, programs like medicare and social security, that people really depend on, are protected. those things were critical to him. >> anita dunn, former white house communications director and i assume still an adviser to the campaign. >> occasionally. >> sometimes.

well, i'm sure the phone will be ring something more. thanks for coming on. >> thank you, chuck. still to come on "the daily rundown," how the mighty have fallen. ousted egyptian president hosni mubarak, he appears in court, ready for this -- on a stretcher behind a cage. and expect the unexpected in politics when it comes to august. members of congress, are they stepping into a frying pan, into a fire as they head home to their districts? we shall see. first a look ahead the the president's schedule. as we told you, it's off to chicago at the end of the day. does not overnight there. he plans to turn 50 here at the white house tomorrow. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists,

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you want to be led out of here, you're welcome to go. now wait a minute. now wait a minute. now wait a minute. now wait a minute. >> well, august may be the cruellest month for lawmakers. that was the summer of 2009 when public an every over the health care debate erupted in town halls all over the country. this year, lawmakers could get an earful about the debt deal and how washington didn't work and they did everything they could to distance themselves from the legislation before heading home to face what they know are frustrated constituents. >> i will support this legislation but with very serious reservations. >> i reluctantly cannot support it. >> to say that the legislation before us is not ideal is truly an understatement. >> this is not the best possible bill but it's the best bill possible. >> with a heavy heart, there are parts of it that i will struggle to explain and defend. >> almost everything else about

this deal stinks. and it stinks to high heaven. >> by the way, yes, he voted for it. with me now, former virginia congressman tom davis. he's also former chairman of the nrcc. congressman, i don't want to assume you would have voted for this deal but my guess is you would have voted for this deal. >> what's the alternative. >> just like all those guys did. how do you explain it? it could be ugly if you hold a town hall. >> it will be really ugly. all congress did is they dodged a land mine. this was a potential land mine. they pushed the cuts to the back. i think roy blunt said this is not the best deal possible. it's the only deal you could get at this point. it's impossible to explain, both extremes were unhappy. on top of that you have a bad economy which puts everybody in a bad mood. >> you talked about the ideological basis are unhappy

with this deal. you never have swing voters show up to your town halls. >> i was looking for them. >> it's always the ones that are the most passionate about something they care about, left or right. they give you the earful. >> you make the rationale argument on abortion and everybody was mad at you. >> what is it -- is this one of those moments you're sitting there going, if you're a member of congress, do you not hold town halls, hold back or figure i'm just going to plow through it. >> even last year when we had the biggest midterm swing since 1938, most of these members are from safe districts. >> it's a little bit different because of redistricting. in some cases they had new people, so they have to go to a county pancake breakfast they've never been to before. >> they have no cache there. people don't know them, haven't paid attention to them.

>> you're a guy that signed on to no labels and there's america's electives out there. you look at the numbers and sit there and say, boy, both parties better watch out. the ingredients are there to have outside entity come in and make trouble. the reality is they never do. >> it's very, very difficult. for one thing it's the basis of the party are the most rabid workers. money has been difficult for third party institutions to raise. the ingredients the are there. >> and i want to go one of the things congress left -- they left without doing a lost stuff. there was a bunch of the stuff where they thought they'd get off the legislative free trade deal. stuff that everybody's agreed to by the way.

>> the faa, the three trade deals. a commerce secretary not yet confirmed. we could go to the patten reform, this infrastructure bank. all of this has the support, they didn't get it done. the senators said something about this debt deal was different this time in that it's so consumed the band width that they couldn't find the time to do other things. how did congress allow itself, which used to be able to multitask to become so single-minded? >> it's been getting worse. the last congress never got at appropriation bills through fortier. we didn't talk about the appropriation bills, the one thing hair supposed to get. what you have right now, it's polari polarized. we have a parliamentary election system. it's not sorted out at this point. it does not work very well at all. as a result of that, their attention spans are very small. the media is driving a lot of this agenda, not the congressional leaders. the powers have moved outside

the powers in washington to media, interest groups on the right. >> they have to work itself through the system or do we have to remodel congress? >> it's going to take leadership to remodel this thing. you can start with campaign finance reform. right now the outside groups spend more money than the parties and the candidates. >> the two parties are being politically irrelevant. former member of congress, one of the guys that knows a lot more than most of us do. anyway, we'll get a preview of the markets next. first, today's trivia question. since the white house was built, how many weddings have taken place in the rose garden? and who were the lucky couple or couples? tweet me the answer @chucktodd or @dailyrundown. [ woman ] we take it a day at a time.

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just a few minutes until the opening bell rings on wall

street. which means it's time for a quick market preview. cnbc's melissa francis. >> it does look like it's going to be a positive open, especially after the pummeling we got yesterday. futures right now are positive. that is on the back of this employment report that we got a short time ago. it's the abp employment report. it showed that employment rose by 114,000 private sector jobs, four last month. that was a little better than the expectation. small businesses in particular added 58,000 jobs for the 20th month in a row. we care about this because we're getting the huge jobs report on friday that will really set the tone. that's from the labor department. we're looking for an addition, maybe 50,000 jobs. not a great number. everybody is expecting the worst on friday. this number looks pretty good, giving you some positive sentiment going into friday's number. interest rates are off their nine-month low. looks like it could be a decent

open. we'll hold our breath and see. >> you're saying there's a chance. >> there's a chance. >> melissa francis, thanks very much. if it's wednesday we have election results. today we are ready to place our bet ozzen who will be the next governor of mississippi. plus, syrian forces continue deadly attacks on anti-government pro testers in the city of ham ma. this is the "daily rundown" only on msnbc. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. host: could switching to geico reon car insurance? or more host: do people use smartphones to do dumb things? man 1: send, that is the weekend. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party?

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jennifer hudson and the band okay go. will the markets break their eight-day losing streak? that's the hope. but the jobs report could keep stocks from rallying. tropical storm emily is headed straight for the dominican republic and haiti today. winds of 50 miles an hour and up to 10 inches of rain is expected to slam into the island of hi hispanola. emily could impact the u.s. coastline as soon as this weekend. a few other stories making headlines, it's wednesday. what does that mean? we have election results in yesterday's primary for mississippi governor, lieutenant governor phil bryant won the republican primary out of a field of five. not a big shock there. on the democratic side, johnny dupree will head to a runoff.

ousted egyptian president hosni mubarak speaking from a hospital cot in court this morning. denied complicity in the killing of protesters during the massive cairo protest that led to his resignation earlier this year. the judge set mubarak's next court date for august 15th and ordered him held at a military hospital under the care of an oncologist, suggesting that reports he has cancer may be true. mubarak's trial is drawing interest from around the arab world, especially in syria where some suggest it only emboldens president assad. richard haass is the president of the council on foreign relations. he joins me now. all right, richard, we're here in washington, we've been absorbed by the debt debate. what's been going on in syria has been unfathomable, frankly.

assad has not been able to put these protesters and put this to rest. how much trouble is he in? >> well, he's in serious trouble. he's had to kill over 1,500 people. and as you say correctly, chuck, the protests are not going away. indeed it's surprising how brave people have been. they seem to have shed their fundamental fear of this regime. is he in trouble? as long as his ally base is run by 15% of the population, which is say distinct minority, that's where the general and others and the security establishment largely hail from, as long as they stand by bashar al assad, my hunch is he will stay in pouer. >> one of the differences with syria as compared to how the arab world reacted with libya or egypt, they've not reacted as strongly with syria. i asked lindsey graham about this yesterday. actually right after the debt ceiling vote.

here's what he had to say about the key to syria. >> here's the key to syria is turkey. i am hoping that the prime minister of turkey will understand that his neighbor, assad, is destroying the arab spring, destroying the turkish model and will basically side with the syrian people. the goal is to isolate assad in every way you can. i'd love to see a coalition led by turkey telling assad he's got to go. >> richard, this was in response to a question, does he want the u.s. to do more? he was in some way saying, no, this has got to be led by turkey. is he right? >> i don't really think so. the united states has been arguing to do more. turkey is distancing themselves quite a lot from the assad regime. the problem is most of the arab world and most of the world at large is still standing by the regime. syria is unlike libya. this is not some side show in the arab world. they are one of the principle

arab countries. you have more than 20 million people, important economic interests. the refts of the world is essentially not cutting loose. it makes it difficult, for example, for to us ratchet up the political and economic sanctions against them. the key really isn't so much turkey. they're part of a much larger story, which is the rest of the arab world and the rest of the world at large. as you suggest, what's happening in places like egypt is having an impact. why should leaders like assad let go, i think they reason when they see what happens. people are hanging tough. >> what policywise, we're doing sanctions, eu is doing some sanctions. what more can the u.s. do right now other than try to see if they can get some arab support to come together? >> not a whole lot. probably economic sanctions if you can get an increase in those. assad stays in power because of

his minority base but also the sunni majority. a lot of the businessmen have stood by him. if they begin to pay a heavy price for his remaining in power, it's quite possible we could drive wedges between bashar al assad and his traditional support. that's essentially what i'd try to do. >> one other thing about assad, i had somebody tell me a while ago, unlike some of the other strong men, if you did a poll of the arab world, the middle east, that assad would be the most popular leader. what makes him so popular outside of syria? >> the syrians have not made peace with israel. he still has a degree of radical credential. plus also syria is one of the great centers in the arab world along with egypt and others but syria has not gotten so close to the united states. so, again, it's kept its street cred in ways in the arab world that the mubaraks never did, the saudis don't and so forth.

the syrians have essentially kept their radical credentials sufficiently alive that the rest of the arab world or at least the arab street still respects them. >> richard haass, president of the council on foreign relations. what a puzzle. thanks very much. >> any time, chuck. up next, our hump day panel. all about finger pointing. palin jabbing romney, paul hitting romney, michele bachmann hitting pawlenty. and the president, of course. but first, the soup of the day, after you've had a rough couple of months, couple of weeks, what better way to heal the wounds when you're not feeling so hot than a little bit of chickened intole? you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. , credit card, and your bills. so you can view them by category... or by month. you can set a budget... and it'll even alert you when you're getting close to the amount you've set -- and when you've gone over. spending zone is built

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it is for this reason that i must tell those who fail to report for duty this morning they are in violation of the law and if they do not report for work within 48 hours, they are

forfeited their jobs and will be terminated. >> the daily flashback. it was on this day 30 years ago that the professional air traffic controllers association walked off the job. president reagan branded the strike illegal and followed through on this threat, firing more than 11,000 employees who refused to return to work. some of the air traffic controllers only work at a national airport because of that. after congress failed to come up with a plan to end the faa's partial shutdown, it means 4,000 employees will be out of work through labor day, costing the government $1.2 billion in uncollected ticket taxes. with ten days to go to the ames straw poll, michele bachmann is up with a new ad statewide filmed on the city's main street. >> barack obama has driven our economy into a ditch. someone needs to say no. i voted against raising the debt limit because it's time to balance the budget and pay down the debt. i mean it. and you can believe it.

won't you join me here in ames for the straw poll and let's send a message to washington. >> how about that? a straight up tv ad for the ames straw poll. jonathan mart be is a senior reporter for politico. the three most important newspapers in the country. there we go. we have it going on. how about that susan page, a tv ad for the straw poll. michele bachmann is not messing around. >> the straw poll, how many people come, a couple thousand. >> probably 15,000. >> then certainly worth a statewide ad. right. >> that's not an insignificant group of people. >> only in this bizarro world where i would become american politics and they start off with -- >> tell us how you really feel.

>> i love it. i love it. >> i love iowa and i love new hampshire. but keep this in some perspective. this is a test of organization and intensity. it's not really a test of voter sentiment. >> jonathan martin, i wonder -- there's already fire about is somebody cheating in the straw poll. here's what bachmann's campaign chair said, in 2009 tim pawlenty has been trying to sell himself to our republican and now' tempting to hijack nonprofit organizations for political gain. privately is looked that he's sunk to desperate and unethical attempts to win the ames straw poll. that mishs accusation is another unfortunate example of the campaign struing the truth. tim pawlenty must have something going on. >> they wouldn't have hit them that hard if they weren't

threatened. she hit him a couple weeks ago after she had been hounded for a few weeks by him and ignored him. suddenly she hit back hardz and dropped the whole file on pawlenty's head. he has a couple instate consultants who are doing consultant work separately -- >> for some other groups. >> for interest groups that are involved in the straw poll. what bachmann is saying those paid consultants are trying to gin up turnout via other corporate clients for the straw poll for pawlenty. >> some would call that politics. this is a case that i have heard the bachmann campaign has been slow to get up and running. the pawlenty campaign for all of its problems in the media over the last couple of months did have an organization that it was building over time. >> basically it's going to come down to two different factors. bachmann has more on the ground

enthusiasm, people are more fired up about her. pawlenty may have more organization. he has sara huckabee, huckabee's daughter who knows iowa well, she's working on the campaign. he may have a better staff to turn up the core vote. >> susan, i go back, she put the tv ad out there. i just say it's -- when you do that, you can blame us in the media overt years for ginning this up and, look, it's a two-way street. she's the won putting paid television ads. she also is raising her own expectations. she has to win this thing. >> she has to win this. >> be leading in the polls. >> we now see her as the alternati alternative. >> the eye eye front-runner. >> the iowa front-runner. she'll be facing rick perry for some portion of the vote. she has to win this. if pawlenty wins it it would turn our expectations about her and tim pawlenty. even if he comes in second that keeps him alive. lower than that, i think

pawlenty is toast. >> he needs a booster shot badly. donors around the country, they would sit there and say, the guy has a pretty good organization. they're throwing all this money into this. >> right. >> they aren't going to have any money left after the straw poll. >> this is putting all your money on the table here. they don't have a choice. they have to catch up to her. financially he had 1.4 million for the primary in the bank at the end of june. that money is probably close to being gone. he's not been doing a lot of fund-raising. he's expecting to do very well, get a financial boost after that and find his footing. if he doesn't do very well, check, i don't know where the money comes from. >> how smart does mitt romney look now? i know they have the great headline, but in this case he may have made the right call getting out of this game. >> i think so. he made the call in part buzz he would have had a hard chance of winning there. >> he knew that going in.

>> he didn't break through at all in 2008. >> he'll be back in iowa. hang on, speaking of mitt romney, sarah palin's going after him again. wait till you see this. trivia time. since the white house was built, how many weddings have taken place in the rose garden and who were the lucky couple or couples? the answer, two. the most recent was in 19894 when hillary clinton's younger brother tony rodham married nicole boxer and tricia nixon married edward cox there as well. president nixon walked his daughter down the aisle during a break in the clouds. we'll be right back with perry, jonathan and susan. you'll watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc.

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let's bring back our panel. susan page, i wanted to -- before we get to sarah palin versus mitt romney here in a

minute, i want to show you this odd john huntsman moment in this description of michele bachmann. let me play it for you. >> you said she makes for good copy and good photography. >> oh, listen, that -- i was trying to compliment represent bachmann. calling someone photo genic, wish we were all that photo genic. she's an electeded official, and i have high regard for her. >> you were not impressed with that remark. >> i'll tell you, i don't give a lot of advice but my advice to men is if you want to criticize michele bachmann, criticize the thoughts coming out of her mouth not the way she looks. >> i feel like we have seen the male candidates in this -- it's like they have never run against a woman before. >> it's not a mystery. women have run for office before, even for president. one day maybe a woman will make it to the oval office. i hope so. but, i mean, i'm not talking

about how you look. you don't talk about how i look. >> fair enough. speaking of women who may run for president, sarah palin has been this thorn in mitt romney's side, though i think she would deny she was doing that while she seems to poke him. she poked him last night on her employer's network. >> bless his heart. i have respect for mitt romney but i do not have respect for what he has done through this debt increased debate. he did this. he waited until it was a done deal. and then he came out and he made a statement that, oh, he didn't like the deal after all. >> about a month ago, or i think it was two months ago, on the day that she decided -- he officially announced he was running for president, she trashed the health care bill. >> right. >> what is she up to? >> she doesn't like romney, at least from some of her comments and the timing of her comments.

what's interesting, though, if she were to get in the race, her problem wouldn't be mitt romney. we're talking about brackets here. to even get to romney you have to win your own bracket for sarah palin her problem would be rick perry, michele bachmann first. she doesn't want to go after them because she's more similar pat cowith them. >> perry, it seems you talked to the romney people and she wants to attack us, great. if she just does it once a month, they're okay with it. becomes this daily anti romney surrogate almost in the way it could become a drum beat, that would be a problem. >> what she says goes to the core of the problem. he doesn't cite what he wants to do until after he has polled or thought bit. >> she went right to it. >> she went right to it. and that attack is not healthy for him. >> that's exactly what david asked her to say. >> exactly.

>> that is what we say -- you ought to remind people she said going to iowa september 3rd. she makes a good or no go decision. she can't get out on a bunch of these ballots. >> well, that's true. i realize we have different brackets. but i wonder about the alliance or potential alliance between rick perry. she went down in campaign for him. >> oh. >> and if perry does run and if palin doesn't want to run, and nobody knows what she does or doesn't want here. but if perry does run and she doesn't run that would be an easy out. >> yeah. all right. shameless plug time. you get to go first. >> good story in the post about turning 50, tucking -- >> i saw this. >> it's a very funny story. >> the president is turning 50. >> he will be a young retiree.

51 or 55. >> have a great tick-tock about the debt deal, how it went down. shockingly, here we are in washington and the fear of a president obama in&two old senators are still running the show. >> two old guys. >> only two people to ever be a roads scholar and navy s.e.a.l. has an organization called the mission continues which puts disabled vets to work at community service projects. good for the vets. good for the community. missioncontinues.org. >> thank you all. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." coming up next, chris jansing and company and andrea mitchell reports. we'll see you tomorrow. bye-bye. i can't wait to take 'em out, throw 'em away and never see them again. [ male announcer ] know the feeling? get the contacts you've got to see to believe.

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